Enemy's Camp and it succeeded according to his Desire for O Neal's Army being over-confident of their Numbers and despising the Weakness of their Adversaries had made no preparation to resist an Assault which they did not suspect and wanting such Scouts Out-guards and Centinels as Martial Discipline required and as was usual in all well-governed Armies they were easily surprized and defeated and Shane O Neal himself was forced to make use of his Heels As to Ecclesiastical Affairs there was a Provincial Synod held at Dublin Anno 1555 which made some Constitutions about the Rites and Ceremonies to be used in the Church and afterwards the Church-Goods and Ornaments were restored and particularly those belonging to the Churches of Dublin and Drogheda and although many Gleabs continued Lay-Fees during all the Reign of Queen Mary yet at the Request of Cardinal Poole her Majesty restored the Possessions of the Priory of Kilmainham and Oswal Messemberg was confirmed Prior by Patent dated the eighth of March 1557. but afterwards he fled beyond Seas and the Possessions of that Priory and of that Order in Ireland were by Act of Parliament annexed to the Crown in Queen Elizabeth's Reign There was also a Provincial Synod held at Drogheda this Year by Archbishop Dowdal and therein Leave was given to Husbandmen to work certain Days in Harvest The Lord Justice having on the twenty fifth Day of April received the Submission of O Reyly and his Fealty or Oath of Allegiance 1558. did on the twenty seventh surrender the Sword to Thomas Earl of Sussex Lord Deputy who brought over with him five hundred Soldiers and an Order to coyne Brass-Money and to make it currant by Proclamation which he did On the fourteenth of June he began his March to Munster against Daniel O Brian he came to Limerick and advanced forwards into Thomond he scattered the Rebels and took the Castles of Bunratty and Clare and then restored the Country to the Earl of Thomond who together with the Freeholders of that Country did on Sunday the tenth day of July swear on the Sacrament Lib. NNN and by all the Relicks of the Church as Book Bell and Candelight they are the very Words of the Herald's Certificate to continue Loyal to the Queen and to perform their Agreements with the Lord Deputy On the twenty first of June the Earl of Desmond made his Submission to the Deputy at Limerick and on the twenty sixth the Lord Deputy was God-father to the Earl's Son whom he named James Sussex and gave the Child a Chain of Gold and gave another Chain and Pair of gilt Spurs to Dermond Mac Carthy of Muskry whom he also knighted The Lord Deputy caused a Soldier to be nailed to a Post for drawing his Sword in the Camp contrary to Proclamation and then marched to Galway where he was well received especially by the Archbishop of Tuam and the Bishops of Clonfert and Clonmacnoise who with the Clergy met him in Procession On the fifteenth day of September the Lord Deputy shipped his Army at Dalky and sailed to Raghline and though he lost one Ship in the Storm yet he pursued his Design and took the Island and placed a Colony and a small Garrison in it and thence he invaded and wasted Cantire in Scotland Nor did the Islands of Aran and Comber escape the like Desolation and he intended as much against the Island of Ila but he was by ill Weather forced to put in at Carigfergus and so having burnt many Villages which were possest by the Scots in Vlster he returned to Dublin on the eighth day of November Sir Henry Sydny was sworn Lord Justice on the eighteenth of September by virtue of a Patent dated at Richmond the fourth of August and now when the Earl of Sussex return'd he was sworn anew on the tenth of November and had a new Patent bearing date the seventeenth day of August 1558. The Lord Deputy had a new Great Seal sent him out of England and also new Seals to the other three Courts which he delivered to the Lord Chancellor Chief Justices and Chief Baron in the Council Chamber and about the same time a Party of the Islander Scots that came into Connaught to the Assistance of one of the Burks was defeated by the Earl of Clanrickard and most of them slain And because the Author quotes the Most Reverend and Learned Primate Vsher and the Memorials of the Most Noble and Industrious Richard Earl of Cork for the following Story I will insert it verbatim as it is already printed in the Life of Archbishop Brown Queen Mary having dealt severely with the Protestants in England about the latter end of her Reign signed a Commission for to take the same Course with them in Ireland and to execute the same with greater Force she nominates Dr. Cole one of the Commissioners Sending the Commission by this Doctor who in his Journey coming to Chester the Mayor of that City hearing that her Majesty was sending a Messenger into Ireland and he being a Church-Man waited on the Doctor who in discourse with the Mayor taketh out of a Cloak-Bag a Leather-Box saying unto him Here is a Commission that shall lash the Hereticks of Ireland calling the Protestants by that Title the good Woman of the House being well affected to the Protestant Religion and also having a Brother named John Edmunds of the same then a Citizen in Dublin was much troubled at the Doctor 's Words but watching her convenient time whilst the Mayor took his Leave and the Doctor complementing him down the Stairs she opens the Box and takes the Commission out placing in lieu thereof a Sheet of Paper with a Pack of Cards the Knave of Clubs faced uppermost wrap up The Doctor coming up to his Chamber suspecting nothing of what had been done put up the Box as formely The next day going to the Water-side Wind and Weather serving him he sails towards Ireland and landed on the seventh of October 1558. at Dublin then coming to the Castle the Lord Fitz-Walters being Lord Deputy sent for him to come before him and the Privy Council who coming in after he had made a Speech relating upon what account he came over he presents the Box unto the Lord Deputy who causing it to be opened that the Secretary might read the Commission there was nothing save a Pack of Cards with the Knave of Clubs uppermost which not only startled the Lord Deputy and Council but the Doctor who assured them He had a Commission but knew not how it was gone Then the Lord Deputy made answer Let us have another Commission and we will shuffle the Cards in the mean while The Doctor being troubled in Mind went his way and returned into England and coming to the Court obtained another Commission but staying for a Wind at the Water-side News came unto him That the Queen was dead And thus God preserved the Protestants in Ireland This Queen died on the seventeenth day of
3. To reduce Shane O Neal by force or otherwise 4. To invest the Baron of Dungannon in the Earldom of Tyrone if the Lord Lieutenant think fit 5. To apprehend the O Brians that oppose the Earl of Thomond 6. To make the Clerk of the Council Secretary of State 7. To make a Statute of Uses next Parliament 8. To grant Estates Tayl by Patent to all the Irish that will surrender 9. To reserve the best Rent that was at any time heretofore reserved on the Crown Leases and the Tenant to find a Horseman for every forty Pound Rent and a Footman for every six Pound thirteen Shillings and four Pence and if any Lease be voidable to let the Tenant renew increasing his Rent according to the best Survey 10. To augment the Revenue in granting of Wards and making them sue Livery and to collect and print the necessary Statutes It seems this Lord Lieutenant managed his Affairs well in Vlster 1561. although the Particulars are not recorded any where that I could find Lib. â— for on the sixth day of January Shane O Neal made his Submission to him and thereupon on the twenty second of the same Month he went to England leaving Sir William Fitz Williams Lord Justice 1562. who was sworn on the second Day of February and continued until the twenty fourth day of July and then Thomas Earl of Sussex Lord Lieutenant returned again and finding that the inconstant Shane O Neal had apostatized into Rebellion he prepared as fast as he could to reduce him to Obedience but the Winter approaching so near he was forced to adjourn his Design till the Spring and then on the first day of April he set forward 1563. and on the ninth there hapned a Fray between some Kirne in his Camp to the Slaughter of two or three of them but the Lord Lieutenant by his Authority composed that Matter On the thirteenth of April the English discovered an Ambush laid by Shane O Neal and fell upon them so that one and twenty of the Rebels were killed On the sixteenth the Lord Lieutenant passed over the Blackwater and took a Prey of two hundred Kine And on the twenty sixth he came back to Dundalk On the first of June he advanced again to Dungannon and quartered there and the next day came to Tulloghoge and undestanding that O Neale and his Party were in a Fastness not far off the English attacked them and drove them farther into the Woods And on the third of June the English took eighty Cattle and killed four or five Rebels And on the fourth the Army returned to Armagh And on the sixth day of June they took a Prey of three thousand Kine and one thousand five hundred Garons and Mares which were divided among the Soldiers and so the Army returned to Drogheda Hereupon O Neal being shrewdly terrified Cambden 121 and being also advised by the Earl of Kildare made his Submission to the Lord Lieutenant and promised to do the like in England which he performed in the presence of the Embassadors of Sweden and Savoy and upon his Promise of amendment he was taken into Favour and the Queen gave him some Presents and lent him two thousand five hundred Pound and ordered Sir Thomas Worth and Sir Nicholas Arnold whom she sent Commissioners into Ireland to establish a College at St. Patrick's Church c. to make an Enquiry about a Complaint that O Neal had made That one John Smith had design'd or attempted to poyson him After his Return home he behaved himself civilly and loyally for some time he assail'd the Scots and slew their Captain James Mac Conal and drove them out of Vlster he protected the poor from Injury and was orderly in every thing except his Tyranny over the Lords and Gentlemen of Vlster whom he challenged to be his Vassals Whereupon Macguire and others complained to the Government but O Neal disdaining to have his Princely Claim tried in a Court grows enraged at Macguire for putting the Dilemma upon him either of running into Rebellion again or submitting his Title to the Lord Lieutenant's determination 1564. and in this Fury O Neal invades Fermanagh expels Macguire burns the Cathedral Church of Armagh and besieges Dundalk but the Valour of the Garrison preserved the place till William Sarsfield Mayor of Dublin and a choice Band of Citizens raised the Siege nevertheless O Neal spoil'd and wasted the adjacent Country The Lord Lieut to revenge this proceeded briskly against O Neal Burlace 126. but before he could bring his Designs to perfection he was recalled in his time the Country of Annaly was made Shire-Ground and is called the County of Longford and Connaught was divided into six Counties Clare Galwey Sligo Mayo Letrim and Roscomon he also erected a kind of a Post-Office for the better Correspondence between England and Ireland Holingsh 114. And yet there are some who not without probability attribute these good Works to Sir Henry Sydny On the first of February there hapned a bloody Conflict between the Earls of Ormond and Desmond Lib. P. at Athmean or Affane in the County of Waterford where the latter lost two hundred and eighty of his Men but not long after the Lord Lieutenant was recalled and Sir Nicholas Arnold 1565. Lord Justice was sworn the twenty fifth of May and had an Army or rather a Garrison of fifteen hundred and ninety six Soldiers with which he made a shift to keep what he had but he did not enjoy that Honour long before Sir Henry Sydny Knight of the Garter Lord President of Wales came over Lord Deputy he Landed on the thirteenth of January and was sworn the next Sunday after being the twentieth he was received with great joy being a Person of whose excellent Government that Kingdom had long Experience and when he received the Sword he made an eloquent and pithy Speech to this effect setting forth what a precious thing good Government is and how all Realms Commonwealths Cities and Countries do flourish and prosper Hooker 111. where the same is orderly in quiet Justice and Wisdom directed and governed Secondly What a continual Care the Queens Highness hath had and yet hath not only for the good guiding and ruling of the Realm of England but also of Ireland which she so earnestly desireth and wisheth to be preserved as well in Peace as in War That she hath made great Choice from time to time of the most Grave Wise and Expert Counsellors for the one and the most Valiant Skilful and expert Men of Arms for the other That both in Peace and Wars the publick State of the Commonwealth and every Member therein might be conserved defended and kept in Safety under her Government And for the performance thereof her Majesty over and besides the Revenues of the Crown of Ireland did yearly far above any of her Progenitors expend of her own Coffers out of England great Masses of Money
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Pretence was Ridiculous because there were others of the same Lineage before him in the Pedigree and it was notorious That the Right of Succession was in Ann Daughter of Roger Mortimer Earl of March Son of Philippa Daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence third Son of King Edward III. and accordingly her Grand-son afterwards possest the Kingdoms by the Name of Edward IV. And also finding that it was more vain to claim by Conquest when there was no fighting he was at last forced to rely on the Consent and Election of the People which was the Title his Embassadors insisted upon in the Courts of Foreign Princes Thus was the Foundation laid of those tedious and bloody Wars that afterwards ensued between the Houses of York and Lancaster commonly distinguished by the Appellations of the Red-Rose and the White that being the cognizance of the House of Lancaster and this the Badge of the Family of York This King was crowned on the thirteenth Day of October anno Dom. 1399. 1399. and Ireland was committed to the Care of Sir John Stanly 1399. Lord Lieutenant who came over thither Cotton's Records 390. on the tenth Day of December In his time the King obtained a Subsidy in England for three Years to provide for the Affairs of Ireland c. And about Whitsontide the Constable of Dublin-Castle and others near Strangford in Vlster encountred the Scots at Sea 1400. but with very ill Success for many Englishmen were there slain and drowned About this time the Town of Kilkenny was walled by Robert Talbot 1401. And about May the Lord Lieutenant repaired to England leaving his Brother Sir William Stanly Lord Deputy who on the twenty third Day of August surrendred unto Stephen Scroop Lord Deputy to the King's Son Thomas Duke of Lancaster who it seems came over only to provide and prepare for the Reception of Thomas Duke of Lancaster Seneschal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland who landed on S. Bines-Day And on the fifth of July John Drake Mayor of Dublin with a Band of Citizens encountred and defeated four thousand Irish Outlaws near Bray in the Borders of Wicklow and slew four hundred ninety three of their best Men. This Lord Lieutenant held a Parliament in Dublin 1402. in September during which Sir Bartholomew Verdon James White Christopher White and Stephen Gernon slew John Dowdal Sheriff of Louth in Vrgile and committed sundry other Felonies and Robberies for which they were Outlawed and their Estates disposed of by Custodiam Cotton's Records 431. but afterwards the King pardoned them their Lives and restored them their Estates during their respective Lives only In October Daniel O Birne Lib. D. for him and his Sept or Nation submitted to the Lord Lieutenant and promised Allegiance and good Behaviour and to manifest his Sincerity he granted to the King the Castle of Mackenigan with the Apurtenances And on the thirteenth of December the Lord Lieutenant by Indenture set the Ferny in the County of Louth except the King's Castle to Aghy mac Mahon for Life Davis 48 at the Rent of ten Pound per Annum and Mac Mahon covenanted to be a good Subject And in February following O Reyly covenanted with the Lord Lieutenant and also swore to perform to the King during the minority of Mortimer all the Covenants he was obliged to perform to Roger Mortimer Earl of March and Vlster In May Sir Walter Betterly Steward of Vlster 1403. and thirty English were all slain And on the eleventh of November following the Duke returned to England and left Sir Stephen Scroop Lord Deputy 1404. who on the twenty sixth Day of October resigned to James Earl of Ormond 1405. Lord Justice who in April 1405 held a Parliament at Dublin and there the Statutes of Dublin and Kilkenny were confirmed as also the Charter of Ireland And this good Act was followed by good Success for in May two Scotch Barks were taken near Greencastle and another near Dalkye with their Captain Macgolagh Moreover the Merchants of Droghedae made Incursion into Scotland and brought thence both Pledges and Preys And the Dublinians also entred Scotland at S. Ninian and behaved themselves valiantly They also did the Welsh much harm and brought from thence the Shrine of S. Cubins which they placed in Christ-Church Dublin However the Irish burnt Oghgard and on the sixth of September the Lord Justice died at Gauran and was succeeded by Girald Earl of Kildare 1406. who probably was chosen Lord Justice by the Council In his time the Dublinians and their Neighbours on Corpus Christi-Day vanquished the Irish Enemies and took three Ensigns and brought to Dublin the Heads of those they had slain And the Prior of Conal had as good Success in the Plains of Kildare for with twenty Englishmen he defeated two hundred Irish and killed many of them But after Michaelmas came over Sir Stephen Scroop Lord Deputy He held a Parliament at Dublin in January which in the Lent after ended at Trim And about the latter end of February Meyler Birmingham slew Cathol O Connor About May the Lord Deputy 1407. accompanied with the Earls of Ormond and Desmond the Prior of Kilmainham and other Captains and Gentlemen of Meath set out from Dublin and invaded the Territory of Mac Morough at first the Irish had the better but at length the Constancy and Resolution of the English prevailed and O Nolan and his Son and others were taken Prisoners and after this was done they marched speedily to Calan in the County of Kikenny upon some Intelligence they had of the Rebels being thereabout and they so surprized them that the whole Party was routed and O Carol and eight hundred Men slain upon the Place But in June the Lord Deputy went to England and the Nobility and Council elected James Earl of Ormond Lord Justice In whose time a barbarous Tory called Mac Gilmore who is reported to have destroyed forty Churches and was never Christened had taken Prisoner Patrick Savage a Gentleman of great Esteem in Vlster they agreed upon his Ransome to be two thousand Marks and his Brother Richard was to become Hostage for it But this Subtle Barbarian managed the matter so that he received the Ransome according to Agreement and afterwards he murdered both the Brethren This Lord Justice held a Parliament at Dublin 1408. which confirmed the Statutes of Dublin and Kilkenny and also the Statute against Purveyors And on the second of August Thomas Duke of Lancaster came over Lord Lieutenant It seems that the Terms on which he undertook the Government were these First Lib. G. He was to hold the Place for seven Years Secondly He was to have five hundred Men at Arms and one thousand Archers for three Years Thirdly To have a Years Pay in Hand and afterwards to be paid every half Year Fourthly One thousand Marks per annum for himself and to be paid the Charge of Transportation
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
proved disadvantagious to the State and that lenity to the Irish Rebels has produced no other Effects than that it has encouraged them to relapse and others to follow their Example And of this Shane O Neal affords us one Instance for notwithstanding this Submission it was not long before he rebelled again and Rory O Connor and Donough O Connor followed the same Copy for though they submitted at Dingen and put in Hostages for their Loyalty yet they rebelled once more and therefore were on the twenty fifth Day of February proclaimed Traytors and at length were slain and their Country wasted 1557. In like manner William Odare O Carol was made Governour of Ely O Carol under certain Conditions one of which was To send a certain number of Soldiers to every Hosting but this Condescention and Kindness could not oblige him but that the ungrateful Traytor rebelled next Year and was routed and Thady O Carol was put in his Place And so we are come to the Parliament which began the nineteenth day of June and on the second day of July was adjourned to the tenth day of November to Limerick and then was adjourned to the first day of March to Drogheda but the Lord Deputy who by the Death of his Father was Earl of Sussex went to England on the fourth day of December and not returning before the first day of March the Parliament by his Absence became dissolved It seems that besides the Statutes that are in Print this Parliament enacted 1. That the Queen was Legitimate 2. That the Royal Power was vested in her 3. That her Issue should inherit the Crown and Kingdoms of England and Ireland 4. That Heresies should be punished and three Statutes to that effect were revived 5. That all Acts against the Pope made since 20 Hen. 8. be repealed 6. That the Grants made by Archbishop Brown be void and cap. 12. that First-Fruits be released But afterwards by the Act of the second of Elizabeth cap. 1. the Act of Repeal was repealed and the revived Statutes against Heresie were suppressed the Jurisdiction of the Pope was abolished and cap. 3. the First-Fruits and twentieth Part were restored to the Crown There was also an Act to give the Queen a Subsidy of thirteen Shillings and four Pence out of every Plow-land for ten Years And another to make it Treason to introduce or receive armed Scots into Ireland or to marry with a Scot without Licence under the great Seal The printed Acts of this Parliament are I. For the Disposition of Leix and Offaly II. For making the King's County and Queens County Shire-Ground and entituling their Majesties thereunto III. For making other Counties into Shire-Ground IV. To explain Poynings Act that new Bills whilst the Irish Parliament sits may be transmitted into England for Approbation as well as if they had been sent before the Parliament met V. That Labourers or Cottiers shall not buy Horses more than is absolutely necessary VI. That the Owners of stolen Goods using their best Endeavours to prosecute the Felon shall be reprized out of the Felons Goods if they cannot get their own again VII That no Body shall make Aquavitae without Licence under the great Seal except Noblemen Gentlemen and Freemen of Towns that send Members to Parliament And it is to be noted That this Act which was designed to spare Corn and prevent a Dearth was necessary at that time Yet now the Kingdom is better improved and consequently abounds in Corn this Act though not repealed is become obsolete and a quite contrary Act viz. To encourage the Making and Exportation of Aquavitae would tend very much to the Advantage of Ireland In July the Lord Deputy made an Expedition against the O Maddens whose Country called Silanchia now the Barony of Longford in the County of Galway was last Year on the Murder of John O Madden divided between Malachy Modhar and the Murderer Brasil Duff the Deputy sent a Summons to the Castle of Melik but the valiant Warders not only boasted how stoutly they would defend it but also believing that every Summons was an Affront and as it were a Suspicion of their Courage they assured the Herald That it should not be safe for him to come with any more such Messages to them It is hardly credible That after all this Ostentation these Men of War should desert the Castle the very next Night however they certainly did so and the Lord Deputy placed a Garrison in it and returned On the tenth of August the Lord Deputy advanced into Vlster Ware 220. being accompanied by the Lords of Kildare Ormond Baltinglass Delvin Dnnboyne and Dunsany his Design was against the Scots but they sheltered themselves in the Woods and Bogs so that he did them no other Mischief than that he took some Preys however some of them were thereby perswaded to submit and Daniel Mac Conel and Richard Mac Guilliam received the Honour of Knighthood On the twenty second Day of October the Lord Deputy made another Journey into Vlster And on the twenty fourth day he came to Dundalk and on the twenty fifth he took a Prey and came to Armagh the Rebels still flying before him on the twenty seventh he burnt Armagh except the Church and marched to Newry and so on the thirtieth day of the same Month returned to Dublin And being ordered to attend the Queen in England he first obliged O Carol O Molloy Macgehogan O Doyne Mac Coughlan the two O Maddens and Fylemy Duff to gives Hostages of their Good Behaviour And then on the fourth of December he set sail for England leaving Hugh Curvin 1557. Lord Chancellor and Sir Henry Sydny Treasurer at Wars Lords Justices by Patent dated at Westminster the twelfth of November after they were censed and sprinkled with Holy Water and Mass was celebrated they were sworn at Christ-Church on Sunday the fifth of December and received the Sword from Sir John Stanly the Marshal with whom it was left to that Purpose and they continued in their Office until Sir Henry Sydny Ware 222. Lord Justice was sworn on the sixth of February by the Queen's Command and by virtue of a Commission bearing date the eighteenth day of January he attacked Arthur O Molloy Chief of Fercalia who was brewing new Treasons and favoured and cherished those that were in Rebellion But the Lord Deputy did soon over-run his Country and made Theobald O Molloy Governour thereof and took his Son for a Hostage of the Father's Fidelity and then by Cess in the Pale the Deputy furnished the Forts of Maryburgh and Philipsburgh with Victuals and returned to Dublin where he made Proclamation That no Corn should be carried out of the Pale In the mean time Shane O Neal invaded Tyrconnel designing to reduce it to the former Tribute and Dependance it paid to his House Calvagh O Donel being too weak to resist by Force betook himself to his Politicks and made an Essay by Night on the
Dungannon O Connor Sligo O Carol and others When he came to Hampton-Court with two hundred Gentlemen in his Train it hapned that the Queen was looking out at the Window Hooker 118. and seeing such a Multitude she was thereat surprized until she was told it was the Lord Deputy of Ireland and then she replied It was well enough for he had two of the best Offices in the Kingdom And being come in he was well received for the present by the Queen but after a while was told by some of the Courtiers That the Scussle in Ulster was not worthy to be called a War since the principal Rebel Shane O Neal was but a Beggar and an Outlaw However the Earl of Desmond and O Connor were clapt up in the Tower and Sir John of Desmond was sent for and imprisoned in the same place But O Connor Lib. L. by Indenture made his Submission to the Queen Lib. H. and thereupon was enlarged and the next Year viz. the twelfth of July 1568 the Earl of Desmond submitted in most humble manner and laid all his Estate at her Majesties Feet and promised to convey what part she should be pleased to take of it and acknowledges to have forfeited a Recognizance of twenty thousand Pounds which he had formerly made to the Queen as hath been already related But when Sydny went to England he left Doctor Weston Lord Chancellor and Sir William Fitz-Williams Treasurer at Wars Lords Justices by Commission under the Great Seal of Ireland Dated the fourteenth Day of October In their time private Quarrels did swell almost into publick Wars for not only Sir Edmond Butler and Pierce Grace did invade Oliver Fitz Girald's Territories with great Fury but also the O Connors and O Mores who were Proclaimed Traytors did now appear in the Field with a thousand Gallowglasses and threatned to spoil O Carol's Country and to burn Kilkenny and the Defendants being in no good condition to resist did in vain importune the Government for Assistance Moreover Daniel Mac Carty More despising his Title of Earl of Glencar assumed the Title of King of Munster and having confederated with O Sullevan More Mac Swiny and others he invaded the Lord Roche's Country with Banners displayed and destroyed all the Corn together with seven Hundred Sheep and killed many Men Women and Children and carried away fifteen Hundred Cows and an Hundred Garrons Nor was the Contention less between James Fitz Maurice of Desmond and the Lord of Lixnaw And there happened another barbarou accident that was more surprizing than any of the rest for one Maurice Gibbon alias Reagh who was by the Popes Bull appointed to be Archbishop of Cashell had the Confidence to come to James Mac Caghwell who for some time had been Archbishop of that See Ware de presul 172. and to demand Possession which being refused the barbarous Villain stabbed the Archbishop with a Skein but it so happened that the Archbishod recovered and Maurice made his escape into Spain In Vlster Cambden 121. Turlogh Lynogh had assumed the Name of O Neal and in an Encounter with the Scots had killed Alexander Oge but it seems that quarrel was appeased and one Thousand of the Scots took Pay under Turlogh and invaded the Ferny contrary to Articles In Connaught there was a new Broil between Mac William Oughter and O Connor Sligo about a Rent in Eyter Conaught and in Thomond there were great Contests between the Earl and O Shaghaness and in this disorderly and tumultuous Condition stood the Kingdom of Ireland 1568. when in September Sir Henry Sydny Lord Deputy landed at Carigfergus he immediately sent for Turlogh Lynogh who came to him and confessed his Fault and with the greatest Humility begged the Lord Deputies Pardon which with great difficulty he at length obtained but not until the Scots Hostages were first Executed On the twentieth of October the Lord Deputy was Sworn at Dublin and immediately he sent for Sir Edmond Butler who upon several frivolous Pretences refused to come but broke out into Rebellion as shall be related hereafter In the mean time the Proceedings at Council-board will deserve a Paragraph in this History and the rather because a great and memorable Case was at this time agitated there for Sir Peter Carew whose Ancestor had formerly been Marquess of Cork and had great Possessions in several parts of the Kingdom came over well recommended to Ireland Lib. F. Lambeth and resolved to endeavour the recovery of that great Estate which was wrongfully withheld from him and particularly the Barony of Idrone in the County of Caterlogh was detained by the Heirs of those whom one of the Carews had employed as his Steward and had entrusted to mannage that Estate but Sir Peter being advised not to alarum the Irish by beginning with them first he did on the twenty ninth day of October prefer his Petition to the Council-board against Sir Christopher Chivers for the Mannor of Ballymaclethan in the County of Meath and in the Petition he suggested that Chivers was so popular and powerful a Man in his Country that there could be no indifferent Tryal had at Common-Law c. Hereupon Sir Christopher was summoned and when he appeared he pleaded ore tenus to the Jurisdiction of the Council-board in this Matter but Mr. Perriam gave three reasons why they might proceed First Because it was the common Practise to determine Causes at the Council-Table in England and instanced the Case of one Colshul about an Office in the Exchequer Secondly That in cases of Extremity as loss of Evidence want of just Tryal c. A Suit may be commenced before the Lord Chancellor or at the Council-board propter necessitatem ne curia domini Regis desiceret in Justitia exhibenda Thirdly That there are innumerable Presidents of Causes determined at the Council-Table in Ireland upon these reasons the Judges Dillon and Plunket were of Opinion the Board might proceed to determine this Cause and afterwards the two Chief Justices concurred in the same Opinion so that Chivers was forced to put in his Answer in Writing which he did but still it concluded to the Jurisdiction as before and in his Plea he insisted on the Statutes of Magna Carta cap. 11. and cap. 29. 25 Edw. 3. cap. 4. 28 Edw. 3. cap. 3. and 42 Edw. 3. cap. 3. But he likewise set forth his Title by Descent to part of the Lands in question and made some other Title to the rest The Court was angry with the Defendant for repeating his Plea to the Jurisdiction after it had been so solemnly over-ruled however they ordered the Plantiff to reply which he did by abridging his Plaint as to the Lands Descended and by a solid Answer to the rest of the Plea But at length the Parties agreed among themselves and Chivers for a small Consideration had a Release from Sir Peter however Sir Peter afterwards on the like Petition recovered the
and a few Volunteers and some Sea-men came to the Deputy and were very kindly received and the Disloyalty of the City was remembred at another time In Clonmel the Lord Deputy was nobly Treated in the Town-House which he requited by a most excellent Speech in commendation of Loyalty and thence marched to Cashil and in his March took a Castle held by Sir Edmond Butler and restored it to one Cantrel who was the right Owner 1569. and so he came to Cork where he found four hundred Soldiers newly arrived out of England under the Command of the Captains Shute and Ward as by his Letters to England he had desired From Cork the Lord Deputy made a step into Kirricurry and took the Castle of Carigoline and afterwards he marched into Orrery and took Butâ—ivant and so designed for Kilmallock but James Fitz-Morrice got there before him and took the Town by the help of scaling Ladders and finding that he could not keep it he burnt and destroyed as much of it as he could However the Lord Deputy marched thither and having given all the Encouragement that he could to repair and reedifie Kilmallock he setled a Garrison there of an hundred Horse four hundred Foot and some Kern under Colonel Gilbert who was made Governor or Colonel of Munster and so having taken the Oaths and Hostages of the Lords Roch Courcy Decyes Power and of Sir Cormock Mac Teige and many other Gentlemen and Freeholders of the Counties of Cork and Limerick he marched directly to the City of Limerick The Earl of Ormond came to the Lord Deputy at or near Limerick and brought with him his Brother Sir Edmond Butler who in the open Camp submitted to Mercy acknowledging his Follies and craving Pardon and thereupon he was set at Liberty upon the Earl's Recognisance for his appearance at Dublin and accordingly he did appear there on the sixteenth day of October together with Pierce Butler another Brother of the Earl's and both of them were indicted of High Treason However it seems that Pierce was afterwards bailed but Sir Edmond being a Cholerick Man did reflect upon the Lord Deputy and attributed all to his Partiality and alledged that the Lord Deputy did threaten him and would do him no Justice and vented many more such passionate expressions and therefore had not the favour of being bailed but was committed close Prisoner to the Castle of Dublin from whence in a very short time after he made a strange and hazardous escape by the help of a small Rope which broke within three yards of the ground and so bruised him that he could not go far so that he was forced to stay all that cold Winter-Night up to the Chin in the Water to prevent his Discovery However about three Months after viz. on the last of February the Earl of Ormond did again bring Sir Edmond and the rest of his Brothers before the Lord Deputy and Council at Dublin and there after a short Commitment and humble Submissions they were all pardoned for the sake of the Earl and perhaps by special Orders from the Queen who by the Mother was related to this Noble Family Cambd. Eliz. 138. and used to boast of the untainted Loyalty of the House of Ormond In the mean time Colonel Gilbert behaved himself so well in Munster that the Earl of Glencar and his Follower Mac Donogh were forced to come to him and to submit on their Knees craving Pardon for what was past and offering Hostages for their future Behaviour and afterwards that Earl came to Dublin to a subsequent Session of the Parliament and in the Presence-Chamber and in Christ-Church made most Pathetical Submissions on their 〈◊〉 and were Pardoned but the Collonel Gilbert being 〈◊〉 his good Service Knighted at Drogheda the first of January 1569 got leave to go to England and there he 〈…〉 a rich Widow and was not long afterwards drowned and thereupon Sir John Penott was Lord President of Munster In Leinster Sir Peter Carew had reduced the Cavenaghs to that low Condition that they were forced to submit to Mercy simply and without Stipulation and in Connaught Sir Edward Fitton by valour in the Field and severe Justice in the Courts did so quail the stubborn Hearts of the Rebels that his Province had but very little disturbance except what was given by the Earl of Thomond who could not brook the Severity of the President it seems he complained to the Lord Deputy before he entred into Rebellion for on the twenty third of April 1570. Lib. H. the Earl of Ormond was sent to treat with him but that Treaty proving ineffectual there ensued a smart Battle or rather Skirmish wherein the Earl of Thomond was worsted Contra Barkers Chron. 343. and Cambd. and thereupon he fled into France where he met with the English Ambassador Norris by whose means the Earl was pardoned Eliz. 153. and afterwards proved a very good Subject and did considerable Services to his Queen and Country Turlogh Lynogh whom I have already mentioned to have assumed the Name of O Neal was about this time shot in the Belly with two Bullets out of a Caliver by one of the Doniloghs who was a kind of a Jester he was at Supper with his Wife Aunt to the Earl of Argile when he received this Misfortune and though the Wound proved not to be Mortal yet it was so near it that the Auxiliary Scots began to think of deserting him 1570. and his own Country were in Factions about the choice of a new O Neal Lib. H. however he at length recovered and made an attempt to invade the Pale but the Scots dispersed for want of Pay so that O Neal was glad to treat with Justice Dowdall and the Dean of Armagh the Queens Commissioners and they came to an Agreement in O Neal's Camp at Dungannon on the twentieth day of January Lib. H. which was afterwards ratified by the Lord Deputy on the thirteenth day of March. On the eleventh of February the O Feralls or Ferells surrendred their Interest in the Annaly or County of Longford and took part of it back again at the Yearly Rent of an Hundred Marks c. The publick Expence for three Years viz. From Michaelmass 1565 to Michaelmass 1568 paid out of the Exchequer amounted unto Eighty eight Thousand nine Hundred thirty eight Pounds nine Shillings and eleven Pence whereof I suppose at least one half was remitted from England and yet the Lord Deputy was so Industrious in the Collection of the Revenue that he got twelve Hundred Pound of Hugh O Donell for the Arrears of Rent due for many Years past and the Queen was so intent on the Reformation and settlement of Ireland that she sent over Robert Leeth a Surveyor about the Year 1568 to make a true Survey and an exact Map of that Kingdom But Pope Pius the Fifth having by his Bull of the fifth of March 1569. Cambd. Eliz. 146. â—ulminated
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
their Bond men wherein we are to desire you to take part with us according at you are bound by Conscience and by Nature to defend your Country And if you be afraid we should shrink from you after you should enter this Cause you shall understand that we took this Matter in hand with great Authority both from the Popes Holiness and from King Philip who do undertake to further us in our Affairs as we shall need Wherefore you shall not need to fear to take one part of it and be assured we will never agree with none of your Adversaries without your Consent and this our Letter shall be a sufficient Warrant for the same Newcastle Novemb. 29. 1579. Besides the Nonsence and Illiterature appearing in this Letter is it not prodigious that Fitz-Girald an English Man should rail against his own Nation and think that to be the worst of Faults which was most inseparable from him the Foundation of his greatness viz. his extraction or that he who held his Estate by English Laws and Patents should so insist upon his Possession as to forget his Title and by a stupid Contradiction look upon the English as Usurpers whilst he himself had no other Right But he who could fancy that any Authority in Ireland could be derived from King Philip might swallow impossibilities and without fear or wit run into destruction as he did In the mean time the Lord General Ormond invaded Connilogh December to which Place Desmond was again returned but did not at all expect that Attack so that most of the Inhabitants were surprized and either killed or taken Prisoners and the Villages were either plundered or burnt the Earl was like to be surprized at Newcastle and very narrowly escaped And not long after Ormond had a Brush with the Seneschal of Connilogh and though Ormond got the better yet he lost many of his Soldiers and therefore in revenge he burnt all the Country about Lefinnen and then marched to Cork and in the way he took a Prey of fifteen hundred Cows and brought them thither At Cork Ormond disposed of his Army into Garrisons and then went to Cashel having by the way taken the Mayor of Youghal who had formerly refused a Garrison and undertook to defend the Town against the Rebels and yet when Desmond attacked it the Mayor delivered it up almost without Blows and therefore to appease the Queen who was mightily troubled at the scandalous Loss of Youghal the Mayor was deservedly executed before his own Door and it is observable that Youghal was wholly deserted so that there was not one Soul left in it except one Fryar who was spared for the Humanity he had shewed to the Corps of Henry Davels which he carefully buried but the old Inhabitants were by Proclamation of the first day of February invited to return and to encourage them thereunto a Garrison of three hundred Foot was left in the Town under the Command of the Captains Morgan and Pierce In the mean time Ibid. Ormond made great Preparations to recover the Castle of Sangically from the Spaniards from whom he expected stout and obstinate Resistance but on the contrary they deserted the Castle upon view of the Army and fled over the Water but were so hotly pursued that most of them were slain and a Garrison was put into the Castle Ormond's Head Quarters were at Adare and it being usual for the Soldiers to range abroad for Forage or Plunder Desmond placed an Ambush so luckily that it once intercepted them but being stout and well disciplin'd Men they made good their Retreat without any Disadvantage In the mean time the Lord Justice whom we left at Limerick marched into Thomond where the Earl and his Son and two Servants very ill mounted met his Lordship and waited on him to Galway and there the Lord Justice confirm'd the Priviledges of that Town 1579. and thence marched through Athenry Ballinislow and Athlone to Dublin and there he found William Norris and an hundred and fifty brave Horse all in a Livery of Red Coats and Yellow Lace newly arrived from England which were immediately sent to Quarter at the Newry where Norris died on Christmas Day Captain Casy's Company that was left in Galway was forced to hire a House for the Soldiers and the Queen paid the Rent of it and on the twenty eighth of November a Custodiam of the Bishoprick of Ross was granted to Robert Drury for three Years and on the 3d. of Dec. the L. Justice kept Sessions at Trim and caused 16 Malefactors to be executed and on the 10th of Dec. Sir Hugh O Reily made his Submission at Drogheda and the same day 5000 l. in Money arrived out of England On the eighteenth of January the Lord Justice left Dublin and came by the Sea-coast to Wexford where he kept Sessions and sate personally in the Court thence by Tintern he came to Waterford where he was nobly received and the Mayor carried the Sword before him The Earl of Ormond met him at Waterford and upon Advertisement that the Rebels drew near Dungarvan and Youghal Captain Zouch was sent with four hundred Foot and an hundred Horse to oppose them On the Eleventh of February a Commission of Martial Law was sent to Sir Warham Saint-Leger Hooker 166. and then the Lord Justice having stayed three Weeks at Waterford removed to Clonmel where Ormond met him again and thence he marched to Limerick and had his Baggage carried a great part of the way on Mens Shoulders for want of Carriage-Horses or because of the badness of the Way or both at Limerick the Chancellor of that Diocess was found guilty of Treason for corresponding with Desmond but he made Shift to get a Pardon whilst the Bishop of Limerick who was shrewdly suspected was confined to his House On the Tenth of March the Lord Justice and Ormond met at Rakele and the next day they passed over the Bridge of Adare and returned at Night and then they divided their Forces and invaded Conniloe burning and spoiling the Country and incamped within one Mile of Kilcolman where they had News that Lieutenant Parker five Horse and three Foot coming from Limerick were set upon by an hundred Rebels near Rakele but they so behaved themselves that they slew the Commander and five or six more of the Enemy and came off with small Loss the same day a Soldier of the Marshal's encountred two lusty Kerns and having slain one he compell'd the other to carry his Fellow's Head to the Camp where he was likewise slain On the twelfth of March the Army being divided Preyed and burnt the Country to Slevelogher as they did likewise the next day and slew above four hundred Men whereupon the Lord Lixnaw was humbled and made his Submission The Lord Justice having marched as far as Slewemiss beyond Traley and not being able to pass farther resolved to besiege Carrigifoyl which was Desmond's chief strength and it was Garrisoned
with nineteen Spaniards and fifty Irish under one Julio an Italian Engineer The Lord Justice coming to view it had like to have been killed with a Musquet Shot nevertheless he persevered in his Resolution and caused the Castle to be battered with three Cannon a Culverin and a demy-Culverin till a Breach was made at which Captain Macworth entred and took the Castle putting fifty to the Sword and six he took and executed them in the Camp the Captain Julio was preserved two or three days for certain Considerations and then not complying with the Lord Justices Expectations he was Hanged On the third of April 1580. the Army sat down before Askeaton which is a very strong Castle built upon Rocks and of very difficult Access nevertheless the cowardly Garrison were so frightned with the example of Carrigifoyl Cambd. Eliz. 240. that they basely deserted the Castle the first night of the Siege having first layed a train of Powder which burned great part of the Castle but did not prejudice the principal Towers The same day George Carew and others with three Companies attempted Ballyloghane another Castle of Desmond's which the Garrison upon sight of them likewise deserted but not so timely but that being closely pursued many of them were slain Now was Desmond dispossessed of all his Castles and therefore the Lord Justice leaving four Companies at Askelon returned to Lymerick on the fifth of April as Ormond did to Kilkenny Malby to Connaught and others to Dublin However the Army tho in Garrison was not ildle but behaved themselves effectually as they found Occasion even the Lord Justice himself went by Sea from Lymerick to Adare and sent Captain Case by Land and both returned after the slaughter of many Traytors with a Prey of twelve Hundred Cows and many Sheep At Lymerick the fifteenth of May the Lord Justice received a Comâ—ission from the Queen to be Lord Justice and another 〈…〉 Sir William Burk Baron of Castleconnel with a Yearly Pension of an hundred Marks during Life On the thirteenth of May Sullevan 101. Walsh ' s Loyal Remonstrance Pope Gregory the thirteenth granted to all the Irish that would fight against the Queen the same plenary Pardon and remission of all their Sins as to those that are engaged in the Holy War against the Turk On the seventeenth of May a separate Commission of Martial Law was granted granted to the Lord Rooh and Sir Cormack Mac Teig of Muskry with Power to give Protection for fifteeen days to any other than the principal Rebels On the fourteenth day of June the Lord Justice invaded and destroyed Clanawliff and thence marched through Slevelogher to Kerry and on the fifteenth took a Prey of two Thousand Kine and many Sheep and mist but little of surprizing the Earl of Desmond and Doctor Sanders this last being fain for haste to leave his Gown behind him he took another Prey the next day at Castlemange nevertheless the Army being ill payed began to Mutiny and some of them refused to march with the Earl of Ormond into the Mountains of Kerry but by the Lord Justice's Discretion this Sedition was appeased and the Mutineers were Pardoned On the eighth of July the Popish Lords of Munster appeared before the Lord Justice at Limerick and being charged with Correspondence with the Rebels and negligence in Prosecuting them all of them except the Lord Barry submitted and promised future Loyalty and were ordered to maintain two thousand Men during the War and to give Pledges of Performance but the next day they thought the Charge too heavy and therefore were confined to their Chambers till they sent their Pledges soon after Sir Cormock Mac Teig was dismissed with Favour and an Order to the Country to assist him in his Attempts against the Rebels because he had promised to do some considerable Service which he very luckily effected for James of Desmond on the fourth of August invaded Muskry and took a Prey from Sir Cormock Mac Teig Cambd. Eliz. 240. then Sheriff of the County of Cork whereupon his Brother Daniel Mac Teig assembled what Force he could get together to rescue the Prey it was briskly disputed between them and the issue was the Desmonians being an Hundred and Fifty were beaten and most of them slain and Sir James being taken Prisoner was brought to Sir Warham Saint Leger and Captain Rawleigh who caused him to be Hanged Drawn and Quartered at Cork In August Ormond dislodged from Adare and marched to Buttevant where a strange kind of Sickness called afterward in England The gentle Correction seized the whole Army it took them in the Head and for two or three Days they lay Senseless and then recovered few or none died of it though by the Violence of the Disease it was not expected that many could recover Ormond divided his small Army into two Parts and marched with one half to Castle-Island and the other he sent to Traley in Kerry where all met and then dividing into three Parts marched to Dingle and as they went they drove the whole Country before them whereby they took a Prey of eight thousand Cows besides Garrons Sheep c. and slew a great many People and had slain more but that Sir William Winter who was then in the Harbour of Ventry with some of Her Majesties Ships gave many of them Protections This Winter was Vice-Admiral of England and came to cruise about the Coast and to prevent the Spaniards Landing if they should come but he had not the Patience to stay or else believed they would not come in the Winter so he returned home before they came In the mean time the Earl of Desmond was reduced to great Extremity more of his Followers having perished by the Famine than were destroyed by the Sword so that the Countess came with Tears in her Eyes to intercede for her Husband August and Sir John Desmond and Doctor Sanders endeavoured to fly to the Lord of Baltinglass who was up in Leinster but they were like to be intercepted by the Garrison of Kilmallock who met them and their two Servants and took the Servants whilst the Masters escaped so they were forced to return to Kerry and had been taken there but that a false Brother gave them notice of the Design however they took two Fryers and a Prey of two hundred and thirty Kine and slew divers of the Rebels In the mean time the new Lord Deputy landed at Dublin on the twelfth of August and immediately sent for the Sword but the Lord Justice did not think fit to part with it until he personally surrendred it which he made no haste to do but instead of going directly to Dublin having left Sir George Bourchier Collonel of Munster with two thousand eight hundred and twenty Foot and three hundred ninety five Horse and given him and others proper instructions he rode to Killalow where the unconscionable Bishop demanded thirty Pound for one Nights grazing for an Hundred
