they procur'd as good a Bed-fellow for the Ambassador though she was of meaner Quality this Liquorish Harlot unfortunately met with a small Bottle of choice Balm valued at two thousand Crowns which was given to the Bishop by Solyman the Magnificent when he was Ambassador in Turky she was invited by its Odour to try its Relish and it seems liked it so well that she licked it all out whereat the Bishop grew so outragious and loud that he discovered his Debauchery frightned the Woman away and made sport for the Irishmen and his own Servants After this the Bishop met with O Neal and the Titular Primate Robert Wachop in a secret place and heard the Overâ—ures of them and their Confederates and it is not to be doubted but they came to an Agreement because the Bishop soon after went to Rome but being unable to separate the Pope from the Interests of the Emperor this Negotiation had no effect In the mean time two of the Cavenaghs viz. Cahir Mac Art of Polmonty and Girald Mac Cahir of Garochil had fierce Contests about their Territory at length it came to a Battel as it were by consent and about an hundred on each side were slain but Cahir Mac Art had the better of it and finally obtain'd that Signiory But the Exchequer being empty the Lord Deputy designed to levy a Tax upon the People but the Earl of Ormond would by no means suffer that 〈…〉 whereupon the difference grew so high between him and the Lord Deputy that at last it came to mutual Impeachments whereupon both of them were sent for to England and by the King's Mediation were reconciled whilst the ambodexter Allen was imprison'd in the Fleet and deprived of the Great Seal and Sir Thomas Cusack was made Lord Keeper and not long after viz. about the twenty eighth day of October the Earl of Ormond and thirty five of his Servants were poyson'd at a Feast at Ely-House in Holborn so that he and sixteen of them died but whether this hapned by Accident or Mistake or were done designedly could not be discovered Sir William Brabazon was sworn Lord Justice on the first of April 1546. although his Patent bore Date the sixteenth of February Ware 174. In his time hapned a strange and unnatural Action for Bryan Lord of Upper Ossory sent his own Son Teige Prisoner to Dublin where he was executed and in July Patrick O More and Bryan O Connor with joint Forces invaded the County of Kildare and burnt Athy but the Lord Justice immediately pursued them and leaving a Garrison at Athy he marched into Offaly and made a Fort at Dingen now Philipstown and forced O Connor to fly into Connaught But the Necessities of the State obliged the King to Coyn Brass or mixt Moneys and to make it currant in Ireland by Proclamation to the great dissatisfaction of all the People especially the Soldiers and about the same time Edward Basnet Dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin and the Chapter after some Reluctancy surrendred their Possessions to the King Three Things are observable in the Letters during this King's Reign 1. None of them do mention either the Year of our Lord or the Year of the King's Reign though all of them do take notice of the Day of the Month whereby this Part of the History was so perplex'd and confus'd that I will not promise that I have always guess'd the time aright though I have used my utmost diligence and endeavours to do so 2. All the Letters of this Reign conclude thus So knoweth God to whom we pray for your Graccs Prosperity or to that effect but these Words So knoweth God are always in although in the subsequent Words there is some Variation according to the Fancy of the Writer 3. Most of the Letters from the great Irish Lords even some of English Extraction are subscribed with a Mark very few of thembeing able to write their Names Sir Anthony Saintleger Lord Deputy returned on the sixteenth day of December with Sir Richard Read who was made Lord Chancellor in the room of Cusack and Cusack was made Master of the Rolls And thus stood the Government of Ireland during the Reign of King Henry the Eighth who Died on the twenty eighth day of January in the thirty eighth Year of his Reign and of his Age the fifty sixth THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI. KING OF England France AND IRELAND EDWARD 1546. the Sixth of that Name since the Norman Conquest was born at Hampton Court on the twelfth Day of October 1537. and succeeded his Father in the tenth Year of his Age on the twenty eighth Day of January 1546. and on the first of February Edward Seymour who was the King's Unkle by the Mother was made Protector of the King and Kingdoms and was afterwards created Duke of Somerset and on the twentieth Day of February the King was crowned at Westminster with great Solemnity Sir Anthony Saintleger continued in the Government of Ireland Ware 177. at first by the name of Lord Justice and afterwards by the Title of Lord Deputy and he proclaimed the new King on the twenty sixth Day of February 1547. and not long after Sir Richard Read was made first Lord Keeper and afterwards Lord Chancellor and the Earl of Desmond was constituted Lord Treasurer of Ireland on the twenty ninth Day of March and on the seventh Day of April the Privy Council was sworn viz. Sir Richard Read Chancellor George Archbishop of Dublin Edward Bishop of Meath Sir William Brabazon Vice-Treasurer Sir Girald Ailmer Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench Sir Thomas Luttrel Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas James Bath Esq Lord chief Baron of the Exchequer Sir Thomas Cusack Master of the Rolls and Thomas Houth Esq one of the Judges of the King's Bench to whom afterwards others were added But the O Birnes took advantage of the Change of the Government and hoping that the Infancy of the King would occasion Disturbances in the State they began to be very unruly and troublesome insomuch that the Lord Deputy was necessitated to invade their Country he pursued them so close that he slew their Captain and drove themselves into the Woods and Fastnesses He also took two of the Fitz-Giralds who had formerly been Proscribed and now joyned with O Toole and he brought them and other Prisoners to Dublin where they were executed Nor were Patrick O More and Brian O Connor less forward than the rest but briskly invaded the County of Kildare and loaded themselves with Prey and Plunder but the Lord Deputy came seasonably to intercept them and having killed two hundred of the Rebels upon the Place the rest of them with their light-footed Captains fairly ran away But the Government of England wisely considering the fickle Inclinations of the Irish and the danger of a general Defection of that Nation from a Protestant King seasonably provided for that Kingdom so that Edward Bellingham with the
them called Traytors or Rebels but advised rather to use the soft Expression of DISCONTENTED GENTLEMEN But the Protestants scorning to be put upon so one of them express'd himself so briskly and so judiciously that the Irish finding they could not get a better agreed with much ado to the Protestation against the Rebels recited here Append. 12. And so having sate two days the Parliament was Prorogued to the Eleventh of January having first appointed a Committee of Both Houses to Treat with the Rebels and a Commission issued accordingly but the Traytors were so pufft up with their innumerable Victories over the naked and unresisting English that they tore the Order of Parliament and the Letter that was sent them and refused to Treat But the Lord Dillon of Costilo who since the Rebellion broke out was by His Majesty's former Orders sworn Privy Counsellor was deputed by the Popish Lords to attend the King and the Lord Taaf and Mr. Burk went with him but before he Embarked he presented the Lords Justices and Council a scandalous Letter See it Append. 3. in nature of a Remonstrance from the Rebels of the County of Longford which nevertheless was framed in the Pale wherein amongst other things they demand Freedom of Religion and a Repeal of all Laws contrary thereunto And this produced the Vote of the Eighth of December in the Parliament of England That they would never give Toleration of the Popish Religion in Ireland or any other of His Majesty's Dominions These Irish Agents hapned to be intercepted by the Parliament and imprison'd and their Papers being rifled it was found to be one of the Private Instructions to the Lord Dillon to move That no Forces might be sent over to Ireland but that it might be left to the Remonstrants to suppress the Rebellion 2 Temple 9. But afterwards they made a shift to escape out of Prison and diligently followed the King's Camp and effectually sollicited the unhappy Cessation Husbands's Collections 2 part 247. which afterwards ensued and whereof this Longford Remonstrance was the Parent and Foundation But what regard these Lords had to His Majesty's Service will appear by their vain Expressions in a Letter to the Lord Muskery Anno 1642. viz. That tho' it did not stand with the Convenience of His Majesty's Affairs to give him Publick Countenance yet that the King was well pleas'd with what he did and would in time give him Thanks for it Which being dscovered to the Parliament by Mr. Jepson a Member of that House begat strange Jealousies of His Majesty's Proceedings then tho' now it is manifest those Expressions related to the Cessation that was in Enbryo and not to the Rebellion which the King always abhorr'd In the mean time the King sent some Arms from Scotland to Sir Robert Steward and others in Vlster on the Eighteenth of November and Commissions to raise Forces Particularly the Lord Mongomery had Commission to raise 1000 Foot and 500 Horse and he did raise the Foot and three Troops of the Horse And on the Nineteenth the Lords Justices had an Account that His Majesty had left the Management of the Irish War to the English Parliament and the Order of Parliament was sent to them together with 20000 l. in Money and a Commission to the Earl of Ormond to be Lieutenant-General of the Army and also the following Order of Both Houses of Parliament viz. THE Lords and Commons in this present Parliament being advertised of the dangerous Conspiracy and Rebellion in Ireland by the treacherous and wied Instigation of Romish Priests and Jesuits for the bloody Massacre an Destruction of all Protestants living there and other His Majesty's Loyal Subjects of English Blood tho' of the Romish Religion being ancient Inhabitants within several Counties and Parts of that Realm who have always a former Rebellions given Testimony of their Fidelity to this Crown and for the utter depriving of His Royal Majesty and the Crown of England 〈◊〉 the Government of that Kingdom under pretence of setting up the Poâ—â— Religion have therefore taken into their serious Consideration how the mischievous Attempts might be most speedily and effectually prevented wherein the Honor Safety and Interest of this Kingdom are most nearly and fully concerned Wherefore they do hereby declare That they do intendâ— serve His Majesty with their Lives and Fortunes for the Suppressinâ— of this wicked Rebellion in such a way as shall be thought most effectualâ— by the Wisdom and Authority of Parliament and thereupon have ordereâ— and provided for a present Supply of Money and raising the Number of Six thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse to be sent from England being â—â—e full Proportion desired by the Lords Justices and His Majesty's Councâ— resident in that Kingdom with a Resolution to add such further Succours as the Necessity of those Affairs shall require They have also resolved of providing Arms and Munition not only for those Men but likewise for His Majesty's faithful Subjects in that Kingdom with store of Victuals and other Necessaries as there shall be occasion and that these Provisions may more conveniently be transported thither they have appointed Three several Ports of this Kingdom that is to say Bristol Westchester and one other in Cumberland where the Magazins and Storehouses shall be kept for the Supply of the several Parts of Ireland They have likewise resolved to be humble Mediators to His Most Excellent Majesty for the Incouragement of those English or Irish who shall upon their own Charges raise any Number of Horse or Foot for His Service against the Rebels that they shall be honourably rewarded with Lands of Inheritance in Ireland according to their Merits And for the better inducing the Rebels to repent of their wicked Attempts they do hereby commend it to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or in his absence to the Lord Deputy or Lords Justices there according to the Power of the Commission granted them in that behalf to bestow His Majesty's gracious Pardon to all such as within a convenient Time to be declared by the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or Lords Justices and Council of that Kingdom shall return to their due Obedience the greatest part whereof they conceive have been seduced upon false Grounds by the cunning and subtile Practices of some of the most malignant Rebels Enemies to this State and to the Reformed Religion and likewise to bestow such Rewards as shall be thought fit and published by the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or Lords Justices and Council upon all those who shall arrest the Persons or bring in the Heads of such Traytors as shall be personally named in any Proclamation published by the State there And they 〈◊〉 hereby exhort and require all His Majesty's loving Subjects both in this and in that Kingdom to remember their Duty and Conscience to God and his Religion On the Twentieth day of November the Lords Justices wrote again to the Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant for Supplies of
That they were constrain'd to assemble together for the safety of their Lives that they were so terrified by the Excursions of some Horse and Foot from Dublin that murder'd Foor Catholicks merely for being so that they durst not stay at home and therefore resolved to continue together for their mutual Preservation until they should be assured by their Lordship of the safety of their Lives But these were but Pretences to palliate their Insurrection and to insinuate a Necessity of the Rebellion they had entred into and therefore the Lords Justices did endeavor in vain by two Proclamations of the Thirteenth of December to remove these Jealousies and satisfie or answer the Objections altho' in one of them they assured Nettervill and his Comragues of free egress and regress 2 Temple 29. and that the Four that were killed were in actual Hostility and one of them was a Protestant and in the other they declar'd That neither Sir Charles Coot nor any other did ever utter at the Council-board or elsewhere any Speeches tending to a Purpose or Resolution to exeecute on the Papists or any other a general Massacre nor was it ever in their thoughts to dishonor His Majesty or the State by so odious impious and detestable a thing and gave the Lords of the Pale assurance of their Safety if they would repair to Dublin the Seventeenth of that Month. But all these Condescensions had no good effect on the contrary these Favours were interpreted to proceed from the weakness of the State and consequently tended to heighten the Insolencies of the Rebels For that very day after the Proclamations were published some of Netervill's Party seised a Boat in the Harbor of Dublin 2 Temple 27. and robbed it and put the Pillage into Mr. King's House at Clontarfe and threatned to encamp at Clontarfe which is but two small Miles from Dublin Whereupon the next day being the Fourteenth of December the Lieutenant-General was ordered to send out a Party to Clontarfe to remove them which Sir Charles Coot on the Fifteenth of December performed effectually without any Opposition and burned the village and Mr. King's House In like manner the Lords of the Pale slighted the aforesaid Proclamations and on the Sixteenth day of December proceeded to appoint General Officers and declared the Lord Gormanstown General of the Pale Hugh Birne Lieutenant-General the Earl of Fingall General of the Horse and gave such Order about raising Men and Provisions as they thought convenient Nettervill and his Party being reinforced from Kildare and Wicklow continued at Finglas and Santry from the Fifteenth of December to the Twenty second at which time Colonel Crawford drove them from Finglas with much ado and the very Name and Approach of Sir Charles Coot frightned them from Santry in such haste that they left a great deal of their Equipage and Provisions behind them And yet at the same time Three hundred Rebels appear'd again at Clantarf and had the day before robb'd two English Barks in the Harbor and carried the Booty to Barnwall's House at Brimore and the Prisoners to the Lord Gormanstown's House whence they were sent to Balruthery And thus Dublin was in a manner blockt up Naas Kildare Trim and Ashboy were in the Rebels Hands and the City was almost surrounded with Irish Soldiers Nettervill lying at Swords with Two thousand Men took the Castle of Artain within two Miles of Dublin and Colonel Roger Moor lay at Rathcool with Two thousand more and Four thousand of the County of Wicklow came within four Miles of Dublin on that side so that the Government could give no Relief to the Distressed Protestants who were coopt up in several Castles and made piteous Complaints And therefore the State was necessitated to suffer the English of the Inland Counties to be destroy'd and all the Walled Towns in the Kingdom Tredagh and Carigfergus and the Walled Towns of the Counties of London-derry and Cork only excepted to be reduced under the Power of the Rebels who in imitation of the Holy League in France styled themselves THE CATHOLICK ARMY and took the following Oath of Association framed by the Clergy so that all the Government could do was to write a mournful Letter to the Lord Lieutenant which is to be found 2 Temple 39. and is very well worth perusal but too long to be here inserted The Oath taken by the Irish I A. B. do in the Presence of Almighty God and all the Saints and Angels in Heaven promise vow swear and protest to maintain and defend as far as I may with my Life Power and Estate the Publick and Free Exercise of the True and Roman Catholick Religion against all Persons that shall oppose the same I further swear That I will bear Faith and true Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King CHARLES His Hiers and Successors and that I will defend Him and Them as far as I may with my Life Power and Estate against all such Persons as shall attempt any thing against their Royal Persons Honors Estates and Dignities and against all such as shall directly or indirectly endeavour to suppress their Royal Prerogatives or do any Act or Acts contrary to Regal Government as also the Power and Privileges of Parliament the Lawful Rights and Privileges of the Subjects and every Person that makes this Vow Oath and Protestation in whatsoever he shall do in the lawful pursuance of the same And to my power as far as I may I will oppose and by all means and ways endeavor to bring to condign Punishment even to the loss of Life Liberty and Estate all such as shall either by Force Practice Counsels Plots Conspiracies or otherwise do or attempt any thing to the contrary of any Article Clause or any thing in this present Vow Oath or Protestation contained So God me help In the mean time a Foot Company of the Standing Army commanded by White of Lexlip a Papist revolted entirely to the Rebels and so many disguised Papists revolted from the Army which was full of them that in some Companies there were not above seven or eight Men left which manifests the Conspiracy was general when Men so circumstanced should betray their Trust and leaves a necessary Caution to Posterity not to trust any more of that Kidney in such Stations However the Garison of Tredagh was not discouraged by this Accident but on the third of October made a successful Sally to the slaughter of Two hundred Rebels But on the first of January the King declared the Irish to be Rebels by Proclamation Appendix 13. and signed Forty of them being the Number desir'd by the Lords Justices and Council with his own Hand and affixed his Privy Signet unto them and they were brought to Dublin on the twentieth of January and published without any effect In the mean time the Lords Justices on the twenty eighth of December issued a Proclamation to prohibit Strangers from flocking to Dublin without License and another
Remonstrants pretend to justify their Insurrection which nevertheless themselves in their Declaration in Parliament the 16 th of November 1641. have confessed to be traiterous and rebellions and at the same time pretended an Abhorrence of the abominable Murthers and Outrages of the Rebels which now they palliate as a forced taking up of Arms in their own own Defence by discontented Gentlemen Neither was that Declaration forced from them but passed in due course and order and at their own request tho' some of them would have couch'd it in softer terms for fear the Rebels might recriminate but they were outvoted without either violence or threatnings as is most falsly suggested Neither is it true that the Northern Rebels ever sent any Address to the State except the presumptuous Proposition from those of Cavan which was favourably received as hath been already related but it is wisely done of the Remonstrants to pass slightly over the Massacre in Vlster since it is not possible to justifie that barbarous Cruelty In the Proclamation of the 23 of October there is no mention of the Proroguing the Parliament and because some of the Pale did quarrel at the words Irish Papists as if themselves were included therein the Lords Justices issued a Second Proclamation to satisfie them in that Point and tho' there was a necessity of Proroguing the Parliament to avoid concourse to Dublin in that dangerous time yet it was not done without the Kings special Warrant for it who design'd that the Lord Lieutenant should be present at the Session and tho' the Kings Order was to Prorogue it to the latter end of February yet to comply with the Importunity of some of the Remonstrants who were then thought Faithful to the Government the Members were permitted to meet the 9 th of November and Adjorn'd to the 16 th and then Sat two days and shortned the Prorogation to the 11 th of January and tho' in that short Session and that troublesome time it was impossible to pass any of the Graces into Acts yet the Lords Justices did then acquaint the Houses That His Majesty would not depart from any of his former favours promised to them for setling their Estates to such as should remain faithful and Loyal That as to Armed men it was no other than hath been in all Parliaments there before and since viz. the Garrison of the Castle of Dublin in which the Parliament sits always makes a Guard for the Chief Governor and Members of Parliament but neither used Threats committed Violence or presented their Musquets as is unsincerly and untruly suggested nor could the Remonstrants apprehend any danger from this mark of respect shewn them by the Guard if their own inward Guilt had not begat Jealousies in them of what others never thought of for if the Lords Justices would have seiz'd the Persons of some of the Remonstrants upon just Suspitions and violent Presumptions what hindred them certainly nothing but a hopes by mildness and good usage to settle and fix their staggering Loyalty And it is strange that the Remonstrants pretend that any part of the Kingdom was quiet when it appears by Mac Mahon's Examination that the Conspiracy was universal and that the great Towns and Cities would revolt as soon after they did except where the Protestant Inhabitants or his Majesties Soldiers were too strong for them and Collonel Plunket aver'd That all the Catholick Lords had contracted under their hands to joyn in this Insurrection which indefinite expression must be understood to intend all those that did afterwards unite with the Rebels which were indeed all but a very few and he wrote to the Lord Abbot of Melifont that he had been a means to incite the Lords and Gentlemen of the Pale to appear in the blessed Cause then in hand and would use his endeavours night and day ad majorem Dei gloriam And it is to be observ'd that the Collonels John Barry Taaf Garret Barry and Porter who had Warrants to transport four Regiments and were therein Assisted by the Lords Justices did upon several pretences defer it till the 23 d. of October and soon after Garret Barret and his whole Regiment and most of the rest of the Soldiers went into Rebellion and if we add the general discourse amongst the Rebels in Vlster on the 23 d. and 24 th of October exfressing to the plunder'd English an assurance that Dublin was taken and the like mutterings in Munster and Conaught and the antecedent Threats of a general Rebellion and their Consultations at Multifernam mentioned in Doctor Jones his Examination it will be manifest that the Conspiracy was general and premeditated But the Remonstrants suggest that the Lords Justices applied themselves to such powerful Members of Parliament as opposed his Majesty which is like the rest for at that time the King was in Scotland and there was no difference between his Majesty and the Parliament except in relation to the Earl of Strafford whom the Remonstrants most violently prosecuted besides the Lords Justices did not sent to the Parliament at first but on the 25 th of October sent one Express to the King and another to the Lord Lieutenant according to his Majesties former Orders and seeing themselves by the generality of the Rebellion necessitated to invoke all Powers that could Assist them they did on the 5 th of November and not before write to the Privy Council and to the Speakers of both Houses and they sent Duplicates of those dispatches to his Majesty the very same day And tho' it was the highest reason that could be that the Lords Justices should first Arm the Protestant Subjects whom they might confidein for the defence of their own Lives and the Government yet they did also issue Arms to such Papists as they had any hope of and particularly 1700 Arms to those of the Pale some of which were recovered again but most of them were perfidiously made use of against the State neither were the Catholick Inhabitants of Dublin Disarm'd until those of the Pale had declared themselves in Rebellion and then their Alliance and Correspondence with the others made that Action necessary Arms were likewise sent to Wexford Waterford and Trim and Letters of Encouragement to those places and to Gallway The Order of Parliament to Pardon the Irish was publish'd in Print the 12 th of November and dispersed into all parts of the Kingdom but without any more effect than the Lords Justices Proclamation of Pardon of the 30 th of October met with and the Lords Justices Proclamation of the First of November to Pardon those of the Counties of Louth Westmeath Meath and Longford except Freeholders and Murderers was drawn by Mr. Nicholas Plunket and other Members of Parliament and thereupon some few submitted but never restor'd what they had plunder'd from the Protestants but soon after Apostatiz'd into Rebellion again neither did they shew any more respect to his Majesties own Proclamation under his Royal Signet nor
which they were wont to extort upon such Towns and Villages of the Churches as were near and next bordering upon them Fifthly That when Earick or Composition is made among the Lay-People for any Murther That no Person of the Clergy though he be kin to any of the Parties shall contribute any thing thereunto but as they be guiltless from the Murther so shall they be free from Payment of Mony for any such Earick or Release for the same Sixthly That all and every Good Christian being Sick and Weak shall before the Priest and his Neighbours make his last Will and Testament and his Debts and Servant's Wages being paid all his Moveables to be divided if he have any Children into three Parts whereof one Part to be to the Children another to his Wife and the third Part to be for the Performance of his Will And if so be he have no Children then the Goods to be divided into two Parts whereof the one Moyety to his Wife and the other to the Performance of his Will and Testament And if he have no Wife but only Children then the Goods to be likewise divided into two Parts whereof the one to himself and the other to his Children Seventhly That every Christian being Dead and dying in the Catholick Faith shall be reverendly brought to the Church and to be buried as appertaineth Finally That all the Divine Service in the Church of Ireland shall be Kept Used and Observed in the like Order and Manner as it is in the Church of England For it is Meet and Right That as by God's Providence and Appointment Ireland is now become Subject and under the King of England so the same should take from thence the Order Rule and Manner how to Reform themselves and to Live in better Order For whatsoever Good Thing is befallen to the Church and Realm of Ireland either concerning Religion or peaceable Government they owe the same to the King of England and are to be thankful unto him for the same For before his coming into the Land of Ireland many and all sorts of Wickedness in Times past flowed and and reigned among them all which now by his Authority and Goodness are abolish'd And so says Cambrensis they having owned the King Supreme in Church and State he confirmed their Canons by his Royal Authority And it seems to me That at the same Synod the King declared his Pleasure to govern Ireland by the Laws of England Whereto they consented and swore Obedience accordingly for thus my Author phrases it Leges Angliae sunt ab omnibus gratanter receptae juratoria cautione praestita confirmatae Temple 5. And though others say This was done at a Synod Matth. Paris held about this Time at Lismore Yet I rather believe That the Bishop of Lismore his presiding at Cashel as he did being the Pope's Legate gave rise to the Mistake of the Place than that there should be two such famous Synods celebrated in the same Province in one Year But however that be this is certain That the King soon after his return into England caused an antient Treatise 4 Inst. 12. called Modus tenendi Parliamentum to be transcribed in a Parchment-Roll and to be sent into Ireland for their better Instruction The King kept his Christmas at Dublin in as great State as that Place would admit of for there was not any House to be found there that was capable of his Retinue and therefore he was necessitated to build a long Cabin with smooth'd Wattles after the Fashion of the Country and almost in the Nature of a Tent which being well furnished with Plate Housholdstuff and good Chear made a better Appearance than ever had been seen in Ireland before that Time and accordingly it was admired and applauded by the Irish Potentates who flocked thither to pay their Duty to the King But it was Time for Henry to mind his Foreign Affairs and therefore in order to his return to England he went to Wexford and there he staid almost three Months during which Time the Weather was so tempestuous that Ships durst not adventure to Sea so that the King could neither get to England nor receive any Intelligence from thence At length after Mid-Lent a Vessel arrived with the bad News of the King's Sons being in Rebellion and of the coming of the Pope's Legates to Interdict the Kingdom for the Murder of Becket He was also distressed in Ireland by the Plague which raged in his Army and by the want of Victuals which now began to be very scarce and dear so that he was necessitated to hasten to England although he was much troubled to leave Ireland in that unsetled Condition and without some Castles and Fortresses which he design'd and thought necessary for its Conservation But the Kings Jealousie was not so much of the Irish as it was of Strongbow whose Reputation and Interest were very great And therefore to ballance him the King raised several Grandees and gave them large Portions of Land together with great Jurisdictions and Priviledges particularly he gave Vlster to the famous John de Courcy and Meath to Hugh de Lacy and left Lacy with twenty Gentlemen and Robert Fitz-Stephens and Maurice Fitz-Girald with twenty more Governours of Dublin Waterford was committed to the Care of Humphry de Bohun Robert Fitz-Barnard and Hugh de Gondeville who had twenty Gentlemen to attend them and William Fitz-Adelme Philip of Hastings and Philip de Bruce had the like number of Gentlemen to keep Wexford And so in the Morning on Easter-Monday the King went on Board and was by Noon the same Day landed at S. Davids in Wales He left Hugh de Lacy Chief Governour Some call him O Râ—â—â—k or Lord Justice of Ireland who kept his Residence at Dublin and thither came to him O Mlaghlin of Meath to complain of some Hardships and Inconveniences he pretended to suffer in that Country or rather to adjust Matters between them about their respective Interests and Estates in Meath for he desired a Parly at the Hill of Taragh To which Lacy very readily consented And so after reciprocal Oaths for each others Safety 1173. they met at the Time and Place appointed O Mlaghlin had treacherously prepared an Ambush and when he found his Opportunity he gave them the Signal and upon their Approach he with a Pale Grim Countenance and with a Spar in his Hand made up to Lacy and assaulted him But it happened That one Griffith the Night before the Parly had dreamt That a parcel of Hogs fell upon Lacy and had killed him if he had not slain the great Boar This Dream being told to Maurice Fitz-Girald he gave such regard to it as Superstitious Men commonly do to such Whimsies and believing that it did forbode some Danger to Lacy he caused Griffith and six more secretly to arm themselves and to ride near the Place of Parley as it were for Pleasure and to be ready
Ophaly till he made him consent to accept of worse situated Land in lieu of it He made his Nephew Walter Almain a corrupt beggarly Fellow says Cambrensis Seneschal of Wexford and Waterford who received Bribes from Mac Morough of Kensile to prejudice the Fitz-Geralds and so Mercenary was Fitz-Adelm himself that the Irish flock'd unto him as to a Fair to buy their Demands At last having neither done Honour to the King nor Good to the Country he was revok'd and in his Room the King appointed Hugh de Lacy 1179. Lord Justice of Ireland to whom Robert le Poer the King's Marshal Governour of Waterford and Wexford was made Coadjutor Counsellor or assistant The King Lib. G. Lamb. at a Parliament held at Oxford anno 1177 had given the Kingdom of Cork The Patent from the River next Lismore running between that and Cork i.e. the River Bride to Knock-Brandon near the Shenin and so to the Sea unto Cogan and Fitz-Stephens Tenendum of him and his Son John per sexaginta feoda militaria except the City of Cork and the Cantred adjoyning which was the Eastmens He also gave the Kingdom of Limerick to the Brothers and Nephew of Richard Earl of Cornwal but they finding they could not get Possession in a little Time surrendred their unprofitable Grant Whereupon the King bestowed it upon Philip de Broase to be held of the King and his Son John by sixty Knights Fees and the City and a Cantred adjoyning were likewise excepted out of this Grant These three Adventurers joyned their Forces together and came to Waterford in November and so coasted it to Cork where they were kindly received by Richard de Londres the Governour Cogan and Fitz-Stephens agreed with Mac Carthy and the Irish Gentry That they should hold four and twenty Cantreds paying a small yearly Rent and of the seven Cantreds near Cork Cogan had the four Southern and Fitz-Stephens the three that were on the East-side of the City The Kingdom of Cork being thus setled they marched with Broase to Limerick with sixty Gentlemen one hundred and fifty Horse and a smart Party of Foot As soon as the Citizens perceived them they set the Town on Fire at which desperate Barbarity Broase was so offended that he could not be prevailed upon by any Arguments to settle there or to have any thing to do with such Rash and Heathenish People and therefore they returned to Cork which for some Time after Cogan and Fitz-Stephens joyntly and happily governed This Kingdom of Cork descended to Daughters Hooker 46. Hanmer 158. Brady 369. and so came by Marriage to Robert de Carew and Patrick de Courcy about the twentieth Year of the Reign of Henry III. Courcy's part of it was afterwards subdvided among many Daughters who were Heirs General of that Family so that a very small Proportion of it remains with the Heir-Male of that Name who was anciently Baron of Ringrone but now has the Title of Lord Baron of Kingsale As for the Carews they were Marquesses of Cork and built the Castles of Ardtully Dunkeran and Down Marque but they removed out of Ireland in the Time of the Civil Wars between York and Lancaster and others intruded into their Possessions and Estate and keep them to this Day except what they have sold or forfeited About this Time Sir Thomas de Clare obtained a Grant of Thomond Davis 122. as Otho de Grandison did of Typerary and Robert le Poer of Waterford and William Fitz-Adelm also got a large Proportion of Connaugh But it is time to return to the valiant John de Courcy Brady 368. who was engaged in Vriel on this Occasion he had sent into England for Victuals Ammunition and other Necessaries the Ship by Stress of Weather was driven into a Creek called Torshead O Hanlon and his Followers immediately came on Board the Vessel and murdered all that were in it and seized on the Cargo As soon as Courcy had Notice of this Misfortune he drew his Men together being above a thousand and marched towards the Newry on the Way he received Advice That the Irish were encamped near Dundalk in a great Body to the Number of seven thousand Courcy sent a Fryer to them and instructed him to tell them That there were great Forces arrived at Drogheda from England and that they were very near them and to justifie this Story the English did march with the greatest Shew and Appearance they could make and made a great Shout wherewith the Enemy was so daunted that they fled towards the River in great Confusion but the Tide being in many were drowned and more were slain However O Hanlon and the greatest part of his Army got over the River but the Frier guided the English over a Ford so that they came to a second Encounter wherein the Irish were so desperate That the English Foot were forced to retire but the Valiant Sir Armorick came in seasonably to their Rescue and persuaded them to rally and to make another Charge which they performed so briskly that the Irish were obliged to withdraw to the Fews as the English also did to Dundalk neither Party much boasting of the Victory because the Slaughter was great on both sides About this time two Cardinals come to England to invite the English and Irish Bishops to the Council of Lateran There went from hence Lawrence Archbishop of Dublin Catholicus Archbishop of Tuam and others but all of them first swore Not to procure any Damage to the King or his Dominions Sullevan Which Oath Lawrence did not very religiously observe for he not only spoke vehemently in the Council against the King's Administration of Affairs in Ireland but as the Irish say he obtained a Bull of Revocation from the Pope annulling the former Bulls granted to the King But this is not probable because no such Bull is extant and if there were it would be void but it is certain he was an inveterate Enemy to the English and gave them all the Opposition and Disquiet he could However he was reputed a very Holy Man being zealously addicted to the Superstitious Devotion Hanmer 163. so that he was canonized by Pope Honorius III. This is recorded of him That he was so grateful to the See of Rome for his Pall or so great an abhorrer of Immodesty that he refused to absolve the Priests convicted of that Sin insomuch that he sent one hundred and forty of them to Rome to pay for their Absolution there But it is time to return to the Lord Justice Lacy who govern'd very well and built many Castles in convenient Places and particularly Castle-Dermond Leighlin Leix Delvin 1180. Carlow Tullaghphelim and Kilka and Courcy was no less diligent in raising that kind of Fortification in Vlster However Lacy had given just Cause of Jealousie by marrying the Daughter of Rotherick King of Connaught whereupon his Enemis impeached him suggesting that he confederated with the Irish
to raise a Monarchy for himself Whereupon he was recalled and the Government committed unto John Constable of Cheshire May 1181. Baron of Halton-Castle and Richard de Peach Lord Bishop of Coventry Lords Justices of Ireland But they continued in that Dignity but three Months for Lacy behaved himself with that Discretion and Modesty and gave the King such Satisfaction in all Matters objected against him That Hugh de Lacy August 1181. Lord Justice was again sent over with Robert of Shrewsbury a Clergy-man his Assistant and about the same time the famous Courcy also returned being Dignified with the Titles of Lord of Connaught and Earl of Vlster and accompanied with his Brother S. Laurence There were some who reported That these two fought a successful Battle with the Irish Brady 367. at the Bridge of Ivora near the Hill of Hoath where the Valour of S. Laurence was so conspicuous that it got him both the Land and Title of Hoath which last continues to this Day in his Name and Family We left Cogan and Fitz-Stephens in the peaceable Enjoyment of their Kingdom of Cork but we shall not find them so for Cogan and young Fitz-Stephens at the Persuasion and Invitation of one Mac Tirid made a Journey to Lismore to treat with the Men of Waterford about some Controversies that were between them they were to lodge at Mac Tirid's House but he perfidiously took his Opportunity and unexpectedly fell upon them and murdered them and five of their Company Immediately the whole Country was up in Arms and conspired a general Rebellion Donald More in Curraugh Mac Carthy whom the Irish still called King of Cork got his Forces together and laid Siege to the City not doubting but that he had now a favourable Opportunity to expel the English thence The Poor Old Fitz-Stephens was in a sad Condition distressed by Enemies without and Suspicions of Traytors within he had no Hopes of Relief or Assistance saving only from Reymond le Gross who lay at Wexford to him a Messenger was sent and without Delay put to Sea with twenty Gentlemen and one hundred Archers and entred the River of Cork whereupon the Enemy dispersed and all was set at Rights again Nevertheless as soon as the King heard of the aforesaid Treachery he sent Richard Cogan Philip Barry Giraldus Cambrensis and a Good Party of Horse and Foot to help Fitz-Stephens by their Assistance the City and Kingdom of Cork were kept in Quiet for some Time but the Old Fitz-Stephens had but little Benefit of it for being much broken with Age and Misfortunes he first lost his Senses and not long afterwards his Life But Lacy the Lord Justice was again become suspected for as he grew Great his Enemies grew Envious and the King Jealous so that he was once more sent for and Philip of Worcester September 1184. Lord Justice or Governour of Ireland came over with a smart Party of Horse and Foot he also brought with him Hugh Tirrel a Man of ill Report He was not long in the Government before he seized on the Lands of O Cathesie to the King's Use though Lacy had formerly sold them He also went a Circuit to visit the Garisons and in March came to Armagh where he exacted from the Clergy a great Sum of Mony thence he went to Down and so to Dublin loaden both with Curses and Extortions Tirrel took a Brewing-Pan from the poor Priests at Armagh and carried it to Down but the House where he lay was burnt and so were also the Horses in the Stable so that he was fain to leave the Pan for want of Carriage and Philip had a severe fit of the Gripes like to cost him his Life both which Punishments they say were miraculously inflicted upon them for their Sacrilege In July came over John Comin Archbishop of Dublin to prepare for the King 's youngest Son John Earl of Moreton to whom the Kingdom of Ireland was assigned towards his Portion Brady 369. Some say that he was made King of Ireland at the Parliament held at Oxford 4 Inst 360. anno 1177. his Father having obtained Licence from the Pope to make which of his Sons he pleased King thereof saving to the See of Rome the Peter-pence and the rest of its Rights And it seems Pope Vrban the Third sent Cardinal Octavianus and Hugo de Nunant his Legates to crown John King of Ireland and by them sent him a Crown of Peacocks Feathers But King Henry better considered of that matter and either because he would not seem to derive his Son's Title from the Pope or because he was loath to trust his Son with that Royal Stile having already suffered by the like Indulgence to his eldest Son or because he saw it Inconvenient and Illegal to separate Ireland from the Crown of England It is certain he found means to carry the Legates with him into Normandy and thereby prevented that once designed Coronation So that the Impression of the Great Seal of Ireland was no more than this Johannes Filius Regis Angliae Speed 478. Domini Hiberniae Earl John was then about twelve Years old when on Wednesday in Easter-week 1185. anno 1185 with about four hundred Gentlemen most Normans some Clerks and particularly Giraldus Cambrensis and a great Company of others he took Shipping at Milford-Haven being accompanied to the very Ship by Randulph Glanvile principal Counseller of the King and Kingdom and Justiciary of England The Irish Potentates flock'd to their new Prince but their Trouses and Mantles their Glibbs and Behaviour were derided by the Normans who used them scurrilously one pats the Irish Prince on the Pate another pulls him by the Mantle a third pricks him in the Breech with a Pin a fourth shuts the Door upon his Heels every Body abuses them Wherefore away they get as fast as they can and every-where publish'd the Ill Usage they received at Court Rotherick O Conner Mac Carthy and O Bryan were then preparing for their Journey but upon this News they better considered it and confederated to raise a general Rebellion There were many Reasons why Earl John's Voyage to Ireland was not successful The Superstitious People observ'd That he had not pay'd his Devotions at S. Davids before he imbarqued and attributed it to that Others blamed him and his Followers more for their Rude and Ungenteel Abuse of the Irish Lords and Gentlemen Others imputed all to the Debauchery of the Soldiers who by the example of their Captains were grown Idle and Insolent Wherein they were the more indulged because they were ill paid To these may be added the Litigiousness of the Natives in Towns and Cities who were perpetually wrangling with and suing such new Inhabitants as came to settle among them But there was a greater Cause than all these which arose from the different Interests then in Ireland which inâ—luenced the Normans English Welch and the Natives The Normans were most in
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
Annum for the other two parts saving and reserving to the King two Cantreds with the Inhabitants and liberty of building Castles therein The King liked the Proposal well enough and communicated it to the Lord Justice and referr'd it to him adding That it would do well if the Lord Justice could squeeze a Fine of four hundred Marks from the King of Connaught together with a yearly Tribute of Cows 1208. to supply such Castles as should be built in those Cantreds Hugh de Lacy was made Lord Deputy upon the Lord Justice his going to England and soon after viz. the Eighth of November the King by Patent Dated at Woodstock whereunto Meyler Fitz-Henry Lord Justice is Witness did confirm to William Fitz Philip Barry the three Cantreds of Olethan Muskry Dunegan and Killedy which Fitz Stephens had given his Father in the Kingdom of Cork 4 Inst 359. to be held of the King by Ten Knights Fees Lib. GGG and he also granted to William Marshal the Marshalship of Ireland in Fee as also the Cantred of Kilkenny About this time Jeofry Morison or Mac Moris was troublesome in Munster wherefore the Lord Deputy invaded Typerary Hanmer 186. and took Thurles he also took Castlemeyler and demolished it but the Irish say he lost more men in this Expedition than he brought back And now the King finding many Complaints of Thieves Tories and Robbers which were become a Nusance in Ireland sent the following Writ for their expulsion REX Meyler Prin 250. fil Henr. Justic Hiberniae c. omnibus aliis Baron fidelibus suis Hibern c. Sciatis quod ad voluntatem consilium dilectorum fidelium nostrorum Com. W. Maresc Walteri de Lacy aliorum Baronum nostrorum Hibern qui nobiscum fuerunt in Angl. per consilium fidelium nostror Angl. volumus statuimus quod Latrones Hibern expellantur de Terra nostra Hibern quod ipsi receptores eorum deducantur secundum Legem Angl. ideo vobis mandamus quod ita fieri faciatis in hujus rei testimonium has Literas nostras Patent vobis mittimus Teste Meipso apud Southhampt 23 Die Martii But Lacy was so elevated with the aforesaid Victories how dear soever they were bought that he look'd on all below him with Contempt and became so impatient of Competition that he was outragious against all his Enemies and particularly against John de Courcy Lord of Raheny and Kilbarrock Natural Son of the great John de Courcy whom the Lacies basely and barbarously caused to be murdered whereupon great Stirs and Dissatisfactions arose in Ireland even among the British Temple 6. whereof the Irish made their advantage Hanmer 187. and under pretence of being burdened with Taxes there was a general Defection throughout all the Realm Dublin was inhabited mostly by a Colony of Bristol Men 1209. and it was customary with them for love of Sport and Air to walk abroad toward Cullenwood every Easter-Monday but now being unarmed they were surprized by the Mountaneers of Wicklow the Birnes and Tooles c. who murdered three hundred of the Citizens wherefore that Day is ever since called Black Monday and for a long time after was solemnly observed by the Mayor Sheriffs and Citizens of Dublin in a brave and splendid manner and to supply this Loss the City of Bristol sent a new Colony to replenish Dublin But the King as well to secure his goverment from the ambition of Lacy whereof he grew exceeding jealous as also to suppress the Rebellion of the Irish found it necessary to make a Voyage to that Countrey and therefore with a considerable Army he sailed thither and on the Eighth Day of June landed at Waterford 1210. where O Neal and above Twenty other Irish Potentates came and made their humble Submissions and did Homage and Fealty unto him The Lacies conscious of their Demerits durst not abide the Arrival of the King but secretly fled into France where in Disguise they served the Abbot of St. Taurin in the quality of Gardeners till their unskilfulness manifested they were not educated in that way which gave the Abbot some suspicion of them and that led him into so strict an Enquiry that to satisfie the Abbot they were obliged to discover the Truth Speed 508. The good man did so sympathize with their Misfortunes and pitied their Distress that he effectually interceded with the King for their Pardon which at length he obtain'd Walter paying for Meath 2500 and Hugh for Vlster 4000 Marks Cattalus or rather Carolus O Conner alias Crovederg the Valiant and Active King of Connaught was the only Man of Note that opposed King John but he was an unequal Match for the King of England Cambden 152. and therefore was easily subdued and taken Prisoner Wherefore the King having no more of Military Matters to execute in Ireland seriously set himself to mend the Civil State of that unfortunate Country and first he caused Money to be Coyned ad Pondus Nummi Angliae and made it currant in both Kingdoms by his Proclamation which was the first Sterling Money that was Coyned in Ireland Lib. M. 25. and this done he set himself to establish the English Laws in that Kingdom For though King Henry had done as much to introduce the English Laws there as that Season and other Circumstances would permit yet partly for want of Sheriffs and the Distribution of the Kingdom into Counties but chiefly because of the unsetledness of the Country and the rebellious humour of the Irish it could not at that time be fully effected Wherefore King John to supply those Defects as far as he was able divided Leinster and Munster the only part he had in quiet and actual possession into the Counties of Dublin Kildare Meath Vriel Caterlogh Kilkenny Wexford Waterford Cork Limerick Typerary and Kerry and appointed Sheriffs and other Officers for them after the manner of England He also caused an Abstract of the English Laws and Customs to be drawn in writing Inst 141. b. 4 Inst 349. whereunto he affixed his Seal and left it in the Exchequer in Dublin and by general consent in Parliament and at the instance of the Irish he ordained that the English Laws and Customs should thenceforward be observed in Ireland Temple 6. and in order to it he erected Courts of Judicature at Dublin But the Brehon Law and the other Irish Customs indulged more to the Tyrannie of the great Men and yet did not hold the Commons to a strict and regular Discipline as the Laws of England did and therefore the very English were so corrupted by ill Example that the English Laws were not regarded nor had in Estimation as they ought but were look'd upon both by the Irish and degenerate English Davis 90. lib. M. as a Yoke of Bondage so that Henry III was necessitated oftentimes to enjoyn the Observation of them In
the first and third Year of his Reign he did confirm them and in the eleventh Year he sent the following Writ which I recite at large because I find it curtail'd both in Calvin's Case and my Lord Cooks first Institutes 141. b. And what else King Henry did in this Matter shall be mentioned in the Account of his Reign REX Lib. GGG c. Baronibus militibus aliis libere tenentibus Lageniae salutem c. Satis ut credimus vestra audivit discretio quod cum bonae Memoriae Johannes quondam Rex Angliae pater noster venit in Hiberniam ipse duxit secum viros discretos legis peritos quorum communi consilio ad instantiam Hibernensium statuit praecepit Leges Anglicanas teneri in Hibernia ita quod leges easdem in scriptis redactas reliquit sub Sigillo suo ad Scaccar Dublin Cum igitur Consuetudo Lex Angliae fuerit quod si aliquis desponsaverit aliquam mulierem sive viduam sive aliam haereditatem habentem ipse postmodum ex ea prolem suscitaverit cujus clamor auditus fuerit infra quatuor parietes idem vir si supervixerit ipsam Vxorem suam habebit tota vita sua custodiam Haereditatis Vxoris suae licet ea forte habuerit Haeredem de primo viro suo qui fuerit plenae aetatis vobis mandamus injungentes quatenus in loquela quae est in Cur. Wilm Com. Maresc inter Mauritium Fitz-Gerrald petent Galfridum de Marisco Justiciarium nostrum Hiberniae tenentem vel in alia loquela quae fuerit in casu praedicto nullo modo justitiam in contrar facere presumatis Teste Rege apud W. decim Decemb. And thus King John having exceeding well acquitted himself in Ireland and thereby in a great measure attoned for Miscarriages of his former Voyage he departed thence on the thirtieth Day of August 1210. having first appointed John Gray Bishop of Norwich Lord Justice who kept the Kingdom in so good Order that he was able to spare three hundred Foot besides Horse 1211. to aid the King in France where they did good Service and yet most of them safely returned to Ireland About this Time happened the famous Story of John de Courcy 1212. which I will give you in the very Words of Hanmer because he expresses it much better than it is in Cambden's Annals Not long after Hanmer 184. there fell some Difference between John King of England and Philip King of France for the Right of some Fort in Normandy who to avoid the shedding of Christian Blood agreed of each Side to put it to a Combat Of King Philip's part there was a French-man in Readiness King John upon the sudden wist not what to do for a Champion to encounter with him at length one attending upon his Person enformed him That there was one Courcy in the Tower of London the only Man in his Dominions if he would undertake it to answer the Challenge King John joyful of this sent the first yea the second and third Time promising large Rewards and rich Gifts and that it stood him upon as far as the Honour of his Crown and Kingdom did reach to make good the Combat Courcy answered very frowardly the which was taken in good Part in regard of the urgent Necessity That he would never fight for him neither for any such as he was That he was not worthy to have one Drop of Blood spilt for him That he was not able to requite him the Wrongs he had done him neither to restore him the Hearts-Ease he had bereav'd him of Yet notwithstanding all the Premises he was willing and would with all Expedition be ready to venture his Life in Defence of the Crown and his Country Whereupon it was agreed He should be dyeted apparelled and armed to his Content and that his own Sword should be brought him out of Ireland The Day came the Place appointed the Lists provided the Scaffolds set up the Princes with their Nobility of each Side with thousands in Expectation forth comes the French Champion gave a turn and rests him in his Tent They sent for Courcy who all this while was trussing of himself about with strong Points and answered the Messengers That if any of their Company were to go to such a Banquet he would make no great haste However forth he comes gave a Turn and went into his Tent. When the Trumpets sounded to Battle forth came the Combitants and viewed each other Courcy beheld him with a wonderful stern Countenance and passed by The French-man not liking his grim Look the strong Proportion and Feature of his Person stalked still along and when the Trumpets sounded the last Charge Courcy drew out his Sword and the French-man ran away and conveyed himself to Spain Whereupon they sounded Victory the People clapt their Hands and cast up their Caps King Philip desired King John That Courcy might be called before them to shew some Part of his Strength and Manhood by a Blow upon a Helmet it was agreed a Stake was set in the Ground and a Shirt of Male and a Helmet thereon Courcy drew his Sword looked wonderful sternly upon the Princes cleft the Helmet Shirt of Mail and the Stake so far in that none could pull it out but himself Then the Princes demanded of him What he meant to look so sowerly upon them His answer was If he had missed his Blow upon the Block he would have cut off both the Kings Heads All that he said was taken in good Part and King John discharged him of all his Troubles gave him great Gifts and restored him to his former Possessions in Ireland It is written further That hereupon he sailed into England came to Westchester offered himself to the Sea and was put back again fifteen times by contrary Winds which rose upon a sudden to the English Shore And in the Book of Houth it is delivered That upon every Repulse the Night following he was admonished in a Vision Not to attempt the Seas for to sail into Ireland and that he should never set Foot upon any Land there and withal that the Reason was yielded thus Courcy thou hast done very ill for thou hast pulled down the Master and set up the Servant for he had translated the Cathedral Church and the Prebendaries of the Blessed Trinity in Dune into an Abbey of Black Monks brought thither from Chester and consecrated the same to the Honour of S. Patrick Whereupon remembring himself That he had done very ill in taking the Name from God and giving it to a Creature he gave Sentence upon himself That he was worthily punished and immediately he altered his Course went into France and there died But 't is Time to return to our Lord Justice who was sent for into England and ordered to leave the Government in the Hands of Henry de Londres Archbishop of Dublin Lord Justice July 23. he had
publickly opposed the King's Alienation or Resignation of his Dominions to the Pope 1213. He governed the Kingdom very well but at the end of two Years he went to Rome either to solicit Aid for the King against the Barons or to be present at a General Council He left Geofry de Marisco 1215. Lord Keeper of Ireland to whom nevertheless Sir Edmond Butler was Assistant or Coadjutor It was about this Time the Citizens of Dublin obtained a Licence to build a Bridge over the Liffy where they pleased And not long after they also got a Fee-Farm of the City of Dublin from the King at a certain Rent but I take that to have been anno 1217. and if so the King here meant must be Henry III. It seems these Times were very Quiet for I find no mention of any War or Rebellion except some small Stirs in Connaught which were not so Great or Considerable as that the Particulars should be transmitted to posterity In the mean Time William Earl Marshal who came to Ireland anno 1207. was employed in building his Castle of Kilkenny and the Abbey of Black-Fryers there He also incorporated that Town by the Name of Sovereign Burgesses and Communalty and granted them a Privilege to be quit of Toll Lastage and Pontage and all other Customs throughout Leinster and afterwards went to England And thus stood the Government of Ireland during the Life of King John who died at Newark the nineteenth Day of October 1216. 1216. THE REIGN OF HENRY III. King of England And LORD of IRELAND c. HENRY the Third not then Ten years old succeeded his Deceased Father in all his Titles and Estates 1216. and in the presence of the Popes Legate William Earl Marshal and others he was declared King and Crowned at Glocester by the Bishops of Winchester and Bath and at the same time he did Homage to Pope Innocent and the Church of Rome Brady 522. for the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and swore to pay yearly the Thousand Marks which his Father had promised to the Holy See William Earl Marshal who was also Earl of Pembrook was Protector of the King and Kingdom Ib. 523. and by Proclamation encouraged the Nobility Gentry and other the Kings Subjects to continue faithful to him which they were the more easily perswaded to because Lewis Prince of France and his Party began to decline and were solemnly excommunicated or rather the same Excommunication was published and denounced every Sunday and Holy-Day There likewise issued a Writ to the Kings Subjects in Ireland in haec verba REX Archiepiscopis Prin 250. Episcopis Abbatibus Comitibus Baronibus Militibus libere tenentibus omnibus fidelibus suis per Hibern constitutis Salutem Fidelitatem vestram in Domino commendantes quam Domino Patri nostro semper exhibuistis nobis estis diebus nostris exhibituri Volumus quod in signum Fidelitatis vestrae tam praeclarae tam insignis libertatibus Regno nostro Angl. Ã Patre nostro nobis concessis de gratia nostra dono in Regno nostro Hibern gaudeatis vos vestri Haeredes in perpetuum quas distincte in Scriptum redactas de communi consilio omnium fidelium nostrorum vobis mittimus signatas Sigillis Domini nostri G. Apostolicae Sedis Legati fidelis nostri Com. W. Maresc Rectoris nostri Regni nostri quia Sigillum nondum habuimus easdem processu temporis de majori Consilio proprio Sigillo signaturi Teste apud Glouc. 6 die Februar And the Entry on the Roll is Homines Hiberniae habent libertates Angliae And another Writ Brady Append. 143. under the Test of the Earl Marshal was sent to Hugh de Lacy to invite his Return in this Writ which runs in the Name of the King his Majesty condescends to expostulate with Lacy that he the King ought not to be blamed for his Fathers unkindness to Lacy and assures him that he shall have Restitution and Protection if he would come back and upon Receipt of it Lacy did readily comply with the Kings Desire Geofry de Marisco continued Lord Justice or Governor of Ireland Burlace 15. to whom on the 16th of April following Henry de Londres was added as Assistant or Co-adjutor at least in Ecclesiastical Matters 1217. and for the Reformation of the Church The King sent a Writ to the Lord Justice giving him thanks for his faithful Service to the deceased King John and desiring that he would persevere in the like to himself especially during his Monority when he stood in need of the Lord Justices assistance and advice Prin Hist H. 3. fol. 38. and requires him to take the Oath of Fealty of the Nobility of Ireland and all others that are obliged thereto and assures them they shall enjoy the same Liberties in Ireland as he hath granted to his Subjects in England There was also another Writ sent to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal to assist the Lord Justice in the Kings Service And there was yet another Writ for a thousand Bacons Lib. GGG Lambeth two Ship-load of Corn and a Ship-load of Oats Mandatum est Justiciario Hiberniae quid mittet in Angliam mille Bacones duas Navatas Frumenti unam Navatam Aveni So that England must not deny but that it has at some time been beholden to us About this time William Earl Marshal incorporated the Town of Calan and gave it the following Charter COncessi Burgensibus meis de Calan omnimodas Libertates quas decet Burgenses habere mihi licet conferre viz. quod nullus Burgensis trahatur in causam vel respondeat de ullo placito quod proveniat infra Metas Burgi in Castello Lib. in Lambeth vel alibi nisi in hundredo villae exceptis placitis quae sunt de hominibus hospitii mei Concessi etiam eisdem Burgensibus Matrimonium contrahere sibi filiis filiabus viduis sine licentia Dominorum suorum nisi forte forinseca tenementa teneant de me in capite extra Burgum Lucas de Netervil was chosen by the Chapter Archbishop of Armagh 1217. and went to the King for Confirmation but could not obtain it Ware de Fresul 17. because the Election was made without the Kings License Whereupon the Monks compounded with the King for three hundred Marks of Silver and three of Gold and so they took out a Conge de esâ—ier and repeated the Election and then Netervil was consecrated by Langton Archbishop of Canterbury About this Time viz. 2 Hen. 3. the King wrote to Ireland for Aid to pay off a Debt due from him to Lewis Son of the King of France Soon after Henry de Londres was by Pope Honorius the Third made Legate of Ireland and held a Synod at Dublin which made many good Canons But the Lord Justice had displeased the King by his male-administration of Affairs in Ireland or perhaps had 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