Kine 500 Horses besides Sheep Goats Money Cloarsh and Victuals with which he supplied the Garrisons and return'd to Adaro where he left a Garrison and return'd to Cork this misfortune quite spoil'd the Lord of Lixnaw so that he was never more able to hold up his head but most submissively applied himself to the Earl of Ormond who got him a Pardon tho he had formerly suffered very great injuries from him No sooner was this storm of the Lord of Kerryes allayed but the Earl of Desmond appear'd again near Adare and Skirmished smartly with the English so that having lost many men they had much ado to recover the Abby of Adare where they lay in Garrison About this time a contention arose between the Macan Earla's Vlick and John Burk on the Death of their Father but it was refer'd to Commissioners who ordered that Vlick should have Loghreagh and the Earldom of Clanrickard Lib. H. and that John should have Leitrim and that the Commissioners should intercede to have him created Baron of Leitrim and both of them agreed that if either proved a Traytor to the Queen the other should have all One Birne a Rebel being weary of that sort of life offer'd to Captain George Carew to bring his Captain Fitz-Giralds Head to him on condition to have his own Pardon but Fitz-Girald had timely intelligence and prevented the Execution of that Plot by Executing Birne and his Complices nevertheless he was so frightned with this attempt that he offered to do the like by Pheagh Mac Hugh for his own Pardon but Pheagh also had seasonable notice or a strong suspicion of this design and fairly hanged his Friend Fitz-Girald in his stead But this good Deputy by the contrivance of the Rebels was represented at the Court of England as a bloody man that regarded not the lives of the Subjects any more than the lives of Dogs Spencer 73. but had tyrannized with that barbarity that there was little left for the Queen to Reign over but Carcasses and Ashes And this false Story being believed in England a general Pardon was sent over to such of the Rebels as would accept thereof 1582. and the Lord Deputy in the midst of his Victories was recalled so that in August he left Ireland to the care of Adam Loftus Archbishop of Dublin Lord Chancellour Sir Henry Wallop Treasurer at Wars Lords Justices two men very unfit to be yoak'd together Spencer ' s View 76. the difference between them being no less in their minds and affections than it was in their bodies and professions Their Government was auspicated with the Death of Dr. Saunders Sullevan 100. who died miserably of a Flux and Famine in the Woods of Clenlis whereby the Kingdom was rid of a malicious cunning and indefatigable Traytor And the Earl of Desmond was reduced to such streights that he was forced to keep his Christmass in Kilquegg Wood near Kilmallock whereof the Garrison of Kilmallock having Notice they were induced by the importunity of John Walsh to endeavour to surprize him 4 January and in order to it they March'd in the night under the conduct of the Captains Dowdal Bangor and Thornton and came before Day to the River side and by means of some Hurdles which tied together and fastned with Ropes to a Tree on this side the River and made one of their men Swim over with the end of a Rope which he also fastned on the other side they safely passed the River but made so much noise that Desmond and his Wife took the Alarm and got out of their Cabbin into the River where they stood up to the Chin in Water on the Bank-side and thereby were undiscovered and escaped but his Servants were all kill'd and what Goods they had were carried away Soon after this Fitzgirald of Ballimartir commonly call'd Seneschall of Imekilly surpriz'd Youghall and entred one end of the Town but was so warmly receiv'd by Lieutenant Calverleigh and forty Shot he had with him that the Seneschal was forced to Retreat and leave fifty of his Men dead behind him About the end of January the Earl of Ormond Landed at Waterford with 400 Men which were disposed of to the Captains Bourcher Stanley Barkley and Roberts This Earl was also made Governor of Munster and procured two Pence a Day to be added to the Soldiers pay which gain'd him abundance of Love and Respect from the Army Ormond's first Attempt was in Harlow Wood in Pursuit of the Earl of Desmond he divided his Party into four Squadrons and searcht the Wood throughly Slew many Rebels and so dispersed and frightned the rest that they never met in any considerable Body afterwards but most of them one after another submitted and had Pardon and on the 5th of June Desmond wrot a submissive Letter to the Earl of Ormond which is to be found in the Caballa of Letters 223. In August the Garrison of Killmallock had fresh Advice 1583. that Desmond with 60 Gallowglasses was come into Harlow Wood whereupon Captain Dowall so timed the matter that he took 25. of them asleep in their Cabbins and the rest who were boiling Horseflesh he quickly Discomsited and Slew In September some of the Lord Roches Men met the Earl of Desmond in Duhallow accompanied by three Horse-men and a Priest they endeavoured to take him but being well mounted they all escaped except the Priest who discovered what Misery the Earl was in and that he was supported chiefly by one Goron Mac Swiny who was in Protection whereof Ormond having notice sent Captain Dowdall and a Garrison to Dingle whereupon the Earl retired into the Country of Desmond and got the greatest number of his Followers together that he could and particularly the said Goron and his Brother Morrogh Mac Swiny by whose Assistance he hoped to renew the War But it fell out otherwise for Goron Mac Swiny having taken a great Prey in Carbry three Irishmen who owned some of the Cattle followed them at some distance expecting an opportunity at night to Steal back their own Cattle or an Equivalent and to that end they hid themselves within a Musket-shot of Goron's Camp or Lodgment and it so happened that Goron and a Servant both unarmed walkt that way and came near the place where the three Men were hid and as soon as they perceived that Goron and his Servant were unarmed they surprized them and cut off their Heads and being satisfied with this Revenge they ran away to shift for themselves Desmond was beyond measure dismayed at this loss and saw there was no way to recover it unless he could regain such of his Followers as had taken Protection of the English and therefore in order to it or to be revenged of them he sent some of his Servants over the Strand of Traly to take a Prey which they did but a poor Woman of the Moriartas whose small Stock was all taken away by these Tories immediately repair'd
Portcorn that matter be likewise amended next Parliament VI. To Report to the Queen the Quality and Merit of those that have acted or suffered for her and the Quantity of the Reward fit to be given them out of the forfeited Lands and under what Covenants and Reservations and She thinks it better to give it to their younger Sons than themsevles to increase the number of Freeholders VII To the same Effect VIII To lessen or dissolve the Pensions and gratify the Parties with Portions of forfeited Lands certifying the Value and Condition of the same IX To grant no more Land to any Man than he shall be able to People X. To renew and observe the Directions to former Deputies in all things that are not contradicted hereby XI Because the Tenants of the Crown are disabled by the Rebellions of James Fitz-Morris and Desmond to pay their Arrears to let them have new Leases for the Remainder of the Terms at the old Rent the fourth Part of which shall be paid in Beeves at 9 s. a piece or Corn at the rate of Port-Corn and for the Arrearages to give Instalments or to remit part or all as you shall find requisite XII To resume by Act of Parliament or on Composition with the Parties the Demeasnes and Conveniences of Her Houses and Castles of Dublin Killmamham Athloan Caterlagh Leighlin Monasterevan c. and to annex them inseperably to the respective Castles or Houses by Act of Parliament reserving the Ancient Rent XIII To do the like by any of the forfeited Lands that lie convenient for those Castles c. XIV To preserve the Woods on any forfeited Lands near any Navigable River for her use XV. That no Man Ecclesiastical or Civil that has any Function or Office be suffer'd to be absent from his Charge above two Months without special License on pain of Forfeiture XVI To enquire with the Council what Outrages have been done since March the 25th 1583. and how redressed who of Quality are Loyal Disloyal or Suspected and to send Her an Account of the true Estate of every Province in that Realm XVII To inquire into all the Jurisdictions and Irish-Chieferies Exactions Cuttings and Spendings which the Attainted Rebels enjoyed that She may retain them or by relinquishing them manifest to Her Subjects the easiness of Her Government and their Happiness under it XVIII That Commissions do not issue for every trivial Concern and that the Allowance to Commissioners be not as great and burdensome as formerly XIX That the Establishment for Conaugh be lessened and that Richard Bingham be Chief Commissioner of Conaugh XX. To place John Norris Esquire President of Munster with the same Allowance your self had when President there XXI To make Thomas Jones Bishop of Meath Norris Bingham and Thomas L'Estrange Esquire of the Privy Council XXII To place such an Arch-Bishop at Armagh now void as you and the Council think fit XXIII To certify Quarterly the whole Expence in Ireland and what is sent hence and what is received there to defray it And afterwards additional Instructions were sent to him as followeth I. To endeavour to ease Her Majesties Charge in Victualling the Army Lib. C. by getting Victuals in Ireland and to save the charge and hazard of Transportation II. To consider how a College may be Erected and St. Patrick's Church and the Revenue thereof may be appropriated thereunto and every Diocess by Act of Parliament be made Contributary out of the Leases of Impropriations III. To Name some that may be made Lord Barons IV. In the next Parliament to revive the Impost which has been expir'd these two years V. To endeavour the getting in of the Debts due to Her Majesty VI. To Discharge such of the Pensioners or to Reward them in forfeited Lands as you shall think fit VII To Prefer the Ancient Officers and Soldiers before new Comers VIII To take off the Wards and Garison from Fernes and Iniscorthy and other unnecessary places IX To repair the Forts of Leix and Offaly at as small Charge as may be and to prevail with the Inhabitants of the Country for whose Defence they are made to provide Carriage and Labourers and to render an Account of the Condition of those Countries and the Causes of it X. To recompence Edward Waterhouse for the voluntary Surrender of his Patent for maintenance of Boats over the Sheuin such Entertainment as you and the Council shall think fit XI To suffer no Man that was in the late Rebellions of what Quality soever to keep any other Arms than Sword and Dagger XII To encourage the Loyal and protect the pardon'd People of Munster and send your best Advice how Munster may be Repeopled The Lord Deputy spent 18 days in close Consultation with the Privy Council who were the Arch-Bishop of Dublin Chancellor Earl of Ormond Treasurer the Bishops of Armagh Meath and Killmore Sir John Norris Lord President of Munster Sir Henry Wallop Treasurer of Wars Sir Nicholas Bagnall Knight Marshal Robert Gardener Chief Justice Sir Robert Dillon Chief Justice of Common Banc Sir Lucas Dillon Chief Baron Sir Nicholas White Master of the Rolls Sir Richard Bingham Chief Commissioner of Connaugh Sir Henry Cowley Sir Edward Waterhouse Sir Thomas L'Estrange Sir Edward Brabazon Jeffery Fenton Secretary of State Warham Saint Leger and Sir Valentine Brown And as soon as he understood the true State of the Kingdom and had laid down the Measures of his Government he issued a Proclamation of Oblivion and Indemnity and then he sent the Earl of Desmond's Son James into England On the 15th of July The Lord Deputy began his Progress and came to Molingar the 16th and thence sent a Cypher to the Lord Chancellor and Sir Henry Wallop to Dublin whereby they might easily Decipher and understand his Letters which would be unintelligible to the Rebels if they should happen to intercept them thence he proceeded to Connaugh where he endeavoured to reconcile all the great Men of that Country and put to Death Donogh beg O Bryan a bloody Murtherer in this Journey he converted Fryer Malachias a Malone Brother to Mac William Eughter and from Gallway he came to Limerick where he received the News that the Scots to the number of 1000. in favour of Surleboy had invaded Vlster and he also intercepted O Neals Fosterer returning out of Munster from exciting the Irish Lords and Gentlemen there to a new Rebellion but tho this Messenger upon Examination confessed his Errand yet he assured the Deputy that all those he had gone to refused to Rise as long as Sir John Perrot and the Earl of Ormond whom they deemed just Men continued in the Kingdom Hereupon the Deputy took Pledges from those he most suspected and leaving the County of Cork to the Justices Walsh and Miagh the Sheriff Sir William Stanley and the Lords Barry and Roch Limerick to the Provost Marshal Desmond to the Earl of Clancar 1584. Sir Owen O Sullevan and O Sullevan more
Kerry to the Sheriff and the Lord of Lixnaw with the Lord President of Munster he returned to Dublin the 9th of August 1584. In his way he took Pledges from Pheagh Mac Hugh and appointed Sir Henry Harrington to take the like from O Birne O Toole and the Septs of O More and O Connor and committed the Kings County to the care of Sir George Bourcher and of the Queens County to Sir Warham Saint Leger he also appointed Commissioners to take Hostages of the Cavenaghs and when he came to Dublin he decided a Controversy between Philip and Sir John O Reyley to both their Satisfaction About this time the Lord Deputy published Orders to be observed by Justices of the Peace one whereof was lodged with every Custos Rotulor Lib. C. the most material of them were to keep Sessions Quarterly to enquire into Penalties of Statutes forfeited Recognizances Contempts Breach of Peace winking at Malefactors Confederacies and Parlies with Tâ—â—ytors or notorious known Theives that all Men and Women from Sixteen to Seventy be Booked and Sworn to Allegiance else committed to Goal to have General Musters every year and see the People are Armed according to Law to have Buts and common Pounds to make two High-Constables Substantial Gentlemen in every Barony and printed Books of their Duty to be sent them and also two petty Constables in each Barony to send to Goal all Spies Carrows Bards and Idlers c. To appoint two Searchers for every Parish to Search the Houses and Persons not Gentlemen for Beef Pork or Mutton and if any such be found and no notice was given to the Searcher of the Killing thereof the Party shall be punished by Fine and to cause all Cattle to be marked with Pitch or Ear-mark on pain of Forfeiture On the 25th of August The Deputy with One thousand Foot some Kearns and the Risings out of the Pale and some Lords of Munster and well accompanied with Officers and Persons of Quality set out from Dublin and came the 29th to Newry where Turlogh Lynogh submitted and put in Pledges as did also soon after Macgenis Mac Mahon Turlogh Brasilogh and others The Lord Deputy having thus secured the Country ordered some Ships to Loghfoyle to attack the Scots that way which they got notice of and immediately retired and went off to Scotland almost in sight of the English Ships and their escape was imputed to the negligence of the Sea-Commanders However the Deputy proceeded to the Ban himself Ormond and the Nobility kept Clandeboy side and General Norris and the Baron Dungannon kept Tyrone side The Deputy spoiled Brian Carrows Country and forced him and Surleboy to fly to Glancomkeane with their Creights and Cows Norris took a prey of 200 Cows from Ochane which gave great relief to the Army but 100 of his stragling Boys and Servants were cut off by Brian Carrows men and some that came to their Rescue were wounded and soon after Mr. Thomas Norris was wounded in the Knee with an Arrow and Oliver Lambert was taken Prisoner in Ochanes Country nevertheless the Rebels fled from the English and were worsted in most encounters so that Captain Meriman brought a good Prey from their fastness and Norris scour'd Glancomkene-wood preyed Brian Carrows Country and slew them that were put to defend it Hereupon Ochane submitted and put in Hostages and was the first Rebel in Arms that was pardoned since the Deputy came over then went the Deputy to besiege Dunluce and sent Artillery by Sea to Skerries portrush and thence by men it was drawn two miles it soon brought the Ward to parley and to surrender this impregnable place and the fame of this Exploit made the Warders desert Donfert and these losses forced Surleboy to submit and put in Hostages and to beg Pardon which was granted him Whilst the Deputy abode in Vlster O Donell and O Toole submitted themselves unto him and there happening some Controversies between Turlogh Lynogh and others of the O-Neals he caus'd them to implead one another by Bill and Answer that so those Contests might be regularly decided he also gave them an Oath of Allegiance and drew the Grandees of Vlster to a Composition for the maintenance of 1100 Soldiers at their own charge the Queen allowing every 100 men 250 Pounds Lib. M. per annum also they agreed to surrender their Estates and take new Patents and in like manner the Lady Camphell and Donell Gorme made their Submismissions at the Camp near Dunluce on the 18th of September and obtain'd a Grant of that part of the Glinns formerly Massets paying 50 Bieves yearly and supplying 80 Soldiers to serve the Crown when required And so the Deputy left 200 Foot and 50 Horse at Colrain and came to Newry on the 28th of September to which place Turlogh Lynogh brought Henry Son of Shan O Neal and delivered him prisoner to his Lordship Con mac Neal Oge was forc'd to content himself with the upper Clandeboy and the Lieutenancy or Government of Vlster was divided between Turlogh Lynogh the Baron of Dungannon and Sir Henry Bagnall and this great Service being thus effected the Deputy return'd to Dublin the 11 of October Hence the Deputy gave an account to the Lords of the Council in England of his great Success and proposed that for 50000 per annum added to the Revenue for three years he would wall seaven Towns Athloan Dingle Colrain Liffer Sligo Newry and Mayo and build seaven Castles at Black-water and Ballishannon Bellick Broad-water in Munster Castlemartine in the Routs Galin in the Queens County and Kilcomane and erect seaven Bridges at Colrain Liffer Ballishannon Dundalk Fermoy Veale near Slevelogher and Kells in Clande-boy and with the help of the Vlster Composition he would likewise maintain 2000 Foot and 400 Horse during that time he desired 600 Soldiers and a Chief Justice might be sent over that Tamistry might be abolished and the Irish Lands pass'd in Patent to the Proprietors on English Tenures to all which he received a smooth but dilatory Answer and therefore wrote again to the Parliament of England the 17 of January 1584. to the same effect and with like success Nevertheless this active Governour proceeded to doe what he could to repair the broken and miserable Estate of Ireland he encouraged the Bishops to the Repair of Churches and wrote to England that no more Bishopricks might be granted in Comendam and he also divided Vlster into Counties and placed Sheriffs Justices of Peace Constables and other Officers in them And then he summoned a Parliament to meet the 26th of April 1585. at Dublin and caused the Irish to conform to the English Habit to which they have a great aversion because they esteem it a mark of Subjection The Irish Lords were obliged to wear Robes and the better to induce them to it the Deputie bestowed Robes on Turlogh Lynogh and other principal men of the Irish which they embraced like fetters so that one of
the Crane in Dublin and did much harm On the seventh of May the Deputy made another journey into Pheagh Mac Hugh's Country 1597 and on the eighth had the good fortune to kill that Arch Rebel Ibid. and to take a Prey of 200 Cows which were divided amongst the Soldiers But the Queen believing that her Affairs were prejudiced by the disagreement between the Deputy and the General did at his own Request revoke the Lord Deputy and to supply his Place sent over Thomas Lord Burrough Lord Deputy who landed on the 15th of May and received the Sword in St. Patrick's Church on Sunday the 22d Camb. Eliz. 543. he had supreme Authority in Martial as well as Civil Causes and immediately ordered General Norris to his Presidency of Munster which Affront together with the Disappointment of the chief Government which he knew he merited and earnestly expected and the many baffles Tyrone had put upon him broke his Heart The Lord Deputy amongst other Instructions had charge to enquire what English Undertakers had ☜ contrary to their Covenants suffered Irishmen to inhabit their Lands and to enquire into the Earl of Glancar's Estate which for want of Heirs Males was devolved to the Crown After a Month's Truce with Tyrone the Deputy marched to Vlster where the Crown retained only Newry Knockfergus Greencastle Armagh Dundrum and Olderfleet Connaugh was likewise in Rebellion and so were some of the Butlers in Munster The Deputy met some opposition at a Pass near Armagh but he gallantly forced his way and thereby was convinced that the Irish would run if resolutely assaulted he soon took the Fort of Blackwater and garison'd it with English but whilst they were giving thanks to God for this Victory they were called from Prayers to Arms upon the appearance of the Irish Forces with whom they skirmished successfully yet so as that the Deputy's Brother-in-Law Vaughan and several others were slain and particularly two Foster-brothers of Henry Earl of Kildare for grief whereof the Earl soon after dyed Clifford Governour of Connaugh was ordered to advance with the Forces of his Province to the borders of Vlster wherefore with 700 old Soldiers he attempted it bravely but being opposed by a numerous Enemy he nevertheless made a gallant retreat above 30 Miles and in the face of 2000 Rebels without any considerable loss Upon the Lord Deputy's return towards the Pale the Earl of Tyrone immediately besieged the Fort of Blackwater and the Deputy as nimbly marched to its relief and having raised the Siege he designed to march to Dungannon and so to clear the way thither that on any occasion the Army might march that way but he fell 〈◊〉 and was forced to return and dyed in the way to Dublin and Sir Thomas Norris President of Munster was provisionally made Lord Justice on the 30th of August but he being melancholy at the death of his Brother soon grew weary of the Office and at his Request the Government was committed to Adam Loftus Lord Chancellour and Archbishop of Dublin and Sir Robert Gardiner Lord Chief Justice Lords Justices who were sworn on the 15th of November and the same day the Council gave in writing an account of the State of the Kingdom and concluded that it was an universal Irish Rebellion intended to shake off all English Government The Earl of Ormond was made Lieutenant General of the Army and he was to have 100 Marks per mensem and 30 Horse and 30 Foot and the Lords Justices were to have 33 l. 6 s. 8 d. per mensem and 20 Horse and 20 Foot equally divided between them The Earl of Ormond upon application made to him by Tyrone procured a Commission to himself the Bishop of Meath and Secretary Fenton to treat with that Rebel and on the 22d day of December they met at Dundalk and agreed to a Cessation for eight weeks on Tyrone's engagement to furnish the Fort of Blackwater with 50 Bieves and to give the Garison liberty of Forage and other Articles recited at large Morison 22. On the 18th of February O Rourk submitted to the Lieutenant General and subscribed the Agreement likewise mentioned at large Morison 22. and on the 15th of March Ormond proposed to Tyrone 13 Conditions of Pardon mentioned Morison 23. to most of which he agreed but because O Donell and some others did not appear that matter was adjourned to the 10th of April in the mean time the Pardon was drawn and bears date the 11th of April but I do not believe that Tyrone ever came for it both because he was Anno 1600. outlawed on the former Indictment and because he immediately relapsed into his former Disloyalties and not only sent aid to Phelim mac Feagh but also laid close Siege to the Fort of Blackwater but the defence made by Captain Thomas Williams was so considerable that Tyrone despair'd of effecting his design by Force and therefore resolved to starve them and indeed they were reduced to great necessity when in August Marshal Bagnall with 14 Ensigns of Foot and a choice Party of Horse was sent to relieve them The Rebels Camd. Eliz. 565. being a vast number fell upon the English in a Wood half a Mile beyond Armagh and the Earl of Tyrone having a particular spight against the Marshal Bâ—gnall he bent all his Force that way and had the good fortune to kill the Marshal and to rout the English Army with the slaughter of 13 Captains and 1500 Soldiers whereupon the shattered remnant of the English retired to Armagh and sent to Captain Williams to surrender the Fort of Blackwater that he might reinforce and preserve the rest of the Army By this Victory the Irish got Arms Ammunition and Victuals and which was more so much Reputation that the English could act only on the defensive part and not that it self without continual fear and danger But the Queen was nettled at this Defeat and by the 12th of September 1598. blam'd Ormond that he was not there and ordered him to reduce the old List to 8000 and to clear the Army from Irish and she also sent over Sir Richard Bingham to succeed Bagnall in the Office of Marshal but as soon as he landed he dyed at Dublin and Sir Samuel Bagnall was sent with 2000 Foot and 100 Horse which though at first designed to plant a Garison at Loghfoyle were on the aforesaid all news ordered to land at Carlingford In the mean time Tyrone sends Owny mac Rory Oge and Tirrel into Munster with 4000 Kernes 598. the President Sir Thomas Norris opposed them but was forced by necessary occasions or rather by reason of the weakness of his Forces to return to Cork whereupon the Munsterians generally rebell in October and kill murther ravish and spoil without Mercy and Tyrone made James Fitz Thomas Earl of Desmond on condition to be tributary to him He was the handsomest Man of his time and is commonly called the Sugan Earl And the Queen
and stronger Order than they and such means to keep from them the maintenance of their Life and to waste the Countrey which should nourish them your Majesty may promise your self that this Action will in the end be successfull though costly and that your Victory will be certain though many of us your honest Servants must sacrifice our selves in the Quarrel and that this Kingdom will be reduced though it will ask besides Cost a great deal of Care Industry and Time In June Sir Henry Harrington and some of his young Captains with 600 Men left in the Glinnes received a Baffle from the O Brians by their own fault which Essex punished by Decimation and the Execution of an Irish Lieutenant Pierce Walsh on whom the blame of that Disaster was chiefly laid But the Lord Lieutenant understanding the Queen was angry at his fruitless Munster-Expedition attributed the fault to the Council and assured Her Majesty by Letter of his speedy March to Vlster and yet instead of that he went with 2500 men into Leix and Ophaly and totally ruined the O Moors and O Connors and on his return found his Army so impair'd that he and the Council joyn'd in a Letter for a supply of 1000 Men. And being now resolved for Vlster he ordered Clifford Governour of Connaugh to march to Belick to distress Tyrone on that side accordingly he march'd with 100 Horse and 1400 Foot but being encountered by O Rourk and 200 Rebels at a Pass our Men being tired and wanting Powder were routed 140 slain together with Clifford and Sir Alexander Ratcliff and as many wounded nay they had all been lost were it not for the valour of the Horse who secured their Retreat and so the next day they marched back to Athloan Essex received the supply of 1000 Foot he had sent for into England and yet made no other attempts against Tyrone than that with 250 Foot and 300 Horse he came to the borders of Vlster about the lattter end of August and on the 8th of September held a Parley with Tyrone at the Ford of Balla-clinch Camd. Eliz. 570. and concluded on a Truce for six weeks and so from six weeks to six weeks till May provided either Party might break it on fourteen days notice before hand and on the 22d of September he gave a Commission to the Council of Munster or any three of them to govern that Province Quorum Sir Warham Saint Leger or Sir Henry Power to be one Soon after his return to Dublin Camb. Eliz. 572. Essex and the Council received a sharp Letter from the Queen dated the 14th of September taxing his and their ill Conduct and Disobedience to her positive Commands whereat he was so nettled that he immediately went for England where he unexpectedly came to Court on the 28th of September and being reprimanded for that Vagary Lib. C. his Apology was in effect That no harm had followed his rash Deserting Ireland that he left things in the best order and in the hands of the best Men he could and left so good Instructions that they have not been much altered since and that he came over in a time of Truce Adam Loftus Lord Chancellour Sir George Cary Treasurer at Wars Lords Justices were sworn the 24th of September whereupon Tyrone grew haugthy and publickly profess'd that he would recover the Liberty of Religion and his Countrey To him came Fryar Matthew de Oviedo titular Archbishop of Dublin and Don Martin de la Cerda they brought Papal Indulgencies for all that would take Arms against the English and a Phoenix Plume to O Neal and 22000 pieces of Gold from the King of Spain to distribute as they saw cause Hereupon O Neal in the beginning of December gave notice that after fourteen days he would break the Truce and soon after viz. the 20th of January under pretence of a Pilgrimage to the Holy Cross in Typperary he made a Journey into Munster to confer with the Sugan Earl of Desmond and to debauch those people from their Duty he had with him 2500 Foot and 200 Horse de deposed Daniel Mac Carty Moor and placed Florence Mac Carty in his stead he burnt and spoiled all that would not joyn with him especially the Lord Barry and he took Pledges of all those whose zeal he doubted and particularly of the White Knight and the Earl of Desâ—ond and by his Journey wonderfully encreased the number of the Rebels so that there were very few Irish that had not intelligence with him or shewed manifest inclination to him they were also very much encouraged by the death of Sir Thomas Norris Lord President of Munster who dyed at Mallow of a wound he had received in a Conflict with the Burks as also by the death of Sir Warham Saint Leger one of the Commissioners of Munster on the death of Norris who taking the air within a Mile of Cork was assaulted by Macguire and both of them slain so that it was now high time to provide a Govenour for the Kingdom and a particular President for that Province and the Queen shewed abundance of judgment in her choice of both Sir George Carew afterwards Earl of Totness was appointed Lord President of Munster and Charles Lord Montjoy Lord Deputy they landed at the Hill of Hoath the 24th of February 1599. The Lord President stayed at Dublin some time to get his Commission and Instructions and to learn the State of the Kingdom and on the seaventh of April 1600. with 700 Foot and 100 Horse being accompanied with his Excellency to Chappel Izzod he went to his Province Lib. C. and on the seventh of March 1599. the Lord Deputy and Council issued a Proclamation to give notice that the Queen had appointed Commissioners to sit three months to enquire what Money was due to the Subject by Bill Ticket or otherwise since the first day of Sir William Russel's Government for Bieves Diet of Soldiers Money delivered or other Services in order to their Satisfaction On the 10th of April the President being at Kilkenny 1600. was desired by the Earl of Ormond to go with him eight Miles to parley with Owen Mac Rory O Moor which he did and the Issue was Pacata Hibernia 24. that by the Treachery of the Rebels Ormond was taken Prisoner and the President and the Earl of Twomond hardly escaped by the swiftness of their Horses whereupon Pierce Lacy who was lately come into Protection relapsed again On the the 16th of April the Lord President came to Waterford where some Fitz-giralds of the Decyes and some of Powers submitted to him and were pardoned The Lord Lieutenant on the 10th of March went to Mulingar to intercept Tyrone in his return from Munster but he having notice of that design left 1000 Men with Desmond and 800 with the Butlers and with a small Company and by exceeding long Marches escap'd into Vlster but he lost his Reputation and many of his Men in this hasty
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
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
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
other Stewards of the British Farmers and Inhabitants of the City and County of London-Derry ☞ by means whereof the worthy Plantation of that Country is almost destroyed and the Inhabitants are reduced to great Poverty and many of them forced to forsake the Country the same being the first and most useful Plantation in the large Province of Ulster to the great weakning of the Kingdom in this Time of Danger the said Plantation being the principal Strength of those Parts IX The late Erection of the Court of High-Commission for Causes Ecclesiastical in these necessitous Times the Proceedings of the said Court ' in many Causes without Legal Warrant and yet so supported as Prohibitions have not been obtained though legally sought for And the excessive Fees exacted by the Ministers thereof and the Encroaching of the some upon the Jurisdiction of other Ecclesiastical Courts of this Kingdom X. The exorbitant Fees and pretended Customs exacted by the Clergy against the Law some of which have been formerly represented to your Lordship XI The Petitioners do most heartily bemoan that His Majesty's Service and Profit are much more impaired than advanced by the Grievances aforesaid and the Subsidies granted in the last Parliament having much increased His Majesty's Revenue by the buying of Grants and otherwise And that all His Majesty's Debts then due in this Kingdom were satisfied out of the said Subsidies and yet His Majesty is of late as the Petitoners have been informed in the House of Commons become indebted in this Kingdom in great Sums And they do therefore humbly beseech That an exact Account may be sent to His Majesty how and in what manner his Treasure is issued XII The Petitioners do humbly conceive just and great Fears at a Proclamation published in this Kingdom in Anno Domini 1635. prohibiting Men of Quality or Estates to depart this Kingdom into England without the Lord Deputy's Licence whereby the Subjects of this Kingdom are hindred and interrupted from free Access to Address to His Sacred Majesty and Privy-Council of England so declare their just Grievances or to obtain Remedies for them in such sort as their Ancestors have done in all Ages since the Reign of King Henry the Second and great Fees exacted for every of the said Licences XIII That of late His Majesty's Attorney-General hath exhibited Informations against many ancient Burroughs of this Kingdom into His Majesty's Court of Exchequer ☜ to shew cause by what Warrant the said Burroughs who heretofore sent Burgesses to Parliament should send Burgesses to the Parliament And thereupon for want of an Answer the said Privileges of sending Burgesses were seised by the said Court Which Proceedings were altogether coram non Judice and contrary to the Laws and Privileges of the House of Parliament and if way should be given thereunto would tend to the Subversion of Parliaments and by consequence to the Ruin and Destruction of the Commonwealth And that the House of Commons hath hitherto in this present Parliament been deprived of the Advice and Counsel of many profitable and good Members by means thereof XIV By the Powerfulness of some Ministers of State in this Kingdom the Parliament in its Members and Actions hath not its natural Freedom XV. And lastly That the Gentry and Merchants and other His Majesty's Subjects of this Kingdom are of late by the Grievances and Pressures before said and other the like brought very near to Ruin and Destruction And the Farmers of Customs Customers Waiters Searchers Clerks of Unwarrantable Proceedings Pursuivants and Gaolers and sundry others very much enriched whereby and by the slow Redress of the Petitioners Grievances His Majesty's most faithful and dutiful People of this Kingdom do conceive great Fears that their Readiness approved upon all Occasions hath not been of late rightly represented to His Sacred Majesty For remedy whereof the said Petitioners do humbly and of right beseach your Lordship That the said Grievances and Pressures may be speedily redressed and if your Lordship shall not think fit to afford present Relief that your Lordship might admit a select Committee of this House of Persons uninteressed in the Benefit arising of the aforesaid Grievances to be licensed by your Lordship to repair to his Sacred Majesty in England for to pursue the same and to obtain fitting Remedy for their aforesaid and other just Grievances and Oppressions And upon all just and honourable Occasions they will without respect of particular Interest or Profit to be raised thereby most humbly and readily in Parliament extend their utmost Endeavors to serve His Majesty and comply with His Royal and Princely Occasions And shall pray c. As soon as the Lord Deputy had notice of this Remonstrance and perceived the Fury of the Irish Parliament he took occasion to Prorogue it on the Twelfth day of November but whatever he could do was ineffectual to stem the Tide which now ran too violent against him And therefore being heart-broken with his own and the Earl of Strafford's Misfortunes he died suddenly on the Third day of December 1640. Whereupon ROBERT Lord DILLON of Killkenny-West afterwards Earl of Roscomon Sir WILLIAM PARSONS Knight and Baronet Master of the Court of Wards were on the Thirtieth of December sworn Lords Justices 1640. But the Lord Dillon beings for his Intimacy and Alliance with the Earl of Strafford obnoxious to the aforesaid Irish Committee he was at their Instance removed and Sir WILLIAM PARSONS Master of the Court of Wards Sir JOHN BORLACE Master of the Ordnance were sworn Lords Justices on the Tenth of February to whom the King by his Letters of the Fourth of January before sent Orders at the Request of the Irish Committee That the Irish Subsidies which heretofore were Forty thousand Pounds should be reduced to a less Sum than formerly and that all Letter 's sent to the Chief Governor or other Publick Officers touching Publick Affairs or the Subjects Private Interests should be entred in the Signer-Office in England to the end the Subjects upon occasion might take Copies thereof and that all Dispatches from Ireland should be safely kept apart for the easier and readier recourse thereto and that His Majesty approves of the Repair of His Subjects to appeal to Him notwithstanding any Prohibition in Ireland to the contrary and orders That no body be prosecuted or molested on that score and that the Irish Committee shall have Copies of all Records Certificates Orders of Council Publick Letters or other Entries that are necessary to manifest or prove their Grievances And this Letter was on the Tenth of February 1640. by the Irish Parliament then sitting ordered to be entred amongst the Records and Ordinances of that House And soon after Rushw 15. the Irish Parliament did vote the following Grievances to be transmitted to their Committee in England which it seems were couched in Two Petitions one to the King and the other to the Parliament and both carried over by John Bellew
and Oliver Castells 1. That the Nobility wer over-taxed in the Subsidies 2. And were kept Close Prisoners tho' not Impeach'd of any Capital Crime 3. And could not get Licence to absent unless they leave their Proxy with one of the Chief Governors naming 4. That some have Titles of Honour that have no Lands in the Kingdom 5. That the Nobility were stop from going to Petition the King 6. That Trade is decayed by Illegal Taxes as Twelve pence apiece on Hides 7. That Causes are arbitrarily decided at Council-board and in other improper Judicatories 8. That Paâ—ents are made void extrajudicially on private Opinions 9. The Monopolies of Tobacco Starch Sope Glass Tobacco-pipes c. 10. The Procedings of the High-Commission 11. The exorbitant Fees and pretended Customs exacted by the Clergy 12. The Proclamation against buying Gunpowder but out of the Store and restraining Hunting within Seven Miles of Dublin 13. That the Parliament in its Members and Actions hath not had its natural Freedom 14. That the Subject is denied the Benefit of the Act of Limitation 15. The taking excessive Fees 16. The Seizing of Linen Yarn and Cloth for not being exact according to Rule 17. The Oppressions of Officers And in this Parliament on the Fourth of March Captain Audley Mervin brought up an Impeachment of High-Treason from the Commons to the Lords against Sir Richard Bolton Lord Chancellor John Lord Bishop of Derry Sir Gerrard Lowther Lord Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas and Sir George Ratcliff and made an eloquent Speech on that Occasion The Charge consisting of Three Articles was General for subverting the Laws and introducing Arbittary Government by extrajudicial and unjust Decrees for inflicting infamous Punishments by Pillory c. on Persons of Reputation and subverting the Rights of Parliament But it seems there was a Dispute raised Whether the House of Lords in Ireland had Power of Judicature in Capital Cases Whereupon Captain Audley Mervin made a most excellent Speech in the Lords House in Parliament 24 May 1641. And afterwards he Impeached Sir George Ratcliff then in the Gate-house Westminster in the Parliament of England of the aforesaid Articles and adds That he joyned with the Earl of Strafford in taking out Eighty thousand Pounds out of the Exchequer to buy Tobacco and that he countenanced Papists to build Monasteries c. On the Sixteenth of March 1640. Secretary Vane sent the Lords Justices the following Letter by His Majesty's Command Right Honorable HIS Majesty hath commanded me to acquaint your Lordships with an Advice given him from abroad and confirm'd by His Ministers in Spain and elsewhere which in this distemper'd Time and Conjuncture of Affairs deserves to be seriously considered and an especial Care and Watchfulness to be had therein Which is That of late there have passed from Spain and the like may well have been from other Parts an unspeakable number of Irish Churchmen for England and Ireland and some good old Soldiers under pretext of asking leave to raise Men for the King of Spain whereas it is observed among the Irish Fryars * * In Spain there a Whisper runs as if they expected a Rebellion in Ireland and particularly in Connaught Wherefore His Majesty thought fit to give your Lordships this notice that in your Wisdoms you might manage the same with that dexterity and secrefie as to discover and prevent so pernicious a Design if any such there should be and to have a watchful Eye on the Proceedings and Actions of those who come thither from abroad on what pretext soever And so herewith I rest Your Lordships most humble Servant HENRY VANE In the mean time the Earl of Strafford came to his Tryal in England and it was the most Solemn that ever was in that Kingdom and at length he was Attainted by Act of Parliament and accordingly beheaded on the 12th day of May 1641. and the Earl of Leicester was the same day appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in his stead His Tryal is excellently wrote at large by Mr. Rushworth to which I must refer the curious Reader but because every Man has not that Book by him I have Cursorily extracted so much of it only as I thought pertinent to his History wherein if I have not been very exact it was because the Inquisitive may easily inform themselves as well as I by having recourse to the Original which I had not leisure to examine more carefully than I have done The Third Article which is the First relating to Ireland is that he should say That Ireland was a conquer'd Nation and that the King might do with them what he pleased and that the Charters of the Corporations were worth nothing and did bind the King no farther than he pleased To which the Earl Answers That he never spoke those words and that the Scope and Intent of what he did say was to ingratiate his Majesties Government to the People and that his words were well accepted at that time however they come to be resented now That the Charters of Dublin were Anno 1634. brought before the Council and still are in the hands of the Clerk of the Council because besides other Abuses the Papists of that City engrossed all the Trade and denied Liberty to such as came out of England to set up there which he hath so far remedied as that there are Three Englishmen now in Dublin for One that was there when he came to the Government and the Charters are not Condemned but enjoyed to this day so that he aim'd at a Reformation in favour of the English but did not design the Destruction of the Charters The Fourth Article was That the Earl of Cork having begun a Suit at Law to recover a Possession he had lost by Colour of an Order from the Lord Deputy and Council the Lord Deputy threatned to imprison him unless he would surcease his Suit saying That he would have neither Law nor Lawyers dispute or question his Orders and that he said upon another the like Occasion That he would make the Earl of Cork and all Ireland know that so long as he had the Government there any Act of State there made or to be made should be as binding to the Subjects of that Kingdom as an Act of Parliament and that he question'd that Earl in the Castle-Chamber upon Pretence of a Breach of an Order of Council-Table To this the Earl of Strafford answered That the Council-Table was a Court of Record in Ireland wherein they proceeded formally by Bill Answer Examination of Witnesses c. and therefore the Orders of it are binding and ought to be obey'd he denies he compar'd it to a Parliament and denies that the Earl of Cork was prosecuted for disobedience of an Order of Council only The Fifth Article was That in time of Peace 12th of December 1635. he did give and procure to be given Sentence of Death against the Lord Mountnorris at a Council of War for saying of an Accidental
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
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
Men and desired that he would hasten thither in Person And â—â—on after by their Proclamation they ordered that Dublin be fortified But it is time to return to Sir Philemy O Neal who having taken Dundalk and in it a Foot Company which surrendred upon the first Summons and all their Arms as also the Town of Ardee marched his Victorious Rabble of Four thousand Men to Lisnegarvy and on the Twenty second day of November attempted the Town but the Garison being Four hundred Foot and One hundred and eighty Horse under Sir Arthur Tyringham repulsed him with the loss of many Irish and Six Colours Another Party of the Rebels sat down before Melifont Novemb. 24. and found a brisk Defence from the Garison being Fifteen Horse and Twenty four Musquetiers but their Powder being spent the Horsemen forced their Way through the Irish Camp to Tredagh and the Foot surrendred upon Articles which the Rebels perfidiously broke and butchered several of them in cold Blood because they had kiâ—â—ed 140 Irishmen in defence of the Place By this Remora the intended Siege of Tredagh wâ—s delayâ—â— and therefore on the Twenty seventh day of November the Lords Justices sent Six hundred new-rais'd Foot and a Troop of Horse to reinforce the Garison there but the Lord Gormanston's Groom by his Masters privity gave notice of their March to the Irish who being three time their Number 2 Temple 16. fell upon them at Gellingstown-Bridge on the Twenty ninth of November and by the Folly or Treachery of a Captain that commanded a Countermarch and the Unexperience of the Men they were disordered and above Five hundred of them slain at which the Popish Inhabitants of Dublin did very much rejoyce and the Lords of the Pale did thereupon take off their Vizard But much better Success had Sir Charles Coot who marched from Dublin the same 27th of November to relieve the Castle of Wicklow and to quel the insolence of those Rebels that had come in Hostile manner within two miles of the City for on the 29th of the same Month he beat Luke Toole and One thousand Rebels and put them to a shameful Flight and thereby became so terrible to the Irish that they seldom afterwards made any resistance where he was Nevertheless the Irish were so elevated by the Victory at Gellingstown-bridge and the delay of Succours from England that the Lords of the Pale who were really the first Contrivers of this Rebellion and whose Tenants and Servants were openly or secretly concern'd in it from the beginning and they themselves had hitherto looked on whilst the English were robbed and had given no help or Assistance to the State having now drawn the Rebels into the Pale 2 Temple 18. believing it impossible to dissemble the Matter much longer began to unmask themselves and appear Bare-faced insomuch that the Lord Gormanston on the Second of December Mr. Dâ—â—dal's Examination Burlace 39. issued a Warrant to the Sheriff of Meath to Summon the Popish Lords and Gentry of that Country to meet at the Hill of Crofty and above One thousand of them met and Colonel Mac Mahon Philip O Rely Roger Moor c. came to them with a Guard of Musketeers whereupon the Lords of the Pale rode towards them and as formally as the Lord Mayor expostulates with the Privy Council at Temple-Bar demanded of them why they came Armed into the Pale They reply'd That they took up Arms for Liberty of Conscience and maintaining of his Majesties Prerogative in which they understood he was abridged and to make the Subjects of this Kingdom as Free as Those of England were But says the Lord Gormanstown Are not these Pretences and not indeed the true Grounds of your taking Arms and have you not some private ends of your own To which they answered That they had no private ends but did it upon the aforesaid Reasons and professed great Sincerity to his Lordship whereupon he told them That seeing those were the true ends of their Insurrection he and all the rest would joyn with them and immediately it was proclaimed that whosever denied to joyn with them or refused to assist them therein they would Account him an Enemy and to the utmost of their Power labour his Destruction and thus Valence and Brabant were joyned as Sir Philemy O Neal phrased it and the Lords of the Pale Confederated with their ancient and hereditary Enemies and became so barbarously Cruel that they bragged afterwards That they had killed more Protestants in Fingall only than were Slain in some other whole Counties But on the Third of December the Lords Justices and Council dissembling their knowledge of these Transactions wrote to the Lords of the Pale to come to Dublin and consult for the safety of the Kingdom whereupon the Lords of Kildare-Merion and Hoath came but the other Lords had another meeting at the Hill of Taragh on the Seventh of December and by Advice of their Lawyers sent the following Answer to the Lords Justices May it Please your Lordships WE have received your Letters of the Third instant intimating that you had present Occasions to confer with us concerning the present State of the Kingdom and the safety thereof in these Times of Danger and requiring us to be with you there on the Eighth of this instant We give your Lordships to understand That we have heretofore presented our selves before your Lordships and freely offered our Advice and Furtherance towards the Particulars aforesaid which was by you neglected which gave us cause to conceive that our Loyalty was suspected by you We give your Lordships further to understand That we have received certain Advertisement That Sir Charles Coot Knight at the Council-board hath offered some Speeches tending to a Purpose and Resolution to execute upon those of our Religion a general Massacre by which we are all deterr'd to 〈◊〉 on your Lordships not having any Security for our Safety from those threatned Evils or the Safety of our Lives but do rather think it fit to stand upon our best Guard until we hear from your Lordships how we shall be secur'd from those Perils Nevertheless we all protest That we are and will continue faithful Advisers and resolute Furtherers of His Majesty's Service concerning the present State of this Kingdom and the Safety thereof to our best Abilities And so with the said Tender of our humble Service we remain Your Lorship humble Servants Fingall Gormanstown Slane Dunsany Nettervill Oliver Louth Trimletstowne In like manner Luke Nettervill in the beginning of December upon three days Summons assembled Twelve hundred armed Men at Swords within Six Miles of Dublin and arrayed them under the Captains Golding Russell Travers Holywood c. which would have been impossible to have done on so short warning if they had not been privy to the Conspiracy long before and had not made Preparations for it The Lords Justices sent a Message to them ro disperse but they return'd for Answer
Warrant from Mr. Nicholas Plunket And on the Fourteenth of November they nam'd their Supreme Council viz. LEINSTER Archbishop of Dublin jurat Viscount Gormanstown jurat Viscount Mountgarret jur resid Nicholas Plunket jur resid Richard Beling jur resident James Cusack jur resid CONAUGH Archbishop of Tuam jur Viscount Mayo Bishop of Clonfert jur resid Sir Lucas Dillon jur Patrick Darcy jur resident Jeofry Brown jur resident MUNSTER Viscount Roch jur resid Sir Daniel O Bryan Edmond Fitzmorris jur Doctor Fennell jur Robert Lambart jur resid Geo. Comyn jur ULSTER Archbishop of Armagh jur resid Bishop of Down jur resid Philip O Reyly jur resid Colonel Mac Mahon jur Ever Macgenis jur Tirlagh O Neal. They also appointed Provincial Councils and ordered That the Supreme Council may authorise One or more to sollicit Aid of Foreign Princes to advance this Common and Holy Cause and may give them Instructions And on the Fifteenth of November they appointed the Lord Mountgarret to be president and Richard Shea to be Clerk of the Supreme Council And that the Officers of the Army calling to their Assistance one or more of each Province should concert the Measures of carrying on the War And that the Supreme Council shall send an Agent to the King to inform Him of the Motives and Causes of this Holy War and of the Grievances of the Kingdom And they appoint Sir Richard Barmwall Muster-master General and order Four thousand Pounds in Money to be new Coined And on the Sixteenth of November they ordered 31700 Men to be raised in the following Counties whereof 5300 Foot and 520 Horse were to go to the Army and the rest to be for the Defence of the Country and the Garisons viz. Â Â Â Foot Horse West-Meath 3000 whereof for the Army 500 50 Meath 3000 Â 500 50 Kildare 3000 Â 500 50 Wexford 3000 Â 500 50 Kings County 2800 Â 500 30 Queens County 2400 Â 400 40 Wickloe 2400 Â 400 40 Dublin 2000 Â 300 50 Kilkenny City 3000 Â 500 50 Louth 1700 Â 300 20 Longford 3000 Â 500 50 Catherlogh 2400 Â 400 40 Â 31700 Â 5300 520 And on the Nineteenth of November they order'd That the King's Revenue be duly gathered up for the making a Common Stock for the Use of the Kingdom And on the Twentieth they appointed the Lord Brittas John Kelly John Baggot James Darcy Maurice Fitzharris and Maurice Baggot a Committee to enquire after Protestants Goods and Lands in the County of Limerick And on the 21th day James Cusack who before the Rebellion was one of the King's Council and Clerk to the Commission of Grace was appointed Attorney-General And it was ordered That Soldiers be Cessed on all Persons and Places that are refractory in paying their Quotâ— of the Contribution and that every Burgess shall have Five shillings per diem and every Knight of a Shire Ten shillings per diem during the Assembly and for Ten days before and after it and that the Earl of Castlehaven devise an Order of Knighthood concerning the Honor of St. Patrick and the Glory of the Kingdom And so on the Ninth of January this Assembly was Dissolved leaving the Government in the Hands of The Supreme Council who notwithstanding his Majesty's Proclamation of 1 January 1641. under His own Signet to the contrary acted as a SEPARATE STATE and contrary to their own Oath of Maintaining the King's Prerogative and their Pretence of taking Arms for it they usurped all the King's Prerogatives even to that of Coining Money and sending Ambassadors to Foreign Princes and to the Granting of Letters of Mart and Reprisalâ— whereof the Reader may see a Precedent Burlace pag. 97. And thus Matters â—ood in Ireland in the Year 1642. In the close of the last Year we left our small Army near Ross 1643. which tho' Victorious was nevertheless in a sad Condition being meanly â—â—oatlied in Fed and worse Paid so that tho' the Lords Justices and Council did send a pressing Letter to the Lieutenant General to keep the Army abroad because there was no Subsistence for them in Dublin and the better to enable him thereunto they sent him Six thousand Pound of Bisket and Ten Barrels of Powder and the like quantity of Match and Musket Bullet yet the Wants of the Army were so great in all manner of Necessaries that it was impossible to keep the Field and therefore they returned to Dublin It is one of the most difficult things in the World to keep an ill-paid Army in exact Discipline for the Soldier that is denied his Due will expect a Connivance upon any Extortion that is less than Equivalent to his Pay and from one Degree it passes to another till it Centers in Licentiousness and thus it happened in Dublin the Officers at first winked at the little Rapines of the Soldiers till at length they openly plundered the Markets but this was the way to spoil all and by discouraging the Market Folks to starve themselves therefore it was strictly prohibited by a severe Proclamation and some Offenders were made Examples whereupon many of the Officers of the Army on the Fourth of April 1643 presented the Government with a very bold and threatning Remonstrance quod vide Appendix 20. which they say was another Cause of the ensuing Cessation But General Preston having again besieged Ballynakill Colonel Crawford on the Eleventh of April marched from Dublin with Thirteen hundred Foot and One hundred and thirty Horse to raise that Siege but he could not perform it and so that place was surrendred But I should have mentioned that the Lords Justices and Council to prevent any Peace or Cessation with the Irish did send His Majesty a most excellent Letter of the Sixteenth of March 1642. recited at large here Appendix 4. which it seems was not well relished at Court for not long after Sir William Parsons who was a great Promoter of that Letter was removed and thereupon accused of Treasonable misdemeanours by Major Butler and Sir Francis Warren but there being more of Malice than Truth in that Impeachment it came to nothing however Sir JOHN BURLACE and Sir HENRY TICHBURNE were Sworn Lords Justices on the Twelfth of May and on the Twenty fifth of the same Month the Pope sent over his Bull of Indulgence to the Confederates which is to be found here Appendix 15 and was published by the Irish even after the Cessation was concluded But the Lords Justices and Council were tyred in contriving ways to support the Soldiery and at length they thought upon an Excise and by their proclamation of the Twenty fourth day of June imposed it for Six Months unless other relief for the Army should be sent in the mean time This Excise was exceeding high amounting to half the value of the Commodity in lieu whereof the Retailer was permitted to advance his Price a Moiety more than
it was before The Protestants considered the necessity of this Tax and patiently submitted to it but the Papists made all the opposition they could but in vain for there was no other way left and this it self was not sufficient to prevent the mutiny and the ruin of the Army All these things tended to draw on the Cessation which the Marquess of Ormond by His Majesties Letter of the Twenty third of April was ordered to make with the Irish and was by a Second Letter from His Majesty of the Third of May brought to him by Mr. Brent pressed to hasten and by a Third Letter of the Second of July and a Fourth of the Seventh of September he was farther importuned in that Matter nevertheless there was a Party in the Council upon whom the Villanies of the Rebels had made so deep an Impression that they could not endure to hear of any Treaty with the Confederates and therefore the Marquess of Ormond on the Twenty second of June made a Motion in Council which is Entered in the Council-Book as followeth viz. By the Lords Justices and Council Jo. Borlace Hen. Tichburne THE Lord Marquess of Ormond this day moving at this Board that if Ten thousand Pounds may be raised whereof the one half to be in Money and the other in Victuals and to be brought in within a Fortnight that his Lordship would in such Case proceed in the War and immediately endeavour to take in Wexford and forbear to prooceed in the intended Treaty of Cessation of Arms with the Rebels It was thought fit to call before Us the Mayor of this City of Dublin and others who appearing We had Conference with them at this Board concerning the same and find that such is the Poverty of this Place and People as that Sum of Money or Proportion of Victual cannot be raised Given at His Majesties Castle of Dublin 22d June 1643. La. Dublin Roscommon Edw. Brabazon Char. Lambert Adam Loftus William Parsons Thomas Lucas Francis Willoughby G. Wentworth But whether they thought that Supplies would be sent from England or that they were willing to struggle with any Extremities rather than to have Correspondence with the Murderers of their Friends and Relations and the Plunderers of themselves it is certain that Part of the Council still continued averse to the Cessation Hereupon Sir Robert Meredith Sir William Parsons Sir John Temple and Sir Adam Loftus were Committed to Prison by His Majesties Order on the Second of July and on their Petition they were refus'd to be Bayl'd but they had the Liberty of the Castle with a Keeper But on the 4th of July the Lords Justices and Council received a smart Letter from the two Houses of Parliament in England taxing them with Publishing That their present Difficulties were occasioned by the Failures of the English Parliament To which they returned as Tart an Answer on the Twenty eighth of October importing That they gave full frequent and seasonable Notice of all their Wants from time to time to the English Parliament and therefore did not know where else to lay the blame In the mean time there hapned a pleasant Passage on the Eighth of July at which time the Lords Justices and Council sent a Message in writing to the Confederates Purporting that if the Rebels would release Captain Farrer they would exchange Captain Synot for him but the Confederates were so distasted at the word Rebels that they sent back this Answer We do not know to whom this Certificate is directed and we will avow Our selves in all Our Actions Bur. 128. to be His Majesties Loyal Subjects neither shall it be safe henceforth for any Messenger to bring any Paper to Us containing other Language than such as Suits with Our Duty and the Affections We bear to His Majesties Service wherein some may pretend but none shall have more real Desires to farther His Majesties interest than His Majesties Loyal and Obedient Subjects Mountgarret Muskery Fr. Thom. Dublin Malachias Tuamen Castlehaven Audley R. Bealing Torlo O Neile Patr. Darcy And it is observable Lords Justices Letter of 29. July 4â— that Sir John Netervill being indicted of Treason Petitioned the King setting forth that his Witnesses were forced by the Rack to swear more than was true and instances Cornelius Moran and that his own Examination was mutilated of all Matters that might excuse or lessen his Crime but upon Search it appeared that Cornelius Moran was not made use of as an Evidence against him at all and that the Clauses he mentioned to be expung'd were found uncancell'd in his Examination It seems that the Treaty about the Cessation so influenced the Army that it did little this Summer only Colonel Monk on the 27th of June issued out with a Party of Thirteen hundred Foot and 140 Horse and he had the good Fortune at a Pass on the Boyne near Castlejordan to encounter Four thousand Irish Foot and Six hundred Horse under General Preston and to get the better of them however for want of Provisions he was fain to march to Wickloe and was afterwards Commanded thence into Meath to attend Owen Roe O Neal whose Army was near Portlester and there he joyned the Lord Moor who was Commander in chief of this Party and tho' it did not come to a Battel yet the valiant Lord Moor was unfortunately Slain by a Shot from a great Gun not many days before the Cessation was concluded Neither was there much done in the rest of the Provinces for the same Reason but the little that was done ought to be mentioned before we touch the Cessation that so we may take that Treaty entire And first in Munster the Lord of Insiquin divided his Army in the beginning of May and himself marched westward Battel of Killworth whilst Sir CHARLES VAVASOR went Eastward and took Mac Thomas's Castle and other Castles in the County of Waterford But on the Twenty seventh of May the Army to the number of Four hundred Horse and Four thousand Foot rendevouzed at Bottivant from whence Lieutenant Colonel Story with Two hundred Horse and Twelve hundred Foot was detached into Kerry where they got a Considerable Prey and also rescued some English and on the Twenty eighth the Lord Insiquin with the rest of the Army marched to Killmallock and ranged to and fro thereabouts whilst on the Thirty first of May Sir Charles Vavasor with another Detachment attacked the strong Castle of Cloghleagh which he took on the Third of June but on the Fourth of June by great negligence and want of Conduct he was well beaten by the Earl of Castlehaven on the Plain between Formoy and Killworth and Six hundred English were there slain and Sir Charles and others were taken Prisoners which was a just Judgment upon them for suffering some inferiour Officers to violate the Quarter they had given to the Garrison of Cloghleagh and by this Considerable Victory the Rebels were so elevated that they made a brisk
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
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
Orrery Charles Earl of Montrath were appointed Lords Justices And the Lord Chancellor and Earl of Montrath were sworn on the 31 st day of December 1660. as the Earl of Orrery also was on the 17 th of January following Their Instructions were very short and to this effect 1. To read their Commission and Swear those Named for Privy-Councellors 2. To appoint Sheriffs and Justices of Peace by Advice of the Council and to Open the Courts of Justice 3. To promote Peace and Quietness as well in the Army as elsewhere and to hinder any Prejudice to His Majesty 4. To do what they could to encrease the Revenue and advance the Publick Service 5. To prepare such Bills as shall be thought by them and the Council to be for the good of the People and to transmit them to England pursuant to Poyning's Law in order to a Parliament 6. To reduce the King's Concessions to the Commissioners of the General Convention of Ireland into Bills to Pass next Parliament 7. To send over Names of fit Commissioners to Execute His Majesties Declaration for the Settlement of that Kingdom Lastly To cause the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy to be taken by all His Majesties Leige-Subjects of that Kingdom and to proceed according to Law against those that refuse And on the 27 th of January 1660. Dr. Michael Boyle now Lord Primate of all Ireland and Eleven others were Consecrated Bishops in St. Patrick's Church in Dublin with great Ceremony and Formality which I the rather mention because so numerous an Ordination of Bishops in one Day hath rarely if ever been heard of either before or since On the 8 th of May a Parliament was Summoned and Dr. Bramhall Arch-Bishop of Armagh was Speaker of the House of Lords as Sir Audley Mervin was of the House of Commons This Parliament as a Testimony of their Gratitude and Affection to the Duke of Ormond did present his Grace with a Gift of 30000 l. and when the lords-Lords-Justices and Council understood that His Majesty on the 4 th of October 1661. had appointed the Duke of Ormond to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland they ordered all publick Expressions of Joy to be made in Dublin upon that happy Occasion On January the 14 th 1661. the Lord Chancellor and Earl of Orrery were Sworn Lords Justices on the Death of the Earl of Montrath which happened the 18 th of October And on the 30 th of April 1662 they Published an Indulgence to Dissenters and continued in the Government until the 28 th of July 1662. at which time James Duke of Ormond was sworn Lord Lieutenant But the Session of Parliament begun the 17 th of April and on the 15 th of September the Bill of Settlement passed into an Act in the Parliament of Ireland by which Act and the rest of the Statutes passed that Parliament the King received more profit than all his Predecessors ever got out of that Kingdom This Bill had been exposed to the View and Scrutiny of the Irish and their Council for six Months together and altho they do so very confidently Clamour that they were never heard yet all that they could say was heard and debated even with Favour to them they had Agents there to whom they allowed three Pence per Acre for that purpose and every word in the Bill was Expung'd to which they had any just Exceptionl and at length the matter was determined by the King and Council and the following Order was made At the COURT at WHITE-HALL The 14th of March 1661. Present The Kings Most Excellent Majesty His R. H. the Duke of York Lord Chancellor Lord Privy-Seal Lord Duke of Ormond Lord Marquiss of Dorchester Lord Chamberlin Earl of Northumberland Earl of Norwich Earl of St. Alban Earl of Anglesey Earl of Carlisle Lord Seymore Lord Hatton Lord Holles Lord Ashley Mr. Trear Mr. Comptroller Mr. Vice-Chamberlain Mr. Secretary Nicholas Mr. Secretary Morrice THis day Mr. Sollicitor General making Report to His Majesty in Council from the Committee of this Board for the Affairs of Ireland upon Consideration of several Papers presented to the Board by Sir Nicholas Pluncket in the behalf of some of the Roman Catholicks of Ireland concerned in His Majesties Declaration according to an Order of the 12 th of this Instant That after the Committee had debated the said Papers the Commissioners from the Council and the Parliament of Ireland were called in and heard and presented to the Committee several Papers See them Appendix 40. viz. Instructions given by the Supreme Council and others of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons of the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland to be observed by the Bp. of Fearnes and Nicholas Plunket Esq in the Court of Rome bearing date the 18 th of January 1647. and a Draught of Instructions to France and Spain and a Copy of the Excommunication Published at James-Town and that all the said Papers being read and the said Commissioners being withdrawn and the Committee then calling in the said Sir Nicholas Plunket and asking him whether the Signature of the Instructions to Rome by Command of the General Assembly were his Hand-writing and whether the Draught of the Instructions to France and Spain were his Writing also He acknowledged in the Presence of the Committee that they were and that hereupon it was the humble Opinion of the Committe that the Bill for the Common Settlement of that Kingdom should not be retarded but proceeded upon with all possible Expedition It was upon consideration of the said Report Ordered that in regard the said Romish Catholicks have been already several times fully heard at this Board as to the said Bill of Settlement no more Petitions or further Addresses be required or admitted from them for obstructing the same but the engrossing thereof be proceeded upon without any further delay according as the same is already prepà red and also that Mr. Sollicitor General do send all the Provisoes already allowed of by the said Committee to be likewise Engrossed And it is further Ordered That the Clerk of the Council attending do not only signify His Majesties Pleasure unto the said Sir Nicholas Pluncket that he do for bear coming into or appearing in His Majesties Presence or Court but also give Notice of this Order to the Committees imployed from the said Council and Parliament to be by them transmitted into Ireland Copia Vera Edw. Walker The Act of Settlement thus past there was a Court of Claims erected to adjudge Qualifications of Innocency and Nocency The Period for this Purpose was in Favour of the Nominees who were to attend till Innocents were first restored and by consent of the Irish Agents appointed by the Kings Declaration to be the 2 d of May 1661. but the Irish Parliament enlarged the time to the first of August 1662. and afterwards prolong'd it father to the 22 d of July 1663. And so the Commissioners viz. Sir Richard Rainsford Sir Thomas Beverly
compared with the Certificates here Also prevent the abuse in Coyning Vending annd Vttering small Moneys 14thly Endeavour to bring all to a Conformity in the Religion by Law Established and acquaint us with what difficulties you meet with therein 15thly Inspect our Forts Castles Magazines and Stores and endeavour to make Salt-Petre 16thly We are informed That small Profit hath heretofore come to our Exchequer by Castle-Chamber Fines tho Misdemeanors proper for punishment in that Court were many we would therefore have you look into the reasons thereof and to resettle and uphold the Honour and Jurisdiction of that Court for the repressing exorbitant Offences wherein our Learned Council are to do their Duty faithfully 17thly The Vice-Treasurer or his Deputy to receive all Money 18thly Reduce the Moneys there to the condition of Sterling and establish a Mint there 19thly Finding some Propositions of the Duke of Ormond recorded in the Register of Council-Causes 1662. fit to be observed we have renewed them with reference to your Government therefore observe them Lastly Several Popish Clergy since the return of the Duke of Ormond hither have exerâ—â—ed their Jurisdictions to the great grief of the Remonstrants If so execute the Laws against the Titular Archbishops Bishops and Vicar-Generals that have threatned or excommunicated the Remonstrants and that you protect such Remonstrants as have not withdrawn their Subscriptions These were the publick Instructions but the Administration of the Government seem'd to have another Foundation for now the Mystery of Iniquity began to appear and the Papists were publickly countenanc'd and indulg'd in Ireland many of them got into the Commission of the Peace and it was attempted also to bring them into the Army but Matters not running so smoothly as the Lord Lieutenant expected he returned to England for new Instructions and left the Government in the Hands of the Lord Chancellor and Sir Arthur Forbus Lords Justices who were Sworn on the 12 th of June and continued in that Office until his Excellency's return which was on the 23 d day of September 1671. In the mean time on the 21 st of February 1670. Collonel Richard Talbot Petitioned His Majesty in the behalf of His most distressed Subjects of Ireland who were outed of their Estates by the late Vsurped Powers which Petition was referr'd to a Committe of the Council to Examine and Report and a State of their Case was given to the Committee in Writing Whereupon on the 28 th of January the Kings Solicitor attended the Committe at the Council-Chamber His Majesty being present and there the Petition and Talbot's Commission from the Irish the State of their Case and the Paper of Instances were read On the 1 st of February the King being present Sir George Lane was call'd in and the first Instance being the Case of Mr. Hore was objected against him but Sir George baffled the Petitioners in that Matter and having prov'd an Agreement with Mr. Hore which His Majesty was pleased to say He remembred That Affair was clear'd to the satisfaction of the King and the Committee much contrary to the Expectation of the Petitioners who perhaps had prevail'd with the King to be there that he might be an Ear-witness of the Wrong that was done them But the King being weary of such Debates did on the 4 th of February in Council appoint the Lords Buckingham Anglesy Hollis and Ashley and Secretary Trevor or any three of them to be a Committee to Peruse and Revise all the Papers and Writings concerning the Settlement of Ireland from the first to the last and to take an Abstract of the State thereof in Writing And accordingly on the 12 th of June 1671. they made their Report at large which was the Foundation of a Commission dated the 1 st of August 1671. under the great Seal to Prince Rupert the Dukes of Buckingham and Lauderdale Earl of Anglesy Lords Ashley and Hollis Sir John Trevor and Sir Thomas Chichly to Inspect the Settlement of Ireland and all Proceedings from first to last in Order thereunto And this was followed by another Commission of the 17 th of January 1672. to Prince Rupert Earl of Shaftsbury the Lord Treasurer Clifford and others amongst whom the Dukes of Ormond was one to inspect the Affairs of Ireland viz. the Acts of Settlement and Explanation and the Execution of them and the disposing of Forfeited Lands and the State of His Majesties Revenue c. But how specious soever the Pretences were for these Commissions the secret Design was to unravel the Settlement and to humble the Duke of Ormond upon whom they always fell when the Popish Interest prevailed for otherwise the pretended Grievances if they had been really true were few and small and it were much better for the publick That even greater Irregularities than were complain'd of should remain unremedied than that the great and common Security of the Nation should be shaken And of this Opinion was the Parliament of England who always concern'd themselves effectually for the English Interest and the Protestant Religion in Ireland and accordingly on the 9th day of March 1673 they Address'd to His Majesty as followeth And this Address occasion'd that the aforesaid Commission of Inspection was Superseded on the 2d of July 1673. WE Your Majesties most Loyal Subjects the Commons in this Present Parliament Assembled taking into Consideration the great Calamities which have formerly befallen Your Majesties Subjects of the Kingdom of Ireland from the Popish Recausants there who for the most part are profest Enemies to the Protestant Religion and the English Interest and how they make use of Your Majesties Gracious Disposition and Clemency are at this time grown more Insolent and Presumptuous than formerly to the apparent Danger of that Kingdom and Your Majesties Protestant Subjects there the consequence whereof may likewise prove very fatal to this Your Majesties Kingdom of England if not timely prevented And having seriously weighed what Remedies may be most properly applied to those growing Distempers do in all Humility present Your Majesty with these our Petitions 1. That for the Establishment and Quieting the possessions of Your Majesties Subjects in that Kingdom Your Majesty would be pleased to maintain the Act of Settlement and Explanatory Act thereupon and to recall the Commission of Enquiry into Irish Affairs bearing date the 17 th of January last as containing many new and extraordinary Powers not only to the Prejudice of particular Persons whose Estates and Titles are thereby made liable to be questioned but in a manner to the overthrow of the Acts of Settlement and if pursued may be the occasion of great Charge and Attendance to many of Your Subjects in Ireland and shake the Peace and Security of the whole 2. That Your Majesty would give order that no Papist be either continued or hereafter admitted to be Judges Justices of the Peace Sheriffs Coroners or Mayors Sovereigns or Portreeves in that Kingdom 3. That the Titular Popish Archbishops
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
many and pernicious to Ireland that this Parliament should betray the trust reposed in them if they did not declare against this Cessation and use all means in time to make it abortive and therefore they desire that it may be observed and taken notice of First From whence the Counsel and Design of this Cessation ariseth even from the Rebels and Papists themselves for their own Preservation for soon after they had missed of their intent to make themselves absolute Masters of that Kingdom of Ireland by their treacherous Surprises and seeing that this Kingdom did with most Christian and Generous Resolutions undertake the Charges of the War for the Relief and Recovery of Ireland Propositions were brought over from the Rebels by the Lords Dillon and Tafe at which time they were intercepted and restrained by the Order of the House of Commons after that they had the boldness even while their Hands were still imbrued in the Protestants Blood to petition his Majesty that their demands might be heard And for this purpose they obtained a Commission to be sent over into Ireland to divers Persons of Qality whereof some were Papists to Hear Receive and Transmit to his Majesty their Demands which was done accordingly and one Master Burk a Notorious Pragmatick Irish Papist was the chief Sollicitor in this business After this the Just Revenging God giving daily success to handfuls of the Protestant Forces against their great numbers so that by a wonderful Blessing from Heaven they were in most parts put to the worst Then did they begin to set on Foot an Overture for a Cessation of Arms concerning which what going and coming hath been between the Court and the Rebels is very well known and what Meetings and Treatties have been held about it in Ireland by Warrant of his Majesties Ample Commission sent to that effect and what Reception and Countenance most Pragmatical Papists negotiating the business have found at Court and that those of the State in Dublin who had so much Religion and Honesty as to disswade the Cessation were first discountenanced and at last put out of their Places and restrained to Prison as Sir William Parsons One of the Lords Justices there Sir John Temple Master of the Rolls Sir Adam Loftus Vice-Treasurer of Ireland and Treasurer at Wars and Sir Robert Meredith one also of the Council Table Secondly The Lords and Commons desire it may be observed that during all these Passages and Negotiations the Houses of Parliament were never acquainted by the State of Ireland with the Treaty of a Cessation much less was their Advice or Counsel demanded notwithstanding that the care and managing of the War was devolved on them both by Act of Parliament and by his Majesties Commission under the Great Seal to Advise Order and Dispose of all things concerning the Government and Defence of that Kingdom But the wants of the Army were often represented and complained of whereby with much craft a ground was preparing for the Pretext wherewith now they would cover the Counsels of this Cessation as if nothing had drawn it on but the extream Wants of their Armies whereas it is evident that the Reports of such a Treaty have been in a great part the cause of their wants for thereby the Adventurers were disheartened Contributions were stopped and by the admittance to Court of the Negotiators of this Cessation their wicked Councels have had that influence as to procure the Intercepting of much Provisions which were sent for Ireland so that Ships going for Ireland with Victuals and others coming from thence with Commodities to exchange for Victuals have been taken not only by Dunkirkers having his Majesties Warrant but also by English Ships commanded by Sir John Pennington under his Majesty And moreover the Parliament Messengers sent into several Counties with the Ordinance of January last for Loans and Contributions have been taken and imprisoned their Money taken from them and not one Peny either Loan or Contribution hath been suffered to be sent for for Ireland from these Counties which were under the power of the Kings Army while in the mean time the Houses of Parliament by their Ordinances Declarations and Solicitations to the City of London and the Counties free from the terror of the Kings Forces were still procuring not contemptible Aid and Relief for the distresses of Ireland Thirdly As the Lords and Commons have reason to declare against this Plot and Design of a Cessation of Arms as being treated and carryed on without their Advice so also because of the great prejudice which will thereby redound to the Protestant Religion and the encouragement and advancement which it will give to the practice of Popery when these Rebellious Papists shall by this agreement continue and set up with more freedom their Idolatrous Worship their Popish Superstitions and Romish Abominations in all the places of their Command to the dishonouring of God the grieving of all true Protestant Hearts the disposing of the Laws of the Crown of England and to the provoking of the wrath of a Jealous God as if both Kingdoms not smarted enough already for this sin of too much conniving at and tolerating of Antichristian Idolatry under pretext of Civil Contracts and Politick Agreements Fourthly In the Fourth place they desire it may be observed that this Cessation will prove dishonourable to the Publick Faith of this Kingdom it will elude and make null the Acts and Ordinances of Parliament made for the forfeiting of the Rebels Lands at the passing of which Acts it was represented that such a course would drive the Rebels to Despair and it proves so but otherways than was meant for despairing of their Force and Courage they go about to overcome us with their Craft Fifthly and Lastly What shall become of the many Poor Exiled Protestants turned out of their Estates by this Rebellion who must now continue begging their Bread while the Rebels shall enjoy their Lands and Houses And who shall secure the rest of the Protestants that either by their own Courage Industry and great Charges have kept their Possessions or by the success of our Armies have been restored Can there be any assurance gotten from a Perfidious Enemy of a Cossation from Treachery and breach of Agreement when they shall see a fit time and opportunity These and many other considerations being well weighed it will appear evidently that this Design of a Cessacion is a deep Plot laid by the Rebels and really invented for their own Safety and falsly pretended to be for the benefit of the Armies And whereas the Lords and Commons have no certain Information that the Treaty is concluded but are informed by several Letters that all the Protestants as well Inhabitants as Soldiers in that Kingdom are resolved to withstand that proceeding and to adventure on the greatest extremities rather than have any sort of peace with that generation who have so cruelly in time of Peace Murdered many Thousands of our Countreymen
Protestant Doctrines about Free-Will Predestination and Justification and illustrates the Doctrine of Justification by this plain Simile viz. As the Eye only sees yet if separated from the Body cannot see so Faith alone justifies yet if it be alone that is if it be separated from good Works it cannot justifie because saving Faith is always a fruitful Faith he shews that S. Patrick and Paladius opposed and confuted the Errors of Pelagius and Celestius about the Grace of God and both Claudius and Sedulius affirmed That no Man is without Sin except the Man Christ Jesus and that there is no Perfection in this Life and whatsoever Men have from God is of Grace because they have nothing of due The third Chapter treats of Purgatory and Prayer for the Dead and first he shews the Cheat of S. Patrick's Purgatory which that good Man never dream'd of his Treatise de tribus habitaculis relates to Heaven Earth and Hell and has not the least mention of Purgatory it was a later Invention of the Monks and so firmly believed by their Votaries that S. Caesarius a German Monk has the confidence to advise all those who doubt of Purgatory to go to Ireland to S. Patrick's Purgatory in Loghdirge and he shall be convinced And Doctor Tyrry assures us That it is famous over all Europe but O Sullevan has gone farther Sullevan 23 and in his Catholick History of Ireland has given us the description of the Rooms and Furniture in this Purgatory and the several sorts of Punishments inflicted there and has acquainted us with the Methods of getting in and safely getting out again But after all this has proved the most fulfom Cheat that ever was imposed on Mankind and being about the Year 1636 digged up by the Order of the Lords Justices this Purgatory was found to be a small Cave under Ground where the Damps arising from the Earth so influenced crazy Melancholy People as to make them dream or fancy whatever they were beforehand told they should see But to proceed the Primate quotes the Saying of Sedulius and the Canon of an ancient Irish Synod That after this Life either Life or Death succeedeth and that Christ has loosed our Guilt and finished our Punishment He shews the Forgery of a story on S. Brendan inserted into the new English Legend but not to be found in the Ancient Manuscript He observes That the Oblations made for the Dead in former times were Sacrifices of Thanksgiving and not of Propitiation because they were made for such as they were confident were in Heaven as for S. Brendon c. And he concludes with the Saying of Claudius and Colombanus That when we come to the Judgment Seat neither Job nor Daniel nor Noah can intreat for any one but every one must bear his own Burthen To which I add the Saying ascribed by the Synod to S. Patrick mentioned page 36. He who deserveth not to receive the Sacrifice in his Life how can it help him after his Death In the fourth Chapter he cites Sedulius telling us That 't is Impiety to adore any other but God and reproving the Heathen for Simplicity in thinking that the Invisible God would be worshipped by a Visible Image to which Claudius adds That God is not to be worshipped in Metal nor in Stone And S. Patrick assures us That no Creature is to be sworn by but only the Creator And as for the Liturgy there was no Uniformity therein but several Forms of Divine Service were used in divers Parts of the Kingdom that the Roman Use began to be introduced by the Pope's Legate in the twelfth Century and was perfected by Christianus Bishop of Lismore in the Synod of Cashel and confirmed by Henry II wherein it was ordered That all Divine Offices of Holy Church should thenceforward he handled in all Parts of Ireland according as the Church of England did observe them The Word Mass is synonimous to Liturgy and therefore used for Evening Prayer but it commonly signifies the Sacrament being the principle Part of Divine Service and the Word Sacrifice did import then what we understand by the Word Sacrament now and might be either offered to God or given to the People and not as the Mass is now wherein the Priest doth all He farther sheweth that they received the Sacrament in both kinds and instances Hildmer's Wife and S. Bridget and her Companions c. and particularly that the Popish Legends mention That one of S. Bridget's Miracles happened when she was about to drink out of the Chalice He shews that the Holy Men of those Ages did use the Phrase of Scripture and called the Sacrament the Body and Blood of our Saviour because they thought the Impossibility and Unreasonableness of Transubstantiation would secure Mankind from Mistake for Christ being alive in Heaven cannot be corporally in the Sacrament because he is there represented as Dead and his Body Broken and his Blood Shed and there is no such thing in rerum natura for Christ being Raised from the Dead dyeth no more Rom. 6. 9. He quotes Sedulius and Claudius Henry Crump and Johannes Scotus distinguishing between the Sacrament and the Body of Christ that was crucified In Chap. 5 he proves by the Epistle of Lanfrank to King Tiâ—lagh That the Irish did not use Chrism in Baptism and by the Testimony of S. Bernard That the Irish in his time did not understand or did neglect Confession Confirmation and Marriage he proves that Confession in former Times was Publick and that Penance was but a Testimony of Penitence and always preceded Absolution and cites Claudius to prove that Sacerdotal Absolution is declarative and ministerial and not absolute Sedulius calls Marriage a Gift but not Spiritual ergo 'tis no Sacrament the Synod attributed to S. Patrick prohibits the Incest of marrying a Brother's Wife which was the Case of Henry VIII and Kilianus suffered Martyrdom for dissolving such an Incestuous Marriage by Gozbertus Duke of Franconia and that Clemens Scotuâ— was condemned by the Council of Rome anno 745 as a bringer in of Judaism among Christians by maintaing such Incestuous Marriages which Cambrensis says were common in Ireland he proves by Sedulius and S. Patrick That no Divorces were to be made except for the Cause of Fornication and that Coelibacy was so far from being enjoyned the Clergy That S. Patrick's Father was Calphurnius a Deacon and his Grandfather Potitus a Priest There was Order taken in the Synod held by S. Patrick Auâ—ilius and Isserninus That the Wives of the Clergy should not walk abroad with their Heads uncovered and Gildas reprehends the Clergy for corrupting their Children by evil Example and he proves by the Epistle of Pope Innocent III That the Sons and Grandsons did use to succeed their Fathers and Grandfathers in Ecclesiastical Benefices To which I add That this was so true in the See of Armagh that they feared that Archbishoprick would be made hereditary no less than ten
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
at any Alarm Maurice Fitz Girald as soon as he discover'd O Mlaghlin's Design gave the Signal to Griffith but before he could come up the Irish had kill'd Lacy's Interpreter who interposed to save his Master and had his Arm cut off for his Pains Lacy himself was twice knockt down but Griffith being come he soon ended this Skirmish by the Death of O Mlaghlin whose Head he cut off and sent it into England But Lacy being unable to manage the Kingdom and the King being so perplexed with the Rebellion of his Sons that he could not personally attend the Irish Affairs it was necessary to send for Strongbow into Normandy where the King was and to give him the Government of Ireland Strongbow being sent for did readily wait on the King and being made acquainted with his Majesties Intentions he made it his Request That to avoid Envy and Jealousie Reymond le Gross might be his Colleague in the Government The King replyed That Reymond should be joyned with him as an Assistant but not in Commission And so having express'd much Confidence in the Earl he gave him the City of Wexford and the Castle of Wicklow and sent him to his Government Richard Earl of Chepstow commonly call'd Strongbow Chief Governour or Lord Justice of Ireland at his arrival there found all things in Disorder many of the Irish actually revolted and all of them confederated to shake off the English Yoke the Army also was Mutinous for want of Pay and the Generals Hervy and Reymond were at odds Immediately he put the Army under the Conduct of Reymond 1174. who led them into Ophaly where they met with good Prey Thence he advanced to Lismore and spoiled both the Town and the Country and so by the Sea-side he marched towards Waterford At Dungarvan he found thirteen Boats which he seized and loaded with Prey and Plunder But being detained there a long time by contrary Winds the People of Cork found means to fit out thirty two Barques and manfully assaulted the English in their Boats nevertheless the English Bows and Arrows prevailed and the Corcagians were defeated and their Admiral Gilbert mac Turger slain Whereupon the English under their Admiral Adam de Hereford sailed triumphantly into Waterford Dermond mac Carthy King of Cork came with his Forces by Land to countenance the aforesaid Attempt of the Corcagians by Sea and to seize on the English Boats if perhaps they should be forced ashore as he expected but Reymond met him and gave him such a Brush that he got a Prey of four thousand Cows by the Bargain and brought them safe to Waterford But whilst Reymond was thus busied in Munster he received Advice of the Death of his Father William Fitz-Girald which obliged him to take a Voyage into Wales to get Possession of the Inheritance descended to him By this Accident the Command of the Army fell to Hervy and abundance of Trouble and Misfortune hapned to the Earl For it was not long before Hervy perswaded the Earl to an Exploit 1175. somewhere about Cashel and in order to it to send for more Forces from Dublin but Donald Prince of Ossory having Notice of it surpriz'd them in their March and fell upon them in Ossory where he slew four Gentlemen and four hundred Soldiers being of that sort of the Citizens of Dublin which were called Easterlings With this great Victory the Irish were elevated beyond measure and fansied They had now got a favourable Opportunity to extipate the English And to that End they armed every where and even those Irish whom he had most obliged and those also from whom he had Oaths and Pledges did nevertheless joyn with the rest in this General Conspiracy Rotherick with a mighty Army passed the River Shenin and Burnt and Prey'd the Country even to the Walls of Dublin And Strongbow was coopt up in Waterford in continual Fear of a Massacre thereâ— In this miserable Condition he sent to Reymond into Wales desiring him to hasten over and promised him the Fair Basilia Strongbow's Sister as the Reward of his Expedition Reymond made all possible Hast and with thirty Gentlemen an hundred Horsemen three hundred Archers and Footmen and in twenty Barques arrived at Waterford very seasonably for the Citizens were then conspiring the Murder of the English which by this Accident was postponed for a Time Immediately the Earl Reymond and the Army march'd to Wexford and soon after the Citizens of Waterford murdered the Governour Pursel and butcher'd all the English Men Women and Children except such as saved themselves in Reginalds Tower But they manfully kept that Tower and afterwards regained the City and forced the Citizens to submit to hard Conditions Strongbow and the Army being at Wexford Reymond was married to the Fair Basilia and had with her Idrone Glascarig Fothard and the Constableship of Leinster But in the midst of their Jollity they received Information That Rotherick had invaded Leinster wherefore the next Day they marched towards Dublin But Rotherick at the News of their Approach retreated and Reymond caused the ruined Castles to be repaired particularly the Castle of Trim and so hoped that he might now enjoy his Beautiful Spouse in quiet But the Prince of Limerick was resolved to follow his Blow and continued in open Defiance so that Reymond was forced to march to him September 1176. with twenty six Gentlemen three hundred Archers and three hundred Horsemen David Walsh forded or rather swam the River of Shenin into the Island of Limerick whom by Reymond's Persuasion and Example the rest followed October 1. and took that City and after plundering it they left a Garrison in it under Meyler of S. Davids consisting of fifty Gentlemen two hundred Horse and two hundred Archers and returned Hervey of Mount-Morris by his Letters to the King had suggested That Reymond intended to keep Limerick for himself and that he and Strongbow would monopolize Ireland and several other Falsities which so moved the King's Jealousie that he sent over Robert Power Osbert of Hereford William Bending and Adam of Germeny whereof two were to bring over Reymond and the other two to stay and watch the Earl In the mean Time Letters came from Limerick importing That the Garrison was in Distress besieged by Daniel O Bryan Whereupon it was resolved as well by Strongbow as by the new Messengers That Reymond must undertake to relieve it Wherefore taking with him eighty Gentlemen two hundred Horse and three hundred Archers with some Irish under Morough of Kensile and Donold of Ossory he marches towards Limerick but O Bryan not willing to fight with the Army and Garrison at once raises his Siege and marches towards Cashel 1177. and by plashing the Trees and trenching his Camp he made it as strong as he could It was pleasant to behold the Prince of Ossory who was O Bryans Mortal Foe to tell the English That they must fight valiantly and be Victors or He
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
take any notice of Ireland and therefore we take no further notice of him than to give this brief Account of the Reason of our Silence in that Particular Hugh de Lacy was made Lord Justice of Ireland as aforesaid And as soon as he arrived he sent Imperious Letters to Courcy to discharge him of his Command and behaved himself so insolently that all was in Disorder Which the Irish perceiving and also that the King of England was preparing for a Voyage to the Holy Land they thought this an happy Opportunity to extirpate the English to which End they had a General Meeting and resolved unanimously to fall upon them Hanmer 169. and in order to it they entred into a League or Association and solemnly swore First To be true to one another and to the common Cause Secondly Never to yield any Obedience to the English again Ibid 162. And to begin the Business they fell upon Roger Poer Governour of Leighlin and barbarously murdered him and most of the Garrison Cormock O Connor Son of Rotherick King of Connaught commonly called Crove Darig because his Hand was red was the chief of the Conspirators he was an Active Valiant Gentleman and of so great Reputation that he was able to assemble twenty thousand Men of his own and the Confederates with which Army he designed first to clear Connaught then Vlster and afterwards the whole Kingdom In the mean Time Courcy Lord of Connaught and Earl of Vlster considering that he should have no Aid nor Help from the Lord Justice endeavoured to strengthen himself the best he could and to that End sent for his Brother S. Lawrence who made more Haste than good Speed for he came away with thirty Horse and two hundred Foot and at Knockmoy in the County of Galway fell into an Ambush the King of Connaught had laid for him and tho' they fought so valiantly that they killed one thousand Irish Men yet the Issue was That this small Army was totally destroyed not one escaping And tho' O Connor in Remembrance and Ostentation of this Victory did there build the Abbey de Colle Victoriae yet when he had well considered the prodigious Valour of that Handful of Men and his own Loss he thought himself necessitated to sue to Lacy for Peace which he soon obtained upon reasonable Conditions About this Time Robin Hood and Litle John were Famous Robbers in England but their Company being dispersed and Robin Hood taken Litle John fled to Dublin and shot an Arrow from Dublin-Bridge to the litle Hill in Oxman-Town thence called Litle John's Shot He was called Litle John Ironically for he was not less than fourteen Foot long believe it who will Hector Boetius affirms The Hole of his Huckle Bone was so big that he could thrust his Hand through it He fled from Dublin to Scotland where he dyed This Year Isabel 1189. only Daughter of Strongbow by Eva Prencess of Leinster was married to William Lord Maxfield Earl Marshal of England He was a great Favourite to King Richard and at his Coronation carried the Regal Scepter whereon was a Cross of Gold He was afterward by King John Hanmer 177. created Earl of Pembrook and had five Sons who were successively Earls and all died without Issue and he had five Daughters among whom his Estate was divided viz. to Joan the County of Waxford to Matilda the County of Caterlough to Isabel the County of Kilkenny to Sybilla the County of Kildare and to Eva the Mannor of Downmass in Leix now the Queen's County in all which they exercised Palatine Jurisdiction Of this Family Thomas Mills in his Catalogue of Honour gives this Account That Richard Earl of Chepstow was nick-named Strongbow because of his exceeding Strength so that he drew an traordinary Srong Bow his Arms were so long that he could stand upright and with the Palms of his Hands touch his Knees That his Daughter Isabel was fourteen Years a Ward to Henry II That her Husband William Earl Marshal was created Earl of Pembrook 27 May 1199 and that she dyed anno 1221 and was buried at Tintern Abbey and that he dyed 16 March 1219. They had five Sons and five Daughters William married Elianor Sister of Henry III and died the sixth of April 1231. Richard died the sixteenth of April 1234. Gilbert married Margaret Daughter of William King of Scotland 1235 and died by a fall from his Horse the twenty eighth of May 1242. Walter died 1245 in Wales and Anselm died the same Month viz the twenty first of December Maud successively married Hugh Earl of Norfolk William Earl of Warren and Walier Lord Dunstanvil Joan married Warren Lord Montchensy the richest Baron in England Isabel married Gilbert Earl of Glocester and afterwards Richard Earl of Cornwal King of the Romans Sybil married William Earl of Ferrers and Darby and Eve married William de Brees Lord of Brecknock and Partition was made between these Noble Coparceners at Woodstock Lib. G. May 3. 31 Hen. 3. About this Time 1190. viz. Anno 1190 the City of Dublin was burnt by Accident 1191. so that it was almost totally destroyed and the Kingdom was governed by William Petit Burlace 11. who held it a very short Time before William Earl of Pembrook and Earl Marshal of England came over Lord Justice or Governour of Ireland he was the third of the Temporal Assistants King Richard had left to the Bishop of Ely for the Government of England he was a Valiant Man and had a great Estate in Ireland 1191. and therefore was thought the fittest Governour for that Country in this Critical Time whilst King Richard was Prisoner in Austria and Earl John was engaged in Troublesome and Ambitious Designs in England In the Year 1194. the Reliques of S. Malachy Bishop of Clareval Cambden 151. were brought into Ireland and with great Reverence and Devotion deposited in the Abby of Mellifont and other the Monasteries of the Cistersian Order It seems the Reputation or Power of this Noble Governour was sufficient to keep Ireland quiet 1197. for we read of little or no Disturbance there during his Time which was about six Years And then he resign'd to Hanno de valois a Gentleman of Suffolk Lord Justice of Ireland who continued in that Government until the Death of King Richard which happened at Chalons in France on the sixth Day of April anno 1199. John Earl of Moreton and Lord of Ireland did on the Death of King Richard without Title ascend the Throne of England Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury was a great assistant to this Usurpation he told the People That John had the Crown by Election which the King did not then gain-say it being no fit Time to dispute the MANNER so he had the THING he aimed at but the Right was in his Nephew Arthur whom he afterwards got into his Hands and caused him him to be murdered as was at that Time generally reported
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