Upstart or new-comer 1235. that sought to disinherit him Whereupon the King immediately ordered the Lord Justice To pluck up by the Root the Fruitless Plant which Hubert de Burgo whilst he was in Ruff had planted in those Parts that it might bud no more The King also wrote to the Nobility of Ireland That they should banish the said John and establish the King of Connaught in his Kingdom who returned very well satisfied with the Princely Favours he received at the Court of England It seems that in the Lord Justices Absence there was some Disorder among the Irish Doctor Hanmer says they rebelled but the speedy return of the Lord Justice probably gave a Check to their Intentions And to the End there might be a free Commerce between both Kingdoms the King sent over the following Writ REX Pryn. 253. dilecto fidelio suo Mauritio fili Giraldi Justiciario suo Hiberniae 19. Hen. 3. salutem Vestra non ignorare debet discretio quod dignum est id volumus quod Terra nostra Angliae Terra nostra Hiberniae communes sint ad invicem quod homines nostri Angliae Hiberniae hinc inde negotiari possunt ad comodum emendationem Terrarum praedictarum Et ideo vobis mandamus Quod homines de Terra Hiberniae volentes emere blada in Hibernia ducenda in Angliam in nulla impediatis vel impediri permittatis quin libere sine impedimento id facere possunt Teste Rege apud Westm 2. die Jun. Et vide ibidem de Galeis i.e. Gallies or Ships de Hibernia in Angliam mittendis to aid the King There being some Dispute in Ireland about the Law in Case of Bastardy 1236. the King sent this Writ to the Lord Justice and the Archbishop to observe the Statute of Merton in those Cases HEnricus Dei Gratia Rex Angliae Pyrn 253. c. venerabili Patri L. eadem gratia Archiepiscopo Dublin dilecto fideli suo M. fil Geraldi Justic suo Hiberniae salutem Accedens nuper ad curiam nostram Georgius de Laffidel nobis ex parte vestra supplicavit ut vobis scire faceremus quid juris sit secundum confuetudinem Angliae in casibus subscriptis viz. Cum contingat filium alicujus Nobilis natum ex matrimonio movere questionem fratri suo in fornicatione ante matrimonium de eadem matre progenito super paterna haereditate Item si contingat quod frater natus ante matrimonium defendendo dicat se esse ligitimum utrum in tali casu mittendus sit ad forum Ecclesiasticum Item fi mittendus sit in qua forma c. Item si contingit quod natus ante matrimonium fecerit homagium suum de terris suis post decessum patris sui ratione homagii sic facti vocaverit Dominum suum ad Warrantum quid juris sit de illa vocatione si warrantizare debeat aut velit sponte utrum duellum possit esse de jure inter natum ex matrimonio dominum warrantizantem cum inter ipsos fratres esse non possit Ad haec etiam vobis significamus de primo capitulo Quod si natus ante matrimonium cui movetur questio cognoscat se natum esse ante matrimonium nec petere potest haereditatem nec petitam retinere secundum Angl. consuetudinem Nec talis si dicat se natum esse post mittendus ad cur Christianitatis eo quod clerus talem habet pro legitimo Cum autem de casu illo anno preterito tractatum esset coram venerabili Patre Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi Coepiscopis suis Magnatibus nostris Angl. scilicet utrum inquisitio de tali nato deberet fieri in cur nostra vel in cur Christianitatis tandem predict Archiepiscopus Episcopi petierunt sibi dare potestatem inquirendi Postea vero processu temporis quia in forma Brevis nostri eis super hoc transmissi contentum fuit quod respondere deberent Vtrum talis natus esset ante matrimonium vel post videntes hoc esse contrarium legibus suis noluerunt ad hoc respondere sed reliquerunt nobis cur nostrae hoc inquirendum terminandum nondum provisum est in cur nostra sub qua forma hoc debeat inquiri vel per sacramentum 12 Jurat vel per probationem à partibus producendam Item de Domino si debet warrantizare tenenti contra fratrem suum vobis respondemus quod non eo quod tam natus post Matrimonium quam ante uno eodem jure utuntur Dominus in captione homagii potius circumventus fuit quam ratione astrictus Nec esse poterit duellum inter eos predicta ratione preterea quia Dominus tenetur plus warantizare petenti nato post matrimonium quam tenenti nato ante matrimonium hiis igitur intellectis secundum quod predictum est in partibus vestris faciatis Teste Rege apud Mortelac 9 die Maii. And he also sent this other Writ the same Time REX dilecto fideli suo Maur. fil Girald Justic suo Hibern salutem Monstravit nobis lator presentium quod ipse nuper in curia nostra coram Justic nostris ad hoc per vos nuper constitutis in Hibern recuperasset seisinan suam versus quendam hominem de libero tenemento suo idem adversarius suus postea de eodem tenemento iterum ipsum disseisivit ideo vobis mittimus sub sigillo nostro constitutionem nuper factam intellige Merton c. 3. coram nobis Magnatibus nostris Angl. de predicto casu similiter de aliis articulis ad emendationem Regn nostr Mandantes quatenus de Concilio venerabilis Patris L. Dublin Archiepisc constitutionem illam in curia nostra Hibern Legi de cetero firmiter observari facias secundum eadem predicto querenti plenam justiciam exhiberi faciatis Teste Rege ut supra King Henry kept his Christmas at Winchester 1239. anno 1239. where the Servants of Gilbert Earl Marshal were as they thought affronted not being suffered to enter into the King's Court with their Tip staves whereupon the Earl complained to the King but received an unexpected cross Answer whereat he was distasted to that degree that he left the Court and perhaps never afterwards came near it for the next Year he was slain by a Fall from his Horse 1240. at a Turnament at Hereford In the same Year Petrus de Supino came from Pope Gregory into Ireland with an Authentick Papal Mandate requiring under pain of Excommunication and other Censures Ecclesiastical Hanmer 196. the Twentieth part of the whole Land besides donatives and private Gratuities to the maintenance of his War against Frederick the Emperor where he extorted saith Matthew Paris a thousand and five hundred Marks and above saith Florilegus at which time also one Petrus Pubeus intitled the
Popes Familiar and Kinsman and both Bastards saith Bale fill'd in like sort his Fardles in Scotland These Nuncio's were so crafty that they needed no Brokers they secretly understood by Posts and Cursitors the State of the Court of Rome which quailed them full sore that the Pope was either gone or panted for Life secretly by the conduct of the Monks of Canterbury they were conveyed to Dover where they took Shipping and crost the Seas The Emperor Frederick against whom this Provision was made having intelligence thereof and secretly acquainted with the Popes state wrote to the King of England to apprehend such Prollers wherein he also reprov'd his Cowardize The Emperor when he understood that the Birds were flown away made search for the Nest yet overtook them in Italy where to be short he imprison'd them their Kindred and Favourites rifled them of their Money and sent them to Rome to sing for more He that will read the Story more at large let him repair to Matthew Paris In the Year 1242 1242. the Lord Justice built the Castle of Sligo in Connaught and plac'd in it able Warders and the next Year died Richard de Burgo and the famous Hugh de Lacy Earl of Vlster 1243. whose Daughter and Heir was married to Walter de Burgo in her Right Earl of Vlster The King sent to the Lord Justice for Aid against the Welsh 1244. which it seems was long a coming but at length it did come under the Conduct of the Lord Justice and Phelim O Connor they Landed in the Isle of Anglesey and pillaged the Island and were hastning to the Ships with their Prey but it seems the Welshmen overtook them and forced them to leave their Burdens behind However they afterwards joyn'd the Kings Army and did the Work they came for for the King discomfited the Welsh victualled his Castles and victoriously returned into England The Lord Justice being come back to Ireland 1245. found Vlster over-run by O Donel who took advantage of the Death of Lacy and the absence of the Lord Justice but by the assistance of Cormock mac Dermond ma◠Rory the Lord Justice invaded Tirconnel routed the Irish and slew many of the chief of them on the English side was lost William But by Cambden and others call'd Sheriff of Connaught and his Brother Cambden does also mention several Expeditions but the Issue of them all was this That the Lord Justice Manned his Castle of Sligo forced O Neal to give Hostages and then gave half Tyrconnel to the said Cormock ma◠Dermond and return'd with great Booty But the King was displeased with the Lord Justice for his slowness and delay in bringing Aid to him in Wales and therefore remov'd him from the Government Novemb. 4. 1245. and appointed Sir John Fitz Geofry de Marisco I suppose Lord Justice who receiv'd a Writ that the Executors of the Bishop of Ossory should be suffered to administer and dispose of the Testators Goods and Chattels the Debts due to the King being first Levied thereout and in September 1247. Prin H. 3. 107. the King directed a Writ to the Arch-Bishops and others in Ireland That the Laws of England should be strictly observed there as his Father King John had formerly commanded QVia pro communi utilitate Terrae Hiberniae Prin 254. unitate Terrarum Regis Rex vult de communi Concilio Regis provisum est quod omnes Leges Consuetudines quae in Regno Angliae tenentur in Hibernia teneantur eadem Terra eisdem Legibus subjaceat per easdem regatur sicut Dominus Johannes Rex cum ultimo esset in Hibernia statuit fieri mandavit Quia etiam Rex vult quod omnia Brevia de communi jure quae currunt in Anglia similiter currant in Hibernia sub novo Sigillo Regis Mandatum est Archiepiscopis c. quod pro pace tranquilitate ejusdem Terrae per easdem Leges eosdem regi deduci permittant eas in omnibus sequantur in cujus c. Teste Rege apud Wodestoke nono die Septembris anno Regni 30. Which Writ is imperfectly cited 1 Inst 141 b. Theobald Butler 1247. Lord of Carrick and John Cogan Lords Justices in whose Time the Popes Agent Johannes Refus was sent into Ireland clothed with Authority to collect the Popes Money Hanmer 198. my Author says that though he was not clad in Scarlet for fear of giving Offence yet he was such a Sophistical Legate and plied his business with that diligence that he extorted Six thousand Marks out of Ireland and by help of the Clergy transported it safely to London John Fitz Geofry was again Lord Justice 1248. in his time the King sent the following Writ Lib. P. Lambeth REX Justiciario Hibern Salutem Monstravit nobis Mamorch Offerthierun Rothericus Frater ejus quod antecessores sui ipsi licet Hibernenses semper tamen firmiter fuerunt ad fidem servitium nostram Prin 255. predecessorum nostrum it should be Nostrorum Regum Angl. 1253. ad conquestum una cum Anglicis faciendum super Hibernenses ideo vobis mandamus quod si ita est tunc non permittas ipsos M. R. repelli quin possint terras vindicare in quibus jus habent sicut quilibet Anglicus quia si ipsi antecessores sui sic se habuerunt cum Anglicis quamvis Hibernenses injustum esset licet Hibernenses sint quod exceptione qua repelluntur Hibernenses à vindicatione terrarum aliis repellantur c. By which Writ it appears that the King did design that all the Irish who would live as Subjects should have the benefit of the English Laws but that such of the Irish as were Enemies or Rebels and would not be Amesnable to Law should not have any Advantage by the Law But now the King to qualifie his Son for a Marriage with the Infanta of Spain Davis 22. amongst other things gave the Kingdom of Ireland to Prince Edward and his Heirs Lib. G. Lambeth in as ample manner as himself enjoyed it except the Cities of Dublin and Limrick nevertheless with this express Condition in the Patent 1254. Ita quod non separetur à Corona Angliae Whereupon Ireland was called the Land of the Lord Edward and the Officers there were stiled the Officers of Edward Lord of Ireland and the Writs did also run in the Name of the Prince In the same Year but I suppose before the Donation to the Prince the King sent a Writ to the Nobility of Ireland Prin 255. most earnestly desiring their Assistance with Men and Ships for his Wars in Gascony But the Prince had issued a Writ of Entry out of the Chancery of Ireland against the Bishop of Lismore which was illusory to the Laws of England established by the King and King John and therefore upon Complaint the King sent
the following Order to stop any farther Proceedings upon the aforesaid illegal Writ which I do the rather recite at large because it justifies my Assertion that Ireland is inseparable from the Crown of England since we find the King effectually interpose to rectifie Miscarriages there notwithstanding the aforesaid Donation to the Prince which was as full as it could be worded REX Thesaurario Baronibus de Scaccario Dublin Ibid. 255. Salutem Quia de assensu voluntate Praelatorum Magnatum Terrae Hiberniae dudum fuit provisum concessum quod eisdem Legibus tenerentur in Terra illa quibus homines Regni nostri utuntur in Regno nostro Angliae quod eadem Brevia quoad terras tenementa recuperanda teneant in terra illa quae tenentur in regno praedicto sicut justa Et dicta provisio concessio omnibus retroactis temporibus fuerunt obtenta approbata miramur quamplurimum quod sicut ex insinuatione venerabilis patris Thomae Lismorensis Episcopi accepimus emanare permisistis ex Cancellaria Edwardi filii nostri in Hibernia contra consuetudinem obtentam formam Brevium in regno nostro usitatam Breve infra-scriptum contra praefatum Episcopum in haec verba EDwardus Illustris Regis Angliae primogenitus ad Vic. Waterford Salutem Praecipe Thomae Lismorensi Episcopo quod juste sine dilatione reddat Waltero Episcopo Waterford Maneria de Archmurdeglan Kilmurdri Motha cum pertinentiis quae clamat esse jus Ecclesiae suae in quae idem Episcopus non habet ingressum nisi per Alanum quondam Lismorensem Episcopum cui Griffinus quondam Lismorensis Episcopus qui inde injuste sine judicio disseisivit Robertum quondam Waterford Episcopum predecessorem Episcopi post ultimum reditum c. QUia vero dictum Breve tam dissonum est Stat. Marlbridge cap. 30. contra Leges Consuetudines in regno nostro tentas formas Brevium nostrorum ibidem approbatas praesertim cum Breve ingressus non transeat tertiam personam nec ratione intrationis in terram aliquam post mortem alicujus comperat actio alicui de terra illa nisi illi cui per mortem illam jus debetur in eadem Nec enim dicitur intrusio qui jure haereditario vel ratione Ecclesiae suae succedit Predecessori suo in hiis de quibus idem Predeces fuit seisitus in Dominico suo ut de feodo die quo obiit Vobis mandamus quod si dictum Breve a Cancellaria praedicta in forma praedicta emanaverit executionem ejusdem Brevis supersedeatis revocantes sine dilatione quicquid per idem Breve actum fuerit in Curia praedicti Filii nostri Teste apud Windsor 27 die Januar. Et eodem modo scribitur Adamo le Sole Justiciario Hiberniae intellige de Banco Regis Waleranno de Willesby Sociis suis Itinerantibus ut supra Alan de la Zouch 1255. who had been Chief Justice of the Kings Bench in England Hanmer 199. 34. Hen. 3. was now made Lord Justice of Ireland he had the Misfortune to be slain in Westminster-Hall by John Earl of Warren and Surrey half Brother to the King In his time some Rebel Irishmen were coming to aid the Earl of Chester against the King but Prince Edward with the English Navy had the good Fortune to meet with the Irish Fleet and to sink most of their Ships so that few of the Men were left alive to return Now flourished that famous Mathematician Johannes de Sacrobosco who was born at Holywood in Fingal not far from Dublin and thence had his Name de sacrobosco i.e. Holy wood It seems that the Prince 1258. by Virtue of the aforesaid Grant would have removed the Lord Justice and put another in his Room But the King by the Advice of the Barons of England wrote to the Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors Barons Brady 674. Knights c. That he heard his Son designed to make a new Justice in Ireland and to put his Castles into such Hands as it might be great Damage and not without fear of their disinheriting and therefore commands them not to obey such Justice Constables or Keepers of Castles made or appointed without his Letters Patents by Advice and Assent of his Council After the same manner he wrote to all the Mayors and Communities of Cities and Towns in Ireland and to the Constables of Castles and also commanded Alan de la Zouch his Justiciary not to obey or give up his Authority to any new Justiciary or Constable that should come without his Letters Patents But it seems this Matter was setled for the next Year we find Stephen de long Espee 1259. Lord Justice some call him Earl of Salisbury and Burlace stiles him Earl of Vlster but I think there is no Ground for either of the Titles he encountred O Neale and slew him and three hundred fifty two Irishmen in the Streets of Down 1260. but not long after the Lord Justice was betrayed and murdered by his own People And thereupon William Den was chosen Lord Justice In whose Time the Mac Carthyes plaid the Devil in Desmond they are the Words of my Author and by Ambuscade surprized and slew Thomas Fitz-Girald and John his Son 1261. at Calan in Desmond together with many Knights and Gentlemen of that Family whereupon the Carthyes grew so high that for the space of twelve Years the Giraldines durst not put a Plow in the Ground in Desmond Hanmer 201. until some Fewds arose between the Irish of Carby and Muskry and between the Carthyes Driscols Donovans Mahonyes and Swinyes so that they also weakned and destroyed one another and the Giraldines began to recover their Power and Authority again But the Lord Justice died this Year and Richard de Capella or Capel was made Lord Justice In his Time arose a great Contention between the Prior and Convent of Christ-Church and the Corporation of Dublin about the Tith-Fish of the River Liffy The Burks and the Geraldines quarrelled about some Lands in Connaught to that degree that they filled the whole Kingdom with War and Tumult and Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald not the Earl of Desmond but the same that afterwards anno 1272 was Lord Justice and John Fitz-Thomas afterwards Earl of Kildare at a Meeting at Castle-Dermond seized upon the Lord Justice and Richard Burk Heir apparent of Vlster afterwards called the Red Earl Theobald Butler 1264. Miles Cogan c. and imprisoned them in the Castle of Ley. But soon after a Parliament met at Kilkenny and ordered them all to be released which was done accordingly In the mean Time the King wrote to the Arcbishop of Dublin the Bishop of Meath his Treasurer Walter de Burg or Burk 1265. Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald That he heard there was like to be great Dissention between the great Men of Ireland and therefore ordered
them to secure the Peace of the Nation And sent them farther private Instructions by Robert Waspail who carried those Letters to whom he commanded them to give Credit And not long after the Lord Justice was removed and David Barry the worthy Ancestor of the Noble Family of Barrymore was made Lord Justice 1267. he so managed the Giraldines that he took from them the Castle of Sligo and all their Lands in Connaught and thereby put an End to those Wars and Differences that were between them and the Burks And in his Time the Friers Preachers were setled at Ross Kilkenny and Clonmel Sir Robert de Vfford was made Lord Justice of Ireland 1268. and began to build the Castle of Roscomon In his Time Cnoghor O Brian of Thomond was slain i.e. murdered by Dermònd mac Monard and Maurice Fitz-Girald not of Desmond as the Annals say but Son of Maurice Lord Justice anno 1272 was drowned between Ireland and Wales And about this Time came over a Writ from the King to levy Aurum Reginae for Elianor the Prince's Wife as was used in England which you may read at large 4 Inst 357. On which I will make but this one Remark That if the Sovereignty of Ireland were in the Prince how comes the King to send the Writ But it will evidently appear by the following Writ That the Prince had not the Sovereignty of that Kingdom CVm Rex per Cartam suam concessit Edvardo 52 Hen. 3. primogenito suo Terram suam Hiberniae cum pertinentiis Lib. GGG c. habendum sibi haeredibus suis Lambeth ita quod non separetur a Corona Angliae idem Edvardus sine Licentia Regis alienationes quorundam terrarum tenementorum spectantium ad Terram praedictam fecerit contra tenorem feofamenti Regis quod idem rex sustinere voluit ideo nunc dedit potestatem mandatum nepoti suo filio Regis Alemani the Son of Richard Earl of Cornwal King of the Romans revocandi omnia maneria terras tenementa quae dictus Edvardus filius Regis sic alienavit post feofamentum praedict c. Richard de Excester 1269. Lord Justice In whose time Othobon the Pope's Legate made excellent Constitutions at London He made a more firm Peace and Reconciliation between the Burks and Giraldines And not long after died and Sir James Audly 1270. or de Aldethel was made Lord Justice and had a very unfortunate Government of it for the Irish were every where troublesome Fragm M. S. Quasi omnes Hiberni guerraverunt omnes munitiones Fortifications in Ophaly praeter Castrum de Lega Ley destructi sunt Anglici inde expulsi magna strages utriusque nationis facta est in Connacia The Irish burn'd spoil'd destroyed and slew as well Magistrates as others and the King of Connaught in plain Field defeated Walter Burk Hanmer 202. Earl of Vlster and killed a great number of Nobles and Knights and particularly the Lords Richard and John Verdon and a great Famine and Pestilence the natural Consequences of War spread over all Ireland and sorely afflicted the whole Kingdom The Castles of Aldleck Roscomon and Scheligah perhaps Sligo were destroyed Nevertheless the Pope without Regard to these Universal Calamities required the Tiths of all Spiritual Promotions for three Years to maintain his Wars against a Christian King viz. of Arragon and tho' the People murmured and their Poverty and Misery pleaded loudly for them yet the rapacious Nuntio would not go empty away On the 23 of June 1272. the Lord Justice was killed by a fall from his Horse in Thomond and Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald was made Lord Justice 1272. and so continued till the sixteenth Day of November at which time the King died in Peace and full of Days in his Palace at London having reigned longer than any King since the Conquest viz. six and fifty Years c. THE REIGN OF EDWARD I. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND EDWARD the First from the Talness of his Person Nicknamed Long-shanks succeeded his Deceased Father in all his Dominions on the 16th Day of November 1272 but he being at that time absent in the Holy Land the Nobility took care to keep all quiet until his Return and then on the 15th Day of August 1274. he was Crowned by Robert Archbishop of Canterbury Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald continued Lord Justice and to him Ware de pres 34. and to Hugh Bishop of Meath Lord Treasurer and to John de Sandford Escheator was a Writ sent December 7. 1272 Commissioning them to receive the Oaths of Fealty and Allegiance to the new King of all the Nobility Gentry and Commons of Ireland And the Lord Justice had another Writ of the same Date to proclaim the Kings Peace and to preserve it wherein 't is said That the King is willing and able by Gods Help to defend and do Justice to his People great and small And the Government of England being informed Prin. 256. That Avelina Countess of Vlster and Widow of Walter de Burgo had been endowed illegally both as to Quantity and Quality a Writ issued in the Kings Name to the Seneschal of Vlster to rectifie that Matter according to the Law and Usage of England In the mean time the Irish took advantage of the Kings absence from England and thought it an opportune Season to rebel 1273. they destroyed the Castle of Roscomon Aldleek Scheligath and Randon and found means to corrupt some of the Lord Justice Followers whereby he was betrayed into their hands in Ophaly and there taken and imprisoned whereupon Walter Genevil newly returned from the Holy Land was sent over Lord Justice Octob. 1273. to him a Writ was sent not to molest the Archbishop of Cashel for any Debts due from him to the King till his Majesties Return to England The Islanders and Red-shank Scots made a sudden incursion into Ireland and burnt several Towns and Villages killing Man 1274. Woman and Child most inhumanely and got away with vast Booty before the Country could get together or put themselves in a posture to prevent or resist this unexpected Torrent but not long after Richard de Burgo and Sir Eustace le Poer served them in their kind and entred the Islands and burnt their Cabbins and Cottages slew all they met with and smoakt out those that had hid themselves in Caves after the same manner that is used in smoaking a Fox out of his Earth Rosâ—omon-Castle was once again repaired 1275. or rather reedified and Mortagh a strong Tory being taken Prisoner by Sir Walter le Faunt was executed but the Lord Justice being recalled Sir Robert de Vfford was made Lord Justice 1276. in whose time Thomas de Clare Son of the Earl of Glocester came into Ireland and married Juliana Daughter of Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald though some say it was anno 1274. There is little
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
Flames but the Devout Citizens first made a Collection for the Repair of the Church and then set themselves to the re-edifying their own Houses And so we come to a Trial 1284. very unusual in Courts of Justice in Ireland tho' too frequent in the Field viz. that of Battle Ware presul 142. for Jeofry Saintleger Bishop of Ossory in a Writ of Right for the Mannor of Sirekeran in Ely O Carol recovered the same and the Trial was by Battle between the Bishops Champion and the Champion of his Adversary The Lords and Potentates of Ophaly were grown strong enough to take and burn the Castle of Ley 1285. and it seems Theobald Verdon going to revenge that Injury lost both his Men and his Horses which was followed with a greater Misfortune for the next Morning Girald Fitz-Maurice was betrayed by his Followers and taken Prisoner Nor had the English better Success at Rathdod for in an unfortunate Skirmish there Sir Gerard Doget Ralph Petit and many more were slain and the Lord Geofry Genevil had much ado to save himself by Flight Amidst these Disturbances Burlace 31. the Lord Justice obtained from the King a Pension of five hundred Pound per annum for his Expence and Charge in the Government to continue as long as his Justiceship but if any extraordinary Accident should require more Expence than the Writ prescribes That a Vice-Treasurer be appointed to receive and pay the Revenue as the Lord Justice and the Court of Exchequer shall think fit But the next Year was more favourable 1286. so that Philip Stanton in November burnt Norwagh and Ardscol and other Towns and the great Rebel Calwagh was taken at Kildare which superseded these Stirs for a Time Nevertheless this Year was fatal to many Noblemen viz. Maurice Fitz-Maurice who died at Rosse as Girald Fitz-Maurice Oge did at Rathmore and the Lord Thomas de Clare could not escape the Common Fate to which the Lord Justice himself was forced to submit So that John Sandford 1287. Archbishop of Dublin was chosen Lord Justice His Government was the more uneasie to him because Richard Burk 1288. Earl of Vlster and Walter Lacy Lord of Meath confederated against Theobald de Verdon and Besieged him in the Castle of Athloan and came with a great Army as far as Trim However this was in a great measure recompenced by the Plenty of the Year which was so great even in England that a Bushel of Wheat was sold for four Pence It was usual in this King's Reign To send the new English Statutes in some reasonable time after they were made to be proclaimed and observed in Ireland Thus in the thirteenth Year of his Reign he sent by Roger Bretun the Statutes of Westminster the first of Glocester of Merchants and of Westminster the second to the Lord Justice Fulborne to publish and notifie them to the People And this Year the like was done by the Statute called Ordinatio pro Statu Hiberniae which was enacted in England and sent to Ireland to be observed there and is to be seen in French in the second part of the Ancient Statutes printed at London 1532. And the Statutes of Lincoln and of York were also sent to Ireland Ex lib. Alb. Scac. Hib. to be enrolled in the Chancery and to be published and notified to the People 20 Novemb. 17 Edw. 1. And it is to be observed That after Parliaments were held in Ireland yet the English Statutes did extend to Ireland as the eleventh of Edward III Lib. M. Lamb. of Drapery and the twenty seventh of Edward III of the Staple and the fourth of Henry V cap. 6-touching the Promotion of Clerks of the Irish Nation and many more But it is time to return to the Lord Justice whose Service the King had occasion to make use of in England and in several Foreign Embassies in all which he behaved himself honourably He was succeeded in Ireland by William Vescy 15 Novemb. 1290. Lord Justice Whose Government was disturbed by O Hanlon in Vlster and O Mlaghlin in Meath who were again in Rebellion but Richard Earl of Vlster had the good Fortune to suppress O Hanlon with a few Blows and the Lord Justice did as much for O Mlaghlin and pursued him so close that at last he was taken and slain by Mac Coughlan who grew so proud upon that Service that he set up for himself and gave a great Defeat to William Burk at Delvin and to the English in Ophaly And tho' the King in the thirteenth Year of his Reign had a Grant from the Pope of the Tenth of all Ecclesiastical Revenues in Ireland for seven Years toward the Holy War which was followed with a Grant of a Fifteenth from the Temporality yet now upon the Expiration of that Grant he wrote to the Bishops and Clergy for a Dism of their Spiritualities to defray his Debts in redeeming his Nephew Charles But they unanimously answered Quod concessioni petitionis praefatae minime supercederent But Cambden assures us That the Temporality granted another Fifteenth To this Lord Justice Cambden 78. Baliol King of Scotland did Homage for some Lands he held in Ireland and about the same time it was ordered 4 Inst 356. That the Treasurer of Ireland should account yearly at the Exchequer of England 1293. And the same Year came over Gilbert de Clare Earl of Glocester whose Wife Joan of Acres was the King's Daughter But now there arose great Feuds between John Fitz-Thomas Fitz-Girald Lord of Ophaly and the Lord Justice whereupon the Lord Justice did underhand encourage the Irish to do all the Prejudice they could to Fitz-Girald and his Partisans hence arose mutual Complaints and reciprocal Impeachments so that both of them went or were fent for into England But it will not be unpleasant to the Reader to have the Particulars of this famous Controversie in the Words of Holingshead The Lord Justice hearing many Complaints of the Oppressions the Country daily received Holingshead 35 which he thought reflected on him and insinuated his male Administration therefore to disburthen and excuse himself he began in misty Speeches to lay the Fault on the Lord John Fitz-Giralds Shoulders saying in parable wise That he was a great occasion of these Disorders in that he bare himself in Private Quarrels as fierce as a Lyon but in these Publick Injuries as meek as a Lamb. The Baron of Ophaly spelling and putting these Syllables together spake after this Manner My Lord I Am heartily sorry that among all this Noble Asembly you make me your only Butt whereat you shoot your Bolt and truly were my Deserts so hainous as I suppose you would wish them to be you would not labour to cloud your Talk with such dark Riddles as at this present you have done but with plain and flat English your Lordship would not stick to impeach me of Felony or Treason for as mine Ancestors with
spending of their Blood in their Sovereigns Quarrel aspired to this Type of Honour in which at this Day God and my King be thanked I stand So your Lordship taking the nigher Way to the Wood by charging me with Treason would gladly trip so roundly on my Top that by shedding of my Blood and by catching my Lands into your Clutches that butt so near upon your Mannors of Kildare and Rathimghan as I dare say they are an Eye-sore unto you you might make my Master your Son a proper Gentleman A Gentleman quoth the Lord Justice thou bald Baron I tell thee the Vescies were Gentlemen before the Giraldins were Barons of Ophaly yea and before that Welsh Bankrupt thine Ancestor he meant Sir Maurice Fitz-Girald feathered his Nest in Leinster And whereas thou takest the Matter so far in Snuff I will teach thee thy Lyripups after another Fashion than to be thus malapartly cocking and billing with me that am thy Governour Wherefore albeit thy Taunts are such as might force the patientest Philosopher that is to be choakt with Choler Yet I would have thee ponder my Speech as though I delivered it in my most sober and quiet mood I say to the Face of thee and I will avow what I say unto thee That thou art a Supporter of Thieves a bolsterer of the King's Enemies an Upholder of Traytors a Murderer of Subjects a Firebrand of Dissention a rank Thief an arrant Traytor and before I eat these Words I will make thee eat a piece of my Blade The Baron bridling with might and main his Choler bare himself as cold in Countenance as the Lord Justice was hot in Words and replied in this wise My Lord I Am very glad that at length you unwrapt your self out of that Net wherein all this while you masked As for mine Ancestor whom you term a Bankrupt how Rich or how Poor he was upon his repair to Ireland I purpose not at this time to debate yet thus much I may boldly say That he came hither as a Buyer not as a Beggar he bought the Enemies Land by spending his Blood But you lurking like a Spider in his Cobweb to intrap Flies endeavour to beg Subject's Livings wrongfully by despoiling them of their Innocent Lives And whereas you charge me with malapertness in that I presume to chop Logick with you being Governour by answering your snappish Quid with a knappish Quo. I would wish you to understand now that you put me in mind of the Distinction that I as a Subject honour your Royal Authority but as a Nobleman despise your Dunghil Gentility Lastly Whereas you charge me with the odious Terms of Traitor Murtherer and the like and therewithal you wish me to resolve my self that you rest upon Reason not upon Rage if these Words proceed from your Lordship as from a Magistrate I am a Subject to be tried by order of Law and am sorry that the Governor who ought by vertue of his publick Authority to be my Judge is by reason of private Malice become mine Accuser But if you utter these Speeches as a private Person then I John Fitz-Girald Baron of Ophalie do tell thee William Vescie a singe-Sole Gentleman that I am no Traytor no Felon and that thou art the only Buttress by which the Kings Enemies are supported the mean and Instrument by which his Majesties Subjects are daily spoiled Therefore I as a Loyal Subject say Traytor to thy Teeth and that shalt thou well understand when we both shall be brought to the Rehearsal of these Matters before our Betters Howbeit during the time you bear Office I am resolv'd to give you the Mastery in Words and to suffer you like a brawling Cur to bark but when I see my time I will be sure to bite These biting Speeches passing to and fro great Factions on both sides were raised with high and mighty words and deep Oaths till in time either part appeas'd his own The Baron of Ophaly not sleeping nor slacking his Matter scudded with all haste into England where he was no sooner inshoared than Vescie after he had substituted William Hay in his room was imbarked making as hot foot after the Baron as he could The King and his Council understanding the occasion of their sudden Arrivals to the end the Truth should be brought to light appointed a set Day for the deciding of their Controversie and that each of them should speak for himself what he could Whereuon Vescie being commanded to begin spake to this effect My Dread Sovereign AS I must acknowledge my self somewhat aggrieved to be entangled in so intricate a Matter so I am glad as heart can think that so weighty a controversie is brought to the deciding of so upright an Umpire And whereas it stood with your Majesties Pleasure with the Advice of this your Honourable Council That I as unworthy should have the Government of your Realm of Ireland and during my Time your Majesties Subjects have been I may not deny it diversly annoyed for my Discharge as I said in Ireland So I avow here in England that he kneeleth here before your Highness pointing to the Baron of Ophaelie that is the Root and Crop of all these Enormities for it is well known that he beareth that stroke with the Irish as if he once but frown at them they dare not be so hardy as once to peak out of their Cabbins And whereas his Force doth greatly amaze them think you but his Countenance doth wonderfully encourage them To the furtherance of which it is apparently known and it shall be proved that he hath not only in hucker mucker by sundry Messages imboldned your Majesties Enemies to spoil your Subjects but also by his personal Presence in secret Meetings he gave them such Courage as neither the Royalty of your Highness nor the Authority of your Deputy neither the force of your Laws nor the strength of your puissant Army was able to quench the Flame of these Hurly-burlies that through his traiterous drifts were enkindled These and the like Enormities through his privy packing with Rebels being daily committed to bring me your Majesties Governour in the hatred of the People his Adherents both secretly muttered and openly exclaimed against me and my Government as though the Redress of all these Harms had wholly lain in mine hands Whereupon being in conference with such as were the Chieftains of your Realm of Ireland albeit I took it to be expedient to point with my Finger to the very Sink or Head-spring of all the Treasons that by secret Conspiracies were pretended and practised against your Majesty and your Subjects yet notwithstanding having more regard to Modesty than to the Deserts of the Baron of Ophalie I did but glance at his packing in such secret sort as none or very few of the Company could guess whom with my misty Speeches I did touch And as commonly the galled Horse doth soonest kick so this Gentleman being prickt as it should seem
the King appointed no small Provision was made for so eager a Combat as that was presupposed to have been But when the prefixed Day approached near Vescie turning his great Boast to small Roast began to cry Creak and secretly sailed into France King Edward thereof advertised bestowed Vescies Lordships of Kildare and Rathingan on the Baron of Ophaly saying That albeit Vescie conveyed his Person into France yet he left his Lands behind him in Ireland Mr. Pryn makes an Observation on this Case Pryn 259. as if an Appeal between Vescie and Fitz-Girald in Ireland had been adjourned to England But to make the Remark useful it is necessary not only to consider what he says but also to consult the Records which he cites William Hay 1294. Lord Deputy to whom a Writ was sent to admit Thomas Saintleger Bishop of Meath to be of the Privy Council And not long after John Fitz-Thomas return'd to Ireland big with Glory and Success which transported him to a Contempt of all his Opposers he began with Richard Burk Cambdens Ann. Earl of Vlster whom together with William Burk he took Prisoners in Meath by the assistance of John Delamere and confined them to the Castle of Ley. But he had not so good luck in Kildare which was made the Seat of the War so that between the English and Irish it was entirely wasted the Castle of Kildare was also taken and the Records of that County burnt by Calwagh Brother to the King of Ophaly And these Misfortunes were accompanied with great Dearth and Pestilence William Dodingzel Lord Justice found Work enough to struggle with these Difficulties and the rather because John Fitz-Thomas appeared again with a great Army in Meath But the Parliament soon after met at Kilkenny 1294. and obliged him to release the Earl of Vlster taking his two Sons Hostages for him And it seems that this did not satisfie the Complainants but that they impeached him at the Parliament in England Lib. GGG 23 E. 1. for divers Offences and Felonies done in Ireland Lambeth He protested he could clear himself by Law but because he would not Prin 259. cum ipso Domino Rege placitare he submits himself wholly to the King's Favour 1295. into which he was received upon Pledges for his future demeanour and 't is probable he was also obliged to release his Claim to the Castle of Sligo and other his Lands in Connaught which was the Occasion of all this Stir About Easter the King built the Castle of Beaumorris in Wales 1295. for the better security of a Passage to and from Ireland And about the same time Bishop Vsher's life 34. the King required Aid to marry his Sister to the Emperour and such as did contribute thereunto are mentioned in the Pipe-Rolls of the Exchequer In the mean time on the third Day of April the Lord Justice died and during the Interval of Government the Irish made use of the Opportunity and wasted great part of Leinster burnt Newcastle and many other Towns But at length the Council chose Thomas Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald Lord Justice he was nicknamed Nappagh Simiacus or the Ape because when his Father and Grand-Father were murdered Frier Russel M. S. at Calan the Servants on the news of it run out of the House as if distracted and left this Thomas in the Cradle whereupon an Ape which was kept in the House took up the Child and carried him to the top of the Castle of Traly and brought him down Safe and laid him in the Cradle to the admiration of all the Beholders This Lord Justice was Father of the first Earl of Desmond and was so great a Man that he is often styled Prince and Ruler of Munster But it seems he supplyed the Place of Lord Justice but a very short time for John Wogan 1295. Lord Justice arrived from England on the eighteenth of October He made a Truce for two Years between the Burks and the Giraldines and received a Writ to take the Fealty of the Abbot of Owny in the County of Limerick and having called a Parliament which it seems setled Matters to his Mind he went with a smart Party to aid the King in Scotland His Majesty nobly feasted them at Roxborough Castle and they in requital did the King very good Service But that you may see what sort of Parliaments were in Ireland in those Days I will present the Reader with a List of this Parliament Richard de Burgo Earl ofVlster Geofry de Genevil John Fitz-Thomas afterwards Earl of Kildare Thomas Fitz-Maurice Nappagh Theobald le Butler Theobald de Verdun Peter de Brimingham of Athenry Peter de Brimingham of Thetmoy Eustace de Poer John de Poer Hugh de Purcel John de Cogan John de Barry William de Barry Walter de Lacy. Richard de Excester John Pipard Water L'enfant Jordan de Exon. Adam de Stanton Symon de Phipo William Cadel John en Val. Morris de Carew George de la Roch. Maurice de Rochfort Maurice Fitz-Thomas of Kerry William de Ross 1296. Prior of Kilmainham was left Lord Deputy to Wogan but either the Irish did not fear him being a Clergyman or they thought this a time of Advantage whilst the Lord Justice and many of the Nobility and best Soldiers were in Scotland and therefore to improve it as they were used to do they rose in Rebellion in several Places Those of Slewmargy burnt Leighlin and other Towns 1297. But O Hanlon and Mac Mahon met with more Opposition in Vrgile for they were both slain John Wogan 1298. Lord Justice returned again from Scotland in October and throughly reconciled the Burks and the Giraldines and kept every thing so quiet that we hear of no Trouble in a great while except some Disturbance the Irish gave to the Lord Theobald de Verdun in attacking his Castle of Roch. Pollard Mony was now decryed both in England and Ireland 1300. and the King did again enter Scotland and sent to Ireland for Aid and wrote not only to the Lord Justice but also sent particular Letters to every one of the Nobility to attend him Whereupon the Lord Justice accompanied by John Fitz-Thomas Peirce Brimingham and many others made a second Expedition into Scotland with good Success In the mean time part of the City of Dublin and particularly S. Warberg's Church was burnt on S. Colme's Eve and the Irish were again at their usual Pranks taking Advantage of the Lord Justices absence who I suppose did again depute William de Ross and in Winter assaulted and burnt Wicklow and Rathdan 1301. but they were well paid for their pains and in Lent had been ruin'd but for the Dissention and Discord of the English and in the Harvest before some of the Irish also had their share of Civil Discord for they fell out amongst themselves so that the O Phelims and O Tools slew three hundred of the Birns
under the Notion of Thieves or Tories Neither was Munster free from the like Calamity for it felt the heavy hand of Walter le Poer who burnt and wasted great part of it Davis 93. Nevertheless the Justices in Eyre sate this Year at Tredagh And it seems that in those days as well Common Pleas as those of the Crown were tried before the chief Governor for I find this Entry 32 Ed. 1. A die S. Martini in quindecim dies de Commun Placit apud Dublin coram Johanne Wogan Justiciar Lib. G. Lambeth Hiberniae and sometimes they did it by Commissioners as 6 Ed. 2. Coram Waltero de Thornbury Cancellario Willielmo Alexander assignatis loco Edmondi le Butler Custode Terrae Hiberniae alibi in remotis agendis John Wogan Lord Justice 1302. being return'd call'd a Parliament the Effects whereof I find not but on the 17th of January issued a Commission to Richard Earl of Vlster the Lord Justice and Tho. Cantock Lord Chancellor to ask a Subsidy from the Clergy pro salvatione Coronae suae c. And the King wrote particular Letters to them but all to no purpose Nevertheless Pope Boniface would not be so served for he obtain'd or exacted from them a three years Disme to aid the Church against the King of Aragon The Lord Edmond Butler recovered the Mannor of Holywood in Fingal from the Archbishop of Dublin by Fine or Concord between them in the Kings Bench says Cambden and the same Archbishop took great pains to reconcile the two Churches of St. Patrick's and Christ-Church in Dublin Ware de Presul 110. and made Articles between them which were not observed in the mean time Says an 1300. Hugh de Lacy preyed the Estate of Hugh Verneil I suppose for some private Injuries Richard Burk 1303. Earl of Vlster accompanied with Eustace le Poer and a good Army went to aid the King in Scotland and the Earl made thirty three Knights in the Castle of Dublin before he set out and it is observable that in all Commissions and even in the Parliament-Rolls this Earl is always named before the Lord Justice This Year died Gerald 1304. eldest Son of the Lord John Fitz-Thomas as also the Countess of Vlster and William de Wellesby and Sir Robert Percival were slain in October also an Order issued to pardon Maurice de Carew Four hundred pound Arrearages he owed the King for his Lands in Desmond Lib. F. Lambeth because he was serving the King in Scotland and now again was a great part of Dublin accidentally burnt The next Year produced abundance of Villany 1305. for Jordan Comin with his Complices murdered Mortagh O Connor King of Ophaly and Calwagh his Brother and some others at Pirece Brimingham's House in Carbry in the County of Kildare and some Irish-men did the like by Sir Gilber Sutton Seneschal of Wexford at the House of Heymond le Grace and Heymond himself had much ado to escape and this year there was an Inquest of Trailbaston It seems the Mayor of Dublin had made some Complaints to the Irish Parliament against the Treasurer and Barons of the Exchequer 4 Inst 350. which was adjourned or transmitted to England and the Mayor was committed to the Tower and fined because he could not make out his Acusation The Year 1306. 1306. was not less bloody than the former for on the 13th of April the O Dempsyes made great Slaughter of the O Connors near Geashil in Ophaly and O Dempsy Captain of the Regans was there slain Soon after which O Bryan King of Thomond was murdered and Daniel Oge Mac Carthy did as much for his Father Donald Roe King of Desmond to which we may add that Pierce Brimingham was defeated in Meath May 12 and Ballymore was burnt by the Irish and Henry Celse was there kill'd Hereupon great Wars ensued and the English were summoned out of other Provinces to the Relief of Leinster they had a notable Battel at Clenfel where Sir Thomas Mandeville fought valiantly till his Horse was kill'd under him but what the Event of the Battel was is not recorded About this time Thomas Cantock Chancellor being consecrated Bishop of Emly made the greatest Feast for poor and rich that ever was seen in Ireland to that day This Year Murchod Ballagh was beheaded near to Merton 1307. by Sir David Canton or Condon who was afterwards hang'd for it in Dublin anno 1309. And on the first of May the Oscheles perhaps O Kellyes in Connaught routed and slew many Englishmen and the Tories of Ophaly razed the Castle of Geashil and on the 6th of July burnt the Town of Ley and besieged the Castle but at length they were dispersed by John Fitz-Thomas and his Son-in-Law Edmond le Butler In the mean time on the 7th of July this Noble and Victorious King died of a Dysentery at Barough upon the Sand in the five and thirthieth year of his Reign and of his Age the sixty eighth THE REIGN OF EDWARD II. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND EDWARD the Second stiled of Carnarvan 1307. the Place of his Birth began his Reign on the seventh Day of July 1307. with great Applause both of Nobility and People but he soon disappointed their good Expectations and not only recalled Gaveston contrary to his Fathers Express and Last Commands but also gave him the thirty two thousand Pound which his Father had specially appointed for the Holy War Baker 109. moreover he went to Bulloign and married Isabel Daughter of Philip the Fair King of France on the twenty second Day of January 1307 without any Portion in Mony And on the twenty fourth Day of February both he and she were crowned at Westminster by Henry Bishop of Winchester with exceeding Pomp. As to the Affairs of Ireland they were little regarded at this time so that there were small or no Alterations in that Government and Sir John Wogan still continued Lord Justice and in Decem. received an Order to suppress the Knights Templars which was effectually executed here on the third Day of February as it had been in England the seventeenth Day of January before Cambden 165. so that the King got four hundred Pounds Worth of their Goods which it seems was a great Sum in those Days This Year proved very unfortunate as well by the Death of the famous Peter de Breminghan on the twelfth of April as by the Rebellious Disturbances of the Irish amongst whom William mac Balthar was most active for he and his Complices burnt the Castle of Kenun on the eleventh of May and slew most of the Ward they also burnt the Town of Courcowly and on the sixth of June discomfited the Lord Justice near Glandelory where John de S. Hogeline John Norton and John Breton were slain and being elevated with this Success on the sixteenth of June they burnt Tobir Danlavan and many other Villages But the Lord
Justice was so vigilant that before the end of August the Rebels were dispersed and their Captain William mac Balthar was taken and hanged In the midst of these Disturbances John Decer Mayor of Dublin who had some time before built the Bridge over the Liffy Ibid. 166. near S. Wolstons and the Chappel of our Lady at the Friers Minors and had also repaired the Church of the Friers Preachers and every Friday feasted the Friars at his own Cost did now build the high Pipe in Dublin But the Lord Justice being sent for into England to give an Account there of the miserable State of Ireland substituted William Burk August 1308. Custos Warden or Deputy of Ireland He was Ancestor of many Noble Families and particularly of the Lords Castleconel and Leitrim In his time the Irish burnt Athy and Richard Talon was murthered by Maurice de Condon Cambden 166. and Candon was served in the same kind by the Roches and Odo mac Cathol O Connor slew Odo King of Conaught But in March following Peirce de Gaveston an insolent Frenchman was by the Nobility of England in Parliament banished that Kingdom whereupon the King to make this Exile of his Favorite as easie as he could gave him the Government of Ireland and assigned to him the Revenue and Royal Profits of that Realm so that thither he came with a great Retinue and he behaved himself so well that he broke and subdued the Rebels in the Mountains near Dublin He slew Dermond O Dempsy a great Irish Captain at Tully he marched into Munster and subdued O Brian in Thomond he rebuilt the new Castle of Mackingham in the Kevins Country and repaired the Castle of Kevin and cut and cleansed the Paces between that and Glendelough he was exceedingly beloved of the Soldiers both for his Liberality and Valour and might have done much Good there if he had staid longer Nevertheless he could not brook Richard Earl of Vlster who was the greatest Lord in Ireland This Earl as it were to nose Gaveston did at Whitsontide keep a great Feast at Trim Camb. 166. and dub'd two of the Lacies Knights and marched as far as Tredagh to encounter the Lord Lieutenant but on better Advertisement he returnd But the King impatient of Gaveston's longer Absence recalled him on the twenty third of June and sent in his Room Sir John Wogan 1309. Lord Justice M. S. Fragm and in October following the Noble Lord 4. says 1308 Roger Mortimer came over with his Wife Heiress of Meath and had quiet Possession of that Country the Grand-father Sir Geofry Genevil entring into a Monastery On the second of February Sir Arnold Poer slew Sir John Bonevil at Arstol but it was found to be in his own Defence Cambded 167. And in the same February there was a Parliament held at Kilkenny before the Earl of Ulster and the Lord Justice according to the Custom and Usage of those times which appeased many Civil Discords and enacted many good Laws which Mr. Pryn says Pryn 259. were printed in Bolton's Edition of the Irish Statutes 1621. And he reckons this to be the first Parliament that was held in Ireland except that of Henry II aforesaid but without question he is mistaken And it seems Pryn 259. That in the beginning of the next Year or the latter end of this there was another Parliament or Assembly of the great Men at Kildare where Poer was acquitted of the Death of Bonevil About this time Wheat was sold for twenty Shillings the Erane Cambded 167. and the Bakers were drawn on Hurdles through the Streets of Dublin for their Knavery In the Year 1310. Richard de Havering who under Pretence of the Popes Provision 1310. had assumed the Title of Arch bishop of Dublin and enjoyed all the Profits of that See without Consecration for four Years and upward was so terrified by a Dream that he resigned his Bishoprick to the Pope that gave it him Ware de praesul 111. And though Alexander Bricknor had the better in the Election the seventeenth of March 1610. yet John Lech by the Power and Favour of the King enjoyed the Bishoprick and begun the Controversie with Rowland Jorse Archbishop of Armagh about elevating his Crosier in the Province of Leinster and managed it so dextrously or rather so violently Hook 65. that he forced the Primate to fly by Night in his Pontificals from Howth to the Priory of Grace Dieu and thence chased him out of the Diocess or rather Province of Dublin and in the same year the Judges of the Court of Kings Bench were reduced to the number of Three The Year 1311 was troublesome enough 1311. for Frag. 4. in May Richard Earl of Vlster invaded Thomond Davis 134. and marched up to Bunratty where Richard de Clare met and defeated him and took him the Lord William Burk and others of his Kindred Prisoners and slew John de Lacy and many more of the Earls Followers and in November following the same Richad de Clare defeated the Irish and slew Six hundred Galloglasses Nor were the Civil Discords less amongst the Irish for Donough O Bryan was murdered by his own Men in Thomond and John Mac O Hedan was slain by O Molmoy and William Roch was murdered by a Tory However the Birnes and Tools were numerous enough to invade Taslagard and Rathcanle and to terrifie Dublin by lurking up and down the Woods of Glendelory Nor could the State suppress them because Robert Verdon began a Riot in Vrgile and was so powerful that he defeated the Lord Justice and his small Army 1312. July 7. 1312. but afterwards upon better consideration he voluntarily submitted himself to the Kings Mercy whereupon the Lord Justice went for England and left in his stead Sir Edmond Butler 1312. Lord Deputy who being now at leisure to deal with the Birnes and Tools he manag'd that Affair so well that he soon forc'd them to submit and then sent his Father-in-Law the Lord John Fitz Thomas afterwards Earl of Kildare General into Munster who at Adare Knighted Nicholas Fitz Maurice afterwards Lord of Kerry and others This Year was famous for two mighty Marriages of Maurice afterwards Earl of Desmond and Thomas Fitz John afterwards Second Earl of Kildare to the two Daughters of the Earl of Vlster But these Rejoycings were soon over 1313. and the Misfortunes of the English in Scotland drew on a Scotch Invasion of Ireland At first the Scots only sent some Boats to prey the Costs of Vlster which were well resisted but before the year was out Edward Bruce came in Person he forc'd and rob'd the Castle of Man and took the Lord O Donel Prisoner it seems he retir'd again to collect a greater Army and the Deputy after he had on Michaelmas day made one and thirty Knights in the Castle of Dublin 1314. and had taken the best care he could
to defend the Realm against the Scots was sent for to England and Sir Theobald de Verdon was made Lord Constable or Justice of Ireland Prin 259. 31 Dec. 1314. In whose time the King sent John de Hothum Clerk into Ireland to treat with the great Men there about the Kings Affairs and by him sent Writs in the Nature of Letters of Credence to Richard Earl of Vlster and all the rest of the Nobility by Name and a general Writ or Letter to the Lord Justice and the great Officers of State to the same effect Ibid. 260. and another Writ to assist him and to summon the Nobility to a general Meeting that Hothum might communicate the Kings Pleasure unto them He also sent Writs to the Lord Justice the Earl of Vlster and several other great Men to attend his Parliament in England and to appoint a sufficient Deputy or Keeper of Ireland till their Return Prin 261. And because the Words Vestrumque Concilium impensuri are omitted Mr. Prin observes rightly that these Irish Lords went as Commissioners or Agents from Ireland to inform the King and Parliament of the state of Affairs there and did not go to serve in Parliament as my Lord Cooke would have it 4 Inst 350. I do not find whether the Lord Justice went or not nor if he did what Deputy or Keeper of Ireland was appointed in his room but whoever had it did not keep the Office long for on the 27th of Febr. Sir Edmond Butler Frag. 5. 1315. Lord Justice returned and soon after viz. on the 25th of May 1315 Edward Bruce and six thousand Scots Landed near Carigfergus in Vlster with them joyned several of the Irish and together they marcht to Dundalk which they took and burnt on the 29th of June they also spoil'd Vrgile and drove most of the English out of Vlster To oppose them an Army was rais'd which rendezvouz'd at Dundalk July 22. But whether it were that the Scots were retired or that the English Commanders could not agree the Lord Justice return'd to Dublin and left the Earl of Vlster to pursue the Scots with whom that Earl had a Battel near Colrain Camb. 169. on the 10th of September and was defeated and many of the English slain and William Burk John Stanton and others were taken Prisoners This great Loss could not be recompensed with the slaughter of forty Scots which was performed by some English Mariners and therefore Bruce to follow his Blow caused his Army to besiege Carigfergus Septem 15. and sends his Brother William Bruce into Scotland for a Supply 1315. In the mean time the Irish every where insult over the unfortunate English and generally rebel throughout Vlster and Connaught they burnt Athloan October and Randan and Cathol Roe O Connor razed three Castles of the Earl of Vlster's in Connaught In November following the English under Roger Mortimer 1315. had another Battel with the Scots at Kenlis in Meath and were routed with great Slaughter by the Treachery of the Lacies Hereupon Bruce burnt Kenlis Granard Finagh and Newcastle and came to Loghsendy where he kept his Christmas and afterwards also burnt it thence he marched through the County of Kildare unto Rathingan Kildare Castle-Dermond Athy Raban and Sketheris where the Lord Justice accompanied by the Lord John Fitz-Thomas and many others encountred him on the 26th of January and was defeated by reason of some unhappy Fewds and Misunderstandings in the English Army Hereupon the Irish of Munster and Leinster rose in Rebellion and the Birns Tools and Moors burnt the Countrey from Arclow to Leix but the Lord Justice gave them a Rebuke and brought fourscore of their Heads to the Castle of Dublin Ireland being in so tottering a condition the King sent Sir John Hotham over again to take the Oaths and Hostages of the Nobility and Gentry that still remained loyal which was accordingly performed by the Lord John Fitz-Thomas afterwards Earl of Kildare Cambd. 171. Richard de Clare Maurice afterwards Earl of Desmond Thomas Fitz-John Poer Arnold le Poer Febr. 4. Maurice Rochford David and Miles de la Roch and many others 1315. And now both Armies were early abroad The Scots having burnt the Castle and Church of Ley did on the 14th of February rendezvouz at Geashil as the English did the same day at Kildare But the Scots for want of Provision were forced to return to Vlster nevertheless in their way they took Northburgh Castle and then sate down in their Quarters to that degree of quietness that Bruce kept Court and held Pleas there as if it were in times of the most profound Peace For the English Army had work enough nearer home and therefore the Lord Justice on the Scots retreat did likewise return to Dublin and there summoned a Parliament or general Assembly which reconciled some great Men then at odds cleared Walter Lacy of the Treachery imputed to him and established the Measures of carrying on the War And it was wisely done to begin with the Moroughs Tools and other Mountaineers of the County of Wicklow because they daily infested the City of Dublin and had destroyed both the Town and Country of Wicklow and because the Army was not strong enough to secure the City and at the same time to pursue the Scots 1316. the Success justified their Conduct for in April the Tories were defeated However the Scots were not so much neglected but that the Lord Thomas Mandevil was appointed to have an eye to them but he could but skirmish with them which he did valiantly Camb. 172. and kill'd Thirty Scots in one Encounter and was himself slain in another But Bruce came over with fresh Supplies from Scotland and so despised the small force of the English that in May he caused himself to be Crowned King at Dundalk 1316. and thereupon grew so insolent that he spared neither Churches nor Abbeys Women or Children found no Mercy at his hands but on the contrary he destroyed all that opposed him or that belonged to the English and he burnt great part of the Countrey as the Irish did the Church of Athird It was high time to encourage the English to their defence and the defence of the Kingdom and therefore as well to reward for Services past 1316. as to engage them for the time to come Selden 838. says Kildare's Patent is the ancientest Form of Creation he had seen the Lord Justice was made Earl of Carrick and John Fitz-Thomas was made Earl of Kildare May 14. 9 Ed. 2. and others received other Favours from the King The Burks and Geraldines were reconciled and every one in his station set himself manfully to the preservation of the Kingdom Richard de Clare and Bremingham had the better of the Irish in Connaught and slew many of them and about Whitsontide made a Sally into Munster and kill'd three hundred Irish there and the