make them seek Peace yet he was in no wise able to reduce them to the Obedience of Subjects or enlarge the Limits of the Pale however what he did was held so considerable that the Lords and Gentlemen of the Pale made Certificate of this great Service in French to the King Nevertheless the Army was so ill paid in this March that the Subject suffered more from the Cess of the Souldier than they gained by this small and temporary mortification of the Irish and this was the common Calamity from hence forward so that Necessity revived Coyn and Livery again by degrees notwithstanding that it remained Treason by Act of Parliament In August the Parliament met at Dublin 1415. and sate six weeks during which time the Irish followed their usual Course of falling upon the English and killed Thomas Ballymore of Ballyquelan and many others and on the 22th day of October the King obtained a most glorious and entire Victory over the French at the Battel of Agincourt But the Parliament was adjourned to Trym 1416. and there it sate on the 11th of May and continued seven days and gave the King a Subsidy of four hundred Marks in Money and the next year the Prior of Kilmainham with sixteen hundred Irish went to aid the King in France 1417. they Landed at Harslew in Normandy and did the King very good Service But I should have remembred That the King and Parliament at Westminster anno 1413. did Enact That for the Peace and Quietness of England and for the encrease and enstoring of Ireland That all Irishmen Irish Clerks Beggars and Chamberdekins be voided out of England before All-Saints next Lib. M. except Graduates in Schools Sergeants and Apprentices at Law and such as be Inheritors in England and Religious Persons professed and Merchants of good Name and Apprentices now dwelling in England and those whom the King will dispense with and that all Irishmen who have Offices or Benefices in Ireland shall dwell in Ireland for the defence of the Land And now 4 Hen. 5. Lib. M. It was likewise Enacted in England that all Archbishops Bishops Abbots and Priors of the Irish Nation Rebels to the King that shall make any Collation or Presentment to Benefices in Ireland or bring with them any Irish Rebels among the Englishmen to the Parliament Councils or other Assemblies within the same Land to know the Privities or States of the Englishmen their Temporalities shall be seized till they fine to the King and that the Governors of Ireland be defended and restrained to grant such Benefices or Pardons in the case to Irish Persons not English and that such Licenses shall be void There is very little recorded of the Year 1418 1418. and it is scarce worth mentioning That the Lord Lieutenant did spoil the Tenants of Henry Crus and Henry Bethel probably for some Misdemeanor by them committed against the Government But the Year 1419. 1419. will afford us more Matter for on the last Day of May the Lord Lieutenant accompanied by the Archbishop and Mayor of Dublin razed the Castle of Kenun having a little before in the same Month taken Prisoner Mac Morough the chief Captain of his Nation and on the 20th of June the Lord William de Burgh took O Kelly and slow five hundred Irish in Connaught but the Lord Lieutenant was sent for to England and substituted his Brother Richard Talbot Archbishop of Dublin Lord Justice or Deputy He held a Royal Council i. e. a Parliament at the Naas which gave a Subsidy of three hundred Marks On Maundy-Thursday O Tool took four hundred Kine from Ballymore and so broke the Peace contrary to his Oath but it fared worse with the Irish at Rodiston where thirty of them were slain by the English under the Command of the Lord Justice but on the 4th day of April Landed at Waterford James 1420. Earl of Ormond Lord Lieutenant His Commission is very large and beareth Date the 10th of Febr. 7 Hen. 5. and is to be seen Pryn 412. He held a Council at Dublin the 23th of April and summoned a Parliament to meet the 7th of June which did accordingly then meet and sate sixteen days and gave the King a Subsidy of seven hundred Marks and adjourned to Monday after S. Andrews Day and at that Session they gave another Subsidy of three hundred Marks and the publick Debts contracted by the Lord Talbot were paid and then they were Adjourned to the Monday after S. Ambrose's Day But it will be convenient to shew the Reader who paid these Subsidies and what their respective Proportions were and thereby he will perceive the vast Alteration for the better that is made in the State of Ireland since those Days This Subsidy was called Tertium Subsidium and was applotted thus Lib. CCC Â Lib. s. d. The Clergy of the County of Wexford 13 06 08 The Commons of Kildare 34 10 05 The Clergy of Kildare 04 02 10 Commons of Typerary 08 11 04 Clergy of Cashel 00 19 04 Commons of Limerick 02 03 00 Clergy of Limerick 00 08 01 Kingsale 01 16 08 Â Mar. s. d. Meath Liberty 83 00 00 Clergy of Meath 40 00 00 Clergy of Dublin 11 11 08 Drogehda 04 03 00 Commons of Carlow 04 01 04 Clergy of Ossory 02 00 11 Commons of Kilkenny 18 05 11 Commons of Louth 25 12 05 Clergy of Ardes 08 08 09 Commons of Dublin 40 10 00 City of Dublin 06 10 00 Clergy Cathedral of Dublin 11 11 08 Cork 02 02 00 On the 28th of October Thomas Fitz-Girald took Colmolin Castle and the Parliament met again according to Adjournment on Monday after S. Ambrose's Day and ordered that the Archbishop of Armagh Sir Christopher Preston and others should go Commissioners to the King to desire a Reformation of the State of the Land At this Parliament John Gese Bishop of Lismore and Waterford accused Richard O Hedian Archbishop of Cashel of Thirty Articles the Principal of which were First Ware de Praesul 170. That he loved none of the English Nation nor gave any Benefice to any Englishman and that he counselled other Bishops to do the like Secondly That he had counterfeited the Great Seal Thirdly That he designed to make himself King of Munster Fourthly That he had taken a Ring from the Image of S. Patrick which the Earl of Desmond had offered and gave it to his Concubine c. There was also a Contest between Adam Pory Bishop of Cloyne and another Bishop but it is probable that the former Accusation was suppressed because we find no farther Proceedings upon them and because the Archbishop seems to have been a more generous sort of Man for he not only repaired the Cathedral of Cashel and a Mansion-House or two for his Successors but also was otherwise a great Benefactor to that See and liberal to Pious Uses and the later Contest was transmitted to Rome But we should return
to the Lord Justice 1422. whose Servants were on the Seventh of May attacked and defeated by the Irish Purcel Grant and five and twenty English more were slain and ten taken Prisoners and two hundred escaped to the Abby of Leix and to revenge this the Lord Justice invaded O Mores Country and defeated his terrible Army in the red Bog of Asby he relieved his own Men and burnt and preyed the Rebels Lands for four days until themselves came and sued for Peace And it seems O Dempsy notwithstanding his Oath of Obedience invaded the Pale and took the Castle of Ley from the Earl of Kildare which the Lord Justice had justly restored to the Earl whereupon Campion makes a severe Remark on the Irish That notwithstanding their Oaths and their Pledges they are no longer true than they feel themselves the weaker In the mean time Mac Mahon play'd the Devil in Vrgile and burnt and spoil'd all before him Camp 97. but the Lord Justice also revenged that Prank and forced Mac Mahon to submit and many other Noble Exploits did this good Governor for whose Success the Clergy of Dublin went twice every week in solemn Procession praying for his Victory over those disordered Persons which now in every Quarter of Ireland had apostatiz'd to their old Trade of Life and repined at the English And when I have mentioned a Deed made 9 Hen. 5. which is to be found Lib. GGG 24. at Lambeth whereby this Earl of Ormond constituted James Fitz-Girald Earl of Desmond his Seneschal of the Baronies or Signiories of Imokilly Inchicoin and the Town of Youghal during his Life I have no more to add but that this Victorious King after he had conquered France submitted to the common Fate on the last Day of August 1422 in the Flower of his Age and the Tenth Year of his Reign THE REIGN OF HENRY VI. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND HENRY the Sixth was but nine Months old at the Death of his Illustrious Father 1422. and therefore the deceased King had by his last Will appointed John Duke of Bedford to be Regent of France Humphry Duke of Glocester to be Governour of England and Thomas Duke of Excester and Henry Bishop of Winchester to be Guardians of the Young King's Person All which was duly observed and the Infant King was proclaimed in Paris and the Nobility that were there swore Allegiance to him James Earl of Ormond continued Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and upon a Petition preferred by the House of Commons to the King about the manifold Murders Robberies Rapes Riots and other Misdemeanours committed by the Irish in England Lib. M. it was enacted there That all Persons born in Ireland should quit England within a time limited except Graduates in either University Clergymen beneficed those that have Land in England or are married there or those whose Parents are English and even such are to give Security of their good Behaviour And not long after came over Edmond Mortimer 1422. Earl of March and Vlster Lord Lieutenant He died afterwards of the Plague at the Castle of Trym which was his own Inheritance And in his stead came John Lord Talbot 1425. Lord Justice In whose time the Barretts a Family of good account near Cork did by Indenture covenant to be obedient to the Earl of Desmond who was exceeding Powerful and lorded it over great part of Munster with a high Hand This Governour resigned to James Earl of Ormond 1426. Lord Justice In whose time John Duke of Bedford 4 Instit 360. Regent of France obtained a Patent for all the Mines of Gold and Silver within England Ireland c. rendring to the Church the tenth Part to the King the fifteenth Part and to the Owner of the Soil the twentieth part And then Sir John de Gray 1427. Lord Lieutenant landed at Hoâ—th the thirty first of July and was sworn the next Day but no mention is made of any thing he did but that he went for England and left Edward Dantzy Bishop of Meath 1428. his Deputy He was for a time Treasurer of Ireland and dyed the fourth of January 1428. Upon Notice whereof Sir John Sutton Lord Dudly was sent over Lord Lieutenant He held a Parliament in Dublin Friday next after the Feast of All Saints 1429. at which it was enacted That the Sheriff upon Pain of Amercement should add to the Panel of Jurors the Place Estate and Mistery of every Juror And in the Preamble to this Act the Lord Lieutenant is Styled The Right Noble and Right Gracious Lord. And on the sixth of the same November the King was crowned at Westminster And soon after the Lord Lieutenant returned and left Sir Thomas Strange 1429. Lord Deputy in whose time the King was crowned at Paris 1431. and took the Oaths and Homage of the Nobility and People there And now happened the famous Case of the Prior of Lanthony which was That a Judgment in the Common Pleas being removed to the Irish Parliament was affirmed there Whereupon a Writ of Error was sent from England but the King's Bench in England would not take cognizance of a Judgment in the Parliament of Ireland to reverse it And therefore the Prior petitions the King That the Record may be transmitted to the House of Lords in England to be examined there Sir Thomas Stanly was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1432. and it seems that he called a Parliament which enacted two Statutes that were afterwards repealed by 11 Jac. 1 cap. 5. And then he went to England leaving Sir Christopher Plunket Lord Deputy 1432. he was afterwards Baron of Killine in Right of his Wife Heir of the Cusacks and his second Son became Baron of Dunsany But Sir Thomas Stanly 1435. Lord Lieutenant returned and gave a Check to the Irish who were insolent beyond Measure and incroaching everywhere on the Pale making the best Advantage of the King's Minority and the Absence of the Military Men in France but the Lord Lieutenant with the Power of Meath and Vriel took Moyle O Donel Prisoner and slew a great many of the Irish And afterwards about Michaelmas he went again to England and left Richard Talbot Archbishop of Dublin 1436. Brother to the Earl of Shrewsbury Lord Deputy he was sometime Lord Chancellor of Ireland and was elected Primate of Armagh but he refused to change his Bishoprick Lion Lord Wells 1438. Lord Lieutenant in whose time a second Law was made in England Lib. M. obliging the Irishmen to return into their Native Country And another Statute was made in Ireland to stop the Passage of any more into England And on the twelfth of June 17 Hen. 6. Robert Fitz-Geofry Cogan granted all his Lands in Ireland being half the Kingdom of Cork to James Earl of Desmond and gave a Letter of Attorney to put him in Possession of Kyrrygrohanmore Lib. G. Downdrinane
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
List of all that did pay this scandalous Contribution Lib. P. 174. and yet I am not willing to conceal from him the Account I have met with which is as follows lib. The Barony of Lecale to O Neal of Clandeboy per annum 20 The County of Vriel to O Neal 40 The County of Meath to O Connor 60 The County of Kildare to O Connor 20 The King's Exchequer to Mac Morough 80 Marks The County of Wexford to Mac Morough 40 The Counties of Kilkenny and Typerary to O Carol 40 The County of Limerick to O Bâ—â—an 40 The County of Cork to Mac Carty of Muskry 40 And whilst the English were engaged in England the Irish advantaged themselves of the Opportunity and without Colour of Right usurped many considerable Estates as they had done before in the time of Richard II and these two Seasons set them so afloat that they could never since be cast out of their forceable Possessions holding by plain Wrong the most part of Vlster and upon very frivolous Pretences great Portions of Laâ—d in Munster and Connaugh And so we are come to the end of this unfortunate Reign which determined some Years before the King's Life for he did not dye until the twenty first Day of May 1472. And it must not be forgot That one of the Articles against this King was That by the Instigation of divers Lords about him he had wrote Letters to some of the Irish Enemy whereby they were encouraged to attempt the Conquest of the said Land of Ireland THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND EDWARD Earl of March 1460. Son and Heir of Richard Duke of York immediately after his Fathers Death at the Battle of Wakefield betook himself with all Diligence to gather an Army near Shrewsbury and having got twenty three thousand Men together on the second of February he defeated the Earls of Ormond and Pembrook near Mortimers-Cross and killed three thousand eight hundred of their Soldiers and although the Queen not long afterward defeated the Earl of Warwick at Bernard-Heath near S. Albans yet he wisely made slight of that Misfortune and without any Regard to it marched directly to London where on the fourth Day of March by vertue of the aforementioned Act of Parliament he was proclaimed King by the Name of Edward the Fourth He was as to his Person the goodliest Man of his Time and he was not less Valiant than beautiful On the twelfth of March he advanced against his Enemies and on Palm-Sunday with an Army of forty thousand and six hundred Men he encountred with sixty thousand and obtained so great a Victory that thirty six thousand seven hundred and seventy two of his Adversaries were slain And so being safe in his Throne 1461. he thought it time to put the Crown upon his Head which was solemnly performed on the twenty eighth Day of June In the mean time Thomas Earl of Kildare was on the thirtieth of April chosen Lord Justice by the Council of Ireland and continued so until Sir Rowland Fitz-Eusâ—ace 1462. Lord of Portlester and Treasurer was appointed Deputy to the Duke of Clarence He held a Parliament at Dublin Friday before S. Luke's Day which enacted That ten Pound per annum Davis 96. be received out of the Profits of the Courts to repair the Castle hall It seems that one William O Bolgir was made Denizen about this time Lib. G. and that on the fourth of May 1463. Robert Barnwal was made Baron of Trimlets-Town and it must not be forgot That the Earl of Ormond was beheaded at Newcastle and attainted by Parliament in Englaâ—d ◠〈◊〉 4. and that that noble Family was in Disgrace all this â—eâ—gn for their firm adhesion to the House of Lancaster This Lord Justice was long after this in a very old Age made Viscount Baltinglass by King Henry VIII and now was forced to resign to George Duke of Clarence the King's Brother who was made Lord Lieutenant for Life and deputed his Godfather Thomas Earl of Desmond Lib. M. Lord Deputy in whose time Mints were established at Dublin Trim Drogheda Waterford and Galway to coyn Groats two Penny pieces Pence Halfpence and Farthings And not long after it was ordered That English Mony should advance a fourth Part in Ireland viz. That an English Nine Pence should pass for a Shilling in Ireland and a Shilling for sixteen Pence and so proportionably And it seems the Gold Noble coyned in the time of Edward III. was inhanced higher than the rest for it was ordered to pass for ten Shillings And this was the first time any difference was made in the value of Mony between England and Ireland This Lord Justice held a Parliament at Weys Friday before S. Martin's Day 1463. which the Thursday after was adjourned to Waterford to be held the Monday following It was again on Saturday before the Feast of Edward the Confessor adjourned to Naas Irish Statutes 19. to be held Monday before S. Matthias Day and thence on the Friday after it met there it was adjourned to Dublin to be held Monday before S. David's Day and there on the Saturday after it was dissolved having first enacted I. That all Parliament Men should have Priviledge forty Days before and forty Days after every Sessions And II. That the Attorneys Fees be regulated And III. That clipped Mony should not be currant He held another Parliament at Trim 1465. on Wednesday after S. Lawrence his Day at which it was enacted I. That the like Challenge may be had against the Feofee as against cestuy que use II. That any Body may kill Thieves or Robbers Repealed 11 Car. 1 c. 6. or any Person going to rob or steal having no faithful Men of Good Name in English Apparel in their Company III. That the Irish within Pale shall wear English Habit take English Names and swear Allegiance upon pain of forfeiture of Goods IV. That English and Irish speaking English and living with the English shall have an English Bow and Arrows on pain of two Pence V. That there be a Constable and Butts in every Town And Lastly That no Foreign Vessels fish on the Rebels Coast on pain of Forfeiture And every one that fisheth on the Coast of the Pale to pay a Duty But this Lord Justice who was the greatest Man that ever was of his Family began now to decline in the King's Favour and was obliged to give place to John Lord Tiptoft 1467. Earl of Worcester Treasurer of England and Constable of England for Life Lord Deputy of Ireland he was one of the most learned and eloquent Men in Christendom and held a Parliament at Drogheda At which it was enacted I. That the Governour for the time being may pass into Islands II. That none shall purchase Bulls for Benefices from Rome under great Penalty III. That the King's Pardon to Provisors be void IV. That the
Courts of Exchequer and Commonpleas be removeable at the Discretion of the chief Governour on twenty eight Days notice V. That the Earls of Desmond and Kildare and Edward Plunket Esq as well for Alliances Fosterage and Alterage with the King's Irish Enemies as in furnishing them with Horse and Arms and supporting them against the King's Subjects which is notoriously known to be against the Kings Laws and the laudable Statutes of the Land Lib. D. be attainted of Treason and that whoever hath any of their Goods or Lands and doth not discover it to the Deputy within fourteen Days shall be attainted of Felony By vertue of this Act of Parliament Davis 186. the great Earl of Desmond was beheaded at Drogheda the fifteenth of February 1467. Report makes his Crime to be That of extorting Coyn and Livery And the Irish say it was for an affront he put upon the Queen for being of a noble Race and a generous or rather proud Spirit he despised the King's Marriage with so mean a Subject as the Lady Elizabeth Grey and often said She was a Taylors Widow Perhaps he had more reason than any Man to speak bitterly against such Matches because he had no other Title to the Earldom of Desmond than by the Marriage of his Nephew Thomas the fifth Earl of Desmond to Katherin ni William mac Cormock one of his Vassals for which that Earl was so persecuted by his Relations that he was forced to resign his Earldom to this his Unkle who is commonly called by the Irish Thomas of Drogheda And it would be a very hard case that the Nephew should be so abused for an Act which the King had justified by following the Example and therefore the Unkle exclaimed against that Action as a thing too base to be imitated or excus'd There is also another Vulgar Tradition about this matter which seems very unlikely Lib. P. if not impossible and that is That the Queen should steal the Privy Signet and put it to an Order for his Execution But it is well worth our Observation Davis 185. That as the Earls of Desmond were the first Introducers of Coyn and Livery among the English and the first that broached the distinction between English of Birth and English of Blood and the first Peers that refused to come to Parliament upon Summons so they were the only Peers that ever were executed in Ireland and the only Noble English Family that was by the Hand of Justice extinguished there so that this degenerate Family which of all others was most injurious and ungrateful to the English Government did suffer more by the same Government than any other Family in that Kingdom and those Exactions of Coyn and Livery which were the Foundations of their Grandure did at last prove the cause or occasion of their Ruine in the person of Gerald the fifteenth Earl of Desmond On the twenty sixth of February Edmond Lord Dunboyn Lib. G. for taking Con O Connor Prisoner and delivering him to the Lord Deputy and for other Services he had done the State obtained a Patent for ten Pound per annum payable out of the Fee farm Rents of Waterford forfeited by the Attainder of James Earl of Ormond and also the Prisage of Limerick Cork Ross Galway Youghal Kingsale Dungarvan and Dingle and the Lands of Castle-Richard in Meath habendum during his Life It is plain by many Circumstances and particularly that of his short stay in Ireland that this Lord Deputy came over meerly to serve a turn for as soon as the Earl of Desmond was executed the Earl of Kildare was not only pardoned but also the Lord Deputy hastned to England and left Thomas Earl of Kildare 1467. Lord Justice and afterward Lord Deputy to the Duke of Clarence Selden 841. In whose time John Bold was made Baron of Ratooth This Lord Justice held a Parliament at Drogheda which enacted I. That whereas it was doubted October 1468. whether the Act of 6 Rich. 2. That Women consenting to Ravishers should forfeit their Inheritance were of Force in Ireland it is now put out of Doubt and that and all other English Statutes made before that time are confirmed here II. Against Regrators and Ingrossers He also held another Parliament at the Naas Friday after S. Andrew's Day 1472. which was adjourned to Dublin to the Friday after S. Gregory's Day and enacted I. That Staple Wares be not transported to Scotland without payment of the Custom called the Coquet upon Pain of Forfeiture of the same II. That every Merchant shall bring twenty Shillings worth of Bows and Arrows into Ireland Repeal 10 Car. 1. ch 22. for every twenty Pounds worth of other Goods he imports from England III. That no Grain be transported out of Ireland if the Market Price exceed ten Pence a Peck on pain of forfeiting Ship and Goods But it was all repealed by the Parliament Lib. G. 18 Edw. 4. Nevertheless there was an Act of Parliament this Year of 12 Edw. 4. to this effect That there should be a Fraternity of Arms of the number of thirteen Persons Ex offic magistr Rot. in Castr Dublin Davis 55. of the most Honourable and faithfully disposed in the Counties of Kildare Dublin Meath and Louth viz. three out of each County and four from Meath that is to say Thomas Earl of Kildare Rowland Eustace Lord of Portlester Sir Rowland Eustace Knight for the County of Kildare Robert Lord of Hoath the Mayor of Dublin for the time being and Sir Robert Dowdal Knight for the County of Dublin the Lord Gormanstown Edward Plunket Seneschal of Meath Alexander Plunket Esq and Barnaby Barnewal Esq for the County of Meath and the Mayor of Drogheda Sir Lawrence Taaf Knight and Richard Bellew Esq for the County of Louth And that they and their Successors should yearly assemble at Dublin on S. George's Day and there chuse one of them to be Captain for the next year the which Captain and Brethren shall be created a Society by the Name of the Captain and Brethren at Arms the Captain shall have an hundred and twenty Archers on Horseback at six pence a Day for Meat Drink and Wages and forty Horsemen and forty Pages at five pence a day for him and his Page and four Marks per annum Wages the Captain and Brethren and their Successors to support this Charge shall have twelve pence per Pound out of all Merchandize sold in Ireland whether it be imported or exported except Hides and the Goods of the Free-men of Drogheda and Dublin and the Mayors of Dublin and Drogheda to be the Receivers of the foresaid Poundage the Fraternity shall have Power to make Laws for the good Governance of the Society and to elect a new Brother in the place of any deceasing and the Captain shall have Authority to apprehend all Out-law'd Rebels and others that will not be justified by Law And this was the Original of the
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
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
secret and of great forecast very staid in Speech dangerous of every Trifle that touched his Reputation Kildare was open and plain hardly able to rule himself when he was moved to Anger not so sharp as short being easily displeased and sooner appeased being in a Rage with certain of his Servants for Faults they committed one of his Horsemen offered Master Boice a Gentleman that retained to him an Irish Hobby on condition That he would pluck an Hair from the Earl his Beard Boice taking the Profer at rebound stept to the Earl with whose good Nature he was throughly acquainted parching in the Heat of his Choler and said So it is and if it like your good Lordship one of your Horsemen promised me a choice Horse if I snip one Hair from your Beard Well quoth the Earl I agree thereto but if thou pluck any more than one I promise thee to bring my Fist from thine Ear. But after all this simple Story is founded on a Mistake for the Earl of Ormond whose Name was Thomas lived in England in great Repute all the Reign of Henry the Seventh and afterwards until his Death anno 1515 and therefore the Person intended by the Story must by Sir James Ormond formerly Lord High Treasurer whom I have often mentioned in the Reign of the last King But this digression has been too long 1513. let us therefore return to the Lord Deputy whom we shall find animated with the last Years Success and resolved to invade Ely O Carol early in the Summer but his Preparations being great took up more time than he thought they would require but at last they were got ready and he began his March in August but at Athy he fell sick and from thence was removed to Kildare where on the third Day of September he died and was buried in Christ Church in Dublin to which he had been a liberal Benefactor And thus were the great Designs of this mighty Lord defeated even in the midst of his Career and at the very time when he promised himself most Glory and Success Gerald Earl of Kildare Son of the deceased Earl and Lord Treasurer was by virtue of the Act of Parliament formerly mentioned anno 10 Hen. 7. and by reason of his Place of Treasurer Spelm. Glos 334. made Lord Justice by assent of the Council But it seems that afterwards viz. 32 Hen. 8. there was a Statute made intituled An Act for the electing of the Lord Justice which restrained the Council from electing any body but an Englishman born and not in Orders The Lord of Slane was made Lord High Treasurer and Sir William Crompton Lord Chancellor and all other publick Matters were ordered as well and expeditiously as they could nevertheless so much time was taken up in these Alterations and in the Formalities of State that the Season was too far spent for any military Action this Year so that Daniel Mac william met with little Interruption in taking the Castle of Dunluce nor did the rest of the Irish find any Opposition this Winter but ravaged over the Country as they pleased However they paid dearly for it the next Spring For the valiant Earl of Kildare 1514. who was Heir to his Fathers Courage as well as to his Honour grew impatient at the Insolencies of O More and O Reyly and therefore resolved to attack them successively He began with O More and invaded the county of Leix and beat that Rebel and his Party into the Woods which being done he turned aside into the Brenny and took the Castle of Cavan and having slain Hugh O Reyly and many of his Followers he chased the rest into their inaccessible Fastnesses and then burnt and destroyed the Country and returned loaden with Booty William Viscount Gormanstown was the thirteenth of June made Lord Justice 1515. probably in the Absence of the Earl of Kildare who might then go to England to confer with the King about the Parliament designed to be holden in the Spring But however that be it is certain That Girald Earl of Kildare was by the King made Lord Deputy and on the twenty fifth Day of February held a Parliament at Dublin which by several Prorogations continued until the Thursday after Michaelmas 1517. Ware 92. This Parliament gave the King a Subsidy and made one good Act for those times viz. That no Man shall be compelled by Privy Seal to answer any Complaint in England until the Accuser enters into Recognizance in the Chancery of Ireland to pay the Defendant his Costs and Damages if he be acquit which very much abated that vexatious Course of Proceeding so that it is now obsolete and quite out of use On the third Day of August Ware 93. died Thomas Earl of Ormond at London he had been Embassador into France Privy-Counsellor in England and had Place in the English Parliament above all the Barons He was the richest Subject the King had and left forty thousand Pound in Money besides Jewels and as much Land to his two Daughters in England as at this Day would yield thirty thousand Pound per annum but he left no Issue Male to enjoy his Irish Estate which therefore descended to his Kinsman Sir Pierce Butler Earl of Ormond The Lord Deputy to repress the Incursions of the bordering Irish 1516. and to shew himself as fit for War as Peace invaded Imaly and slew Shane O Toole in Battle and sent his Head to the Mayor of Dublin Thence he marched into Ely O Carol where he was joyned by several Noblemen of Munster and Leinster of English Extraction and particularly by Pierce Earl of Ormond and James eldest Son of the Earl of Desmond and being strengthned with this Supply he undertook the Seige of Lemevan-Castle which the Garrison defended for a Week and then by Night deserted and left it to be demolished as it was by the Lord Deputy With this good Success he was encouraged to attempt the Town of Clonmel which he did with so much celerity that the Townsmen being surprized immediately surrendred upon Conditions And so the Deputy ended this Campeign and returned loaden with Hostages Prey and Glory It is worthy observation That the Irish had great Expectations of Advantage this Year by reason of a blind Prophecy generally believed among them Ware 95. That the poorest and weakest Sept in Ireland should this Year prove the most Powerful and Warlike It is probable that they were encouraged thereby to provoke the Lord Deputy to the aforesaid Expedition But however that be this is certain That Superstition hath been often fatal to the Irish Nation But Kildare finding it necessary to advance his Victorious Arms in Vlster 1517. reinforced his Troops and marched into Lecale where he took the Castle of Dundrum which had been very offensive to the neighbouring English thence he marched against Fylemy Macgenis whom he easily conquered and took Prisoner with the Slaughter of many of his Followers
days But go too suppose he never be had What is Kildare to blame for it more than my good Brother of Ossory who notwithstanding his high Promises having also the Kings Power is yet content to bring him in at leisure Cannot the Earl of Desmond shift but I must be of Council Cannot he hide him except I wink If he be close am I his Mate If he be befriended am I a Traytor This is a doughty kind of Accusation which they urge against me wherein they are gravell'd and mir'd at my first denial You would not see him say they Who made them so familiar with mine Eye-sight Or when was the Earl within my view Or who stood by when I let him slip Or where are the Tokens of my wilful Hoodwink But you sent him word to beware of you Who was the Messenger Where are the Letters Convince my Negatives see how loose this idle Gear hangeth together Desmond is not taken well you are in fault Why Because you are Who proveth it No body What Conjectures So it seemeth To whom To your Enemies Who told it them They will swear it What other Ground None Will they swear it my Lord Why then of like they know it either they have my hand to shew or can bring forth the Messenger or were present at a Conference or privy to Desmond or some body bewrayed it to them or they themselves were my Carriers or Vicegerents therein Which of these Parts will they chuse For I know them too well To reckon my self convict by their bare Words or heedless Sayings or frantick Oaths were but meer Mockery My Letters were soon read were any such Writing extant my Servants and Friends are ready to be sifted Of my Cozen Desmond they may lie loudly since no man here can well contrary them Touching my self I never noted in them so much Wit or so fast Faith that I would have gaged on their silence the Life of a good Hound much less mine own I doubt not may it please your Honours to oppose them how they came to the knowledge of these Matters which they are so ready to depose but you shall find their Tongues chained to another mans Trencher and as it were Knights of the Post suborn'd to say swear and stare the utmost they can as those that pass not what they say nor with what face they say it so they say no truth But on the other side it grieveth me That your good Grace whom I take to be wise and sharp and who of your blessed disposition wisheth me well should be so far gone in crediting these corrupt Informers that abuse the ignorance of your State and Countrey to my peril Little know you my Lord how necessary it is not only for the Governor but also for every Nobleman in Ireland to hamper the uncivil Neighbors at discretion wherein if they waited for Process of Law and had not those Lives and Lands you speak of within their reach they might hap to lose their own Lives and Lands without Law You hear of a Case as it were in a Dream and feel not the smart that vexeth us In England there is not a mean Subject that dare extend his hand to fillip a Peer of the Realm In Ireland except the Lord have Cunning to his Strength and Strength to save his Crown and sufficient Authority to take Thieves and Varlets when they stir he shall find them swarm so fast that it will be too late to call for Justice If you will have our Service take effect you must not tie us always to those judicial Proceedings wherewith your Realm thanked be God is inured Touching my Kingdom I know not what your Lordship should mean thereby If your Grace imagine that a Kingdom consisteth in serving God in obeying the Prince in governing with Love the Commonwealth in supporting Subjects in suppressing Rebels in executing Justice in bridling blind Affections I would be willing to be invested with so Vertuous and Royal a Name but if therefore you term me a King in that you are perswaded that I repine at the Government of my Sovereign or wink at Malefactors or oppress civil Livers I utterly disclaim that odious Term marvelling greatly that one of your Graces profound Wisdom would seem to appropriate so sacred a Name to so wicked a thing But howsoever it be my Lord I would you and I had changed Kingdoms but for one Month I would trust to gather up more Crumbs in that space than twice the Revenues of my poor Earldom But you are well and warm and so hold you and upbraid not me with such an odious Term. I slumber in a hard Cabin when you sleep in a soft Bed of Down I serve under the King's Cope of Heaven when you are served under a Canopy I drink Water out of my Skull when you drink Wine out of Golden Cups my Courser is train'd to the Field when your Jennet is taught to Amble when you are Graced and Belorded and Crouched and Kneeled unto then find I small Grace with our Irish Borderers except I cut them off by the Knees Hereupon the Cardinal finding that Kildare was no Fool adjourned the Cause till farther Proof could be produced however being fretted at this Speech he remanded the Earl to the Tower contrary to the Opinion of most of the Council Speed 775. it seems he was afterwards Bayl'd on the Recognizance of the Duke of Norfolk and was again imprisoned upon some Light the Cardinal had gotten of the Message to O Neal and O Connor which Kildare had sent by his Daughter the Lady Slane It is reported That whilst the Earl and the Lieutenant of the Tower were at Play together at Slide-groat a Mandate was sent by the Cardinal to execute Kildare the next day Whereupon he changing Countenance the Earl swore by S. Bride That there was some mad Game in that Scroll but fall how it will this Throw is for a huddle says he Speed 775. And being told of the Contents of the Letter he desired the Lieutenant to know the King's Pleasure therein which he did and the King was surpriz'd at the thing for he knew nothing of it and to controll the Sawciness of the Priest as he phrased it gave the Lieutenant his Signet for a Countermand whereat the Cardinal stormed But it seems to me that this Story is a meer Fiction because I find not one Word of Kildare's Trial and it is not credible that they would execute a Man of his Quality before he was legally Tried and Condemned Afterwards this Earl was again enlarged out of Prison on very considerable Bayl viz. the Marchioness Dowager of Dorset Ware 119. the Marquess of Dorset the Lords Fitz-Walter and Mountjoy the Bishop of S. Asaph Richard Lord Grey John Lord Grey Leonard Lord Grey Sir Henry Gilford Sir John Zouch and John Abbot of Vale-Royal and was not long after restored to the King's Favour When the Earl of Kildare went to England
of Fingal which was wholly a Stranger to Depredations now lay exposed to the Tools and other Irish wherein they were assisted by John Burnel a Gentleman of good Estate in Fingal who favoured this Rebellion But the City of Dublin could not suffer this without their own Destruction for Fingal was their Granary and most of their Provision came from thence wherefore a Body of the Citizens sallied to intercept a Prey at the Bridge of Kilmainham but in the Skirmish near the Wood of Salcock overpowered either in Number or Valour they were beaten and fourscore of the Citizens killed Fitz-Girald makes the best of this Victory and whilst the Consternation is on the City he sends them word that although he could destroy their City yet he will do them no harm if they will permit him to besiege the Castle The Citizens wisely send one of their Aldermen Francis Herbert to the King to know his Pleasure and another to the Constable of the Castle to have his Advice The Constable made a virtue of Necessity and not thinking it possible to defend the City consented to the Demand provided he were first furnished with Men and Victuals which was done and Alderman John Fitz Symons sent into the Castle twenty Tun of Wine twenty four Tun of Beer two thousand dry Ling sixteen Hogsheads of Beef twenty Chambers and an Iron Chain for the Draw-Bridg But the unfortunate Archbishop afraid of the Success of this Siege got on board a Ship that Night near Dames gate in order to pass for England but the Vessel was stranded at Clantarfe and the Archbishop was forced to a Village hard by called Tartain thither came Thomas Fitz-Girald and his Unkles John and Oliver Sir James Delahide and many others early the next Morning having first had notice of the Archbishops being there The Lord Thomas commands John Teling and Nicholas Wafer to bring out the Archbishop whom they haled out of his Bed naked in his Shirt as he was bare-footed and bare-headed The poor Bishop on his Knees and with a pitiful Voice and Countenance begged Pity for the Love of God on a Christian and an Archbishop The Noble Fitz-Girald was too generous to behold that Spectacle without Compassion and therefore turned aside saying Ber owm a Buddagh which is Take away the Clown intending to imprison him but the Servants wilfully misconstruing their Master's Words knockt out the Bishop's Brains and left a Revenge on themselves which overtook them all for Teling afterwards Died of the Leprosie and Wafer of the French Pox and Fitz Girald and all his Unkles were publickly executed by the Common Hangman Nor is it to be omitted that all the Murderers were excommunicated and in the Excommunication are these strange Passages That no man may be merciful to them but their Memory to be forgotten That God would rain Flames of Fire and Sulphur on them That they may cloath themselves with the Malediction and high Curse as they daily put on their Garments That the Water of Vengeance may be in their inner Parts as Marrow in their Bones Be they girded with the Girdles of Malediction and Partakers with Pharoah Nero Herod and Judas the Proditors of Jesus Christ and with Dathan and Abiram descend into Hell quick Good Lord send them Hunger and Thirst and strike them with Pestilence that they may be consumed and their Generation clear eradicate Strike them with Leprosie Madness Blindness c. And we Interdict all the Places where they go and the Place where the Archbishop was murdered But to proceed The Rebels took Prisoners from their own Houses the Lord of Howth and Luttrel Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and the Castle being furnished the Citizens of Dublin consented to Fitz Girald's former Demands Of Liberty to besiege the Castle Whereupon he sent James Field of Lusk Teling Wafer Broad Rouks and Purcel with one hundred Soldiers each attending on them as their Captains they planted two or three Falcons near Preston's Innes over against the Castle and entrenched themselves with strong Ramparts threatning to place the Youth of the City thereon if they in the Castle should shoot that way In the mean time Fitz-Girald accompanied with O Neal Sir Richard Walsh Parson of Loughsewdy Burnel of Ballygriffin and several others invaded and burnt the County of Kilkenny even to Thomas Town The Earl of Ossory and his Party were at the same time near Jeripont consulting what to do and during their Consultation one of the Butlers stole away with sixteen Horse to make a Bravado Fitz-Girald espying them sent an equal number which were soon followed with one hundred and forty Horse the Butlers retreated to their main Body which was surprized by this unexpected Accident and easily scattered The Lord Butler was hurt but made shift to escape to Dunmore where he was cured In the mean time Alderman Herbert returned with an Answer from the King encouraging the Citizens to a manly Defence and promising Aid immediately Whereupon it was resolved by the Citizens That Faith was not to be kept with Traytors That their League with Fitz-Girald was void And they ordered their Gates to be shut And that the Traytors that besieged the Castle should be apprehended Captain Field and his Companions having Notice hereof began to shift for themselves some swam over the River but the most of them were taken Prisoners Immediately Fitz-Girald leaves Kilkenny and summons the Pale to meet him with all their Power near Dublin And in his way he seized upon several Dublin-Children that were at School in the Country and particularly Fitz-Simons and Stainhurst and sent Doctor Traverse Peter Linch of the Knock and Oliver Grace to the Citizens to expostulate the Breach of the League and to require That it might be renewed or at the least the Prisoners enlarged but they met with a cross Answer to all their Demands Whereupon Fitz-Girald began in Sheep-street to besiege the Castle but was driven thence by the Ordnance and the Houses being thatcht were burnt by Wild-Fire cast in from the Castle he stopt all the Rivers about the Town and removed to Thomas-Court pulled down that Street and made a sort of a Gallery to shelter his Men he also burnt the New Street and planted a Gun against Newgate which pierced that Gate and killed an Apprentice of Alderman Stephens's fetching Water from the high Pipe Richard Stanton Goaler of Newgate being an excellent Marksman did great Damage to the Enemy and particularly perceiving one of the Rebels level his Gun at the Loop-Hole where he stood he was so nimble that he prevented him and shot the Rebel in the Forehad and was so hardy as to issue out at the Wicket and to strip the Varlet and brought in with him his Gun and his Cloaths This enraged the Rebels and excited them to Revenge wherefore they immediately brought Fire and Faggot to the Gate in hopes to burn it The Citizens wisely considered That Expectation of Spoil would encourage the
Rebels to enter the City and animate them more to fight within than without the Walls and they also believed That very many of Fitz-Girald's Army being Inhabitants of the Pale and forced to the Camp were in their Hearts for the City and this they were induced to believe because most part of the Arrows shot over the Walls were unheaded Upon these Considerations they resolved to sally and gave out from the Walls That new Succours were come from England and as if it had been so immediately rushed out through Fire and Flame and the Enemy believing they were new-arrived Soldiers and that the Citizens durst not adventure so briskly immediately fled leaving one hundred Gallowglasses slain and their Falcon taken Thomas Fitz-Girald himself lurked at the Grey-Fryers in Francis-street till next morning and then he got to the remainder of his shattered Army In the mean time the Earl of Kildare was committed to the Tower Holingshead 88 because he had contrary to the King 's express Command furnished his Castles out of his Majesty's Stores And though he answered That it was done to defend the Pale against the Borderers and that if he designed Treason he was not such a Fool as to fortifie his Castles and at the same time to adventure his Person into their Hands however he stuttered so much and delivered his Speech in such staggering and maffling manner that they concluded him Guilty and committed him And now hearing of his Son's Extravagancies he broke his Heart and died in the Tower in September Fitz-Girald being in great want of Artillery and Ammunition and somewhat cooled by the late defeat sent James Delahide and others to treat with the City upon these Articles I. That his Men that were Prisoners should be enlarged II. That the City should pay one thousand Pound in Mony and five hundred Pound in Wares III. To furnish him Ammunition and Artillery IV. To interceed with the King for his Pardon and his Followers Mr Fitz-Symons Recorder was appointed to answer to the I. That if he would deliver their Children they would enlarge his Men. To the II. That they were impoverished with his Wars and could not spare either Wares or Mony To the III. If he intended to submit he had no need of them if he did not they would not give him Rods to whip themselves That they expected he would request good Vellam Parchment to ingross his Pardon and not Artillery to withstand his Prince To the IV. They promised all Intercession they could by Word or Letter Whilst they were treating thus one William Bath of Dollars-Town a Lawyer stepped forward and said My Masters What need all these Circumstances Let us all drink of one Cup Which Words cost him his Life the next year It seems Fitz-Girald agreed with the Citizens on their own Terms and Hostages being given on both sides he raised his Siege and sent his Artillery to Houth but went himself to Minnooth to see that Castle fortified and furnished In the mean time the two Hamertons with one hundred and eighty Soldiers arrived out of England at Houth and on their March to Dublin were encountred near Clantarf by Thomas Fitz-Girald and two hundred Horsemen and though they fought valiantly and one of the Hamertons wounded Fitz-Girald in the Forehead yet being over-powered they were all slain or taken Prisoners and their Ships were forced from Houth and a Vessel freighted with choice English Geldings was also taken by Captain Rouks Fitz-Girald's Pirate and the Horses were sent to Fitz Girald And not long after landed both the Eglebees and Dacres with their Horsemen at the Skerries and Sir William Brereton and his Son John with two hundred and fifty Soldiers well appointed and Captain Salisbury with two hundred Archers lastly Landed at the Slip near the Bridge of Dublin Sir William Skeffington Lord Deputy he was Master of the Ordnance in England and therefore was by the Irish who put Nick-names upon every Body even of themselves as Dermond Buckagh Tiege Mauntagh c. in derision called The Gunner he was received with great Joy by the City and had the Sword delivered to him by the Lord of Trimletstone who was made Chancellor in the place of Archbishop Cromer Baron Finglass who wrote a M. S. Treatise of the Decay of Ireland was made Chief Justice of the King's Bench as Luttrel was of the Common Pleas and Girald Ailmer Chief Baron of the Exchequer and William Brabazon Vice-Treasurer This Deputy also brought with him Leonard Lord Grey designed Marshal of Ireland and Gracious Letters from the King to the City of Dublin That part of the English Fleet which sailed near Tredagh met with Brode the Pyrate and forced him a Ground so that he and nine of his Men were taken at Tredagh and sent Prisoners to Dublin whereat Fitz-Girald was so much enraged that he threatned to besiege Tredagh and it is probable he marched that way for it was averr'd at Dublin That he was actually before the Town And therefore the Lord Deputy immediatly viz. the twenty eighth of October marched out to raise the Siege of Tredagh and he staied in and about that Town till the fourth of November and then finding no Enemy near that Place he returned to Dublin having first proclaimed Fitz-Girald Traytor at the High Cross of Tredagh The Lord Deputy would have pursued Fitz-Girald and his Confederates but that the Winter was too near and himself was indisposed moreover he daily expected Supplies of Men and Mony from England and he knew that Fitz Girald had strengthned his Party by a new Confederacy with O Neal and O Connor And therefore being necessitated to postpone his Designs till the Spring some say he made a Truce with Fitz-Girald until January but that seems improbable because the Pale suffered exceedingly this Winter the Preservation of which must have been the chief Consideration for a Truce if there were any Fitz-Girald had in his Possession six principal Castles viz Minooth Portlester Rathingan Catherlagh Ley and Athy and having well manned and furnished them he took a Journey into Connaught not doubting but that his Castle of Minooth would hold out till his Return but he was very much out in his Calculation for the Lord Deputy on the fifteenth of March laid Siege to that Castle and placed his Battery on the North Side of the same towards the Park and Sir William Brereton who had slain one hundred of Fitz-Girald's Men on the sixth of March did now summon the Castle of Minooth with Offers of Pardon and Reward to which a scoffing and ludibrious Answer was returned with much boasting after the Irish manner Whereupon the Artillery began to play but made no considerable Breach in a Fortnights time and therefore though it was so closely besieged that there was neither egress or regress from or to the Castle yet being sufficiently provided of all Necessaries and particularly of a good Garrison of an hundred choice men it might have held out
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
those in Authority there was so great scarcity of Victuals that a halfpeny Loaf was worth a Shilling And within four or five days the strong Castle of Carrigonel was lost by treachery but it was presently retaken with the Slaughter of sixty Rebels however the Wants of the Army occasioned a Mutiny so that the Soldiers refused to march for want of Pay and the Garrison of Loghguir deserted and a thousand other Inconveniences hapned On the twenty third of April 1537. the Lord Deputy began his Expedition into Offaly against O Connor to revenge the Insolencies of the last year but he was hindred by the abundance of Rain that fell at that time from doing the Execution he design'd Ware 147. so that he was fain to end this Quarrel by a dishonourable sort of Arbitration for although the Damages which O Connor had done were estimated at five thousand Marks yet the Lord Deputy compounded for eight hundred Beeves or six shillings and eight pence apiece in lieu of them but not long after he attack'd the Cavenaghs and O Carol with better Success and forced them to submit and give Hostages It seems that the Lord Deputy had new Instructions to oblige all the Irish by Indenture to own the King's Supremacy and to renounce the Popes Usurpations and to contribute something towards the support of the Government and to send a Quota of Men to every Hosting and to effect this the Lord Deputy marched to Offaly the seventeenth of June and on the eighteenth encamped in O Mulmoyes Country and took the Castle of Eglis on the nineteenth he took Bi r and Modrimye in O Carols Country on the twenty fourth O Kenedy submitted to him in Ormond and the twenty fifth Mac Brian Arra likewise submitted On the twenty sixth the Lord Deputy came to Abby Owny where O Mulrian Vlick Burk of Clanrickard and Tybot Burk Mac William made their Submissions and so on the twenty eighth he came to Limerick where the Mayor and Aldermen took the Oath of Supremacy and swore to renounce the Bishop of Rome's usurped Authority and the Bishop of Limerick did the like without scruple or hesitation and Order was left for the Clergy and Commonalty of that City to follow that Example and that Certificates of their performance be returned into Chancery And it is observable that here one of the O Bryans made Peace for a year and promised to do Service against his Brother Mortagh On the fourth of July the Army came to Bryans-Bridge and had a Skirmish with the Rebels without any Loss and on the sixth demolished the Castles and Bridge and on the eighth the Lord Deputy marched into Thomond and took the Castles of Clare and Ballycolome and on the ninth he came into Clanrickard and took the Castle of Ballyclare and delivered it to Vlick Burk and on the eleventh he came to Galway where the Corporation treated the Lord Deputy and all the English Soldiers gratis for seven days and Vlick Burk did the like to the Irish and the Mayor and Aldermen followed the example of Limerick and took the Oath of the King's Supremacy and renounced the Pope's usurped Authority And here O Flaherty O Maddin and Mac Yoris made their Submissions On the twenty first the Lord Deputy removed to O Kelly's Country where O Connor Mac Henry submitted and thence he went to Mac Coughlan's Country where he took a Castle because Mac Coughlan had not kept his Word with him and so on the twenty fifth he returned to Minooth And it is to be noted That all those that submitted were bound by Indenture as well as Oath to own the King's Supremacy and to renounce the Popes Usurpations but when the King had an Account of what was done be answered by his Letter to the Lord Deputy That their Oaths Submissions and Indentures were not worth a Farthing since they did not give Hostages and so it afterward proved The Earl of Desmond mollified by the Misfortunes of the last Year Ware 147. and fearing the Power of the Lord Deputy who was in the Field with his Army as I have already related sent Letters to the Deputy with Offers of Submission upon Terms but the Expostulations about it were so tedious that the Army for want of Provisions was forced to return however Commissioners were employed to continue the Treaty and conclude an Agreement if they could and in order to it they went to Clonmel but the Earl of Desmond refused to come into a walled Town insisting upon a Fantastical Priviledge which he claimed and thereupon the Commissioners forgetting the Dignity of their Character and the Royal Person they represented dishonourably condescended to go to Desmond's Camp and there they took his Oath of Fidelity and received his Bastard Son Thomas Roe as a Hostage for his performanoe But now the Jealousies between the Lord Deputy and the Earl of Ossory broke out into open Hostility and the Deputy was so extravagantly transported that he sent part of the Army to spoil the Territories of the Butlers he also quarrelled with Archbishop Brown and Allen Master of the Rolls and although Lib. D. by the King's Order their Complaints were heard before the Council of Ireland and the new Commissioners hereafter named and a Reconciliation made between them at least in appearance yet some of them stuck so close to him that at length they procured his Ruine But it should have been remembred that on the first of May Fylemy Roe submitted and on the twelfth of May Cavenagh alias Mac Murrough did the like but O Neal was so far from it that despising the Agreement he had not long before made with the Lord Deputy he undertook to reduce Arglass and in order to it sent an Army under his Son to attack that Town and Castle but assoon as he understood the Lord Deputy was ready to take the Field he immediately proposed a Treaty and on the fifteenth of June he made an Agreement with the Lord Chancellor the Bishop of Meath and Chief Justice Ailmer Commissioners appointed for that purpose and he swore to fight for the King contra omnes homines Mundi Ibid. and not long after died Sir Hugh O Donel Lord of Tyrconnel and was succeeded by his Son Manus who was according to Custom inaugurated on the Rock near Kilmacronan Church But in September there came over four Commissioners viz. Sir Anthony Saintleger Sir George Pawlet Sir Thomas Moyle and Sir William Barnes their business was to enquire into the Abettors of the late Rebellion and afterwards to give a General Pardon And though they were very moderate yet it fell heavy on many of the Pale who were compelled to joyn with the Rebels they had also Authority to assist the Lord Deputy and Council in setling the Revenue and to set the Crown Lands for one and twenty Years for a yearly Rent It was to these Commissioners that Bernard Fitz Patrick made his Submission October 8. and they