Lord Justice was not less active in Leinster for he defeated O Morrough at Bally lethan and made a great Slaughter of the Rebels at Tristle Dermond and slew about four hundred of the Irish of Omayle There is a Writ in Mr. Prin's Animadversions on the 4th Institute Prin 261. too long to be here recited whereby it appears That an Englishman was punishable by Death for Killing Burning Theft or Robbery committed against an Englishman but an Irishman was only punishable at the discretion of the Brehon for Theft or Robbery of an Englishman but that in time the chief Governors did commute the punishment of any Felony even Murder of an Englishman for Money and thereby Witnesses were discouraged to testifie the Truth lest the surviving Felon might revenge it Therefore the Writ requires to assemble the Lords and COMMONS to advise c. In the same Writ is mentioned that the Irish petitioned for an Annual Parliament and because it is certain there were not Parliaments every year even in this Kings Reign Prin 263. Mr. Prin conceives that my Lord Cooke mistook that Petition for an Order for an Irish Annual Parliament which he says was at this time made but the Manuscripts M. and GGG at Lambeth 4 Insl 350. do agree with my Lord Cooke that there was such an Order But let us return to Bruce who on Midsummer-Day summoned Carigfergus and though eight Ships were sent thither from Tredagh yet the Garrison were reduced to the extremity of eating Leather and of feeding on eight Scots who were their Prisoners and so were at length forced by Famine to surrender in the latter end of August Nor did better News come from Connaught where O Connor defeated a Party of the English and slew the Lord Stephen of Exester Miles Cogan and eighty of the Barryes and Lawleys But this Misfortune was not long unrevenged Frag. 6. for on the fourth Day of August William de Burgo and Richard de Bremingham encountred Fylemy O Connor King of Connaught and a numerous Army of Irish near Athenry with prodigious Success for they slew the King of Connaught and eight thousand of his Men Aug. 1316. The Valour of Hussy a Butcher of Athenry was very remarkable on this Occasion for he fought with O Kelly and his Squire together and slew them both for which he was knighted and is Ancestor of the reputed Barons of Galtrim They say Athenry was walled with the Plunder of this Battle Cambd. 172. and that the brave Brimingham was made Baron of Athenry for this noble Service and his Heir is now the first Baron in Ireland About the same time viz. in August 1316. O Hanlon came for Contribution to Dundalk but the Townsmen under Robert Verdon who lost his Life in the Service entertained them so valiantly that O Hanlon was forced to leave two hundred of his Followers behind him About the end of August died the Noble Earl of Kildare Ibid. 173. and was succeeded by his Son Thomas On the fourteenth of September Ibid. Burk and Briminghan got another Victory in Conaught and slew five hundred Irish and their Captains Connor and the Mac Kelly and in the latter end of October John Loggan and Hugh Bisset routed the Scots in Vlster and slew one hundred with double Armour and two hundred with single Armour besides many of their naked Followers and sent Prisoners to Dublin Sir Alen Stewart Sir John Sandale Ibid. and other Scotchmen In December the Lacies procured themselves to be Indicted and Acquitted of introducing the Scots into Ireland and then had the King's Charter of Pardon Ibid. whereupon they renewed their Oath of Fealty and took the Sacrament to corroborate the same The Scots being joyned with the Irish of Vlster gathered a numerous Army computed to be near twenty thousand Men and in Lent they marched as far as Slane destroying the Country as they went The Earl of Vlster was then at S. Mary Abbey near Dublin but some Misunderstanding hapning between him and the Citizens 1316. Robert Notingham then Mayor of Dublin caused the Earl to be imprisoned in the Castle of Dublin and in the Fray seven of the Earl's Servants were slain and the Abby was spoiled and some of it burnt Hereupon Bruce marched toward Dublin Febr. 24. and took the Castle of Knock and the Lord Hugh Tyrrel in it who with his Wife were afterwards ransomed for a piece of Mony The Dublinians burnt the Suburbs to secure the City some Churches were destroyed in this Hurry and the Cathedral of S. Patricks did not escape But Bruce understanding the City was well walled and that the Citizens resolved to defend it he turned aside to the Naas being conducted and advised by Lacy notwithstanding his aforesaid Oath At the Naas they staid two Days spoiled the Churches opened the Tombs to search for Treasure and at last burnt the Town and thence marched to Castledermot Gauran and Callan destroying the Country as they went And what better could be expected when the King's Authority was so little regarded in Ireland that his Writ to bail the Earl of Vlster was disobeyed by the Mayor of Dublin Some of the Vlster-Men pretended an Aversion against the Scots Camb. 174. and desired Aid and Commission from the King they had the Commission at last and the King's Standard was delivered to them but they did more harm with it than the Scots had done they so behaved themselves if you believe my Author that they purchased the Curse of God and Man Bruce marched near Limerick to Kenlis in Ossory and about Palmsunday he came to Cashel and thence marched to Nenagh wasting all the Lord Justice's Estate in the Counties of Kilkenny and Typerary In the mean time the English Lords were Assembled at Kilkenny Davis 169. says Desmond was General and had gathered a numerous Army consisting of all sorts of thirty thousand Men and under the Conduct of the Lord Justice and Earl of Kildare designed to pursue the Scots 1317. when on Thursday in Easter-week there arrived at Youghal Roger Mortimer Lord Justice cum triginta octo Militibus who immediately sent word to the English Generals not to fight till he came but Bruce upon notice of his Arrival marcht toward Kildare and so to Naas and tho' he lurkt almost a week in the Woods near Trim to refresh his Men yet afterwards he made such haste that in the beginning of May he got into Vlster The Lord Justice seeing Bruce had retreated suffered his voluntary Army which the Irish call a rising out to return to their own homes the better to refresh themselves till a new Summons and went himself to Dublin and with the Lord Wogan Sir Fulk Warren and thirty Knights more he held a Parliament at Kilmainham where the deliverance of the Earl of Vlster was the chief thing treated of and it was at last effected at a second Meeting of the Parliament about
Whitsontide Prin 263. that Earl first taking an Oath on the Sacrament neither by himself his Friends or Followers to grieve those of Dublin for his Apprehension To all these Misfortunes was added that of a prodigious Dearth Wheat was sold for three and twenty Shillings the Cronoge Lib. P. Lambeth Oats six Shillings and Wine eighteen pence a Quart and other things proportionably so that many died for want The Lord Justice 1317. about Whitsontide marched to Tredagh and thence to Trim and sent for the Lacies who not only refused to come but murdered the worthy Messenger Sir Hugh Crofts but the Lord Justice soon revenged that Affront for he wasted the Lands and seized on the Goods of the Lacies slew many of their Men and drove themselves into Connaught and proclaim'd them Traytors and so return'd to Dublin by the way of Tredagh The Lord Justice had now leisure to assail O Fervil Cambd. whom he soon forced to submit as did also soon after O Birne tho' not till there was â—irst a Battle between the Lord Justice and the Irish of Omayle wherein the Irish were worsted In October the Archbales or Aspoles submitted to the Earl of Kildare and gave Hostages of their good Behaviour and in February Sir Hugh Canon Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas was murdered by Andrew Brimingham between the Naas and Castlemartin The Pope by his Bulls commanded a two years Truce betwixt the English and Scots but Bruce whose Quarters probably were so destroyed that they could not afford him subsistance refused to consent thereunto For about this time the Irish of Vlster were reduced to so great want that they took dead Folk out of their Graves Cambden and boyl'd their Flesh in their Skulls so that by reason of Famine and Sickness there escaped but three hundred of ten thousand men which were in Arms which my Author says was a Judgment on them for eating Flesh in Lent and other Wickednesses Not were the Men of Connaught in a mnch better condition for there happened a Feud between two of the Irish Princes there which occasioned the Slaughter of four thousand of their Followers On Shrove-Sunday the Lord Justice kept a great Feast in the Castle of Dublin and dubbed John Mortimer and four others Knights After Easter the Lord Justice received Command to repair to the King but before he went he had the bad News that the Lord Richard de Clare Sir Henry Capel Sir Thomas de Naas 1318. and two of the Cantons and fourscore others were slain by O Bryan and Macarthy on the 5th of May. This Lord Justice caused John de Lacy to be press'd to Death at Trim because he would not plead to the Indictment against him and then a Month after Easter he went for England being a thousand pound in debt to the Citizens of Dublin and he left in his room William Fitz-John 1318. Archbishop of Cashel Governor of Ireland in whose time great Plenty was again in that Kingdom and which was very strange new Bread was to be had on St. James's Day which was made of New Wheat of the same years growth Alexander Bicknor who was confirm'd Archbishop of Dublin was also sent over Lord Justice He landed at Youghal the 7th of October and soon after Bruce with about three thousand Men came to the Fagher within two Miles of Dundalk The Lord John Brimingham whom the Justice made General with many brave Captains and one thousand three hundred and twenty four good Souldiers marcht from Dublin to encounter him Cambd. 178. and they managed the Conflict so valiantly that they slew Bruce and two thousand of his Men On Calixâ—us Day and the General carried his Head to the King and was therefore made Earl of Louth and had twenty pound per annum Selden Titles of Honour Creation-Money and the Mannor of Athird granted to him Et sic per dextram Dei manus communis Populi liberatur populus Dei à servitute machinata praecogitata Lib. rub Scac. Dub. and so ended the Scotch Government in Ireland It is observable that the Primate of Armagb was at this Battel and came purposely to absolve bless and encourage the Royalists and it ought not to be forgot that a valiant Captain John Maupas was so resolute to destroy the usurping Prince that he rushed into the Battel with that Design and was after the Fight found dead stretcht on the dead Body of Bruce Roger Mortimer 1319. Lord Justice return'd from England and about Allhallontide the Pope sent over Bulls to excommunicate Bruce at every Mass The Towns of Atheisel and Plebs were burnt by John Fitz-Thomas Nappagh and the Bridges of Leighlin and Kilcullen were in this or the following year built by Maurice Jake Cannon of Kildare but it was not long before the Lord Justice made another Voyage to England and left in his room Thomas Fitz-John Fitz-Girald 1320. Earl of Kildare in whose time Bicknor Archbishop of Dublin obtained Bulls from Pope John 22th to erect an University at Dublin and St. Patrick's Church was appointed to be the publick place of their Exercise and it is observable that the King granted to this Earl of Kildare Lib. GGG Quod possit recipere ad Legem Angliae omnes homines Hibernos Tenentes suos qui ad eandem venire voluerunt Nor must it be forgotten 1319. That Pope John the 22th did by his Bull 12 Ed. 2. acquit and discharge the Crown of England from the Tribute or Peterâ— pence Lib. ZZ Lameth claim'd by the Holy See out of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland On the Ninth Day of May 1321. the People of Leinster and Meath gave a great Overthrow to the O Connors at Balibogan Frag. 7. and the Earl of Carrick died about the same time at London and was buried at Gauran not far from Kilkenny and not long after John Bermingham 1321. Earl of Louth was made Lord Justice Rex concessit Johanni Comiti Louth Officium Justiciarii Regis Hibern cum Castris aliis Pertinentiis 14 Ed. 2 par 2. Pat. in Tur. Lond. durante beneplacito Percipiendum per annum ad Scaccarium Regis Dublin 500 Marcas pro quibus Officium illud Terram custodiet erit ipse unus de viginti hominibus ad Arma cum tot equis coopertis continue durante custodio supradict The King on the Third of April 1322. in the 15th Year of his Reign wrote to the Lord Justice to meet him at Carlisle in Octab. Trin. following with three hundred Men at Arms a thousand Hoblers and six thousand Footmen armed with a Keton Lib. Lambeth a Sallet and Gloves of Mayl to serve against the Scots besides three hundred Men at Arms which Richard de Burgo Earl of Vlster had for his own share undertaken to conduct and though the English suffered a Defeat by O Nolan so that
Andrew Birmingham Nicholas de London and many others were slain and though the Lord Justice lost his Son Richard Lord of Athenry who died about this time yet all this did not hinder him from attending the King but he left in his place Ralph de Gorges Lord Deputy or Governor who continued so until the Second Day of February 1323. and then he was superseded by Sir John Darcy 1323. Lord Justice in whose time Philip Talon and his Son Fragm 7. and eight and twenty others were kill'd by Edmond Butler Rector of Tillagh and amongst the Records in the Tower of London Anno 15. E. 2. This notable Memorandum is to be found viz. In Abbathia Melifontis talis inolevit Error Lib. GGG quod nullus ibi admittatur in domum praedictam nisi primitus facta fide quod Non sit de genere Anglorum About this time Sir Henry Traherne took Mac Morough and kill'd O Nolan and four and twenty of his Followers It seems the King was muâ—h in the Favour of Pope John the twenty second for besides the aforesaid Release of the Peter-Pence the Pope did this Year 16 Edw. 2. impose a Disme on the Irish Clergy for two Years Lib. GGG payable to the King and commanded the Dean and Chapter of Dublin to levy it but the Prelates and Clergy refused to pay it to them unless they would shew the Original Bull. But on the the twenty fourth of November Vide postea ad annum 1344. at Notingham the King by assent of his Council made and published most excellent Ordinances for the Reformation of Ireland Pryn. 264. which are to be found at large in Mr. Pryns Animadversions on the fourth Institutes and are to this effect I. That no Officer of the Kings in Ireland whilst in Office shall purchase Lands or Tenements within their Jurisdiction on Pain of forfeiting the same II. That no Man by colour of his Office take Victuals or any other thing without the consent of the Party unless in case of Necessity for the Publick and then he must have the Advice of the greatest of the Council and a Writ out of the Chancery or unless he have the King's Letters or an Order from the Chancery of England III. That the Exportation of Corn to England or Wales be not hindered the Party paying the usual Customs be he Native or Stranger and giving Security not to carry it to our Enemies IV. That the Lord Justice take but four Pence for the Seal and two Pence for the writing of a Bill of Grace and that the Marshal take but four Pence for a Commitment V. No Protections or Pardons to be granted to Felons without special Order under one of the Seals of England VI. No Writs to be obeyed except such as are under the great Seal or the Seal of the Exchequer if the matter concerns that Court Lastly That the Lord Justice shall not adjourn Assizes before him unless he be present in the same County nor for any longer time than he continues there And at the same time a Writ issued to the Chancellor of Ireland Ibid. 26â— to Publish Enrol and Observe the aforesaid Ordinances and to send the Exemplifications of them to the rest of the Courts By reason of the fourteen Years Truce the King had made with the Scots 1325. there was not much other Disturbance in Ireland than what was occasioned by private Murders Walter de Valle and his Son were slain near Nenagh and the Lord John Barry of Hely a very stout Man was murthered by the O Kerals and therefore to fill up this Space I will insert the Famous or rather foolish Story of Alice Kettle in the Words of my Author In those Days lived in the Diocess of Ossory Holingshead 69. the Lady Alice Kettle whom the Bishop ascited to purge her self of the Fame of Inchantments and Witchcraft imposed unto her and to one Petronil and Basil her Complices She was charged to have nightly Conference with a Spirit called Robin Artisson to whom she sacrificed in the High-way nine red Cocks and nine Peacocks Eyes Also that she swept the Streets of Kilkenny between Complin and Twilight raking all the Filth towards the Doors of her Son William Outlaw murmuring and muttering secretly with her self these Words To the House of William my Son Hie all the Wealth of Kilkenny Town At the first Conviction they abjured and did Penance but shortly after they were found in Relapse and then was Petronil burnt at Kilkenny the other twain might not be heard of she at the Hour of her Death accused the said William as privy to their Sorceries whom the Bishop held in Durance nine Weeks forbidding his Keepers to eat or drink with him or to speak to him more than once in the Day but at length through the Suit and Instance of Arnold le Powre then Seneschal of Kilkenny he was delivered and afterwards he corrupted with Bribes the Seneschal to persecute the Bishop so that he thrust him into Prison for three Months In rifling the Closet of the Lady they found a Wafer of Sacramental Bread having the Devil's Name stamped thereon And a Pipe of Oyntment wherewith she greased a Staff upon which she ambled and galloped through thick and thin when and in what manner she listed This Business about these Witches troubled all the State of Ireland the more for that the Lady was supported by certain of the Nobility and lastly conveyed into England since which Time it could never be understood what became of her At Whitsontide 1326. the Parliament met at Kilkenny and thither the Earl of Vlster and most of the Nobility came what they did does not appear Lib. GGG saving that five thousand Quarters of Corn were sent out of Ireland to Aquitain for the King's use about this time and it is probable they raised Mony to pay for it Cambden tells us That the Earl of Vlster made a great Feast at this Parliament and that not long after he died But we must make a step to England before we can come to an end of this Unfortunate Reign and there we shall find the King for his Male administration in Disgrace with his People and which was worse reduced under the Power and Scorn of an Adulterous Wife the consequence of these things was That he was first imprisoned and afterwards murthered in Berkly Castle In this King's Reign flourished the famous Irish Philopher Johannes Dunus Scotus commonly stiled Doctor subtilis And it was in the same Reign that the Lord Mortimer Owner to Proprietor of Leix now Queens County being obliged by his Inclination or Business to reside in England did entrust one of the Omores with the management of his Estate but in process of time the Irishman sets up for himself and for a long time enjoyed that Country and still pretends a Right to it although his Claim is built on this perfidious and ungrateful Foundation Davis 198
175. In like manner did one of the Cavenaghs serve Carew about the Barony of Idrone and if I thought that no Body else would ever be served so hereafter I would have omitted this Remark In those Days there was small Respect paid to the Sabbath Fragm M. S. 4. in Ireland for the Markets were in several Places kept on Sundays but at Carlow the Market was about this time changed to another Day In England the sixth Penny of the Goods of Lay-men Baker 117. through England Ireland and Wales was granted to the King but how it was levied here non constat It appears by the Writ mentioned Pryn 263. that the denized Irish would not punish Felony with Death and therefore that Writ enjoyns them that are 14 Edw. 2. and them that shall be denized for the future to submit to the English Laws in that particular which confirms my former Observation That the Irish were fond of the Benefit of the English Laws but were very averse from the Penalties of them And by another Writ recited Pryn 263. it appears That Common Pleas were held before the chief Governour and because the Parties were poor and could not prosecute their Writ of Error in England according to Law the King did aâ—thorize the new Governour to examine the former Judgment and to reverse it if he found just cause c. And lastly we find a Writ which was sent to John Earl of Louth Pryn 264. whilst he was Lord Justice authorizing him to remove all such insufficient Persons as his Predecessor Mortimer had put into Office in that Kingdom which is a notable President worthy Imitation in all Places and Ages THE REIGN OF EDWARD III. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND EDWARD the Third upon the Resignation of his Father was proclaimed King the twenty fifth day of January 1327. and Crowned the first day of February following 1327. and being but fifteen years old had twelve Governors of him and the Kingdom appointed but they were but Ciphers and only had the bare Name of Governors whilst Mortimer and the Queen-Mother usurp'd and exercis'd the Power As for Ireland Thomas Fitz-John Earl of Kildare was made Lord Justice and Letters were sent to the Great Men of Ireland by Name to swear Fealty to the new King and to continue their Loyalty as they had done to his Predecessors And in his Time Adam Duff of the Family of O Toole in the County of Wicklow was burnt at Hoggin-Green in Dublin for Heresie or rather for most horrid Blasphemy for he denied the Trinity and the Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour c. And because it may be pleasant and useful to a curious Reader Lib. H. Lambeth I will give you a short Account of the Great Officers and others of Ireland and their Salaries as they were 1 Ed. 3. Earl of Kildare Lord Justice 500 Lib. Roger Outlaw Chancellor 040 Lib. Elias de Ashborne Justice for holding Pleas before the Justice and Council of Ireland 040 Lib. Roger de Werthorp Justice Itinerant 040 Mar. A Second Justice Itinerant Nicholas Falstoff Chief Justice of the Bench 040 Lib. John de Granset Second Justice 040 Mar. Roger de Preston Third Justice John Battalk Custos Brevium Rot. de Banc. 005 Lib. John Garnon Narrator Domini Regis 005 Lib. Simon Fitz-Richard Secundus Narrator 005 Mar. Richard Mayning Kings Sergeant 005 Mar. Robert Poer Treasurer 040 Lib. Thomas de Monte Pessulano Chancellor of the Exchequer 010 Lib. Roger de Birthorp Chief Baron 010 Lib. The Second Baron 010 Lib. Two Chamberlains of Exchequer 010 Lib. Remembrancer 010 Lib. A Summoner 004 Mar. Two Ingrossers of the Rolls in Term-time five pence per diem The Treasurers Clerk five pence per diem whilst the Exchequer is open Usher of the Chequer three half pence per diem A Chaplain of the Castle fifty Shillings per annum For Wax two Shillings Note a pound of Wax cost nine pence It was a common thing for the Great Men of Ireland as well Irish as English upon private Quarrels to make War one with another and sometimes upon very slight occasions an Instance whereof happened at this time Fragm 8. for Maurice Fitz-Thomas afterwards Earl of Desmond being disgusted with the Lord Arnold Poer for calling him Rimer did associate with the Butlers and Birminghams as Poer did with the Burks and began a War Davis 134. says it was Kildare that had like to have been fatal to the Burks and the Poers many of them were slain and more of them driven into Connaught and their Lands were burnt and preyed In vain did the Lord Justice interpose in this bloody Quarrel he appointed a Day to hear both Parties but the Lord Arnold Poer was so far from attending the issue of such a Meeting as well knowing that he was the first Aggressor and therefore the unlucky Causer of all those Calamities and Desolations that ensued that he fled to Waterford and thence into England The Army of the Fitz-Giralds and their Confederates was mightily increased in expectation of a greater resistance than they found but assoon as they understood that Poer was fled they executed their Revenge upon the Lands of their Enemies which had been to that time left undestroyed Cambden 181 They grew so formidable even to the Cities and Towns that they fortified and provided against them but upon notice of this the Confederates immediately sent word to the Lord Justice that they design'd no prejudice to the King or his Towns but had assembled to revenge themselves of their Enemies and that they were ready to appear before him at Kilkenny to clear themselves And accordingly in Lent they did meet at Kilkenny with the Lord Justice and the Kings Council 1327. and humbly crav'd a Charter of Peace or Pardon whereon the Lord Justice took time to advise But the Irish of Leinster hoped to advantage themselves of these Commotions and therefore set up Donald Mac Art Mac Morough of the Family of Mac Morough formerly Kings of Leinster for their King It seems he led his Army within two Miles of Dublin but he was defeated and taken Prisoner by Sir Henry Traherne and Walter de Valle who had one hundred and ten pounds reward for their pains and many of the Irish were slain but Mac Morough in January 1329. escaped out of the Castle of Dublin by help of a Rope sent him by Adam Nangle for which Fact Nangle was afterwards condemned and hang'd In the mean time the Lord Justice died at Minooth on Easter-Tuesday and Roger Outlaw Prior of Kilmainham Lord Chancellor was made Lord Justice in whose time David O Tool a strong Thief who had been taken Prisoner by the Lord John Wellesly the Lent before was this Summer condemned and executed at Dublin At this time in the Second Year of this Reign the Noble James Butler married the Earl of Hereford's Daughter Bakâ— which he had by
Elizabeth the Seventh Daughter of K. Edw. the First and was at the Parliament at Northampton Created Earl of Ormond And yet I have seen a Patent Dated 6 Edw. 3. Lib. G. Lambeth and exemplified 38 Edw. 3. Whereby James Butler is Created Earl of Ormond and Ten Pound per annum out of the Fee-Farm of Waterford granted to him for Creation-Money And now the Lord William Burk and Arnold Poer returned into Ireland and a Parliament was call'd at Dublin to compleat the Reconciliation between them on the one side and the Butlers Geraldines and Birminghams on the other which it seems was begun at the aforesaid Parliament at Northampton and now effected at this Parliament in Ireland Whereupon the Earl of Vlster made a great Feast in the Castle of Dublin and the next day after the Lord Maurice Fitz-Thomas did the like at St. Patricks-Church although it was in the time of Lent But a strange Accident fell out at this Parliament for the Lord Justice was forc'd to purge himself of Heresie Camb. 182. which the Bishop of Ossory laid to his Charge because he had abetted one Sir Arnold Poer whom the Bishop had condemned of certain Heretical Opinions But the Lord Justice made appear that the Bishops Proceedings were partial and unjust in favour of a Kinsman of the Bishops who began the Quarrel with Poer and that therefore he the Justice supported the Cause of the Oppressed and so after a very solemn Purgation the Lord Justice was acquitted and declared a true Son of the Church whereupon he made a great Feast for all Comers Nevertheless the unfortunate Poer who had been taken by the Kings Writ De Excommunicato capiendo grounded on the Bishops Certificate died in Prison before this Matter was fully adjusted and his Carcass was a long time kept above ground and unburied because he died unassoiled Sir John Darcy 1329. Lord Justice in whose time Macoghegan of Meath and other Irishmen of Leinster O Bryan of Thomond and his Confederates in Munster broke out into Rebellion and yet this common Calamity could not unite the English although their own Experience had taught them and frequent Instances have convinced the succeeding Ages since that the English never suffered any great Loss or Calamity in Ireland but by Civil Dissentions and Disagreement amongst themselves June 10. 1329. when the Earl of Louth and many other of the Birminghams Talbot of Malahide and an hundred and sixty Englishmen were murdered by the Treachery of their own Countreymen the Savages Davis 135. Gernons c. at Balibragan in Vrgile and when the Barryes and Roches in Munster did as much for James Fitz-Robert Keating the Lord Philip Hodnet Fragm 10. and Hugh Condon with an hundred and forty of their Followers what wonder is it if Macoghegan defeated the Lord Thomas Butler and others August 8. near Molingar to their loss of an hundred and forty of their Men Or if Sir Simon Genevil lost seventy six of his Soldiers in Carbry in the County of Kildare or if Brian O Bryan ravaged over all the Country and burnt the Towns of Athessel and Typerary However Holingsh 70. the Irish grew so Insolent and Outragious upon these small Victories that they shewed but little regard to God or Man In the Church of Freinston they found about fourscore People at their Devotions Cambden ad annum it seems the miserable Wretches well acquainted with the cruelty of these ungovernable Soldiers did not expect to escape their Fury 1331. and therefore made it their only Petition to save the Life of the Priest Lib. P. Lamb. but these Ruffians were deaf to all Supplications for Mercy the Priest was the first Man they wounded and after they had spurned the Host with their Feet they compleated their Sacrilege by burning the Church Priest People and all Nor did they regard the Ecclesiastical Censures nor the Pope's Interdict which afterwards issued against them on the contrary in all their Actions they manifested an entire contempt both of Ethicks and Christianity so that one would think the Poet prophesied of these Men when he said Nulla fides pietasve viris qui castra sequuntur But Pride will have a fall and Providence will certainly triumph over the Wickedness of Men in a proper Season and commonly Methods unexpected whereof this unruly Multitude is one Instance For the Men of Wexford by their imminent Ruine rendred desperat entertain'd a Skirmish with this formidable Rabble Cambd. 185. and had the good Luck to kill four hundred of them and the rest surprized with a pannick Fear on this unexpected Defeat ran away in such a confused and hudling manner that most of them were drowned in the River Slane and have left a just Occasion for this true Remark That huffing and insolent Men are always Cowards and if this be true any where in the World it is true in Ireland Camb. 183. Sir Philip Stanton had the ill Luck to be slain by the Irish and Sir Henry Traherne by the Means of Onolan was surprized in his own House at Kilbeg But in Revenge of it the Earl of Ormond burnt Foghird in Onolan's Country and the Lord Justice prosecuted the O Birnes so effectually that after the Slaughter of some of the best of them they were forced to submit But the Lord Justice finding himself too weak to deal with such a vast number of Rebels as were now in Arms in all parts of the Kingdom he invited Maurice afterwards Earl of Desmond to take the Field and promised him the King's Pay January 1329 Maurice came accordingly with a very considerable Army Fragment 9. and advanced against the Onolans he routed them and burnt their Country so that they were forced to submit and give Hostages He did the like to the O Morroughs and took the Castle of Ley from the O Dempsâ—es But the Lord Justice was not ablâ— to pay so great an Army being near ten thousand Men 〈◊〉 therefore he was fain to connive at their extorting Coyn anâ— Livery which now was first practised by the English But the Irish had used that barbarous Oppression long before and perhaps from the beginning as appears by the fourth Constitution of the Synod of Cashel Ante pag. 23. I have seen the Copy of a Patent Lib. CCC dated March 1. 3. Edw. 3. Lambeth constituting the Earl of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland but I find nothing more of it any where else But the same Year Typerary was made a Palatinate The Irish had again petitioned the King for a general Liberty to use the English Laws Davis 103. whereupon the King sent a Writ to the Lord Justice 22 Aug. to consult the Parliament in Ireland 2 Edw. 3. and to advise him of their Opinions in that Matter And by another Writ of the same Date the King orders the Justice and the Chancellor to supervise the Exchequer twice every
Year And it seems there was also a Parliament at Dublin this Year Prin 266. wherein it was ordained That the King's Peace should be fully kept and that every Nobleman and Chieftain should keep in his own Sept. Retinue and Servants Roger Outlaw Prior of Kilmainham was made Lord Deputy 1330. and kept the Kingdom quiet ' all the Summer and the Winter was so stormy and wet that nothing could be done till January and then the Macoghegans began to be troublesome again in Meath but the Earls of Vlster and Ormond gave them a Defeat near Loghynerthy about Lent whereupon they were so enraged that they burnt fifteen Villages but they paid for it in another Skirmish wherein three Irish Lords Sons and one hundred of their Followers were slain This Year a Parliament was holden at Kilkenny Pryn 267. at which were present Alexander Archbishop of Dublin the Earls of Vlster and Ormond the Lord William Birmingham and the Lord Walter Burk of Connaught and each of these brought a considerable Power with him to pursue O Brian and expel him from Vrkiffe near Cashil It seems this great Army march'd to Limerick and that the Burks did prey some of the Giraldines Lands in their March whereupon such Fewds arose between those Families that the Lord Justice was necessitated to confine the Earl of Vlster and Maurice of Desmond to the Custody of the Marshal at Limerick but Maurice quickly found means to escape and thereupon 't is probable the Earl was also enâ—arged It seems that both of them went to England But what became of this mutinous Army Frag. 9. I find no mention save that an anonymous Author reports Quod nihil perfecerunt But the next Year was more propitious 1331. for on the twenty first of April the English gave the Irish an Overthrow in O Kensâ—le And in May the English at Thurles defeated O Brian and slew many of his Followers And about the same time O Tool came to Tullagh and robbed the Archbishop of Dublin took three hundred of his Sheep and killed some of his Servants Upon notice of it Sir Philip Britt and others sallied out of Dublin but they were too forward and careless so that they fell into an Ambush in Culiagh and were most of them slain whereupon the Irish were elevated to that degree Cambd. 184. that they attacked the Castle of Arklow and took it but the Lord Birmingham with a smart Party undertook them and mortified them to the lowest degree of Submission and might have ruined them if he had not trusted to their false Promises Sir Anthony Luey 3 June 1331. a Man of great Authority in England was sent over Lord Justice he brought with him the Lord Hugh de Lacy who was now pardoned and in some Favour He also brought the King's Letters to the Earl of Vlster and others of the Nobility to give their best assistance to him the Lord Justice The Lord Justice designed by a severe Government to correct and reform the Distempers of those Times but alass it was too great an Undertaking for one Man and required more time than he had to spend in Ireland However his Government was auspicated with a Victory which those of the English Pale on the eleventh of June obtained over the Irish at Finnagh in Meath And though there was a great Dearth and Scarcity still continuing yet it was somewhat moderated by the great Plenty of large Fishes called Thurlehides sent by Providence into the Bay of Dublin in a prodigious number for the relief of the Poor A Parliament was summoned to meet at Dublin at Mid-summer by which it is manifest that they did not hitherto practise the formality of forty Days Summons the Appearance was so thin that the Parliament was adjourned to Kilkenny to the seventh of July And thither came Thomas Earl of Kildare and others that were not at Dublin and were freely pardoned what was past being first sworn on the Holy Evangelists and the Reliques of the Saints to Allegiance and Preservation of the peace for the future But in August the Lord Justice received the bad News That the Irish had taken and burnt the Castle of Ferns Whereupon he grew jealous That some of those English Lords that absented themselves from the Parliament at Kilkenny did underhand abet the Irish or else they durst not so frequently rebel and therefore he resolved to apprehend as many of them as he could get And first Henry Mandevil was by Warrant from the Chief Justice taken in September and Maurice of Desmond being arrested in Limerick in the beginning of October was by warrant from the Lord Justice and Council brought to Dublin Walter Burk and his Brother were seised in November and William and Walter Birmingham were secured in Clonmel in February following and afterwards sent to Dublin It seems there was more than bare Suspicion in this Matter for the Lord William Birmingham who had often done good Service for his King and Country was nevertheless executed the eleventh of July 1332. and his Son Walter had not escaped but that he was in Orders and Maurice of Desmond was likewise kept in Prison a Year and a half and then discharg'd upon very great Bail and sent into England to the King But let us look back to the third of March 1331. at which time the King and Parliament of England made Ordinances and Articles for the Reformation and Tranquility of Ireland and sent them thither in haec verba REX Justic Pryn 267. Canc. Thes suis Hibern salutem Mandamus vobis quod articulos subscriptos quos pro emendatione status Terrae nostrae Hiberniae quiete tranquilitate populi nostri ibidem per advisamentum Concilii nostri in ultimo Parliamento nostro apud Westmon tento ordinavimus in dicta Terra Hiberniae quantum ad vos attinet teneatis observetis per alios fideles nostros dictae Terrae teneri observari faciatis Tenor autem articâ—â—â—orum praedictorum talis est Imprimis Justiciarius qui nunc est vel pro tempore fuerit non concedat Cartas Pardonationis de morte hominis nec roberiis incendiis aliquibus nisi de roberiis incendiis ante festum Paschae anno regni Domini Edwardi Regis Angliae tertii post Conquestum quinto perpetratis Et quod de caetero certificet Regem de nominibus hujusmodi Pardonationes petentium de avisamento suo quod Rex faciat inde voluntatem suam quod nullus in Terra Hiberniae ex nunc faciat tales Pardonationes infra libertatem extra sub gravi forisfactura Domini Regi Item Quod dictus Justic de caetero non concedat tuitionem pacis felonibus ad silvam existentibus Item Quod una eadem lex fiat tam Hibernicis quam Anglicis excepta servitute Betagiorum penes Dominos suos eodem modo quo usitatum est in Anglia de Villanis Item
Quod Justic nec aliquis alius Minister de caetero det alicui custodiam vel maritagium alicujus haeredis ad regem pertinentis nec pardonet debita Regis seu fines amerciamenta vel catalla forisfacta sed quod Justiciarii alii Ministri hujusmodi custodias maritagia vendant aliud comodum Regis inde fac juxta discretiones suas Item Quod Vic. Coronatores de caetero eligantur per Communitates Comit. non alio modo quod catalla forisfacta remaneant in custodia Villar Item Quod Justic seu aliquis alius Minister non recipiet aliquem magnatem in pleg vel manucaptor versus Dominum regem nisi quatenus pro commodo Regis viderint faciendum Item Quod Justic obsides pro conservatione pacis sive liberatos in carceris Domini Regis fac salvo custodire ad sumptus suos proprios quod si ipsi qui posuerunt hujusmodi obsides conditiones conventiones quas fecerunt non observent Justic faciant Judicium de hujusmodi obsidibus Item Quod Justic seu aliquis Magnus Hibern non concedat protectiones alicui contra pacem Regis existent Item Quod nullus Minister Regis de caetero recipiatur in pleg vel manucaptorem versus Dominum Regem Item Quod fines de vaccis de caetero pro redemptione non capiantur sed denarii Item Quod Treuga capta capienda inter Anglicos Hibernicos de caetero observetur quod neutra pars damnum alteri durante hujusmodi Treuga inferat si fecerit pro felone habeatur Item Quod nullus ut lagatus in Gildabili receptetur infra libertates nec e converso inde fiat Ordinatio per Justic alios Ministros Dominos libertatum Item Quod Vic. alii Ministri computent quolibet anno semel ad minus si comode fieri poterit Item Quod Seneschallus alicujus Domini in Hibern non ponatur in aliquo Officio Regis Item Quod Thes vel aliquis alius Minister Regis ubi ipse intendere non potest supervideat quolibet anno castra Regis statum eorundem quod emendare fac defectus eorundem Item Quod vic in Turnis quae faciunt de Brevibus Domini Regis ponant nomina sua ita quod quilibet Vic. de exitibus forisfacturis aliis proficuis quae requiruntur sub nomine Vic. oneretur ad Scac. pro tempore suo proprio Item Quod extranei non assignentur Collectores Custumorum Regis sed Burgenses Villarum ubi tales Custumae colligi debent assignentur ad eas colligendas hoc fiat de potentioribus discretiorbus Item Quod Justic fac inquirere quolibet anno de Ministris Domini Regis eorum factis quod puniat delinquentes pert concilium avisamentum Canc. Thes aliorum de concilio Regis amoveat insufficientes Item Quod nullus manuteneat neo ducat Kernes nec Gentes vocat Idle men nisi in Marchis suis propriis ad custus eorundem nec faciat prizas Item Quod omnes Ministri Regis qui tenentur ad computandum non habent Terras seu Tenementa sufficientia in Hibernia invenient manucaptionem in Hibern ad respondendum Regi de compotis suis ibidem Item Quod habentes Terras Tenementa in Hibernia tam religiosi quam alii praemuniantur quod resideant in iisdem si sint in Marchis vel alibi vel ponent sufficientem Custodiam pro conservatione pacis in iisdem citra Fest S. Petri ad vincula prox futur si non fecerint quod Rex in eorum defectum Terras Tenementa illa in manum suam capiet de sufficiente custodia eorundem ordinabit Item Quod nullus cujuscunque status seu conditionis manuteneaâ— foveat nec defendat Hibernicos seu alium quemcunque contra pacem Domini Regis insurgentem si aliquis sic fecerit inde convictus fuerit pro Felone habebitur c. And at the same time the King sent another Writ Prin 269. commanding them to observe the Law of England in case of wardships without regard to the Custom or Usage of Ireland In July the Irish razed the Castle of Bunratty to the ground but in lieu of that 1332. the English on the 8th of August took the Castle of Arcklow and re-edified it They had also the good fortune to defeat the O Bryans Mac Carthyes and other Irish in Munster and to kill a great many of their Men and they also took the Castle of Coolmore The Irish Hostages that were kept at Limerick and Nenagh made notable Attempts to surprize and seize both those Castles and they pursued the Project so far as to get both of them into their possession but the English were resolved to regain them which they perform'd in a very short time and the Hostages at Limerick were put to death for their Treachery and those at Nenagh were still kept in durance But the O Tools of Leinster made a more successful Attempt on the Town of Newcastle in the County of Wicklow for they not only took it but also burnt it In the mean time Cottons Rec. 9. at the English Parliament holden in September principally for the Affairs of Ireland and the Kings Expedition thither it was fully agreed that the King should pass to Ireland in person Ibid. 10. and that in the mean time a Power should be sent to that Country and Commandment was given that all such as have Lands there should repair thither for defence of that Kingdom and that all such Learned in the Law as shall be sent as Justices or otherwise to serve in Ireland shall have no Excuse and that Search be made amongst all the Kings Records to see what hath been done for the Amendment of the Irish Lib. Z Z. And soon after a Writ was sent to William de Burgo and others to attend the King to consult of his Voyage to Ireland but because the time of year did not serve for the Kings Voyage nothing more was done than that the Lord Justice was recalled in November and in February after came over Sir John Darcy Lord Justice to whom the King gave the Mannors of Louth and Ballyogany which Simon Earl of Eu had forfeited by adhering to the French King Soon after his coming the Birminghams took a Prey of two thousand Cows from the O Connors in the County of Sligo But this small Success was quickly over-ballanced by a great Misfortue 1333. for William Burk Earl of Vlster was on the 6th of June basely murdered by his own perfidious Servants at Carigfergus whereupon his Wife and only Daughter sailed to England the Daughter was afterwards Married to the Duke of Clarence and had one only Daughter who was Wife to Roger Mortimer Earl of March and Lord of Trim And from her the Earldom of Vlster and Lordship of Connaught came by descent to be
annexed to the Crown But two of the Burks seized upon most part of the Estate and divided it between them and knowing they could not hold it by the Law of England they confederated with the Irish and changed their Language Apparel Customs and Manners Nay their very Names were altered into those of Mac William Eighter and Mac William Oughter and by these means they have made a shift to keep some part of that mighty Estate for many score years The Lord Justice to revenge the Murder of the Earl of Vlster which made a great noise in Ireland call'd a Parliament by whose advice he went by Sea to Carigfergus on the first of July and by help of the Country People he destroyed the Murderers and their Abettors and thence with his Army he sailed into Scotland where he did very good Service But the Parliament sitting in England Cottons Rec. the 15th of March it was there resolved That because the Kings Affairs required him in France his Irish Voyage should be postpon'd for a year so as Aid might be sent in the mean time but it seems that the Scots so allarm'd him in the North that he performed neither the one nor the other Voyage And though both Houses apart advised the King to send Supplies of Men and Money to Ireland and gave him one Disme and one Fifteenth to that purpose yet I do not find that any considerable Recruits were sent thither but instead of that a Commission was sent to treat with the Rebels Prin 270. Whilst the Lord Justice was beyond Seas the Government was managed by Thomas de Burgh Lord Treasurer but it was not long before Darcy return'd with honour and releas'd Walter de Birmingham out of Prison in February following and soon after Sir Simon Archdeacon and others were slain by the Irish in Leinster Ibid. And the young Lord Roch prevail'd with the King to reduce to ten pounds a Fine of two hundred Marks impos'd on his Father for absenting himself from the Parliaments of 20 Edw. 2. and 2 Edw. 3. to both which he was summoned Maurice Fitz-Girald broke his Leg by a Fall from his Horse and was thereby hindred from repairing to England as he had promised and designed 1335. but now being recovered he went thither and was well received by the King and created Earl of Desmond 1336. 9 Ed. 3. On the 9th of August the English gave the Irishmen a great Defeat in Connaught Campion 88. and with the loss of one man slew ten thousand of their enemies and not long after the Lord Justice was removed and Sir John Charleton came over Lord Justice 1337. and brought with him his Brother Thomas Bishop of Hereford Lord Chancellor John Rice or ap Rees Lord Treasurer and two hundred Welsh Soldiers he called a Parliament at Dublin to which the Archbishop of Armagh designed to come Pryn. 409. and in order to it made great Preparations at S. Mary Abby but the Archbishop of Dublin would not permit him to advance his Cross in that Diocess till the King sent his Writs as well to the Archbishop as to the Corporation of Dublin not to molest the Primate Thomas Charleton 1338. Bishop of Hereford Governour of Ireland he caused Sir Eustace Poer and Sir John Poer to be imprisoned in the Castle of Dublin on the third Day of February And this Winter there was so great Frost and Snow from the second Day of December to the tenth Day of February that they Plaid Danced and roasted Fish on the Ice upon the River of Liffy And now again 1339. were all the Irish in Arms especially in Munster but the Earl of Desmond so well managed Matters there that he slew one thousand two hundred Men in Kerry and took Nicholas Fitz-Maurice Lord of Kerry Prisoner and kept him in Durance till he died Cambden 187. because he had joyned with the Irish against the King and the Earl Nor had the Earl of Kildare worse Success in Leinster for he pursued the O Dempsies so close that many of them were drowned in the River Barrow and the greatest Booty that ever was taken in that Country was brought by the Lord Justice and the English from Idrone in the County of Caterlogh about the latter end of February and in April following the Lord Justice being sent for to England resigned to Roger Outlaw 1340. Prior of Kilmainham Lord Justice he died the February following and by the Kings Patent constituted John Lord Darcy L. Justice during Life but he came not afterwards into Ireland but in May following sent over Sir John Morris 1341. Lord Deputy to whom the Inhabitants of Ireland did not pay that respect which was due to his Character for the English Irish were how grown so proud that they disdain'd to be under the authority of a Knight And therefore to mortifie them it was resolved to make a general Resumption of all Lands Liberties Signiories and Jurisdictions which this King or his Father had granted in Ireland QVia plures excessivae Donationes Terrarum Tenement 15 E. 3. m. 14 Libertatum in Terra Hibern ad minus veracem subdolem suggestionem potentium quam per Ed. 2. quam per Regem nunâ— facta sunt c. Rex delusorias hujusmodi Machinationes volens elidere de concilio peritorum sibi assistent omnes donationes Terrarum Tenement Libertat praedict duxit 〈◊〉 c. quousque de meritis personarum ac de causis conditionibus donationum praedict fuerit informat ideo Mandâ—â— est Justiâ— regni Hibern quod omnia Terras Ienementa c. praedict perdict Reges Justic aut locum tenentes suos quibuscunque personis fact seisire facias c. It cannot be expressed what Fewds Davis 138. that it was by good advice Heart-burnings and Dissatisfactions this one unadvised Act did create it was the rise and occasion of a distinction between the English of Blood and the English of Birth which had like to be fatal to the whole Kingdom Pryn. 272. all the old English were disobliged by this procedure and without their assistance the King could not keep much less enlarge his Interest in Ireland To qualifie this Matter and to allay these Heats 1342. a Parliament was summoned to meet at Dublin in October but the Earl of Desmond and other Great Men of that Faction openly refused to come and on the contrary they confederated with the Corporations and some Cities and the rest of the Male-contents and without consulting the Government they appointed a General Assembly at Kilkenny in November following and there they did accordingly meet and the Lord Justice had not Power to hinder them nor did he dare to come to them This Assembly sent Messengers to the King with their Complaints couched in these three Queries I. How a Realm of War could be governed by a Man unskilful in all war-like Service II. How an
Officer under the King that entred very poor could in one Year heap up more Wealth than Men of great Estates in many Years And III. How it chanced since they were all called Lords of their own that the Sovereign Lord of them all was never the richer for them The King who knew what they aimed at was very unwilling to restore the Lands and Jurisdictions he had resumed and therefore tryed all other ways to reform the Kingdom and please the People He turned out many of his Judges and Officers that were most obnoxious particularly Elias de Ashbourn whose Estate he caused to be seized Thomas de Montepessulano and Henry Baggott Judges of the Common Pleas He sent a Writ to the Lord Deputy to certifie the Qualities Services Fees Number and Behaviour of his Officers in Ireland He ordered that all Pardons or Suspensions of the King's Debts that were by green Wax or otherwise except Pardons or Releases under the great Seal should be vacated and the Debts levyed He also commanded the Lord Justice Darcy or his Deputy to employ no others in any considerable Office than such Englishmen as had Estates in England and to turn out all that were not so qualified And also enjoyned him not to alien or grant any of the King's Lands until he be fully informed of the Circumstances by Inquisition And whereas the Treasurer of the Exchequer did claim a Privilege to dispose of any Sum under one hundred Shillings toties quoties as he pleased without Voucher or Account the King supersedes that evil Custom and orders him to account for what is past since the beginning of his Reign and to issue no more Mony without the Presence or Consent of the Lord Justice Lord Chancellor and Council And whereas the Treasurer used to name Sheriffs that Nomination is conferred on the Chief Governour and Chancellor and Council who are enjoyned to put in Persons fit for the Office And whereas the Treasurer for Rewards used to forbear the King's Debts so that many of them were lost that Practice is also prohibited for the future And the Treasurer is ordered Not to receive the King's Mony in his Chamber or elsewhere privately but only in the publick Office The King also sent a Writ to be certified of the Particulars which were seized by virtue of the aforesaid Writ of Resumption And John Darcy Senior had an Order to have his Part of those Lands restored The Lord Justice the Deputy and the Chancellor or any two of them were authorized to supervise and regulate the Exchequer And yet all this and whatever else the King could do did not quiet the Kingdom until there was a general Restitution of these resumed Estates which was done 26 Edw. 3. And it must not be forgot that Walter Archbishop of Ardmagh Pryn 277. being in the time of Edw. 2. advanced to that See by the Popes Provision wherein were some Clauses prejudicial to the Crown the King refused to restore the Temporalities unto him until he had renounced all Clauses in the Pope's Bulls prejudicial to the King or his Kingdoms and engaged to pay a Fine of one thousand Crowns for that Misdemeanour but the Archbishop died before the Fine was paid And about this time Process issued to levy the same on the Temporalities of his Successor but it was irregular and illegal and therefore the King superseded that Process and directed that it should be levyed of the Heirs or Executors of the said Walter And about this time John Larch Prior of the Hospital of S. John of Jerusalem in Ireland and Mr. Thomas Wogan were sent to the King by the Prelates Earls Barons and Commons of Ireland with a long Catalogue of the Grievances of those Times to be seen at large together with the King's Answer in Mr. Pryns Animadversions 279. But Whether these Agents were sent from the Parliament at Dublin or the discontented Assembly at Kilkenny non constatâ— But 't is certain that not long after the Lord Justice was removed and Sir Ralph Vfford came over Lord Justice 1334. he married the Countess Dowager of Vlster and was a grave severe Man and the likeliest Person of that Age to reduce the Seditious to their Duty however the Irish and the old English speak very hardly of him and after they had given him the worst Character imaginable they add That there was a continual Tempest in Ireland from the time of his landing to the Day of his Death Camb. 189. 'T is certain they hated him so that in Sight of the People and at noon-day he was robbed of his Cloaths Mony Plate and Horses by Mac Cartane at Emerdullin no Body endeavouring to help or rescue him nevertheless he afterwards raised the Men of Vrgile and gained the Pass and entred Vlster On the twenty fourth of November the King and Parliament at Notingham made Ordinances for the Reformation of Ireland which are the same mentioned already 17 Edw. 2. ante pag. 112. which is there mistaken for 17 Edw. 3. as I suppose for though both my Lord Cook and Mr. Pryn quote 17 Edw. 2. yet I rather believe both their Books are misprinted than that the same Ordinances should be repeated at the same Place and in the same Year of both Kings But however that be my Lord Cook adds this Clause Volumus praecipimus quod Nostra Terrae nostrae negotia praesertim majora ardua per Peritos Conciliarios ac Praelatos 4 Inst 350 351. Magnates quosdam de discretioribus Hominibus i.e. the Commons in Parliamentis tractentur disâ—utiantur terminentur Vide postea ad annum 1357. And this he says does regulate the Parliaments of Ireland according to the Institution of England for before this time the great Meetings in Ireland were rather general Assemblies of the Great Men than properly Parliaments I find it asserted in the Argument of a Case about the Precedency of the Lord of Kerry before the Lord of Slane 12 Jac. 1. that the first regular Parliament in Ireland was held anno 12 Edw. 3. but I do not find any other Authority that there was any Parliament held that Year at all Certainly the greatest Assembly that was at any time in either of these King's Reigns at Parliament was anno 1302. being 30 Edw. 〈◊〉 the Number upon the Parliament Roll amounting to no less than one hundred fifty six The Parliament 8 Edw. 2. was nevertheless more considerable because of the Quality of the Persons for there were the four Archbishops ten Bishops the Abbot of S. Thomas the Prior of Kilmainham and the Dean and Chapter of Dublin There were also many Irish Lords as O Hanlon Duke i.e. Dux Captain or Chief of Orry O Donel Duke of Tyrconnel O Neal Duke of Tyrone c. and almost all the English Nobility in Ireland Others make a distinction between Grand and Petit Parliaments Lib. M. Lambetâ— the former were properly Parliaments and in them the
three Estates were assembled and this sort of Parliament is intended in the Submission of Mac. Mahon 25. Hen. 6. whereby he promiseth that in time of Arch-Parliaments he will carry nothing away out of the English Pale contrary to the Statutes Thus the Annals of Ross mention Quod Magnum Parliamentum tenetur apud Dublin 1333. And Mr. Cambden ad annum 1341 calls it Commune Parliamentum But after all there were but very few Cities or Corporations that were concerned in or summoned to an Irish Parliament until of later Days The Earl of Desmond did indeed associate with the Deputies of many Towns in his Assembly at Kilkenny but that was to strengthen his Party and to enlarge his Confederacy so that whoever will look for an Irish Parliament consisting of Lords Spiritual and Temporal Knights Citizens and Burgesses summoned by the King 's Writ on forty Days Notice and sitting in several Houses as the Custom is now must search the Parliament Rolls to satisfie himself which was the first Parliament of that sort in Ireland for he will not in any History find a sufficient Information in that Particular as I suppose But let us return to the Lord Justice 1345. who summoned a Parliament to meet at Dublin the seventh of June but the Earl of Desmond still refused to come thither and had appointed another Assembly at Calan at which Place several great Men had promised to come Fryar Clun ad annum 1344. but they were prohibited by the King 's Writ and therefore excused themselves to the Earl But the Lord Justice to abate the Insolence of the Earl of Desmond advanced the King's Standard into Mâ—nster he seized on the Earls Lands and gave them in custodiam to those that would take them He also by Stratagem took the Castles of Iniskilly and Island in October following and he hanged three Knights that commanded them viz. Poer Grant and Cotterel Ware antiq 69. Quia multas graves extraneas intolerabiles leges exercuissent tenuissent invenissent viz. Coyn and Livery c. It is probable that Desmond was so mortified with this Usage that he surrendred himself to the Lord Justice and was let to bail on the Recognizance of the Earls of Vlster and Ormond Lib. P. and twenty four Knights but finding the Severity of this Governor he thought it dangerous to appear according to the Condition of the Recognisance and therefore it was estreated into the Exchequer and though the Noblemen and some of the Knights made a shift to get rid of this matter yet eighteen of the Knights lost their Estates and were utterly ruined thereby This Lord Justice did also use means to apprehend the Earl of Kildare which at last he effected and kept him in Prison where he continued till the twenty sixth of May 1346. and then he was discharged by the new Justice on the Recognisance of twenty four Lords and Gentlemen About this time viz. 18 Edw. 3. Seals were made for the Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas in Ireland And the King pardoned the Archbishop of Dublin late Treasurer of Ireland for sundry false Writs and Acquittances which he had put into his Treasurers Account in deceipt of the King But on Palm-Sunday being the ninth Day of April this severe Governor submitted to his Destiny 1346. to the great Joy of the generality of the People And it is observeable That his Lady who was received like an Empress and lived like a Queen was fain to steal away through a Postern-Gate of the Castle to shun the Curses of her Enemies and the Clamour of her Creditors Sir Roger Darcy was immediately appointed Lord Justice ex assensu ordinatione Regalium aliorum in Hibernia and sworn the 10th of April but he continued only till the 25â—h of May and then surrendred to Sir John Morris Lord Justice who met the bad News that in April before the O Mores had burnt the Castles of Ley and Kilmehide He released the Earl of Kildare out of Prison as aforesaid but continued not long in his Government so that there is little mention of what was done in his time saving that in June the Irish of Vlster slew three hundred of the English of Vrgile and immediately thereupon Sir Walter Birmingham 1346. Lord Justice landed in Ireland and was sworn the 19th of June he procured leave for the Earl of Desmond to manage his Cause in England where that Earl was kindly received and allowed by the King twenty Shillings per diem from the day he landed for his Expences his Estate being I suppose in Custodiam he was diligent in his business and followed the Law hard says my Author for satisfaction for the wrongs done him by Vfford The Lord Justice and the Earl of Kildare in November pursued the O Mores so effectually that they forced them to submit and give Hostages and thereupon the Earl of Kildare obliged by the kindness shewed to his Cozen Desmond in England went in May to serve the King at Calice 1347. where he was Knighted by the King for his good Service and the Lord Justice return'd to England leaving John Archer Prior of Kilmainham Lord Deputy in whose time Donald Oge mac Morrough call'd Prince of Leinster was murdered by his own Followers on the 5th of June and the Town of Nenagh was burnt by the Irish on St. Stephens Day Sir Walter Birmingham 1348. Lord Justice came again from England having first obtain'd for himself the Barony of Kenlis in Ossory which formerly belonged to Sir Eustace Poer one of the Knights taken by Vfford in the Earl of Desmonds Castle of Island and there executed It was about this time Cottons Rec. 66. viz. 21 Edw. 3. that the Commons in the English Parliament did petition the King that Enquiry might be made by good men why he taketh no Profit of what he hath in Ireland seeing he hath more there than any of his Ancestors had And if default be found in the Officers that then such others be put into their places as will answer the King of the reasonable Profit thereof and the King was pleased it should be so They also desire that the Estate of the Earl of Vlster which if the Kings Daughter-in-Law the Duchess of Clarence should die without issue might descend to Co-parceners some of which are the Kings Enemies might be setled otherwise And it seems that by the good usage Desmond and Kildare found in England and France and the daily expectation to have the resumed Lands and Jurisdictions restored which was done anno 1352. the Kingdom was so quiet that we find little or nothing recorded of these times except the alteration of the Governors viz. that The Lord Carew 1349. Lord Justice succeeded Birmingham and that Sir Thomas Rokeby 1349. Lord Justice came over the 20th of December and afterward he returned to England and left Maurice de Rochford 1351. Bishop of Limerick Lord