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
his Excommunication against Queen Elizabeth and as Mr. Sullevan says pag. 70. deservedly deprived her of her Kingdoms we must not expect any more quiet during her Reign but that the bigotted Rebels like Virginal Jacks will start up one after another to disturb the Government of the Heretick Queen and to rescue themselves from the English Laws and the Protestant Religion which are the two things they chiefly hated and abhorred In Munster they met with their Match Sir John Perrot the President was one that knew them well he had experienced that they were like nettles which stung most when they were gently handled and therefore he squeezed them to purpose and so haunted them from one fastness to another 1571. that he gave them no rest so that in a little time he brought James Fitz Maurice himself who was the most valiant and most zealous of all the Confederates to submit simply to Mercy without any Conditions and on his Knees at Kilmallock to confess and lament all his Disloyalties and the Lord President by keeping Itinerant Courts of Justice and using necessary Severity soon brought Munster to that pass that the white Sheep kept the black and the Traveller might safely keep his Road without Arms or Company he also forced the Irish to conform to English Habit and to leave off several of their barbarous Customs and Fashions and he also brought the Irish Lords to contribute to the charge of the War So that on the twenty sixth day of September 1571. Lib. L. The following Lords and Gentlemen Covenanted with him to supply their respective Quota's for six Months viz.  Hor. Shot Gallowgl Kern Mac Cartymore 6 24 126 100 The Lord Barry 6 10 030 020 Mac Carty riah 8 10 040 050 Sr. Donough Mac Teige of Muscry 6 10 020 040 The Lord Courcy 2 04 006 008 Mac Donough 4 08 020 030 And the Earl of Glencar was to command them and in his Absence the Lord Barry they were to divide what Preys they should get proportionably with respect to their Contribution and if there should be need of it they were obliged to encrease their Forces It happened once Hooker 134. that Captain George Bourchier third Son to the Earl of Bath who served under Sir John Perrot in Munster was invited to a Gentlemans Castle to Supper under pretence of Parly and to use Bourchier's Mediation for his Pardon The Captain not at all suspecting any Treachery went thither according to the Invitation but the Perfidious Host thinking that the President would give him better Conditions for Bourchier's Liberty than he would for his Intercession detained him Prisoner and hand-locked him for some time and probably until he obtained his Pardon and what else he desired The Lord-Deputy received Letters of the thirteenth of December giving him leave to return to England and ordering him to substitute in his Place his Brother-in-Law Sir William Fitz Williams and accordingly he did set Sail on the 24th day of March and left Sir William Fitz Williams Lord Justice who was Sworn in April 1572. in St. Patricks Church in Dublin and in January following had a new Commission to be Lord Deputy In his time Brian Mac Cahir Cavenagh was very unruly and under pretence of revenging some Injuries done him by Robert Brown of Malrenkam Hooker 135. he killed Brown and insulted over all his Neighbours but Sir Nicholas Devereux and the People of Wexford not enduring his Insolence resolved upon their own Defence and at length it came to a smart Skirmish wherein thirty Gentlemen of Devereux's side were slain but about two Years after Brian submitted to the Government and was Pardoned and became a follower to Sir Peter Carew and was not only Faithful to him but also loved him to that degree that on Sir Peter's Death Brian pined away and in a little time died also he was the honestest and bravest of all the Cavenaghs and was a younger Son of Cahir Mac Art who was made a Baron for Life by King Henry the Eighth Conaught was disordered by the troublesome Sons of the Earl of Clanrickard Hooker 135. who could by no means endure the severe Government of Sir Edward Fitton President of Conaught and therefore broke out into Rebellion and hired one Thousand Scots to their Assistance The Earl himself was then Prisoner in Dublin and desired Liberty to suppress his Sons and quiet the Country and by advice of the Council it was granted him but he did not perform what he had promised however the same thing was in a great measure effected by a stupendious Victory obtained by Captain Collier who with one Company of Foot defeated and killed most part of the thousand Auxiliary Scots Camb. Eâ—iz 502. The Earl of Kildare for a certain sum to be paid by the Queen had undertaken to prosecute the O Mores and to defend the Pale against them but he did not so effectually perform it but that the O Mores Cambd. Eliz. 201. assisted by the O Connors made several Incursions into the Pale and burnt Athloan and did abundance of Mischief and in Vlster Bryan Mac Fylemy took and burnt Carrigfergus and to these Misfortunes was added a greater than either of them by the Death of the Lord Chancellor Weston on the twentieth day of May 1573. 1573. On the ninth of July the Queen granted unto Walter Devereux who not long before was made Earl of Essex the Moyety of the Signiories of Clandeboy Ferny c. And the Earl was by Indenture obliged to go thither before Michaelmas with two hundred Horse and four hundred Foot and to maintain them for two years and afterwards he was to keep as many Soldiers as the Queen should keep for the Defence of her Moyety not exceeding six hundred and no more and it was agreed that for the first two years the Queen would likewise keep two hundred Horse and four hundred Foot under the Command of the Earl and that every Horse-man Voluntier that will serve gratis for two years shall have four hundred Acres of Land and a Foot-Soldier two hundred Acres at two pence an Acre Quit-Rent and if any of them die within two year the Heir may supply his room in six Months It was farther agreed between them That necessary Fortifications should be made at the equal Charge of the Queen and the Earl and afterwards division should be made by Commissioners and 〈◊〉 division each might for twenty years build on her or his respective share as they pleased And the Earl was to have Timber out of Killulta Woods and might for seven years transport the growth of the Country without paying Custom and for twelve years more should pay no more Custom than is paid in England and he had liberty to transport Arms Money and all Necessaries out of England Custom-free giving notice thereof to the Officers of the Ports Each might dispose of five thousand Acres as they please but more than that quantity
was not to be given to Irish or Scots The Earl was to be Captain-General for seven years and was to plant his Part as well as the Queen should hers until there should be a thousand English Inhabitants on each Moyety And so being made Earl-Marshal of Ireland he set about the necessary Preparations for his Irish Voyage and to that end borrowed ten thousand Pounds of the Queen on a Mortgage of his Lands in Essex But the Lord Deputy being unwilling to have any body independent on him in that Kingdom especially so great a man cloathed with such a large Authority and accompanied with such considerable Forces gave all the opposition he could to this Noble Undertaking of the Earls until at length this Medium was found out That the Earl of Essex should take a Commission from the Lord Deputy to be Governor of Vlster wherewith both Parties were satisfied or at least they acquiesced in the Expedient In the mean time Mr. Edward Tremain was sent over to the Lord Deputy 1. To know why he desired so earnestly to return to England Lib. c. 2. To enquire what was the yearly Charge of that Kingdom what number of Men in Pay and how disposed of when any were disbanded or dead and when their rooms supplied and how many more there be than was appointed in March was twelve-month 3. To know what has been received of the Impost of Wines since Michaelmas last and what is in Arrear and if he could not discover it then to move the Deputy to certifie the Quantum of each 4. To know of the Deputy and Lord President in what state Munster is and how to be preserv'd 5. To know what is done or intended to be done with Desmond and his Brother John and how their Creditors in England shall be paid 6. To enquire how Connaught stands and how the Castles of Athlone and Roscomon are and the condition of the Earl of Thomond and Clanrickard and his Sons 7. To enquire into the Outrage committed against Sir Barnaby Fitz Patrick and the taking away his Wife and Children and how the Offenders are punished and how the Birns and Cavenaghs stand affected 8. To tell the Deputy that the Earl of Essex with two thousand Men will in August next come to inhabit the forfeited Lands in the Glins Routs and Clandeboy that in the mean time the Deputy guard the Frontiers of the Pale that way and Publish that Essex comes to repel the Scots and not to hurt the Irish 9. To tell the Deputy not to raise more Forces but if his Ormond's and Kildare's Forces are not sufficient against the O Mores and Connors to borrow two or three hundred from Essex for that Expedition and pay them 10. To preserve the Corn c. in the Ardes till Essex comes 11. To know why he gave Commission to Sir John Perrot to sell Marul's Ship wherein was Goods of all Nations The English had a very hopeful Prospect of the Earl of Essex's undertaking in Vlster so that many Persons of Quality and abundance of Gentlemen concerned themselves in the Expedition The Lords Darcy and Rich Sir Henry Knowles and four of his Brothers Michael Carves and his Brother John and Henry William and John three Sons of the Lord Norris and many others accompanied the Earl in this Voyage and they Landed together at Carrigfergus in the latter end of August 1573 and assoon as they Landed Bryan Mac Phelimy waited on the Earl and in most submissive manner tendred his Duty to the Queen and his Service to Essex but assoon as he perceived that the Earl's Forces were not so considerable as was reported he presently apostatized and joyned in Rebellion with Turlogh Lynogh About the same time or rather a year sooner Sir Thomas Smith sent his Natural Son together with one Chatterton to make a Plantation in the Ardes Cambd. Eliz. 190. but young Smith was murdered by Neal Bryan Artho who was afterwards killed by Sir Nicholas Malby and so that Design became unsuccessful and the Earl did not speed much better for after the Expence of much Treasure and a years time he returned to England This year the Money sent by the Queen into Ireland Lib. H. since she came to the Crown was computed and it amounted to four hundred and ninety thousand seven hundred and seventy nine Pounds seven shillings and six pence halfpeny and the Revenue of Ireland in the same period of time came to no more than one hundred and twenty thousand Pounds It is reported of Bryan Mac Fylemy that he had thirty thousand Cows besides other Cattel and it is certain that the Lord Rich within a Month after he came to Ireland returned to England on his private Occasions and Henry Knolls was by Sickness forced to do the like and many others upon frivolous Pretences left the Earl of Essex and went back to England Cambd. Eliz. 202. besides his Soldiers were raw and it was late in the Year and his Commission was not yet sent him being purposely delayed by the Deputy so that all these and some other Difficulties concurr'd to make Essex's Expedition unfortunate Nevertheless he took the Castle of Liffer from Con O Doâ—el and in a Skirmish he killed two hundred Irish and took Bryan Mac Fylemy and his Wife and his Brother Rory Oge Prisoners In the mean time 1574. the Earl of Desmond notwithstanding his Oath to be a true Prisoners made his escape out of the Castle of Dublin whereupon the Deputy marched into Munster to prevent new Coâ—â—â—otions and ordered the Earl of Essex to guard the Borders of Vlster which very much hindred his Progress in building Fortifications in Clandeboy however he obeyed and at length the Earl of Desmond was prevailed upon to reconcile himself to the Government Sir Henry Sydny 1575. Lord Deputy arrived on the twelfth of September and was sworn on the eighteenth at Tredagh to which Place he went directly from the Skyrries because the Plague raged in Dublin It is observable of this great and good man that although he did most excellent Service in Ireland yet he was but ill rewarded for it in England and therefore he was with great difficulty prevailed with to accept the Government this seventh and last time for as he expressed himself in his Letter he cursed hated and detested Ireland above all other Countries not that he had any dislike of the Country but that it was most difficult to do any Service there where a Man must struggle with Famine and Fastnesses inaccessible Bogs and light-footed Tories and yet when these and all other Difficulties were surmounted no Service in the world was less reputed valued or requited than that and it is farther remarkable of him that though he was four times Lord Justice and three times Lord Deputy of Ireland yet he never purchased a Foot of Land in that Kingdom The Lord Deputy's Instructions were to find means to pay the Queens Debts if possible
and was inhabited by many English but now not a Man of English Extraction to be found there and even the O Bryans tho' very near Relations were inveterate Enemies each to the other and the Country was entirely wasted and innumerable complaints of Murther Rape Burning Robbery and Sacriledge were made to the Deputy He imprisoned the Earl of Thomond and Teig Mac Murrough till they gave Bonds and Hostages of their good Behaviour he kept the Earl's Brother in Irons and made Sir Donald O Bryan Sheriff and left a Provost-Marshal and a Garrison amongst them at their Request and Charge and upon shewing them that the uncertainty of their tenures was the cause of all their Disturbances they promised to surrender their Estates and take Patents according to Law and so having appointed Commissioners to hear such of their Complaints as he had not leisure to determine and having punished some notorious Offenders and ruined the Rebellious Mac an Aspigs Bastard Sons of the Bishop of Killaloo by name Brians he went to Galway To Galway came seven of the Family of the Clandonells and after them came Mac William Eighter who could speak Latin though he couldnot speak English he submitted by Oath and Indenture and agreed to pay two Hundred and Fifty Marks per Annum for his Country besides Contribution of Men on risings out and consented the Clandonells should hold their Lands of the Queen whereupon he was Knighted and had some small Presents from the Deputy and an English Sheriff sent into his Country as he desired O Mayle also submitted as did all the rest of the County of Mayo and desired Justice and English Government being weary of the devastations made by their civil Dissentions The Town of Galway was poor and disorderly and the Country destroyed by the Earl of Clanrickard's Sons against whom infinite Complaints were made Nevertheless they had the Confidence to come unexpectedly into the Church of Galway in the time of Divine Service and upon their Knees to make their Submission and at the same time they humbly begged Pardon for their Extravagances which by Advice of the Privy-Council was granted unto them although for the present they were confined and were afterwards carried to Dublin and so the Lord Deputy having stayed three Weeks at Galway set out towards Dublin and kept Sessions in every County he marched into 1576. and setled Garrisons in all places Convenient he finished his Progress on the thirteenth day of April 1576. But the state of Affairs and the miserable Condition of Ireland are best understood from the lively Representation of them in the Lord Deputies Letters which import that the County of Louth was impoverished by the frequent passage of the Army through it but would recover if it were protected from the ill Neighbourhood of the Ferny That Meath has been harassed by O Connor and O Molloy even since their Protections but that O Reyly behaved himself well That the Kings Writ did not run in the new Baronies of West meath but he hoped it should in a little time that the County of Kildare was wasted by the O Mores and the Counties of Wexford and Caterlough are but little better that the King's County and the Queens County are harassed by Rory oge and that the Undertakers are so poor and few that two Hundred Soldiers are in Garrison there to protect them so that those Counties do not yield the Crown the twentieth part of the Charge they put it to that Kilmallock was re-edified but that Athenry was the most miserable Spectacle in the World the whole Town was burnt by the Mac an Earla's and the Church it self was not exempted from the common Ruin although the Mother of one of these Vipers was buried therein but that was so far from mitigating their Fury that the Son being told his Mother was buried in that Church replied That if she were alive he would sooner burn her and the Church together than that any English Church should fortifie there that these Mac an Earla's hated each other and yet like Herod and Pilate joined together against any third Person whom they thought to be a common Enemy That the Deputy had laid a Tax of two Thousand Pound on the Country towards the re-edifying Athenry and took from the Earl of Clanrickard the Castles of Ballyclare and Ballynislow That O Connor Dun and O Flyn submitted to him at Roscomon and their Country being destroyed desired the English Laws and Government That the whole Province of Connaught was much annoyed by the Scots whom the Mac an Earla's had brought to their Assistance That the County of Longford submitted and paid part of their Arrears and promised the rest That the Brenny was pretty quiet that he left Thomas L'estrange and Thomas Dillon Commissioners to decide Controversâ—es and Robert Damport Provost-Marshal of Connaught But if the Civil State of the Kingdom were in an ill Condition the Ecclesiastical was in a worse for there were scarce any Churches or Curates to be found Many People that never were Christned or knew any thing of God or Religion which being made known to the Queen Hooker 141. she sent a Commission to rectifie Ecclesiastical Matters and William Girald was sent over to be Lord Chancellor and Sir William Drury to be President of Munster both which arrived in June 1576. The Chancellor was immediately setled and the Deputy designed to go to Waterford to settle Drury in his Presidentship of Munster but he was diverted by the Letters received from the Bishop of Meath and Mayor of Galwey which advertised that the Sons of Clanrickard who had lately submitted with the connivance of their Father passed the Shenin changed their English for Irish Apparel sent for their Friends and the Scots and being met went to Athenry sacked the Town again and set the new Gates on Fire defaced the Queens Arms drove away some and slew others of the Masons that were building The industrious Deputy made such haste that in three days he was with them at the Report whereof the Rebels were amazed and fled to the Mountains but Clanrickard's Castles were taken and himself sent close Prisoner to Dublin though he made many Excuses but to no purpose which done the Deputy restored Castlebar to Mac William Eighter and went to Galway to comfort and secure the Townsmen and thence to Lymerick where he setled the President Drury and thence together they went to Cork where the President remained The Lord President Drury being valiant in War and diligent in times of Peace by executing Justice severely on the disobedient and by cherishing those that were Loyal brought Munster into good Order the County of Kerry only excepted which Desmond claimed to be his Palatinate Cambd. Eliz. 218. and exempt from the Presidents Jurisdiction whereby it came to be a nest of Rogues and a Sanctuary for Rebels wherefore the President resolved to break through the pretended Priviledge and to make Kerry amesnable to the Law Desmond
to her Brother Owen O Moriarta al 's Droghbearla and made such piteous Complaint that he resolved to get her her Cattle again if possible wherefore he addressed himself to the English Governor of Castlemange so effectually that he obtain'd 7. Musketteers and 12. Kearne and with them he followed the Tract of the Cattle that night they came to the Wood of Clawniginky four Miles from Traley where they resolved to lodg but about Midnight seeing a Fire they drew towards it and so came to a Cabbin where they found an old Man alone sitting by the Fire the Servants having ran away on their Approach Kolly who led the Soldiers Cambd. Eliz. 290. and was bred by the English altho a Native Irishman struck the old Man with his Sword and almost cut off his Arm whereupon the old Man cried out that he was Earl of Desmond and Kolly would have spared him but finding that he bled so fast that he could not live he immediately cut off the Earls Head which was sent afterwards into England and placed on a Pole on Londonbridge and for this exploit the Family of the Moriarta's are in disgrace amongst the Irish to this Day Sullivan 100. and Mr. Sullivan says the place where his Blood was Spilt doth still continue red Nor had John Burk better Success for he being in Protection did nevertheless make an Attempt upon Adare and endeavoured to Prey and Plunder the Country thereabout but as he passed by a Boy from the Castle discharged his Gun and shot him Dead And thus ended the Rebellion of Desmond Cambden says The Eleventh in the Ruin of Girald the fifteenth Earl of that Family after whose Death the common People did manifest such Desires of living in Peace that the Forces of Munster were reduced to 200. And not long after a Commission issued to Sir Henry Wallop Sir Valentine Brown and others to take a Survey of all such Lands as had been forfeited within the four years last past And in Vlster Lib. C. Sir Nicholas Bagnall Sir Lucas Dillon and James Dowdall Commissioners of Vlster on the 22d day of October 1583 in the presence of the Baron of Dungannon and the Agents of Turlogh Lynogh and O Donell and by their Consent made these Orders between them 1. That the Truce between them be continued till the 17th of March next 2. That on the 2d day of December each of them shall put in Pledges at Dundalk to keep the Peace towards the Queen and each other 3. That the Controversies between the said Parties shall then be determined 4. That if either Injure the other during the Truce the Queen shall assist the Sufferer and Punish the Delinquent 5. That they shall chuse indifferent Arbitrators to examine Witnesses and determine the Differences between them if they can and if not then to Report the State of the Case to the Commissioners And in Leinster things were so quiet that two of the O Conners determined a Controversy in a form of Justice which being a matter extraordinary shall be related at large Teig Mac Gilpatrick O Connor was accused by Connor Mac Cormâ—ck O Connor Septemb. 1583. before the Lord Deputy and Council for Killing and Murdering his Men being under Protection Teig answered That they had since the Protection confederated with the Rebel Cahill O Connor and therefore were also Rebels and that he was ready to justify his Assertion by Combal Connor accepted the Motion and the Weapons which were Sword and Target being chosen by the Defendant the next day was appointed for the Battle and Patrons were assigned to each of them to introduce them into the Lists the Day being come and the Court sat the Combatants were likewise seated on two Stools one at each end of the Inner Court of the Castle of Dublin most of the Military Officers were present to render this Action the more Solemn and then the Pleadings being read the Combatants were stript to their Shirts and searched by Secretary Fenton and then each of them took a corporal Oath that his Quarrel was true and that he would justify the same with his Blood and then at the Sound of the Trumpets they began the Fight with great Resolution but at length Conner was twice wounded in his Leg and once in his Eye and thereupon design'd to close with his Adversary but Teige being too strong for him pummell'd him till he loosned his Murriâ—n and then he easily Stunn'd him and with Conner's own Sword cut off his Head and brought it to the Lords Justices But Mr. Sullevan Sullevan 108. who exclaims against this barbarous way of Tryal commits three Mistakes in this one Story First he says That this happened in Sir John Perot's time And 2dly That he forced the Parties to the Combat and that they were asham'd to refuse it And 3dly That it was in a Controversy about Lands in Ophaly But to proceed The Viscount Ballinglass that great Incendiary of Leinster was so totally dismayed at the News of the Death of the Earl of Desmond that he also privately Embarked for Spain where not long afterwards he died for grief So that the Kingdom being thus quieted the publick Revenue for the year 1583. Lib. M. amounted unto 23565 l. 12 s. Sir John Perrot Lord Deputy was Sworn the 26th of June 1584. his Commission was as usual during Pleasure 〈◊〉 make War and Peace Caballa of Letters 336. and to punish Offences or 〈◊〉 them Treason against the Queen's Person or Counterfeiting Money only excepted to make Orders and Proclamations to Impose Fines and Dispose of Rebels Estates to exercise Martial Law and to Assemble the Parliament with her Majesties Privity to confer all Offices except Chancellor Treasurer three Chief Judges and Master of the Rolls and to collate and confer all Spiritual Promotions except Arch-Bishops and Bishops to do all things relating to Justice and Government that the Queen could do if present The Lord Deputies Instructions were as followeth I. To Assemble and Consult the Council how the Government may be managed that Justice may take place the Charge lessened the Revenue increas'd and the Subject not oppressed II. To reduce the Army and the Pay as formerly especially in the Countries not wasted and to prevail with the Country to contribute as Carbury heretofore hath done III. To keep the Army in Discipline that they do not oppress the Subject and that the Companies be kept Compleat and Full. IV. To consider how Munster may be Repeopled and how the forfeited Lands in Ireland may be disposed of to the Advantage of Queen and Subject but first they must be Surveyed by Commissioners now sent over to that purpose and for the Encouragemennt of the Undertakers and to avoid Fraudulent Conveyances by the Rebels let there be a Parliament in a proper Season to pass Acts of Attaindure of fraudulent Conveyances and of Qualifying Uses V. That where Leases have been made without usual Reservation of
per annum and to find 200 Foot and 40 Horse armed at all Hostings in Twomond and 15 Horse and 50 Foot at all General Hostings with Carriages and Victuals and that all Irish Titles and Tenures should be abolish'd Mac William Eighter's Countrey was divided into five Proprieties and a certain Rent and Tenure was established between Lord and Tenant and the Province formerly divided into the six Counties of Clare Galway Sligo Mayo Leitrim and Roscomon had Sheriffs and other proper Officers settled in it for which the Lords and Gentlemen of Connaugh sent a Letter of Thanks to the Lord Deputy acknowledging the Quiet and Advantage they enjoyed by means of the foresaid Composition One Dennis O Raughan a Priest and Henry Bird Register to the high Commission Court contrived arrogant Warrants in the Deputy's Name importing a General Pardon to all Priests for all Offences in such a style as if the Deputy had been King of Ireland and though Bird afterwards confessed that he wrote the Warrants which were found in Raughan's Pocket yet was this wicked Priest one of the fatal Witnesses against the Deputy whereof he repented on his Death-bed Nay so unfortunate was this brave man that even his own Secretary John Williams betrayed him and discovered his Secrets but the Queen abhorr'd the Practice so that it rather served to discover his Adversaries malice than to doe him any harm But nothing is more remarkable than that Hugh Baron of of Dungannon who even since the beginning of Desmonds Rebellion had a Pension of 100 Marks per annum and a Troup of Horse in the Queens pay went to England and advised the Queen to suppress the Name and Authority of O Neal nor was the depth of his Hypocrisie discovered untill this very ungreatefull Rebel though the Son of a known Bastard did afterwards assume the Name of O Neal and therewith he was so elevated that he would often boast that he would rather be O Neal of Vlster than King of Spain But the Queen who thought him sincere and loyal did not only create him Earl of Tyrone but also granted him the whole County of Tyrone discharg'd of the chief Rent he had formerly promised to the Deputy on condition nevertheless that he should disclaim any right or superiority over the rest of Vlster and should provide for Turlogh and the Sons of Shan O Neale Morison 8. and a place for a Garison or two was also reserv'd and by the reputation of this Patent Cambden 122. and the Queens Favour the old Turlogh Lynogh was necessitated to quit Tyrone to this fortunate Spark But Secretary Fenton who was one of the best Servitors the Queen had in Ireland and much confided in by her Majesty or as others word it was a Moth in the Garments of all the Deputies of his time was frequently as at this time sent for into England to inform the Queen of the true state of that Kingdom What discovery he made of the miscarriages of the Government I do not find but they may be easily traced from the instructions he carried back which bore date in December 1585. and were to this effect That the Lord Deputy and the late Justices and Officers of the Exchequer should answer 1. What became of the Fines Recognizances Forfeitures Wards Marriages and Reliefs belonging to her Majesty and of what value they were since March 1579 and by whose Warrants were they respectively given pardoned or disposed of 2. What Leases have been made of the Crown Lands in that time with or without Fine and what Fine what Rent 3. What Debts were due to the Queen at Michaelmas 1579. or since and by whose fault they remain unlevied 4. That the faulty Officers may be suspended and the rrecoverable Debts immediately levied and a List of the desperate Debts returned 5. What Debts have been remitted on account of the Land being wasted and what Proof there was of such waste 6. What Profits and Casualties have been answered on Sheriffs Accounts since Michaelmas 1579. and what Summes have been by Warrants call'd Mandamus divided amongst the Barons and Officers of the Exchequer 7. What Fines Amerciaments Recognizances or Forfeitures have any Corporations taken to their own use in that time on pretence of their Charters and what right have they thereunto because without express words in the Charter those Recognizances and Profits do not pass nor can they have the Fines of any Offence made so by Parliament since their Charter 8. What new Offices or increase of Fees and by whose Warrant and that they be suspended till farther Order 9. What Allowance for Diet or Attendence hath been given to Commissioners for taking Accompts 10. Whether some Irish men did not surrender the Queens Land with their own and had a Re-grant of both and on what reservation how many such Grants have not been certified into the Exchequer not put in charge and what rents are due upon Grants 11. What part of the 1000 l. per an payable by composition for discharge of the Bonnaugh the Gallowglasses were to have on the Country is in Arrears and whether there be not a new charge of 2 or 300 l. per annum to the Captains of the Gallow-glasses and what service have they done for it 12. What Seneschalships Captainries or Governments of Countreys have been granted without the usual reservations and what were the ancient reservations and to grant no more without Order 13. Why the extraordinary Garisons put in time of Rebellion into Castles c. are continued and to what number and to discharge as many as can be reasonably spared 14. What Officers are paid with Sterling instead of Irish Money and to what loss to the Queen and by whose Warrant 15. What forfeited Lands or Chattels in Munster have been granted or let and by whose Warrants what profits are paid or due for the same and that no more be disposed of till her Majesties farther Order 16. What Money hath been paid for keeping Boats on the Shenin and out of what Fund and when did that charge cease Besides these he had other Instructions to communicate to the Deputy 15 Feb. 1585. viz. 1. That since the Kingdom was in peace some of the Army being 1900 strong might be discharged 2. That the Deputy should certifie whether it were better to give the Soldiers Sterling Pay and no Victuals in which case he is to take nothing from the Countrey without payment at such reasonable rate as the as the Government shall assess or to continue Victuals and the old Irish Pay for the Queen will no longer allow both Victuals and the encreased Pay 3. That the Contribution of 2100 li. per annum in lieu of Cess Purveyance c. be revived and accordingly on the 15th of May 1586. this was done by the consent of the Countrey who agreed also to pay all the arrearages of that composition 4. That Captain Thomas Norris be made Vice-president of Munster with all the
necessitated William Burk with his Bownaghts to follow his Brother Tyrrel into O Carol's Country and O Sullevan himself and O Connor Kerry were glad to accompany them thither but these Fugitives did not pass so luckily and scotfree as Tyrrel did for Teige Mac Owen Carty on the skirts of Muskny and John Barry near Liscarrol gave them severe rebukes and the Sheriff of Typerary fell smartly upon their rear whil'st the rest were passing the Shennin in their Nevoges and even in the County of Galway Sir Thomas Burk and Captain Malby gave them disturbance but their despair made them victorious in that encounter and they bravely forced their way with the slaughter of Malby and many of his Soldiers and got safely into O Bowrk's Country On the fifth of January Captain Taffe had the good fortune to kill the valiant Apostolick Vicar Owen mac Egan and 140 of his followers near the River of Bandon which was followed by the submission of all the Rebels in Carbry and it is observed of this zealous Vicar that he never pardon'd any Irish-man tho' a Papist that serv'd the Queen but would as soon as they came before him have them confessed absolv'd and executed These good Successes were followed by the defeat and ruine of the Lord of Lixnaw whose party was totally routed by Captain Boys and all his substance taken and 80 of his Men killed as also by the taking of the strong Castles of Kilcoe and Berengary and so all Munster being reduc'd to obedience the Lord President prepared for his Voyage to England and left Sir Charles Wilmot and Sir George Thornton joynt Governors of that Province And thus ended this mighty Rebellion which from a small beginning grew to be the most general and dangerous defection that ever was in Ireland to that time which could never have happened but for the gripple-handedness as Cambden phrases it and slighting of England nor was this the first time that the Queen had been a Penny wise and a Pound otherwise in managing the Affairs of Ireland and had paid dear for her frugality as she did in this War which might have been prevented at first with the twentieth part of what it cost afterward for the Charge of this one Year from the first of April 1601 to the first of April 1602 amounted to no less than 322502 l. 1 s. 0d The Rebels in the course of this War were exceedingly troubled that some of the Papists continued Loyal to the Queen and they bitterly exclaim'd against the Popish Priests of English extraction that justified the Opinion they might lawfully do so and to convince them of their error the Rebels did not only procure a Bull from Pope Clement the Eighth dated the 8th of April 1600. giving such plenary remission of sins to those that fight against the Hereticks in Ireland as to those that fight against the Turks and his Holines's Letter of the 20th of January 1601. directed to Tyrone to animate him and his followers to persevere in their Rebellion but also procured the Censures of the Universities of Salamanca and Valladolid that it was mortal sin for a Papist to fight against Prince O Neal the Champion of the Church who militates for the Catholick Faith and that they cannot be forgiven till they desert the Hereticks Service and Mr. Sullevan thinks he has nickt it when he calls the contrary Opinion Insanam vene nosam doctrinam It seems that the Earl of Twomond remembring the severe Government of Fitton President of Connaugh whil'st he was in England made his humble Suit to the Queen that the County of Clare might be re-annexed to Munster whereof it was formerly a part whereupon the Queen the 29th of July 1602. wrote to the Lord Deputy and Council on that Subject and on the 4th of October she wrote positively to renew the Earl's Commission to use Martial Law in that County and to put him into all Commissions of Oyer and Terminor Goal-delivery c. next to the President and Chief Justice and to continue his Band of 200 Men and his Entertainment of 10 s. a Day and to reunite Twomond to Munster unless they found great reason to the contrary they debated the matter and 't was alledg'd for the reunion 1. The Name Thomond i. e. North Munster which proves it was originally part of Munster and so has continued 1300 Years 2. It was inhabited by Munster-men the O Bryans being setled on both sides the River Shenin their Language and Pronunciation is the same and since there is an Alliance between them they ought not to be seperated 3. Twomond was formerly part of the County of Lymerick and the Inhabitants have been often tryed for Life and Estate by Judges and Commissioners at Lymerick but of late the County being too large part of it was made a separate County by name of the County of Clare but nevertheless was subject to the Governours of Munster 4. It was first united to Connaugh at the importunity of Fitâ—on because Roscomon Sligo and Mayo were not amesnable to Law this brought great inconveniency to Thomond till it was reunited and Sir Nicholas Malby procured it again to be seperated and so it continued till the Earl got the Martial Government of it and his Company is of the List of Munster 6. It is necessary the President of Munster who governs Lymerick should have command on both sides the River Shenin to prevent the design of foreign Enemies 7. Part of Twomond is within the Liberties of Lymerick and must not de dispunishable till remedy can be had from Conaugh 8. Lymerick is the Sanctuary and Bulwark of Twomond and the fittest place to keep it in order and therefore the Citizens have purchased good Estates in Twomond and it would be very inconvenient to have them and their Estates under several Governments 9. Twomond is in the Province of Cashel the Arch-bishoprick of Munster and these Reasons prevailing the County of Clare was again made part of Munster But my Friends at Ballyvorny would never forgive me if I should omit the Indulgence granted by Pope Clement the Eighth to such as in devotion go unto Gobonet's-Church in Muskry in the County of Cork which follows in these words UNiversis Christi fidelibus praesentes literas inspecturis salutem Apostolicam benedictionem Lib. N. N. N. 77. ad augendum fidelium Religionem animarum salutem coelestibus ecclesiae thesauris pia charitate intenti Omnibus utriusque sextus Christi fidelibus vere penitentibus confessis ac sacra communione reflectis qui ecclesiam parochialem Sanctae Gobonetae loci Ballyvorni Clunensi dioc ' die Festo ejusdem Sanctae Goboneuae à primis vesperis usque ad Occasum solis praedicti festi singulis annis devote visitaverint ibi pro Christianorum principum concordia Heresum extirpatione ac Sanctae Matris ecclesiae exaltatione pias ad deum preces effuderint decem annos totidem quadragenas de
Boyle Esq Countess of Barrymore Lady Digby Lady Goring Countess of Kildare Lady Ranelagh Lady Loftus Countess of Warwick Posterity he had to leave his Estate unto who enjoyed it until their Interests were buried under the sad Ruins that now cover that poor Country By some of whom or some other proper to preserve the Memory of so worthy and useful a Person I hope he may be afforded as he deserved a History by Himself and therefore I shall say no more of him here These Lords Justices surrendred the Swor'd toâ— the Earl of Strafford who being well known to the World to be a Man of whom a Prince might rather be afraid than ashamed I shall only add this of him That he very much improved Ireland both in Revenue and Value during his Government and that he did heartily dedesign the Advancement of the English Interest and Religâ—on in that Kingdom does sufficiently appear to me by the Care he took of the Protestant Church which for the most part he supplied with a Learned Pâ—ous and Orthodox Clergy and by the Malice and Hatred the Irish generally â—ore him As for the Lord Dillon afterwards Earl of Roscomon and Sir Christopher Wandesford we need say no more but that they were Loyal Men true to their King and â—ust to their Friend the Earl of Strafford by whose Directions and Sentiments they Govern'd the Kingdom The next that had the Title tho' not the actual Possession of the Government was the Noble Earl of Leicester and happy had it been for that Kingdom if he had gone over in time For altho' the Lords Justices Persons and Burlace were very worthy Men and did not deserve such Reproaches as the Irish aspersed them with yet the Government is not so strong nor so vigorous in Two Hands as in One especially unless they can be perfectly of One Mind in every Thing which these Two were not And so we are come to the Vespers of a Bloody Scene being that of a great Rebellion And as it was Unnatural in many Regards so particularly in this That altho' the Queen was a Roman Catholick and very zealous in Her Way and partially indulgent to all that were of It the Irish could even then be Disloyal and afflict Her Indulgent Husband while He was otherwise distrest But as Her Popery had no manner of Effect at a Time when there was some Reason or Motive that it might have done Good so in most other Cases it proved very detrimental and weâ— pray leave to trace it to the Original since it deserves some particular Remark France was hardly Match enough for Spain when King James meditated a Spanish Wife for His most excellent Son And the more formidable this Power then appeared unto Him the more intent He was on it being governed by Fear and too obsequiously humour'd therein by His next Governor the Duke of Buckingham His Favourite The First Instance of Spanish Authority in our Court may be that of Gondamour their Embassador who was able to bring Sir Walter Raleigh to the Block Surely it was a Case of the First Impression that a Man should suffer for acting by the Commission of his own Prince But because this was so incongruous and harsh they rake into an old Fault which in the Opinion of all Men was extinguish'd by his new Commission For who was ever made a General and intrusted with the Lives of other Men who was not understood at the same time to be Master of his own But the Second and more unfortunate Step was what we noted in His Treaty and Designation of a Lady of a different Religion for the Prince He had not done this in His own Case and there wanted in all Europe an Instance where any Roman Catholick Sovereign admitted of a Protestant for His Consort In this I reckon the Partition-wall was undermined and it was a Day of unhappy Counsel to the Prosperity of England But the Case having been decided by the Father and the same Favourite succeeding to the Son 't is probable the main Question never came so much as in Debate For King Charles coming then to the Crown and having resented the ill Treatment he found in Spain he presently took in with the alternate Power and Married a Daughter of France This was a Lady who had Wit and Beauty and the King being a Man of strict Vertue proved an indulgent Husband But He was often troubled with Her busie and intriguing Temper and the ill Company She brought with Her from France so that being at length scandalized at their Insolence and their tampering in Matters of Religion he dismist them into their own Country and War thereupon immediately ensued with the French King However thus it came to pass that Popery got Footing in our Court and tho' it were bounded and chained down by Articles yet when those who were to obey thought it Merit to transgress 't is possible this Serpent might creep sometimes out of its Circle and give occasion to Censures that were just Yet was it a Work of Time and there needed many other angry Conjunctures in Government before the Discontented could venture as afterwards to asperse and involve the whole Court in the Calumnies of Popery And as the World hath since had leisure to see why these Outcries were extended and what Ruins were thereby brought about so have they been convinc'd that most of those who were blasted in that Contagion have stood firm Pillars of the Church and above all the King Himself who died an insuperable Martyr for it However as to the Queen whether it were by Fatality or a mistaken Zeal surely the Event hath shewn that all Her intermedling in Affairs did but afflict the Cause of that Pious King Her restless Mind was like the Worm in the Gourd which tho' much restrain'd while He was alive yet since hath it eaten to the Root in a fatal perverting of His Offspring and laying the Foundations of their present Calamity But my Province being limited to Things of Ireland I shall only from the Topick which is touch'd observe That the greatest Obstacle and Contradictions that arose in Reclaiming the Irish and bringing them or the Forces that fought against them to His Majesty's Assistance was by those Two Emissaries that Her Majesty employed Sir Kenelm Digby in 1644. to Rome and the Earl of Glamorgan in 1645. into Ireland For both of these moving in different Measures from the Marquis of Ormond who was Lord Lieuteuant he was infinitely perplex'd thereby in his Treaty with the Irish they still pressing for more than he had either Instructions or Inclinations to allow them And when at last he compass'd a Treaty with them in 1646. it was presently broken and shamefully overthrown as in the following Story will be manifest The Truth is they needed but little Countenance of pretended Authority when the Fundamental Doctrines of their Church or at least the Documents of their Clergy led them from the Beginning unto all
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
this Contention was drown'd in 1618. upon which his Lady brought her young Son over from Ireland whither he had been carried at the Age of Three years and now he was about Nine She put him to a Private School under a Roman Catholick but by Order of King James he was removed to the Archbishop of Canterbury's Doctor Abbot and by him he was wholly maintain'd for Five or Six years without any Pension from Court or possibility of Help from home where all was sequestred and deprest By him also was he first instructed in the Protestant Religion and in the Doctrine of the Church of England unto which he stuck fast to his Death In 1628. his Grace was at Portsmouth to take Share in the Expedition then preparing for the Relief of Rochel but the sudden Death of the Duke of Buckingham put him upon other Measures for in a while after he married the Lady Elizabeth Preston which ended and reconciled the long Contentions of the Family This Lady was by the Marriage aforementioned the only Child of the said Earl of Desmond who being also lately drown'd she fell in Wardship to King Charles the First and His Majesty bestowed the Wardship upon the Earl of Holland then Lord Chamberlain She was intended for a Nephew of the Duke of Buckingham's which drew him into that Partiality and his Grace was in particular forbid by His Majesty to pretend unto His Ward However the young Lady saw none in the whole Court who either for Beauty or for Parts could outshine her Kinsman And Both being agreed he was forced to pay down Fifteen thousand Pounds to the said Earl of Holland for her Wardship These were all the Favours that either he or his Family could then meet with in the Court of England So hastning with his Lady to Acton near Bristol and there staying about a Year with his Uncle Sir Robert Poyntz he went for Ireland at the end of 1630. soon after which as the Manner there was he purchas'd a Troop of Horse in the Standing Army The Lord Wentworth afterwards Earl of Strafford went over Lord Deputy in 1633. In a while after he call'd a Parliament which being appointed to meet within the Castle of Dublin a Proclamation issued That none of the Members either Peers or Commons should enter with their Swords All obey'd the Order save this young Lord who told the Black Rod at the Door He should have no Sword of his except in his Guts So being the only Peer who sat that day in defiance of the Proclamation it fired the Lord Deputy as not wâ—nt to be disobey'd His Grace was call'd upon in the Evening to answer for it who thereupon shew'd His Majesty's Writ calling him to Parliament Cinctus cum gladio which sort of Answer being not expected and finding him like to prove an untractable Companion it was in deliberation that Night between the Lord Deputy and his Two-Friends Sir George Ratcliff and Mr. Wandesford Whether to trample him quite under foot or to oblige so daring a young Man who was now also grown very Popular But Sir George being for the more benign Extreme he was taken into Favour caress'd and made one of the Privy Council No Opportunities were from that time forward omitted to oblige him or set him forth in a high Character to His Majesty So that in the Year 1639 the Lord Lieutenant made him Lieutenant General of the Horse in the Army which was then newly rais'd but as soon disbanded Upon the neck of this the Earl of Strafford fell into those Troubles which in May 1640. hurried him to the Scaffold But the Earl having heard with what vigour his Grace contended to oppose and overthrow these Accusations which came against him from the Parliament of Ireland as it was the last Request this Earl made to His Majesty That he would be pleas'd to bestow his Blue Garter upon his Grace so in June following his Grace had notice of His Majesty's Gracious Intentions to confer it accordingly The Earl of Leicester was at this time appointed to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland tho' by some Accidents he never went over It was on the 23d of October 1641. that the Rebellion broke out the News whereof being brought to His Majesty then in Scotland His Majesty does by Letter to his Grace from Edinborough of the 31th of the same Month lament that Calamity and desires and presses his Grace to take on him to be Lieutenant General of the Army This was in effect by Necessity thrown on him even before that Command cameâ— but in May 1642. it came to him in Form by Commission from the Earl of Leicester as General In August after His Majesty being at Nottingham where He set up His Standard sent his Grace a Patent for the Honor of Marquis and in September following His Majesty by the Advice and Consent of the Lords Justices appointed him to â—old the said Command of Lieutenant General immediately from Himself by Patent under the Broad Seal It was by these Steps that his Grace came suddenly to be embark'd in a Course of Life to which he was utterly a Stranger He had not had the Means for Travel or ever seen War either abroad or at home He was made a General before he was a Soldier His very first Essay was to oppose a bloody Rebellion then newly broke out And how far he was able by a vigorous Body and the vivacity of his Parts and a boundless Zeal for the Crown to discharge and sustain that Trust or how he bore up in all those Vicissitudes of Exaltation and Banishment of Plenty and of Want of Dignity and Depression which did in the Course of about Fifty Years after so often befal him may prove Matter for a larger Place The last who manag'd the Sword of State was the Marquis of Clanrickard who was also an English Peer and Earl of St. Albans He was the First Roman Catholick that had been entrusted with the Chief Government since the Reformation But the Irish were come to that pass as not to endure a Protestant to be over them and so this brave Gentleman was deputed by the Marquis of Ormond to take his Place And tho' his Religion was pleasing to the Irish yet the King's Authority wherewith he was clothed was by no means acceptable to them that design'd to shake off the Yoke of England and therefore they proved as troublesom and refractary to him as they had been before to the Lord Lieutenant So that after Two Years vexatious Agitation amongst them and after he had in vain tried all ways to support the sinking State he laid down Arms and had Liberty to retire into England where he died He was a Person of sound Understanding and unblemish'd Loyalty and did from the beginning abhor their Courses towards the English And altho' the Nuncio and the Clergy made frequent Trials to seduce him from his Integrity yet being evermore fixt in his Principles he resisted all
Robbers or Murderers as many as were guilty respectively but not Rebels if they had the King's Commission for what they did and consequently the Forfeiture of their Estates for that Rebellion whereof they could not be guilty would be unjust and void and those that Enjoy them would be bound to make Restitution But this Observation is nothing to the Truth or Falsity of the Objection and is therefore offered only to prepare and dispose some prejudiced and prepossessed Minds to the Reception and Entertainment of Truth when it is discovered and proved As to the Reasons of the Objection they shall be considered in order And first whoever reads the ensuing History or knows any thing of the Popish Clergy at that time in Ireland will be easily satisfied that their Testimony in this case is the worst sort of Irish Evidence and as for the Commission shewed by Sir Phelim O Neal it is certain that he forged it and made one Michael Harison take a Seal from a Patent he found at Charlemont and fix it to this Counterfeit Commission and thus much Sir Phelim and Harison confessed at Sir Phelim's Tryal and Sir Phelim did the same at the Gallows ☞ although he was offered to have his Life spared and his Estate restored if he could shew any Commission from the King As for the Pretences of the Supreme Council and their Generals all the world knows that their Contradiction and Hypocrisy were apparent for they made the same Pretences even whilst they fought against the Marquis of Ormond and His Majesty's Army and they pretended to maintain His Majesty's Prerogative whilst they were actually usurping all His Prerogatives even to that of making War and against Himself and with the same confidence and design they enjoyned Loyalty and Allegiance in the first Clause of that Oath of Association which was to dissolve all their Allegiance and to be the Cement of their Conspiracy and Rebellion As to the number of the Proclamations His Majesty sent I do aver from Authentick Copies of the Lords Justices and Councils Letters that they did at first write but for 20 and afterwards they desired that they might have 20 more so that they had the full number they sent for and all Signed by the King 's own Hand and Seal with his Signet and if it be considered what use could be made of these Proclamations it will be easily allowed the Number was more than sufficient for they could only serve to undeceive those that doubted Whether the King countenanced the Rebellion or not And it is manifest from the Success that not one of the Confederates thought that he did for we do not find that one of them was converted or withdrawn from the Rebellion by all these Proclamations And as for the Lord of Antrim's Information Appendix 49 it expresly clears the King from giving any Commission for the Rebellion and as to the Letter in favour of that Lord 1663 and his Restoration to his Estate thereupon it may argue the Prevalence of Popish Councils at Court at that time but cannot infer any Guilt on the King that was dead 15 years before and in good manners we ought to say they were the words of the Secretary and not the words of the King since it is notoriously known that they are not true whosever words they are for Antrim was so far from acting by the King's Orders that he sided with the Nuncio and publicâ—â—ly opposed the Peace of 1646. and 1648. and accordingly the Duke of Ormond and the Council of Ireland did by their Letter of the 3â—th day of July 1663. at large discover to the King that His Majesty was misinformed both in the Man and the Matter And I must add that neither the Cessation nor the Peaces of 1646. and 1648. nor any Fav 〈…〉 r extended to the Irish after the War broke out between the King and Parliament do concern this Argument because they were done upon another and a different Reason viz. To reconcile His Subjects of Ireland that they might joyntly contribute to His Majesty's Assistance in England he was attacked on both sides and tryed to get rid of one Enemy that he might the better prosecute the other he made several Essays to that purpose with the respective Parties both in England and Ireland and it were as good Logick to argue him guilty of Favouring the Covenanters because of the Treaty at Vxbridge as to say He Countenanced the Irish Rebels because of the Treaty at Sigginstown And having thus answered the Objections I proceed to demonstrate That the King had no hand in that Execrable Rebellion First because he Signed 40 Proclamations against it and in his Commission to hear their Grievances at Trim there is this passage Although We do extremely detest that odious Rebellion which the Recusants of Ireland have without ground or colour raised against Vs Our Crown and Dignity which the Irish would never have endured for they were highly dissatisfied with the Expression nor the King have offered if they could have made so good a Justification of themselves as His Majesty's Commission would have amounted to I do not think it necessary to add That His Majesty devolved the Management of that War on the Parliament and disposed of 2500000 Acres of their Forfeited Estates to the Adventurers though by these two Actions His Majesty did in a great measure put it out of his power of shewing the Irish any favour and much less shall I insist upon his Generous Offer to go in Person against the Irish nor his frequent Expressions of his detestation of that Rebellion and particularly to an English Earl of unquestionable Honour and Integrity yet living who expostulated with His Majesty upon that point anno 1642. and to whom the King denyed his knowledge of it with Asseverations and Abhorrence and vowed That if his Son had a hand in it He would cut off his Head I say that I will not enlarge upon these Matters because this one Consideration must convince all Mankind of the King's Innocence in this Affair and that is That an Irish Rebellion was the most unlucky and fatal thing that could happen to His Majesty at that juncture it broke all his Measures and was so evidently against his Interest that no body can suspect him to contrive it that does not at the same time think he was mad ☞ for if Ireland had stood quiet His Majesty might have drawn vast assistance of Men and something of Treasure from that Kingdom either against the Parliament or against the Scots as he had occasion whereas by that Rebellion all his Friends in Ireland were otherwise engaged and became rather a burden than an help to him In a word the very same Reasons that moved His Majesty afterwards to the Cessation and the Peaces were as strong and would have been as prevalent with him to prevent the Rebellion if he had had the least notice or suspicion of it and accordingly we find that
what little jealousie he had of it was seasonably imparted to the Lords Justices by the Letter mentioned Page 65. as his surprize at that unexpected Rebellion is expressed in his Letter to the Earl of Ormond recited Appendix 49. The next thing in Dispute The Sixth Question is The Number of those that were Massacred which Sir William Petty computes not to exceed 37000 Not the twentieth part of what is reported says the Earl of Castlehaven not exceeding some hundreds says P. W. not above 400 says the Author of the Settlement and Sale of Ireland not above 4000 says R. S. in his Collection of Murders To which I answer That by Depositions upon Oath it does appear that many thousands of British were murdered and many more came to untimely Deaths by the Cruelty of the Irish and this is an undeniable way of Arguing That all the British that did not escape did perish by that Rebellion and though the Difficulty still remains to ascertain the number of those that escaped yet it is certain they could not be half of what were in the Kingdom because the Towns that were left for their Refuge were not capable to Receive or Entertain so great a number and even those that did escape to Towns did perish in heaps by reason of the ill usage they had received from the Irish And indeed Sir W. Petty does allow this method of Calculation but his mistake is occasioned by leaving out an Item that I conceive should have been added and that is the number of those born in Ireland and transported thither out of England and Scotland during the interval between 1641. and 1652. for his Compution runs thus British in Ireland anno 1641. 266550 British alive anno 1652. 150000 Ergo there perished in the War but 116550 Whereof one Third in the first Year of the Rebellion and the rest from thenceforward But he should have added That in those ten Years from 1641. to 1652. there were born in Ireland and there came thither out of England and Scotland in all about 300000 Souls and he should have added a proportion of that number to the other and then he had been near the Computation which other Judicious Men have made in that matter But others well knowing that the greatest part of the British that were in Ireland did really perish in the first year of that Rebellion do deny that there was any such Number there as is pretended to have been Massacred and one of them is so vain to say That the Irish were a hundred to one But whoever considers that the British Plantations in Munster had been setled forty years before and that of Vlster almost thirty years that half the Kingdom was the Propriety of Protestants that there were no less than 100000 Scots as the Earl of Strafford affirmed upon his Tryal that the Earl of Cork alone had above 10000 Protestant Souls upon his Estate that all the Officers of State War and Justice and most of the Mechanicks were British will find no Grounds for that Objection However I will not pretend to determine the Number but this I will say That it was great enough to draw the Curse of God and the Revenge of Man upon the infamous Authors of that Massacre as it afterwards did The next Objection is The Seventh Question That the Rebellion was not General but was begun by a few desperate Persons in the North and therefore the Popish Members of Parliament did readily agree to a Protestation against it Review 31. in a Session of Parliament on the 16th of November Quidam nobiles in Vltonia conspirant says Mr. Beling Page 2. To which I answer That the beginning of all Rebellions is by a few or at least there do but few appear in them at first but never any Rebellion in the world increased faster or became more General than this whereby it is manifest that the Design and Conspiracy was Universal and so Rory Macguire told his Brother-in-Law Colonel Awdly Mervin on the 27th of October That all Ireland was by that time in their hands and those that are Ingenious of that Party do confess it to be so P. W. Pref. to Remonstrance 12. their own Procurator P. W. does acknowledge That it was an Vniversal Rebellion and that all the Irish Papists a very few excepted P. W. Letters 54. that it was the National Sin of the whole Catholick Party by Participation were concerned in it O Reylye's Wife said The Lords of the Pale were the Ringleaders and Colonel Planket affirmed That all the Popish Lords had contracted before-hand and Patrick O Bryan testified the same upon Oath and named the Lord of Gormanstown particularly The Lord Macguire confessed That those of the Pale were privy to the Plotting of the Rebellion and Macmahon declared That all the Popish Lords and Gentlemen in Ireland were Engaged in the Plot and that twenty out of every County were to be detached for the Surprize of the Castle of Dublin There was not one County shall I say a Catholici intra Dublinium numero hereticis superiores paratissimi erant ad Vrbis deditionem concurrere vindiciae eversae 91. Temple 46. City in the Kingdom exempt from the Rebellion and in the Province of Vlster only there were 30000 Irish-men in the Rebellion by the 5th of November and I must do Father Ponce the Right to acknowledge That he is more just than to shelter his Party under this pitiful and false Subterfuge and therefore he frankly confesseth That they were all in the b Faedus initur ab omnibus vindiciae eversae 6. Conspiracy and that not the Great Men only but the c Non proceres modo sea eujusâ—bet conditionis per universum Râ—gnâ—m Cathoâ—â—â— Catholicks of all Conditions throughout the whole Kingdom were concerned And certainly it is Incumbent upon these Advocates to shew that those whom they would clear from this Rebellion did publish any Protest or Manifesto against it or d As the Marquis of Clanâ—ickard and some few others did fight against the Rebels or assist the Assaulted English but on the contrary it is manifest by the Decrees of the Assembly That they would suffer no Neuters amongst them But what need any more to be said than that a few could not have perpetrated the Murders and Robberies they have committed The Irish were not so stout nor the British so tame to be served so by a few It appears by Dr. Jones his Examination that the Conspirators at Multifernam computed their Number to be 200000 Men and the Event shewed they had no less but I will close all with the Expression of the Congregation at Kilkenny in May 1642. viz. There is the Vnanimous Consent and Agreement of almost the whole Kingdom in this War and Vnion And the saying of the King to the Protestant Agents at Oxford Anno 1644. when they offered to prove that it was a General Conspiracy and Rebellion
and other the Contents of their Petition His Majesty replyed It needed not any more than to prove the Sun shines when we see it The next Objection is The Eight Question That the Lords of the Pale and the Earl of Castlehaven in particular were necessitated for their own safety to joyn with the Rebels Vindiciae Catholicâ—â—â— 3. finding no Protection from the Government for the Lords Justices might easily have suppressed the Insurrection at first but they desired it might encrease that so there might be more Forfeitures But this is Gratis dictum and without Foundation as appears not only by the Commissions and Arms given to several Lords of the Pale which they perfidiously abused to the prejudice of the State Temple 33. and by the Lords Justices design to Arm all those of the Pale if need were but also by the very instance of the Earl of Castlehaven for tho' the Lords of the Pale went into Rebellion the Second of December yet he lived quietly at his House at Madingston many Months afterwards as himself Confesses and 't is certainly true that even he and the Marquiss of Antrim who was at his house came down to the English Army near Killcullen in March after to visit the Earl of O rmond and was kindly received by him and some few days afterwards being Victorious at the Battel of Killrush Castlehaven treated him at Madingston and mutual Civilities passed between them And about the same time he had such Correspondence with the State that he took upon him to intercede for the Lords of Gormanstown Slane and others so that he might have been safe enough if he pleased and was not under any necessity to go out into Rebellion as he afterwards did And tho' I believe that this Lord was not in the first Conspiracy yet it will appear by what has been said in the Answer to the former Objection that most of the other Lords of the Pale were nor indeed could the Irish have undertaken the Rebellion without them for they were not able to carry on the War by themselves P. W. Remonstrance 595. without the Assistance of the Old English for as Peter Welsh very well observes It is well known that the Irish never signified any thing considerable in any of their Vndertakings and had been presently crushed in this if the English Colonies had not joyned with and supported them But whoever frames an Idea of those times in his own thoughts and reads the passionate Letters of the State for Succours cannot conceive any thing so ridiculous as that the Lords Justices delighted in those sad Spectacles of misery which daily flocked to Dublin or in the report of the most barbarous Inhumanities every day committed on their Friends and Country men but above all the continual Danger they were in themselves and their disadvantage and loss by the Rebellion do sufficiently vindicate them from endeavouring to make this Rebellion more general and formidable than really it was But what did the Lords Justices get by this Rebellion or did they Act or send any dispatch without the Council or did they not importune Aid from England even to the degree of being troublesome or did they not ask enough to make a speedy end of the War or had they a Free-hold in their Places or an unconroulable Power while they held them or what solid Foundation is there for all the Clamour that the Irish have made in this Case against the Lords Justces The Ninth Question The Ninth Question will be whether King Charles II. upon his Restoration stood obliged by the Articles of the Peace made Anno 1646. or the other Peace made Anno 1648. because the Lords Muskery Taaf and others did not faulter in their Allegiance from that time forward and therefore could not forfeit the benefit of those Articles To which I Answer That the Peace of 1646 cannot come in Dispute not only because the Congregation of the Popish Clergy at Waterford did publickly declare against it and Limerick Waterford and Clonmel c. never received it and the Irish Armies perfidiously broke it by indeavouring treacherously to intercept the Lord Lieutenant near Kilkenny and afterwards actually besieging him in Dublin but also because the general Assembly the proper Representative of their Party and Nation did publickly disown and reject that Peace by their Declaration recited Appendix 36. And as for the Peace of 1648. it was made with a Society or a Confederate Body and not with particular Persons and if that Society hath no Right to the benefits of that Peace it is certain that no particular Person can have any because his Claim and Title to it is as he is a Member of that Body Politick and his Case is the same with that of an innocent Freeman in a Corporation whose Charter is forfeited However this Body Politick or Imaginary is composed of particular Men and may forfeit its whole Right by the fault of some of its Members for malum ex quocunque defectu but if the greater part be Guilty there can be no ground for a doubâ— This being Premised it appears by the 29th Article That the Confedrates and their Garisons Towns and Forts were to be Commanded Ruled and Governed in chief upon occasion of necessity as to Martial and Military Affairs by such as the Lord Lieutenant should appoint But this Clause of that Article of the Peace was entirely violated by the Towns of Wexford Ross Waterford Clonmel Limerick and Galway even to the degree of depriving his Majesty of all the benefits and advantages he expected from this Peace and at length to the loss of the whole Kingdom Secondly Those Towns were to be restored to his Majesty whenever the Articles of the Peace were performed on his Part but the Confederates by their own Fault and their own Act gave them up especially Limerick and Galway to the Kings Enemies These were the Jewels his Majesty bought so very dear and yet the Confederates are so unreasonable to expect the Price without delivering the thing contracted for And if they Reply That those Towns were forced from them and without their fault yet that if true as it is not would not Entitle them to the benefits of the Peace For if a Man sell Land and it be evicted from him before he delivers Possession no Body will say he has Right to have the Purchase-Money from the Buyer and yet that is a parallel Case Nor have the Confederates the least Spark of Equity on their side because they might have surrendred the Towns to their King and ought to have done so but they neither did that nor submitted to his Authority as far as they had promised and therefore since they did take upon them to keep these Towns it is certainly at their Peril if they lose them Thirdly They did dissolve and renounce this Peace and the Kings Authority which is the first and chiefest Article tho' placed by way of Introduction for the
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
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
matter of Parliament you have carried your selves tumultuarily and undutifully and that your Proceedings have been rude disorderly and inexcusable and worthy of severe Punishment which by reason of your Submission I do forbear but not remit till I see your dutiful Carriage in this Parliament where by your Obedience to the Deputy and State and your future good Behaviour you may redeem your by-past miscarriage and then you may deserve not only Pardon but Favour and Cherishing Hereupon they were all dismist and the Lord Deputy having O Dogharty's Estate in Inisowen given to him by the King for his good Service was sent back with Directions to hold the Parliament and so on the 27th of July 1614. Sir ARTHUR CHICHESTER Lord Deputy to Ireland and held the Parliament on the 11th day of October to which day it had been Prorogued and now were the Recusants at a stand for some invention or other to delay the Proceedings of this Parliament but could not find any other then a very simple Pretence That the Lord of Slane ought to take place of the Lord of Kerry and hereupon great Contests did arise and tho' it was formally determin'd on the 11th of November 1614. by the Lord Deputy and Council by Virtue of a special Commission yet the Lord of Slane being egged on by others of the discontented Lords desir'd are hearing which was granted and on the 18th of the same Month there was a second Debate which produced the Confirmation of the former Seâ—â—â—nce in favour of the Lord of Kerry but notwithstanding that the Lord of Slane being perswaded by the Lord of Delvin and some others of the Pale continued obstinate and refused to Sit in the House unless he might have his right place but at length being charged upon his Allegiante to appear in the House he did submit tho very unwillingly The Arguments urg'd by the Baron of Slane were 1. That his Predecessors were from the time of Henry the Second styled Barons of Slane 2. That in all Records they are named before the Lords of Kerry and particularly in a Record in the time of Edward the Second 3. That the Lord of Gormanstown had precedence of the Lord of Kerry at the Parliament 48 Edw. 3. and the Lord of Slane took place of him 4. The Lords of Kerry from 50 Edw. 3 to 1. Henry the Seventh never served the Crown nor held any Correspondence with the Government and therefore forfeited their Dignity 5. That the Lord of Kerry was indicted of Rebellion 42 Elizabeth and pleaded his Pardon last Term so that his Call to the Parliament is quasi a new Creation The Lord of Kerry answered to the first That Hussy Fippo and others that held per baroniam of the Palatines or Lords of Leinster were styled Barons of Galtrim Skrine and Bergy yet were not really Lord Barons because they did not hold their Lands immediately from the King To the Second That it is false and that there was no Regular Parliament in Ireland till 12. Edw. 3 Ergo No Lord of Parliament till that time That the Lord of Kerry was there and so was not the Lord of Slane besides the Lord Slane held his Barony of a Subject Bartholomew Burghese one of the Heirs General of Hugh de Lacy whereas the Lord of Kerry held his Barony of the King in Capite To the third it is denied that the Lord of Gormanstown was at that Parliament of 48 Edw. 3. To the fourth That it is false and is objected because the Records of those times are lost but if true makes nothing in this Case and it is notorious that in the Parliament 33. Hen. 8. and 3. and 4. Philip and Mary the Lord of Kerry had his right place To the fifth that the Lord of Kerry was not Attainted but being impeach'd was Pardoned and so he forfeited nothing and if he had not an ancient Right to Sit in the Parliament the Lord Deputy could not Summon him a new having received no Orders from the King to do so But that which was most remarkable in this Tryal was That one Velden came in and depos'd that on St. George's day 1594 in the Cavalcade at Killkenny the Lord Slane had Precedence of the Lord of Kerry and his Horse was accordingly led before the others Horse but this 〈◊〉 Witness was contradicted by the Lord Chancellor the Earl of Thomond the Lord Dunboyn and the Marshall all which affirmed that they were then at Killkenny which Velden Confess'd and they protested that the Lord of Kerry was not there at all And so the next Year viz. in January 1615. the Earls of Suffolk Paenox Lib. G. Worcester and Pembrooke who by Commission excented the Marshals Office in England did confirm the Sentence in Ireland and by their Letter to the Lord Justices determin'd the Lord of Kerryes Claim to be just This rub being removed the Parliament proceeded to business and notwithstanding the insolence of the Popish Lawyers in the House of Commons and all the Obstructions they could give these following Bills were at last passed into Acts viz. 1. An Act of Recognition reciting that Ireland which before his Majesties Access to the Crown had been subject to 〈◊〉 Rebellions Rapines and Oppressions was by his Majesties gracious Government 〈◊〉 to better Order and that he has establish'd his Government in the Hearts of his People by the General Proclamation of 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 Actions for Trespassis done in the War between Subject and Subject at his first coming by his special Charters of Pardon by Name freely granted to many Thousands by remitting many great Debts 〈◊〉 of â—ent and Forfeitures and by strengthning defective Titles and re-granting the Lands to them on Surrenders by erecting Court-houses and enlarging the number of the judges and by 〈◊〉 a Civil Plantation in the forfeited Paris of Ulster formerly the Neâ—â— of Rebellion to the great Security of the Commonwealth 2. An Act that all Crimes committed 〈◊〉 the Sea or within the Jurisdiction of the Admirally shall be Tried in any County according to the Rules of the Common Law by Commission to the Admiral or his Deputy and Three or Four more or any Four of them 3. An Act for taking away Benefit of Clergy in certain Cases 4. An Act for the Attainder of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconell Sir Cahir O 〈◊〉 and several others 5. An Act to Repeal some former Acts prohibiting Trade or Commerce with the 〈◊〉 Enemies or to Marry or Foster with them and commanding to seise them as 〈◊〉 6. An Act of Repeal of a former Statute against bringing in retaining or marrying with Scots 7. An Act for Repairing and Mending Highways and Cawseys c. 8. An Act for avoiding Private and Secret 〈◊〉 9. An Act of Obliviâ—â— and General Pardon 10. An Act for One Subsidy Analact Hib. lib. 2. Which amounted to no more than 26042 l. and yet the Irish complain'd of it as a heavy Tax tho' they did not pay
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
conceived they were greatly distressed and wished That he could use Means whereby they might be eased Hence he discoursed with Trueman who was but a silly Fellow and got from him Words whereby he discovered a Good-will to the Scotch Nation and some Discourse about the Castle of Carigfergus insomuch that he got Trueman's Letter to recommend him into Scotland whither he pretended a Desire to go to serve under their Command Upon this Giles produced the Letter in Evidence against him and so he was condemned and executed And this I take to be the Substance of what was offered for or against the Earl of Strafford On the Eleventh of May the Irish Parliament sat again 1641. and the Colonels John Barry Taaf Garret Barry and Porter having Orders from England to transport Four thousand of the Irish Forces to Spain some of the Popish Members of the Lower House did urge divers Arguments to hinder that Design As First That the Irish might gain Experience abroad and return to be evil Instruments at home Secondly That Ireland wanted Men for Husbandry Thirdly That Spain was an Hereditary Enemy to England and therefore might infect these Men with dangerous Principles concluding That they did not know how soon those very Regiments acquainted with every Creek in the Kingdom might be returned on their own Bowels having naturally a Love to their Religion which such an Incendiary as Spain might inflame with the highest prejudice So shamelesly did they cloak their Designs ' of stopping these Soldiers to assist in the following Rebellion under these Cobweb pretences of the Publick Good However their Project succeeded to their mind and notwithstanding the Contract with the Spanish Ambassador for their Transportation the Soldiers were from time to time delay'd and Garret Barry and his whole Regiment and most of the rest did afterwards joyn in the Irish Rebellion This Session of Parliament was spent by the Papists who were the most numerous Party in the House in fruitless Declarations and Protestations private Petitions and Votes upon needless Queries These last together with the Judges Answers to them are to be found at large Burlace Append. 1. 2. I shall only recite one of them viz. Quere 15. Whether the issuing of Quo Warranto's against Burroughs that anciently and recently sent Burgesses to Parliament to shew Cause why they did so be Legal And if not What Punishment ought to be inflicted upon the Occasioners Procurers and Judges of and in such Quo Warranto's To which the Answer is That the Proceedings in such Quo Warranto's are coram non Judice illegal and void and the Right of sending Burgesses to Parliament is questionable in Parliament only and the Occasioners Procurerâ— and Judges in such Quo Warranto's and Proceedings are punishable as in Parliament shall be thought consonant to Law and Justice Moreover some Members of this Parliament who had the following Rebellion in their Design did in order to inform themselves of the Quantity of the Stores Ammunition and Provisions and the Place where they were deposited suggest That there was a Plot by some of the Lord Stafford's discontented Servants to destroy the Parliament and therefore procured a Committee of both Houses to be appointed to search the Rooms under the Place where they sat which they did but sound no Powder there Then they desired to see where the Stores were but the Lord Justice Burlace who was Master of the Ordnance denied them that Request which they took very ill The Popish Party did also oppose the Disbanding of the new Army raised by the Earl of Strafford however it was at length effected on the Tenth day of * Rather July quaere August and the Arms and Ammunition were carefully brought into His Majesty's Stores In the mean time it being convenient to give the Members a short Recess to attend their Harvest and their other Occasions and there being no sudden expectation of the Irish Committee's Return from England the Parliament by their own Consent was on the Seventh of August adjourn'd to the Ninth of November which for want of greater cause of Complaint was afterwards reckon'd amongst their Grievances But contrary to all Mens expectation the Irish Committee of Parliament in the latter end of August return'd loaden with Graces and Favours for that Kingdom particularly in reference to the Customs especially of Wooll and Tobacco whereof the Lords Justices sent immediate notice to the several Ports of the Kingdom and in this short Interval of Parliament busied themselves in framing such Bills to pass the next Session as the Committee had obtain'd His Majesty's Consent unto And in this quiet and serene Condition was the Kingdom of Ireland not suspecting the least Disturbance from the Papists who were not under any Persecution upon the account of Religion their Clergy exercising their Functions as safely and almost as publickly as the Protestants They were obliged to the King by the easiest of Governments and the Graces and Concessions he had lately vouchsafed unto them and they were fastned to the English by all the Ties of Interest Friendship Marriage and which is more in their esteem Gossipping and Fostering And they were engaged to propagate the Publick Peace by their own happy free and flourishing Condition for now the Papists without taking the Oath of Supremacy freely enjoyed the Offices of Sheriffs of Counties Magistrates of Corporations c. But all this was over-ballanced by their Bigotry and National Malice which opened one of the bloodiest Scenes that ever was seen in the World For on Saturday the Twenty third of October 1641. being a Day dedicated to St. Ignatius Temple 16. a fit Patron for such a Villany broke out a most desperate and formidable Rebellion an universal Defection and general Revolt wherein not only all the mere Irish but almost all the Old English that adher'd to the Church of Rome were openly or secretly involved The Conspirators pitched upon the Day because it was Market-day at Dublin and therefore a Concourse of People would the less be perceived or suspected and they chose the time of Year because Harvest was in and the Half-years Rent generally in the Tenants Hands and because the Season of the Year would hinder Relief from England until the next Spring before which time they hoped to have effected all their Designs It was a premeditated Rebellion Lord Justices and Councils Letter foretold by Sir Henry Bedingfeild a Roman Catholick of Norfolk in April before and suspected by the King as appears by Sir Henry Vane's Letter ante pag. 64. And it was in contrivance partly at home and partly abroad before the Troubles either of England or Scotland began Memoirs 22. It was communicated to the English Papists by the Popish part of the Irish Committee then in England Husbands 2. part 247. And it was finally concluded and resolved on at the Abby of Multifernam and the * Dr. Jones's Examination Appendix 9. Scheme of the Government
and the Measures of the Rebellion were concerted and setled there tho it seems by the Lord Macguir's Examination that the Day was appointed at Loghross But as the Lords Justices and Council in their Letter express it none of the former Rebellions could parallel this either in the dangerous Original the unexampled Cruelty and extreme Hatred to the British Nation in the barbarous Progress or in the terrible Consequences aimed at therein being no less than to wrest from His Majesty His Scepter and Sovereignty to destroy and root out the British and Protestants and every Species of English out of the Kingdom to suppress God's Truth and set up Idolatry in the stead of it and finally to Invade the Realm of England And in another Letter they affirm That the barbarous and execrable Cruelty of the Irish exceeded any that ever was exercis'd by Turks or Infldels against Christians And even the Earl of Castlehaven Memoirs 25. P. W. Remonstrance 594. tho' a Papist and Peter Walsh tho' a Franciscan Friar do confess That the barbarous Design of this bloody Conspiracy was no less than to extirpate the Protestants and totally to root them out of that Kingdom And they intended to effect this by the most inhuman Methods Declaration of Parliament 21. viz. a General Massacre and Universal Plundring Nor did they come much short of attaining their End Dr. Maxwell's Examination for in the first Three Months of this Rebellion they murdered and otherwise destroyed One hundred fifty four thousand Protestants Lord Justices Letter of 16 March 42. Men Women and Children as the Priests themselves computed it and as one of their own Writers by way of ostentation hath published Bishop Bedell's Life 179. And without doubt Temple 16. no Nation can parallel the horrid Cruelties and abominable Murders without Number or Mercy committed on the British throughout the Land without distinction of Quality Sex or Age Memoirs Epist 1. and certainly it was bad enough when the Earl of Castlehaven himself confesseth That all the Water in the Sea cannot wash away the Guilt of the Rebels the Rebellion being begun most bloodily in a Time of Peace and without Occasion given They destroyed the Soul as well as the Body forcing many weak Christians to turn Papists and then murder'd them whilst they were in the Right Faith See Append. 10. as they said And the cruel Manner of their Torturing the English was more detestable than the Murder it self some being starved till they eat Pieces of their own Flesh broil'd upon Coals and others were used worse At Kilkenny the Lord Mountgarret and the Mayor and Aldermen and Three hundred Citizens in Arms stood by whilst the Protestants were plundered in that City Lord Justices Letter of 14 December And at Longford when the Castle was surrendred upon Quarter the Priest with his Skein in his Hand watched at the Gate till the Minister came forth and then stabbed him into the Guts and ripped up his Belly which Signal was observed by the rest who in like manner murdered all the English of that Garison Men and Women were stript stark naked and in that bitter Winter exposed to the Extremities of Hunger and Cold whereof many thousands died Sucking Children were haled from their Mothers Breasts Remonstrance of Dr. Jones pag. 8 9. and one of them was murdered whilst it was sucking its deceased Mother Nor were Women in Labor used any better One was delivered upon the Gallows another ript up and two Children she went with taken out of her Belly and thrown to the Swine who eat them Burlace 72. and a third the Wife of Mr. Oliphant a Minister being delivered on her Journey in the High-way was nevertheless forced to trot on and draw after her the Child and the Concomitants of so sad an Accident until she died But it would be endless to recount all the Instances of their wanton Cruelty and impossible to frame an Idea in the Mind of the Reader as horrid as their Actions Dr. Maxwell's Examination Appendix 10. which were rendred the more inhuman by the Mirth and Sport they made at the unspeakable Torments and Sufferings of the English And lest some amongst them should have more Bowels of Compassion than the rest Lord Justices and Councils Letter 22 November the Confederates did prohibit to harbour or relieve any Protestant on pain of Death and declared they would not lay down Arms whilst there was the Seed of an Englishman in Ireland And to leave no room for Reconcilation they put to death in Ulster a Messenger sent to them by the State The Motives to this Conspiracy were First The happy Conjuncture for such a Design whilst England and Scotland were embroil'd Secondly The Example of the Scots who had reaped Advantage by their Mutiny and the Irish expected as much at least And Thirdly The Number of able Men ready to enter into this Rebellion which they computed to be Two hundred thousand or more But the Pretences for this Rebellion were exceeding weak and such as manifest that they will rise as often as they get opportunity and in effect do upbraid the English with Stupidity that after so much Experience they should suffer them to be in a Condition to Rebel any more Memoirs 9. and they are briefly these 1. That the Irish were looked upon as a Conquered Nation 2. That the Six Counties in Ulster escheated to the King were disposed for the most part to British 3. That there was a Rumour that Seven Counties more would be seised by the King 4. That the Popish Religion was persecuted in England and they were afraid would be so in Ireland Thus Rumors and Fears tho' without Cause are by the Popish Advocates thought sufficent Justifications of an Irish Rebellion and the Author of the Bleeding Iphigenia assures us Pag. 23. That this War is justified by a Learned Pen and he wonders it should be called a Rebellion as if says he our taking up Arms for our necessary Defence of Lives and Religion against the Protestants our Fellow-Subjects were a Rebellion He argues from the Principle of Self-preservation and the Law in the Case of Homicide se defendendo That it is lawful to make War for Defence of Life or Estate and à fortiori for Religion and concludes That it may be done to prevent a Danger that is foreseen i. e. rumoured or feared And that was the Case of the Papists says he they were necessarily to be destroyed by the Presbyterians and therefore they did wisely to begin first But whoever considers the three Antipathies of Nation Interest and Religion already mentioned will easily find that the true Design of this Universal Rebellion was 1. To destroy the English 2. To regain their Estates And 3. To establish Popery And all other Pretences are without Foundation and vain This horrid Conspiracy was on the Twenty second of October discovered to the Lord Justice Parsons
had scarce a fair Pretence for that Cavil yet to satisfie them those words were by a Second Proclamation of the 29th of October explain'd to extend to none but such as were in Rebellion Their Second Attempt was at the Session of Parliament on the Sixteenth of November where they endeavoured to Palliate the Rebellion and smooth and soften their Protestation against it and complain'd at the Shortness of the Session whereby they were hindred as they said of means to suppress the Insurrection But finding neither of these sufficient they had afterwards Recourse to other as ill grounded Complaints hereafter mentioned and in the mean time they excused themselves to the State that they were not able to raise Men according to their Commissions of Government by which Answer and some other Passages the Lord Justices perceived That even those of the Pale were Tainted with the infection and therefore they recalled the Arms they had delivered out to them and by a great deal of industry they recovered about Nine hundred of them and the rest were treacherously made use of against the State that had too credulously trusted the Roman Catholicks with them at so critical a Juncture In this extremity and want of all things especially Money Application was made to the Corporation of Dublin but that famous City the Metropolis of the Kingdom would not advance more than Fifty Pounds tho' upon so great an Emergency whereby the State was convinc'd that the Rebellion was Universal and that even those the Citizens that did not dare to appear openly in it were yet secretly Well-wishers to the Cause and in their Hearts devoted to the Persons and Designs of the Rebels And this was the more manifest because the Popish Citizens did rarely if at all administer any the least Comfort to the poor and plunder'd English insomuch that the Protestants perished in such Multitudes at Dublin that the Church-yards being full of Graves the Lords Justices were fain to provide two large Pieces of Ground for new Burying-places for them The Lords Justices by their Proclamation of the Twenty seventh of October caused Michaelmas Term to be adjourned and sent Four hundred Musquets by Sea to the Lords Viscounts of Clandeboys and Ardes and also sent Commissions to them to raise the Scots and to receive Submitting Rebels to Mercy and they also wrote to the Lords President of Munster and Connaught to be on their Defence And because of the great Concourse to Dublin and the danger that City was in upon the Complaint of the Magistrates thereof all Strangers were commanded by Proclamation to depart the City upon pain of Death but no body was punished for disobeying that Order altho' there was a second Proclamation against the Harbourers of such Strangers But how general soever this Rebellion was and how cruel soever the Authors of it were Vid. Appendix 10. altho' the very Women and Children were active in stripping and murdering the distressed English yet the Execution could not be so great nor with so little Loss to the Irish but that the English were wheedled to put a Confidence in their Irish Landlords Tenants Servants and Neighbors with whom they had lived kindly and to whom they had given no manner of Provocation and so neglecting the proper Means of defending themselves they were miserably betrayed and perfidiously destroyed by those they trusted it being esteemed a Mortal Sin amongst most of the Rebels to relieve or protect a Heretick But in some places the English to considerable Numbers were embodied together and being in a condition to make some Resistance were promised Quarter and good Articles upon Oath But as soon as they submitted they were also treacherously murdered And thus they were served at Loughell Temple 41. Armagh Belturbet Longford Tullogh New-Town Burlace 71. Sligo and many other Places At first the Rebels did pretend to spare the Scots and to make a Difference between them whom they professed a Kindness for because they were Strangers and their Religion likewise persecuted by the parliament and the English against whom they expressed a most bitter and inveterate Hatred and to disguise their Designs they did actually Forbear them for about ten days till the English were destroyed and then they fell upon the Scots also and made no farther distinction between British Protestants By the First of November the Protestants had very little left in Ulster except Londonderry Colerain and Iniskilling and half the County of Down and part of the County of Antrim which the Government was in an ill Condition to provide for or relieve and had no hopes of retrieving that part of Ulster which was lost and so deeply drench'd in innocent Blood otherwise than by Force of Arms but as to the Counties of Meath West-Meath Longford and Louth which were not yet so deeply plung'd in Robberies and Murthers the Lords Justices had hopes of their Submission and therefore did issue their Proclamation of Pardon to all that would submit within Ten days Freeholders and Murderers only excepted But whilst these things were doing viz. on the First of November the Parliament of England voted a Supply of Fifty thousand Pounds for the Relief of Ireland and that all the Papists of Quality in England be secured and that none except Merchants shall pass to Ireland without a Certificate and that a Pardon be offered to the Irish Rebels and that Owen O Conally the Discoverer of the Plot should have Five hundred Pounds in Money and Lands worth Two hundred Pounds per Annum setled upon him And this Order was 12 November printed in Dublin and dispersed all over the Kingdom but without any Effect For now the Rebels were elevated and had formed a Design against Tredagh whereof Doctor Jones afterwards Bishop of Meath gave timely notice so that it was prevented for tho' the Lord Moor had made a seasonable Entry into that Town nevertheless the Inclination of the Townsmen and of Sir John Nettervill who had a Foot Company there in the King's Pay being manifestly favourable to the Rebels the Place was not safe without a stronger Garison and therefore Sir Henry Tichbourn with a Regiment of Foot and two Troops of Horse was sent from Dublin the third day of November and came safe to Tredagh the next day On the Fourth of November Sir Phelim O Neale and Rory Macguire from their Camp at Newry published That they had a Commission from the King under the Great Seal of England for this Insurrection And one Harison having taken the Seal from an old Patent of the Lord Cawfeild's at Charlemont and fixed it to a forged Commission they sent attested Copies of it in Letters to their Confederates thereby blacking their Insurrection with the worst of Circumstances viz. by laying it to the Charge of His Majesty who upon all Occasions expressed his Detestation of it and by this means they raised more Enemies to the King and created more Jealousies in the Minds of His Protestant Subjects
and gave more Colour and Umbrage for the Suspicions that were then entertained of Him than any other Action of that Time could do And indeed this single Act of theirs did His Majesty more mischief than all the pretended Loyalty of that Party since that time can atone for However to obviate the dismal Effects of that impudent Forgery as much as they could the Lords Justices did Burlace Append 3. by their Proclamation of the Thirtieth of October 1642. publish that Sham to be false and scandalous And it is very observable That this Contrivance of theirs from whence they hoped to derive so much Advantage was the Occasion of their Ruin for the King to vindicate himself from this gross Aspersion was necessitated to devolve the Management of the War upon the Parliament and to consent to the Act of Adventurers which dispos'd of most part of the Rebels Estates and indeed to humour them in every thing relating to Ireland and particularly in giving up Carrigfergus to the Scots And on the same Fourth of November Temple 50. the Parliament of England voted 1. That Twenty thousand Pounds be forthwith supplied for the present Occasions of Ireland 2. That a convenient Number of Ships shall be provided for the Guarding of the Sea-coasts of that Kingdom 3. That this House holds fit that Six thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse shall be raised with all convenient speed for the present Expedition into Ireland 4. That the Lord Lieutenant shall present to both Houses of Parliament such Officers as he shall think fit to send into Ireland to Command any Forces to be transported thither 5. That Magazins of Victuals shall be forthwith provided at Westchester to be sent over to Dublin as the Occasions of that Kingdom shall require 6. That the Magazins of Arms Ammunition and Powder now in Carlisle shall be forthwith sent over to Knockfergus in Ireland 7. That it be referred to the King's Council to consider of some fit Way and to present it to the House for a Publication to be made of Rewards to be given to such as shall do Service in this Expedition into Ireland and for a Pardon of such of the Rebels in Ireland as shall come in by a Time limited and of a Sum of Money to be appointed for a Reward to such as shall bring in the Heads of such Principal Rebels as shall be nominated 8. That Letters shall be forthwith sent to the Justices in Ireland to acquaint them how sensible this House is of the Affairs in Ireland 9. That the Committee of Irish Affairs shall consider how and in what manner this Kingdom shall make use of the Friendship and Assistance of Scotland in the Business of Ireland 10. That Directions shall be given for the drawing of a Bill for the Pressing of Men for this particular Service for Ireland In the mean time the Lords Justices and Council did all that was possible for the Preservation of the Kingdom They on the Fifth of November dispatched a second Express to the King and another to the Lords of the Council and then and not before wrote to both Houses of Parliament and sent a Duplicate of it to the King and they formed a thousand of the stripped English into a Regiment under Sir Charles Coot and soon after they raised two Regiments more under the Lord Lambert and Colonel Crawford They also took care to Victual the Castle of Dublin and to clear an old Well that was in it and to do all things necessary to fit it for a Siege And to prevent any Surprize that might happen by the great Concourse of People to the Castle they removed the Council to Cork-house and often sat there in Council which was a great Oversight and might have been Fatal to them if the Lords of the Pale who soon after went out into open Rebellion had had the Courage to seise upon them there as they easily might have done On Saturday the Sixth of November Philip O Rely Knight of the Shire and the Irish of the County of Cavan sent an insolent Remonstrance to the Lord Justices by Doctor Jones whose Wife and Children they had at their Mercy and impowered him to assure their Lordships That there should be a Cessation of all things till the return of his Answer But tho' the Lords Justices gave a Civil Answer to it and sent the Remonstrance to the Lord Lieutenant to whom the King had ordered them to apply themselves about the Affairs of Ireland yet the very next Munday being the Eigth of November and before any Answer could come these Remonstrants Rendezvoufedâ— at Virginia a Town in the County of Cavan and proved the fiercest Rebels of all and by the Eleventh of December had taken the whole County of Cavan except the Castles of Keighlah and Croghan which were also surrendred to them the Fourth of July 1642. and Thirteen hundred and forty English Persons were thence according to Articles conveyed to Tredagh On the Eleventh of November the Lords Justices published another Proclamation prohibiting all unnecessary Persons from repairing to Dublin which the Irish took very ill and made a great noise about it tho' no Person of Quality or Business was in the least restrained by that Proclamation But their Design was to pick Quarrels and to manage all Accidents to that purpose On the Twelfth of November the County of Wickloe appeared in its proper Colours they murdered or robbed all the English Inhabitants within that County and burnt the principal Houses and laid Siege to Fort-Carew which the Lords Justices had not Means to relieve The Counties of Letrim Longford West-Meath and Louth were already infected and Wexford and Caterlogh followed the bloody Examples of their Neighbours and even the County of Kildare it self began to put on a terrible Countenance and the Irish of the Pale having gotten Arms from their English Neighbors under pretence of opposing the Rebels were the better able to do Execution on those stupid Protestants that so foolishly parted with them to their National and Hereditary Enemies The Lords Justices had by Proclamation Prorogued the Parliament to the Twenty fourth of February but at the Importunity of some Irish Lawyers who pretended great Affection to the King and earnest Desires to quench the Rebellion the Parliament which was a very thin one was permitted to meet on the Sixteenth of November and then it was visible that more were tainted with the Infection than appeared openly in Rebellion for the Popish Members did with great Cunning and Artifice endeavour to varnish or excuse all the Actions and Cruelties of the Rebels and those who seemed most to discountenance the Insurrection did nevertheless cover it over with such a Veil treat of it so nicely and handle it with so much tenderness as if themselves most of them being of the Conspiracy were immediately to participate of the Punishment as well as they were clandestinely involved in the Plot They would by do means have
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