Deputy who held that Place and discharg'd it worthily until Sir Thomas Rokeby 1353. Lord Justice returned he brought with him ten men at Arms and twenty Archers which were allowed him by the King over and above the ordinary Retinue of twenty Men. About this time lived Sir Robert Savage a very considerable Gentleman in Vlster who began to fortifie his dwelling House with strong Walls and Bulwarks but his Son derided the Fathers Providence and Caution affirming that a Castle of Bones was better than a Castle of Stones and thereupon the old Gentleman put a stop to his Building It hapned that this brave Man with his Neighbors and Followers were to set out against a numerous Rabble of Irish that had made Incursions into their Territories And he gave Orders to provide plenty of good Cheer against his return but one of the Company reprov'd him for doing so alledging that he could not tell but the Enemy might eat what he should provide to whom the valiant old Gentleman replied That he hoped better from their Courage Camb. 193. but that if it should happen that his very Enemies should come to his House he should be asham'd if they should find it void of good Cheer The Event was suitable to the Bravery of the Undertaking Old Savage had the killing of three thousand of the Irish near Antrim and return'd joyfully home to Supper But let us return to the Lord Justice of whom it is recorded that he us'd to say That he would rather eat his Meat in wooden Dishes and pay Gold and Silver for it than to eat in Golden Dishes and make wooden Payment However on the 20th day of July 1355. he did resign to Maurice Fitz-Girald 1355. Earl of Desmond Lord Justice he obtained so much favour in England Lib. M. that he had this Office granted to him for Life which expired the 25th day of January he was so just a man that he spared not his very Relations when they were criminal And about this time the Barons of the Exchequer were reduced to Three Lib. CCC 10. 29 Ed. 3. and John de Pembrook Chancellor of the Exchequer was made the third Baron Sir Thomas Rokeby 1356. Lord Justice returned again to Ireland and held a Parliament at Kilkenny at which many good Laws were enacted In his time a Memorable Writ was sent to the Lord Justice and Chancellor reciting That whereas the Subject found great difficulty to get Restitution according to Law of such Lands as were at any time seized into the Kings Hands Prin. 286. 29 Ed. 3. And whereas they refused in Parliaments here to take cognizance of erronious Proceedings in the Kings Courts but put the Subject to the trouble and charge of prosecuting a Writ of Error in England the King orders amendment and Reformation in both those Cases And not long after this worthy Lord Justice died at the Castle of Kilkea and was succeeded by Almaricus de Sancto Amando 1337. Lord Justice in whose time a great Controversie happened between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Regulars but at length by the favour of the Pope the Friers got the better of the Bishop To this Lord Justice the King sent a Writ or Commission Prin 294. authorizing him with the Advice of the Chancellor and Treasurer to give a special Pardon to as many English or Irish as he shall think fit for all Crimes except Treason Moreover for the better instruction of the People and because of the Non-residence of their Pastors Ibid. the King by his Sovereign Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Authoriz'd and Licenc'd the Archbishop of Dublin to constitute perpetual Vicars in all Benefices and Prebendaries belonging to his Archbishoprick and of the Kings Patronage with certain proportions of greater and lesser Tithes and other Profits to those who should reside upon them But which was more than all this the King by advice of his Council made most excellent Ordinances in England for the better Government of the Church and State of Ireland and the maintenance of the good Laws and Statutes of England there established they are to be found at large in Prins Animadversions on the 4th Instit pag. 287. and therefore are omitted here being very long though also very good only this must be observed that the Clause formerly quoted ad annum 1344 out of the 4th Instit is by my Lord Cooke mistaken both as to Time and Form as to the Time it was not 17 Edw. 3. as he says but it was 31 Edw. 3. And as to the Form it is thus VOlumus praecipimus quod Nostra ipsius terrae Negotiâ—a praesertim majora ardua in Conciliis per peritos Conciliarios nostros ac Praelatos Magnates quosdam de discretioribus probioribus hominibus de partibus vicinis ubi ipsa Concilia teneri contigerit propter hoc evocandos In Parliamentis vero per ipsos Conciliarios nostros ac Praelatos Proceres aliosque de Terra praedict prout Mos exigit secundum Justitiam Legem Consuetudinem Rationem tractentur c. But to return James 1359. Earl of Ormond Lord Justice was commonly stiled The Noble Earl because he was of the Royal Blood being great Grand-son to King Edward the first In his time 34 Edw. 3. the King ordered Proclamation to be made in Ireland That no Meer Irishman should be Mayor Bayliff or Officer of any Town within the English Dominion i.e. the Pale nor be advanced to any Ecclesiasâ—â—cal Benefice or Promotion 35 Edw. 3. but the next Year the King by his Writ explains the former Proclamation Pryn 296. and orders that it shall not extend to any Irish Clerks who have done him Service or are Loyal to him But it seems that the Lord Justice was sent for into England and until his Return Maurice Fitz-Girald March 30. Earl of Kildare was constituted Lord Justice 1360. by Patent under the Great Seal of Ireland he was to have the usual Sallary of five hundred pound per annum maintaining thereout Ninteen Horsemen besides himself but he did not continue long in this Station before James Earl of Ormond March 15. Lord Justice return'd and the King intending to send his Son to Ireland 1357. with a good Force summoned the Duchess of Norfolk and all other Noble and Gentle Men and Women that held Lands in Ireland to appear in Person or by Proxy 4 Instit. Pryn 296. before him and his Council to advise concerning the Defence of Ireland and to repair to that Kingdom in Person with all the Forces they could raise by a certain Day or to send their sufficient Deputies to assist the Kings Son in Defence of the Country And the same Day issued a Writ or Proclamation prohibiting the transporting of any Corn or Victuals out of Ireland on pain of Forfeiture and another Proclamation or Writ to seize all the Lands or Tenements purchased
England and Gerard Fitz Maurice Earl of Desmond was made Lord Justice 1367. he procured a Parly between the Birminghams and some Commissioners he sent but they treacherously seized on Thomas Burly Prior of Kilmaynam and Chancellor the Sheriff of Meath 1368. and Sir Robert Tyrrel c. whereupon James Birmingham who was a Prisoner in Irons at Trim was exchanged for the Chancellor and the others were fain to pay their Ransoms 1369. But on the twelfth of July came over Sir William de Winsor Lord Lieuten who called a Parliament at Kilkenny which gave three thousand Pound Subsidy And soon after another at Ballydoil which gave two thousand Pound Subsidy Pryn 304. towards the Maintenance of the King's Wars Both which Sums were for some time forborn by the King's Order Prin 300 301 but were afterwards levied and paid to the Lord Lieutenant And the King would also have had a Law made against Absentees and sent Orders to that Purpose but it seems that he did not prevail in that Matter This Lord Lieutenant vigorously prosecuted the War against the O Tools and the Rebels of Leinster but was interrupted by a fatal Accident for on the sixth of July near the Monastery of Mayo in the Country of Limerick O Connor and O Bryan got the better of the English and slew the Earl of Desmond and took John Fitz Nicholas Lord of Kerry and the Lord Thomas Fitz-John and many others Prisoners Whereupon the Lord Lieutenant was obliged to march to the Defence of Munster where he behaved himself so well that John Macnamarra a great Man in Thomond was forced to submit Lib. D. and give Hostages for Performance of Covenants one of which was To keep the Peace especially towards the Bishops of Limerick and Killalow Another was Not to annoy the City or Castle of Limerick nor hinder that City in their Fishing or in cutting down Woods in Thomond to build or repair their Houses And a third was That he should restore the Books Ornaments and Chalices he had taken from the Church of Limerick From whence may be observed That Sacriledge was well known and practised in Ireland before the Reformation But to proceed The Lord Lieutenant was sent for to England and therefore on the twenty first of March he deputed Maurice 1371. Earl of Kildare Custos of Ireland and he was sworn the next Day and continued in that Office until Sir Robert de Ashton 1372. Lord Justice arrived In his time there were great Fewds between O Farrel and the English of Meath so that many were killed on each Side and particularly Hussy 1373. Baron of Galtrim the Sheriff of Meath and William Dalton were in May slain by the Irish in Kinaleagh And whereas the Court of Exchequer had issued Process to levy Escuage as well for the Lands seised by the Rebels as for those which the English kept in Possession the King on the twenty second of May sent a Writ to the Exchequer to order that Matter according to Reason and Equity And whereas he was informed That Customs and Impositions were laid upon them which the major Part of the Parliament had not consented to he sent the Lord Justice a strange sort of Writ Pryn 303. which shall therefore be recited REX dilecto sâ—ideli suo Roberto de Ashton Justic suo Hibern Salutem Ex gravi conquestione ligeorum nostrorum Terrae nostrae Hibern accepimus quod cum Willielmus de Winsore nuper locum nostrum tenens in Terra praedicta ad primum Parliamentum post adventum suum in Hibern tent apud Dublin diversa Custumas onera quae antea aliquo tempore concessa non fuerunt ab ipsis Ligeis nostris petiâ—isse viz. de quolibet lasto halecis tres solidos de qualibet centena grossi piscis duodecem denarios de qualibet Centena minoris piscis sex denarios de quolibet dolio Salmonis quatuor solidos de qualibet pipa Salmonis duos solidos de quolibet dolio Vini sex solidos octo denar de qualibet pipa vini tres solidos quatuor denar de qualibet libra â—arnium boum porcorum ovium sex denarios de qualibet weia frumenti sex solidos octo denarios de qualibet weia Brasei fabarum pisar hordei siliginis hastinel quinque solidos de qualibet weia salis sex solidos octo denaer de qualibet libra pellium equorum cervorum Aphrorum pillfell pannor laniar lineorum fuldingoram aliarum merchandizarum sex denarios licet Praelati Magnates alii ligei nostri pro majori parte in dicto Parliamento nostro existentes concessioni levationi solutioni custum onerum praedictorum expresse contradixerunt quidam Praelati de concilio assensu praefat Willielmi existentes aliae singulares personae pro minori parte ejusâ—em Parliamenti in quadam camera congregati custumam onera superdicta absque assensu majoris partis dicti Paliamenti per tres annos tantum non ultra concesserunt praefatus tamen Willielmus alii de concilio suo in rotulis Canc. nosâ—ri ejusdem irrotulari registrari fecerunt quod dicta custumae onera per omnes in dicto Parliamento presentes perpetuis temporibus percipienda concessa fuerunt in ipsorum ligeorum nostrorum Terrae nostrae praedictae destructionem depaâ—perationem manifestam unde nobis supplicarunt sibi per nos de remedio provideri nos nolentes ipsos ligeos nostros injuste onerari vobis mandamus quod premissa omnia eorum singula eisdem modo forma quibus gesta acta fuerunt in proximo Parliamento nostro in Terra praedicta tenendo coram Praelatis Magnatibus Communitate dicti Parliamenti recitari declarari si per expositionnem examinationem eorundem vobis constare poterit premissa veritatem continere tunc irrotulamentum ac record concessionis custumae onerum praedict de assenfu dicti Parliamenti sine dilatione cancellari damnari levationi exactioni custumae onerum praedict ratione concessionis antedict post dictum trientum faciend supersederi faciatis omnino Teste Rege apud Westm 28. die Maii. And now happened the famous Case of Sir Richard Pembridge who was the King's Servant and Warden of the Cinque Ports 2. Inst 47. and being ordered to go over Lord Deputy to Ireland he refused and it was adjudged he might because it was but an honourable Exile and no man can by Law be compelled Perdere Patriam except in the case of Abjuration for Felony or by Act of Parliament And therefore another was sent viz. Sir William Windsor 1374. Lord Lieutenant who arived at Waterford on the eighteenth Day of April 1374. and was sworn at Kilkenny the fourth of May He undertook the Custody or Government of Ireland for eleven thousand two hundred and thirteen
Pound six Shillings and eight Pence per annum Lib. G. and obtained an Order from the King and Council That all those who had Lands in Ireland should repair thither or send sufficient Men in their Room to defend the Country on Pain of forfeiting their Estates Nevertheless this Lord Justice was so far from subduing the Irish that he confessed he could never get access to know their Countries or Habitations and yet he had spent more time in the Service of Ireland than any Englishman then living So finding he could do no good he resigned to James Earl of Ormond July 24. 1376 Lord Justice In whose time the Counties Cities and Burroughs of Ireland sent Commissioners to the King to Treat and Advise about the Affairs of that Kingdom and not to the English Parliament as some have mistaken it Pryn. 305. And the King did Issue a Writ to the Lord Justice and the Chancellor requiring them to levy the reasonable Expences of these Commissioners from the respective Places that chose them by Writ under the great Seal of Ireland And accordingly John Draper who served for Cork had a particular Mandate to the Mayor and Bayliffs of that City to pay him his reasonable Expences as aforesaid It will not be unuseful to recite this Lord Justice his Commission because the Reader will thereby perceive what Authority he had and will also note the Difference between this brief Commission and the prolix Forms that are now used REX omnibus ad quos Ibid. c. Salutem Sciatis quod commisimus dilecto consanguineo nostro Jacobo le Bottiler Comiti de Ormond officium Justic nostr Hibern Terram nostram Hibern cum Castris aliis pertinentiis suis custodiend quamdiu nobis placuerit percipiend per ann ad Scac. nostrum Hibern quamdiu in Officio illo sic steterit quingent libras pro quibus Officium illud terram custodiet erit se vicessimus de hominibus ad arma cum tot equis coopertis continue durante commissione supradicta c. But by a subsequent Patent the sixth of August he had Power to Pardon all Offences generally or to particular Persons and by consent of the Council to remove or displace any Officer those made by Patent under the great Seal only excepted Ibid. 307. And by another Writ of the same date the former Commission was explained not to extend to the Pardon of any Prelate or Earl for any Offence punishable by loss of Life Member Lands or Goods And the same time Alexander Bishop of Ossory was made Treasurer of Ireland and a Guard of six Men at Arms and twelve Archers at the King's Pay allowed him I have seen a Copy of a Commission to Maurice Fitz-Thomas Lib. G. 13. Earl of Kildare to govern Ireland till Sir William Windsor's return it bore date the sixteenth of February 50 Edw. 3. and Stephen Bishop of Meath was appointed to oversee Munster but because I find no other mention of his being in the Government about this time I have therefore omitted to name him as Lord Justice And so we are come to the twenty first Day of June 1377. 1377. on which Day this victorious King died at Shene in Surry in the sixty fourth Year of his Age and of his Reign the one and fiftieth Lib. M. His Revenue in Ireland did not exceed ten thousand Pound per annum though the Medium be taken from the best seven Years of his Reign THE REIGN OF RICARD II. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND RICHARD the Second only Son of Edward commonly called the Black Prince Eldest Son of King Edward the Third was by his Grandfather declared to be his Heir and lawful Successor and accordingly succeeded him in the Throne on the 21st of June and was Crowned at Westminster the 16th of July following 1377. His tender Age being but eleven years old required a Protector and because it seemed dangerous to commit that great Authority and Power to a single Person it was given to the Kings Unkles the Duke of Lancaster and the Earl of Cambridge and others who thought fit to continue in the Government of Ireland James Earl of Ormond Lord Justice he kept the Kingdom in as good order as those dangerous and troublesom Times would admit of Baker 141. for both the French and the Scots took advantage of the Kings Infancy to disquiet his Dominions but especially the Realm of England This Lord Justice according to the Usage in those days held Pleas of the Crown Lib. G. Lambeth and Gaol-delivery at the Naas on Monday after Valentines Day 1378. and not long after surrendred to Alexander Balscot Bishop of Ossory Lord Justice who continued in the Government until November following Lib. G. and then gave place to John de Bromwick 1379. Lord Justice in whose time Beauchamp Earl of Warwick was by the Parliament of England made sole Protector of the King and Kingdom And then was made that first Act or Ordinance against Absentees Lib. M. Lambeth 138. by the Assent and Advice of the Lords and Nobles of England Davis 38. 199 being in Parliament Whereby it is Ordained That all that have Lands 4th Instit. 356 360. Rents or Offices in Ireland shall return thither but if they have reasonable cause to absent that then they shall send sufficient Deputies to defend their Castles and Estates or contribute two Thirds of the yearly value towards the defence thereof but that Students and those in the Kings Service and those absent for reasonable Cause by Licence under the Great Seal of England shall be excused for one Third of the yearly Profit of their Estates This Act was confirmed afterwards Lib. F. 19 Edw. 4. and by vertue hereof the Mannor of Ballymaclo in Meath was seiz'd into the Kings Hands for the absence of William de Carew but was the next year restor'd to him on his Petition Prin 308. Septemb. 27. 1380. And it is to be remembred That this Act was occasioned by a Petition from Ireland and that it is mentioned in the Body of the Act that the Loss of Ireland would be a Disinherison to the King and his Crown of England Ibid. At the same Parliament at Westminster there was another Irish Petition for Mine and Coigne which I take to be a Liberty to dig Mines and a Mint to coyn Money For the Kings Answer is That for six years to come every one may dig in his own Grounds for any Mineral whatsoever even Gold and Silver paying the Ninth part thereof to the King and sending the rest to the Kings Mint at Divelin for the Coynage of which they shall pay the usual Rates but must transport none to any place except England on pain of forseiting it if it be seized or the Value if he be convict of it unless the Party had special Licence under the Great Seal of
England There was also another Petition for a free intercourse of Trade between Ireland and Portugal Ibid. whereunto the King gave a Gracious Answer And it seems that the State of England was intent upon the Recovery and Improvement of Ireland for Sir Nicholas Dagworth was sent thither to survey the Possessions of the Crown Davis 201 and to call the Officers of the Irish Revenue to account and the more to humour the Irish who thiink themselves disgraced when ignoble Men are put in the highest Authority over them Edmond Mortimer Earl of March and Vlster Jan. 24. 1380. was sent over Lord Lieutenant Sometime before he came viz. in Jun. 1380. the French and Spanish Gallies which did much Mischief on the Coasts of Ireland were by the English Fleet forced to retire into the Harbour of Kinsale where they were assailed and vanquished by the English and Irish so that their Chief Captains were taken Paâ—ata Hiberniae 360. and four hundred of the Enemies slain there were also taken four of their Barges and one Ballenget and one and twenty English Prizes were recovered I cannot find but that Ireland was pretty quiet during the Government of this Lord Lieutenant which did not continue very long for he died at St. Dominicks Abby near Cork on the 26th of December 1381. and the next day John Cotton then Dean of St. Patricks Ware de Praesulibus 28. and Lord Chancellor afterwards Achbishop of Armagh was chosen and sworn Sord Justice 1381 in the Convent of Preaching Friars at Cork Pryn 309. but it seems he did not long exercise that Office for in Mr. Prins Animadversions on the 4th Institut we find a Writ Dated the 29th Day of March anno 1382. viz. 5 R. 2. Directed to Roger Mortimer Earl of March Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whereby he is directed to call a Parliament there for the good Government of that Country and the support of the Kings great Charge and Expence but it is probable that this young Lord could not manage that unruly Kingdom and therefore Philip de Courtny the Kings Cousin was sent over Lord Lieutenant 1383. he had a great Estate in Ireland and therefore was the fitter for that Government He came over on good terms for he had a Patent to hold that Office for ten years nevertheless he behaved himself so ill Lib. M. Lamb. that he was not only superseded but also was arrested whilst he was Lord Lieutenant and afterwards grievously punished for the wrongs and oppressions he had done in Ireland Davis 201. In his time hapned a great Mortality called the Fourth Pestilence and upon the removal of him the Government of Ireland was given to the great Favourite of that Age Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford afterwards Marquess of Dublin Decemb. 1384. and Duke of Ireland Lord Lieutenant The English Parliament to get rid of him gave him a Debt of thirty thousand Marks due from the French King upon condition that after Easter he should pass into Ireland to recover the Lands the King had given him there he had five hundred Men at Arms at twelve pence per diem and a thousand Archers at six pence apiece a day appointed him for two years super conquestum illius Terrae He was trusted with the whole Dominion of the Realm during his Life without paying any thing therefore or making any Account for it He had Power to pass all Writs under his own Test and to place and displace all Officers how great soever even the Chancellor Treasurer Admiral c. and to name his own Deputy and all other Ministers And it seems that he had afterwards a larger Patent 4th Instit 357 9 Rich. 2. whereby the King granted him Totam Terram Dominium Hiberniae Insulas eidem Terrae adjacentes ac omnia Castra Comitatus Burgos Villas Portus Maris c. una cum Homagiis Obedientiis Vassallis Servitiis Recognitionibus Praelatorum Comitum Baronum c. cum Regaliis Regalitatibus Libertatibus c. omnibus aliis qnae ad Regaliam Nostram pertinent cum Mero Mixto Imperio adeo plene integre perfecte sicut Nos ea tenuimus habuimus tenuerunt habuerunt Progenitorum nostrorum aliqui ullis unquam temporibus retroactis Tenendum per Homagium Ligeum tantum c. But that which is most strange is That those illegal Letters Patents should be authorized by Parliament Assensâ— Praelatorum Ducum aliorum Procerum Communitatis nostri Angliae in Parliamento but nullum violentum est perpetuum novus iste insolitus umbratilis honor cito evanuit But it is time to return to the great Minion the Earl of Oxford who came as far as Wales and the King with him but they could not be perswaded to part and therefore this Lord Lieutenant never went to Ireland but deputed Sir John Stanly 1385. Lord Deputy in whose time the Bridge of Dublin fell and at the Parliament held at Westminster Roger Mortimer Earl of March Son of Philippa Daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence Third Son of Edward the Third was established and soon after proclaimed Heir Apparent to the Crown and yet he was but Heir Presumptive but this Lord Justice was sent for and Alexander de Balscot April 26. alias Petit 1387. Bishop of Meath who had been Treasurer and Chancellor did execute the Office of Lord Justice until the return of Sir John Stanly 1389. Lord Deputy to the aforesaid Earl of Oxford Lib. D. Lambeth to him O Neal and his Sons made an humble Submission in Writing wherein they renounced the Bonaught of Vlster they also promised Allegiance and gave Oaths and Hostages for the performance thereof And it is to be noted 1390. That almost in every Parliament of this Reign held in England the King did desire Aid from them for the carrying on the War in Ireland But at length the English Parliament did so vigorously prosecute the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland that he was forced to fly beyond Seas and not long after died miserably at Brussels and thereupon James Earl of Ormond July 25. was made Lord Justice and the Archbishop of Dublin was constituted Lord Chancellor 1392. This Lord Justice beat the Mac Moyns at Tascoffin in the County of Kilkenny and slew six hundred of them And now the State of England began to think seriously of the Recovery of Ireland and finding that that Country was poor and almost depopulated by the mighty Concourse of Irish into England whereby the Kings Revenue was decayed and the Power of the Irish Rebels increased it was thought fit to revive the Law against Absentees and to issue a Proclamation requiring all those whose Habitations were in that Kingdom to repair home Also some Recruits of Men and Money were sent to Ireland and the King had by Indenture agreed with Thomas Duke of Glocester to be Lord Lieutenant of
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
to and from England Fifthly That a certain Fund be appointed for their Pay Sixthly That at the King's Charge he might have a Family or two out of every Parish in England to inhabit Ireland Seventhly To have Power of granting Benefices and of making a Deputy And Lastly That the Demesnes of the Crown may be resumed and the Acts of Absentees may be executed The Lord Lieutenant within a Week after he came to Dublin caused the Earl of Kildare and three of his Family to be arrested and suffered the Earls Goods to be rifled and spoiled by the Duke's Servants and kept the Earl himself in Prison in Dublin Castle until he paid three hundred Marks It is recorded that the Lord Lieutenant was desperately wounded in an Encounter at Kilmainham and hardly escaped with Life but it is not mentioned how nor by whom but it seems he design'd to revenge it and to make a general Hosting for he made Proclamation that all such as ought by their Tenures to serve the King should assemble together at Ross He also held a Parliament at Kilkenny for a Tallage to be granted but what Success he had in these Assemblies is not so manifest as it is that he went to England on the 13th of March leaving Thomas Butler 1409. Prior of Kilmainham his Deputy in whose time the King gave the Sword to the City of Dublin and changed their PROVOST into a MAYOR and not long after the Barbarous Mac Gilmore being routed and pursued by the Savages fled to the Church of the Friers Minors at Carigfergus which he had formerly defaced but they got into the Windows whence this Tory had formerly taken the Iron Bars and there they put an end to his Villany and his Life In Vlster Jenico de Artois the famous Gascoigne behaved himself briskly and slew eighty of the Rebels in a Skirmish he had with them But on the twenty first of May or rather the thirteenth of June the Parliament began at Dublin 1410. and made it Treason to take Coyn and Livery Lib. D. and on the tenth of July the Lord Justice took the Castles of Mibraclide in Offerol and De-la-mare It seems he proceeded to invade O Birns Country with fifteen hundred Kerns or Irish Souldiers and the Consequence was that they betrayed him and half of them went over to the Enemy so that it had gone hard with the Lord Justice if the Power of Dublin had not been there and yet he escaped not without loss for John Derpatrick was there slain The next Year was probably more quiet 1411. for there is nothing recorded of it except some considerable Marriages amongst the Grandees On the tenth of April 1412. O Connor did much Mischief in Meath and took an hundred and forty English and O Tool and Thomas Fitz-Maurice Sheriss of Limerick kill'd each other in a Duel About this time the King granted the Town and Ferry of Inishonan Lib. G. to Philip de Barry and it is to be noted that almost in every Parliament holden in England during this Reign the danger of Ireland is remembred although very little was done for it because of the frequent Troubles in England and so we come to the 20th day of March on which the King died at the Abbot of Westminster's House in the fourteenâ—h Year of his Reign and of his Age the forty seventh He died so very poor that his Executors refused to administer and therefore the Archbishop of Canterbury who is Ordinary to the Court where-ever it is exposed the Kings Goods to Sale and King Henry the Fifth bought them for the value to be paid the Executors to be disposed of according to his Fathers Will Rolls Abr. 906. but it seems he never paid the Money for it was afterwards ordained in Parliament 4 Inst 335 that the Executors should not be sued by the Creditors The Bishop of Meath is said to have been Lord Justice about the Year 1402. But because I do find him omitted by others and do not find that he did any thing worth mention I have therefore not inserted him as Lord Justice in Order THE REIGN OF HENRY V. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND HENRY the Fifth succeeded his Father without any opposition and all the Nobility taking it then for a Law that the Crown belonged to the Heir of him that died last seized swore Homage and Allegiance to him before Coronation 1412. which was not usual in those days but this Magnanimous Prince was so taken up with Designs against France that Ireland was but little regarded in his Reign For the present He continued in the Government Thomas 1413. Prior of Kilmainham who did not long remain therein before he surrendred unto Sir John Stanly Lord Lieutenant he Landed at Clantarf the 7th of October and on the 6th of January after died at Ardee whereupon on the 11th of February the Nobility elected Thomas Crawly Lord Justice He was twice Chancellor and then Archbishop of Dublin and was a Man of fingular Piety and Learning and it is to be noted That the Parliament sate at Dublin the 26th of February so that it could not have above fifteen days of Summons though the Day of the Lord Justice his Admittance to the Government and the Day of the Session be included the Irish burnt the Pale during this Parliament as they used to do and therefore a Tax or Tallage was demanded but not granted and so that Parliament was dissolved after it had sate fifteen Days However 1414. the valiant Jenico de Artois invaded the Territory of Macgenis but was so unfortunate to lose many of his Men at Inor whereupon the Irish grew so insolent that the Lord Justice was necessitated to go out in person However he went no farther than Castledermond and there entrusting the Army with the Military men he remained with his Clergy in Procession and at Prayers for the Success of his small Army and the Event answered his expectation for the English slew an hundred of the Irish near Kilkea but that small Victory was soon over-ballanced by a Defeat which the English of Meath received from O Connor on the 10th of May to the Loss of Tho. Maureverar Baron of Shrine and many others and to the imprisonment of Christopher Fleming and John Dardis This Loss discovered the necessity of sending a Martial Man to the Government of Ireland and therefore on the 10th day of September Sir John Talbot Lord Furnival Lord Lieutenant Landed at Dalkye and immediately made a Circular Progress round the Pale in warlike manner He began with the Birns Tools and Cavenaghs on the South and so passing to the O Moors O Connors and O Ferrals in the West and ending with the O Relyes Mac Mahons O Neals and O Hanlons in the North he brought them all to the Kings Peace but he brought no Forces with him out of England and therefore though he had Strength enough to
alias Castlemore Rathgogan Bever Shandon Dofglass Ocorbelethan Kyrricurry c. and though it is manifest by innumerable Records That the Kingdom of Cork did by the Heirs General descend to Carew and Courcy who are charged in the Exchequer for the Crown-Rent of it for many Years viz. sixty Pound a piece per annum yet this Conveyance from Cogan the Heir-Mail was Pretence enough in those Times for the powerful Earl of Desmond to seize on that great Estate Richard Talbot 1440. Archbishop of Dublin was again Lord Justice and held a Parliament at Dublin Friday after the Feast of S. Dunstan at which it was enacted I. That no Purveyor or Harbenger should take any thing without Payment And if he did the Proprietor might resist II. That Comrick or Protection of Tories be Treason III. That charging the Kings Subjects with Horse or Foot without Consent is Treason IV. That the Party who desires a Protection cum clausa Volumus shall make Oath in Chancery of the Truth of his Suggestion c. But to make Provision for War Davis 52. in lieu of the former Exactions it was enacted That every twenty Pound-worth of Land should be charged with the furnishing and maintaining an Archer on Horseback This Lord Justice resigned to James Eaâ—l of Ormond Lord Lieutenant who the same Year surrendred to Lion Lord Wells Lord Lieutenant who probably did not come to Ireland but deputed James Earl of Ormond Ware de Praesulibus 170. Lord Deputy He had the Temporalities of the See of Cashel granted to him for ten Years after the Death of O Hedian and kept the Government of Ireland until William Wells 1442. Esq was made Lord Deputy to his Brother the Lord Wells Ibid. 115. In his time a Parliament was held at Dublin which sent Richard Talbot Archbishop of Dublin and John White Abbot of S. Maries to the King to represent the Miserable Estate and Condition of Ireland whereby the Publick Revenue was reduced so low Lib G. that it was less than the necessary Charge of keeping the Kingdom by one thousand four hundred and fifty six Pounds per annum And soon after James Earl of Ormond was made Lord Lieutenant 1443. and 23 Hen. 6. obtained a Licence to be absent for many Years without incurring the Penalty of the Statute of 3 Rich. 2. of Absentees and to him a Writ was sent 20 H. 6. to eject John Cornwalsh and to place Michael Griffin Chief Baron in his room because the King had granted him that Office for Life though the other had a prior Patent from Ormond This Lord Lieutenant was a fast Friend to the Earl of Desmond who probably was of his Faction against the Talbots between whom and the Butlers the Feud was so great so general and so violent that no Justice could be had or any business done for a long time because either Party as it got Advantage oppressed the other 23 Hen. 6. in Turri London pars 2. m. 12. to the utmost degree It was about this time that James Earl of Desmond obtained a Patent for the Government or Custody of the Counties of Waterford Cork Limerick and Kerry And not long after for his good Service in keeping those Counties in Peace and upon Pretence that he could not conveniently be absent from that Charge and that it was dangerous for a Man so hated by the King's Enemies as he pretended to be to travail to Dublin he obtained a Licence To absent himself during Life from all future Parliaments sending a sufficient Proxy in his stead And also to purchase any Lands he pleased by whatsoever Service they were holden of the King And this is the true Foundation and all the Grounds of that fantastical Privilege claimed by the succeeding Earls of Desmond Of not coming into walled Towns nor to Parliament but when they please And since that time this Example has been so infectious that it is no strange thing in Ireland to find a Tenant at Will pretend a Title and a Lessee to claim an Inheritance and he that has a Right to something confidently to usurp more But the Faction of the Talbots began to get Ground among the People it being in the nature of Mankind to be mutinous against an uneasie Government be the Fault where it will for the Multitude consider what they feel and cannot penetrate into the Cause or Cure of their Grievances and therefore they naturally fall upon the most obvious Remedy which is the change of the Governour In order to remove the Lord Lieutenant some of the Lords and more of the Commons petitioned the King seting forth That the Earl of Ormond was old and feeble and had lost many of his own Castles for want of Defence and therefore was not likely to maintain much less enlarge the King's Possessions in Ireland Secondly That he made such of his Irish Servants Knights of Shires as would not consent to any good Law and that he dispensed with the Absence of the Lords from Parliament for Mony Thirdly That he sent several Subjects Prisoners to O Dempsy's Castle and forced them to pay Ransom Lib. M. And therefore they desired he might be superseded and at length prevailed to have it so although the Bishop of Cork and Cloyne the Dean and Chapter of Cork the Corporations of Cork and Youghal the Lords Barry Roch and others gave a full Testimonial of the great Services the Earl of Ormond had done And John Talbot 1446. Earl of Shrewsbury was not only made Lord Lieutenant but also on the seventeenth of July 24 Hen. 6. the King granted to him the City and County of Waterford and the Dignity and Stile of Earl of Waterford together with Jura Regalia Wreck c. from Youghal to Waterford because that Country is wast Et non ad proâ—icuum sed ad perditum nostrum redundat And the Patent is Per breve de Privato Sigillo authoritate Parliamenti This Lord Lieutenant held a Parliament at Trim 1447. on Friday after the Epiphany at which it was enacted I. That any Officer may travail by Sea from one Part of Ireland to another without forfeiture or any where with Licence II. That no Toll or Customs shall be taken in High-ways but only in Cities and Towns according to Right on Pain of paying twenty Shillings for every Peny III. Every Man must keep his Upper-Lip shaved Repealed 11 Car. 1. cap. 6 or else may be used as an Irish Enemy IV. If any Irishman that is denized Repeal ibid. kill or rob he may be used as an Irish Enemy and slain by this Act appears the Inconvenience of those Denizations V. Against unlawful coyn Repeal ibid. O Reyly's Mony clipt Mony and gilt Harness or Armour VI. That the Sons of Husbandmen and Labourers shall follow their Fathers Calling or Occupation VII That Lords of Parliament in Pleas Real or Personal shall not be amerced more than others VIII To
pain of loss of Life Lands and Goods that never any of them do make War upon another without Licence or Commandment of you my Lord Deputy and the Kings Council for the utter destruction of these parts is that only cause and once all the Irishmen and the Kings Enemies were driven into a great Vally called Glanehought betwixt two great Mountains called Maccorte or the Leprous Island and there they lived long and many years with their White-Meat till at the last these English Lords fell at variance among themselves and then the weakest part took certain Irishmen to take his part and so vanquished his Enemy and thus fell the English Lords at variance among themselves till the Irishmen were stronger than they and drave them away and now have the whole Country under them but that the Lord Roch the Lord Courcy and the Lord Barry only remain with the least part of their Ancestors Possessions and young Barry is there upon the Kings Portion paying his Grace never a penny of Rent wherefore We the Kings poor Subjects of the City of Cork Kinsale and Youghal desire your Lordship to send hither two good Justices to see this Matter ordered and some English Captains with twenty Englishmen that may be Captains over us all and we will rise with them to redress these Enormities all at our own Costs and if you do not we be all cast away and then farewel Munster for ever and if you will not come nor send we will send over to our Liege Lord the King and complain on you all However I will not pretend to be exact in the timing of this Letter This Lord Lieutenant had a Son born at Dublin well known afterwards by the Name of George Duke of Clarence to whom the Earls of Ormond and Desmond were Godfathers and thereupon Desmond grew so insolent and haughty that his Oppressions were the chief Cause of the aforesaid Letter from Cork but it is probable that the Lord Lieutenant return'd to England and left James Earl of Ormond afterward Earl of Wiltshire 1451. and Lord Treasurer of England Lord Deputy in whose time Sir John Talbot was made Lord Chancellor of Ireland and it seems Complaint was made against him because he put in a Deputy in his room absque Regis licentia Lib. CCC This Lord Deputy was made Lord Lieutenant and went for England leaving John Mey Archbishop of Armagh Lord Deputy 1453. wherewith the Government of England being dissatisfied a Writ was sent to the Earl of Ormond commanding him Quod circa praemissis intenderet I suppose the Reason might be because there was a Necessity for the Presence of a Military Governour of Power and Authority in that Kingdom to repel the daily Incursions of the Irish into the Pale and therefore Ormond not being willing to come over the Government was committed to Thomas Earl of Kildare 1454. Lord Deputy who held it only until the arrival of Sir Edward Fitz-Eustace Lord Deputy to the Duke of York Who held a Parliament in Dublin at which it was enacted I. That all Statutes against Provisors in England or Ireland should be held in Force II. That Inquests before Coroners shall be discharged after a second Verdict that they do not know the Felon III. That no Appeals shall be to England except for Treason against the King's Person and in all false Appeals the Plaintif shall pay Damages and twenty Pound and one hundred Shillings Fine In the mean time the Duke of York in England obtained a famous Victory over the King's Forces at S. Albans where the Duke of Somerset was slain and the King himself was wounded in the Neck and afterwards on the ninth of July he was made Protector of the King's Person by Parliament And in Ireland Thomas Earl of Kildare was Lord Deputy to the Duke of York 1455. and held a Parliament at Dublin wherein it was enacted I. That no Exigents nor Outlawries be made by Commissioners II. That the Recorder of Dublin and Drogheda shall have but two Pence for every Plaint III. That every Man shall answer for his Sons and waged Men. IV. An Act about Escheators V. That a Parliament should be held every Year And he held another Parliament at the Naas Lib. M. 48. Friday after All Saints which enacted I. That all Strangers pay forty Pence per Pound Custom for transporting Silver II. That every Man shall answer for his Sons except in Cases Capital III. That no Person not amesnable to Law shall distrain without Licence on pain of forfeiting his Title And he held another Parliament at Dublin Friday after the Purification at which it was established I. That Beneficed Persons should reside II. That the Inhabitants to enclose the Village might remove the High-way forty Perch Richard Duke of York 1459. upon the Revolt of Andrew Trollop and the Callicians broke up his Army and fled first to Wales and afterwards to Ireland where he was kindly received and by his Deputy the Earl of Kildare he held a Parliament at Dublin the third of February which enacted That Warrants to the Chancellor bear the Date of the Delivery and that the Patents be of the same Date or else be void And the same Day twelve month he held another Parliament at Drogheda 1460. wherein it was enacted That no Man should sue in the Exchequer but a Minister of that Court on pain of ten Pound This Duke and his Abettors were in a Parliament at Coventry declared Traytors and thereupon the Earl of March came to his Father into Ireland and soon after returned to Calice and thence invaded England at Sandwich and on the ninth of July he fought and defeated the King at Northampton and took him Prisoner whereupon the Duke of York went to England and called a Parliament in the King's Name and in that Parliament boldly claimed his Title and so it was enacted That King Henry should keep the Crown during his Life and the Duke should be declared Heir apparent and in case of Opposition or farther Bustle about it should have present Possession But not long after the Duke was defeated and slain at the Battle of Wakefield This Duke behaved himself exceeding well in Ireland he appeased the Tumults there and erected Castles on the Borders of Louth Meath and Kildare to stop the Irish Incursions and was so well esteemed in that Kingdom that Multitudes of the Irish Subjects attended him into England to pursue his Claim to the Crown Nevertheless the Publick Revenue was but very low because the whole Kingdom was in Possession of the Irish except the Pale and some few Places on the Sea-Coast in Vlster and even that was so far from being quiet that they were fain to buy their Peace by yearly Pensions to the Irish and to pay Tribute and Contributions to them for Protection which nevertheless was but very ill observed to the English It cannot be expected I should give the Reader an exact
Resumption of all the Grants made by the Crown since the last day of the Reign of King Edward the Second Lib. G. except some Particulars mentioned in the Act and another Act Rot. Parl. c. 41. attaints the Earl of Kildare and his Brother James for High Treason for corresponding with O Hanlon and seizing the Castle of Caterlogh for extorting Coyn and Livery and for treating with the King of Scotland however he was afterward acquitted in England and received into favour and perhaps there was another Act to dissolve the Fraternity of S. George for it is certain that about this time that Brotherhood fell and so I have done with this Famous Parliament when I have told you that it is a Mistake in the Printed Statute-Book to place it anno 1495 because it is manifest That November 1494 was in the tenth Year of this King's Reign It is scarce worth mentioning Ware 43. That during this Parliament the Lord Deputy made another Expedition into Vlster because the Irish fled into their Fastnesses so that he reaped but small Fruit for his Journey In his Absence he left a Commission with the Chanchellor to continue adjourn prorogue or dissolve the Parliament as he saw cause About this time Cormock mac Teige mac Carthy of Muskry 1495. was basely murdered by his Brother Owen Ancestor of the Mac Carthyes of Cloghroe and was buried in the Abby of Kilcrea which he himself had founded But let us return to Perkin Werbeck who set sail from Flanders with about six hundred Men and arrived on the Coast of Kent but he found ill treatment there for one hundred and sixty of his Men were taken Prisoners and afterwards executed Thence he sailed to Ireland where he staid some time in Munster probably at Cork but finding the Irish unable to give him any considerable Assistance and fearing the Forces of the Lord Deputy he went thence into Scotland and by that King's Consent married the Earl of Huntly's Daughter who was nearly related to the Crown of Scotland The King of Scots did invade England in favour of Perkin but finding that none of the English came to assist the Impostor he wasted Northumberland and returned And thus Sir Edward Poynings drove Perkin out of Ireland and suppressed his Abettors and established many good Laws which though for the present they extended no further than the Pale yet their Effect and Influence increased and inlarged as fast as the King's Authority did so that those Statutes are at this day in full force over all the Kingdom And the King finding Ireland in so quiet a condition recalled the Lord Deputy and for his good Service made him Knight of the Garter And in his place appointed Henry Dean 1495. Bishop of Bangor Chancellor of Ireland and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury 1496. to be Lord Justice and on the twenty sixth of April William Ratcliff was made Vice-Treasurer and John Pimp Treasurer at War and on the twenty fifth of June the Lord Delvin was made General for defence of the Pale and in July Octavianus Archbishop of Armagh held a Synod at Droghedah the Acts whereof are not to be found and in August Hugh O Donel being returned out of Scotland encountred and defeated O Connor near Sligo Whereupon he besieged the Castle of Sligo but without Success for being frightned with the News of the Approach of the Burks of Clanrickard he raised the Siege and retired in hast towards Tyrconnel But Burk was not so satisfied but burnt and destroyed all the adjacent Territories that belonged to O Donel's Partisans But the Earl of Kildare was still kept in Prison in England for Grief whereof his Countess died The Earl was accused of burning the Church of Cashel and many Witnesses were ready to prove it when contrary to all their Expectations he readily confessed the Fact and swore by Jesus That he would never have done it but that he thought the Archbishop was in it Which being uttered with a bluntless peculiar to this Lord did exceedingly work upon the King for whilst the Earl did so earnestly urge that for his Excuse which was the greatest Aggravation of his Crime the King easily perceived That a Person of that Natural Simplicity and Plainness could not be guilty of those Finesses and Intrigues that were objected against him It is reported of this Earl That he desired the King to permit him to have Council to manage his Cause since he was altogether unqualified to deal with such cunning Knaves as his Adversaries The King told him He should have what Counsel he would choose and that it concerned him to get Counsel that were very good for that he doubted his Cause was very bad The Earl replied That he would pitch upon the best Counsel in England Who is that said the King Marry even your Majesty quoth the Earl Whereat the King laughed But nevertheless he so requited Kildare for his Complement that when the Adversary concluded his Oration That all Ireland could not govern this Man the King took that occasion to make reply That therefore he was the fittest Man to govern Ireland Ware 49. And so for his Jest-sake made him Lord Lieutenant of that Kingdom by his Letters Patent of the sixth of August and restored him to his Honour and Estate Nevertheless the King kept the Earls eldest Son Girald as Hostage of the Father's Fidelity which proved to be a matter of Caution rather than of Necessity for no body could behave himself with more Loyalty to his Prince nor more Vigor against the Irish than the Earl of Kildare did from henceforward But to proceed Girald Earl of Kildare 1496. being made Lord Lieutenant in a short time after he had received the Sword marched towards Thomond against O Brian he went through the City of Limerick and took the Castle of Feyback from Finin Mac nâ—marra and afterwards took and rased the Castle of Ballyniti or Ballynice and so returned to Dublin and was reconciled to the Archbishop of Armagh to their mutual Ease and Quiet and to the great Advantage of Publick Affairs which often suffer especially in Ireland by the private Animosities of the Grandees But the Bishop of Bangor was recalled into England and Walter Archbishop of Dublin was made Lord Chancellor in his stead This good Archbishop in a Synod at Dublin anno 1492 procured a Pension for a Divinity-Reader there to be paid by him and his Suffragans and their Successors for ever And it is reported of him That being present when a famous Orator made a most eloquent Speech to the King his Majesty asked the Archbishop How he liked the Oration The good old Man replied That he saw no other Fault in it but Flattery As God shall love me quoth the King That is the very Fault I my self espied The King by advice of the Lord Lieutenant resolved to pardon those great Men that had been concerned with Perkin Warbeck lest Despair might induce
Companion of The Order and though some say Davis 59. this War was commenced on private Distaste yet it is more certain that it determined to the Publick Advantage Walter Fitz-Symons Archbishop of Dublin was sent by the Lord Deputy and Council to give his Majesty an Account of this prodigious Success and to treat with his Majesty about other Matters of State He departed the 20th of September and performed what he had in Charge to the great satisfaction as well of the King as of those that sent him and in a little time return'd to Ireland with honour and applause In the mean time the King was importunate with Pope Julius the Second to Canonize his Predecessor King Henry the Sixth and in order to it he caused a Book to be written of his Virtues and Miracles and had it Printed And the Pope recommended the Examination of the Matter to the Bishops of Canterbury London Durham and Winchester by his Bull which the Curious may find at large in Sir James Ware 's Annals pag. 73. But it seems nothing farther was done in it and this is certain That those who say he was a Good Christian do nevertheless allow that he was a bad King for first he lost France from England and then he lost England from himself And now a Provincial was indicted to meet at Tredagh in July but the Pestilence raging almost every where in Ireland but especially in Vlster the Synod was therefore translated to Ardee in the County of Louth and there for the same reason was suddenly dissolved This Plague was followed with a Famine 1505. by reason of the Wetness both of Summer and Autumn and it was but small Relief the great Charities of Walter Archbishop of Dublin and John Allen Dean of St. Patricks could at that time administer in the noble Foundation of a Hospital at S. Kevins in Dublin to which the Archbishop gave Ground and the Dean gave considerable Revenues The next Year was also unfortunate 1506. not only by the Death of John Payne Bishop of Meath who was a very hospitable Man but also by the accidental Burning of great part of Trim they say by Lightning which was at that time the most considerable Town in Meath But the Lord Deputy summoned a Parliament to meet at Dublin in October 1508. 1508. which it accordingly did and both the Clergy and Laity gave the King a Subsidy of thirteen shillings and four pence out of every hundred and twenty Acres of Arable Land Ware 81. The Deputy once more invaded Vlster in favour of his Kinsmen the O Neals 1509. he design'd to recover the Castles of Dungannon and Owny which he effected for the Castle of Dungannon surrendred upon the first Summons and the other he took and demolished and set at liberty Art Mac Con O Neal who was Prisoner there and thus stood the Kingdom of Ireland which Kildare kept in a better condition than it had formerly been in for he awed the Rebels by his Reputation which was obtained partly by his courage and the fierceness of his Humour and partly by his great and frequent Success and he secured the Pale by Castles and Fortifications built on the Borders which kind of Defence former Ages had too much neglected And so on the 22th day of April the King died at his Palace of Richmond in the four and twentieth Year of his Reign and the three and fiftieth Year of his Age. THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII KING OF England and France Lord and afterward King of IRELAND HENRY the Eighth the only surviving Son of his Father succeeded peaceably to the Throne of his Ancestors April 22. 1509. in the eighteenth Year of his Age In him both Roses were united for by his Father he was Heir to the Lancastrian Line and by his Mother to the House of York and so being without Competitor was the more capable to effect those great Designs which he afterwards undertook He found in the Government of Ireland Gerald Earl of Kildare whom he continued Lord Justice and the Year following made him Lord Deputy and on good Reasons for though Kildare was counted Rash and Unpolitick yet he was a Man of great Interest and Courage and his Name was more terrible to the Irish than an Army And here let me observe once for all That no Nation in the Word is more governed by Reputation and Appearance than the Irish the Common People are dejected by a Trifle and elevated for less than nothing And this Observation is manifestly justified by their frequent Submissions and their as frequent Rebellions and if any object their continued Obstinacy to the Irish Interest and Popish Religion it is easily answered That as their Fears are without Cause so their Hopes are without Reason and that their Hope 's exceeded their Fears is partly to be attributed to the Nature of Man facile credimus quod volumus but chiefly to the Noblemen and Clergy whose Interest and Business it was to keep the Mobile always in Expectation and to make them believe That one Day or other the Popish Interest would prevail The King unwilling to disturb an infant Government by unnecessary and disobliging Changes did likewise continue all the Officers of State in their Dignities who together with the Deputy and the Mayor Aldermen and Citizens of Dublin immediately proclaimed him King of England and France and Lord of Ireland with as much Formality and State as the time could afford which was followed with the Shouts of the People ringing of Bells and Bonfires as is usual and the like was done in the other chief Cities and Towns After which on the twenty fourth Day of June the King and the Queen were crowned at Westminster by Warham Archbishop of Canterbury Kildare being now made Deputy designed an Expedition into Munster 1510. he levied an Army in the Counties of Dublin Louth Meath and Kildare and was also assisted by Hugh O Donel Lord of Tyrconnel they marched into Desmond without Opposition burning and spoiling all as they went and there they took some Castles but as they returned slowly being loaden with Prey at Monetrar in the County of Limerick Ware 's Annals 87. they met with a great number of their Enemies led by James eldest Son of the Earl of Desmond Tirlagh O Bryan Chief of Thomond and Mac William a Lord of the Burks both Sides were resolved to fight which they did desperately to the great loss of both Parties especially of the Royalists who were tired with long Marches and overburthened with too much Prey and perhaps it had been fatal to them if the Night had not ended the Conflict which gave Kildare the Opportunity to make a safe Retreat the next Day without further Damage This Year there were so great Floods and Inundations 1511. that Trees Houses and Bridges were overturned in several Places Cahir O Connor Prince of Offaly was murdered by his own Followers near the Abby called
And so having wasted that Country he marched into Tyrone where he took and burnt the Castle of Dungannon and preyed and burnt all the Country thereabouts But the Citizens of Dublin had not so good luck for a Company of them thinking that the very Name of the King's Forces could obtain Victories over the Irish made an Incursion into Imaly but being as we say Fresh-Water Soldiers upon the Slaughter of a few of them the rest were frightned back to their Shops The Winter this Year was exceeding Cold and the Ice strong enough to bear all manner of Carriages which is very unusual in Ireland And this Winter Queen Mary was born whose Superstitious Zeal proved as extream Hot as the Weather was Cold. The Fortune and Victories of the Lord Deputy influenced the Irish to be quiet this Year and the Reputation of the Government was somewhat augmented by the Honourable Peace which the King made with the French 1518. in September which was afterwards proclaimed in Dublin In the mean time Ware 54. places this Anno 1597. but is mistaken great were the Dissentions in Ireland between Sir James Ormond a Man of great Courage and Reputation and Sir Pierce Butler a valiant Gentleman about the Earldom of Ormond the former was a Natural Son of John by some called Earl of Ormond elder Brother of Thomas the last Earl and the other was Son of Sir James Butler Son of Sir Edmund Son of Sir Richard Butler who was Brother to James the Fifth Earl of Ormond so that Pierce his Grandfather Sir Edmond was Cozen German to the Deceased Earl Thomas Hereby it appears that the Right to that Earldom was in Sir Pierce who had married the Lady Margaret Fitz-Girald the Lord Deputies Sister nevertheless Sir James having formerly been Lord Treasurer and a very popular Man and probably the Manager of this Estate for his Unkle Thomas who always resided in England by the help of the Tenants got into possession and by the same assistance and his own vigor he kept what he had got without allowing any thing to the right Heir towards his maintenance whereby that Noble Pair Sir Pierce and his Wife were reduced to great extremity It is scarce credible that Persons of that Quality and so well allied should be forced to lurk in Woods and want a Bottle of Wine for their Refreshment Holingsh 84. and yet Stanyhurst reports a formal Story That the Lady Margaret Fitz-Girald Wife of Sir Pierce Butler being great with Child complained to her Husband and their Servant James White that she could no longer live on Milk and therefore earnestly desired them to get her some Wine whereto Sir Pierce replied That she should have Wine enough within twenty four hours or feed alone on Milk for him and immediately he went away with his Page to lie in wait for his Competitor whom he met the next day riding with six Horsemen Attendants between Drumore and Kilkenny March 17. and upon a sudden Sir Pierce rushed in upon him and kill'd him with his Spear and thenceforward enjoyed the Estate in quiet This Year Rokeby Archbishop of Dublin who was likewise Lord Chancellor held a Provincial Synod at Dublin the Canons whereof are to be found in the Registry of the Bishop of Clogker And this Year or the next Art O Neal invaded and wasted O Dogherty's Island of Inisowen in the County of Donegal The Enemies of the Earl of Kildare had the last year done what they could underhand to disgrace him in England but he had so well defended himself by his Friends there 1519. that their Design was ineffectual wherefore they address'd themselves to Cardinal Wolsey and by his means procur'd Kildare to be recalled to answer Articles exhibited against him for Male-administration First Ware 98. That he had enriched himself and Followers by the King's Revenue and Land Secondly That he had Alliance and Correspondence with several Irish he had the King's Leave to substitute a Deputy so he appointed Sir Thomas Fitz-Girald of Lackagh a Knight of his own Family Lord Justice in the mean time Kildare marries in England with Elizabeth Grey Daughter of the Marquess of Dorset by whose means he got favour in England and was dismiss'd but Cardinal Wolsey suggesting the King had neglected Ireland too long and that some worthy man ought to be sent over that was impartial to any Faction or Party and was able to keep them not only more peaceable amongst themselves but also more serviceable to the King to the end that the Blood and Vigor which else would be spent in their Civil Dissentions might be opposed to the common Enemy he procured to be sent into Ireland Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey Lord Admiral of England Wales and Ireland Knight of the Garter Lord Lieutenant 1520. he came over the Wednesday before Whitsontide with an hundred of the Guards and a thousand others Horse and Foot by this the Cardinal obtained a double Advantage first In disappointing his Enemy the Earl of Kildare of the Government of Ireland and secondly In removing the Earl of Surry from the Court of England where he was a great Favourite On Whitsunday the Lord Lieutenant was alarum'd with a Report That Con Buckah O Neal who by Popular Election succeeded his Brother Art had invaded Meath with four thousand Horse and twelve thousand Foot says Paulus Jovius but falsly Surry was in haste to encounter the Rebel not doubting but that the Victory would be an honourable and happy Omen of his future Government and therefore adding to his small Army such of the Militia called The Risings out of City and Country as he could get on so short warning he marched to Slane but O Neal was frightned with the Name of this General and retir'd so fast that the Lord Lieutenant could neither find him nor his Army but not long after O Neal sent Letters to implore Pardon which was granted him on promise of future Obedience On the sixth of September the Lord Lieutenant wrote to the Cardinal That some Soldiers had seized on a Boat with design to be Pyrates but being prevented and apprehended they continued in Gaol because they could not be capitally punished by the Common Law and he had no Clause of Martial Law in his Commission as indeed he had not nor of conferring Knighthood which is strange and the better to ingratiate with the Cardinal he added That the Earl of Kildare will be found guilty of sending Letters to O Carol to raise a Rebellion and that if Kildare should be suffered to come to Ireland the whole Kingdom will be undone and he concludes That there is so great a Scarcity and Dearth in Ireland that the Soldier cannot live on four pence a day and therefore desires that a penny a day may be added to their Pay In October Lib. CCC the King wrote to the Lord Lieutenant That there will never be a thorough Reformation in Ireland until all
until Fitz Girald could come to relieve it But the perfidious Governor Christopher Parese Fitz-Girald's Foster-Brother a white-Liver'd Traytor resolved to purchase his own security with his Lord's Ruine and to that end got Letters conveyed to the Lord Deputy importing that he would surrender the Castle upon certain Articles by him propos'd all which concerned only his own Profit without mention of his Safety The Lord Deputy readily accepted of the Offer and agreed to the Conditions required Whereupon Parese after some small Advantage they had got in a Sally caus'd the Garrison to rejoyce and carouse to that degree that they were all dead drunk and then upon a Signal given the English scaled the Walls and entred the Castle Captain Holland being one of the first hapned to leap down into a Pipe of Feathers and there stuck and Sir William Brereton being got in cried out S. George S. George whereat one of the Garrison awakened and shot at Captain Holland but he being rescued out of the Feathers by his Companions killed the Souldier After that there was little or no resistance and Sir William Brereton soon advanced his Standard on the Top of the Turret The Spoil and Plunder of this Castle was exceeding great and rich this being accounted the best furnished House belonging to any Subject in the Kings Dominions The Lord Deputy entred in the Afternoon before whom two Varlets James de la Hide and Hayward both Choristers prostrated themselves warbling a sweet Sonnet call'd Dulcis Amica their Melody sav'd their Lives which at the request of Chief Justice Ailmer the Deputy pardoned Parese expecting some great Reward with abundance of Confidence and Familiarity presented himself before the Deputy who told him That he was to thank him on the King's behalf for his Service which saved much Charge and many Lives and doubted not when the King was acquainted therewith he would provide for him during his Life and the better to advise the King how to reward him he desired to know what Fitz-Girald had done for him Parese set agog with this Discourse recounted the most minute instances of Fitz Girald's Liberality to him upon which the Deputy reply'd And how Parese couldst thou find in thy heart to betray the Castle of so kind a Lord And turning to his Officers he bids them pay him the Mony and then to chop off his Head Had I known this quoth Parese your Lordship should not have had the Castle so easily Whereupon one Mr. Boyse being by cried out Auntraugh i. e. too late which occasion'd the Saying often us'd in Ireland Too late quoth Boyse In the mean time Fitz-Girald by the aid of O Connor and others had got an Army of seven thousand Men with which he design'd to raise the Siege of Minooth but upon News of its Surrender his Army deserted him daily and mouldred away almost to nothing Reputation as I observed before much governing the Irish and perhaps all the World beside with the few that were left he marched to Clane and the Deputy leaving Brereton Governor of Dublin marched to Naas where he took sevenscore of the Rebel Gallowglasses whom upon notice of Fitz-Girald's Approach the Deputy commanded to be slain only Edmond Oleme escaped stark naked to his Master Fitz-Girald There was a Bog between both Armies so that the Horse could not skirmish but the Deputy with his Artillery easily broke and scattered Fitz-Girald's inconsiderable Troops put them to flight slew many and took some Prisoners After this Defeat 1535. Fitz-Girald never appeared at the Head of any considerable Army but by small Parties would now and then make some slight Excursions and particularly after the Surrender of Rathingan which hapned in the beginning of the Year he caused a Drove of Cattel to appear near the Town early in the Morning and the English believing that the Cattel strayed that way and might easily be made Booty most of the Garrison sallied to that intent and were intercepted by an Ambush and slain Another time he burnt a Village near Trim and sent two or three of his Men clad like the English Soldiers to Trim and pretending that they were Captain Salisbury's Men they told the Garrison that the Rebel Fitz-Girald was burning the Village Whereupon most part of the Soldiers sallied out and were killed On the 11th of May the Lord Butler was created Viscount Thurles and Admiral of Ireland and on the twenty first his Father the Earl of Ossory and he were made Governors of the Counties of Kilkenny Waterford and Typerary and the Territories of Ossory and Ormond and they promised to do their utmost endeavour to recover the Castle of Dungarvan and to resist the Vsurpations of the Bishop of ROME Lib. H. Lambeth which is the first Engagement I have met with of that kind It seems that the Lord Grey had been sent to England for Supplies and that he now returned with Horsemen and Archers under Sir William Senlo Sir Rice Mansel and Sir Edward Griffith who were conveniently garrisoned in the Pale for I find by a Letter of the twenty first of August to the Lord Cromwel from Chief Justice Ailmer and Allen Master of the Rolls that the Lord Grey Landed the twenty ninth of July and that they came on shoar the first of August and were exceedingly surpriz'd at the alteration they found in the Country for that six of eight Baronies in the County of Kildare were burnt and depopulated and so likewise was part of Meath and that Sir William Brabazon at the Naas was the Man that prevented the total Ruine and Desolation of the Country That Powerscourt which cost five thousand Marks was ruin'd by the Birns and Tools That Fitz-Girald had regain'd Rathingan by the Treachery of the Ward but that he quitted it upon approach of the Army and the Lord Deputy might have surpriz'd him in it if he would or had been as diligent as he ought That O More who joyn'd with the English had so posted his own Men and the Kings that the Rebels were surrounded and Fitz-Girald could not have escaped if a Brigade of the English had not quitted their Station however Burnel of Balligriffin was taken and was afterwards hang'd at Tyburn That the Pestilence raged at Dublin and that the Lord Deputy designed to quarter a thousand Kerns for three Months on the Pale which would ruine it but their Arrival with Money alter'd that to a Cess for this Expedition only whereunto the People chearfully consented That they had engaged Cahir O Connor against his Brother by allowing him twelve Horse and one hundred and sixty Kerns in his Majesties Pay That the Deputy is sick and not able to defend Minooth where he lodges but suffers his own Cattle to be taken from the very Gates That there is no hope of O Neal's Loyalty since he gave no Hostages and finally this Letter highly extols Sir William Brabazon the worthy Ancestor of the Earl of Meath as the Saviour of the
and Language and not to forestal the Markets of Limerick nor correspond with the Irish And so we come to the Parliament which began at Dublin on the first Day of May and on the last Day of that Month was adjourned to Kilkenny and did there sit the twenty fifth Day of July and on the twenty first was adjourned to Cashel and on the twenty eighth was from Cashel adjourned to Limerick and there it sat on the second of August and continued until the nineteenth and then was adjourned to Dublin to meet the fifteenth Day of September and so after several Prorogations it was finally dissolved the twentyeth Day of December 1537 and enacted as followeth I. The Attainder of the Earl of Kildare and his Complices This Act recites all their Treasons and Retrospects to the eighth Day of July 20 Hen. 8. II. The Parliament reciting That Ireland is appending and belonging to the Crown of England doth make void and nullifie the King's Marriage with the Princess Katharine his Brother's Wife and doth ratifie the Divorce judicially made between them by the Archbishop of Canterbury It also confirms the King's Marriage with Anne Bullen and prohibits Marriage within the Levitical Degrees and orders that Persons so married shall be divorced and their Children after such Divorce shall be illegitimate Then it entails the Crown on the King's Heir Males by Queen Anne and for want of such to his Heirs Males by any other Wife and for want of such to the King's Heirs Female by Queen Anne and particularizes the Princess Elizabeth and the Heirs of her Body c. And that it shall be Treason to Write or Act against the aforesaid Marriage or the Settlement of the Crown and Misprision of Treason to speak against either of those things and deprives the Offenders of Benefit of Sanctuary it makes the Queen and such Counsellors as the King shall appoint Guardians of the Infant King or Queen if it so happen till their respective Ages of sixteen if a Queen and eighteen if a King and prescribes an Oath for the Observation of this Settlement to be taken by the Subject and makes it Misprision of Treason to refuse it III. The Act of Absentees recites the Inconveniences that have happened by reason of the Absence of those that have Estates in Ireland and then vests in the King the Honours and Estates of the Duke of Norfolk the Lord Berkly the Earl of Waterford and Shrewsbury the Heirs General of the Earl of Ormond the Abbot of Furnes the Abbot of S. Augustins of Bristol the Prior of Christ-Church of Canterbury the Prior of Lanthony the Prior of Cartinel the Abbot of Kentesham the Abbot of Osny the Abbot of Bath and the Master of S. Thomas of Dacres 4 Inst 354. And it was resolved anno 1612. That the Earl of Shrewsbury did lose the Title of Earl of Waterford and Viscount Dungarvan by this Statute Nevertheless he had a very good Recompence in England for his Losses in Ireland And it is not unworthy our Remembrance How this Statute came to be made and the Occasion was thus The King being inclined to make Mr. Ailmer who was then Lord Chief justice of the Common Pleas Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench the Earl of Shrewsbury at the instance of some of his Tenants in Waterford or Wexford opposed his Preferment alledging That Ailmer was a silly fellow and unfit for such a Place whereupon the King repremanded the Lord Cromwel for recommending such a Coxcomb to him the Lord Cromwel begs the King to discourse with Ailmer assuring his Majesty That he was misinformed The King consented and Ailmer being come the King asked the true reason of the Decay of Ireland Ailmer Answered That it was because the Estated Men who used to Reside and Defend their own Estates and countenance their Tenants did now generally dwell in England and left Ireland a Prey to the Natives But that if his Majesty would oblige the Estated Men to Residence or seize their Estates to his own use he would soon find a Reformation The King tickled with this Advice gave Ailmer Thanks and assured him Care should be taken of it next Parliament IV. A Suspension or Repeal of Poyning's Act pro hac Vice V. That the King his Heirs and Successors be Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of Ireland and shall have Power to reform redress c. Heresies Errors and Offences c. And that his Commissioners shall take no Proxies for their Visitations but convenient Meat Drink and Lodging on pain of four times the value VI. That there shall be no Appeals to Rome on Pain of Premunire and that the Chancellor with the Consent of the two Chief Justices the Master of the Rolls and the Vice-Treasurer or any two of them may assign Delegates to Hear and Determine all Appeals to the Chief Governour VII An Act against slandering the King or Queen or their Title c. And that those guilty of High Treason shall not have the Benefit of Sanctuary and that Treasons committed beyond Seas may be tried in Ireland and that all Estates of Inheritance ergo Estates Tail shall be forfeited for High-Treason VIII That the Clergy shall pay Annates or First-Fruits i.e. a Years Profit and shall pay or compound before Possession The Chancellor Master of the Rolls and Vice-Treasurer or any two of them whereof the Vice-Treasurer to be one or any others commissioned by the King may compound and give Instalments That the Bonds for First-Fruits shall have the Effect of Bonds of the Staple and eight Pence to be paid for a Bond and four Pence for an Acquittance and no more IX An Act to vest in the King Sir Walter Delahide's Lands in Carbry in the County of Kildare X. That if the Robber or Felon be found Guilty upon an Indictment by means or Prosecution of the Party robbed that then he shall have Restitution as if it had been done upon an Appeal XI An Act to suppress all Tributes Pensions and Irish Exactions claimed by the Irish from Towns or Persons for Protection XII An Act against the Pope to suppress his Usurpations and that it shall be Premunire to defend or assert his usurped Authority or Jurisdiction and that all Persons Ecclesiastical or Lay That have Office or Benefice c. shall take the Oath of Supremacy mentioned in the Act and the Refusal of that Oath shall be Treason It seems there was much Difficulty to get this Act and the former Act for the King's Supremacy to pass both Houses many of the Clergy opposing them stifly until the Archbishop Brown made the following Speech which being well sconded by Justice Brabazon so startled the rest that at length both Bills passed The Archbishop's Speech was thus My Lords and Gentry of his Majesty's Kingdom of Ireland BEhold your Obedience to your King is the observing of your Lord and Saviour Christ Bish Brown's Life 7. for He that High-Priest of our
they were Lords of Parliament The Abbot of Mellifont S. Thomas-Abby near Dublin S. Mary Abby near Dublin Baltinglass Jeripont Tintern in the County of Wexford Douske Tracton in the County of Cork Dunbrody Dunbrodiae Mage alias Nenai in the County of Limerick Wony alias Wethney in the County of Limerick Rosglass alias Monaster Evan Bectif Rathto in the County of Kerry The Priors of S. John of Jerusalem Christ-Church Dublin S. Peters near Trim Conal Kells in Ossory Kenlisae S. Patricks in Down All-Saints near Dublin Athassel Killagh S. Marys in Louth In the close of the last Year Ware 154 it happened that a Waterford-Ship loaden with one hundred Tun of Wine was in her return from Portugal put into Baltimore no sooner was it heard of but Finil O Driscol came on Board and very kindly invited the Merchant and Mariners on shoar to refresh themselves at his House after the Hardships they had suffered at Sea they readily accepted of his Invitation but met with another sort of entertainment than they expected for contrary to the Rules of Hospitality he most perfidiously kept them all Prisoners and distributed most part of the Cargo between himself and his Followers as he thought fit But as soon as the Citizens of Waterford were inform'd of this Treachery they mann'd two Sips and a long Boat and although Captain Dobins did easily recover the former Ship and all the Goods that were left which were about the fourth part of the whole and all the Prisoners yet the Citizens of Waterford were not contented with that but sayl'd to Inisherkin and took O Driscol's Castle there and razed it to the ground and destroyed the Island as much as they could and thence they went to Inchypyle which they served in the same manner and at length after they had destroyed Baltymore and the Country adjacent they carried away O Driscol's best Boat and abundance of Plunder and returned safely to Waterford In the mean time Ware 155. the King that he might not be thought to abandon the Religion of his Ancestors enacted in England the Bloody Law of the Six Articles and not long after revoked the Lord Deputy who left Ireland early in the Spring having first substituted Sir William Brereton 1540. Lord Justice in whose time the Irish Potentates began generally and publickly to own themselves Champions of the Papacy and to assume the specious Pretences of Liberty and Religion the better to cloak their Designs of Robbery and Rebellion Ware 156. for some of them being of a temper impatient to live as Subjects any longer than they are disabled to be Rebels were glad of any Pretence that might seem to justifie their illegal Proceedings and therefore many of them confederated together and especially O Neal O Bryan O Donel and O Carol and in the beginning of July appointed their Rendezvouz all four in West-Meath in order to invade and plunder the Pale but the Lord Justice got his small Army together and was joyned by two thousand of the Inhabitants of the Pale whereof many were Clergy-men who very well knew That whatever was pretended by the Irish yet Plunder and Depredation was meant and intended and therefore they were forward and active to defend their Country but as soon as the Rebels had notice of this Preparation which was counted great in those days those holy Champions dispersed their Forces into Woods and Fastnesses so that this terrible Bugbear vanished without Blows But the Lord Justice would not be so satisfied for he pursued O Connor into Ophaly and made several of the Fastnesses of that Country passable for Carriages and brought O Connor to that pass that he was forced to give his Son Cnoghor for a Hostage of his future Behaviour but not long after viz. on the 25th of the same Month of July Sir Anthony Saintleger Knight of the Garter Lord Deputy was sworn as was usual in Christ-Church Dublin and the Form of his Oath is to be found in Burlace's Reduction of Ireland pag. 106. and Ware 's Annals 157. This Lord Deputy by the help of Thomas Walsh one of the Barons of the Exchequer John Myn and William Cavendish two Auditors well vers'd in the Treasury did bring the publick Revenue into good Order and more to the King's advantage than ever it had been before But because some People have written extravagantly Present State of Ireland 12. That the Revenue in King Edward the Third's Days amounted unto thirty thousand pounds per annum and that the Earl of Desmond was able to expend ten thousand pounds per annum it will not be inconvenient to give the Reader an Account both of the publick Expence and Income for one Year during Saintleger's Government viz. for the Year 1543.  l. s. d. The King's Mannors and Lands per annum 6069 02 07 Customs of Dublin Droghedah Dundalk   and Trim 0319 13 04 The Fee Fee-Farms of Dublin and Droghedah 0200 00 00 Pâ—â—ty Farms Profits and Homages 0011 05 08 The twentieth part of the Spirituality 0287 02 01 ½ The King's Subsidy Spiritual and Temporal 0613 08 03  7500 11 11 ½    Irish Money Deduct 182 13 09 ½ for yearly Annuities and Proxies perpetual    and 1131 12 06 for Judges Clerks of Courts Customers Controllers Constables of the King's Castle of Dublin c. and Officers of the County and Liberty of Wexford and there remains 6186 05 08 Besides there were some Temporary Payments to be deducted viz. 500 l. per annum Pension to the late Prior of St John of Jerusalem and 759 l. 3 s. 4 d. per annum Pensions to the Religious Persons belonging to the suppressed Monasteries c. So that there remain'd clear to the King but 4927 l. 2 s. 4 d. For as on the one side there were some uncertain Profits that are not included in this Computation as Liveries Wardships First-Fruits the Profits of the Hanaper and the Tributes of Irishmen and likewise the Mannor of Dungarvan and some other small things not then setled are not in charge so on the other side there were some casual Expences for Buildings Reparations Concordatums Inquisitions Messengers c. that did more than tantamount the casual Branches of the Revenue The Charge of the Military List although the Army consisted of no more than three hundred seventy nine Horse and one hundred and fifty Foot amounted to almost eight thousaud Pounds besides Artillery and some other things that were constantly supplied from England that is to say The Lord Deputy's Retinue A Captain at four shillings a day a petit Captain at two shillings and an hundred Horsemen at ninepence apiece makes four pound twelve shillings per diem and that is an hundred and thirteen Pound eight shillings per mensem and per annum 1478 05 00. Mr. Robert Saintleger for the like Retinue for a year being thirteen months and one day 1478 05 00. Master of the Ordinance his Retinue a
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
Carriages to a general Hosting did coss the Country or tax it to find so much Mony as would maintain a certain number of men three Months and accordingly in July this Year the Counties of Kilkenny Waterford Typerary and Wexford were ordered to levy Maintenance for two hundred and forty Kerns for three Months which came to no more than two hundred and four Pounds thirteen Shillings and four Pence whereby one may perceive that the Tax was easie enough but the Grievance was in the irregular Assessments and the oppressive manner of levying it The French King by his Ambassador Theobald de Boys tempted O Donel with Offers of Money and Arms to make an Insurrection but he could do little of himself and it was too soon to seduce others after such solemn and formal Submissions so lately made and so that Negotiation had little or no effect but in February the Lord Deputy was recalled to give the King an Account of his Administration of Affairs in Ireland and Sir William Brabazon was sworn Lord Justice in his stead Ware 168. his Patent bears date the twelfth of October 35 Hen. 8. To this Lord Justice new Seals were sent because of the Alteration of the King's Stile from LORD to KING of Ireland and the old Seals were sent back to England The Lord Justice 1544. by the King's Orders sent him seven hundred Men to Calice under the Command of the Captains Poer Finglass and Skurlock they were very serviceable to the King at Bulloign and did much Mischief to the French for being light of foot Holingshead 103. they would often range twenty or thirty Mile into the Country and as they returned would burn and spoil where-ever they came They had a pretty Trick to get a Prey which was to tie a Bull to a Stake and set fire about him and as the Fire scorched him the Bull would bellow and thereupon all the Cattel within hearing of him would flock that way and so were taken These Irishmen would never give Quarter and therefore whensoever the Frenchmen took any of them they gelded them and otherwise tormented them exceedingly After the Surrender of Bulloign a large Frenchman on the other side of the Haven braved and defied the English Army whereupon one Nicholas Walsh did swim over the River and cut off the Frenchmans Head and brought it back over the River in his Mouth for which bold Action he was bountifully rewarded Sir Anthony Saintleger June 11. 1544. being for his good Services made Knight of the Garter returned Lord Deputy and found the Kingdom quiet and he made it his Business to keep it so which he effectually accomplished by imprisoning two or three turbulent People and by taking Indentures and Hostages from those he suspected And this Lord Deputy knowing it was the only way to keep the Kingdom in peace Lib. D. made it his Business to break the Dependencies of the Irish and to that end upon all References to him he took care that the weaker Party might depend on the Government for Protection and that he should not rely upon nor be under the Subjection of any other and particularly on the fourteenth of July he made an Award or final Order between the Earl of Tyrone and O Donel whereby O Donel was freed from depending on O Neal any farther than that he still continued obliged to pay a yearly Rent of sixty Beeves to O Neal for the Island of Inisowen and it so hapned that the very next year O Neal invaded Tyrconel because that Rent was not paid whereupon there was another Reference to the Government and a new Peace was made between them Aug. 24 1546. In the mean time the Earl of Lenox 1545. who fled out of Scotland was kindly received by King Henry and married his Neece was by the King sent into Ireland to levy an Army to recover his Inheritance in Scotland he came to the Deputy at Kilmainham where he lived and being effectually recommended by the King he was so kindly received and his Business so heartily followed that by the middle of November he had raised fifteen hundred Men under the Command of Sir John Travers Master of the Ordnance to whom the Earl of Ormond joyned as many of his own Followers and was himself General of the Army They set Sail for Scotland in twenty eight Ships but the Levity of their Confederates in Scotland or the Power of Duke Hamilton disappointed this Design for not being able to gain Dunbritton-Castle which was promised to be delivered up to them and finding a potent Army ready to encounter them instead of Friends which they expected to embrace them and being shattered by a violent Storm the Irish were necessitated to return home re infecta In the mean time Lib. D. on the Nineteenth of October died Vlick Earl of Clanrickard whereupon a great Contest arose between his Sons about the Title and Inheritance because the Earl's first Wife Grany O Carol Mother of the Earl's Eldest Son Richard Burk had been formerly married to O Mlaghlin who was still living and undivorced as was alledged and she being still alive the Earl married Honora Burk and was afterwards divorced from her and married Mary Linch Mother of John Burk Grany the first Wife being still living But the Earl of Ormond and other Commissioners sent by the Lord Deputy and Council to settle this Affair soon determined the Matter and finding that the pretended Marriage with O Mlaghlin could not be proved they adjudged Grany to be the Earl's true Wife and placed her Son Richard Burk in the Earldom and Estate of his Father according to the Law of England and because he was under Age they made Vlick Burk Captain of the Country during his good Behaviour and the Minority of the Earl But now the Spirit of Rebellion had again seized the Irish Melvin's Memoirs 8 9. and O Neal O Donel O Dogharty and one Callock had made some Overtures to the French King about assistance to manage an Insurrection and they proposed to him to become his Subjects and to shake off the Yoke of England provided he would procure the Pope's Gift of Ireland and send two thousand Harquebusses two hundred Light Horsemen and four Canon to their assistance The French King thought the Offer so considerable that he sent over John de Monluck Bishop of Valence his Ambassador to Ireland to learn the Truth of their Circumstances and to certifie the King what probability there was of Success if he should engage in that Affair The Bishop arrived at Loghfoyle on Shrovetuesday and the next day was by O Dogharty carried to his House which was a great dark Tower there the Bishop found bad Entertainment and was forced to be contented with Herrings and Bisket and such like Lenten Fare which was the best the House afforded The Bishop had a Months Mind to O Dogharty's Daughter which two English Fryers observing to prevent any Abuse of the Damsel
aut servitio dicto Comiti Tyrone suisque Haeredibus impendendo ac immediate parebit obediet Domino Regi sub ejus pace defensione perpetuo remaenebit suaeque Celsitudini de tempore in tempus solvet Bonagium Bonnaught caetera omnia Debita quoties ad id per Dominum Deputatum Concilium requisitus rogatus fuerit c. And on the eighteenth of July the like Order was made between O Donel and his Sons and several Proprietors of Tyrconel and O Donel's Authority was limited and both Parties were obliged to obey the Order on pain of forfeiting all their Estate And about the same time Brian Mac Mahon and Hugh Oge made their Submissions at Kilmainham and were pardoned the five hundred Marks they had forfeited by breach of their former Articles Lib. D. In the mean time the Scotch Islanders sent some Forces to the assistance of the Irish in Vlster but Andrew Brereton with five and thirty Horse met with two hundred of them and defeated them with great slaughter and by his good Conduct quieted Vlster and was therefore made General or Governor thereof But the Lord Deputy being recall'd took Shipping at Houth on the 16th day of December and being offered Testimonials of his good Government from the Council he modestly refused saying That if his Innocence would not defend him he would use no other Remedy than his Belief of the Resurrection of the Dead He was certainly a brave Man and an excellent Governor and would have been sent back with Honour if his Infirmities whereof he died the next year had not prevented it Sir Francis Bryan 1549. Lord Justice was chosen by the Council on the twenty 7th day of Decemb and sworn at Christ-Church in Dublin on the 29th but he enjoyed this Honour but a little while for the County of Typerary being infested by O Carol the Lord Justice made a Journy thither in favour of the young Earl of Ormond who was but twelve years old to protect the Country and on the second of February died at Clonmel whereupon Sir William Brabazon Lord Justice was elected by the Council he committed the Government of the County of Typerary to Edmond Butler Archbishop of Cashel and made a Journy to Limerick where Teig O Carol submitted and entred into Covenants of paying a yearly Tribute into the Exchequer and of serving the King with a certain number of Horse and Foot at his own charge and of renouncing his Pretences to the Barony of Ormond and afterwards the same Teig O Carol surrendred to the King his Country of Ely O Carol containing ninety three Plow-Lands and a half and the King re-granted the same to him and Created him Baron of Ely and by O Carol's means Mac Morough O Kelly and O Mlaghlin were now taken into Protection and Pardoned and by the Lord Deputy's Mediation the Earls of Desmond and Thomond who were wrangling about Bounds and the protection of each others Tories or Out-laws were reconciled on the eleventh of March Lib. D. and about the same time Dermond O Sullevan a great man in the County of Cork was together with his Castle or dwelling-House accidentally blown up by Gunpowder and his Brother Amalfus who succeeded him was likewise not long after killed But Bulloign being restored to the French on the twenty-fifth day of April 1550. the King was thereby enabled to send eight thousand Pound of the Money received there and four hundred men of that Garrison into Ireland which he did And thereby the Lord Justice was put into a Condition of pursuing Charles Mac Art Cavenagh Ware 188. who was again in Rebellion and was proclaimed Traytor and the Lord Justice acquitted himself so well in that Matter August that he killed many of Cave-nagh's Followers and burnt the Country But the French King hearing that the English marched an Army into Scotland lookt upon that Assault of his Ally as a Breach of the Peace with him and therefore sent an hundred and sixty small Vessels with Ammunition and Corn to assist the Scots it hapned that sixteen of them were shipwrackt on the Coast of Ireland however the King of England to obviate any Designs the French might have against his Dominions set forth a Fleet of twenty Ships and Pinnaces under the Lord Cobham which guarded two Harbors on the South and one in the North toward Scotland On the twenty third of October Richard Butler second Son of Pierce Earl of Ormond was Created Viscount Mountgarret and a little before that viz. on the tenth of September Sir Anthony Saintleger Ware 190. Lord Deputy returned to Ireland and Sir Thomas Cusack was made Lord Chancellor To this Deputy Mac Carty submitted in humble Manner and was pardoned and it seems that this Lord Deputy had Orders to call a Parliament but I do not find that there was any in Ireland during this King's Reign On the fourth of November Charles Mac Art Cavenagh made his Submission to the Lord Deputy at Dublin in presence of the Earls of Desmond Thomond Clanrickard and Tyrone the Lords Mountgarret Dunboyn Cahir and Ibracan and renounced the Name of Mac Morough and parted with some of his usurped Jurisdiction and Estate But let us cast an eye on the Affairs of the Church and we shall find that the Reformation made but small progress in Ireland since the same year produced Bishops of each sort for on the tenth of May Arthur Macgenis was by provision of the Pope constituted Bishop of Dromore and confirmed therein by the King and Thomas Lancaster a Protestant was on the third day of September made Bishop of Kildare However Bish Brown's Life 13. on the sixth of February the King sent the following Order for the Liturgy of the Church of England to be read in Ireland in the English Tongue EDWARD by the Grace of God c. Whereas our Gracious Father King Henry the Eighth of happy Memory taking into consideration the bondage and heavy yoke that his true and faithful Subjects sustained under the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome as also the Ignorance the Commonalty were in how several fabulous Stories and lying Wonders misled our Subjects in both our Realms of England and Ireland grasping thereby the Means thereof into their hands also dispensing with the Sins of our Nations by their Indulgences and Pardons for Gain purposely to cherish all ill Vices as Robberies Rebellions Thefts Whoredoms Blasphemy Idolatry c. He our Gracious Father King Henry of happy Memory hereupon dissolved all Priories Monasteries Abbies and other pretended Religious Houses as being but Nurseries for Vice and Luxury more than for Sacred Learning Therefore that it might more plainly appear to the World that those Orders had kept the Light of the Gospel from his People he thought it most fit and convenient for the preservation of their Souls and Bodies that the Holy Scriptures should be Translated Printed and Placed in all Parish-Churches
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
Superstition that the Irish Priests who are the most ignorant Clerks in the World could lead these Noblemen by the Nose into the greatest Folly Ingratitude and Disloyalty that ever was known so that henceforward we must expect to find these English Lords in open Rebellion with the Irish against the Crown of England The victorious Malby encamped that night by the Abby of Monaster Neva and after two or three days removed to Rakele and encamped there a Party of the Earl of Desmond's came confidently within a Mile of the Camp but were well beaten for their pains and some that were taken Prisoners discovered many of Desmond's Designs and that he had been in the Field ever since the Battel of Monaster Neva but they needed not to be so nice in their Examinations for that very Night put the Matter out of doubt and Desmond and his Brother did personally assault the English Camp but came off as they used to do with Loss and Disgrace however the Marshal thought it necessary to remove to Askeaton having first setled a Garrison at Rakeal and he performed what he designed although the Enemy did frequently skirmish with him in his March and then having notice of the Deputy's Death he placed Sir William Stanly and Captain Carew at Adare and sent the rest of the Army to other Garrisons Hereupon the Rebels insulted at a great Rate bragging that they would take all the Garrisons and Sir John of Desmond with four hundred Foot and fifty Horse actually besieg'd Adare so that the Garrison durst not peep abroad till their victuals failed them and then Necessity whetted their Courage and made their Swords as sharp as their Stomachs so that Sir John was forced to retire The English had but one small Cot which would hold about eight Men and by help of it an hundred and twenty Men of the Garrison of Adare were wafted over the River Hooker 162 into the Knight of the Glinns Country and being unexpected there they did great Execution but they staid so long that the Knight of the Glin and Sir John Desmond had got together thirty Horse and four hundred Foot some Irish and some Spaniards and overtook them and entertain'd a brisk Skirmish for about eight hours nevertheless the English made good their Retreat without any considerable Loss and killed about fifty of the Enemy Sir William Pelham Lord Justice was chosen by the Council 1579. and sworn in Christ-Church Dublin on the eleventh of October and immediately he Knighted the Lord Chancelor Gerard and youg Edward Fitton After Dinner Cambd. Eliz. 239. the Council sate and directed Letters to all the considerable Irishmen to confirm them in their Loyalty particularly to Pheagh Mac Hugh Sir Hugh O Reily Sir Hugh Macguire Turlogh Lynogh c. and they also appointed the Earl of Ormond to be Governor of Munster and Sir Warham Saint-Leger to be Provost Marshal thereof and ordered Desmond's Son to be conveyed to the Castle of Dublin to be safely kept The Lord Justice having dispatched the Chancellor to England to inform her Majesty how Matters stood in Ireland and having committed the Care of the North-Borders to the Earl of Kildare marched into Munster taking with him the three Bands lately brought from Berwick by the Captains Walter Case and Pikeman he came to Kilkenny the nineteenth of October and kept Sessions two Days and sate in Person insomuch that Edmond Mac Neil and other notable Traytors were then executed and he also reconciled the Earl of Ormond and the Lord of Upper Ossory At Cashel the Earl of Ormond came to him with two hundred and thirty Men and hence his Excellency sent Letters to the Earl of Desmond to repair to him that he might reconcile him and Sir Nicholas Malby thence he went to Limerick where he was well received and the Mayor Presented him with a thousand Armed Citizens here also he was met by Malby and the Army and the next day he went to a Village called Fannings where he gave Orders for a General Hosting or Rising out and thither came the Countess of Desmond with Letters from her Husband Hereupon the Earl of Ormond was sent to expostulate with Desmond upon sundry Articles whereto he returned a trifling Answer on the the thirtieth of October complaining of old Injuries c. Wherefore other Letters were sent from Crome where the Lord Justice then was but to no purpose for though Desmond protested Loyalty yet he would not come to the Camp nay he was known to act rebelliously even while he was writing his Protestation for the Lord Justice being removed to Rakeal was allarm'd by some Rebels whereof four being killed one was found to be Desmond's Butler and himself was not far off wherefore he was Proclaimed Traytor in the Camp the second day of November 1579. unless he should surrender himself in twenty days and immediately the Army proceeded to destroy his Country with Fire and Sword And it must not be omitted that the Lords of Gormanstown and Delvin who were of the Council and attended the Lord Justice in this Expedition were so tainted and corrupted with Popery that they refused to sign the Proclamation against Desmond for which they were afterwards severely reprimanded by a Letter from the Lords of the Council in England On the third of November the Lord Justice removed to Puble O Bryan and Mustered the Army and so leaving two hundred and fifty Horse and eight Ensigns of Foot with the Earl of Ormond he returned to Limerick The Earl of Desmond thought to divert the Army from farther prosecution in Conilogh by making an Incursion into Imokilly and being there at the request of the Seneschal of Imokilly he attack'd Youghal and finding small resistance he easily took and afterwards plundered that Town whereupon the Earl of Ormond sent Captain White and a Company of Soldiers in a Ship from Waterford and they valiantly entred into the Town by the Water-gate but being over-powered by the numerous Forces of the Seneschal's White and most of his Men were slain and the rest with great difficulty escaped to their Ship Hereupon Desmond grew so insolent November 20. 1579. that he wrote an arrogant Letter to the Lord Justice importing that he and his Brethren were entred into the Defence of the Catholick Faith under the Protection of the Pope and the King of Spain and advised the Lord Justice to joyn with him and nine days after he wrote Circular Letters to such of the Lords and Gentlemen of Leinster as he thought to be rebelliously inclined the Form of which Letters may be seen in the following Letter which he sent to Pheagh Mac Hugh MY well beloved Friend I commend me to you It is so that I and my Brother are entred into the Defence of the Catholick Faith and the overthrow of our Country by English Men which had overthrown the Holy Church and go about to over-run our Country and make it their own and to make us
in many other high Regards 't is Expedition alone that can answer the Anxieties which England must be in for Your Majesty's Absence And seeing Your Majesty will leave behind that Great Pledge Your Royal Consort and our most Gracious Queen Your Majesty will not want Your own Anxieties also for a speedy Return But that it may be with such Laurels as may bring Terror to France with Triumph to Your own Kingdoms and a happy Restitution of Your poor Protestant Subjects of Ireland to their Native Homes is the most fervent Prayer of GREAT SIR Your Majesty's most Dutiful most Loyal and most Devoted Subject and Servant R. COX TO THE READER YOU have here a History of great Variety and much Intrigue It takes in a large Space of Time of above Fifty Years and begins at the End of one War and ends with the Close of another The long Interval between these Two Periods being almost Forty years was spent in a profound Peace the short Commotion of O Dogharty only excepted and in promoting all those Blessings of Plenty and Good Laws which the Industry of the English could accomplish But the subsequent Part of the Time was according to Bishop Usher's Prophetical Sermon Preach'd Anno 1601. turn'd into a Scene of Blood Treachery and Desolation which overturned all The Roots of that so great Cruelty and Universal Defection are already hinted at in the Preface of my Former Part by those Differences there set forth of Nation Interest and Religion Upon King James his Accession to the Crown the Irish were surfeited with War so that all things in that Kingdom had a tendency to Peace And tho' a Rumor spread abroad and believ'd by the Irish That the King was of their Religion put some of the principal Towns into a Commotion yet the Diligence and Expedition of the Lord Deputy did soon appease that Storm and reduce the Disobedient to their Duty And tho' the natural Inclination of that King to Peace was a great Temptation to the Irish to try their Fortune with him in a War and accordingly the Lords Tyrone and Tyrconell and Sir Cahir O Dogharty attempted it yet the Rebels were always baffled in their Undertakings by the Diligence Wisdom and Courage of those to whom the King entrusted his Irish Affairs And indeed both King James the First and King Charles the First did take a particular Care to put the Government of Ireland into such Hands as were worthy of it and underwent the Administration thereof with Advantage to that Kingdom and Honor to themselves The First was the Lord Montjoy whom King James found Deputy and soon after made Lord Lieutenant This Lord was thought in England to be a better Courtier than a Soldier but when he came to Ireland he proved the best Soldier that Kingdom had seen in many Years It was he that found out the true Way of making War with the Irish For being well supplied with Necessaries from England he plainly saw that if he could attack them at a time when they wanted all Conveniences to keep the Field he could meet with very little or no Resistance and therefore he supplied his Frontier Garisons with Men and Provisions and they by their frequent Excursions did such Execution on the Persons and Estates of the Irish that by One Winters War he reduc'd them to the Necessity of eating one another and forced their Ringleader the Earl of Tyrone to submit to his Mercy and so made an end of that Rebellion His Successor or rather Deputy Sir George Cary was Treasurer at Wars and a worthy Gentleman but nothing of extraordinary moment hapned during his Government The next was Sir Arthur Chichester afterwards Lord of Belfast one well experienc'd in the Affairs of Ireland whereof he held the Chief Government for Eleven Years He was a good Soldier and a true Englishman and did Three great Things towards a Reformation The First was his Management of the most stubborn Parliament that ever was in that Kingdom which nevertheless he prevail'd with to Attaint the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconell Sir Cahir O Dogharty and others and to make an Act of Recognition and to give the King a Subsidy And the Second was the Plantation of the Forfeitâ—d Estates in Ulster which he very much influenc'd and promoted And the Third was the Reviving and Restoring the Circuits for Judges of Assize in both the Provinces of Conaught and Munster The Lords Justices Doctor Jones Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor and Sir Richard Wingfield were Men Famous in their respective Faculties and are Founders of the Noble Families of the Earl of Ranelagh and Viscount Powerscourt And Sir John Denham Lord Chief Justice was not less Renowned than either of Them by reason of his great Learning in his Profession to which the Crown owes the first Advancement of that Considerable Branch of the Revenue arising by the Customs in Ireland The next Lord Deputy was Sir Oliver Saint John afterwards Viscount Grandison a Person Nobly descended and of a generous Temper He had given great Proof of his Courage and Conduct at the Battel of Kinsale and was not inferior to any of his Predecessors in a sincere Concern for the Protestant Religion and the Good of the Kingdom but he hapned in an ill time as did also his Successor the Worthy Lord Falkland whilst the Spanish Match was in agitation So that both these brave Men by the Clamour of the Irish and the prevailing Power of their Popish Enemies came away in Disgrace But their Innocence being afterwards vindicated as it was this Affront was in some measure atton'd for by the subsequent Favour of the King The Lords Justices that received the Sword from the Lord Falkland were the Viscount Loftus of Ely Lord Chancellor one of great Parts and Merit and the Noble Earl of Cork Lord High Treasurer who was one of the most extraordinary Persons either That or any other Age hath produced with respect to the great and just Acquisitions of Estate that he made and the Publick Works that he began and finished for the advancement of the English Interest and the Protestant Religion in Ireland as Churches Alms-Houses Free-Schools Bridges Castles and * Lismore Tallow Cloghnakilty Iniâ—keen Castletown Bandon which last Place cost him 14000 l. Townsâ— Insomuch that when Cromwel saw these prodigious Improvements which he little expected to find in Ireland he declared That if there had been an Earl of Cork in every Province it would have been impossible for the Irish to have rais'd a Rebellion And whilst he was carrying on these solid Works he lived in his Family at a Rate of Plenty that exceeded those who consumed great Estates in the lavish ways of ill-ordered Excess His †God's Providence is my Inheritance Motto shews from whence he derived all his Blessings the greatest of which was the Numerous and Noble * Earl of Burlington and Cork Viscount Kinalmeky Earl of Orrery Viscount Shannon Robert
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
even to intimate some Menaces of Rebellion and in a manner delineated and discrib'd how it would be Imanaged And the same day the Papists of the House of Commons did likewise write to the Lords of the Council in England about the new Corporations and the wrong done their Speaker Everard and they exaggerated their Complaints to that degree as if their Extremities and Sufferings were so strange and so intolerable that they wanted Words to express or Patience to bear them and they laid all the blame on the Principal Officers and Counsellors of State And on the twentieth of May the same Men petition'd the Lord Deputy to dispence with their Attendance in the House of Commons because they were afraid of their Lives and they desir'd he would shew them by what Authority those sat in the House that were now in possession of it and they demanded to have a sight of the King's Letters the Grants and Charters of the New Corporations and of the Returns of Elections And the next day being the 21th of May they petition'd the Lord Deputy again importing That if they might be secure of their Lives and have the Benefit of the Law and that the Returns may be rectified that then they would repair to the House and present the Speaker All which the Lord Deputy granted and promis'd and thinking that they sincerely meant as they spoke his Excellency went to the Upper House in expectation that they would joyn with the rest of the Lower House and attend him with the Speaker But in stead of that on the same day they petition'd again That the new Burgesses might be first excluded and not admitted into the House till their Case was debated and determin'd altho they well enough knew that what they propos'd was unpracticable until first a Speaker was setled But their Business was to baffle and avoid this Parliament if possible to effect which they little matter'd what vain Pretences they made use of And therefore tho the Lords had nothing to do with the Lower House yet to make a Clamour as if they had been wonderfully abus'd they also petition'd the Lord Deputy the same 21th of May to the effect aforesaid and in their Petition asserted That the Lord Deputy's Commission did not authorize him to make New Corporations and concluded with a Request to be excused from attending the Parliament and to have leave to wait on the King in England The Deputy told them That the Affairs of the Lower House did not concern them and therefore commanded them to attend their own House and to proceed in a Parliamentary way to the Business of the King and Kingdom But they persisted in their Obstinacy and on the 23th of May they sent him a Writing in the Form of a Petition whereby they positively refus'd to come to Parliament until the King should take some better order to settle Matters as to the Lower House for tho the Houses were distinct yet they made but One Body and were but One Parliament and they protested against all Laws that should be made in their absence and that if any be made the Subjects will reject them as disorderly and unjustly enactedâ— And this was followed with a Petition of the Commons on the 25th of May wherein in a very sawcy and undutiful manner they pressed the Lord Deputy for a sight of the King's Letters about the New Corporations and for their Charters and the Returns of all the Elections and for a Copy of his Commission to hold that Parliament and for License to send Agents to England to acquaint the King with their Complaints Nevertheless the Lord Deputy by Proclamation commanded them to their respective Parliament houses to pass the Act of Recognition of his Majesty's Title assuring them that no other Bill should be read that Session And he also sent a Messenger to every Lord particularly to Summon him to attend the House But the Commons were so far from complying that on the same day viz. the 26th of May. they presented him with a Petition Recognizing the King's Title but utterly refusing to sit in the House unless their Speaker Everard might be approved and the new Burgesses rejected And the next day the Lords did in like manner by Letter Recognize the King's Title but refus'd to come to their House until the Affairs of the Lower House were rectified and setled Nevertheless both the Popish Lords and Commons had such a great Attendance and there was so great a Concourse at Dublin from all parts of the Kingdom which probably did wait but for some Pretence to be in Action that the Government did not think fit to imprison any of the Mutineers but took a wiser Course by adjourning the Parliament that so his Majesty's Pleasure might be farther known The Recusants lost no time but sent over Agents to the King and levied a Tax upon the People to bear their Charges altho' the Deputy publish'd a Proclamation to prohibit any body to contribute to the Charge of the Agents or to levy any Tax for that purpose and assur'd the People that the Agents went over for their own private Business or Caprichio and not for the Publick Good Nevertheless it appears by the Examination of John O Drea and Donough O Drea Lib. T. T. 175. taken upon Oath before Sir Lawrence Parsons that the Tax levied by the Priests and Jesuits for these Agents was Two shillings of a Yeoman and Five shillings of a Gentleman and that the Lords Barry Roch and others carried Priests and other Firebrands of Sedition with them to the Parliament at Dublin to instruct them how to behave themselves there and that there was a Dispensation brought over from the Pope by Fryar Thomas Fitzgirald unto the whole Kingdom of Ireland or rather all the Papists in it authorizing them to forswear themselves in all Matters moved unto them by the Protestants provided they do it equivocally Ita quod interna mentâ— secus opinentur and that the Deponent saw and read it It seems that the King who was of a peaceable temper and to save Charges had improvidently reduced the Irish Army to Seventeen hundred thirty five Foot and Two hundred and twelve Horse was willing to end this Matter in the mildest manner he could and received the Irish Agents kindly and the better to inform himself in this Affair he sent for the Lord Deputy into England and order'd him to substitute Lords Justices Doctor THOMAS JONES Lord Chancellor Sir RICHARD WINGFIELD Marshal who were sworn the Fourth of March 1613. 1613. They had little to do in Ireland because by the Presence of the Lord Deputy and the Irish Agents in England that Kingdom was become the Scene of Irish Affairs which were so well managed by the Lord Deputy that the King was fully convinc'd of the Seditious Designs of the Irish and therefore on the 21th day of April at the Council-Tale at Whitehall he made the following Speech before the Irish
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
Displeasure resolv'd to send them into Ireland and therefore a Commission under the Great Seal of England was directed to Sir Dudly Digs Rushworth 55. Sir Thomas Crew Sir Nathaniel Rich and Sir James Perrot and others to inquire of sundry Matters concerning his Majesties Service in Ireland as well in Point of Government Ecclesiastical and Civil as of Revenue and to inspect the State of the Kingdom and propagate Religion settle the Government and improve the Exchequer The Pretence of this Commission was the many Complaints of the Irish against the Lord Deputy not that there was any just occasion for those Accusations but that it is always their Custom to complain of any Governour That is a good Protestant and a good Englishman as this Lord Deputy was in perfection and is therefore to the last Degree hated and scandaliz'd by the Irish Papists and it is no wonder it should be so for their Interests are Diametrically opposite to that of an English Protestant and therefore it does necessarily follow that whoever Is faithful to the English will be odious to the Irish and subject to their Clamours and Contempts However the Lord Deputy was not wanting to his own Vindication and therefore wrote to the King that he met a Cloud of malicious Enemies instead of good Subjects and that even some of the Privy Council were Spies upon him and took occasions to lessen him tho' they had no other Provocation for doing so but his Examination of a certain Patent according to his Majesties special Order and his righting the Church against their Depredations And tho' the King in Answer August 1621. assur'd him That his Reputation stood without blemish and that his Majesty had sent him some Propositions which he was ordered to observe yet the Deputies Enemies not only prevail'd to have the aforesaid Commission of inspection issued but having gain'd that Point they urged that the Commission could not have any considerable Effect whilst the Lord Deputy continued in the Government and therefore procured that a Successor should be nam'd and that being also accomplish'd in the Choice of the Lord Viscount Falkland The Lords of the Council on 25th of January did advise the King by Letter to re-call the Lord Deputy immediately and to appoint Justices till the new Deputy could go over but the King from Nâ—wmarket on the 28th of January Answers That it were dishonourable to serve one in that eminent Station so unkindly without a Crime and that the new Deputy will be there before the Commissioners can be ready to enter on Business and with his own Hand adds this Postscript It was never wont to be my Fashion to disgrace any Ancient Minister of mine before he were heard To this the Lords of the Council on the Tenth of February reply That they design no Disgrace to the Lord Deputy nor do propose but what is usual and what was done on the removal of the Lord Chichester The King answer'd again That it was so done in the Case of the Lord Chichester because he had not resolv'd who should be the Successor However the Lords of the Council prevail'd and tho' the Lord Deputy did on the Ninth of February 1621. write to the Duke of Buckingham That he is content Publick Proclamation should be made That if he had done any wrong he might suffer for it so confident he was of his Innocency yet he suspected the Design of the intended Commission was to scandalize him and to that end the Commissioners were partial and therefore desires that iâ— the Bent of that Commission be against him then indifferent Men should be employ'd and if only Publick Good were design'd by it that then he might be one of the Commissioners yet he could not prevail in any of his Requests but was in May following remov'd tho' he was afterwards found not only Innocent but so deserving that he was soon after his Return created Viscount Grandison of Limbrick in Ireland Baron Trogose of Highworth in England Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and Privy-Counsellor of both Kingdoms ADAM LOFTUS Viscount ELY 1622. Lord Chancellor RICHARD WINGFIELD Viscount POWERSCOURT were sworn Lords Justices on the Fourth day of May and soon after received a Letter of the 29th of May from his Majesty ordering them to allow the new Lord Deputy Falkland his full Entertainment and all Perquisits c. from the day the Lord Grandison surrendred the Sword abating thereout for themselves at the Rate of 2000 l. per Annum for the time till he receives the Sword and that the House and Grounds of Kilmainham and the Port Corn be likewise reserved for the New Lord Deputy And it seems that these Lords Justices had seised the Lord Grandison's Papers after his removal for on the Eighteenth of June the King sent them a Letter to restore the Papers to that Lord's Servants and another Letter of the Twenty fourth of October was sent to the new Deputy to pay the Lord Grandison 230 l. for the Charges of his Voyage to England And on the 24th of July the King reciting That by a former Patent of the Second of November 1620. he had granted unto Sir William Irwing Two third parts of the forfeited Recognizances of Alehouse-keepers which his Majesty did intend to resume he therefore orders the Lords Justices to accept of Sir William's Surrender and in lieu thereof and for his Services to grant him the Fifth part of all the Profit of Ale-Licences for Twenty one Years commencing from the making of the Act of State for paying Three shillings six pence for every Licence But these Commissioners that went to Ireland were very busie in inquiring into the Misgovernment that was so loudly and bitterly complain'd of but they found by experience Rushw 17â— that too many of the Irish will complain without Cause However they publish'd new Instructions in print for the more orderly Government of the Courts of Justice and did declare That for the future the Council-Table should not administer an Oath in Matters of Interest or Title or in Complaints between Party and Party but should keep it self within its proper Bounds and afterwards November 7. 1625. a Proclamation was published to the same Effect These Commissioners did also make an Estimate of the Revenue and thought that it might be improved to 17067 l. 6 s. 8 d. more than it was in Harps i.e. Nine-pence pieces stamped with a Harp on one side which passed for a Shilling in Ireland so that Twenty shillings Irish was but Fifteen shillings Sterling but how much they were mistaken in their Computation will appear by a Table of their Estimate and an Account how the Revenue stood Anno 1632. 1622. 1632. First They supposed that the Officers of the Presidency might be paid out of the Profits of their respective Courts and so there would be saved per Annum 2657 l. 6 s. 8 d. But the Profits of those Courts do not amount to near that Sum and whatever they
of March 1625 having in his Life-time created the Irish Nobility hereafter mentioned viz. February 23d 1603. Rory O Donell Earl of Tyrconnel February 23d 1615. Sir Arthur Chichester Baron of Belfast since Earl of Donegal July 14th 1616. Brabazon Baron of Ardee since Earl of Meath September 29th 1616. Sir Richard Boyle Baron of Yough-hall afterwards Earl of Corke May 25th 1617. Ridgeway Baron of Galenridgeway since Earl of London-Derry July 20th 1617. Moor Baron of Melefont since Earl of Drogheda Septemâ—er 6th 1617. Touchet Earl of Castlehaven and Baron Orior February 17th 1617. Lambert Baron of Cavan since Earl of Cavan Ibid. Bourk Baron of Brittas May 8th 1618. Hamilton Baron of Strabane January 31st 1618. Blunt Baron Mountjoy Ex. June 29th 1619. Mac Donald Viscount Dunlucâ— since Earl and Marquess of Antrim February 19th 1619. Sir Richard Wingfeild Viscount Powerscourt July 1620. Preston Earl of Desmond Viscount Dunmore Ex. May 1621. Dockwray Baron of Culmore Ex. Ibid. Blany Baron of Monaghan March 1st 1621. Henry Power Viscount Valentia Ex. Theo. Butler Viscount Tullagh THE REIGN OF CHARLES I. KING OF England Scotland France AND IRELAND CHARLES the only surviving Son of the Deceased King James 1625. by undoubted Right succeeded his Father in all his Dominions on the 27th day of March 1625 and was accordingly Proclaimed the same day and on the 23d day of June following he was Crowned at the Abby of Westminster with great Solemnity and as to Ireland HENRY Viscount FALKLAND was continued Lord Deputy and other inferior Officers likewise were confirmed in their respective Places but the Affairs of England being not a little out of Order the Irish took advantage thereof to be very high and insolent at home to which they were much encouraged by the Bull of Urban the 8th of the 30th of May 1626. to the English Catholicks exhorting them rather to loose their Lives then to take Noxium illud illicitum Anglicanae fidelitatis Juramentum 1626. quo non Solum id agitur ut fides Regi servetur P. W. Remonstrance 11. sed ut sacrum Universae Ecclesiae sceptrum eripatur Vicariis Dei Omnipotentis that pernicious and uâ—lawful Oath of Allegiance of England which his Predecessor of happy Memory Paul 5th had condemned as such Hereupon it was found necessary to increase the Army to the number of Five thousand Foot and Five hundred Horse the Charge whereof amounted unto 64240 l. 1 s. 2 d. which was more then the Kings Revenue out of which the Civil List was nevertheless to be paid so that it was necessary to find out some other Bund for the support of the Army and until that could be done the Lord Deputy and Council on the 14th of September by their Letters did recommend several Troops and Companies of the Army to the Counties and Towns of the Kingdom to be maintained for three Months and so from three Months to three Months until the last day of March 1628 and this whole Charge or Incumbrance on the Countrey was estimated at 36951 l. 6 s. 7 d. ½ and in the King's Letter of the 22d of September 1626. to raise this Army and that the Countrey should maintain it with Money Cloaths and Victuals his Majesty promises in lieu thereof to Grant certain Graces to the Countrey and particularly to suspend the Composition But the Gentlemen that were Agents from Ireland did to ease the Kingdom from that oppression offer to pay 40000 l. a Year for three Years in the nature of three Subsidies and to pay it quarterly from the first of April 1628. which was accepted of and the same was Paid accordingly until the first day of October 1629. On the 16th of May 1626. 1626. The King reciting a Complaint of Sir Samuel Smith's against the Lord Chancellor and that there was difference between the Lord Deputy and Chancellor 1. Because the Chancellor refused to Seal some Patents offered to him 2. Because he denied to appoint Judges for Circuits when thereunto required by the Deputy 3. Because he refused to appoint Justices of Peace at the Lord Deputies Nomination and made one Justice of the Peace against his Express prohibition to which the Lord Chancellor made Answer That in the first Case there was matter of Equity Convenience of State and Question in Law unresolved and that in the sesond Case he had directions in the time of King James and that in the third Case it was the Priviledge and Jurisdiction of his place Therefore the King orders That the Chancellor bear fitting respect to the Lord Deputy who is his Majesties Representative and as to the Matters in Debate if the Chancellor refuse to Seal any Patent in question for Reasons of State that the Cause be debated in Council and if then they think it fit and the Chancellor still refuses till he has appeal'd to his Majesty as he may it shall be at his Peril if the State suffer by his delay if the Question be in Law that the Judges decide it and if the Chancellor be not satisfied therewith he ought to appeal to the King for farther Directions and particularly about the Patent for Tanning Leather As to the Second if the Chancellor will not appoint Judges as the Lord Deputy desires that then it be refer'd to the Council-board and their Sentence be definitive as to that And as to the Third the Chancellor will not refuse to make any Man a Justice of the Peace recommended by the Lord Deputy if he does that then the Order of the Council-Table shall govern that Matter and in all these Cases it becomes the Chancellor to repair to the Deputy and acquaint him with his Reasons whenever he refuses And as for Sir Samuel Smith's Complaint his Case was that he had the sole Nomination of those that should be Licensed to Sell Aquavitae and did set that Priviledge to one Miagh for the County of Cork the King appoints the Chief Justice Chief Baron and Sir John King to Arbitrate that Matter and to make Reparation to Miagh whose Patent must be called in because he is an infamous Person and unfit for that Trust and a new Patent for that County must be Granted to whom Sir Samuel Smith shall name In the same Month of May the King sent an Order to the Lord Deputy to make a Lord High Steward c. for the Tryal of the Lord of Dunboyn by his Peers upon an Indictment found against him in the County of Typerary for killing a Man and in January after the Earl of Marleburgh Duke of Buckingham and the Lords of Pembrook Dorset Grandison Conway and Carlton and Sir Richard Weston were made Commissioners or rather a Committee for Irish Affairs And on the Eighth of February Edward Brabazon Baron of Ardee was ordered to be Earl of Catherlogh but for what Reasons I know not he had not that Title but was afterwards made Earl of Meath And on the Second of March his Majesty sent an Order