ordering the Country People to bring in their Corn to Market or else that their Haggards should be put under Military Execution by which means the Market was pretty well supplied And on the last day of December Sir Symon Harcourt with his Regiment of Twelve hundred Foot from England landed at Dublin But whilst these things were doing Sir Thomas Carey and Doctor Câ—le a Sorbonist offered from the Rebels some Propositions whereupon a Treaty for Peace might be founded viz. 1. Toleration of Religion 2. That Papists shall have admittance to all Employments as well as Protestants 3. The Wrongs of Plantations since 1610. to be repair'd 4. The Titles of Rebels and Traitors should be taken off the File by Proclamation But these Terms were too dishonorable and therefore were rejected Nevertheless some Popish Priests that pretended to more Moderation and Humanity than the rest were permitted to Treat with the Rebels and Doctor Cale obtain'd a Commission from the State to do so and promis'd great Success of his Negotiation But the Rebels were elevated with their Fortune insomuch that Sir Philemy O Neal refused to Treat unless Macgulre and Macmahon were set at Liberty and so that Affair determined And now Sir Simon Harcourt being made Governor of Dublin Sir Charles Coot on the Tenth of January was sent abroad to remove the Enemy from Swords a Village Six Miles from the City The Irish had barricadoed the Avenues to the Town and did what they could to defend themselves but Coot despising their weak Opposition valiantly forced the Passage and routed the Party with the slaughter of Two hundred of them and returned to Dublin with little or no Loss except that of Sir Lorenzo Cary who was killed in this Action On the Eleventh of January the Parliament was by Proclamation prorogued to the Twenty first of June 1642. But the Speakers declared to both Houses ☜ That notwithstanding the Prorogation it was not His Majesty's Intention to depart from or wave any thing he had formerly promis'd for the Confirmation of their Estates to such of his Subjects as should continue Loyal On the Fourteenth of January the Lords Justices and Council issued a severe Proclamation against Pillagers and Vagrants that were not Listed under any Commander and on the Eighteenth published another Proclamation prohibiting Soldiers from returning to England without Licence on pain of Death And on the Twenty fourth of January there landed at Dublin the Lord Lieutenant's Regiment of Foot under Lieutenant Colonel Monk afterward Duke of Albemarle Sir Michael Earnly's and Colonel Cromwell's Regiments likewise of Foot and the Lord Lisle's and Sir Richard Greeâ—vill's Regiments of Horse which enabled the Lieutenant-General Ormond with Two thousand Foot and Three hundred Horse to march out into the Country where he burnt Newcastle and Lyons and got a cosiderable Booty at the Naas and by this Joâ—â—ny removed the Enemy farther off See this Proclamation Burlace Append 6. and on the Eighth of February the Government issued a Proclamation against the Rebels prizing Sir Philemy O Neal's Head at a thousand Pounds and the rest at proportionable Rates against which the Lords of the Pale framed a false and scandalous Protestation But it is time to return to Tredagh which by the importunity of those of the Pale was become the Rebels chief Aim and next to Dublin the chief Care of the State It was the principal Scene of Action during the Months of December January and February and therefore I have preserved the Relation of that Siege intire without mixing it with other Affairs Tredagh in Irish Drogheda in Latin Pontana is an ancient Walled Town situate on both sides the River Boyne and united by a Stone Bridge from which the Town derives its Name It is about two Miles in Circuit and about three Miles distant from the Sea It had neither Bulwark nor Rampire nor any other Fortification than an ordinary Ditch and the old Wall The Haven is not good the Entrance being very narrow and difficult by reason of a Bar in the Mouth of the Harbor which is not passable but at Full Sea and then especially on Spring-tides a Ship of Sixty Tuns may sail to the Key of Tredagh Finally This Town is Governed by a Mayor Aldermen and Sheriffs and is a County of it self and stands in a plain open fruitful and Champion Country To this Town came the Lord Moor with his Troop of Horse from his House at Mellefont upon the first notice of the Irish Rebellion even on the Twenty third of October about Midnight and being alarm'd by the dismal Stories of some which had escaped the Cruelties of the Rebels he caused the Mayor and Aldermen to be awakened and excited them to a speedy and vigorous Preparation for their Defence They promised fairly but acted slowly insomuch that altho' many hundreds of the Townsmen well armed used to appear on Muster-days yet now they could not get above Forty Men together and those but very ill armed but afterwards the Number encreased to Two hundred However this Noble Lord was not discouraged but having got some old Guns out of a Dungeon and Four more and some Powder out of a Ship in the Harbor he scowred the Ditch and repaired the Walls and mounted his Artillery and reviewed Captain Nettervill's and Captain Rockby's half Companies each consisting of Forty four Men of the Standing Army and did every thing else in his power that was necessary for the Defence of the Place Nevertheless finding that all this would not do without farther Succour he went to Dublin in a dark Night and effectually represented to the Government the Weakness and Importance of Drogheda and offered to augment his own Troop of Sixty to a hundred and to raise a hundred Foot at his own Charge But what he obtained was a Promise That Succours should be speedily sent And in the mean time Captain Seafoul Gibson had a Commission and Arms for a hundred and twenty Men which he raised in Tredagh in two Hours time and that very Night they were set on the Watch and were kept to so hard Duty that this Captain and the Lord Moor did watch Ten Nights together in their own Persons which was the more troublesom to them because they were frequently on every day especially at Church-time disturb'd with Alarms purposely made by the Popish Inhabitants to distract them And altho' the Lord Moor had the good Success in several Sallies and Excursions to kill Two hundred of the Rebels and to take Eighty Prisoners whereof Six only were hang'd yet the Popish Townsmen finding that no Supply was come to the Town nor as they thought likely to come and that on the contrary the Rebels had taken Dundalk and Drâ—miskin formed several Contrivances to give up the Town One Night when they design'd it they were prevented by a Rumour That the Protestants had re-taken Newry and another Night Captain Nattervill who had form'd his half Company to his mind and was in
English Pikes were longer than the Rebels Pikes they charged home and the Lord Moor coming in seasonably with 15 Horse only they put the Rebels to flight and beat them quite out of the Town with the Slaughter of above 200 of them and some of their best Officers nor must it be forgotten that the Popish Houses in the Town were marked with Chalk that so the Rebels if they had prevailed might distinguish them from those they intended to murder Neither will I pretermit a Stratagem used by the Garison in placing some Pipers upon the Walls to play and others to toss up their Caps and cry The Town is our own make hast in and the like by which means many of the Rebels that still waited to have a Gate opened for them ran hastily into the Town and were made Prisoners The Pinnace that came with the first Relief hapned unfortunately to run aground and was briskly attackt by the Rebels who desperately came with Pickaxes and Iron Barrs even to her very Stern but Captain Stutfield threw some Granadoes amongst them and by that means got rid of them with much ado and killed above Threescore of the Irish But after a while Necessities and Diseases began to return upon the Garison so that many dyed daily in the Town and therefore a diligent Search was made for Provisions and the Fryers contrary to their Vow of Poverty were found to have great Quantities of Money Plate and other Treasure which they not owning most of it probably belonging to the Rebels it was divided amongst the Soldiers but that was no Relief to a hungry Belly when Victuals could not be had for Money and therefore the Governor made a hard shift to send a Boat to Dublin to hasten Supplies And tho' the Governor did by frequent Sallies incommode the Enemy and sometimes recover a little Provisions yet that did not so recruit the Garison but that they were reduced to the greatest Extremities even to the eating of Horses Dogs and Cats when on the Thirteenth of February they Sallied and took from the Rebels a considerable Booty of 80 Cows and 200 Sheep and the Twentieth day being Sunday at four a Clock in the Morning Sir Philemy O Neal with all his Strength made so bold an Attempt as to apply Scaling Ladders to the Wall and the Sentinel's Gun missing Fire they made good Progress before the Garison took the Alarm but as soon as the Soldiers came to the Walls they did such Execution upon the Irish that their Officers could by no means oblige the Soldiers to return to the Assault And the same day two Pinnaces and several other Vessels notwithstanding the Boom at Tredagh which broke the day before came up to the Town with a plentiful Supply of all Necessaries Encouraged by this Recruit and these Successes the Governor of Tredagh with 220 Foot and 120 Horse Sallied to Beaubeck on the Twenty sixth of February and secured some Corn and Hay for the Garison and then advanced to Smiths Town where they defeated a Party of Rebels and slew 300 And about the same time Major Fortescue had good Success near Gellingston against Colonel Preston in the same Field the English had formerly suffered a Defeat and to follow the Blow the Lord Moor with 600 Foot and 120 Horse and two Field-Pieces Sallied out the Twenty eighth of February and assailed Stainime but finding it fortified they took some Corn at Colp and returned On the First of March the Lord Moor and Sir John Burlace made another Sally and took the Castle of Colp and killed many of the Rebels And on the Second of March Colonel Wainman made another Sally as far as Marlengton burned Mr. Draicot's House and some other considerable places and return'd home with good store of Corn and on the Fourth the brave Lord Moor made another Sally towards Tullagh-hallon amongst his traiterous and ungrateful Tenants and routed the Rebels killing seven Captains and 400 Soldiers and took Capt. Mac Mahon and Barnwell of Rahasket Prisoners and got good store of Arms whereby the Siege of Tredagh was raised and the Garison was at leisure to visit the Enemies Quarters and soon forced Darcy of Platten his Servants to surrender his House and obliged some of the Lord of the Pale to write Letters of Excuse to the State and to desire to know upon what Terms they might come in but the Lords Justices despis'd that Insolence and the case being alter'd did not think fit without new Orders to prostitute His Majesties Mercy to such as had no other sense of their Duty than that was taught them by necessity But whilst some of them desired to be pardoned others of them committed barbarous Crimes that were unpardonable and murdered all the Protestants at Atherdee to be revenged for their Losses before Tredagh and it ought never to be forgotten as an especial Providence of God that during this long Siege and in all these Sallies there were but Twelve Protestants that fell by the Sword or were slain which nevertheless is very believable because the like hath lately hapned in proportion at the famous Siege of Londonderry On Munday the Seventh of March the Earl of Ormond with Three thousand Foot and Five hundred Horse marched out of Dublin to relieve Tredagh not knowing the Siege was rais'd and having burned Feildstown Kilsalan and Ratooth and several Houses in the County of Meath he came to Tredagh on the Eleventh and having recruited the Governor and the Lord Moor with Four hundred Foot and Two Troops of Horse and burnt and pillaged great part of the Pale he return'd to Dublin on Business of Importance by the special Order of the Lords Justices Nevertheless the Lord Moor and Sir Henry Tichburne on the Twenty first of the same Month marched out with One thousand Foot and Two hundred Horse and having burnt the Country about Slane on the Twenty third advanced to Atherdee and having discovered the Enemy to the number of near Fifteen hundred they sent out their Forlorn which stumbled on an Irish Ambuscade and drove them to the Main Body of whom they killed about Four hundred At the Foot of the Bridge the Irish did again make some Resistance but some of the English found a Passage over the River and galled them in the 〈◊〉 and forced them to abandon that Post and then forced their way into the Town In this Skirmish one Irish Lieutenant-Colonel and five Captains were slain besides what fell of the Common Soldiers The English encourag'd with this Success advanc'd to Dundalk on the Twenty sixth of March and tho' the Town was fortified with a double Wall and a double Ditch and had a Bog on the one side and the Sea on the other yet a Party of the English led by Lieutenant-Colonel Wainmâ—â— forced the Gate with Pickaxes and entred the Town with their Horse and pursued the Enemy on a full Gallop but at the turn of a Street were warmly received by Five hundred
Irish who had mounted two or three Brass Pieces and were forced to retreat and from a Castle at the end of that Street the Rebels had killed Ensign Fortescue who was the first Officer that was slain since the Defeat at Gellingston and some few Soldiers Whereupon the English set Fire to the Houses near the Castle so that the Smoak blowing towards the Castle the English came undiscover'd to the Gate and blew it up with Gunpowder whereat those within were so frightned that they fled out of the Window and a Serjeant and Five Men entred and were afterwards reinforced with Twenty four more and the Fire being quenched Two Pieces of Ordnance were drawn up against the inner Gate and the English being sheltered by some Wooll-packs found in the Castle got an Opportunity to gall the Enemy whilst Sir Henry Tichbourne with a Party of Horse marched on the back side of the Town to the North Gate and killed Forty Rebels in his way and entring at a Bye-gate found the Town deserted whereby a hundred and twenty Protestants were relieved and good Booty recovered with the Slaughter of a hundred Rebels and not above Fourteen or Fifteen of the Royalists which was the more considerable because the Irish in this Place were about Three thousand and the Assailants not full a thousand Sir Philemy and his Myrmidons were mightily enraged at this Defeat and in revenge murdered the Lord Cawfield and Mr. Blany and about Fifteen hundred other Protestants whom till then they had reserved for that purpose O Rely also murdered Sixty more of the English at Bolturbet and indeed it was seldom that the Irish met with any disappointment but they vented their Rage on the miserable Protestants that they had in their Power as if by sacrificing so many innocent Souls they could expiate the Guilt of their Cowardise and Treachery But these Successes of the English forced the Lords and Gentlemen of the Pale into Ulster where those losing Gamesters fell together by the Ears for Sir Philemy O Neal and the Ulster Men upbraided those of the Pale that they had formerly been their National Enemies and false to them and their Religion and that it was not past Memory since the Papists of the Pale had persuaded Ulster to a Religious Rebellion and left it in the lurch but that now the Ulster Men were quit with them having first exposed the Pale to the Fury of the English In short they renewed their Ancient and Hereditary Animosities and their Confederacy and Association was too feeble to extinguish or even suspend their National Antipathy derived from their different Extractions This unexpected and unseasonable Treatment from Ulster made such a deep Impression on the Mind of the Lord Gormanstown that it broke his Heart so that he died lamenting his great Folly in siding with the Irish against his own Country-men and some that survived were fully sensible of this Oversight but they were too far engag'd to retire and therefore they sought for Pretences and fish'd for Excuses to colour or extenuate their Crimes many of which being notoriously false and some of them ex post facto and so not pertinent were nevertheless jumbled together in an Apology which they afterwards sent to the King But we ought to cast an Eye on the rest of the Provinces and first on Munster where the first Appearance of the Rebellion was on the Twentieth of November at which time a numerous Rabble of the Irish plundered Mr. William Kingsmill at Ballyowen in the County of Typerary and carried away a great number of Cows and Sheep from him and his Neighbors This Attempt was the bolder because he was the Lord President 's Brother-in-Law and the Consequence of it was that the Lord President â—â—on notice thereof came with two Troops of Horse to Ballyowen and pursued the Tories killed some and hanged others and recovered some part of the stollen Cattel and afterwards in Cromwell's Time Mrs. Kingsmill sued some of these Robbers and got a Decree against them for 1500 l. The Irish pretend that some innocent People were kill'd in this Expedition and that the Lord Dunboyn and several Gentlemen of the County of Typerary came to the President to Clonmell and expostulated with him about the Violence of this Proceeding and that he should tell them that they were Rebels and that it was more prudent to hang than to trust any of them And when they have told this simple Story they think they have said enough to justifie their entring into the Rebellion From Clonmell the Lord President went into the County of Waterford upon notice that a Party of the Leinster Rebels had passed that way into his Province and he had the good fortune to rout them on the Second of December with the Slaughter of Two hundred of the Irish But in his absence the Inhabitants of Typerary to the number of Fifteen hundred assembled together to seise on the City of Cashel and destroy the English there and tho' they were by the Persuasions of some less barbarous than themselves diverted for that time from so cruel an Enterprise yet they could not abstain much longer but on the last day of December under the Leading of Philip O Duir they took Cashell and in cold Blood for there was no Resistance they murdered William Beaves and his Servant Thomas Sadler William Bonefeild and his Wife John Banister Mr. Car John Lents Richard Lane John Anderson Mr. Franklin Toby a Joyner and John Fowks The rest were saved for that time chiefly by the Piety and Compassion of Redmond English and Joseph Everard two Franciscan Friars who for that very Reason were in Cromwell's Time not only acquitted but privileged to live in the Country whilst others viz. Colonel Teige O Magher Lieutenant Colonel Donough O Dwir Theobald Butler Hugh Ryan Ulick Burk c. were in November 1653. tried condemn'd and executed for these barbarous Murders And the very next day being the first of January another Rabble seised on Fethard where they plundered all the English but murdered none except Mr. Low for which Fact three of the Murderers viz. Thomas Quigly James mac Hugh and Richard Nagle were afterwards condemn'd and hang'd The Loss of Fethard was followed with the Revolt of Clonmell Carrick and all the Towns in Typerary and of Waterford Limerick Kilmallock and Dungarvan And on the Twenty third day of January some of the Kennedyes murdered Twenty two English Servants to Sir George Hamilton at the Silver Mines and Two more viz. Thomas Gallop and Thomas Sadly were left wounded amongst the Dead but in the dark Night they made a shift to escape to Nenagh and were there preserved But the Irish did not dissemble the Matter any longer but in this very Month of January began to form their Men into Troops and Companies and hearing says an Irish Papist that the Lord Mountgarret had a Commission from the Lords Justices to raise Arms to suppress the Insurrection as indeed he had a
Commission to the Earl of Ormond and him to Govern the County of Kilkenny of the same Tenor as Appendix 8. they thought to colour their Proceedings thereby and therefore invited him to be their General And it seems his Lordship was ready to embrace the Offer for in the latter end of January he came with Fifteen Companies to Cashell and being assisted by Purcell Titular Baron of Loghmore to whom likewise the Lords Justices had sent Arms and by the Lords of Ikerin Dunboyn Cahir and Castleconell they took Ballyowen and blockt up Gowlin and Knockordan and then marched to Kilmallock and so towards Mallow but near the Mountain above Donerayl the Lord president faced the Rebels He had with him the Lords Barymore Dungarvan and Broghill Sir Hardress Waller Sir Edward Denny Sir John Brown Major Searle and Captain Kingsmill and about Six hundred Foot and Three hundred Horse Whilst he staid there the Rebels did not dare to advance but his Presence being necessary at Cork he was after eight days stay thereabouts obliged to retire to that City whereupon the Irish advanc'd to Mallow and took the short Castle there upon Articles which they did not perform At Mallow there arose a Difference amongst the Irish about the Supreme Command of the Army The Lord Roch and others of Munster thought they ought to have a General of their own Province and to avoid Competition amongst the Lords they pitch'd upon Garret Barry and appointed the Lord Muskery and other Great Men to be the Council of War Hereupon the Lord Mountgarret return'd to Typerary where he met the News That the Men which were in Gowlin Castle had escaped into the Mountains where most of them were murdered by James Butler of Ruskagh for which Fact he was tried before Colonel Sanky Anno 1653. and afterwards hang'd and that the Women and Children left in the Castle were likewise inhumanly butcher'd by the Irish for which Barbarity Peirce Butler and his Son Thomas James Butler of Boyton-Rath and Thomas Kent were likewise tried condemned and executed Anno 1653. As for the County of Cork which by the noble Plantations made by the Earl of that Name became the best inhabited with English of any County in that Kingdom it was in a great measure preserv'd by the Generosity and Diligence of that Earl who was then newly return'd out of England he rais'd Two Troops of Horse under his Sons the Lords of Kinalmeky and Broghil and Four hundred Foot all which he maintained for some Months as his own Charge and sent a hundred of them to Asketon a hundred to Lismore and kept Two hundred with himself at Youghall Nevertheless that County was not without its share of Disturbance tho' it was the last County wherein the Rebellion broke out and they began it as elsewhere by robbing and plundring bare-fac'd and at Noon-day and in Multitudes and afterwards committed some Murders but not so many as in other Places because the English were powerful in this County and therefore the Rebels were in more fear to be called to account for their Exorbitances However at Glandore they gagg'd several English to death and in another place they ty'd an Englishman's Guts to the Post and made him dance round it till he died they broil'd a piece of a Scotch Minister's Breech and made him eat it they hang'd Robert Scot of Newcestown and his two Daughters in Muskery tho' he went voluntarily there to a Friend for Protection and in like manner John Burrows was serv'd at Ballynorohur by his Landlord Mac-ni-crimin who was tried and executed for it afterwards at Bandon They hang'd Andrew a Servant of Mr. Hazell's and which was worse than all he rest Mr. Linscomb Sovereign of Cloghnikilty having much Intimacy with the Irish staid behind his Neighbors in confidence of Protection but contrary to his Expectation and their Promises they first made him drunk till he vomited and then made him eat it up and immediately hang'd him at his own Door and having by Promises of sending her safe to Kinsale persuaded his Wife to discover 120 l. in Money she had hid at Muckrus as soon as they got it they threw her and her Sister into a deep Pit and there they left them till they were starved And altho' there were not many downright Murthers committed in this County yet by reason of the universal Robbing and Plundring and the great Want and Hardships this Insurrection exposed the miserable English to many thousands of them perished and particularly in the Town of Bandon there died above a Thousand in the first Year of this Rebellion and great Numbers likewise met with the same Fate at Cork Kinsale and Youghall To stop this Torrent the Lord President raised a Regiment of Foot and Two Troops of Horse and did what he could to prepare for his Defence And it was but needful to do so for the Rebels being extraordinary numerous thought themselves able to besiege Cork Kinsale and Bandon at the same time In order to this Mr. Long High Sheriff of the County of Cork form'd a Camp at Belgooly about Two Miles from Kinsale and to him came Mac-Finin's Brother called Captain Sugane and march'd from Kerry through Muskery and Carbery to the Camp and Dermond ni Glack of Littergorman with another Party march'd down to Kilgoban-Castle on the River of Bandon and surprized it This Camp at Belgooly continued the rest of this Winter and was supplied with Ammunition and other Necessaries even from some of the Popish Inhabitants of Kinsale but at length half the Lord Baltinglass his Company being Forty five Men arrived by Sea at Kinsale on the Fifth of April and brought with them Eight Barrels of Powder whereof Six were the next day sent to Bandon guarded by the Bandon Troop which fell into an Ambuscade but the Kinsale Troop just then parted from them return'd seasonably to their Succour and between them they kill'd Eighty of the Rebels and then each Troop return'd safe to their respective Garisons and the next day the Camp at Belgooly was dissolv'd and most of the Soldiers went to reinforce the Blockade at Cork And about the same time viz. in February Mac Carthy Riagh who had dissembled the Matter and pretended Loyalty and that he would side with the English until he got some Arms from the Lord Viscount Kinalmeky and then declared the very next day with about Three thousand raw Men and ill armed came to besiege the Town of Bandon But the valiant Bandonians scorned to be pent up by such a pitiful Rabble and therefore having form'd themselves into Four Companies under the Captains Watkins Woodhouse Jefford and Hooper and One Troop Battel of Knockagarane under their Governor the Lord Kinalmeky they sallied out and whilst the Foot marched up the direct Road to Cloghnakilty the Horse went round by Castlemahon so to fall on the Rear but the Foot came up first and one Company led by Captain Watkins within-side the Ditch
that hereafter he will be pleased upon the humble Suit of both Houses of Parliament to give His Royal Assent to such Bills as they shall tender unto him for the setling of those Propositions and all other things necessarily conducing thereunto Ibid. 86. And on the Twenty fourth of February His Majesty returned His Gracious Answer in Approbation of these Votes in haec verba viz. That as he hath offered and is still ready to venture His own Royal Person for the Recovery of that Kingdom if His Parliament shall advise him thereunto so He will not deny to contribute any other Assistance he can to that Service by parting with any Profit or Advantage of his own there and therefore relying on the Wisdom of His Parliament doth consent to every Proposition now made to him without taking time to examine whether this course may not retard the reducing of that Kingdom by exasperating the Rebels and rendring them desperate of being received into Grace if they shall return to their Obedience It would be too tedious to relate all that was done in this Affair of the Adventurers and therefore all that I shall mention here upon that Head is That these Votes produced several Acts of Parliament in Confirmation of them and raised the Sum of 400000 l for the Irish War But on the 9th day of March in the Declaration presented to the King at Newmarket Husbands 97. the Parliament inserted this Article viz. That the Rebellion in Ireland was framed and contrived here in England and that the English Papists should have risen about the same time we have several Testimonies and Advertisements from Ireland and that is a common Speech amongst the Rebels wherewith concur other Evidences and Observations of the suspicious Meetings and Consultations the tumultuary and seditious Carriage of those of that Religion in divers parts of this Kingdom about the time of the breaking out of the Irish Rebellion the Deposition of O Conally the Information of Master Cole Minister the Letter of Tristram Whitcombe the Deposition of Thomas Crant and many others which we may produce do all agree in this the publick Declaration of the Lords Gentlemen and others of the Pale That they would joyn with the Rebels whom they call the Irish Army or any other to recover unto His Majesty His Royal Prerogative wrested from him by the Puritan Faction in the House of Parliament in England and to maintain the same against all others as also to maintain Episcopal Jurisdiction and the lawfulness thereof these two being Quarrels upon which His Majesties late Army in the North should have been incensed against us To which His Majesty Answers thus Ibid. 106. If the Rebellion in Ireland so odious to all Christians seems to have been framed and maintained in England or to have any countenance from hence We conjure both Our Houses of Parliament and all Our loving Subjects whatsoever to use all possible means to discover and find such out that we may joyn in the most exemplary Vengeance upon them that can be imagined But We must think Our self highly and causelesly injured in Our Reputation if any Declaration Action or Expression of the Irish Rebels any Letter from Count Rosettie to the Papists for Fasting and Praying or from Tristram Whitcombe of strange Speeches uttered in Ireland shall beget any Jealousie or Misapprehension in Our Subjects of Our Justice Piety and Affection it being evident to all Understandings That those mischievous and wicked Rebels are not so capable of great Advantage as by having their false Discourse so far believed as to raise Fears and Jealousies to the Distraction of this Kingdom the only way to their Security And we cannot express a deeper sense of the Sufferings of Our poor Protestant Subjects in that Kingdom than We have done in Our often Messages to both Houses by which We have offered and are still ready to venture Our Royal Person for their Redemption well knowing That as We are in Our own Interest more concerned in them fo We are to make a strict Accompt to Almighty God for any Neglect of Our Duty or their Preservation And on the 15th of March 113. from Huntington the King sent this Message viz. That he doth very earnestly desire that they will use all possible Industry in expediting the business of Ireland in which they shall find so chearful a Concurrence by his Majesty that no Inconvenience shall happen to that Service by his Absence he having all that Passion for the reducing of that Kingdom which he hath expressed in his former Messages and being unable by words to manifest more Affection to it than he hath endeavoured to do by those Messages having likewise done all such Acts as he hath been moved unto by his Parliament therefore if the Misfortunes and Calamities of his poor Protestant Subjects there shall grow upon them tho' His Majesty shall be deeply concerned in and sensible of their Sufferings he shall wash his hands before all the World from the least Imputation of Slackness in that most necessary and pious Work Whereupon the Parliament Voted the next day Ibid. That those Persons that advise His Majesty to absent himself from the Parliament are Enemies to the Peace of this Kingdom and justly to be suspected to be Favourers of the Rebellion in Ireland Resolved c. 1642. That those Persons that advised His Majesty to this Message are Enemies to the Peace of this Kingdom and justly to be suspected to be Favourers of the Rebellion in Ireland The Year 1642. began with Sir Symon Harcourt's Expedition against Carrickmain in the County of Dublin on the Twenty sixth of March which proved fatal to him nevertheless his Lieutenant-Colonel Gibson took the Castle and put all within it to the Sword refusing to give Quarter to those obstinate Rebels that had slain his beloved Colonel And about the same time all the Popish Priests that could be found in Dublin were by the Lords Justices sent in French Bottoms to France In the beginning of April 1642. Doctor Jones afterwards Bishop of Meath and Seven other Divines who by Virtue of a Commission dated the 23d of December 1641. had taken many Examinations about the Rebellion and the Murders Plunders and Robberies committed by the Irish did out of their Depositions form a Remonstrance and being recommended by the Lords Justices and Council they did Present it to the Commons House of Parliament in England It set forth That the Rebellion was occasioned by the ancient Hatred which Papists bear to Protestants and by their Surfet of Freedom and Indulgence in that Kingdom That the Design was to eradicate the Protestant Religion and the Professors of it that the Rebellion was general and of a long Contrivance that sometimes they pretended the Kings Commission and sometimes spoke Contemptibly of his Majesty that they designed to extirpate all of English Extraction even the very Papists that they kicked Bibles up and down and
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
thousand did again besiege it and tho' Captain Vaughan with One hundred Foot and Fifty Horse did kill Forty of the Enemy and raise the Siege yet the Place being so remote could not at all times be relieved and therefore by Order of Council was demolished But the Parliament of England were desirous to manage the War of Ireland by a Committee at least till the Lord Lieutenant should go over but the King opposed that as needless because the Lord Lieutenant was just then ready for the Voyage But whether it was thought that he would not be propitious to the Cessation and Peace with the Irish which were then in design or for what other Reasons he was delay'd it is hard to determine but this is certain That tho' he was always going yet he never went And indeed the Differences between the King and the Parliament were grown to that heighth that each Side prepared for War and at length it came to a Battel at Edge-hill that very day Twelve-month on which the Irish Rebellion broke out viz. 23 October 1642. And in this Fight the Loss seem'd equal and each Party boasted of the Victory whilst both of them were thereby hindred from sending necessary Relief to Ireland and so the unfortunate English suffered every where and were destroy'd by one another in the Civil War in England and by the Common Enemy in that of Ireland However the Parliament did not totally neglect Ireland but on the Fourteenth of October sent over Mr. Robert Godwin and Mr. Robert Reynolds Husbands's Collections 2 part 249. Two Parliament-men and one Captain Tucker from the City of London to inquire into the Condition of the Army and the State of the Kingdom and to see how their Money was disposed of They brought with them Twenty thousand Pounds in Money and some Ammunition and arrived safe on the Twenty ninth of October and on the Second of November presented themselves to the State and being received with Respect were placed on a Form behind the Council and sate covered They did good Service in Ireland and particularly gave great satisfaction to the Army that Care was taken for Pay and Supplies They also made a Book which contained a Subscription of most of the Officers in the Army to take Debentures on the Forfeited Lands for a certain Proportion of their Pay as believing they would fight the better and end the War the sooner if they were interested in the Fruits of the Victory as well as in the Quarrel But the King disliked that Course because it might take up so much of the Rebels Lands that would hinder all Hopes of a peace with them which His Majesty began to have some Hopes of and therefore several Officers well enough inclined to the Proposal omitted to subscribe and some that had subscribed desired to retract So that at length these Commissioners were so sharply threatned that they delivered up the Book to be cancelled Nevertheless they promoted the March of the Army to enlarge their Quarters which afterwards produced the Battel of Ross but some of the Cavalier-party looking upon these Commissioners as Spies procured a Reprimand to the Lords Justices for suffering them to sit covered in the Council-chamber and the King 's positive Orders for their Return which was performed the Twenty seventh of February to the very great prejudice of the Affairs of Ireland and to the great disgust of the Parliament of England In the mean time the Irish under their General Preston had besieged Ballynakill and Colonel Monk with Six hundred Foot and Two Troops of Horse was sent to relieve it He marched out of Dublin the Fifth day of December and upon his approach the Enemy withdrew from the Siege and politickly marched to a Place of Advantage between the English Army and Dublin Battel of Tymachoo to intercept them in their Return But the Rebels had not so much Courage as Cunning for tho' they were Fourteen hundred Foot and Three hundred Horse yet upon the loss of about Threescore that were slain upon the first Volley they basely ran away and left the Road open for Monk to march to Dublin In like manner Sir Richard Greenvill with Two hundred Horse and One thousand Foot on the Twentieth of January marched to raise the Siege of Athloan and carry Supplies to that Garison both which he effected but in his Return he was encountred by Three thousand four hundred Foot Battel of Raconell and Six Troops of Horse at Raconell in a place of great disadvantage to him Nevertheless he had the good fortune to defeat the Rebels with the slaughter of Two hundred and fifty of their Men and to take the General Preston's eldest Son and some other Prisoners But that which rendred this Victory the more valuable was an ancient Prophecy That whoever won the Battel of Raconell should gain all Ireland therefore this Victory troubled and discouraged the Superstitious Irish exceedingly But we must return to the Lords Justices who in November 1642. transmitted to His Majesty a Petition from the Confederates by the Name of The Roman Catholicks of Ireland desiring His Majesty to appoint Commissioners to hear their Grievances And accordingly a Commission was brought over by Thomas Burk one of the first Rebels and by him confidently delivered at the Council-Board to the admiration of the State It impowered the Marquis of Ormond the Earls of Clanrickard and Roscomon Sir Maurice Eustace and others to hear and report their Complaints and in order to it the Three last went to Trim where the Lord Gormanstown Sir Lucas Dillon Sir Robert Talbot and John Walsh the Confederates Agents on the Seventeenth of March 1642. presented a Remonstrance of Grievances which one truly calls an Infamous Pamphlet and contains so much false Reasoning and Arguments ex post facto and downright Untruths as clearly manifests That the Irish first resolved to rebel and then set their Lawyers and Divines on work to fish for Arguments to justifie or at least excuse it But there was an Answer printed 1644. entitled An Answer to the false and scandalous Remonstrance of the inhuman and bloody Rebels of Ireland which sufficiently confuted all their vain Pretences and both of them being essentially necessary to this History are in substance added Appendix 5 6. But this Remonstrance met with better Fortune in the Irish Parliament which sat the Ninth of April for the English were then unluckily dividing into the Factions of Protestant and Puritan and some of the former very unwisely to back their Arguments against that Remonstrance compared it with the Scots Covenant which engendred such Heats in the House that the Parliament was prorogued to the Sixth of May 1643. However the Protestant Army did not neglect to sollicit their Affairs in England but by their Agents Sir James Mongomery Sir Hardress Waller Colonel Hill and Colonel Mervin they Addressed first to the Parliament to whom the King had committed the Care of Ireland and afterwards
they presented a handsom Address to His Majesty at Oxford quod vide Burlace 112. and on the First of December they received the following Gracious Answer from the King THat His Majesty hath since the beginning of that monstrous Rebellion had no greater Sorrow than for the Bleeding Condition of that His Kingdom and as He hath by all Means laboured that timely Relief might be afforded to the same and consented to all Propositions how disadvantagious soever to Himself that have been offered Him for that purpose and at first recommended their Condition to Both Houses of Parliament and immediately of His own mere Motion sent over several Commissions and caused some Proportion of Arms and Ammunition which the Petitioners well know to have been a great Support to the Northern Parts of that Kingdom to be conveyed to them out of Scotland and offered to find Ten thousand Voluntiers to undertake that War but hath often since prest by many several Messages that sufficient Succours might be hastned thither and other Matters of smaller Importance laid by which did divert it and offered and most really intended in His own Royal Person to have undergone the Danger of that War for the Defence of His Good Subjects and the Chastisement of those perfidious and barbarous Rebels and in His several Expressions of His Desires of Treaty and Peace hath declared the miserable present Condition and certain future Loss of Ireland to be one of His principal Motives most earnestly to desire that the present Distraction of this Kingdom might be compos'd and that others would concur with Him to the same End So His Majesty is well pleased that His Offers Concurrence Actions and Expressions are so rightly understood by the Petitioners and those who have imployed them notwithstanding the groundless and horrid Aspersions which have been cast upon Him but wishes That instead of a mere General Complaint to which His Majesty can make no Return but of Compassion they could have digested and offered to Him any such Desires by consenting to which He might convey at least in some degree Comfort and Life to that gasping Kingdom preserve His Distressed and Loyal Subjects of the same from inevitable perishing and the True Protestant Religion from being scorn'd and trampled on by those Merciless and Idolatrous Rebels And if the Petitioners can yet think on any such and propose to his Majesty He assures them That by his readiness to Consent and his Thanks to them for the Proposal he will make it appear to them that their most pressing personal Sufferings cannot make them more desirous of relief than his Care of the true Religion and of his faithful Subjects and of that Duty which obliges him to his Power to protect both renders him desirous to afford it to them But whatever good words the Irish Protestant Committee met with it is certain they got but very little Assistance so that the Lords Justices were reduced to the last Extremity whereupon they ordered the Citizens of Dublin to bring in half their Plate to be Coyned promising that they should be satisfied for it out of the next Supply and upon this Proclamation Twelve hundred Pounds worth of Plate was brought in Tho there were but three Papists that sent in any But it is time to return to the Army which was in great straits in Dublin and exceedingly oppressive to the Inhabitants it was therefore ordered they should enlarge their Quarters and the Lords Justices and some others having Coyned their own Plate to enable it to march It did accordingly issue out of Dublin to the number of Two thousand five hundred Foot and Five hundred Horse under the Marquess of Ormond on the Second of March and on the Third took Castlemartin and Tully and on the Fourth took Tymolin with the Slaughter of One hundred Rebels and on the Twelfth they came before the Town of Ross and having made a Breach in the Walls they assaulted it but without effect whereupon the Irish Army under General Preston consisting of Six thousand Foot and Six hundred and fifty Horse drew so near that they sent a considerable Supply into the Town and put a necessity upon the English Army not only to draw off from the Siege but also to give them Battel whereupon some of the Horse really suspected that Ormond had betrayed them and tho' most of them were Men of known Courage yet they fled very early and before the Battel was well begun however Ormond maintained the fight with his Infantry and the Horse that staid with him and at the same time gave Demonstration both of his Integrity Battel of Ross 18th of March 1642. and of that Presence of mind which was natural to him and never left him in the greatest Adversity and the issue was a compleat and entire Victory over the Irish Army whereof Lieutenant General Cullen and the rest of the Prisoners and the Baggage that was taken were undeniable Evidences nevertheless there were not above Three hundred of the Rebels slain in this Battel but many of them were principal Commanders and Persons of Note In Munster 1642. Affairs were managed this Year with alternate Success the English prospered well enough in the County of Cork but suffered in most other parts of the Province in April the valiant Bandonians took the Castle of Downdaniel and killed One hundred Rebels near Powlalong and got considerable Booty in both places and afterwards being assisted by the English at Kinsale they did on the Fourth of May take the strong Castle of Carriginass and the next day the Castle of Powlalong was surrendred to them and the Castle of Kilgoban was deserted by the Ward And about the same time Captain Scurlock with about Seven hundred Rebels of the County of Waterford made a brisk Attempt on Capoquin but the valiant Governour Captain Crocker with One hundred Men encountred him in the Town and killed Scurlock and routed his Forces On the Eighteenth of May the Lord of Insiquin defeated a Party of Irish in the Barony of Fermoy and killed above One hundred of them and on the Nineteenth Colonel Brocket Landed at Kinsale with Four hundred and sixty Men of Sir John Pawlett's Regiment of Foot whereupon Mountlong was deserted by the Irish on the Twenty fifth and the same day the Castle of Ballincolly was taken by the Lord President and on the Twenty ninth the Castles of Coolmain and Kilbrittain were taken by the Bandonians as the Castle of Cloleigh was on the Twenty third of July by the Earl of Barrymore But in the midst of these small Victories the Lord President Saintleger died at Cork on the Second of July whereupon the Government of that Province in civil Matters was committed to the Earl of Barymore and Lord of Insiquin but the Military Affairs were subjected to the Lord of Insiquin's sole Command And on the Fourth of July the Lord Broghill on his return from the relief of Knockmone met a Party of Rebels strongly
posted near Capoquin with a small Wood at their Backs and tho' he had but Sixty Horse and One hundred and forty Foot yet he boldly Charged them and killed two of their best Captains and Two hundred of their Soldiers with the loss of onely one English Man On the Ninth of August the Castle of Glin was taken by the Lord Forbes who came with his Fleet from before Gallway and Sailed up the River of Shanon and on the Twenty first the Lords Dungarvan and Broghill took the Castle of Ardmore with the Saughter of One hundred and forty of the Rebels But Provisions beginning to grow scant the Lord Insiquin drew out One thousand eight hundred Foot and Three hundred and sixty Horse and near Liscaroll met with the Irish Army under the Lord Mountgarret who was accompanied by the Lords Muskery Roch Ikerin Dunboin Castleconnel and Brittas and it came 〈◊〉 a smart Battel on the Third of September wherein the English were Victorious and killed Seven hundred of the Rebels and took Fifty â—sisoners and one piece of Cannon and two Field Pieces without any loss on the English side except that of the valiant Lord Viscount Kinalmeaky who was slain in the beginning of the Fight by a shot in his Neck and Sixteen private Soldiers In this Battel the noble Earl of Cork who never begrudged what he ventured for the Service of his King and Country had no less than four Sons viz. the Lords of Dungarvan Kinalmeky and Broghill and Mr. Francis Boyle since Viscount Shanon About the same time the Lord Forbes with his Regiment Landed at Kinsale and marched to Bandon and being joyned with Three Bandon Companies of Foot and some Horse they went to Rathbarry to relieve Captain Freak who had been besieged there since the Fourteenth of February but when they came to Cloghnikilty on the Eighteenth of October they thought fit to leave Two Scotch Companies and one Bandon Company there to secure that Town till their Return but it was not long after their Departure before a numerous Rabble of the Irish rushed upon them from all sides whereupon Groves who Commanded the Bandon Company advised to retreat towards their main Body which was not above four Miles from them but the Scots thought that dishonourable and refused and the Consequence was That the two Companies of Scots were cut in pieces but Groves valiantly made good his retreat a full Mile to an Old Danes Fort in the way to Ross which he justified manfully till the rest of the Forces came up to him and then they fell upon the Irish and forced them into the Island of 〈◊〉 and the Tide being in above Six hundred of them were killed and drowned whereupon the English marched to Cloghnikilty and relieved a great number of Men Women and Children which were imprison'd in the Market-house purposely to be burnt together â—ith the House to make a Bonâ—iâ—e for joy of the easie Victory they promised themselves over the rest of the Lord Forbes his Party After the Death of the Lord of Kinalmeaky Colonel Râ—â—land Saintleger was made Governour of Bandon in whose time it happened that the Troops of Bandon and Kingsale had appointed to meet at a day prefixed and to take a Prey but the Rebels who were at Kilcrea had notice of it and believing that the Troop had marched abroad according to the Appointment they boldly came to Bandon and took away the Cattel belonging to the Town but the Troop being by some Accident delayed in Town longer than they designed were just ready mounted when this Adventure happened so that they immediately issued out and recovered the Prey at Brinny Bridge and slew Fifty of the Tories in Killmore Bog without the loss of one Man But these small Victories were balanced by some considerable Successes of the Irish for the strong Castle of Limerick which had been besieged since the Fifteenth of January was surrendred to them on the Twenty third of June and the Castle of Askeaton submitted to the same Fate on the Fourteenth of August after nine Months Siege as Castlematrix likewise did not long after Neither was it a small Misfortune to the English that about this time both Dean Gray and Archdeacon Byss who were Commissioners to enquire into the English Losses in Munster met with their Destiny the former dying at Bandon and Byss the Survivor who had all the Papers and Examinations was murdered by the Rebels on the Way to Youghall ☜ and this is the true Reason why there is no particular full Account extant of the Murders and Losses in Munster And it is very observable that the Rebels took very few places by force but either want of Necessaries or Promise of good Conditions prevail'd with the English to surrender and it is no less wonder that the English would trust to any Articles from a perfidious People that had so often violated their Faith Nevertheless every day afforded Instances of their sâ—â—essful Treachery and besides what is already mentioned Gloghleigâ— and Cool are additional Examples in the former was a considerable Garison to whom Richard Condon promised Quarter and Convoy to Castlelyons whereupon they surrendred and for their Folly were every one murdered wounded or kept Prisoners And in Cool were 36 Troopers of the Earl of Barrimores to whom the same Condon promised the like Quarter Upon the Faith of a Soldier and a Christian but nevertheless murdered them all except one who had 36 Wounds and was left for dead And in Connaught the Town of Gallway did in the later end of April submit unto the Earl of Clanrickard who was Governor of that County and was by him taken into Protection until the Pleasure of his Majesty then expected over should be known but the Lords Justices did not approve of that Protection unless the Town would admit of an English Garison However Clanrickard made use of that Opportunity to relieve the Fort of Galway wherein the Archbishop of Tuam and 36 Ministers and many more English were in very great distress And about the middle of July the Lord President drew out his small Forces into the County of Mâ—yo Battle of Ballintobber where not far from Ballintobber they met with the Irish Army which was more than double their Number Nevertheless the English obtained an easie Victory over them and killed near 2000 of the Enemy and on the First day of the same Month Sir Frederick Hamilton took the Town of Sligo and slew 300 of the Rebels and afterwards routed Owen O Rourk who in his Absence had with 1000 Men besieged his Castle of Mannor Hamilton And about August the Lord Forbes came into the Bay of Gaâ—â—ay and landed some Guns and seized on the Abby and being joyn'd by the Lord President and the Earl of Clanrickard they pretended to besiege the Town but they wanted Necessaries and therefore the Lord Forbes compounded with the Town for a Sum of Money which was never paid and drew off from
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