of his Lands granted to any other the Barons of the Exchequer are to discharge the same upon sight of a Certificate That the Outlawry is reverst without any further Plea paying only Five shillings Sterling for entring the Certificate and Discharge LI. No Person is to be compelled to plead to any new Charge upon the Lands in his possession unless any Inquisition or other Matter of Record besides the New Patent appear to charge the Land therewith and the New Charge to be past insuper upon the New Patentee and Process to issue against him and his Lands and not against the other But the Protestants who bore above a third part of the Publick Charge were not a little troubled that they should buy Graces and Immunition for the Irish And on the other side the Papists did not at all â—â—â—der the Protestants part of the Contribution but valued themselves as if they had paid all and ascribed the whole Merlt of that Largess to themselves and upon that and the aforesaid Condescensions made them by the King they grew so insolent and troublesom that the Lord Deputy was necessitated to mortifie them by a Proclamation against the Popish Regular Clergy which issued the First day of April Bishop Vsher's Letters 407. 1629. and imported That the late Intermission of Legal Proceedings against Popish pretended Titulaâ— Archbishops Bishops Abbats Deans Vicars-General Jesuits Friars and others of that sort that derive their pretended Authority and Orders from the See of Rome in contempt of His Majesty's Royal Power and Authority had bred such an extraordinary Insolence and Presumption in them as he was necessitated to charge and command them in His Majesty's Name to forbear the Exercise of their Popish Rites and Ceremonies Hereupon they grew uneasie and complain'd that the Tax was too heavy and at length they gain'd their Point and in stead of 10000 l. Quarterly the Government condescended to take 5000 l. per Quarter from the First of October 1629. until the rest of the aforesaid 120000 l. should be paid But the Proclamation against the Popish Regular Clergy was baffled and ridiculed every where It was read in Drogheda by a drunken Soldier in such a ridiculous manner that it seemed like a May-game and was rather Sport than Terror to the Auditors It was so despised and contemned by the Popish Clergy that they nevertheless exercised full Jurisdiction Bishop Vsher's Letters 423. even to Excommunication and they not only proceeded in Building Abbies and Monasteries but had the confidence to erect an University at Dublin in the Face of the Government which it seems thought it self limited in this Matter by Instructions from England Nor was the Beauty of the Protestant Church sullied by its avowed Enemies only Bishop Bedel's Life 44. it was more defaced by its pretended Friends and Members Things Sacred were exposed to â—ale in a most sordid and scandalous manner Parsonages and Episcopal Sees were impoverished and their Revenues were alienated and incumbred to that degree that both the Bishopricks of Kilmore and Ardagh were not sufficient to support a Bishop that would not use indirect Means to get Money and the Churches were generally out of Repair Nevertheless Complaints were made by the Irish against the Lord-Deputy for Mal-Administration of the Government and though the Earl of Strafford his Successor Rushw 160. has assured us that this Lord-Deputy proceeded as honourably justly and nobly as any Man could do and though the Council did on the 28th of April 1629. write a kind and true Letter in the Vindication of his Innocence yet he was soon after removed and ADAM LOFTUS Viscount ELY Lord Chancellor And RICHARD Earl of CORKE 1629. Lord High Treasurer were Sworn Lords Justices on the 26th day of October and were allowed by the King One hundred pounds apiece every Kalendar Month They immediately directed that the Papists should be prosecuted for not coming to Church and accordingly the Statute of 2 Eliz. was given in charge at the Assizes but by Directions from England that Prosecution was superseded Nevertheless these Lords Justices 1630. being exceeding zealous against Popery caused St. Patrick's Purgatory in a small Island called Ilan de Purgadory in Logh Dirge in the County of Donegall to be digged up and thereby discovered that notorious Cheat to the World to the great loss and disgrace of the Popish Clergy who made vast Advantages of that ridiculous Sham. But there are a restless sort of Men in the World who are not to be daunted or put out of Countenance by any mischance whatsoever and therefore notwithstanding the aforesaid disaster and although the Popish Clergy were so debauched and ignorant that the bitterest Sarcasm that ever was put upon the Protestants was by an Irish-man Bishop Bedel's Life 76. who said That the King's Priests were as bad as the Pope's Priests yet did this unquiet Generation begin to rant it again in Ireland to that degree that a Priest being seized in Dublin was rescued by the People so that by their Insolencies they put a Necessity upon the Lords Justices to humble them Whitlock's Memoirs 15. and by Direction from the Council of England to seize upon 15 of their new Religious Houses to the King 's Use and their principal House in Back-lane in Dublin was Anno 1632 disposed of to the University of Dublin who placed therein a Rector and Scholars and maintained a weekly Lecture there which the Lords Justices often countenanced with their presence but afterwards in the Lord Strafford's time the House was disposed of to the former Use and became a Mass-house again In the Year 1631 the Earl of Castlehaven was tryed 1631. condemn'd and Beheaded in England Whitlock's Memoirs 16. for strange and prodigious Crimes not fit to be particularized or related of so Ancient and Noble a Family And this Year the King taking Notice of the increase of Popery in Ireland sent a Gracious Letter of Admonition to the Bishop of Armagh Bishop Vsher's Life p. 38. to be communicated to the rest of the Bishops thereby exhorting them to the careful Exercise of their Duty and to avoid all Abuses in disposing of Benefices And in the Year 1632 the aforesaid Subsidies or extraordinary Contribution being determined the Countrey finding the necessity of paying the Army to prevent their paying themselves did consent to continue the levying of Twenty Thousand Pounds per Annum quarterly for two Years more But the Irish valuing themselves upon this Bounty and thinking the Army could not he supported without their Contribution began to be very unruly again and though the Broils they made were soon appeased yet it was thought necessary to send over the new Lord-Deputy Wentworth and accordingly Conveniencies were prepared for him both in Ireland and England For on the Tenth of April 1632. 1632. he obtain'd an Order for making a new Great Seal new Signet and new Seals for all the Courts and on
the Eighteenth of May there was an Order of Reference to him in the Controversie between the City of Dublin and the Merchants-Strangers from whom that City demanded Three pence per Pound Custom And on the Eighteenth of July he got an Order to the Lord Willâ—ot 〈…〉 General of the Army in Ireland to surrender that Office to him He had also the King's Letter of the Sixteenth of October to the Lords Justices That the Port-â—orn and Tithes belonging to the Chief Governor should be given to his Servants And he also obtain'd his Majesty's Commission of the Seventeenth of October to levy what Forces he should think fit or find necessary and an Order of the same Date to be paid the Charge of such Journeys and Progresses as he should think fit to make And Matters being thus fitted to his mind THOMAS Viscount WENTWORTH was on the Twenty fifth day of July sworn Lord Deputy 1633. to whom the Bishop of Kilmore and two other Bishops and the Inhabitants of the County of Cavan sent a Petition Bishop Bedel's Life containing some Complaints against the Army and some Proposals for the Regulation of it which was very ill resented at that time and interpreted to be a Mutinous and Insolent Attempt and brought the Bishop of Kilmore who was supposed the Author and Promoter of it under his Excellency's Displeasure until that Prelate afterwards explain'd himself averring That he did not intend by lessening or discountenancing the Army to expose with the Publick Peace his own Neck to the Skeins of the Romish Cut-throats But the Contribution or Tax of 20000 l. per Annum to which the Country had consented for two Years was now almost expired so that it was necessary to call a Parliament wich met the Fourteenth day of July 1634. 1634. at Dublin and granted Six entire Subsidies but not without the opposition of some Papists one of which moved That the Matter concerning the Subsidies might be put off to another time and then be again considered of This Parliament also passed an Act for the Confirmation of Patents afterwards to be past on the * Dated 29 June 1634. Commission of Defective Titles and then was Prorogued to the Fourth day of November following At the same time there was also a Convocation of the Clergy and preparatory to it the Precedency of the Archbishop of Armagh before the Archbishop of Dublin was determin'd and setled by his Majesty's definitive Sentence And this Convocation to manifest their Agreement with the Church of England did receive the Thirty Nine â—â—â—â—cles of that Church into the Confession of Faith of the Church 〈◊〉 Ireland nevertheless without aâ—rogating any of the Canons of the Convocation held Anno 1615. And a New Book of Canons for the most part agreeing with that of England was then compiled for the better Government of the Church of Ireland By vertue of these Six Subsidies which amounted to above 240000 l. and were payable Half-yearly the Lord Deputy was enabled to pay a Debt of 80000 l. due from the Crown and to support the Charge of the Kingdom without any Supply of Money from England This Lord Deputy had formerly obtain'd his Majesty's Order of the Sixteenth of January 1633. for the free transportation of so many Horses and Mares out of England as he the Lord Deputy should give Licence for by which means he changed Five hundred Foot of the Army for Six hundred Horse which were extraordinary good ones his own Stables exceeding that of any former Governors And indeed generally the whole Army was neither so well paid nor so well disciplin'd in any other time as it was in his On the Twenty fourth of September 1634. the King reciting That King James had by his Commission of the Tenth of August 1603. renewed or revived the Court of Castle-chamber as himself likewise had done by his Commission of 5 October 1625. and that now some Disputes are arisen whether that Court can sit out of Term or more than twice a Week His Majesty Orders That it it may sit when and as often as the Commissioners please and that a new Commission issue to that Purpose And about this time Emerus Mac Mahon afterwards Titular Bishop of Clogher discovered to Sir George Ratcliff a Plot for a general Insurrection in Ireland and Confess'd that himself had been imploy'd for some years in foreign Courts to solicite Aid to carry on a Rebellion which it seems they thought fit to adjourn to a more proper Season But on the 14th of November the Parliament met according to the Prorogation and sate till the 14th of December and were then Prorogu'd to the 26th of January from which time they sate till the 21st day of March and then it was again Prorogu'd to the 24th day of the same Month and sate from thence to its Dissolution which was on the 18th day of April 1635. I need not mention the Acts made in these several Sessions of Parliament because they are many and are to be found at large in the Printed Book of Statutes it is enough to say That they cull'd out all the choice Statutes that were made in England since the 20th of Henry the 8th that were proper for the Kingdom of Ireland and added to them some good new Laws that were peculiar to that Countrey The Parliament being thus ended and closed with an Act of Indemnity the Lord Deputy and Council made a Progress into Conaught to inquire into his Majesties Title to several Lands in that Province and on the 11th of July at Abby-boyle to still the Jealousies and Alarms the People were under at this great Inquisition they published an Act of Council 1635. That it was not his Majesties intention to take any thing from his People that was justly theirs and therefore that those who had effectual Letters Patents should have the full benefit of them as if they were found Verbatim in the great Office then to be taken provided the Patents or the Enrolment thereof were shewn to the Council-board before Easter Term next and by it approved to be good and effectual in Law and the like was done in other Counties of Conaught and so this great Inquisition which was one of the Spring-heads and Fountains of the succeeding Rebellion was with great Diligence and Success carried on and effected and the Kings Title was found to most part of that Province and a noble English Plantation was design'd Whereupon the Patentees and particularly the Lord Dillon of Costilo produced their Patents to the Council-board and it appearing those Patents were Granted by Virtue of a Commission 4 Jac. 1. wherein there was no direction about the Tenure it grew to be a Question whether the Patents to hold by Knights Service as of the Castle of Dublin were warranted by that Commission or valid in Law and after much debate it was solemnly adjudg'd That those Patents were void And this Case is well known to the Lawyers by the
Name of THE CASE OF TENURES and was excellently reported in Print by Baron Barry afterwards Lord Chief Justice of Ireland and Baron of Sautry This Grand Inquisition was counted so great a Master-piece of the Lord Deputies and so beneficial to the King and advantagious to the English Interest That some Persons who went to England to complain of it were there not only discountenanced but imprison'd and afterwards sent back to be dealt by as the Lord Deputy should think fit which it seems produced their Submission And not long after the Lord Deputy having first received Orders to Grant the Impropriations belonging to the King to the use of the Clergy and to Grant to Trinity Colledge near Dublin Lands equal in value to the Pension they had from the Crown of 388 l. 15 s. per Annum went to England to give his Majesty a Triumphant Account of his glorious Successes in Ireland which he performed to Admiration First to the King in a private Audience and afterwards publickly at the Council-board He there told the King and Council That he had found the Irish Exchequer of Paper but he had made it of Treasure and that he had not only improv'd the Patrimony of the Church of Ireland but had also brought it to be Conformable to that of England both in Doctrine and Government by the Acceptance of the Thirty Nine Articles there That before his going to Ireland the Lord Justices wrote That the Expence exceeded the Income 24000 l. per Annum and they had no ways to raise it but by the Levying Nine pence a Sunday on Papists for not coming to Church but that now it was far otherwise without that Persecution And he advis'd That the Army should rather be encreased than diminshed it being an excellent Minister and Assistant in Execution of the Kings Writs and the great Peace-maker between the British and the Natives and the best security of past and future Plantations That by the Statutes of Wills and Uses there will more advantage arise to the Crown of England than by the six Subsidies because thereby the insant Heirs of all great Families in the Kingdom will unavoidably come under the Guardianship of the King whereby they will be bred Protestants and of what Consequence this Superintendency is doth in part appear in the Person of the Earl of Ormond formerly the Kings Ward who if bred under the Wing of his own Parents had been of the same Affections and Religion with his other Brothers and Sisters whereas he is now a firm Protestant and like to prove a great and able Servant to the Crown and a great Assistant as well in inviting others to be of his Religion as in the Civil Government it being certain That no People are more apt to be of the Religion of their great Lords than the Irish are That by the Statute of fraudulent Conveyances the Irish are prevented in their cunning Disigns by secret and sleeping Conveyancies so that the King will have his Forfeitures and Wardships and the English be encouraged to purchase of them That before his time the Pirates infested the very Harbours and a Ship was fired by them in the Port of Dublin in sight of his Majesties Castle and the Pirates were robbing the Ship two days together without opposition the Reason was because our Sea-guard for want of Money did not come till August before which time the mischief was done but now they are well Paid and come in March and that now the Exportation is double to what is imported into the Kingdom That he discourag'd Woollen and encourag'd the Linen Manufacture and had sow'd 1000 l. worth of Holland-Flax Seed and set up six or seven Looms and doubts not Success because the Irish can under-sell France or Holland Twenty per Cent. And then he laments That the English of Ireland are treated as Aliens First In the Imposition of 4 s. per Tun on Coal Secondly In the Prohibition to transport Horses or Mares hence without excessive Custom Thirdly In the Imposition of 3 s. and 4 d. per Head for every live Beast exported thence and afterwards he procur'd a Privy Seal to supersede these pro tempore Lastly That tho' he was represented more like a Basha of Buda than the Minister of a Pious Christian King yet severity was not natural to him but assumed because it was necessary for the Restoration of a Despoyled Crown Church and People from the Claws of those that had been used to the Paths of an uncontroled Liberty and Oppression But to proceed ADAM LOFTUS Viscount ELY 1636. Sir CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD Master of the Rolls were Sworn Lords Justices on the 3d. day of July 1636. and immediately some Fryars notwithstanding the former Proclamation had a publick Meeting and passed unpunish'd for the Lord Deputy wrote over That he held it not convenient to rub upon that Sore till they were provided for a thorough Cure These Lords Justices had Orders to call upon Corporations for a return of their pretended Priviledges to issue Money to finish the Fort of Galway to suspend the Lord Courcyes Pension to quicken the Admeasurement in Conaught and not to let any Soldiers be Transported But on the 23d of November THOMAS Viscount WENTWORTH returned Lord Deputy and then the aforesaid Case of Tenures was argued but the Judgment That the Letters Patent were void Husbands Collections 2 Part 245. did so Alarm the whole Nation that it was found necessary to delay the Execution for a time and afterwards Anno 1640. on private Conference with the Irish Committee then in England for it was not made an Article amongst the Grievances publickly complain'd of the King quitted the benefit and advantage thereof and so the vast Expence of this Grand Office and Inquisition which amounted to at least 10000 l. was in effect lost and this terrifying Bug-bear did not add one Acre to the Possessions of the Crown nor one English Plantation to the Kingdom as was at first design'd In the Year 1636 1636. John Atherton was preferred to the Bishoprick of Waterford and Lismore by a Symoniacal Contrivance as was believed says the Writer of Bishop Bedells Life pag. 144. but that is not probable because that Bishoprick was then so Poor that it was too small a Temptation to so great a Sin it is more likely that being a bustling Man of active Parts and a bold Spirit he was thought a fit Instrument of State to promote some Designs that were then on Foot and as proper for the Recovery of the ancient Possessions of his See as any Body that could be pitcht upon and accordingly we find him a fierce Adversary to the Earl of Cork and a severe Prosecutor of the Bishop of Killalla which last nevertheless lived to be his Successor And tho' Atherton did answer the Expectation of his Benefactors for a time yet his Tragical end by the hands of the Common Executioner on the 5th of December 1640. for a Crime
not to be named did very much scandalize the Patrons of his Preferment Nevertheless his unparallel'd Repentance and the most Pious manner of his Death hath obtain'd for himself the Pity of all good Men and undoubtedly the Mercy of God And it is observable 1637. that the Earl of Cork and this Bishop Atherton did on the 27th of June 1637. joyn in a Petit on to the Lord Deputy and Council to appoint Arbitrators to decide their Controversies and accordingly the Bishop of Derry and the Master of the Court of Wards were Assigned to that purpose and in their Adward which I have seen they recite that the Bishopricks of Waterford and Lismore by the Alienations of former Bishops were left worth but Fifty pound per Annum Revenue in Land and that the Earl had not purchased any thing immediately from the Church but from other Persons for valuable Considerations near Forty years before yet out of Love to Religion and the Professors thereof he was contented to part with some of his Right and so they Adwarded Lismore c. to the Earl and Ardmore c. to the Bishop and this Adward was afterwards confirm'd by the Lord Lieutenant and Council and after that by the King Anno 1638. 1638. Doctor Bedell Bishop of Killmore held a Synod in his Diocess which was a thing very strange and unusual in Ireland Nevertheless it made excellent Cannons or Constitutions which are to be sound in Bishop Bedell's Life pag. 237. But Matters growing high in Scotland and England the Lord Deputy went over to the King and left ROBERT Lord DILLON of KILLKENNY WEST Sir CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD Mr. of the Rolls Lords Justices who were Sworn on the 12th of September 1639. and soon after call'd a Parliament which met on the 16th day of March but did little or nothing until THOMAS Earl of STRAFFORD returned Lord Lieutenant on the 18th of March 1639. and on the 20th the Irish Parliament met again and Granted four entire Subsidies to the King and were on the 17th day of June prorogued to the First day of October following having first made the Twelve Acts to be found at large in the Printed Statutes 15 Car. 1. The first of these four Subsidies was Assessed at 46170 l. but the Second and Third of these Subsidies being in the absence of some Protestant Members with the Army at Caricfergus upon the Motion of Nicholas Plunket Assess'd in another manner did not together amount unto more then 23768 l. 15 s. 0 d. and the Fourth Subsidy was never Taxed at all by reason of the Rebellion that ensued And it is to be Noted that the Protestants paid more than one Third of the Commons part of the Subsidies besides 26480 l. 6 s. 0 d. Granted in Fourteen Subsidies by the Protestant Clergy only and above Three fourths of the Nobilities part of these Subsidies or more for the Nine Subsidies on the Nobility came too 52850 l. 18 s. 4 d. whereof the Confederate Lords paid but 10620 l. 18 s. 4 d. and it is very remarkable that foreknowing the Rebellion as undoubtedly they did they paid not one Penny of the Second or Third Subsidies and the Commons paid so little that of the Three Subsidies on them there was in Arrear when the Rebellion broke out 23855 l. 9 s. 7 d. And yet these Gentlemen or their Advocates have bragged in some of their Libels That they gave the King near a Million of Money But to proceed The Lord Lieutenant upon the Credit of these Subsidies and the annual Revenue which now was improv'd to above 80000 l. per Annum was enabled to raise Eight thousand Foot and One thousand Horse additional to the Veteran◠〈◊〉 they cost the Kingdom in raising clothing and paying them 204057 l. and were design'd to sudue the Rebells in Scotland and awe the Mutineers in England but being mostly Papists who were thereby Train'd to the use of Arms this Army was so offensive to all moderate and thinking Protestants that it brought great dis-repute and prejudice on the Kings Affairs and in the end cost the Lord his lieutenant his Head The Lord Lieutenant was exposed to the Hatred of the Presbyterians Husbands Collections 2 part 245. for imposing a new Oath on the People hereafter mentioned which was so much abhorr'd by many that they quitted the Kingdom rather then take it and he was open also to the Jealousies of the Protestants by bringing over with him Sir Toby Mathews a Jesuited Priest and by the Correspondence that was known to be between Paul Harris another plotting Priest and Sir George Ratcliff the Lord Lieutenant's intimate Friend and by suffering Publick Mass-houses at the Naas so near his own House and by permitting Fryars to dwell in a House of his own which he had built to other Uses But notwithstanding all this it is certain he was no Friend to Popery but only temporiz'd until he should meet with a more proper Season to go through with that Work as himself expresses it About this time Archibald Adair who had been Bishop of Killalla since the Year 1630 was deprived of his Bishoprick upon this Occasion One Corbet a Clergy-man that fled from Scotland for writing a Satyrical Book against the Covenanters called Lysimachus Nicanor was sent to this Bishop for Preferment but he being a moderate Man and perhaps too indulgent to his own Nation did not approve of Corbet that had handled the Scots so severely and therefore he gave no countenance to him but on the contrary told him That it was a bad Bird that foul'd his own Nest which was the sharper because Corby in Scotch signifies a Raven And when Corbet told him That he had hardly escaped with Life but had left his Wife to try the Humanity of the Scots the Bishop replied That he had left her to a very base Office And other things he said which the Government thought too favourable to the Govenanters and tho' they would not be much considered at another time yet now was thought a sufficient Cause of Deprivation and Doctor John Maxwell was made Bishop in his room but the next Year after the Execution of Atherton Bishop of Waterford Adair was made Bishop of that See Nor should it be omitted That this Bishop Maxwell a most excellent Preacher and a hearty Royalist was nevertheless wounded stript naked and left amongst the Dead by the Irish Rebels whose Skeins never distinguished between a Prelate and a Fanatick But the Bishop was accidentally preserved by the Earl of Twomond who travelled that way towards Dublin and afterwards went to the King to Oxford and was the first Man that convinced the King of the innate Hatred the Irish Rebels bore to all those of the Protestant Religion But let us return to the Lord Lieutenant who went again to England to give the King an Account of the good Posture of Affairs in Ireland leaving in his stead Sir CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD Master of the Rolls
Parsons by Owen O Conally an Irishman but bred a Protestant by Sir John Clotworthy and he being drunk told his Story so odly and delivered this surprizing Information so incoherently that small regard was had to what he said and therefore he was dismissed with Directions to make farther Discoveries if he could Nevertheless the Lord Parsons went to his Collegue Burlace at Chichester-house to communicate Conally's Intelligence unto him and whilst the Lord Justice Burlace was fretting that Conally should be so slightly dismiss'd Vide his Examination Append 2. behold about Ten a Clock at Night he came again and confirm'd his former Story Whereupon several of the Conspirators were that Night apprehended and tho' James Warren and Paul Neale found means to escape out of Custody yet the Lord Macguire in whose Lodgings were found many Hatchets Skeins and Hammers and Mac Mahon were taken and kept safe until their Execution It was about Five a Clock in the Morning 23d of October when Mac Mahon was Examined and Confessed That on that very day all the Forts and strong Places in Ireland would be taken that he with the Lord Macguire Hugh Brine Captain Bryan O Neale and several other Irish Gentlemen were come expresly to surprize the Castle of Dablin and that Twenty men out of each County were to be here to joyn with them That all the Papist Lords and Gentlemen in the Kingdom were engaged in this Plot That what was to be done in other parts of the Country was so far advanced by that time as it was impossible for the Wit of Man to prevent it that they had him in their Power and might use him as they pleased but he was sure be should be revenged And it is observable that Mac Mahon's Fancy was so full of the Bloody Tragedy which was to be Acted that day that during Owen O Conallies Examination as he walked in Chichester-Hall he drew with Chalk several postures of Men some on Gibbets and some groveling on the Ground so much was he delighted with what he thought or rather knew would soon be the Condition of the miserable English Nor is it to be omitted that Sir William Cole upon the Information of John Cormuck and Flagharty Mac Hugh that the Irish did design to seize on the Castle of Dublin and murder the Lords Justices and Council and the Protestants there did on the 21. of October send Letters with an Account of that Matter to the Lords Justices but how they mis carried is not known but it is certain those Letters never came to hand On this First day of the Rebellion the Irish surprized the Lord Blaney's House his Wife and Children and seized the Newry and the Magazine there See it Burlace 22. wherein were Seventy Barrels of Powder they also took Dungannon Fort Mountjoy Charlemont Tonrage Carrickmacross Cloghouter in the County of Cavan and Castlemonaghan and committed many Murders and the Lords Justices issued a Proclamation to encourage the English to defend themselves which were immediately Printed and sent to several places by Expresses and from this time forward there was not a day and scarce an hour wherein the dismal Tidings of some new Outrage or Barbarity did not arrive On the 24th the Alarms and Fears were so great at Dublin that the Castle Drawbridge was once let down and some of the State went to the Platform of the Castle to view the Irish Army which was falsly said to be approaching The Lords Justices being in this deplorable Condition did turn themselves to all the Methods of preserving the Kingdom which so great a Danger did require and their small Materials would allow but tho' their Industry was great their means were inconsiderable the whole standing Army did not exceed Two thousand ninety seven Foot and Nine hundred Horse Officers included and these were scattered in Single Troops and Companies or small Parties into places remote from Dublin and far distant from one another so that some of them were cut off by the Enemy and more of them being Irish Papists did revolt to the Rebels however they did send Potents for as many as they thought could safely March and particularly for the Earl of Ormond's Troop which came with himself to Dublin on the Second day of December and they made Sir Francis Willoughby Commander of the Castle These Letters are at large Temple 25. and Sir Charles Coot Governour of the City and on the 25th of October sent Owen O Conally with Letters to the Lord Lieutenant and Sir Henry Spotswood with an Express to the King But their main hope was that the Papists of the Pale who were of English Extraction and had signalized their Loyalty in all former Rebellions would also stand firm to the Crown in This and therefore the Lords Justices and Council sent Letters to the Sheriffs of those five Counties to make their best defence against the Rebels and to do all that was necessary for their own Preservation And to encourage as well as enable those Papists that the State had a good Opinion of the Lords Justices dispersed Seventeen hundred Arms to the Lords of Fingall Gormanstown Dunsany Slane Netervill Merion Hoath and other Roman Catholick Gentlemen for the Guard of the Pale and Arms were likewise sent to the Towns of Waterford Wexford and Trim with a Licence to import more they issued also Commissions of Martial Law for the more speedy Execution of the Rebels and thereby the more Expeditious Suppressing of the Rebellion Temple 55. and these Commissions were directed to Papists viz. to Henry Talbot for the County of Dublin John Bellew Esquire for the County of Louth Richard Dalton and James Tuit in Westmeath and James Talbot in the County of Cavan They also gave Commissions of Government of the respective Counties to several Roman Catholicks viz. the Lords Mountgarret Gormanstown Mayo Costilo Walter Bagnall Sir James Dillon Sir Robert Talbot Sir Christopher Bellew Sir Thomas Nugent and Mr. Nicholas Barnewall and by these Commissions these Lords and Gentlemen in their respective Districts had power to Levy and raise Forces to Arm and Array and conduct them and to prosecute the Rebels with Fire and Sword to use Martial Law and to Pardon and receive into his Majesties mercy as they should think fit as may be seen more at large in the Lord Gormanstowns Commission Postea Appendix 8. But the Lords and Gentlemen of the Pale were deeper in this General Conspiracy than the Lords Justices suspected and therefore were so far from being wrought upon by these Kindnesses and the Confidence the State placed in them that on the contrary from the very beginning they industriously sought for Pretences to break out into Action Their first Essay was on the 27th day of October at which time they picked a Quarrel at the words Irish Papists in the Proclamation against the Rebels as being Terms so General and Comprehensive that themselves might seem included and tho' they being Old English
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
another place where there may not be the same Danger to Us. We expected that since We have been so particular in the Causes and Grounds of our Fears you should have sent Us word That you had published such Declarations against future Tumults and unlawful Assemblies and taken such Courses for the suppressing of Seditioâ—â— Sermons and Pamphlets that our Fears of that kind might be laid aside before you should press our Return To conclude We could wish that you would with the same strictness and severity weigh and examine your Messages and Expressions to Us as you do those ye receive from Us for We are very Confident that if you examine our Rights and Priviledges by what our Predecessors have enjoyed and your own Addresses by the usual Courses of your Ancestors Ye will find many Expressions in this Petition warranted only by your own Authority which indeed we forbear to take Notice of or to give Answer to lest we should be tempted in a just Indignation to express a greater Passion than we are yet willing to put on God in his good time We hope will so inform the Hearts of all our Subjects That We shall recover from the Mischief and Danger of this Distemper on whose good Pleasure We will wait with all Patience and Humility But as soon as the Lords Justices and Council of Ireland had Notice of his Majesties intentions to come personally into Ireland they wrote him a dutiful Letter of Thanks and Encouragement to proceed in his intended Voyage which may be seen at large Husbands Collections 148. And on the Thirteenth of August 1642. His Majesty sent a Message to the House of Commons To retract an Order they had made to dispose of One hundred thousand Pound of the Adventurers Money contrary to the express Words of that Act of Parliament and to the great prejudice of the Affairs of Ireland To which they Answer that That Message is a high breach of Priviledge that they Heartily designed the relief of Ireland and have been retarded and diverted from that Pious and Glorious work by the Traiterous Counsels about the King as may appear 1. By His Majesties not Countenanceing them in their Endeavours for that End 2. By His Majesties so late issuing of Proclamations against the Rebels and then limiting the number to Forty 3. By discouraging the Adventurers by his Absence from the Parliament 4. By refusing Commission to Lord Wharton for whom the Parliament had prepared Five thousand Foot and Five hundred Horse to Land in Munster 5. By calling away the most useful Men from that Service as Charles Floyd Engineer Captain Green Comptroller of the Artillery and others 6. By seizing on Six hundred Cloaths near Coventry that were designed for the Service of Ireland and by doing the like to Three hundred Suits of Cloaths and a Chest of Medicaments near Chester 7. By seizing the Draught Horses designed for Ireland at Chester 8. By quartering Soldiers in the common Road towards Ireland so that no relief can pass to that Kingdom 9. By withdrawing the Captains Ketleby and Stradling and their Frigats from guarding the Irish Coast 10. By receiving a Petition from His Majesties Catholick Subjects of Ireland complaining of His Puritan Parliament of England and desiring that since His Majesty does not come to them they may come to him Nevertheless they do protest before Almighty God that they have as great a Compassion and Sorrow for their distressed Brethren in Ireland as if themselves were in their Case and will endeavour to relieve them notwithstanding the Obstructions of all Opposers and that tho' they were forced to borrow that One hundred thousand Pound upon a great Exigency yet it shall be without prejudice to the Affairs of Ireland because they will make a real and speedy Repayment of the same that it may appear whether the King and his Cavaleers or the King and his Parliament do most affect and endeavour the setling of true Religion and a firm and constant Peace within that bleeding and distressed Kingdom To this the King made a Reply which in Effect was That He did not design to prejudice the Service of Ireland but refus'd to give Commissions because He was not sure but they would be made use of against himself and that He sent Proclamations against the Irish Rebellion both in number and time as the Lords Justices desired And as to this latter Point I can assure the Reader that I have seen Authentick Copies of the Lord Justices Letters and that they did write at first but for twenty Proclamations and in a Second Letter they desired but Forty which accordingly they had sent them and therefore I have very much wondered at an Objection so groundless which nevertheless made a great noise at that time But it is also necessary to inquire how the Irish managed their Affairs and what Methods they us'd to cement their Confederacy and manage the War And first We shall find their Titular Clergy assembling in a Congregation at Kilkenny on the Tenth of May where they made Orders which are recited at large Burlace Appendix 7. and are to this effect That whereas their War is undertaken against Sectaries and Puritans for Defence of Religion Maintenance of the King 's Rights and Prerogative for their Gracious Queen so unworthily abused for the Honor Safety and Health of the Royal Issue for the Liberties of the Kingdom and their Lives and Fortunes as by the unanimous Consent of almost the whole Kingdom in this War and Union appears They therefore declare that War openly Catholick to be Just and Lawful And whereas the Adversaries do publish Letters and Proclamations to be the King 's which are not His none such are to be believed until it be known in a National Council whether they truly proceed from Him left to His own Freedom and that there be an Oath of Union or Association and that there be no distinction of Families or Provinces or between Old and New Irish and that there be a Council of Clergy and Nobility in every Province and a General Council of the Kingdom and that Embassies from one Province shall redound to the Good of all and especially to that Province which hath most need of such Supplies as shall be sent by Foreigners and such Embassadors shall negotiate for a Neighbouring Province according to its Exigencies and that a faithful Inventory be made of the Burnings Murders and Robberies done by the Puritans with Circumstance of Time and Place and a faithful sworn Messenger be appointed to that purpose in every Parish and that Prisoners be not enlarg'd without Consent of all the Provinces and that Adversaries to one Town or Province shall be so to all and that Peace be not made but by Common Consent of the whole Kingdom and an Oath to be taken to that purpose ☜ and all Refusers of that Oath to be held Enemies and prosecuted as such and that the Clergy preserve Peace and Unity amongst the
suffer the Right of the Crown to be destroyed by any way but shall Lett it to your power and if you cannot Lett the same you shall certifie His Majesty clearly and expresly thereof you shall give your true and faithful Council for the King's Majesty's Profit and his Highness's Council you shall conceal and keep All other things for the Preservation of His Majesty's Realm of Ireland the Peace amongst His People and Execution of His Justice according to His Majesty's Laws Usages and Customs of His Highness's Realm you shall perform and do to your power So God you help and by the Contents of this Book The Lord Lieutenant did immediately set himself to reform the Army and reduced his own Troop to 40 and Lucas and Armstrong's Troops to 30 each and the other two Troops to 25 each so that he had in all but 150 Horse and 2000 Foot and to maintain these he was forced to revive the Excise and to lay a Tax of 3d. per Acre throughout that part of the Pale under his power and to seize on some Debts and Tobacco belonging to the Londoners and on the 16th of March he issued a Proclamation to prohibit Outrages and Robberies on pain of Death And thus Matters stood in Ireland at the end of the Year 1643. Nor can we open the following Year with a better Scene than a Session of Parliament 1644. which was held at Dublin on the 17th of April and the very next day the Speakers of both Houses issued Letters to the Officers of the Army strictly prohibiting them from taking the Solemn League and Covenant and in those Letters they took notice of the Lords Justices and Councils Proclamations of the 18th of December 1643 to the same effect And on the 20th of May the Government issued a Proclamation to free from Customs and Impositions for 6 Months all Goods and Commodities that shall be imported for the Relief of the Army into Dublin Drogheda Carlingford Dundalk Cork Youghall or Kinsale But we must leave Ireland for a while and adjourn to Oxford which was the Theater on which the Affairs of that Kingdom were for the present transacted and therefore the Negotiations there shall be handled together and they happened in this manner The Cessation being made as hath been already related the Confederates chose the Lord Viscount Muskery Sir Robert Talbot Dermond mac Teig O Brian c. As their Agents to sollicite the King in England about the Terms of a Peace and the Lords Justices did likewise as from the Council-Board send Sir William Stuart Sir Gerard Lowther Sir Philip Percival 1643. and Justice Donelan to whom Sir George Ratcliff and Sir William Sambach being then at London were added But the Protestants not knowing of this last or not thinking that these Agents would effectually insist upon Their Sense of Affairs or were prepared to prove their Grievances Did on the Sixth of October meet at the Earl of Kildare's House and agreed upon a Petition which they preferred to the Lords Justices and Coâ—ncil desiring leave for their Agents to repair to the King and that the Irish Agents might not be heard till they should arrive and that Care might be taken to continue the present Parliament which by Change of one of the Lord Justices was in Danger of being dissolved To which on the Twelfth of October they received a favourable Answer That they the Lords Justices had taken care to send Protestant Agents to the King to assist in the Treaty and that nevertheless they would transmit a Copy of the Petitioners request to His Majesty and if His Majesty would License their Departure they would not hinder it But the Protestants knowing that even of late time Agents had gone to the King without such special License from His Majesty they did on the Fourthteenth of October proceed to the Choice of Four Persons fit to be employed and prepared a Petition to the King and then Petitioned the Lords Justices and Council To transmit that Address to His Majesty and to License their Agents to repair unto him to England and on the 19th the Lords Justices answered That they had signified their former Petition to his Majesty and had importuned Secretary Nicholas for a speedy Answer which the Petitioners ought to expect and that in the mean time they would not hinder the Agents from going when they pleased but could not recommend them to the King until His Majesties Pleasure were known The Lord Chancellor Bolton took an Exception to the Copy of the Petition that it was not signed as the Original was which Nicety was soon answered by transcribing the Names of the Subscribers but the Earl of Roscomon Sir James Ware and one other who had signed the first Petition went farther and entered the following Protestation concerning it The Sense of divers of his Majesties Protestants Subjects who have Signed to the late Petition directed to His Majesty SUffering under the Mis-construction of Our Petition We hold it fit to declare that We exhibited not the same through want of Assurance of His Majesties Care of the Protestant Religion and of his Subjects nor yet to divert any Supplies that may be drawn from hence against such as in his Kingdom of England have taken up Arms against him but meerly in Right to Gods Cause and in Our Right humbly to inform His Majesty when the Irish Agents repair unto him if the said Agents shall endeavour to surprise or prejudice Us in either this is the Commission We give and if any Person or Persons imployed by Us shall go further or otherwise busie themselves to the disturbance of His Majesties Service against such We do and shall protest as being in Our Intentions no Parties thereunto which as it may serve to vindicate our Faith to His most sacred Majesty so it may shew how Causeless the Jealousies are of this Address to him And thus it stood till January when His Majesties Letter of the Sixth of November arrived and thereby License was granted to the Petitioners to send their Four Agents whereupon the Petitioners chose Sir Charles Coot and Captain William Parsons to be added to the Four they had pitched upon before and presented their Names to the Lord Lieutenant and on the Seventeenth day of February following the Commons of the Irish Parliament approved of what the Petitioners had done and declared their Concurrence therewith whereupon the Petitioners moved the Lord Lieutenant and Council for a recommendation to His Majesty both of their Cause and Agents and being demanded they produced their Instructions which were rectified as is mentioned Appendix 22. and then they were informed that it would gain them favour with the King if they carried over their Companies with them except Sir Charles Coot's which was in Conaught but Captain Parsons his Troop chose rather to be disbanded then to go over to Fight against their Countrey-men but Captain Ridgway's and Sir Francis Hamiltons Companies were Transported under their
Assistance of the Lord Digby they brought the matter so far to bear that on the 12th of November the Lord Digby writes thus to the Lord Lieutenant Yesterday the Lord Clanrickard and I finished our Negotiations to which Preston and his Army and Sir Philem O Neal and part of Owen Roes Army will submit You may depend on this Engagement of Preston and his Army since it cannot be violated without such a Perâ—idy ☞ as certainly the Profession of Soldiers and Gentlemen hath never been guilty of The most that will be expected from you is a Declaration to this effect That whereas it is well known even by His Majesties Printed Letters that His gracious Intentions were to secure His Catholick Subjects of this Kingdom in the free Exercise of their Religion by repeal of the Penalties of the Law against them which in the last Articles was left out by the Subtilty of some of their own Party who intended to found this late mischief upon it that it was far from His Majesties intention or Yours to take advantage of that Omission but that they may rest as secure of His Majesties Favour in the repeal of the said Penalties as if it had been positively exprest in the Articles and that for matter of their Churches and Ecclesiastical Possessions it being referred to the King it was far from Your intentions to molest them therein till you knew His Majesties Pleasure in that particular As for your Engagement to obey His Majesties free Commands the Queen and Prince of Wales and my Significations to the advantage of the Catholicks during His Majesties want of Freedom and that you will not obey such Commands to the prejudice of what is undertaken as shall be procured by advantage of His Majesties want of Freedom Your Letter to the Marquis of Clanrickard will suffice you must proceed frankly c. And this was the Posture of Affairs when on the 14th of November Commissioners arrived from the Parliament with Fourteen hundred Foot and other Necessaries for the Preservation of Dublin which they expected to be given up to them upon the Terms proposed In what Condition was the Marquiss of Ormond now he had two inconsistent Treaties upon his hands and both well nigh concluded and he was in Danger least his own Army who abhorred any farther Correspondence with the Irish would with the Assistance of the Fourteen hundred Men newly come Deliver up both Dublin and him to the Parliament of England It is certain he had need of all that Dexterity and Presence of mind that he was Master of to extricate himself out of these Difficulties as he afterwards did It was never a Doubt with him whether he should preserve the Kingdom for his Majesty or submit it to the Parliament but the Question was whether an Union with the Irish would do the former since their Levity was such as that there could be no dependance upon them I have seen all the dispatches between Ormond and Digby upon this occasion and can assure the Reader that the Lord Lieutenant was prevailed upon against his own Judgment by the Lord Digby's importunity and when he did Consent he foretold the issue of that Reconciliation But we will first give an Account of the Treaty with the Parliament Commissioners and then discover the farther Proceedings with the Irish The Lord Lieutenant and Council being pressed by Enemies without and Necessities and intolerable Wants in the City did on the 26th day of September by Letters to the King and to the Lord Mayor of London represent the miserable Condition they were in and did also send over the Lord Chief Justice Lowther Sir Francis Willoughby and Sir Paul Davis in one of the Parliaments ships to the Parliament of England with Instructions from himself and the Council and other Instructions from the Council only The Instructions from the Lord Lieutenant and Council were 1. That a Difference ought to be made the between those that were Contrivers and first Actors of the Rebellion and those that by the Torrent of that Rebellion were afterwards accidently engaged therein and that the Confiscatitions of the former were sufficient to satisfie the Adventurers 2. That they demonstrate the necessity of making the late Peace for the Preservation of the Protestants for tho' the Protestants do survive the breach of the Peace the Reason is because the Irish are now divided and their Frame of Government dissolved 3. That before the Peace they the Lord Lieutenant and Council did enter into a Treaty with the Parliament Commissioners in Ulster to prevent it but by the Departure of the Marquis of Argile into Scotland and of Sir Robert King into England that Treaty fell for want of a sufficient number of the Commissioners and that misfortune was followed by the defeat of Monroe and the Scots at Bemburb 4. That England has receiv'd advantage by the Peace First by their experience of the perfidiousness and Treachery of the Irish ☞ And Secondly by obtaining just cause to use them severely 5. That the Covenant may not be impos'd until it be done by Act of Parliament that nothing of it may be now imposed lest it divide the Protestants and hinder them from a joynt prosecution of the War and for the same Reason the Book of Common Prayer be not suppressed but let those use the Directory that will 6. To â—ustifie the Goverment and Conduct of His Majesties Servants and to wipe off all Scandals 7. To preserve the Estates Persons and Imployments of all those that went hence to serve His Majesty in England and did not joyn with the Rebels at least to get them Liberty to compound or to transport themselves and their Goods 8. That it be immediately published we have free Commerce and Traffick with the Parliaments Towns and Allies and that three or four Ships be sent to Guard our Coasts from the Rebels 9. That Magazines of all sorts be speedily prepared at Liverpool Chester c. 10. To advise them that if Succours be not immediately sent all will be lost and the recovery of it will cost ten times as much Blood and Treasure as it will to keep it now 11. That if the Soldier be not constantly Paid he will revolt to the better Pay-master and that the Revenue here does not keep the publick Persons and Clergy from want 11. That Directions be sent to the Parliaments Forces in Ulster Munster and Conaught to correspond and joyn with Us. 12. That if they send Forces under their own Officers Care be taken to Pay ours equally with theirs to prevent Difference and Mutiny 13. That Sir Francis Butler Colonel Richard Gibson Colonel Henry Warren Colonel Monk and Lieutenant Colonel Gibs now Prisoners with the Parliament Being Men that know the Country and are experienced in the Service may be rather sent than Novices and Strangers or any others Lastly Men without Money and Victuals will do us more harm than good And if as soon as you are
Bryan mac William Farral John mac Edmond Farral John Farral Roger mac Bryne Farral Barnaby Farral James mac Teig Faral his Mark. Morgan mac Carbry Farral Donough mac Carbry Farral Richard mac Conel Farral William mac James Farral James Farral Taghna mac Rory Farral Cormack mac Rory Farral Conock mac Bryne Farral Readagh mac Lisagh Farral Connor oge mac Connor Farral Edmond mac Connor Farral Cahel mac Bryne Farral Appendix IV. A Letter from the Lords Justices and Council to King Charles the First to prevent a Peace with the Irish May it please your Most Excellent Majesty WE your Majesties Justices on the 30 th of January last Receiv'd your Majesties Letter of the 11 th of the same We being then in Council at this Board which Letters we then immediately communicated to the Council as we always do in all matters of Importance concerning your Majesties Affairs here By those Letters your Majesty declared that you had sent a Commission to our very good Lord the Lord Marquess of Ormond and others Authorizing them to receive in Writing what the Petitioners Catholicks of Ireland mentioned in those Letters would say or propound and to return the same to your Majesty And by the same Letters your Majesty Commanded us your Justices to give those Commissioners our best assistance and furtherance as there shall be occasion wherein as in all things else we have always done and shall ever do we shall most readily obey your Majesties Royal Commands with all humble Duty and Submission having nothing more in our Care and Endeavours in these perplexed times than to advance your Service and to preserve your Soveraign Rights and Interests here where so dangerous Attempts have of late been made against them by so Aniversal a Conspiracy of the Papists of this Kingdom We do with much Joy of heart Comfort our selves to see your Majesties gracious inclination to hear your Subjects whatsoever they be in themselves and as therein we behold your goodness so we to whose Care and Circumspection your Majesty hath committed the great Trust of this your Kingdom cannot but esteem it a great breach of Duty and Faith in us to be silent in such things as may give light in this important business and which cannot come to your Majesties knowledge but by your Ministers These Petitioners do affirm That they had recourse to Arms for Preservation of your Royal Rights and Prerogatives which if it were true we should be subject to the full Tax of Treachery if we should not with all Zeal and hearty Affection have joined with them And if that had been the true ground of their entring into quarrel with us it should cost little Mony or Blood to the Kingdom of England to reconcile us They well know that before this Rebellion in the Parliament held here and formerly we opposed them several times where we found them vehemently labour to abridge those Prerogatives and antient Rights of the Crown here and to derogate from your Royal Authority in many Parts thereof as by particulars will appear But we must upon full observation of their Courses and Actions since the First breaking out of this unnatural Rebellion unfeignedly affirm That they do but take up this for an excuse of their most odious breach of Faith and Duty to your Most Sacred Majesty their inward intent being as since hath appeared to deprive your Majesty of all those Prerogatives they spake of and even of your Crown and Kingdom resolving also to destroy and extirpate out of this Island as well the true Protestant Religion as also your Majesties most Loyal Brittish Subjects whom they hate chiefly because they Religiously love your Majesty and your Children and in that love were such leaders of them in all their late seeming Acts of Bounty and Duty towards your Majesty as without shameful bewraying their evil hearts they could not shun the same whereat they often shewed much reluctancy as appeared in reducing the subsidies and other things In Vlster where the Rebellion first broke forth it is testified upon Oath by a Gentleman that was a Prisoner amongst the Rebels that he heard one of the Rebels a man of Note amongst them say That if he had your Majesty where he than spake that he would flea you quick but they would have the Kingdom and their will of you Others there said that they had a King of their own in Ireland Others said that they would have an Irish King and regarded not King Charles the King of England Others that they had a new King and had Commission from him for what they did Others that Sir Phelim O Neal should be their King and that they would give a great sum of Mony to have King Charles his Head these Speeches were uttered in several Counties in that Province and by several Parties also those in Vlster devis'd false Prophesies and dispers'd and publish'd them and amongst others things so devis'd by them one Prophesie is said to be that Tyrone or Sir Phelim O Neal should drive your Majesty with your whole Posterity out of England and that You and your Posterity shall be hereafter Profugi in terra aliena in aeternum to which Phelim O Neal Regal Attributes have been given by some of the Rebels and he hath written in a Regal Stile and did Seal Letters with a Seal whereon there was a Regal Crown which we have seen When the Rebellious Lords and Gentry of the Pale and Leinster and after them those of Munster and Conaugh and the Irish in Leinster rose in Rebellion who appeared not in Arms until those in the Pale brake out those in the Pale declared to Assault your Majesties Castle and City of Dublin where reside your Officers of State and where are the Ensigns and Ornaments of your Royal Authority and Soveraignty here and all the Records of your Revenues and Interest which they purposed to Seize and by holding that Place to take away the means for arrival of English here other than by main force to which intent they Assembled in great numbers near this City within two or three Miles round about it having then also strongly Besieg'd your Majesties Port Town of Droghe da as a step to the gaining of this City presuming all this while that no succour should come out of England and all this done not only by the barbarous Rebels of Vlster but also by the degenerate ungrateful Lords and Gentry of the Pale and when by Gods blessing and your Majesties tender care of the remanant of your poor People left yet undestroyed in sending Forces hither we were enabled by your Majesties Forces to beat off those Multitudes and to raise the Siege of Drogheda then as well the Old English as the Irish all Papists and now Rebels which drew themselves farther off and finding that they had not so ready a way to rent the Kingdom out of your Majesties hands as they at first supposed they then found it necessary to fall
here These things most Dread Sovereign are of so great and important consideration towards securing the future Peace and Safety of your Sacred Majesty your Royal Posterity your Kingdoms and good Subjects as we could not without breach of Faith and Loyalty to your Majesty forbear thus truly and plainly to represent them and howsoever the Rebels are pleased unjustly to traduce and calumniate us and our proceedings without any cause given on our parts other then our Faithfulness to you our most Dear and Gracious Lord and Master which Reproaches from them we are content for your sake to bear as we are ready to Sacrifice our Lives for you Yet we humbly beseech your Majesty to give us leave with the freedom of Faithful Servants to affirm to your Majesty in the presence of God to whom and to your Majesty we are accountable for uprightness in all our Councils and Actions that we fall upon no Expressions herein out of any hatred to the Persons of them or any of them or out of any sinister ends of advantage to our selves but only out of necessary duty to God and to your Majesty for whom we hope God hath reserved the high honour of that great work of full settlement and reformation of this your Kingdom to which none of your Royal Ancestors could attain although your Royal Father King James of Blessed memory made a fair entrance towards it by a sweet and peaceable way which glorious beginning of his the Rebels have quite overturned and defac'd And now having clearly and in zealous duty laid open our hearts to your Royal Majesty we in all humility submit and intirely depend on your Majesties Commands whether for Peace or War and shall with all fervency imploy our Bodies and Minds to execute whatsoever you shall in your high Wisdom prescribe humbly beseeching the Almighty Guider of all Humane Councils to grant you his Divine Assistance from the Wisdom which is ever about his Throne And so we humbly remain from your Majesties Castle of Dublin the 16th day of March 1642. Your Majesties most Loyal and most Faithful Subjects and Servants William Parsons Jo. Borlace La. Dublin Cha. Lambart Ad. Loftus Ge. Shurley Ger. Lowther J. Temple Tho. Rotheram Rob. Meredith Appendix V. An Abridgement of the Irish Remonstrance of Grievances THAT they being necessitated to take Arms for the Preservation of their Religion the Maintenance of His Majesties Rights and Prerogatives the natural and just Defence of their own Lives and Estates and the Liberties of their Country have often attempted to present their humble Complaints to His Majesty but were prevented therein by the Power and Vigilancy of the Lords Justices c. Who by the Assistance of the Malignant party now in Rebellion in England the better to accomplish the Extirpation of their Religion and Nation have hindred their Access to the Kings Justice which might have prevented much mischief and having notice now of a Commission to hear their Proposals in which are these words albeit we do extreamly detest the odious Rebellion which the Recusants of Ireland have without Ground or Colour raised against us our Crown and Dignity they conceive them to have proceeded from the misrepresentation of their Enemies and do protest they have been therein traduced to the King for that they never entertained any Rebellious thought against His Majesty his Crown or Dignity but are his faithful Loyal Subjects and desire to be owned so and as such they present the ensuing Grievances and Causes of the then present Distempers 1. That the Catholicks whom neither Reward nor Persecution could tempt from their Religion these 1300 Years are by the Statute of 2 Eliz. made incapable of Places of Honour or Trust their Nobles are become contemptible their Gentry debar'd from Learning in the Universities or Publick Schools and their younger Brothers for want of imployment are forced to live in Ignorance and Contempt at home or to their great discomfort and impoverishing of the Country to seek Education and Fortune abroad Misfortunes made incident to the Catholicks only their Number Quality and Loyalty considered of all the Nations in Christendom 2. That Men of mean Condition and Quality for the most part were placed in all Offices of Trust and Honour who being to begin a Fortune built it on the Ruines of the Catholicks and to ingratiate themselves scandalized the Papists and rendered them suspected and odious in England whereby arose the Opposition to the Graces promised or intended to the Natives by His Majesty or his Father and the false Inquisitions on feigned Titles against many Hundred years Possession and no Travers or Petition of Right admitted thereunto nor any Bar to it except Letters Patents which when produced were also declared void so that 150 of them were avoided in one Morning so little regard was had to the great Seal which is the publick Faith of the Kingdom And the Jurors were forced even by infamous Punishments to find such Inquisitions against their Consciences 3. That the Graces granted by the King and his Father were rendered unprofitable and fruitless to the Natives by the immortal Hatred of Sir William Parsons and the impeached Judges and their Adherents so that the publick Faith involved in those Grants was violated 4. That by the many wilful and erronious Decrees in the Court of Wards the Heirs of Catholicks were cruelly dealt with destroyed in their Estates and bred in Dissolution and Ignorance their Parents debts unsatisfied their Brothers and Sisters unprovided for Mesne Tenures unregarded Conveyances for valuable consideration avoided against Law and the whole Kingdom filled with Swarms of Escheators Feodaries Pursivants e. 5. That the Catholicks have without Reluctancy or repining contributed to all the Subsidies Loans and extraordinary Grants made to His Majesty amounting to Well near One Million of Pounds over and above his Revenue and thereunto were the most forward and thereof bore nine parts of Ten yet their Adversaries by the Opportunity of their continual Addresses to His Majesty to increase their Reputation in getting in of those Moneys and their Authority in distribution thereof to His Majesties great Disservice assumed to themselves to be procurers thereof and represented the Catholicks as obistnate and refractory 6. That the Army raised here with great charge was disbanded by the pressing importunity of the Malignant Party in England because they said it was Popish and therefore not to be trusted and although that Malignant Party did invade his Majesties Prerogative and Sir William Parsons and Sir Adam Loftus did declare that an Army of Ten Thousand Scots would come to Ireland to force the Catholicks to change their Religion and that Ireland would never do well without a Rebellion to extirpate the Remainder of the Natives and though Wagers were laid at the Assizes that within a Year no Catholick should be left in Ireland and though they saw the Irish Parliament unjustly incroach'd upon by the Acts and Orders of the Parliament of
the Pale from appearing at Dublin and forc'd them to defend themselves however they sent his Majesties sworn Servant Lieutenant Collonel Read to represent their Case to his Majesty but he was not only stopped but also Racked at Dublin 10. That the Lord President of Munster by direction of the Lords Justices that Province being quiet put to death Men Women and Children without distinction and mistrusted and threatned the Catholick Nobles and Gentry and Arm'd inferior fellows and the Province of Conaught was used in like manner so that in these Provinces the Catholicks were forc'd on their defence still waiting his Majesties Pleasure and ready to obey his Commands whilst the Lords Justices c. were busie by Addresses to the Malignant Party in England to deprive the Irish of all hopes of his Majesties Justice and Mercy and to plant a perpetual enmity between the Enemy and them 11. That whereas Ireland since the Reign of Hen 2. hath had its own Parliament with equal Power Priviledges c. to that of England and only dependant on the Crown in all which time there is no President that a Statute made in England had any force in Ireland until Enacted there Now by false suggestions an Act of Adventurers 17 Car. hath past in England whereby the Irish unsummon'd and unhear'd are declared Rebels and two Millions and a half of Acres of their Land dispos'd of which Act tho' forc'd on his Majesty and in it self unjust and void yet continues of evil consequence and extream prejudice to his Majesty and totally destructive to the Irish Nation for tho' the scope seems to aim at Rebels only yet the words include all the Irish and takes away many of his Majesties Tenures and much of his Revenue and therefore they protest against it as an Act without President and against the Kings Prerogative and the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom and by colour whereof the Protestant Army disavow his Majesties Authority and depend on the Parliament 12. That strangers in Dublin being banish'd thence by Proclamation were by direction of the Lords Justices pillaged as soon as they got without the Town and what they left in the Town was confiscated and their desire to return under Protection was denyed that Catholicks quiet and under Protection were by the Lords Justices Order sooner destroy'd plundered or killed than those in Action and Quarter daily violated and others that came to Dublin for retreat and shelter were Imprisoned and Tryed for their Lives and Dublin Cork Youghall Kinsale and Tredagh that opened their Gates to his Majesties Forces are worse us'd than the Israelites in Egypt so that it will be made appear that more murthers breaches of publick Faith and Quarter more destruction and desolation and more cruelty not fit to be nam'd were committed in less than Eighteen Months by the direction and advice of the Lords Justices and their Party of the Council than can be parallel'd to have been done by any Christian people 13. That the Lords Justices have against the fundamental Laws procured several Sessions of Parliament tho' Nine parts of Ten of the genuine Members are absent it being inconsistent with their safety to come under the Power of the Lords Justices and in their room are Clerks Soldiers and Serving-men introduc'd into the House of Commons not at all Elected or not Legally Chosen and not having Estates however they have made Orders and releas'd Traytors Impeach'd in full Parliament and passed or might have passed some Acts against Law and prejudicial to his Majesty and the Nation and have also kept Terms only by false and illegal Judgments and Outlaries to Attaint many thousand good Subjects without Summons or Notice and obscure Men are made Sheriffs and Servants and Mechanicks are made Jurors to pass upon the Lives and Estates of those who came in upon Protection and publick Faith Wherefore and to settle the Revenue and prevent desolation and effusion of Blood and to procure the satisfaction of his Subjects who were willing to imploy 10000 men in defence of his Royal Rights they pray his Majesty to give gracious Answers to these Just complaints and to call a Free Parliament in an indifferent place before some Person of Honor and Fortune of approved Faith to his Majesty and acceptable to the People of Ireland who may be speedily Invested with the Government and that in such Parliament their grievances may be redress'd and Poynings Act suspended pro hac vice and either continued or Repeal'd as shall be thought fit and that no matter whereof complaint is made in this Remonstance may debar Catholicks from Sitting and Voting in such Parliament c. Delivered by the Lord Gormanstown Sir Lucas Dillon Sir Robert Talbot John Welsh Authorized by the Confederates 17 March 1642. to his Majesties Commissioners at Trim to be presented to the King Appendix VI. The Substance of the Answer of the Protestant Committee to the false and scandalous Remonstrance of the inhumane and bloody Rebels of Ireland given unto His Majesty at Oxford in May 1644. THAT the Remonstrants were not necessitated to take up Arms for their Religion for they were not troubled or so much as questioned about it for a long time before the Rebellion nor for His Majesties Prerogative for there were no Opponents of it in Ireland except the Remonstrants who have usurped all the King's Prerogatives as well as the Subjects Estates and have printed an Order of their general Assembly to exclude all Temporal Government and Jurisdiction but what is approved or instituted by that Assembly or the supream Council nor for their Lives Liberties and Estates because they had the Protection of the Law and His Majesties Government and not one Instance can be produced that a Papist quatenus a Papist ever suffered unpunished Violence from a Protestant either in Person or Estate except in open Rebellion And as to the just Liberties of Subjects wherein the Protestants are as much concerned as the Remonstrants they were never so fully and freely enjoyed in Ireland as at the Time of the Insurrection so that there was no Necessity to murther and rob the Protestants for the Preservation of the Confederates Nor have any of their Addresses since the Rebellion been slighted or suppressed Their first was from Cavan of the Sixth of November and received a mild and favourable Answer and was forthwith certified to the Lord Lieutenant The second was from seven Lords of the Pale then in Rebellion who refused upon safe Conduct to come to the State but desired Commissioners might be appointed to confer with them and though such a Condescention was thought dishonorable since it was the others duty to come to the Government yet both the Request and Answer were transmitted to the Lord Lieutenant Their third Address was from the united Lords by the Mediation of the Earl of Castlehaven 23 d. of March when His Majesties Army had raised the Siege of Tredagh and were Masters of the Field however
indeed had they any inclination to submit until they were baffled before Drogheda and his Majesties Army was Master of the Field why then should the Lords Justices who every day expected the Lord Lieutenant and had no Order to Pardon Murthers prostitute his Majesties mercy to those obstinate Rebels that did despise and affront it However as they were far from aiming at the Rebels Estates so they gave them demonstration of their Moderation and Indulgence even to a fault in their favours to the Earl of Westmeath Sir Morgan Cavenagh Sir Luke Fitz Girald Sir Robert Harpoole and O Farrell Sheriff of the County of Longford But with what Face can they complain of Sir Charles Coot's March to Wicklow to relieve that Castle Besieged by the Rebels since that was not till the 27 th of November before which time all the County was in open Rebellion and all the Englisb plunder'd and all the Castles and Towns surpriz'd two only excepted neither did he execute but one Woman who had some of the plunder'd goods about her and thirteen Men notoriously Guilty and what else were slain were killed in Battle and it is a wonder the Gentry of the Pale can so far forget their Birth as to express a concern for those antient Tories and old Enemies of Wicklow whose Incursions into the Pale were in a great measure prevented by this March certainly there would be no concern in this Case if it were not for the Confederacy And as to the Affair of Santry which the Remonstrants would Insinuate was sufficient to raise a whole County in Six hours that in six Weeks before could not raise Sixty men to serve the King or prevent the murder of Derrick Hubbert and other Protestants it was nakedly thus A Lieutenant without any Orders on the 5 th of December went out with Forty men upon information that some of the Murtherers of Hubbert were at Santry and finding there Four strangers with Arms newly come thither he slew them and went in farther search of the rest he expected to find thereabouts and he still affirms that these Four were Rebels tho' others say that one of them was a Protestant but at worst it was but an unlucky mistake and no cause of a general Rebellion especially since the Lords Justices on the 13 th of December sent them a true account of the matter Moreover Luke Netervills Summons and his Listing and Arraying of Soldiers was before this accident at Santry and it was impossible for Twelve hundred of them to meet in the posture they did on the 7 th of December at Swords if there had not been provision made beforehand for it however on the 9 th the Lords Justices sent them a civil Message to depart and Protection for Seven of them to come to them to Dublin but they kept the Messenger that night and sent a Mutinous Letter next morning demanding security of their Lives c. which being granted they despised and continued in that Seditious manner Robbing and Spoiling the Protestants until the 10 th destroying the Country and threatning even Dublin it self and in order to straiten the City they sent Parties to Clantarf Finglass and Santry at Clantarf they Robbed and Spoiled two English Barques and threatned to burn all the Vessels in the Harbour and the owner of the Town George King was in the Rebels Camp at Swords so that it was of absolute necessity to dislodge them thence and accordingly the 15 th of December Sir Charles Coot did defeat the Rebels and recovered some of the plundered Goods and burned the Village and on the 22 th of December the Rebels were likewise beaten from Finglass and Santry That the Lords Justices by their dispatch to the Parliament did suggest their Fears that the Massacre was design'd against the old English and that therefore the old English and even Irish that continued Loyal should be encouraged to raise Men in defence of the Kingdom by promises of Honourable Reward and by their Letter of the 2 d. of December they did Invite the Lords of the Pale to Dublin to consult of the best means to stop the Rebellion So far were they from putting any necessity upon those of the Pale to be Rebels themselves and what answer those Lords gave and what was done thereupon is mentioned at large in this History That Sir James Dillon who gathered near Two Thousand Men under pretence of carrying them to Spain and had at his own Request received Fifty Arms from the Government for his defence not only refused to suppress the Rebels of the County of Longford but also joyned with them himself and made use of his Majesties Arms against those that lent them to him Dundalk and a Foot Company in it Surrendered upon the First Summons and Drogheda had done the like if the Lord Moor had not prevented it and on the 10 th of November the Lord of Louth delivered up his Commission to Govern that County and soon after went into Rebellion The County of Wicklow broke out the 12 th of November as Wexford and Caterlagh did on the 21 th and the Country of Louth on the 24 th and Meath about the same time so that they were all engaged before any thing happened either at Clantarf or at Santry And as to Lieutenant Colonel Read it is true Three Lords and Four Gentlemen did joyn in a Petition in the beginning of January and did pretend to send Read with it to the King but though he pressed to be dispatched yet they delayed it Three Months expecting the success of the Siege of Tredagh which proving unfortunate to them Read was taken Prisoner and was not without president Racked for the discovery of things so highly conducing to the safety of a Kingdom To the Tenth the Lords Justices did never give any such direction to the Lord President of Munster as is untruly suggested much less would they do it whilst the Province was quiet the Peace whereof they sought by all means to provide for Neither would he have obeyed any such unrighteous and half Command himself being a Native of that Kingdom and allyed to the Old English and Irish and in all things lovingly affected to the People as long as they could be contained in their duty neither was he provided with Necessaries to begin a War nor would ever have entred into it if the Irish had not been the Aggressors On the contrary he constantly gave the Lords Justices notice of the Quiet condition of his Province and particularly of the Loyal Disposition of the Lord of Muskry who by reiterated Oaths had sworn to continue therein so that the Lords Justices sent particular Letters of Thanks and Encouragement to that Lord to whom the President likewise gave some Arms and there were Commissions of Government and Martial Law sent to the Natives of that Province as well as to those of the Pale The Leinster Rebels invaded the County of Waterford the beginning of December and though when
Lord of Antrim might pass freely earnestly desiring him to undertake the Work but he the Lord of Antrim refused saying He would not go if Ormond would not go also yet was the Lord of Antrim by the pressing Solicitation of Colonel Barry aforesaid perswaded to send some one from himself to the King for intimating what was resolved for his Service and signifying the already disbanding those 8000 Men raised in Ireland by the Earl of Strafford This Dispatch was sent by Captain Digby Constable of the Castle of Dunluce in the North of Ireland belonging to the Lord of Antrim with those Dispatches the said Digby did overtake the King at York he being then on his way to Scotland and from York was Digby returned back to him the Lord of Antrim by the King signifying his Pleasure That all possible Endeavours should be used for getting again together those 8000 Men so disbanded and that an Army should immediately be raised in Ireland that should declare for him against the Parliament of England and to do what was therein necessary and convenient for his Service Upon receiving this the King's Pleasure by Captain Digby he the Lord of Antrim imparted the Design to the Lord of Gormonstown and to the Lord of Slane and after to many others in Lienster and after going into Vlster he communicated the same to many there but the Fools such was his Lordship's Expression to us well liking the Business would not expect our time or manner for ordering the Work but fell upon it without us and sooner and otherwise than we should have done taking to themselves and in their own way the managing of the Work and so spoiled it It being by us demanded of his Lordship how he intended it should be managed He answered That the Castle of Dublin being then to be surprized if the Lords Justices should oppose the Design the Parliament then sitting should declare for the King against the Parliament of England and that the whole Kingdom should be raised for the King's Service and that if the Lords Justices would not join in the Work they should be secured and all others who would or might oppose them should be also secured Which Discourse was freely made by his Lordship without any Caution given us therein of Secrecy yet was it demanded by us Whether his Lordship would give us leave to have the same signified to his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and to the Lord President of Munster His Lordship answered That he gave us free liberty so to do which his Lordship's Discourse we have for our better Remembrance reduced to Writing and testified the same under our Hands to be as aforesaid Signed Henry Clogher Henry Owen Having seen and read this Paper containing the Particulars of a Conference between Me and the Lord of Clogher and Colonel Reynolds and between me and the said Lord of Clogher and Mr. Henry Owen I do hereby acknowledg it to be the same in Substance with what passed excepting where it is said that Captain Digby was by the late King returned with a Dispatch to Me whereas the Dispatch was sent to me from the King by one William Hamerstone and whereas it is said that the said late King appointed that the Army with us to be continued and raised in Ireland should be employed against the Parliament it is to be intended if occasion should be for so doing And I do hereby aver the Truth of all so delivered with the other Corrections and Qualifications thereunto added Witness my Hand this August the 22d 1650. ANTRIM Observations on the Marquess of Antrim's Information FIrst it expresly clears the King from giving any Commission for the Irish Rebellion nor is there any thing in it that can charge his Majesty with the least Thought or Intention that his Protestant Subjects in Ireland should be either plundered or murdered nevertheless when an unthinking Reader finds that the Castle of Dublin was to be surpriz'd he runs away with the Notion that the Irish Conspiracy was pursuant to that Order and the King was in the bottom of that barbarous Rebellion and this perhaps was one design of this Information but the chief end of it was to abuse the World with a Belief that the King was not necessitated to a War with the Parliament by any thing then newly happened in 1642. but that he had projected it long before and had made this Preparation to put it in Execution Secondly This Information cannot be true but either Antrim deceived the World or Burk imposed upon him for besides that Ormond and Antrim was unfit to be joyned in a Commission as well because there were never any good Understanding between them as also because they were of different Religions and Interests how much more obvious and easy less scandalous and more effectual would it have been for the King to have made Ormond Lord-Deputy than to order him to surprize the Castle and the Lords Justices Moreover these 12000 additional Men could not have been raised without Noise and Time nor kept without Money nor Armed at all for there were not 12000 Arms in the Store 23 Octob. and yet 8000 of them were the Arms of the disbanded Men which they were to keep on Foot But it is yet more strange that before any Breach with the Parliament and whilst Matters tended to an Accommodation more hopefully than in some Months before the King should by such a rash and imprudent Action administer such cause of Jealousy to the Parliament at so unseasonable a time whilst he was absent in Scotland as would certainly put the Kingdom of England in a Flame and lose his Majesty the Hearts and Hands of more English Cavaliers than he could gain of Irish-Men But to put this matter out of doubt the King long before he went to York which was in the middle of August knew the Irish Army would be disbanded and therefore consented to license four Regiments to be levied out of them for the Service of the King of Spain as appears by the following Letter copied from the Original ORMOND I Have taken this Occasion by the recommending the Son of one of my faithful Servants to assure you that I very much esteem You and that I do but seek an Occasion to shew it you by more than Words as I commanded the Vice-Treasurer to tell you more fully and in particular concerning the blew Riband of which you may be confident only I desire you not to take notice of it until I shall think it fit The Particular for this Bearer George Porter is to permit him to make up a Regiment of the disbanded Army if he can do it by Perswasion to carry them out of the Country for the King of Spain's Service this is all So I rest Whitehall the 19th of June 1641. Your assured Friend CHARLES R. Moreover how much the King was surprized with the Irish Rebellion will also appear in his Letter to the Marquess of Ormond whom
Conclusion had destroyed three of his Objections for if the Irish were in almost continual Rebellions as he says and is true how could he expect they should enjoy Offices sit in Parliaments or have Benefit of the Kings Laws But the weakness of these Objections will yet more plainly appear by the following Answers To the First the Instances are few and it is bad Logick to draw general Consequences from the Actions of two or three particular Men especially such as so bitterly reflect on a Government or Nation besides all these three were Papists and their Sacrilege does not concern the Protestant Government of Ireland which is what Mr. Sullevan design'd to asperse To the Second If this Author had consulted the Ecclesiastical Catalogue he would have found that the Natives had more than their share of Bishopricks and Arch-Bishopricks and that to the ruine of most of the Sees and in the Military List he might have found the Baron of Dungannon Neal Garuff Macguire O Connor and many more who had Pay or Pension and yet it is so far from being criminal to prefer the Colony before the Native to Offices of Trust and Profit in a conquered Country that it is a necessary Duty to do it Ne Victi Victoribus Legem darent at most this Partiality is but in matters of Favour so that there is no wrong and 't is founded on good Law and sound Policy But what would this Objecter and his Companions say if they should see a Popish Governor in Ireland against all Law and Policy to make it criminal to be an Englishman and a cause of deprivation to profess the Religion by Law established To the Third Several of the Irish Potentates did sit in former Parliaments and particularly in the Parliaments of the 8th of Edw. 2. O Hanlon O Neal O Donnel Macgenis O Cahon Mac Mahon and many more Irish Lords were present but since the Parliaments are better regulated 't is true that none are suffered to sit in the House of Lords but such as are Lords of Parliament by Law viz. by Writ or Patent but 't is as true that the principal men of the Irish have or had Titles that qualifie them to sit there as O Neal Earl of Tyrone O Donel Earl of Tyrconnel O Bryan Earl of Thomond Mac Carthy Earl of Clancarthy O Bryan Earl of Insiquin The Lords Macguire Clare Glanmalira and Dungannon Kavenagh Baron of Balion O Carol Baron of Ely and many more To the Fourth Since the Irish would not admit their Countries to be made Shire-Ground nor suffer Sheriffs to exercise any Authority in them so that they were not amesnable to the Kings Laws but were governed by their own Brehon Laws so that the English could have no Justice against them nor could the King punish Murder without sending an Army to do it there was no reason they should have the Benefit of that Law they would not submit to And this I take to be the true Reason why it was denied them Davis 6. 'T is true they often Petitioned for the Liberty to be Plaintiffs but they would not at the same time put themselves in a condition to be Defendants nor come within the Jurisdiction of the Kings Courts but by starts and for their benefit and therefore assoon as the Kingdom was throughly subdued and reduced into Shires so that the Kings Writ did run throughout the Realm the Irish had also an equal Benefit of the Law and were received into the Condition of Subjects So that this Objection has been long since quite taken away As to the Fifth They were not so ignorant but that they knew the necessity of leaving a Tenure in the King besides there was some small Reservation or Crown-Rent reserv'd by Contract or Agreement in every Patent and therefore they did not expect it as free as they surrendred it however they got well enough by the bargain for in lieu of a precarious Estate for Life at most they got legal Titles of Inheritance by the Kings Grants and certainly they had little reason to complain whilst as our Author confesses they enjoy'd both the Profits and the Possession But let us return to King Henry the Second who found work enough in France and was advised by his Mother Maud the Empress and others at a great Council held on that occasion Speed at Winchester to postpone his Irish Designs until he could meet with a more favourable opportunity which not long after hapned For Dermond Mac Murrough King of Leinster Regan having forced O Neale O Mlaghalin and O Caroll to give him Hostages grew so insolent at these successes that he became oppressive to his Subjects and injurious to his Neighbours more especially by the Rape of the Wife of Orourk King of Brehny 1167. who was Daughter of O Mlaghlin King of Meath Stanihurst whereupon he was invaded by his Enemies Cambrensis and abandoned by his Subjects and Tributaries particularly by Morough O Borne Hasculphus Mac Turkil Governor of Dublin and Daniel Prince of Ossory and after many Disasters 1168. was forced to quit his Country and betake himself to the King of England for Assistance He was accompanied by his Trusty Servant Auliff O Kinade and sixty others and safely arrived at Bristol where he was generously entertain'd at S. Austin's Abbey by Robert Fitzharding Regan M. S. and so having refresh'd himself and Servants he went forward on his Voyage to Aquitain where the King then resided He appeared before the King in a most shabby Habit 1169. says Friar Clin Stanihurst 6â— suitable to the wretched condition of an Exile He fell at his Majesties feet and emphatically bewail'd his own Miseries and Misfortunes He represented the Malice of his Neighbours and the Treachery of his pretended Friends and the Rebellion of his Subjects in proper and lively Expressions he suggested that Kings were then most like Gods when they exercised themselves in succouring the Distressed and that the Fame of King Henry's Magnificence and Generosity had induced him to that Address for his Majesties Protection Assistance But the King being engaged in France could not aid him personally however being mov'd with Dermond's cunning Speeches submissive Deportment Hooker 1. he pitied his Misfortunes entertain'd him kindly and gave him some Presents and then took his Oath of Allegiance and gave him the following Patent HEnry Stainhurst 66. King of England Duke of Normandy and Aquitain Earl of Anjou c. Vnto all his Subjects English Normans Welsh and Scots and to all Nations and People being his Subjects Greeting Whereas Dermond Prince of Leinster most wrongfully as he informeth banished out of his one Country hath craved our Aid Therefore for asmuch as we have received him into our Protection Grace and Favour whosoever within our Realm subject to our Commands will Aid and Help him whom we have embraced as our Trusty Friend for the Recovery of his Land let him be
with the sting of his guilty Conscience brake out on a sudden and forgetting his Allegiance to your Highness and his Duty to me your Deputy he took me up so roughly as though I had been rather his Underling than his Governor The Sum of which despightful Speeches I refer to the Testimony of the honourable Audience where they were delivered As for his manifold Treasons I am ashamed to rehearse such things as he did not stick to commit And if it shall stand with your Majesties Pleasure to adjourn the Trial for a few days I will charge him with such apparent Items as were his Face made of Brass he shall not be able to deny any one Article that shall be booked against him When Vescie had ended the Baron of Ophalie prest himself somewhat forward and in this wise spake Most puissant Prince and my dread Sovereign WEre Mr. Vescie's Mouth so just a Measure as what he spake should be holden for Gospel this had been no fit Place for so arrant a Traitor as he with his feigned glossing would gladly prove me to be But sith it pleased your Majesty with so indifferent Ballance to ponder both our Tales I am throughly perswaded that my loyal Innocency shall be able to overpoize his forged Treachery Your Majesty hath heard many Words to small purpose and as his Complaint hitherto hath been generally hudled up so my Answer thereto may not particularly be framed Whereas therefore he termeth me a Supporter of Thieves a Packer with Rebels and a Conspirator with Traitors If I should but with a bare word deny the Premises all his gay Gloss of glittering Speeches would suddenly fade away Yea but he craveth respite for the Booking his Articles Truly so he hath need for loitering and lingring is the only way he may devise to cloak his Feigning and Forging wherein he sheweth himself as crafty as the Philosopher was accounted wise that promised a Tyrant upon menacing words to School his Ass in Philosophy so he had seven years respite because that in that space he was perswaded that either the Tyrant the Ass or he would die In like wise Mr. Vescie upon respite granted him would hang in hope that either the Life of your Majesty which God forbid should be shortned or that I in tract of time would be disfavoured or that he by one subtile Prank or other should be of this heavy Load disburthened But if I have been as many years a Malefactor as he advoucheth how happeneth it that his Tongue was tied before this late Dissention begun Why did he not from time to time advertize the Council of my Treasons Whereas now it may be probably conjectured that he was edg'd to this Service rather for the hatred he beareth me than for any love he oweth your Royal Majesty Touching the Words I spake in Ireland I purpose not for ought I heard as yet to eat them in England And when I shall be call'd to testifie such Speeches as I delivered there I will not be found so raw in my Matter as to lose my Errand in the Carriage as Mr. Vescie hath done or to crave further respite for the registring of his manifold Treasons As for my secret Meetings with Irish Rebels were I perswaded Mr. Vescie that you were able to prove them I would be found willing to acknowledge them for if my Conscience were so deeply stung as you pretend I would take it for better policy by acknowledging my Trespass to appeal to my King's Mercy than by denying my Faults to stand to the rigour of his Justice And as for Meetings I never had so many in Woods with Rebels as you Mr. Vescie have had in your Chamber with Cows For it hath been manifestly apparent that when the Baron of Ophaly and the best of the Nobility of Ireland have been imbarr'd from entring your Chamber an Irish Cow should have at all times access unto you No Mr. Vescie a Cow an Horse an Hawk and a Silver Cup have been the occasion of your Slackness when the Subjects were preided you would be content to wink at their Misery so that your mouth were stopt with Bribery And when you had gathered your Crumbs sufficiently together you held it for a pretty Policy and yet it was but a bare shift to charge the Nobility with such packing as you daily did practise But you must not think that we are Babes or that with any such stale Device or gross jugling Trick you may so easily dusk or dazle our Eyes Can any man that is but slenderly witted so far be carried as to believe that Mr. Vescie being the King's Deputy in Ireland having his Majesties Treasure having the Nobility at his Beck the Kings Army at his Commandment but that if he were disposed to bestir himself he were able to ferret out such bare-breech Brats as swarm in the English Pale If he said he could not we must smile at his simplicity if he could and would not how may he colour his Disloyalty Yea but I bear such a stroak with the Irish as that upon any private Quarrel I am able to annoy them What then Because the Baron of Ophalie can revenge his private Injuries without the assistance of the Deputy therefore the Deputy may not vanquish weak and naked Rebels without the furtherance of the Baron of Ophalie whereas the contrary ought to be inferr'd that if a private person can tame the Irish what may then the publick Magistrate do that hath the Princes Pay But indeed it is hard to take Hares with Foxes You must not think Mr. Vescie that you were sent Governor into Ireland to dandle your Trulls to pen your self up within a Town or City to give Rebels the Gaze to peel the Subjects to animate Traytors to fill your Coffers to make your self by marring true men to gather the Birds whilst others beat the Bushes and after to impeach the Nobility of such Treasons as you only have committed But for so much as our mutual Complaints stand upon the one his Yea and the other his Nay and that you would be taken for a Champion and I am known to be no Coward let us in God's Name leave Lying for Varlets Berding for Ruffians Facing for Crackers Chatting for Twatlers Scolding for Callets Booking for Scriveners Pleading for Lawyers and let us try with the Dint of Sword as becomes Martial Men to do our mutual Quarrels Wherefore to justifie that I am a true Subject and that thou Vescie art an Arch-Traytor to God and to my King here in Presence of his Highness and in the hearing of this Honourable Assembly I challenge the Combat Whereat all the Auditory shouted Now in good Faith quoth Vescie with a right good Will Whereupon both the Parties being dismist until the King's Pleasure were further known It was agreed at length by the Council That the fittest Trial should have been by Battle Wherefore the Parties being as well thereof advertized as the Day by
in Ireland by any of the Kings Officers without his special License contrary to the aforesaid Ordinance of Edw. 2. And so on the 8th day of September Lionel Duke of Clarenâ—e 1361. Earl of Vlster and Lord of Connaught came over Lord Lieutenant and brought with him an Army of fifteen hundred men by the Pole and his Entertainment was thirteen shillings and four pence per diem and two shillings apiece for eight Knights six pence apiece for three hundred and sixty Archers on Horseback out of Lancashire and two pence apiece for twenty three Archers out of Wales Under him was Ralph Earl of Stafford who had six shillings and eight pence per diem for himself four shillings for a Baneret two shillings apiece for seventeen Knights twelve pence apiece for seventy eight Esquires and six pence apiece for an hundred Archers on Horseback Davis 30 31. and four pence apiece for seventy Archers on foot And James Earl of Ormond had four shillings per diem and two shillings apiece for two Knights and twelve pence apiece for twenty seven Esquires six pence apiece for twenty Hoblers armed four pence apiece for twenty Hoblers unarm'd And Sir John Carew Baneret had four shillings per diem and two shillings for one Knight and twelve pence apiece for eight Esquires and six pence apiece for ten Archers on Horseback And Sir William Windsor had two shillings per diem and for two Knights two shillings each for forty nine Squires twelve pence apiece and for six Archers on Horseback sixpence apiece Upon his coming over Proclamation was made to remand out of England all Men that held Land in Ireland on pain of Forfeiture of their Land because he thought that by his Army 36 Edw. 3. m. 21. and the assistance of the English of Birth he should be able to do great Feats without the assistance of the old English and therefore he also proclaimed That none of the old English should joyn his Army or approach his Camp which gave great offence to those that were the Progeny of the first Conquerors and had hitherto preserved the Kingdom by their Valour However the Duke marched his Army against O Brian but not being acquainted with the Country nor the Manners of the Irish he soon lost an hundred of his Men and thereby found the want of the old experieneed English whom he at first rejected but he timely repair'd his Error by another Proclamation inviting and requiring them to come to him whereupon they united and the Affair proceeded prosperously so that O Bryan was subdued Hereupon the Duke made many Knights as well of Old as New English and some time after he removed the Exchequer to Caterlough and bestowed five hundred Pounds in walling that Town He did many other good Acts so much to the Satisfaction of the whole Kingdom that as well the Clergy as the Layity gave him two Years Profit of all their Lands and Tithes towards the maintenance of the War here He was the first that kept the Army under Discipline so that they were not grievous or burthensom to the Country as they used to be And so having behaved himself very well in Ireland he returned to England on the twenty second of April leaving James Butler 1364. Earl of Ormond Lord Deputy This Lord obtained a Licence from the King to purchase Lands to the value of sixty Pound per annum Lib. CCC non obstante the Statute or Ordinance That no Officer of the King's should purchase within his Jurisdiction But on the eighth Day of December Lionel Duke of Clarence Lord Lieutenant came over again but made a very short Stay before he left the Kingdom and deputed Sir Thomas Dale 1365. Lord Deputy in whose time great Contest arose between the Birminghams of Carbry and the Inhabitants of Meath for the very English were now grown so degenerate that they preyed and pillaged one another after the barbarous manner of the Irish so that Sir Robert Preston Chief Baron who had married one of the Daughters and Coheirs of Sir Walter Birmingham was forced to put a good Guard into his Castle of Carbry to secure his Estate against his seditious Neighbours Hereupon Lionel Duke of Clarente 1367. Lord Lieutenant came over again and held that renowned Parliament at Kilkenny which made that famous Act which is so often cited by the name of the Statute of Kilkenny The Bishops of Dublin Cashel Tuam Lissmore Waterford Killaloo Ossory Leighlin and Cloyne Lib. D. who were present at this Parliament did fulminate an Excommunication against the Transgressors of that Law The Lords and Commons sat together at the making of it and the Statute it self is in French and to be seen at large in the Library at Lambeth libro D. but the effect of it is That the Brehon Law is an evil Custom Davis 112 191. and that it be Treason to use it That Marriage Nursing and Gossiping with the Irish be Treason That the use of Irish Name Apparel or Language be punished with the loss of Lands or imprisonment until the Party give Security to conform That the English should not make War upon the Irish without Order of the State That the English should not permit the Irish to Creaght or graze upon their Land Nor present an Irishman to an Ecclesiastical Benefice Nor receive them into Monasteries or Religious Houses Nor entertain any of their Minstrels Rhimers or News-tellers Nor cess Horse or Foot upon the English Subject against his Will on Pain of Felony And that Sheriffs might enter any Liberty or Franchise to apprehend Felons or Traytors And that four Wardens of the Peace should be appointed in every County equally to assess every Man's Proportion of the publick Charge for Men and Armour But it seems this Statute did not affect the Irish because they were not amesnable to Law for notwithstanding this Act the Irish did always use their Brehon Law until the third Year of King James I. Nevertheless this Law Davis 193. together with the Presence of the King's Son and the Discipline he used did very much reform the degenerate English so that the Revenues certain and casual of Vlster and Connaught were thenceforward accounted for in the Exchequer and the King's Writ did run in both those Provinces and therefore this Statute was revived and confirmed by 10 Hen. 7. cap. 8. It is to be noted Lib. D. That at this time the Price of a Cow was but ten Groats and the Pay of a Foot-Soldier was but two Pence a Day whereof he paid a Penny for his Victuals Nor must it be forgot That about this time it was declared in England That the King could not by Law alienate his Dominions And that King John his Submission to the Pope being contrary to his Coronation Oath and to Law was utterly void But let us return to the Lord Lieutenant who having concluded this Parliament to his Mind went to
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
bind themselves to Allegiance by Oath and Recognizance and when he returned to Dublin on the 26th Octavianus Archbishop of Armagh Philip Birmingham Chief Justice of the Kings Bench and Thomas Dowdal Master of the Rolls followed the same Example There was great intercession made for Prior Keating and Thomas Plunket Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and at length Plunket was pardon'd but Keating was not only left unpardoned but was also removed from the Command of the Castle of Dublin whereof it seems he was Governour or Constable and Richard Archbold whom he had formerly ejected was now restored and perhaps Keating had been used worse if his Habit and Order had not protected him for the King hated him more than all the rest being as it seems one of the most violent and most powerful Abettors of the Impostor Symnel and so Sir Richard Edgecomb having faithfully executed his Commission embarked at Dalky the 29th of July and arrived in Cornwal on the 8th of August Soon after this the Lord Deputy and Council sent over the Bishop of Meath to obviate the Designs of their Enemies and to thank the King for his Favours and to assure him of their future Allegiance and he managed his Negotiation so successfully that although the Archbishop of Armagh who was of the Kings side and a Favourite did use his utmost Endeavours to get the Chancellorship yet he could not obtain it lest thereby Kildare and his Party might be disobliged and the Kingdom just now appeased and growing towards a Settlement might again be disturbed by new Jealousies and Commotions And now the Lord Deputy is at leisure to call Macgeoghan to account for all his Depredations in the Pale 1489. he invaded his Country and took the Castle of Bileragh and preyed and wasted the whole Territory of Moycassel and being loaden with Booty he returned to Dublin But the King being still jealous of the Nobility of Ireland whom he knew to be exceedingly addicted to the House of York sent for most of them to come over to him into England and thither went the Earl of Kildare the Viscounts Buttevant and Fermoy and the Lords of Athenry Kingsale Gormanstown Delvin Hoath Slane Killeen Trimleston and Dunsany They waited on the King at Greenwich where Lambert Symnel served as Butler purposely to ridicule and expose their Folly who would Crown such a Fellow for their King but after some sharp Reproofs they were all taken into Favour and graciously dismiss'd I suppose not without some Presents though only that of three hundred Pieces of Gold to the Lord of Hoath be mentioned But whilst these things were doing in England Maurice Buckagh Earl of Desmond obtained two Victories in Ireland the one against Morough O Carol who was slain in the Battel together with his Brother Moyl Murry and the other against Dermond Mac Teige Carty whom he also killed On the 6th of July a Provincial Synod was held at Athird Ware 24. by Octavianus Archbishop of Armagh at which were present the Bishops of Meath Clogher Ardagh Dromore Kildare Raphoe and Cluanmacnoise There was a great Contest at this Synod between Thomas Brady and one Cormock about the Bishoprick of Kilmore it was by common consent refer'd to the determination of the Bishops of Meath Clogher and Ardagh and what End they made of it non constat but six years after both of them were called Bishops of Kilmore and as such both of them were permitted to sit in the Synod of Drogheda The Summer and Harvest were so wet in Ireland 1491. that the Corn could not be saved and therefore a great Dearth ensued which was accompanied with a Disease called the Sweating Sickness which now came to be first felt and known in Ireland And it seems that a Parliament was held at Trim on Friday after Epiphany but none of their Acts are extant But in March a Proclamation issued against bad Money and Nicholas Flyn was made Supervisor of the Mints at Waterford and Dublin It was about this time that O Neal wrote this short and famous Letter to Hugh Roe O Donel from whom he demanded Chief-Rent which the other denied and refused to pay Cur hoom mi Keesh no monna Curhir i.e. Send me my Rent or if you don't as much as to say he would force him to it But O Donel replied Neel Reesh a gut urm agus dabeh i.e. I owe you no Rent and if I did meaning that he would not pay it so to Blows they go and after some Bickerings and Losses on both sides they agreed to refer all their Differences to the Lord Deputy but in vain for all that he could do could not reconcile them So to Blows they fall again and came to a bloody Battel wherein the Loss was almost equal but if there were any disadvantage in that Point it was of O Donel's side but that was more than balanced by the Death of O Neal who in January 1492 was Murdered by his Brother Henry so that Tyrone became divided between Henry and Daniel O Neal betwixt whom there was continual Wars until the year 1497. and then upon the Resignation of Daniel Henry became sole Proprietor and the same year of 1497 O Donel likewise being superannuated and decrepit gave up his Principality of Tirconnel to his Son Con. But the King finding that the Duchess of Burgundy was again busie at work about setting up another Impostor thought it necessary to put the Government of Ireland in the hands of such as he might confide in and therefore he removed the Earl of Kildare and Walter Fitz-Symons 1492. Archbishop of Dublin was made Lord Deputy to Jasper Dukâ— of Bedford and Sir James Ormond Natural Son to John Earl of Ormond was made Lord Treasurer in the room of Eustace Lord of Portlester who had enjoyed that Office eight and thirty years This new Lord Treasurer came to Ireland in June with a small Band of Souldiers and it so hapned that upon some Quarrel between him and the Earl of Kildare near Dublin there was a Skirmish which proved very prejudicial to both the Families of Butlers and Giraldines and the more because the Irish took advantage thereby to infest the Pale and to disturb the English Borders However in September following more Alterations were made in the great Offices of State Alexander Plunket was made Lord Chancelor Thomas Butler Master of the Rolls and Nicholas Turner was constituted Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in August before and the Earl of Ormond and the Prior of Canterbury were sent Ambassadors to the French King This Summer was so dry that abundance of Cattel perished for want of Water and the Air grew so Pestilential that a multitude of People and particularly the Lord of Slane died of the Plague But a greater Mischief than this hapned to the unfortunate Kingdom of Ireland by the Arrival of Perkin Warbeck who to supply the Defects of the former Imposture did pretend to be Richard Duke of
York Second Son of Edward the Fourth to whom the Crown did really belong if he were living and this Perkin did personate him so well that there remains some doubt to this day whether he were an Impostor or not but supposing he was it was cunningly contrived to let him first appear in Portugal as a Child that had in a skulking manner fled from the Cruelty of his usurping Unkle besides Portugal was a Place with which the Duchess of Burgundy had not much Correspondence and therefore it could not be suspected that she had a hand in the Cheat but however that be young Perkin set Sail from Lisbon and arrived safely at Cork where he was kindly received by the Citizens and particularly by John Walters an eminent Merchant of Cork who probably was then Mayor and whose Apprentice Perkin had been as they say he wrote Letters to the Earls of Kildare and Desmond for their Assistance against King Henry but before he received their Answers he received Letters from the French King inviting him thither and so to France he went and was royally received and entertained until that King made Peace with King Henry and then Perkin made a seasonable Retreat into Flanders where he was exceeding welcome to his supposed Aunt the Duchess of Burgundy and there we will leave him for a while and return to our â—ord Deputy He held a Parliament at Dublin 1493. on Friday after Midsummer which it seems vacated some Indictments and Inquisitions that had formerly been made to the prejudice of this Lord Deputy by the Means of the Lord Portlester and now the Tables being turn'd and the Votaries of the House of Lancaster at Helm the Lord Portlester himself was questioned in the Exchequer for the miss-management of his Office of Treasurer This Parliament did also repeal a former Act made against the City of Waterford and restored that City to all its ancient Liberties and Priviledges and it is probable that there was also an Act of Parliament now made for the general Resumption of all the Crown Lands that were alienated or granted away since the first year of King Henry the Sixth but none of the Acts of this Parliament are Printed except one for the cleansing of the Water-Course in St. Patrick-street in Dublin and so this Parliament being dissolved in August the Lord Deputy on the sixth of September following resigned to Robert Preston Viscount Gormanstown Lord Deputy to the Duke of Bedford who it seems had not Commission to call a Parliament nevertheless he did call one which met at Drogheda and made several Statutes which were absolutely void for the Defect aforesaid however they were expresly repeal'd by 10 Hen. 7. cap. 23. And these farther Reasons were given for it 1. That the Lord Lieutenant had surrendred his Patent before the Summons And 2. Because the Parliamentary Summons did not issue to all the Shires but to four Shires only On the Twelfth of September this Lord Deputy called several of the Nobility to Trim where they subscribed Articles for the Peace of the Kingdom viz. That no man should make War without the Deputies Consent and that several Extortions and Tributes that were used and demanded should be abrogated and suppressed and that Murderers Thieves and Vagabonds should be punished c. There were present at this Assembly Alexander Plunket L. Chancellor Girald Earl of Kildare the Bishops of Meath Kildare the Lords of Slane Delvin Killeen Houth Trimletston and Dunsany c. And they gave Recognizanse and Hostages for the observation of those Articles and after this he called the Parliament aforesaid In October the late Lord Deputy Fitz-Symons went into England to give the King a full Account as well of his own Government as of the present State of the Kingdom of Ireland and not long after viz. in November following the Earl of Kildare hearing he was impeach'd in England went also thither to justifie himself before the King but the L. Deputy leaving the Government in the Hands of his Son followed the Earl to England and by the Assistance of Sir James Ormond Lord Treasurer of Ireland he so far prevailed that Kildare's Justification was rejected and himself sent over Prisoner to Ireland to the end the Matter might be more fully examined upon the place 1494. by Sir Edward Poynings Knight of the Garter Lord Deputy whose chief Errand was to suppress the Abettors of Perkin Warbeck he came over the thirteenth of September and immediately made great Alterations amongst the Ministers of State Henry Dean Bishop of Bangor he constituted Lord Chancellor Sir Hugh Conway was appointed Treasurer Thomas Bouring was made Chief Justice of the Kings Bench as John Topcliff was of the Common Pleas and Walter Ever was made Chief Baron of the Exchequer all which were Englishmen born and good Lawyers and were sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland This Deputy brought over with him about one thousand Souldiers and resolved to invade Vlster to pursue some of Perkins's Friends that fled thither it is strange he should use the Earl of Kildare's assistance in this Expedition however together they went accompanied with Sir James Ormond who had resigned the Office of High Treasurer they did great Execution on the Irish and harass'd the Territories of O Hanlon and Mac Genis and others It was suggested That Kildare did secretly treat and conspire with O Hanlon to destroy the Lord Deputy for which he was Attainted as shall be shewn hereafter but it seems he was innocent of that Matter not only because O Hanlon cleared him upon Oath two years after but also because he was acquitted in England upon full hearing before the King Nevertheless Kildare's Brother did at this time seize on the Castle of Caterlogh whereupon the Lord Deputy was necessitated to clap up a sort of a Peace with O Hanlon and Macgenis and so having taken their Oaths and Hostages he immediately marched to Caterlogh which after ten days Siege 1494. was surrendred unto him And so in November on Monday before the Feast of St. Andrew sate that famous Parliament at Drogheda which Enacted I. That the Treasurer might appoint his under-Officers here as is used in England and shall account once a year here before the Barons of the Exchequer and such of the Council as the Lord Deputy shall appoint and the same Accounts to be certified into England and finally determined and setled there II. That no Minister of Justice viz. The Chancellor Treasurer Judges Clerk or Master of the Rolls nor any Officer Accomptant shall have their Places but during the King's Pleasure III. An Act adnulling a Prescription which Traytors and Rebels claimed in Ireland The Reason of this Act was because Richard Duke of York at his last being in Ireland did Cause an Act to be made That Ireland should be a Sanctuary for Refugees and that it should be Treason to disturb any body there by any Writ Privy Seal or other Matter from England and
our Service nor our good Meaning towards our Prince's Crown availeth yet say not hereafter but in this open Hostility which here we profess and proclaim we have shewed our selves no Villains nor Churls but Warriors and Gentlemen This Sword of Estate is yours and not mine I received it with an Oath and used it to your Benefit I should stain mine Honour if I turned the same to your Annoyance Now have I need of mine own Sword which I dare trust As for the common Sword it flattereth me with a painted Scabbard but hath indeed a pestilent Edge already bathed in the Giraldines Blood and now is newly whetted in hope of a farther destruction Therefore save your selves from us as from open Enemies I am none of Henry's Deputies I am his Foe I have more mind to Conquer than to Govern to meet him in the Field than to serve him in Office If all the Hearts of England and Ireland that have Cause thereto would joyn in this Quarrel as I hope they will then should he soon be made sensible as I trust he shall of his Tyranny and Cruelty for which the Age to come may lawfully score him up among the Ancient Tyrants of most abominable and hateful Memory Having added to this shameful Oration Ibid. many other slanderous and foul Terms which for divers respects I spare to mention he would have surrendred the Sword to the Lord Chancellor who being provided for the Lord Thomas his coming and also being loth that his Slackness should seem disloyal in refusing the Sword or his Frowardness over-cruel in snatching it upon the first Proffer took the Lord Thomas by the Wrist of the Hand and requested him for the Love of God the Tears trickling down his Cheeks to give him Audience for two or three Words which granted the Reverend Father spake as ensueth My Lord although Hatred be commonly the Handmaiden of Truth because we see him that plainly expresseth his Mind to be for the more part of most men disliked yet notwithstanding I am so well assured of your Lordship's good inclination towards me and your Lordship so certain of my entire Affection towards you as I am emboldned notwithstanding this Company of Armed Men freely and frankly to utter that which by me declared and by your Lordship followed will turn God willing to the Avail of you your Friends Allies and this Country I doubt not my Lord but you know that it is Wisdom for any man to look before he leap and to sound the Water before his Ship hull thereon and namely where the Matter is of weight there it behoveth to follow sound sage and mature Advice Wherefore my Lord sith it is no May-game for a Subject to levy an Army against his Prince it lieth your Lordship in hand to breath longer on the Matter as well by forecasting the hurt whereby you may fall as by revolving the hope by which you are fed What should move your Lordship to this sudden Attempt I know not If it be the Death of your Father it is as yet but secretly mutter'd not manifestly publish'd and if I should grant you that your Zeal in revenging your Father's Execution were in some respect to be recommended yet Reason would you should suspend the Revenge until the Certainty were known And were it that the Report were true yet it standeth with the Duty and Allegiance of a good Subject from whom I hope in God you mean not to dissever your self not to spurn and kick against his Prince but contrariwise if his Sovereign be mighty to fear him if he be profitable to his Subjects to honour him if he command to obey him if he be kind to love him if he be vicious to pity him if he be a Tyrant to bear with him considering that in such case it is better with patience to bow than with stubbornness to break For sacred is the Name of a King and odious is the Name of a Rebellion the one from Heaven derived and by God shielded the other in Hell forged and by the Devil executed And therefore whoso will observe Histories or weigh the Justice of God in punishing Malefactors shall easily see that albeit the Sun shineth for a time on them that are in Rebellion yet such sweet beginnings are at length clasped up with sharp and sour Ends. Now that it appeareth you ought not to bear Armour against your King it resteth to discuss whether you be able though you were willing to annoy your King For if among mean and private Foes it be reckoned for Folly in a secret Grudge to profess open Hatred and where he is not able to hinder there to shew a willing mind to hurt much more ought your Lordship in so general a Quarrel as this that concerneth the King that toucheth the Nobility that appertaineth to the whole Commonwealth to foresee the King's Power on the one side and your Force on the other and then to judge if you be able to cock with him and to put him beside the Cushion and not whilst you strive to sit in the Saddle to lose to your own undoing both the Horse and the Saddle King Henry is known to be in these our days so puissant a Prince and so victorious a Worthy that he is able to conquer Foreign Dominions and think you that he cannot defend his own He tameth Kings and judge you that he may not rule his own Subjects Suppose you conquer the Land do you imagine that he will not recover it Therefore my Lord flatter not your self overmuch repose not so great Affiance either in your Troop of Horsemen or in your Band of Footmen or in your multitude of your Partakers what Face soever they put now on the Matter or what Success soever for a season they have because it is easie for an Army to vanquish them that do not resist yet hereafter when the King shall send his Power into this Country you shall see your Adherents like slippery Changlings pluck in their Horns and such as were content to bear you up by the Chin as long as you could swim when they espy you sinking they will by little and little shrink from you and percase will duck you over head and ears As long as the Gale puffeth full in your Sails doubt not but divers will cleave unto you and feed on you as Crows on Carrion but if any Storm happen to bluster then will they be sure to leave you post alone sticking in the Mire or Sands having least help when you have most need And what will then ensue of this The Branches will be pardoned the Root apprehended your Honour distained your House attainted your Arms reversed your Mannors razed your Doings examined at which time God knoweth what an Heart-burning it will be when that with no colour may be denied which without shame cannot be confessed My Lord I pour not out Oracles as a Soothsayer for I am neither a Prophet nor Son of a Prophet
agrorum spoliatores per viam and Rape shall be punished with Death without Mercy 16. That no Man shall meddle with any Ecclesiastical Officer or Benefice but pay all their Tithe punctually and half Tithe of the Fish taken by Foreigners on the Coast 17. That Noblemen shall have but twenty Cubits or Bandles of Linnen in their Shirts Horsemen eighteen Footmen sixteen Garsons twelve Clowns ten and that none of their Shirts shall be dyed with Saffron on pain of twenty Shillings 18. That the Lord or Gentleman into whose Country a Theft is traced must trace it thence or make restitution 19. No Histriones Mummers or Players at Christmas or Easter Lastly The Earl of Ormond in the Counties of Waterford Typerary and Kilkenny and the Earl of Desmond in the rest of Munster are made Custodes Executores of these Ordinances with the Assistance of the Bishop of Cashel But we must not leave the Year 1541 Sullevan 79. until we have informed the Reader That Robert Wachop titular Archbishop of Armagh who is famous for riding Post the best of any Body in Christendom although he was blind from his Cradle did this Year introduce the Jesuites into Ireland by the Favour and Countenance of Pope Paul the third John Codur was the first of the Society that went thither and was followed by Alphonsus Salmeron Paschasius Broet and Francis Zapata and the observing Reader will easily perceive the dismal and horrible Effects of that Mission which hath ever since imbroiled Ireland even to this Day But the King to obviate the Designs of the Papacy and to assert his own Supremacy which was his Right by Common Law and was also declared and established by Act of Parliament caused all the Irish that submitted to him to renounce the Pope's Usurpations and to own the King's Supremacy by Indenture O Connor and O Dwyn or Dyn were two of the first that complied with this Form and their Example was followed by O Donel who by his Indenture of the sixth of August Lib. D. 33 Hen. 8 Covenants Quod renunciabit relinquet adnihilabit proposse suo usurpatam Authoritatem Primaciam Romani Pontiâ—icis sibi adherentes nullo modo acceptabit proteget aut defendet nec in patria sua illos aut aliquem illorum permittet sed omni industria diligentia illos quemlibet illorum expellet ejiciet eradicabit aut ad subjectionem dicti Domini Regis successorum suorum coercebit constringet Brian mac Mahon did the like the fourteenth of August And in January O Neal came to Minooth and did the same the thirteenth of May O More perfected his Indenture And on the twenty fourth of May 1542. 34 H. 8. Hugh O Kelly Abbot of Knockmoy surrendred that Abby and made his submission by Indenture in the Form aforesaid Moreover he covenanted to furnish the King with sixty Horse and a Battle of Galloglasses and sixty Kern when the Lord Deputy comes to Connaught and with twelve Horse and twenty four Kerne anywhere out of Connaught and so that Abby was granted to him during Pleasure O Rourk submitted the first of September and Mac Donel and Mac William did the like the eighteenth of May 1543. But because all these Indentures are to be found registred in the Red Book of the Privy Council of Ireland I will trouble the Reader only with the Substance of one of these Indentures by which he may easily guess at the rest HAec Indent Lib. D. fact 26. die Septembris 34 Hen. 8. inter prenobil Vir. Ant. Saintleger Jacobum Comit. Desmoniae Will. Brabazon Arm thesaur ad Guerras Subthesaur Reg. Hiberniae Johannem Travers Armig. magistr ordinatium Osborn Echingham milit mariscallum c. ex una parte Dom. Barry alias Great Barry Mac Cartymore Dom. de Rupe alias Lord Roch Mac Carthy Reagh Thadeum Mac Cormock Dom. de Musâ—ry Barry Oge alias the young Barry O Sullevan Bear suae Nation Capit. Donald O Sullevan suae Nation Primum Barry zoe alias the Red Barry Mac Donough de Allow suae Nation Capit. Donaldum O Callaghane Nationis suae primum Geraldum filium Johannis milit ex altera parte Testatur Quod predict Dominus Barry c. conveniunt concedunt consentiunt pangunt pro seipsis conjunctim divisim haered successor assignat Tenent sequacibus suis ad cum dicto Deputat c. quod tenebunt perimplebunt omnes singul Articulos conventiones pacta condiciones quae in hiis Indentur continentur ex parte eorum c. Imprimis Ipsi quilibet eor recognoscit Regiam Majestat predict haeredes successores suos Reges esse Naturalem ligeum Dom. suum illumque illos secundos post Deum honorabunt illisque obedient servient contra omnes creaturas mundi Ac suam Majestatem haeredes successores Reges acceptabunt tenebunt immediate sub Christo in terris Ecclesiae Anglicanae Hibernicanae supremum Caput illius illor locum tenent Deput vicem gerent in hoc Regno Hiberniae obedient inservient in omnibus servitium suae Majestatis haered successor Regum concernentibus Et quantum in illis conjunctim divisim aut assignat illor est vel fuit usurpator primaciam authoritatem Romani Episcopi adnihillabunt omnesque suos Fautores Adjutores Suffragatores ad sum posse illor precipitabunt abolebunt atque personas spiritual temporal quae promoventur ad ecclesiastica beneficia sive dignitat per Regiam Majestatem seu alios de jure patronos tantum absque aliqua provisione fienda dicto Episc Rom. manutenebunt supportabunt defendent ex hinc omnes singules Provisores alia Rom. pro promotione petentes confugientes apprehendent producent ad Reg. commun legem ib. judiciari rectari secundum statut ordination pro similibus casibus facta fienda The Second Covenant is To submit all their Controversies to the Determination of the Bishops of Waterford Cork and Ross the Mayors of Cork and Youghal Suffrain of Kingsale Philip Roch Esq William Walsh Esq the Dean of Cloyne or any three of them quorum Desmond to be one and the like is in other Provinces mutatis mutandis The Third is About their future Controversies to be decided by the Earl and the said Bishops or two of them quorum Desmond to be one and they may fine or amerce Wrong-doers of which Fine the King shall have one third and the Judges the rest The Fourth is That if the Case be too difficult for the Commissioners it shall be determined by Justices of Assize and no Force shall be used nor Peace broken on Pain of a Fine The Fifth is That they shall help and defend the Collectors of the King's Revenue The Sixth is To obey the Ordinances made by the Nobility and annexed to the Indenture which probably were
is made in England and so the English Statute of 35 Hen. 8. was in effect a Repeal of the Irish Statute of 28 Hen. 8. cap. 2. as it was actually a Repeal of the English Statute of the same tenor and effect But to proceed Sir Thomas Cusak Lord Chancellor and Girald Aylmer Lord Chief Justice continued Lords Justices and to them the Council of England on the twentieth Day of July sent an account of the Succession of Queen Mary together with a Proclamation wherein she was stiled Supreme Head of the Church 1553. which was read in Dublin and other Cities and Towns of Ireland as is usual and Orders were soon after sent to continue all Officers in their Places and another Proclamation To give Liberty of the Mass to all that would was likewise sent over and afterwards the Queen was crowned by Gardiner Bishop of Winchester Ware 204. on the first day of October and she gave a General Pardon to both her Kingdoms of England and Ireland In the mean time O Connor and his Complices were busie about the Invasion of Offaly but by the Prudence of the Lords Justices they were easily suppressed September Nor had O Neal better Success in the County of Lowth for though he did abundance of Mischief there yet the Lords Justices with the Militia of Dublin and such others as they could on a suddain scrape together gave him a great Defeat near Dundalk where he lost many of his Men. And on the eleventh of November Sir Anthony Saintleger Lord Deputy arrived at Dalkye and on the nineteenth he took the usual Oath and received the Sword in Christ Church Dublin and the Lord Chancellor Cusack's Patent was also renewed Cormack Mac Coghlan with the Aid of the Baron of Delvin made War against Mac Coghlan and invaded his Territory and though little more was done at first than the burning of some few Villages yet this was the beginning of a Contest so fierce and so tedious that at length the Territory of Delvin was entirely ruined Owen Macgenis was by the Lord Deputy admitted to be Chief of his Sept and Captain of his Country on the sixth of December upon his Oath of Fidelity to the Queen and her Successors and upon these Conditions following viz. 1. That he should not admit any Provisions from Rome Lib. D. but oppose them all he could 2. To serve the Queen with all his Power when Occasion required 3. To maintain twenty four Horse and sixty Foot and a Company integr prelium of Gallowglasses at every Northern Expedition of the Deputy for three Days going and three Days returning at his own Charge 4. To have no Correspondence with the Scots 5. To give the Wife and Daughter of Donel Macgenis their due 6. That he should not oppress the Queen's Subjects but assist them and the Queen would assist him against any of his Followers that should rebel 7. That he should pay one hundred Cows but this last was remitted him by the Deputy George Dowdal Archbishop of Armagh who fled beyond Seas in the Reign of King Edward was now recalled and restored to the Title of Primate of all Ireland and had the Priory of Athird given him for Life He held a Provincial Synod at Tredagh where they made some Progress towards restoring Popery 1554. and depriving the married Clergy but in April it went farther and the Primate and Dr. Walsh elect Bishop of Meath received a Commission to deprive them and accordingly Staples Bishop of Meath was for that reason deprived on the twenty ninth Day of June and in the latter end of the same Year the like was done to Brown Archbishop of Dublin Lancaster Bishop of Kildare and Traverse Bishop of Leighlin and the two other Protestant Bishops viz. Bale Bishop of Ossory and Casy Bishop of Limerick fled beyond the Seas In the room of these Protestant Bishops Popish Prelates were substituted Doctor Walsh was made Bishop of Meath and afterwards died in Exile in Queen Elizabeth's Reign Hugh Curvin succeeded in the See of Dublin as Thomas Levereuse did in that of Kildare Thomas O Fihely was by the Pope made Bishop of Leighlin Hugh Lacy was constituted Bishop of Limerick and John Thonory got the Bishoprick of Ossory but his Leases were afterwards avoided because Bale was never deprived and therefore he being alive at the time the Lease was made 2 Cro. 553. continued Bishop in Law and so Thonory had no power to dispose of any thing belonging to that See and in that case it was likewise adjudged that the King of England may nominate and appoint Bishops in Ireland without the Formality of a Conge de Eslâ—â—â— and that the Statute of 2 Elizabethae is for so much in Affirmance of the Common Law The Popish Bishops did take an Oath to the Queen in these Words Ware de Praesulibus 188. Ego A. B. Episcopus D. electus Consecratus profiteor me habere tenere ownes temporales Possessiones dicti Episcopatus de manibus vestris Successoribus vestris Angliae Regibus ut in jure Coronae Regni vestri Hiberniae vobisque Successoribus vestris Angliae Regibus fidelis ero ita me Deus adjuvet sancta Dei Evangelia But how well they kept that Oath I need not relate because it is notorious In November came over Girald Earl of Kildare who was restored the thirteenth of May before and Thomas Duff Earl of Ormond and Brian Fitz-Patrick Lord of Upper Ossory all which had behaved themselves exceeding well against Sir Thomas Wiat This Fitz-Patrick is famous for extraordinarily loving and being beloved of King Edward the Sixth and on the ninth of February Charles Mac Art Cavenagh was created Baron of Balian for Life and after his Death his Brother Dermond had the same Title The Queen ordered that the Army should be reduced to five hundred but that was not thought reasonable in Ireland However to comply as far as they could with her Majesties Orders they did reduce the Army to six hundred Foot and four hundred and sixty Horse and a few Kerns but were forced in a short time afterward to raise more and to send for fresh Supplies out of England In the mean time Lib. D. Daniel O Bryan claiming by Tanistry had great Contests with the Earl of Thomond about that Estate he had before this murdered the Earl's Father and though for the present they were reconciled by the Mediation of the Lord Deputy and Council about Michaelmas yet it was not long before their Dissentions broke out again But the Irish Historian Mr. Sullevan gives a very different Account of this Matter and tells us That the Lord President Fitton got Daniel O Bryan into Limerick upon his Oath that he would give him free and safe egress out of the Gates but the Sophistical Englishman turn'd him out of the wrong Gate so that there was the River of Shenin between him and his Army which was
Rebellion than ever had been in Ireland to that time For the Lord Deputy having sent Proclamations of the King's Succession to all Cities and Burroughs not doubting but that they would be chearfully published in every place to his great amazement received this Account from Cork That Captain Morgan came thither with the Proclamation on the Eleventh of April and immediately Sir George Thornton one of the Commissioners of Munster went with it to Thomas Sarsfeild then Mayor who answered That by their Charter they might take time to consider it Sir George replied That since they knew the King's Right and that he was proclaimed in Dublin it would be taken ill if they delayed it The Mayor answered That Perkin Warbeck was also proclaimed in Dublin and that nevereheless much Damage hapned to the Country by their precipitation therein Whereupon Saxy chief-Chief-Justice of Munster said That they ought to be committed if they refused But William Mead the Recorder told him That no body there had Authority to commit them Hereupon the Mayor and his Brethren c. went to the Court-house to consider of so important a Matter Sir George Thornton in the mean time staying in the Walk to expect their Resolution After an hours stay there he sent to know their Mind they put him off for an hour more and when that was expired they plainly told him They could not give their Answer till the next day Whereupon he said He would proclaim the King without them But they let him understand That he had no Authority within their Liberties to do so neither would they permit him to do it And so they put it off till the Thirteenth of April and then Sir George Thornton and the Lord Roch and about 800 Soldiers and others proclaimed the King in the North Suburbs near Shandon-Castle but the Mayor and Citizens deferr'd it till the Sixteenth and then wrote a sawcy Letter to the Lord Deputy importing That they had receiv'd the Proclamation on the Eleventh of April but had delayed publishing it till the Sixteenth for the greater Solemnity and they desired that Halbowling Fort not being in the Hands of a sufficient Commander to secure it might be put into the Hands of the Mayor and Citizens for whose Defence it was made But the Citizens not expecting an Answer to their minds from the Lord Deputy designed to set up their Religion by force and to that end they kept strong Guards on their Ports and Gates and stopt the King's Boats going with Victuals to Halbowling so that the Commissioners were forced to relieve that Fort with Ammunition and Victuals from Kinsale they also carried the Cross in Procession about the City and forced People to reverence it they also defaced Sentences of Scripture that were written on the Church-walls and painted the places with Pictures they re-consecrated the Churches and went daily in Procession they also took the Sacrament to spend their Lives in defence of the Roman Catholick Religion they disarm'd such Protestants as were in their Power and rejected the mixt Moneys and refus'd to suffer the King's Provisions to be taken out of the Store until they should be assured that the Soldiers should be sent out of the Liberties of the City they also endeavoured to get the South Fort into their Hands so that Sir George Thornton was forced to shelter himself in Shandon Castle Upon notice of these Proceedings Sir Charles Willmot who was besieging Mac-Morris in Ballingary Castle immediately repair'd to Cork and finding that no good was to be done by Treaty he sent 600 Men over the Ford by Gillabby into the South Fort and thô two of them were kill'd in their Passage by Shot from the Walls yet the rest got in safe and secur'd the Fort However the Citizens mounted some Guns and shot at the Bishop's Palace and Shandon Castle thô the Lord President Carew his Wife was in the one and the Commissioners of Munster in the other Nevertheless on the 28th of April the Lord Deputy wrote a kind Letter to the City of Cork and required them to suffer the King's Stores to be issued out to the Army but they excus'd themselves and answered That they did not know but those Stores if delivered out might be made use of against the Town Whereupon the Lord Deputy wrote a smart Letter to them on the First day of May but before it came to their Hands the Citizens under the Conduct of Christopher Murrough had removed the King's Stores into their own Cellars Morison 291. and being taught by a Seditious Priest That he could not be a Lawful King who was not approved by the Pope nor sworn to maintain the Catholick Religion they took a Resolution in Publick Council to excite the other Cities and Towns to Confederate with them for the Preservation of the Catholick Faith and resolved to defend themselves by Force It hapned that some few were slain on either Side and particularly a Minister was kill'd by a Shot from the Town and one of the Bishop's Servants was wounded and taken Prisoner and was told by them That the Traytor his Master should not escape Death if they could get him within their Power But their Insolence will best appear by their own Letter to the Lord Deputy the Substance of which is to be found here Appendix 1. In the mean time the Commissioners of Munster finding that they wanted Artillery sent for some to Halbowling but the Citizens having notice of that Design Mann'd out some Boats under William Terry to intercept them Nevertheless they arrived safely and thereupon the Citizens being frightned with the noise of the Great Guns agreed to a Cessation until the Lord Deputy should come But the City of Cork was not the only Place that was Rebellious at this Junctuâ—e Waterford was altogether as ill inclined tho' it had not an Opportunity of doing so much Mischief However they did their Share and first they pulled down Sir Nicholas Welsh their Recorder from the Cross where he was reading the Proclamation of the King's Succession They also broke the Doors of the Hospital and admitted Dr. White to preach a Seditious Sermon in St. Patrick's Church wherein amongst other inveterate things he said That Jezebel meaning Queen Elizabeth was dead They also took the Keys of the Cathedral from the Sexton and caused a Priest to celebrate Mass there Nor were the Towns of Clonmell and Wexford free from the like Insolencies but they being the weaker and the less populous Places were sooner sensible of their Faults than were other Towns where Tumult and Noise gave less opportunity of Thinking and Number and Fortification encourag'd to Obstinacy and therefore these Corporations restored the Churches and submitted to the Lord Deputy's Commands before the Army approached their Walls whilst on the contrary Limerick which has seldom been backward in an Irish Rebellion was one of the forwardest in this and gave their Priests the Possession of all their Churches where they erected Altars
respective Lieutenants tho' very unwillingly whereupon Major Jones one of the Agents declined the Voyage rather than remove his Company and so His Majesties Letter of the Twenty seventh of February arriving on the Twenty ninth of March whereby Sir Charles Coot 1644. and Captain Parsons were Licensed to attend His Majesty with the rest of the Agents they had Sealed Letters of Recommendation to Secretary Nicholas and took Ship the Second of April and came to Oxford the Seventh and on the Eighth kissed the Kings hand and presented their Petition which is to be found at large Burlace Appendix pag. 62. setting forth That the Irish Rebellion was raised out of Detestation to his Blessed Government and for rooting out the Protestant Religion and for dispossessing His Majesty of that Kingdom without the least occasion given by His Majesty or his Protestant Subjects c. upon reading whereof the King was pleased to say THAT HE KNEW THE CONTENTS OF THE PETITION WAS TRUTH AND THAT IT COULD NOT BE DENIED and thereupon it was thus indorsed His Majesty being very sensible of the Petitioners Losses and Sufferings is ready to hear relieve them AS THE EXIGENCY OF HIS AFFAIRS WILL PERMIT and wisheth the Petitioners to propose what they think fit in particular for His Majesties information and the Petitioners remedy and future Security The King also told them That the Irish protested upon their Salvations to him that at first the Conspiracy was not General but that those of the Pale were forced into Rebellion by the Governours of Ireland and that if the Parliament had permitted him to go into Ireland when he desired he doubted not but he should soon have suppressed the Rebellion But the Agents to leave nothing undone that might justly advance their Cause did take Notice of the false and Scandalous Remonstrance of the Confederates from Trim as they called it which being Printed by Thomas Burk the Irish Printer at Waterford with His Majesties Arms affixed thereon was now with Ostentation and Insolence published at Oxford and they made so smart an Answer thereunto as was beyound Reply both which Remonstrance and Answer are in Substance recited Appendix 5. and 6. they also together with that Answer 27 April 1644. presented unto the King the Proposals mentioned Appendix 21. These Writings were referr'd by the King to the Committee for Irish Affairs some of which were so disaffected to the Protestants of Ireland that they said The Proposals were drawn by the Close Committee at London and they wonder'd His Majesty would receive such a Mutinous Petition But the Petitioners were Men of Courage and would not be easily daunted 30 April they went next day to the Lord Cottington Chief of the Committee and prayed a Copy of the Irish Proposals He made strange of it as if he knew no such thing and told them That they meant the Irish Remonstrance They replied That was in Print and common and they did not mean It but they meant the Irish Propositions His Lordship told them If any such were it was â—it they should have a Copy but that he knew of no such thing altho' he really was present at the Committee April 19. when those propositions were read and by him and the rest with Charge of inviolable Secresie given to Sir William Stewart and the other Commissioners from the Council Hereupon the Agents address'd themselves to Sir William Stewart and the other Commissioners from the Council of Ireland desiring them to get them Audience from the King before Matters went too far in the Treaty and to obtain a Copy of the Irish Demands To which the next day Sir George Ratcliff return'd answer That they had acquainted the Lords of the Committee with the Desires of the Agents and that they were offended that the Agents should be so forward in prejudicating His Majesty's Justice and Theirs and that they should be heard before the Conclusion of the Treaty The next day being the First of May the Agents were sent for to the Committee and their Instructions and Proposals and the Order of Concurrence of the Irish House of Commons being read the Earl of Bristol told them That the King and the Committee were sensible of the prejudicate Opinion the Agents had of their Justice in pressing to be heard and by their belief of vulgar Reports but that the Agents could not be more careful of the Protestants Persons and Religion than they were The Agents replied That if they had erred in pressing to be heard it proceeded from their Zeal to the Service and for the Preservation of that Remnant of poor Protestants that intrusted them and out of a desire His Majesty and their Lordships might be rightly informed of their past Sufferings and present Calamities and desired to be admitted to Proof of Particulars Hereupon they were ordered to withdraw and being afterwards call'd in again they were commanded to subscribe their Propositions which they did and then were ordered to attend the Primate Usher the Bishop of Downe Sir George Ratcliff c. in the Afternoon which they did and were told by them how offensive the Heighth and Unreasonableness of their Proposals were and that the Committee sent them the Message mentioned Appendix 21 to which they immediately return'd the Answer there likewise recited Hereupon Sir George Ratcliff told them That whilst they continued so high in their Demands they must expect nothing but War They answer'd They were ill provided for it but would rather run the hazard of it than have a dishonorable and destructive Peace and that they could not make farther Alterations in their Proposals without betraying their Trust Sir George replied That if they would abate Three parts of them he was sure the Fourth part would not be granted them That they were sent to preserve the Protestants but that if the Irish Agents return'd without a Peace they would destroy the Remainder of the Protestants since the King was not in a Condition to help them and therefore desired the Agents to think of some way of securing them They answered That there were Five Months of the Cessation unexpir'd within which Time Means of Relief may be found and if not it were better to quit Ireland for a time than to make a destructive Peace Then Sir George asked How the English should get out of Ireland They said By keeping the Irish Agents in England till it is done He replied That he would rather advise the King to lose Ireland than break His Faith with the Irish Agents who came to Treat with Him upon His Word and that it was not likely if the Irish had not good Conditions of Peace that they would forbear Arms till the end of the Cessation On the next day the Agents gave Secretary Nicholas a new Set of Propositions to the same effect with the former only a little more moderate to be presented to the King But on the Seventh of May Sir William Saintleger being come to Oxford told the
Lord George Digby That the Protestant Forces that came from Munster were much dissatisfied that the Protestant Agents from Ireland received so little Countenance His Lordship answered That the greatest Kindness he could do them was to call them Mad-men that he might not call them Roundheads for putting in such mad Proposals And he desired to speak with some of them but they refus'd to come to one that had expressed so much Prejudice against them On the Ninth of May these Agents were ordered to attend the King and Council which they did and His Majesty told them They were sent by His Protestant Subjects to move Him in their behalf and desired to know in what Condition the Protestants of Ireland were to defend themselves if a Peace should not ensue They answered That they humbly conceived they were employed first to prove their Petition and to disprove the scandalous Aspersions which the Rebels have cast upon His Majesty's Government and the Protestants of Ireland The King replied That it needed not any more than to prove the Sun shines when we all see it They answered That they thought His Majesty was not satisfied but that those of the Pale were forced into Rebellion by the Governors The King said That was but an Assertion of the Irish and then He renew'd His former Question about their Condition to resist if a Peace did not ensue The Agents desired time to answer but the King told them He thought they came prepared to declare the Condition of the whole Kingdom and asked them Would they have Peace or no The Agents answered They were bred up in Peace and were not against it so that it might stand with His Majesty's Honor and the Safety of His Protestant Subjects in their Religion Lives Liberties and Fortunes Then the Lord Digby interpos'd and said That the Agents desir'd a Peace Yes says the Duke of Richmond and Earl of Lindsey provided it consists with the King's Honor and the Protestants Safety And I would rather says the King that they should have their Throats cut in War than SUFFER by a Peace of my making but I will take Care the Protestants of Ireland shall be secured And then His Majesty told the Agents they should have a Copy of the Irish Proposals and Liberty to answer them but that they were to consider of Two things First That He was not in a Condition to relieve them with Men Money Ammunition Arms or Victuals And Secondly That He could not allow them to joyn with the New Scots or any others that had taken the Covenant The Protestant Agents having got a Copy of the Irish Propositions did on the Thirteenth of May present to His Majesty a full Answer to them recited at large Appendix 23. This Answer being read the King asked Whether they had answered according to Law and Justice or prudentially with respect to Circumstances The Agents replied That they looked upon the Rebels Propositions as they appeared to them destructive to His Majesty His Laws and Government and His Protestant Subjects of Ireland Whereupon the Earl of Bristol interpos'd and said That if they asked what in Law and Justice was due from the Rebels their Answer was full but that the King expected from them what was prudentially fit to be done seeing the Protestants are not in a Condition to defend themselves and the King will not admit them to joyn with any Covenanters The King also asked What would become of the Protestants if the Irish Agents should break off the Treaty which 't is feared they will do if their Propositions for the most part are not yielded unto To which the Agents replied That the Rebels might be brought to better Terms if they were held to it and that they were assured the Lord Muskery refused to come with limited Instructions but would be at liberty to do as he should see cause Whereupon they were ordered to withdraw But the Protestant Agents hearing that Sir Robert Talbot and Dermond mac Teig O Bryan had left Oxford the Twelfth of May and that the Lord Muskery and the rest departed thence the 22th addressed themselves to Secretary Nicholas to know if His Majesty had further Service for them and thereupon on the Thirtieth of May they kist the King's Hand and were told by His Majesty That he had written to the Marquis of Ormond concerning the Protestants of Ireland and that He would use His best Endeavors for them there as He did for Himself here and said He meant His good Protestant Subjects and not Covenanters or their Adherents And thus Reader you have the Secret of this Great Transaction whereby you will perceive That the Irish Agents filled with the Contemplation of their own Power and the evil Circumstances of His Majesty's Affairs thought that the King would purchase their Assistance at any Rate and therefore insisted upon such exorbitant and unreasonable Demands as would have subverted the Laws and Constitution of the Government and would have rendred the Protestant Religion at most but Tolerated and that it self but poorly and precariously On the other side the English Agents did not fail to chastize this Vanity and to mortifie the Confederates with a Scorn and Contempt both of their Conduct and Courage They represented to the King That the Rebels got more by the Cessation than they could do by the War In fine they press'd the Execution of the Laws and demanded Reparation for Damages sustained during the Rebellion and desir'd that the Irish might be disarm'd and reduced to a Condition of not Rebelling any more The Commissioners from the Council would gladly have moderated these matters but they found there was no trust to be reposed in the Confederates and the Irish would not agree to any other terms than what continued the Power in their own hands so that the English should have no other security of their future Tranquility but the Honour and Promise of the Rebels It was very difficult to reconcile these Jarring and Differing Interests and indeed impossible to do it in England and therefore the Irish Agents who were men of Parts and Address having cunningly insinuated to the King That they believed that their Principals when truly informed of His Majesty's circumstances would comply with them so far as to moderate their Demands to what His Majesty might conveniently grant and promised they would sollicite them effectually to that purpose prevailed with His Majesty to send over a Commission under the Great Seal of England to the Lord Lieutenant to make Peace with his Catholick Subjects upon Conditions agreeable to the Publick Good and Welfare that might produce such a Peace and Union in Ireland as might vindicate his Royal Authority there and suppress those in Arms against him in England and Scotland and he also sent Instructions to continue the Cessation for another Year This Commission came to the Lord Lieutenant on the 26th of July but in regard the Confederates chose a Clergyman I suppose the Bishop of
any of them shall joyn with us in this Act following J. A. B. Do in the Presence of Almighty God and all the Angels and Saints in Heaven and by the Contents of this Bible promise vow swear and protest to bear Faith and true Allegiance to Our Soveraign Lord King Charles and the Heirs and Successors of His Body begotten and will defend Him and Them as far as I may with my Life Power and Estate against all Persons that shall attempt any thing against His or Their Persons Honours Estates or Dignities and that I will in exposing my Self Power and Estate joyn with the Irish Army or any other to recover His Royal Prerogatives forcibly wrested from him by the Puritans in the Houses of Parliament in England and to maintain the same against all others that shall directly or indirectly endeavour to suppress or do any Act contrary to real Government as also to maintain Episcopal Jurisdictions and the Lawfulness thereof in the Church-Power Priviledges of Prelates the lawful Rights and Priviledges of the Subjects and I will do no Act or thing directly or indictly to prejudice the Publick Exercise of the Roman Catholick Religion in any of His Majesties Dominions and that I will joyn with and be assisting to the Members in the Common-weal for Redresses to be had of the Grievances and Pressures thereof in such Manner and Form as shall be thought fit by a lawful Parliament and to my Power as far as I may ☜ I will oppose and bring to condign Punishment even to the loss of Life and Liberty and Estate all such as shall either by Force or Practice Councels Plots Conspiracies or otherwise do or attempt any thing to the contrary of any Article clause or thing in this present Oath Vow and Protestatation contained and neither for Hope of Reward of Fear of Punishment nor any respect whatsoever shall relinquish this Oath and Protestation So help me God This Declaration and Oath was entred in the Counsel Book of Kilkeny and this a true Copy thereof Witness my Hand this Ninth of May 1644. Hierome Green Cler. Counsel Kilkeny Appendix XII The Protestation and Declaration of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament Assembled against the Irish Rebellion the 17th of November 1641. WHereas the happy and peaceable Estate of this Realm hath been of late and is still interrupted by sundry Persons ill affected to the Peace and Tranquility thereof who contrary to their Duty and Loyalty to His Majesty and against the Laws of God and the fundamental Laws of this Realm have traiterously and rebelliously raised Arms seized upon His Majesties Forts and Castles and dispossessed many of his faithful Subjects of their Houses Lands and Goods and have slain many of them and committed other cruel and inhuman Outrages and Acts of Hostility within this Realm The said Lords and Commons in Parliament Assembled being justly moved with a right Sense of the said disloyal Rebellious Proceedings and Actions of the Peesons aforesaid do hereby protest and declare that the said Lords and Commons from their hearts do detest and abhor the said abominable Actions and that they shall and will to their utmost Power maitain the Rights of His Majesties Crown and Government of this Realm and the Peace and Safety thereof as well against the Persons aforesaid their Abbetters and Adherents as also against all foreign Princes Potentates and other Persons and Attempts whatsoever And in case the Persons aforesaid do not repent of their aforesad Actions and lay down Arms and become humble Suitors to His Majesty for Grace and Mercy in such convenient Time and in such manner and form as by His Majesty or the chief Governour or Governours and the Councel of this Realm shall be set down The said Lords and Commons do further protest and declare that they will take up Arms and will with their Lives and Fortunes suppress them and their Attempts in such a way as by the Authority of the Parliament of this Kingdom with the Approbation of his Excellent Majesty or of His Majesties chief Governour or Governours of this Kingdom shall be thought most effectual Appendix XIII His Majesties Proclamation against the Irish Rebellion By the KING WHeras divers lewd and wicked Persons have of late risen in Rebellion in our Kingdom of Ireland surprized divers of our Forts and Castles possessed themselves thereof surprized some of our Garrisons possessed themselves of some of our Magazines of Arms and Ammunition dispossessed many of our good and loyal Subjects of the British Nation and Protestants of their Houses and Lands robbed and spoiled many Thousands of our good Subjects of the British Nation and Protestants of their Goods to great values Massacred multitudes to them imprisoned many others and some who have the Honour to serve us as Privy Councellors of that our Kingdom We therefore having taken the same into our Royal consideration and abhorring the wicked Disloyalty and horrible Acts committed by those Persons do hereby not only declare our just Indignation thereof but also do declare them and their Adherents and Abettors and all those who shall hereafter joyn with them or commit the like Acts on any of our good Subjects in that Kingdom to be Rebels and Traitors against our Royal Person and Enemies to our Royal Crown of England and Ireland And we do hereby strictly charge and command all those Persons who have so presumed to rise in Arms against us and our Royal Authority which we cannot otherwise interpret than Acts of high Rebellion and detestable Disloyalty when therein they spoil and destroy our good and loyal Subjects of the British Nation and Protestants that they immediately lay down their Arms and forbear all further Acts of Hostility wherein if they fail we do let them know that we have authorized our Justices of Ireland and other our chief Governour or Governours and General or Lieutenant-General of our Army there and do hereby accordingly require and authorize them and every of them to prosecute the said Rebels and Traitors with Fire and Sword as Persons who by their high Disloyalty against us their lawful and undoubted King and Sovereign have made themselves unworthy of any Mercy or Favour whereinour said Justices or other Governour or Governours and General or Lieutenant-General of our said Army shall be countenanced and supported by us and by our powerful Succours of our good Subjects of England and Scotland that so they may reduce to Obedience those wicked Disturbers of that Peace which by the Blessing of God that Kingdom hath so long and so happily enjoyed under the Government of our Royal Father and Us. And this our Royal Pleasure We do hereby require our Justices or other chief Governour or Governours of that our Kingdom of Ireland to cause to be published and proclaimed in and throughout our said Kingdom of Ireland Given under our Signet at our Palace of Westminster the First Day of January in the 17 th Year of
The humble Petition of divers of your Majesties Protestant Subjects in your Kingdom of Ireland as well Commanders of your Majesties Army here as others whose Names are subscribed in the behalf of themselves and others your Protestant Subjects in this your Kingdom and to manifest by all good ways and means the Truths thereof in every particular and to solicite the obtaining the humble Desires therein requested and to refel and disprove the Untruths of the scandalous Aspersions laid by the confederate Roman Catholicks c. of Ireland upon the most gracious Governments of our most Royal late Sovereign Queen Elizaheth and King James of ever Blessed Memory and also of our most gracious and dread Sovereign King Charles and also the extream Falshoods by the said confederate Roman Catholicks published and imposed upon by His Majesties said Protestant Subjects of this Realm 2. And also to offer unto His Majesties Royal and most tender Consideration the barbarous Usage Inhumanity cruel Tortures and bloody Murthers committed and done upon His Majesties Protstant Subjects ☞ in the several parts of the Kingdom without Provocation and that commonly after Quarter given Passes Promises and Oaths for security or safe Convoy especially in that glorious Plantation of King James of ever Blessed Memory in the Province of Vlster which terrible Effusion of innocent Blood crieth to Almighty God and His Sacred Majesty for Justice 3. In like manner to present unto His Sacred Majesty the true and entire Faith and Allegiance of His Majesties Protestant Subjects of this Kingdom unto his Royal Person Crown and Dignity their cheerful and constant Acknowledgment of his Supremacy in all Causes and over all Persons their Universal Obedience to all his Laws and gracious Government and their continual Desires and Endeavours even to the uttermost hazard of their Lives and Fortunes for the preservation of all his Rights and just Prerogatives and to present to His Majesty in what Estate and Condition the Kingdom was in at the Time of the breaking out of this horrid Rebellion 4. And most humbly to desire the Preservation and Establishment of the true Protestant Religion in this Realm and the Suppression of Popery according to the Laws and Statutes to that End established 5. Most humbly to desire His Sacred Majesty that the great Losses of his Protestant Subjects now utterly ruined by the Rebellion of the said confederate Roman Catholicks c. may be repaired in such manner and measure as his Highness in his Princely Wisdom shall think fit whereby His Majesties said Protestant Subjects may be enabled to subsist and reinhabit in the said Kingdom 6. Most humbly to present to His Sacred Majesty all other things that may conduce to the Glory of God to the Advancement of the true Protestant Religion according to the Laws the Honour and Profit of His Majesty the just Prerogatives of his Crown the Preservation of the Laws and just Liberties of the Subject the securing of this Kingdom to His Majesty and His Royal Posterity and future Safety to His Majesties Protestant Subjects in their Religion Lives and Fortunes that they may no longer nor hereafter be liable to such and the like Evils and Destructions on them committed as they have now suffered from those who fell upon them spilt their Blood and destroyed their Estates unprovoked and even when they lived together in full Peace 7. And for avoiding mistakes that you present or propound nothing to His Majesty but what shall be first well debated amongst your selves and maturely considered of and agreed upon in writing by the major part of you and subscribed with your hands 8. That from time to time you give an Accompt of your proceedings unto those who are here appointed to negotiate this Affair Which said Instructions being read the Protestant Petitioners were required to withdraw who after debate had on the Instructions at the Council-board were called in again and exceptions were taken to the first second third fourth and sixth Articles of the Instructions and they were told by the Lords of the Council That they could nor would not recommend them as the Instructions were now drawn and while the third Article of the Instructions remained in respect that they knew that there were many Protestants in the Province of Vlster in Ireland that were not obedient to His Majesties Laws and the Lord Chancellor moved that these words in the second Article aforementioned might be omitted out of the Instructions viz. commonly committed after Quarter given Passes Promises and Oaths for security of safe Convoy especially in that glorious Plantation of King James of ever Blessed Memory in the Province of Ulster which effusion of innocent Blood crieth to Almighty God and His Sacred Majesty for Justice And the Lord Lieutenant and Council further gave the Protestant Petitioners the particulars in writing which they would have added and omitted in the said Instructions otherwise they would not recommend the Protestant Agents nor the Cause to His Majesty And thereupon the Protestant Petitioners consented to the Alteration of their Instructions as hereafter followeth In the second Article of the first Instruction Quarter given is left out In the former part of the third Article these words are left out Viz. In like manner to present unto His Sacred Majesty the true and entire Faith and Allegiance of His Majesties Protestant Subjects of this Kingdom unto His Royal Person Crown and Dignity their cheerful and constant Acknowledgment of his Supremacy in all Causes and over all Persons their Vniversal Obedience to all his Laws and gracious Government and their continued Desires and Endeavours even to the uttermost hazard of their Lives and Fortunes for the Preservation of all his Rights and just Prerogatives In the fourth is added in Doctrine and Discipline In the sixth is added and Statutes in this Kingdom established and now of force Appendix XXIII The Propositions of the Confederate Irish Agents at Oxford and the Answer of the Protestant Irish Agents thereunto 1. Prop. THAT all Acts made against the Professors of the Roman Catholick Faith whereby any Restraint Penalty Mulct or Incapacity may be laid upon any Roman Catholicks within the Kingdom of Ireland may be repealed and the said Catholicks to be allowed the Freedom of the Roman Catholick Religion Answ To the first we say that this hath been the pretence of almost all those who have entred into Rebellion in the Kingdom of Ireland at any time since the Reformation of Religion there which was setled by Acts of Parliament above eighty Years since and hath wrought good effects ever since for the Peace and Welfare both of the Church and Kingdom there and of the Church and Kingdom of England and Protestant party throughout all Christendom and so hath been found wholsome and necessary by long experience and the repealing of rhose Laws will set up Popery again both in Jurisdiction Profession and Practice as that was before the said Reformation and introduce among other
agreed by and between the said Parties and his Majesty is graciously pleased that for the preservation of the Peace and Tranquility of the Kingdom That the said Lord Lieutenant and the said Lord Viscount Mountgarret c. or any Five or more of them shall for the present agree upon such persons who are to be authorised by Commission under the great Seal to be Commissioners of the Peace Oyer and Terminer and Goal delivery in the several Counties and parts of Counties within the now Quarters of the Confederate Catholicks with such power as Justices of the Peace Oyer and Teminer and Goal delivery in former times of Peace have usually had which is not to extend unto any Crime or Offence committed before the Fifteenth of September 1643. And to be qualified with Power to Hear and Determine all Civil Causes coming before them not exceeding Ten Pounds provided that they shall not intermeddle with Titles of Lands provided likewise the authority of such Commissioners shall not extend to question any Person or Persons for any Cattle or Goods heretofore taken by either Party from the other contrary to the Articles of Cessations but that the same shall be left to be determined in such way as by these Articles is already prescribed which Commissioners are to continue till settlement by Parliament Si tam diu se bene gesserint and if any who shall be so intrusted shall misbehave himself in the execution of such trust within that time that then such other person or persons shall be appointed in his or their place as shall be agreed on by His Majesties Chief Governour or Governors for the time being by the Advice and Consent of the said Persons so to be intrusted or any Five or more of them and the said Commissioners are to make their Estreats as accustomed in time of Peace and shall take the ensuing Oath Viz. You shall Swear that as Justice of the Peace Oyer and Terminer and Goal delivery in the Counties of A. B. C. in all Articles of the Kings Commission to you directed you shall do equal right to the Poor and to the Rich after your Cunning Wit and Power and after the Laws and Customs of the Realm and in pursuance of these Articles and you shall not be of Council of any Quarrel hanging before you and the Issues Fines and Amerciaments which shall happen to be made and all Forfeitures which shall happen before you you shall cause to be entred without any concealment or imbezeling and truly send to the Kings Exchequer You shall not let for gift or other cause but well and truly you shall do your Office of Justice of the Peace Oyer and Terminer and Gaol delivery in that behalf and that you take nothing for your Office of Justice of the Peace Oyer and Terminer and Gaol delivery to be done but of the King and Fees accustomed And you shall not direct or cause to be directed any Warrant by you to be made to the Parties but you shall direct them to the Sheriffs and Bayliffs of the said Counties respectively or other the King's Officers or Ministers or other indifferent Persons to do Execution thereof So help you God And that as well in the said Commission as in all other Commissions and Authorities to be issued in pursuance of 〈◊〉 Articles this Clause shall be inserted viz. That all 〈…〉 and Marshal shall be required to be â—iding and assisting 〈…〉 the said Commissioners and other persons to be Authoriâ—â—◠〈…〉 the execution of their respective Powers 27. It is further concluded accorded and agreed by and between the said Parties and his Majesty is further graciously pleased That none of the now Roman Catholick Party shall from henceforth untill there be a Settlement by Parliament Sue Implead or Arrest or be sued Impleaded 〈…〉 in any Court Place Judicature or Tribunal or before 〈…〉 Justice or Commissioner whatsoever other than 〈…〉 Commissioners aforesaid or in the several Corporations or other Judicatures within the now Quarters of the said Confederate Catholicks as hath or have Power derived from his Majesty 28. It is further concluded accorded and agreed by and between the said Parties and his Majesty is further graciously pleased that his Majesties Confederate Catholick Subjects do continue the possession of such of His Majesties Cities Garrisons Towns Forts and Castles which are within their now Quarters until settlement by Parliament and to be Commanded Ruled and Governed in chief by such as his Majesty or his chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom for the time being shall Appoint and his Majesty his chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom as aforesaid is to issue Commissions and appoint such Person and Persons as shall be named by his Majesties chief Governour of Governours for the time being by and with the Advice and Consent of the said Lord Viscount Mountgarret c. or any Five or more of them for the execution of such Command Rule or Government to continue until all the particulars in these present Articles agreed on to pass in Parliament shall be accordingly passed only in case of Death or Misbehaviour such other Person or Persons to be appointed for the said Command Rule and Government to be named and appointed in the place or places of him or them who shall so die or misbehave themselves as the chief Governor or Governors for the time being by the advice and consent of the said Lord Viscount Mountgarret and the rest of the above mentioned Parties to be authorised as aforesaid or any Five or more of them shall think fit and to be continued until settlement in Parliament as aforesaid 29. It is further concluded accorded and agreed by and between the said Parties and his Majesty is further graciously pleased that all Customs belonging to his Majesty which from the perfection of these present Articles shall fall due within this Kingdom shall be payed into his Majesties Receit and to his use any Request Clause or Demand in the Act of Oblivion or in any other former Propositions to the contrary notwithstanding Provided thet alliance very Person and Persons who are at the present intrusted within the now Quarters of the Confederate Catholicks by them the said Confederate Catholicks in the Entries Receits Collections or otherwise concerning the said Customs do continue their respective Imployments in the same until full settlement in Parliament other than as to such and so many of them as to the chief Governor or Governors for the time being by the advice and consent of the said Lord Viscount Mountgarret and the other Persons to be authorised as aforesaid or any Five or more of them shall be thought fit to be altered And then in such case or in case of Death or Misbehaviour or other alteration of any such Person or Persons such other Person or Persons to be imployed as shall be thought fit by the chief Governor or Governors for the time being by and with the advice and consent of
of an Incestuous Marriage so directly against the Law of God that no Power on Earth could dispense with it Dr. Burnet's Hist Reform 131. And that Marriage was judicially nulled and made void ab initio by the Divorce pronounced between the Parties by the Archbishop of Canterbury so that by consequence the Issue was bastardiz'd and rendred Illegitimate And II. Because the Crown was entailed upon Queen Elizabeth by Name by the Irish Statute of 28 Hen. 8. cap. 2. as hath been already observed and that Statute was not repealed in Ireland to that time It would be a lame Answer to the first Objection to insist upon the English Statute of 35 H. 8. which gave that King Power to dispose of the Crown by his Will for besides what some will alledg against Bills of Exclusion in general every Body will oppose that wild and unjust Method of Exclusion that has no regard to the Faults of the Party rejected nor to the Merits of the Person to be advanced but Exposes the Right of an Innocent to the Figary of an humersom Man Moreover it is a high Point to delegate the Legislative Power in an Instance of that Importance and if allowed would at once destroy all hereditary Right It is necessary therefore that we have recourse to something more solid and which really was the true Reason and it was this That Mary having gained Possession of the Throne in a Hurry by the Surprize and Confusion of the People in general the Easiness and Credulity of the Suffolk-men in particular and the Envy some bore to the Duke of Suffolk and the Malice others entertained against the Duke of Northumberland the Protestants did believe themselves obliged by the Laws of God and Man to obey the Queen de facto and to acquiesce in the Government that was actually over them and therefore the Clergy and the best and holiest of the Protestant Party chose rather to be Refugees and beg their Bread abroad than to be mutinous and disloyal at Home It is not to be doubted but that they did consult and throughly examine both the Laws of God and the Laws of the Land in that Particular and found by both Sanctions that it was not the Duty of the Subject to dispute the Title of the Prince in Possession this were to make the Rabble Judges of the Rights of Princes and to erect a Judicature above the Legislative Power and to introduce an Appeal from the Parliament to the People As to the First viz. The Law of God nothing was more plain than that a Christian peaceable Temper was commanded in General and a Submission to the King de facto in Particular and the Reason is Because the Power that is is of God for Caesar had no Right especially over the Jewish State but both Augustus and Tiberius were Usurpers and yet it was to them that our Saviour and the Apostles preached Obedience and commanded us To render the things that were Caesars And as to the second viz. The Law of the Land it has no regard to any other than the King de facto it is he that is only King within the Statute of Edward the Third of Treasons it is he only that by the Laws of England can grant Pardons Call and Dissolve Parliaments and Confirm their Acts In a Word It is he only that can do all Acts of Government and he is the Person who can and ought to give Protection to the Subjects and consequently is to have Allegiance from them the King de facto can punish Treasons committed against his Predecessor and his Rightful Successor may punish Treasons done against him and the Reason is Because it is the same continuation of the Regal Government and the Person is not regarded in Law any longer than it is cloathed with the Politick Capacity For the Relation that is between King and Subject Protection and Allegiance is reciprocal and the Obligation is mutual as it is betwixt Husband and Wife and therefore whensoever a King totally ceaseth the Exercise of his Royal Office he is dead in his Politick Capacity with which the Relation is and the Subject is at Liberty ad alia vota convolanda to the Successor and whether this happens by Force or Consent is no more to the purpose than it is whether a Man's first Wife was murdered or dyed of a Fever So that it is Plain That Possession of the Throne by the consent of the two Houses of Parliament does give a Right in reference to the Subject and therefore the Words King de jure are but terms of Art as Ens Rationis among the Logicians to signifie an Imaginary Notion they had no other name for and if this were not so there could be no Peace upon Earth since there is not a Crown in Europe to which there are not several plausible Pretenders whose Claims have many warm and furious Abettors and perhaps it would be very difficult for any man to define what Prescription is sufficient to give more Title to a Throne than is gained by the quiet Possession thereof The Case of Henry the Seventh hath been already mentioned wherein the Judges resolved That the Possession of the Crown and of the Regal Government cleared him of all Incapacities Defects and Attainders whatsoever It is necessary to add That the Preservation of the Community is the End and Design of all Laws and that the greatest Solecism that can be in the OEconomy of a Kingdom is to suspend the Government though but for a Moment And in Truth the whole Society would perish by a very short Interval wherein every Man might do what seems good in his own Eyes It is for this Reason there is no interregnum in England And therefore there always is a King to whom the English Subject owes Allegiance exclusively of all others and that can be no other than the King de facto who is trusted by the Law with the executive Power thereof and who alone doth or can give the People actual Protection If it were needful this might be farther urged because every Man is represented in Parliament and their Act is the Act of every individual Person and it is beyond controversie That every one is obliged to obey the Authority himself has owned and consented to And as to the second Objection it is easily answered That Ireland is a subordinate Kingdom to England and part of its Dominions and therefore whoever is King of England is ipso facto King of Ireland as much as of the Isle of Sheppy or of the Isle of Wight and it was so at Common Law and it is explained to be so by the Irish Statute of 28 Hen. 8. cap. 1. wherein it is enacted That the King and his Successors Kings of England shall be Kings of Ireland and that Kingdom is by the same Act united and knit to the Imperial Crown of England And therefore it follows That Ireland must submit to such disposal of the Crown as
Parliament in Ireland till the Eleventh Year of this King's Reign Sullivan 211. and that Sullivan himself brings this very Neal Garuff on the English side again Anno 1608. But to proceed Sir ARTHUR CHICHESTER was sworn Lord Deputy on the Third of February 1604. and soon after establish'd a new Circuit for Judges of Assize for the Province of Connagh 1604. and retrived the Circuit of Munster Davis 265. which had been discontinued for Two hundred Years It must be observed That until this time the Papists generally did come to Church and were called Churchâ—Papists but now the Priests began to be seditious and did not only scandalize the Publick Administration of Affairs but also took upon them to review and decide some Causes that had been determin'd in the King's Courts and to oblige their Votaries on pain of Damnation to obey their Decision and not that of the Law they did also forbid the People to frequent the Protestant Churches and they publickly rebuilt Churches for themselves and erected or repaired Abbies and Monasteries in several Parts of the Kingdom and particularly at Multifernam in the County of Westmeath Killconell in the County of Gallway Rossariell in the County of Mayo Buttivant Kilkrea and Timoleague in the County of Cork Quin in the County of Clare Garinlogh in Desmond and in the Cities of Waterford and Kilkenny Sullivan 206. Intending says Mr. Sullivan to restore the Splendor of Religion And as many as pleased sent their Children to Foreign Seminaries without control And perhaps all this might have passed if they had not as foolishly as impudently publish'd every where and in all Companies That the King was of their Religionâ— 1605. But then the Government was necessarily obliged for the Vindication of his Majesty and to prevent the Growth of Popery and suppress the Insolence of the Papists to publish a Proclamation on the Fourth of July 1605. commanding the Popish Clergy to depart the Kingdom before the Tenth of December following unless they would conform to the Laws of the Land But this Proclamation being too faintly executed as Laws against Popery have hitherto always been produced more Noise than Effect so that it did little service in Ireland and yet furnished the Irish Papists with matter of Complaint beyond Seas where they usually make a great Clamour for a small Matter But on the Fifth of November was discovered the Damnable Popish Plot well known in England by the Name of The Gunpowder Treason the Design of it was to blow up at once the King the Nobility and the Principal Gentry of that Kingdom then assembled in Parliament The Papists did for some time with great Artifice and Confidence impose upon the World that this was a Plot of Cecill's making but finding at length that that Cobweb Pretence was too thin and was easily seen through they laid the blame upon a few desperate Villains as they always do when the Fact is too notorious to be denied But now that Matter is pretty well setled by the Confession of * Wilson Hist of K. James p. 32. Weston of the Earl of Castlehaven the Lord Stafford and Peter Walsh This Year the barbarous Customs of Tanistry and Gavelkind were abolish'd by Judgment in the King's Bench Davis's Reports and the Irish Estates thereby made descendible according to the Course of the Common Law of England and the City of Cork and the Liberties thereof were separated from the County of Cork and made a distinct County of it self reserving nevertheless Places in the City for a Gaol and a Court-house for the County at large In the Year One thousand six hundred and six 1606. the famous Robert Lalor Vicar-General of Dublin and other Diocesses in Leinster for disobedience to the aforesaid Prolamation was apprehended in the City of Dublin it being the Custom of these Ecclesiastical Spies to lurk about the Metropolis of every Kingdom he was in Michaelmaâ— Term indicted upon the Statute of 2 Eliz. cap. 1. for advancing and upholding Foreign Jurisdiction within this Realm but he humbled himself to the Court and voluntarily and upon Oath on 22d December 1606. made a Recognition in haec verba First He doth acknowledge that he is not a lawful Vicar General in the Diocess of Dublin Kildare and Fernes and thinketh in his Conscience that he cannot lawfully take upon him the said Office Item He doth acknowledge our Soveraign Lord King James Davis Rep. 83. that now is to be his Lawful Chief and Supream Governor in all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Civil and that he is bound in Conscince to obey him in all the said Causes and that neither the Pope nor any other Foreign Prelate Prince or Potentate hath any Power to controll the King in any â—ause Ecclesiastical or Civil within this Kingdom or any of his Majesties Dominions Item He doth in his Conscience believe that all Bishops ordained and made by the Kings Authority within any of his Dominions are lawful Bishops and that no Bishop made by the Pope or by any Authority derived from the Pope within the Kings Dominions hath any Power or Authority to impugne disannul or controll any Act done by any Bishop made by his Majesties Authority as aforesaid Item He professeth himself willing and ready to obey the King as a good and obedient Subject ought to do in all his lawful Commandments either concerning his Function of Priesthood or any other Duty belonging to a good Subject Upon this Confession he was indulged with more Liberty and the free Access of his Friends and would undoubtedly have been enlarged the next Term if he had not privately denied what he had publickly done protesting that his Confession did not extend to the Kings Authority in Spiritual Causes but in Temporal only this being told to the Lord Deputy it was resolved to try him upon the Statute of 16. R. 7. cap. 5. of Premunire and it was discreetly done rather to Indite him upon that than upon any new Statute made since the Reformation Davis Rep. 85. that the Irish might be convinc'd That even Popish Kings and Parliaments thought the Pope an Usurper of those exorbitant Jurisdictions he claim'd and thought it inconsistent with the Loyalty of a good Subject to uphold or advance his unjust and unreasonable Incroachments on the Prerogative of the King and the Priviledge of the Subject which tended to nothing less then to make our Kings his Lacquies our Nobles his Vassals and our Commons his Slaves and Villains Upon this Indictment he was tryed and found Guilty and upon his Tryal his aforesaid Recognition which he made upon Oath was publickly read which netled him exceedingly and the rather because he was asked whether he had not denied this Confession to some of his Friends to which he answered that he had not but only told some of them that he had not own'd the Kings Supremacy in Spiritual Causes which he said was true for the word
in the Confession was Ecclesiastical Whereupon the Attorny General Learnedly descanted upon the words Ecclesiastical and Spiritual and exposed the Knavery and Silliness of the Prisoners Equivocation and then Mr. Justice Sarsfeild pronounced the Sentence of the Law against him which nevertheless was never Executed upon him that I can find However to attone for this seeming Severity and to quiet and oblige the Irish the King issued out a Commission of Great under the Great Seal of England to confirm the Possessors of Estates in Ireland against all Claims of the Crown by Granting new Patents to them But the Irish are a People that seldom beaâ— good Fortune with any Moderation or Temper and the King and Council of England were mightily deceived when they thought that Lenity and Commissions of Grace would oblige them to Loyalty and Obedience on the contrary it always makes them think the Government weak and never fails to put them upon Action So true is that of the Poet Unguentem pungit pungentem Hibernicus Ungit And just so it happened after this Commission of Grace for on the 7th of May a Letter directed to Sir William Usher Clerk of the Council was dropt in the Council Chamber Temple 2. which discovered a Conspiracy of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel Macguire O Cahan the Lord of Delvin and almost all the Irish of Ulster to surprize the Castle of Dublin and Murder the Lord Deputy and Council and to set up for themselves Lib. C. They had sent a Baron to the Arch-Dukes to sollicite Assistance and probably had employed some Body else to Spain but as soon as they had Notice that their Plot was discovered the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel and the Lord Macguire fled beyond Seas to get Spanish Aid 1607. and the rest did shift for themselves as well as they could but some were taken and executed And not long after Justice Sibthorp and Baron Eliot attended by some of the Kings Council were sent into the Counties of Donegall and Tyrone with a Commission of Oyer and Terminer and so Indictments were found against these Conspirators and all those that fled were Out-law'd thereupon But because those Earls did alledge Lib. M. that they were persecuted for Religion and had been injuriously dealt with the King on the 15th of November 1607. published a Declaration wherein he affirms That they had not their Creations or Possessions by any Lineal or any lawful Descent from Ancestors of Blood or Virtue but were for Reasons of State preferred before others of better Quality and Birth in their Countrey and Protests they had not the least shadow of Molestation nor was there any purpose of proceeding against them in Matters of Religion their Condition being to think Murder no fault Marriage of no use nor any Man valiant that does not Glory in Rapine and Oppression and therefore 't were unreasonable to trouble them for Religion before it could be perceived by their Conversation they had any and that in all Matters of Controversie they were favoured except in such Cases where they design'd to Tyrannize over their fellow Subjects that they did stir up Sedition and intestine Rebellion in the Kingdom and sent their Instruments Priests and others to make Offers to Foreign States for their Assistance And that under the Condition of being made free from English Government they resolved also to comprehend the EXTIRPATION of all those Subjects now remaining alive within that Kingdom formerly descended of English Race In December 1607. The Lord Deputy and Council sent Sir Anthony Saintleger Master of the Rolls to the Lords of the Council in England to inform them that the Omores would by next May be transplanted from Leix into Munster and that it was fit the O Connors should be so too that the Lord Delvin must be severely persecuted because frequent Pardons do encourage Irish Rebellions that his Castle of Cloghouâ—er is taken and so is his Son and himself left as desolate as a Wood Keâ—n and to desire to be instructed what to do with those that refuse the Oath of Supremacy and to inform that they have stopt the Quo Warranto's because the Corporations will submit to the Customs if their Arrears be forgiven that there is a great Propensity in the Irish at this time to Rebel and that it were fit to send over Twenty thouthousand Pounds to lye dead for such an Accident and that the King would be pleas'd to decide the great Controversie between the Earl of Kildare and Sir Robert Digby which is now ready for Sentence in the Castle-Chamber and also to represent the State of that poor Kingdom c. But notwithstanding all the Care that was taken to keep the Kingdom quiet 1608. the Hopes and Expectations of Aid from Spain easily put the Rebellious Spirits in a ferment insomuch that Sir Cahir O Doharty Proprietor of Inisowen a Gentleman of great hopes but of few years not exceeding One and twenty was by Assurances from the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel of speedy and effectual Aid perswaded to begin the War his main Design was upon Derry which he surprized and burnt Sullevan 210. he also Murdered the Governor Sir George Pawlet and all the Protestants except the Bishops Wife that was ransomed he also surprized Culmore and the Magazine there Spretis centum argenti libris quibus pseudo Episcopus eos redinere Cupiebat and burnt Two thousand Heretical Books as he call'd them refusing to let them be redeem'd for an hundred pound And this Rebellion became the more formidable because it was fomented and encouraged by the Priests who affirm'd That all were Martyrs that died in the Service But for the better understanding of this matter it is necessary to inform the Reader that Queen Elizabeth finding it convenient to plant a Garison at Loghfoyle made several Attempts to that purpose but they all miscarried until Sir Henry Dockwra Landed at Kilmore or Culmore and erected a small Castle there and a Month after he took Derry without Resistance and built two Forts and a good House there but afterwards viz. Anno 1617. that place was built by the Londoners and became a fair and strong City well known by the Name of London-Derry This Sir Henry Dockwra also built the Castles of Dunalong and Lifford and afterwards assigned the Government of Derry to Sir George Pawlett a Hampshire Gentleman and the Command of Culmore to Captain Hart a Man of great Courage After Sir John O Dogharty's Death his Son Cahir shewing great Inclinations to the English and being a Youth of great hopes was not only Graced with Knighthood and made a Justice of Peace and a Commissioner in most of the Commissions that came to that Countrey but was also treated with all due Respect upon all occasions and he on the otherside contracted an intimate Friendship with the Chief of the English and particularly with Captain Hart Governour of Culmore to whose Son he was