Attempt upon Cappoquin but were on the Twenty Seventh of June repulsed thence with Loss and on the Second of July the Earl of Castlehaven met with the same Fate at Lismore and then marched towards Leinster And on the First of July Colonel Myn beat the Irish on the Plain on the Northside of Tymoleague River and soon after took the Castles of Tymoleague Aghamilly and Rathbarry But in Connaught the Protestant Affairs were in a worse Condition for tho' they made a shift to repell the Incursions of Owen Roe and at lenghth to drive him out of that Province yet in August the Fort of Gallway was surrendred to the Irish whereupon the Rebels marched to the Siege of Castlecoot to which the Town of Gallway contributed Three hundred Pound and altho' the Irish had Notice of a Cessation by a Messenger sent on purpose yet they imprisoned him as a Spy and shot the more furiously against the Castle ☞ until at length perceiving their Labour was in vain they claimed the benefit of the Cessation to secure their retreat And in Ulster I find no other Account than what Monroe gives in his Letter of the Twenty third of May viz. that with Two thousand Foot and Three hundred Horse he did beat Owen Roe and his Son and Sir Phelim O Neal being joyned together with their Forces and compelled them to return to Charlemont after quitting the Generals House to be burnt and spoiled by them with all the Houses in Loghgall being the best Plantation in Ulster and the straightest for defence of the Rebels Peview 81. only that my Lord of Castlehaven says that Colonel Mervin and Sir Theophilus Jones and the English had a hand in this Victory and so we are come to the Treaty of the Cessation which was managed in this manner On the Twenty third of June 1643. the Irish Commissioners viz. the Lord Gormanstown the Lord Muskery Sir Lucas Dillon Sir Robert Talbot Tirlogh O Neil Geoffery Brown Ever Macgenis and John Walsh presented themselves unto the Marquess of Ormond in his Tent near Castlemartin his Lordship sitting in his Chair covered and they uncovered his Lordship told them He was come according to their Desires and expected their Propositions in writing and the next day they desired a sight of his Commission alledging that they were ready to shew theirs and give a Copy and since no Body was named in the Kings Commission but his Lordship and their Authority was likewise to treat with him only they desired The Negotiation might be kept secret and concealed from all others till the matter be fully concluded To which the Marquess replyed That for the way of proceeding he was by his Majesty trusted therewith and should do nothing therein but what he conceived to be fit then having received a Copy of their Commission and sent them a Copy of His Majesties Letter of the Third of May 1643 and Promised them upon conclusion of the Treaty a Copy of his Majesties Letter of the Twenty third of April 1643 they tendered Propositions and having agreed that the time of the Cessation should be a Twelvemonth the Marquess proposed that they would first declare what they would contribute towards the support of His Majesties Army during the Cessation to which they Answer That when they know what they have to give they assist His Majesty according to their utmost Abilities as upon all occasions they have heretofore done The next meeting was at Siggingstown where on the Twenty eighth of June they declared That the Cessation being first agreed upon they will treat of Supply and not before on the Twenty ninth the Marquess not admitting the Name or Title attributed by the Commissioners to their Party nor the Protestation That they took Arms in defence of their Religion His Majesties Rights and Prerogatives and the Liberties of this Kingdom and no ways to oppose His Majesties Authority gave an Answer in writing to their Proposals and Tacked to it Four demands viz. 1. For supply 2. A Declaration how far the Quarters of each Party extended 3. For Caution of Payment of such Supply as they should Promise And 4. That all Castles Towns Forts and Houses that may be taken during the Treaty should be restor'd on the Cessation Hereupon the Treaty was adjourn'd that the Commissioners might consult their Principals and then 12 July from Kilkenny they answer to the First That 't is not warranted by His Majesty's Letter however on the Conclusion of the Cessation they will do what is fit To the Second They agree to settle that Point To the Third That a Free Gift needs no Caution and for performance of Articles they will agree to an Equal Course at Meeting And to the Fourth if reduc'd to Particulars they will answer it at the next Congress On the Fifteenth of July Ormond writes to them That tho' their Answers are neither so particular nor so satisfactory as he expected yet he design'd to meet them but that his necessary Attendance on other Business prevents it which being over they shall have timely notice of a Day of Meeting To this on the Nineteenth of July the Irish Commissioners reply That they are loth to give an ill Construction of this Delay until they know of that Service that taketh place of This but must take notice that they meet in These as in all other Proceedings whereby they may have any expectation to enjoy the Benefit of His Majesty's Grace and Favour some Interruption and Slackness in conveying any part of His Good Intentions to His Faithful Subjects the Catholicks of Ireland which they may add to their other Grievances and will endeavour in discharge of the many Harms which may ensue by reason of this Protraction to have it rightly represented to His Majesty To this smart Reply Ormond on the Twenty first of July return'd this Answer That he was not accountable with the Knowledge of any of his Majesty's Services wherewith he had the Honor to be intrusted to any but His Majesty That nevertheless they were not ignorant of the Cause of that Interruption since their General Preston with their Forces approach'd so near as Castle Carbery in the County of Kildare But on the Fifth of August the Lords Justices Borlace and Titchborn together with the Marquis of Ormond sent the Commissioners a Letter importing That they had received His Majesty's Letter authorizing Them to conclude a Cessation for a Year and that pursuant to it Ormond would meet the Commissioners at Sigginstown on the Seventeenth of August and proceed where he left off But afterwards at the desire of the Confederates Note In the New Commission Lord Gormanstown was omitted and Nicholas Plunket and Sir Richard Barnwall were added their Commissioners being dispersed the Meeting was appointed the Twenty sixth of August and then insisting upon the Title Name and Protestation aforesaid they give a Reply in Writing to the Answers formerly given by the Marquis On the Twenty eighth of August
Ormond answers that Reply and the Twenty ninth of August they answer that And so after many alternate Messages and Expostulations on the First of September they began to ascertain the respective Quarters and the Irish Commissioners having on the Second of September proposed That the Limitation of Quarters should relate to the Day of Concluding the Cessation the Marquis of Ormond on the Third of September did offer a Temporary Cessation from that Day that they might be at the more leisure to manage the Treaty To which they answer the same day That the Lord Moor and Colonel Monk had invaded their Quarters and Garison'd some Undefencible Houses and Castles and if those be restor'd they are contented that both Armies may withdraw to their respective Garisons Ormond replies That he will consent to withdraw both Armies and as to the Restitution of Places it shall be considered in the Settlement of the Quarters and that many of those called Undefencible Places tho' not thought worthy of a Garison yet were for a long time absolutely in his Power and in the English Quarters and some of them not far from the Gates of Dublin and therefore not fit to be restor'd On the Fifth of September they proceeded about limiting the respective Quarters and on the Sixth of September Ormond writes to them That he heard their Forees besieged Tully a Garison Commanded by Sir George Wentworth who was imployed in procuring Necessary Provisions for him and desires the Siege might be rais'd But the Commissioners reply'd That Monk went to Wicklow the Twenty sixth of August and continues there ravaging and destroying the Country That this very Garison of Tully took away the Corn at Madingstown and therefore they could not hinder a Reprisal but if any of his Lordships Provisions be intercepted they shall be restor'd On the Seventh of September Ormond insisted on withdrawing their Forces from Tully and thereupon they sent an Order to Castlehaven to draw off his Army knowing I suppose that he had taken the Castle and propos'd a Temporary Cessation to the Marquis On the Eighth of September Ormond proposes That the Protestant Clergy and Proprietors may have a Proportion of their Estates in the Irish Quarters to support them and that where Goods were delivered in trust to any Irishman they may be restor'd On the Ninth Quarters were setled and the Preservation of Woods agreed upon but for the Clergy and Proprietors nothing could be done because the Cessation was Temporary and Sufferings of that kind they said were reciprocal On the Tenth of September the Irish Commissioners denied to continue a Cessation as to the County of Kildare unless it may be for the whole Province of Leinster which Ormond would not consent to Then they offered a Supply of Thirty thousand Pounds but on the Eleventh the Marquiss sent a Message to the Commissioners to order the Earl of Castlehaven to forbear farther Acts of Hostility since the Treaty was so near a Conclusion which they did and Ormond did the like to his Forces But it seems Castlehaven notwithstanding their publick Orders knew their private Meaning and therefore marched farther off to the Castle of Disert in the Queens County which he took after the Cessation was finished But on the Twelfth they insisted upon the Name and Title of His Majesty's most Faithful Subjects the Catholicks of Ireland and said That they used it in their immediate Addresses to the King but Ormond replied That he held it not proper at that time to be used to him On the Thirteenth they agreed That the Quarters should relate to the Day of the concluding the Cessation but the Marquis insisted That it was indecent for them to use Force in the County where His Majesty's Commission of Favour was executing and therefore required the Restitution of what they had taken in the County of Kildare since the last of August But on the Fourteenth of September this was refused on pretence that the English had incroach'd upon them in the same County by Garisoning undefensible Places but they offered the fourth Sheaf of Tully and all such Places so subdu'd or 800 l. in lieu of it The Marquis then propos'd to have the Cessation declar'd as from that time since all was agreed but the Commissioners said the Articles might be perfected by next day Noon and till then the Cessation could not be said to be made And so on the Fifteenth day of September the Cessation was concluded and the Articles and Instrument mentioned Appendix 16. were perfected and a Proclamation by the Lords Justices and Council for the Observation thereof issued accordingly bearing date at Dublin the Nineteenth day of September 1643. and Circular Letters were likewise sent by them to all Parts of the Kingdom to give Obedience thereunto But before the Marquis of Ormond would finish this Treaty he consulted all the Great Men and the Chief Commanders then with him who gave their Opinions as in the following Instrument is contained WHEREAS the Lord Marquis of Ormond hath demanded the Opinions as well of the Members appointed from the Council-board to assist his Lordship in the present Treaty as of other Persons of Honor and Command that have since the beginning thereof repaired out of several Parts of this Kingdom to his Lordship They therefore seriously considering how much His Majesty's Army here hath already suffered through want of Relief out of England though the same was often pressed and importuned by His most Gracious Majesty who hath left nothing unattempted which might conduce to their Support and Maintenance and unto what common Misery not only the Officers and Soldiers but others also His Majesty's good Subjects within this Kingdom are reduc'd And further considering how many of His Majesty's Principal Forts and Places of Strength are at this present in great distress and the imminent Danger the Kingdom is like to fall into And finding no possibility of prosecuting this War without large Supplies whereof they can apprehend no hope nor possibility in due time They far these Causes do conceive it necessary for His Majesty's Honor and Service That the said Lord Marquis assent to a Cessation of Arms for one whole Year on the Articles and Conditions this day drawn up and to be perfected by virtue of His Majesty's Commission for the Preservation of this Kingdom of Ireland Witness our Hands the Fifteenth day of September 1643. Clanrickards St. Albans Roscomon Richard Dungarvan Edward Brabazon Inchiquin Thomas Lucas James Ware Michael Ernly Foulk Hunks John Pawlet Maurice Eustace Edward Povey John Gifford Philip Persival Richard Gibson Henry Warren Alanus Cooke Advocatus Regis But the News of this Cessation met with different Entertainment according to the Interests and Inclinations of those it was carried to At the Court of England it was received with Joy and Ormond's Conduct and Fidelity magnified beyond measure It was admired that he could preserve His Majesty's Grandeur throughout the whole Treaty by not admitting the
Cessation pretending that they were just then come to hand and that he was sorry they did not come sooner 2. By the like Action in continuing the Siege of Castle Coot after notice of the Cessation as aforesaid 3. By Publishing the Pope's Bull after the Cessation which was an Encouragement to the Rebels to persist in their Rebellion and did seduce others of the Papists that were not then engaged in it 4. By taking 369 Head of Cattel from the Suburbs of Dublin on the 18th of September 5. By seizing on the Black Castle of Wicklow and murdering the Protestants there And 6. In not sending any formed Troops or Regiments to the King's Assistance as they promised to do And lastly In not paying the 30800 l. according to Agreement But if we are curious to know what was done in England in reference to the Affairs of Ireland we may find That on the 5th of May Sir Robert King Mr. Jepson and Mr. Hill waited on His Majesty with a Bill For a speedy Payment of Moneys subscribed towards the Reducing the Rebels in Ireland Husbands 2. Part. 161. which yet remains unpaid which they prayed Him to pass into an Act but His Majesty desired first to be satisfied how the rest of that Money was disposed of and how he should be secured that what is yet unreceived shall not be misemployed and whether it be fit to compel voluntary Subscribers by a greater Penalty than was at first made known to them viz. The loss of what they have already paid and whether the Power given by this new Bill to Warner Towse and Andrews whose Integrity he has no assurance of be not too great and whether Purchasers and Creditors may not be prejudiced by the Extents mentioned in this new Act. And on the 16th of June both Houses issued a Declaration purporting That the Kingdom of Ireland is in a sad condition but that the Papists are in as much want as the Protestants and therefore if the later were well supplied the former would be easily subdued that their Ambition to be independent from England and their inveterate Hatred against the Protestant Religion Ibid. 217. have been the causes of their Barbarousness to the English that they have been assisted by the Catholicks of other Countries And can it be say they that God's Enemies should be more violent and indefatigable for restoring Idolatry in a Kingdom foreign to theirs than we zealous in propugning God's Truth in our own against Barbarous Traytors and Monstrous Idolaters Shall the common Incendiaries of both Kingdoms strip themselves of all they have to accomplish our Destruction by devouring that rich and fruitful Island And shall the good People of this Nation of the same Blood and Religion with them think any thing too dear to redeem them seeing thereby we secure our selves by preventing the Rebels from coming hither We will therefore even in this distracted time assess 200000 l. on the Kingdom of England to be paid in two Years which will give credit for the present Relief of the Starving condition of Ireland and shall be reprized to the several Counties in the nature of the Adventurers for Land in Ireland Therefore we cannot doubt of chearful Submission hereunto since we cannot expect that God should bless us if we be wanting to our distressed Brethren and indeed to our selves for the malice of the Rebels is such that if they can root us out of that Kingdom they will not despair of extirpating us out of this and therefore we recommend all well-affected persons to a liberal Contribution to such a pious and commendable Work And on the 14th of July they issued another Declaration Ibid. 233. for the farther encouragement of Adventurers And on the 25th of July the Parliament publish'd their long Declaration which deduces the Affairs of Ireland historically from the beginning of the King's Reign and concludes that the Irish Rebellion was projected and incited by those Councils then prevalent with the King and that the Queen and her Priests and the Papists of all the three Kingdoms have been principal Actors and Sticklers therein And on the 5th of September they made an Ordinance That no man upon pain of losing his Ship do transport any Person out of Ireland into England without license c. And on the 18th they made an Ordinance for a Collection for the Clergy of Ireland and on the 18th of October they made a Weekly Assessment for the Support of such Forces in Ireland as oppose the Cessation and on the 24th they order That no Irish man or Papist born in Ireland shall have Quarter in England and in November they ordered That the Solemn League and Covenant should be taken in Ireland But the Cessation being confirmed by Patent under the Great Seal the Lieutenant General pursuant to His Majesty 's repeated Orders was busie in sending Forces to the Kings Assistance in England and because the Soldiers were generally very unwilling to fight against their own Country men whilst the Irish Rebels would insult over their distressed Companions and Relations that should be left behind there was an Oath of Fidelity contrived Sâ—e it Burlace 133. which every one of them were forced to take and several Penal Edicts were published against those who should desert or return and so in January the Regiments of Sir Michael Ernly Sir Richard Fleetwood Colonel Monk Colonel Gibson Colonel Warren c. were sent from Leinster as Sir William Saintleger and Colonel Myn were from Munster and though most of the former met with their Destiny at Nantwich and the later at the Siege of Glocester yet the arrival of these and other Forces out of Ireland did influence the Parliament to consent to the Treaty at Uxbridge which nevertheless did not produce that happy effect which all good men desired And little more than this was done in Ireland except Contests about setting out of Quarters and other Executions of the Articles of Cessation which shall be mentioned in each Province apart and the Preparations for the Treaty at Oxford which shall also be taken notice of in our account of that matter until the 21th day of January at which time JAMES Marquis of ORMOND was sworn Lord-Lieutenant at Christchurch in Dublin and took the following Oath Viz. You shall swear That you shall faithfully and truly to your power serve our Sovereign Lord the King's Majesty in the Room and Authority of Lord Lieutenant and Chief Governor of this His Realm of Ireland you shall maintain and defend the Laws of God and the Christian Faith you shall to your power not only keep His Majesty's Peace amongst His People but also maintain His Officers and Ministers in the Execution and Administration of Justice you shall defend His Majesties Castles Garisons Dominions People and Subjects of this Realm and repress His Rebels and Enemies you shall not consent to the Damage and Disherison of His Majesty His Heirs nor Successors neither shall you
Croning desired him to meet a certain Lord the next day which Muschamp did and being first obliged to Secrecy saving liberty to communicate his mind to an Ecclesiastical Friend that Lord told him plainly That if he would surrender the Fort of Cork into his hand he should have the Lord Marquis of Ormond ' s warrant for it and for his Reward great Promotion Muschamp said he was willing to observe the Marquis his Command provided he saw an Authentick Warrant whereupon the aforesaid Lord pulled forth a Warrant written with the Marquis his own hand as he pretended importing That whereas he the Marquis was disabled to put necessary Provisions of Victuals and Ammunition into the Fort of Cork for the present Defence thereof that therefore he Muschamp was required to deliver up the same into the hands of the aforesaid Lord assuring him That whatever Conditions that Lord should condescend unto his Excellency would confirm them Hereat Muschamp being astonished did nevertheless promise to perform the Contents if his Lordship would give him the Warrant but his Lordship told him He must perform the Work first but Muschamp thought that preposterous his Lordship replyed That then he might write to his Excellency for farther satisfaction and so they parted and Muschamp discovered all to the Lord Insiquin as he was pre-engaged to do and though by Insiquin's advice Muschamp sent twice to the aforesaid Lord for a Copy of the Warrant yet he could get no other answer but That it was sent back to the Marquis of Ormond and all this Major Muschamp declared upon Oath before a Council of War At the Discovery of this Contrivance the poor English were amazed and enraged they thought it equally improbable that Ormond should give such an Order or any body else should pretend it if it were not so But as soon as the Noise of this Affair reached the Lord Lieutenant's ears he did not fail to do Justice to his own Reputation by a severe Expostulation with that Lord which produced this following Letter May it please Your Excellency I Have received Your Letter of the 25th of the last wherein you are pleased to Command me to deliver my Knowledge in a Report given out by one Major Muschampe wherein your Excellency as you are pleased to take notice finds your Self highly concerned My Lord before I shall proceed to deliver my Knowledge of that Business in the first place I shall crave your Excellency's Pardon if for compassing my own Ends it shall appear that I have made use of your Excellency's Name without warrant through which there may arise any Blame or Blemish to your Lordship this being granted me all that I can remember is as followeth It is very true my Lord Muschamp employed one of his Friends unto me signifying his dislike of my Lord of Inchequin whom he found to be entirely in his Actions and Resolutions for the Parliament and therefore thought fit to seek my Advice to put him in a present way whereby he may secure the Fort for His Majesty's Service Truly my Lord I was loth to lose such an Opportunity to do my Country Service and immediately returned him an Answer to meet me the next day after at a Castle of mine which he performed that day or the next day after as near as I can remember and upon our meeting he being sworn to Secrecy in all things I moved unto him concerning the Fort to which he seemed to incline making great Expressions and Fervency in all respects to preserve his Loyalty and to observe upon the least inclination or notice any Commands that should come unto him from your Excellency Then upon further Discourse he fell to wish I had the Fort in my Possession so he were sure that the Party whereof I was and my Self were for the King to which I answered That by the good Countenance and Usage the rest of the Commissioners and my Self had in England and our coming without Rub or Interruption from thence might in some sort assure him thereof which proving not altogether satisfactory unto him he replyed That if he had seen any Directions from your Excellency for him to dispose of the Place he would obey it to the loss of his Life and deliver it either unto me or any body else your Lordship would appoint which I apprehended a Business much conducing to His Majesty ' s Service and the Preservation of this Province against the Rebels in England into whose hands I was assured the same should be put as now it is and presuming that it would not have been prejudicial to His Majesty or your Lordship for me to use any Slight or Means to get it out of their hands I presumed to frame a Warrant in your Lordship's Name authorizing him to Surrender me that Hold to His Majesty's Use and that your Lordship had received sufficient Assurance from me to redeliver it upon Demand which I read unto him he would have it into his own hands as he alledged for his Justification but I insisted that I would not part with the Instrument until the Work were accomplished according to the Directions whereupon he took time to prepare and consider of the Business for two days as near as I can remember and then he was to send his farther Resolution unto me or to appoint another Meeting and since I have not heard any thing from him but within six days after I could hear that he discovered it unto my Lord of Insiquin and some others at a Council of War My Lord he thought to catch me and I was hopeful to catch him and if in the Progress or Carriage of the Matter I have said or done any thing that gives your Lordship cause of Offence I crave your Forgiveness and Pardon Your Lordship may be the more Indulgent unto me in this Particular for that upon my Salvation I had a full Resolution if I had compassed the Place upon those Terms to preserve all the English without any prejudice either in their Lives Religion or Goods and to Surrender it unto your Lordship or such as you would Appoint whensoever your Lordship would call for it My Lord This is the Truth of what passed between Muschamp and me in that place I have no more to add unto it but that I desire if in this I have forfeited any thing of your Lordship's Opinion I may be restored and accounted by your Excellency Your most humble Servant And as to Conaught 1643. after the Cessation was concluded Commissioners were appointed to settle the Quarters of which Major Ormsby was one and Sir Robert Newcomen and Sir George Saint-George were in February made Commissioners or Governours of that Province but the Irish who knew well enough that by the Cessation the Garisons in Conaught were left in a starving Condition did delay the Settlement of the Quarters all that they could so that tho' a meeting was appointed at Roscomon about the middle of February and Major Ormsby accordingly
came thither and watched three days yet none of the Irish Commissioners appeared except only Hugh O Conner who had no Power to Act singly and tho' the Lord Lieutenant had ordered the Irish to send some Beeves to the Garisons of Conaught towards their Subsistence yet did they likewise make such unreasonable Delays in delivering those Beeves being but 200 in all that many of the Soldiers were Starved to Death for want of them and when mere necessity occasioned by the Delay aâ—d Non-performance on the Irish side compelled any of the English to take a Sheep or a Cow presently Complaints were made to the Lord Lieutenant as if the Cessation were broken or as if the whole Country were up in Arms whereupon Orders were issued bearing date the Eighteenth of March and Twenty ninth of March to examine the Irish Complaints against the Garisons of Conaught and particularly against that of Castlecoot and more especially about their Combination with Captain Cambell an Irish Scot and their casting of Ordnance which the Confederates objected against them and accordingly the English Commissioners repaired to the place appointed but the Irish came not the First day and the Second day when they did come they pretended they were not prepared not had a sufficient Commission to proceed then but desired to adjourn to Thursday in Easter week at Roscomon which was agreed to but when that day came the Irish Commissioners did not appear but sent a Letter That Roscomon was not a fit Place and desired to meet at Balmtober near which place their Army lay but the English Commissioners resenting this Third disappointment scorned to make any more Assignations with them well knowing that there was no ground for their Complaint but that it was all Contrivance and Clamour But on the Twenty seventh of April 1641. a Warrant issued to make Henry Viscount Willmot and Thomas Viscount Dillon and the Survivor of them Lords President of the Province of Conaught except the County and Town of Gâ—â—way the Government whereof with Ten Shillings per diem was Granted to the Lord of Clanrickard But it happened not long after 1644. that Major Ormsby being Garisoned in Tulsk which place belonged to Mr. Lane afterwards Lord Lanesburough the Proprietor demanded the House which could not be justly refused him tho' his Right was unseasonable insisted upon at that time because Ormsby had done good Service and was very troublesome to the Irish But the Major perceiving that he must turn out and having no other Convenient place to carry his Soldiers unto he cunningly declared against the Cessation and kept Correspondence with those of that Faction in Ulster and hereupon he preyed upon the Irish to that Degree that his Garison lived whilst most of the rest of the English were Starving insomuch that as many as could did flock to him whereby the other Garisons were left almost empty and so he continued until the Earl of Castlehaven forced him to submit to the Cessation as that Lord wries in his Memoirs but I believe he continued so until his Castle was taken by the Lord Taaf Anno 1645. And as to Ulster 1643. the Scots and all those that had taken the Covenant or were inclined to take it were very much dissatisfied with the Cessation Monroe complained to the Lords Justices That the Scots who were by the Agreement to be paid every Three Months were now Eighteen Months in Arrear and therefore it was hard to put them off with a Cessation however he Promises to avoid Hostility until the Earl of Leven his General be consulted but the Supream Council were so netled at Monroes aversion to the Cessation That they on the Fifteenth of October wrote to the Lords Justices That seeing the Scots continued their Outrages and would admit of the Cessation no farther than stood with their own advantage whereby the Confederates were diverted from assisting the King they who could not accuse themselves of any one hollow thought and detested all subtil Practices and cannot think of serving two Masters or of standing Neuter where their King is Party do desire that none may reside in the Kingdom but good Subjects and that by the joynt Power of such the Opposers or Breakers of the Cessation may be chastised and that till that can be done their Proceedings in Prosecution of them may not be interpreted a Violation of the Truce But in the beginning of the Year 1644. 1644. Monroe published that he had a Commission from the Parliament of England and the Council of Scotland to govern the Province of Ulster whereupon the Lords Mongomery and Blany Sir James Mongomery Sir Robert Stewart Colonel Hill and the Majors Rawden Jones and Gore came to Colonel Chichester at Belfast to consult what was fit to be done but the next Morning being the Fourteenth of May Monroe surprized the Town because Colonel Chichester had made Proclamation against the Covenant which was a little before this time imposed by Order of Parlament and had refused to admit any Scots into the Garison and had sent a Convoy with Colonel Steward and Colonel Seaton Agents to the King and had discountenanced all that were affected to the Covenant or to Monroes Party However Monroe distributed Victuals out of the Magazine to Colonel Chichesters Regiment and quartered them in the adjacent Villages until a little after they went to Dublin and he also wrote very civilly to the Lord Lieutenant but would not restore Belfast according to his Order In the mean time Owen Roe being weakned by the defeat already mentioned and the opposition he still met with from the British in the beginning of Winter left his Troops and Creaghts to shift themselves and came to the General Assembly at Waterford to desire assistance affirming that otherwise he must be forced to retire into the other Provinces Hereupon the Assembly appointed Six thousand Foot and One thousand Horse and Dragoons under the Command of the Earl of Castlehaven to joyn with Four thousand Foot and Four hundred Horse which Owen Roe had promised from Ulster And that nimble General having some time to spare did by the Commands of the Supream Council march part of his Forces to Conaught Memoirs 45. and compelled Burk of Castle Carrow and the Lord Mayo at Castlebar to submit to the Cessation and having done the like to the Ormsbey's in the County of Roscomon he went to his Rendezvouz at Granard about Midsummer 1644. Owen Roe being at the same time near Portlester but hearing that the Enemy approached he was glad to retreat towards Portlester and having left 600 Foot and One hundred Horse to Guard the Bridge of Feynagh over the Jany which had a Castle on his side he thought himself pretty secure but the Scots marched on and the ignorant or as this Earl of Castlehaven styles him the unfortunate Colonel whose business it was to Guard the Pass sends out his Horse to Skirmish having learned from his General That
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
and Justice Cook Assistants and it sat in the same place where the Supream Council us'd to sit Anno 1642. Afterwards the like Court was held at Dublin before the Lord Chief Justice Lowther and others and there Sir Phelim O Neal was tryed condemned and executed and it is observable that being urged both at his Tryal and Execution to discover the Commission he had from the King for the Rebellion of 1641 and that he should be pardoned both for Life and Estate he confess'd in both places That he had no such Commission but that he took the Seal from a Patent he found at Charlemont and fixed it to a Commission he had caused to be written in the King's Name and that Michael Harrison then present in Court and confessing the same was the person that sticht the Cord or Label of the Seal with Silk of the same colour These Commissions issued in the Name of the Commissioners of the Commonwealth of England for the Affairs in Ireland and that for Conaught bore date the 17th day of December 1652 and was signed by Fleetwood Ludlow and Jones and was directed to Sir Charles Coot Peter Stubbers Humphry Hurd Francis Gore John Desborough Thomas Davis Robert Ormsby Robert Clerk Charles Holeroft John Eyre Alexder Staples and others but I mention these because they sat upon the Tryal of the Lord of Mayo which began the 30th of December and ended the 12th of January at which time he was condemned by the Vote of seven of the Commissioners Gore Davis Clerk and Holcroft dissenting and accordingly he was shot to Death on the 15th But his Case being variously reported it will be convenient to give a faithful account of it as it appeared upon the Tryal which was thus Upon the Surrender of Castlebar which was besieged by the old Lord of Mayo and the Prisoner then Sir Tibâ—â—t Burk it was agreed by Articles that the English should march away with their Arms and be safely convoyed to Galway and though they were deprived of their Arms contrary to the Articles yet the Lord of Mayo and his Son the Prisoner with their Followers conveyed them safely to Ballynecarrow and the next day to Ballinroab and the third day to The Neal where they left Sir Henry Bingham on pretence of his being sick but as was suspected to preserve him from the subsequent Massacre the fourth day they came to Kinlagh and the next day to Shrule which it seems was two Mile out of the Road to Galway there they lodged that night and the next morning on the 13th of February 1641 an Ambush was laid on the other side of the Bridge which as soon as the English got over the Bridge fell upon them and by the help of the Convoy murdered about fourscore of the English the Protestant Bishop of Kiâ—lalla and a few others only escaping This matter of fact was thus proved Four Witnesses swore that the Prisoner was present at this Massacre and did not oppose it and that the Convoy were the Murtherers and that the Lord Mayo's Fosterers Servants and Followers were of that number and it was proved that the Lord Mayo the Father engaged by Capitulation to Convey the English safe to Galway and that they were disarmed by his Command and some of them were Plundered and Stript by the way by the Convoy and could get no redress from the Prisoner or his Father that the Convoy pricked forward the English over the Bridge towards the Murderers and the old Lord Mayo went to a little Hill hard by to look on that the Prisoner was seen to come over the Bridge from the Murtherers after several English-men had been killed and had been actually amongst them with his Sword drawn that the Father refused to Convoy them any farther than Shrule and that the Prisoner was the first Man that entered Castlebar after the Capitulation And the substance of the Prisoner's Defence was That he had no Command of the Party but with two Servants only came to attend his Father that on the Outcry he went over the Bridge and drew his Sword with design to preserve the English but being shot at by one of the Murderers he got a Horse having lent his own to the Bishop of Killalla to make his escape and rode away before the Murther was commited and if he had not fled he had been killed himself and that he was kind to the English and preserved many of them both before and after and that the Protestant Bishop of Killalla had declared That he believed this Action was done in spight to the Prisoner and by Letter acknowleged his Civility to himself But to proceed the like High Courts of Justice were held at Cork Waterford c. but so many of the Murtherers had been destroyed by the Sword and the Pestilence that not above two hundred suffered by the hands of the common Executioner In the mean time on the 12th of August they passed in England an Act for the settling of Ireland wherein the Marquess of Ormond the Protestant Bishop of Derry the Earl of Roscomon and the Lord Insiquin were by name excepted from Pardon for Life or Estate equally with many others therein named that were guilty of the first Rebellion And so we are come to the Year 1653 wherein I cannot find any thing that looks like War and yet it was the 26th day of September before it was declared That the Rebels were subdued and the Rebellion appeased and ended Whereupon they immediately proceeded to the Distribution of Lands to the Souldiers for their Arrears and to the Adventurers for their Money And thus ended a REBELLION which began with TREACHERY and CRUELTY and continued with OBSTINACY against all the Tenders of MERCY and the utmost CONCESSIONS a Gracious King could make and was supported by an OATH of ASSOCIATION and Propositions annexed thereunto wherein there is not a word but breaths HIGHTREASON except a few of the first Lines which sets up the KING's NAME and AUTHORITY in PAGEANTRY and MOCKERY to be Crucified and Contradicted by all that follows FINIS A LETTER To the AUTHOR of the History of Ireland CONTAINING A Brief Account of the Transactions in that Kingdom since 1653. SIR I Do very well approve of your resolution to close the Second Part of your History of Ireland with the end of the Irish Rebellion for besides that it is impossible for you at this distance from the Records and Council-Books in Ireland to give so full and satisfactory an Account of that Kingdom from 1653 forwards as you have given of the time before it is certain that the Intrigues of the Acts of Settlement and Court of Claims the Transactions in the late Reign and the present stupendious Revolution will afford matter more than enough for another Volume nor indeed can your History be so compleat as I expect it will be if it were closed with any thing less than the Glorious Issue of the present War However I do not offer this
to excuse my self from communicating to you such Observations as I have made On the contrary I have herewith sent you what I have already collected and will as often as you desire impart to you whatever shall fall under my Notice or Observation that is pertinent to your purpose The Interval between the end of the War and Cromwell's Death affords but little matter for an Historian for it was a time of profound Peace and spent in setting out of Lands setling of Titles in Building and Improvements and in transplanting the Irish into Connaught and imposing the Engagement The Government was managed by Commissioners of Parliament viz. Charles Fleetwood Lieutenant-General of the Army Edmond Ludlow Lieutenant-General of the Horse Miles Corbet John Jones and John Weaver Esquires but the Army was under the sole Conduct of Fleetwood In November 1653. the Commissioners of Delinquency sate at Athlone to determine the Qualifications of the Irish for Transplantation into Connaught and they continued eight Months but did not dispatch Business as was expected and therefore Judg Cook was fain to supply their Defect and some of the other Commissioners removed to Loghreogh to set out Lands to the Irish pursuant to Cook 's Decrees But in Anno 1654. Fleetwood was made Lord Deputy and so continued until August 1655. and then Henry Cromwell was made Commander in Chief of the Army and in the Civil Government Matthew Thomlinson Miles Corbet and Robert Goodwin were in Commission with him and to them Mr. Steel the Chancellor was afterwards added And it was in the year 1655. that the Civil Authority which had been discontinued in Cork since the year 1644. was revived and Sir William 〈◊〉 Maurice Roch Christopher Oliver John Morly John Hodder and other ancient Freemen of the City met and elected John Hodder Mayor and William Hodder and Philip Matthews Sheriffs And in the same year the City and County of Londonderry were restored to the Society of the Governour and Assistants of London of the new Plantation in Ulster within the Realm of Ireland this County being the forfeited Estate of O Cahan and other Irish Septs was by King James granted to this Society under certain Covenants of Improvement whereupon they laid out vast Sums of Money in the Management of that Plantation by building Derry Colerain and twelve Mannor-houses c. But Anno 1636. they were prosecuted in the Star-Chamber on pretence of breach of Articles and their Estates sequestred and Anno 1637. Sir Thomas Fotherly and Sir Ralph Whitfield were Commissioned by the King to make new Leases thereof And tho there did pass a Vote of Parliament Anno 1640. to null the Decree of the Star-Chamber yet by reason of the Irish Rebellion following so soon after they were not restored until this year but Anno 1662. King Charles II. gave a new Charter to this Society under which it flourished till of late But to proceed After Oliver's Death the new Protector made his Brother Henry Cromwell Lord Lieutenant and so he continued until the 7th of May 1659. and then the Parliament sent over Ludlow Jones Thomlinson Corbet and Berry to Govern that Kingdom but Ludlow returned in September so that he was not in Ireland when the following Revolution happened For the People being weary of so many Alterations and Changes and despising the Unsteadiness of the Government were generally inclined to the King's Restauration And this humour being fomented and discreetly managed centred in what they desired The Lords of Montgomery and Broghall Sir Charles Coot Captain Robert Fitz-Gerald Sir Theophilus Jones Sir Oliver Saint-George Sir Awdly Mervin Collonel Mark Trevor Collonel Warren and several others were concerned in this Affair January 1659. They surpriz'd the Castle of Dublin and Jones in it and they seized on Corbet and Thomlinson at a Conventicle in St. Warbert-street and they forced or persuaded Major-General Sir Hardress Waller to comply and so they declared for a Free Parliament The Government being thus in the hands of the Army was managed by a Committee or Council of Officers who upon the Petition of the a Alderman Dee Mayor and Aldermen of Dublin did as they had before design'd summon a Convention By this time the Lord Broghill and Sir Charles Coot were come to Dublin and they projected to suspend the Convention until they had modell'd the Army to their mind and got rid of Sir Hardress Waller But he suspecting their Design seized upon the Castle of Dublin so that they were fain to besiege him and in five days forced him to surrender and then they sent Him Jones Thomlinson and Corbet Prisoners to England But the Victorious Confederates were like to Clash amongst themselves one Party being for Articling with the King for the Confirmation of the Estates of Adventurers and Soldiers and the other Party being for His Majesties Restoration without any previous Condition but at length they agreed in this latter Sentiment and the Convention met on the 7 th of February Sir James Barry being their Chair-man Their first Act was to order a Fast and Humiliation for their Sins amongst which the Murder of the King was Enumerated and all their Actions were suitable to this beginning so that they seemed to contend with England which should be most forward in Restoring the King On the 16 th of February The Council of Officers published their Memorable Declaration for a full and free Parliament and the Re-admission of the Secluded Members in the Parliament of England And pursuant to it the Convention published a Declaration on the 12 th of March to the same purpose and afterwards viz. the 14 th of May they accepted of His Majesties Declaration of the 14 th of April from Breda and cheerfully concurr'd to His Restoration And as soon as this was done the Irish Papists who had fat still all this while and contributed nothing to this great Revolution thought to reap all the Benefit of other Mens Merits insomuch that several of them took Possession of their former Estates and this Grievance was so general that the Convention was necessitated on the 20 th day of May 1660. to issue a Declaration for preserving the Peace and quieting Possessions and on the first of June His Majesty in England issued a Proclamation to the same purpose This Convention gave His Majesty 20000 l. the Duke of York 4000 l. the Duke of Glocester 2000 l. and then leaving a standing Committee to Govern the Nation Adjourn'd till the first day of November following On the 18 th of October His Majesty be Letter approv'd of this Convention and so on the 22 d of January it met again Sir William Dumvill being Chairman and so continued until its Dissolution in May 1661. In the mean time the Government was in the Hands of Sir Charles Coot and Major William Bury who were sided Commissioners of Government and Management of Affairs in Ireland but not long after Sir Maurice Eustace Lord Chancellor Roger Earl of
Bishops Vicars-General Abbots and all others exercising Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction by the Popes Authority and in particular Peter Talbot pretended Archbishop of Dublin for his notorious Disloyalty to Your Majesty and Disobedience and Contempt of Your Laws may be commanded by Proclamation forthwith to depart out of Ireland and all other Your Majesties Dominons or otherwise to be prosecuted according to Law And that all Convents Seminaries and publick Popish Schools may be dissolved and suppressed and the Secular Priests Commanded to depart under the like Penalty 4. That no Irish Papist be admitted to inhabit in any part of that Kingdom unless duly Licensed according to the aforesaid Acts of Settlement And that Your Majesty would be pleased to recal Your Letters of the 26 th of February 1671. and the Proclamation thereupon whereby general license is given to such Papists as Inhabit in Corporations there 5. That Your Majesties Letters of the 28 th of September 1672. and the Order of Council thereupon whereby Your Subjects are required not to prosecute any Actions against the Irish for any Wrongs or Injuries committed during the late Rebellion may likewise be recalled 6. That Collonel Talbot who hath notoriously assumed to himself the Title of Agent of the Roman Catholiks in Ireland be immediatedly dismissed out of all Command Military and Civil and forbidden Access to Your Majesties Court. 7. That Your Majesty would be pleased from time to time out of Your Princely Wisdom to give such further Order and Directions to the Lord Lieutenant or other Governor of Ireland for the time being as may best conduce to the Encouragement of the English Planters and Protestants Interest there and the Suppression of the Insolencies and Disorders of the Irish Papists there These our humble Desires we present to Your Majesety as the best means to preserve the Peace and Safety of that Your Kingdom which hath been so much of late in Danger by the Practices of the said Irish Papists particularly Richard and Peter Talbot and we doubt not but Your Majesty will find the happy Effects thereof to the great Satisfaction and Security of Your Majesties Person and Goverment which of all earthly Things is most dear to Your Majesties most Loyal Subjects But on the 5 th day of August 1672. 1672. Arthur Earl of Essex was Sworn Lord Lieutenant and in September his Excellency and the Council made Rules and Orders for Regulating of Corporations pursuant to a Clause in the Act of Explanation to that purpose And during his Government the Kingdom was very quiet in publick Appearance 1674. for whatever Designs were form'd in favour of Popery were private 1675. and in England and were so dexterously countermined by this Lord Lieutenant that there was but small effect of them perceived in Ireland but his Excellency went for England the day of 1675. leaving the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Granard 1676. Lords Justices who continued so until the return of the Earl of Essex who resumed the Goverment on the day of 1675. But in the beginning of the year 1675. Peter Fox and five more pretending to be Passengers in a very rich Ship in Holland called the St. Peter of Hamburgh bound for France did Murder the Master and three of his Crew and brought the Ship into Ireland but by the Wisdom and Diligence of Robert Southwell Esq Vice-Admiral of Munster five of the Malefactors were taken and executed and a great part of the Cargo preserv'd and secur'd for the right Owners But the Earl of Essex being recalled 1677. James Duke of Ormond was Sworn Lord Lieutenant on the day of August 1677. and that year there was a Popish Regiment raised in Ireland in pretence of Foreign Service but the Duke would give them no Arms so that they were forced to Exercise with Sticks But I should have mentioned That the St. David and forty East-India-Ships and forty Merchant-men arrived at Kingsale in July 1673. where they found a secure Sanctuary until they had Convoy sent them from England and this perhaps might be one motive to the Duke of Ormond the next time he took the Sword to consider the Importance of that Place which is the best Chamber for Shipping in His Majesty's Dominions There it was that the Spaniards landed in the year 1601. and there Sir Jeremy Smith and his Fleet sound a safe retreat Anno 1667. and therefore His Grace founded that Royal Structure of the New Fort of Rincorran which he visited in August 1678. and named Charles Fort and it seems that King James and the French had no less value for this important Place since they chose to land there in March 1688. In September the News of the Popish Plot arrived in Ireland 1678. and thereupon Peter Talbot Titular Archbishop of Dublin was apprehended and made close Prisoner in the Castle of Dublin and on the 11th of October the Lord-Lieutenant Ormond came to Dublin and on the 14th of October His Grace and the Council issued a Proclamation for all Officers and Soldiers to repair to their respective Garisons and Quarters and not to depart from thence without license And on the 16th of October there came out another Proclamation requiring all Titular Archbishops Bishops Vicars-General Abbots and other Dignâ—aries of the Church of Rome and all other exercising Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction by Authority from the Pope as also all Jesuits and other Regular Priests to depart the Kingdom by the 20 th of November and that all Popish Societies Convents Seminaries and Popish Schools should dissolve and separate themselves c. And that they may have convenience of Transportation all Ships outward-bound were by Proclamation of the 6th of November commanded to give timely notice of their departure and to take on board such of the Popish Clergy as desired to go with them And on the 2d of November the Papists were by Proclamation required to bring in their Arms by a certain day which being expired that the Justices c. should search for them And that all Papists that had above one Pound of Powder should send in an Account of their Store On the 20 th of November a Proclamation issued forbidding the Papists from coming into the Castle of Dublin or any other Fort or Cittadel and ordering the Markets of Droghedagh Wexford Cork Limerick Waterford Youghall and Galloway to be kept without the Walls and that no Papists should be suffered to reside or dwell in any Garison except such as had been Inhabitants there by the space of twelve months before and that the Papists should not meet in unusual Numbers or at unreasonable times And the same day issued another Proclamation for a reward of 10 l. for every Commission'd Officer 5 l. for every Trooper and 4 s. for every Foot-Soldier that can be discovered to have gone to Mass since he took the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance And here it will be but Justice to the memory of the Duke of Ormond to
observe That it was a constant Rule with him ever since his coming to the Government in the year 1662. to order the Muster-Master to check the Pay of every Officer and Soldier that did not produce a Certificate of taking the Sacrament twice a year On the 2d of December Circular Letters were sent to the Justices of Peace to make a strict search after the Titular Bishops and Regular Clergy that did not transport themselves according to the Proclamation of the 16th of October and on the 12th of December a Proclamamation issued to quicken the Justices of Peace in searching for Arms c. On the 13th of December issued a Proclamation taking notice of a Letter scattered in the Streets of Dublin intimating a Conspiracy against the Life of the Lord-Lieutenant and promising Protection and Reward of 200 l. to the Discoverer and at length one Jepson a young man newly perverted and two Priests his Abettors were taken and imprison'd for the Fact In the mean time the Lord-Lieutenant took great care to revive the Militia and to Discipline Arm and Array them And on the 26 th of March 1679. there issued a Proclamation to seize the nearest Relations of Tories and to imprison them until such Tories are killed or taken and to apprehend the Popish Priests of every Parish respectively and transport them beyond Seas unless within fourteen days after any Robbery or Murther committed the Criminals be taken killed or discovered And on the same day a Reward of 10 l. for taking a Jesuit or Titular-Bishop was promised by Proclamation And not long afterwards the Lord-Lieutenant and Council by their Letter ordered the Popish Inhabitants to be removed from Galloway Limerick Waterford Clonmell Kilkenny and Droghedagh except some few Trading Merchants Artificers and others necessary for the said Towns and Garisons and by vertue thereof many were expelled but by the stupidity of the Protestants and at their request and upon their Security the Papists were readmitted into those Towns Some time before this there was a great blow given to Popery by the Conversion of Dr. Andrew Sall a Learned and a Pious Man He had been a Jesuit of the Fourth Vow and in great esteem amongst that Party He was afterwards made one of the King's Chaplains and continued a good Protestant till his death On the 3 d of April 1680. the Earl of Anglesey wrote to the Lord-Lieutenant That Hetherington is sent over to Ireland to make good his Information if he can and that it is His Majesty's absolute and unalterable pleasure advised by all the Council to have every individual of the Popish Clergy seized and imprisoned till they petition to be sent over Seas and promise never to return or practice against the State for there is no other way to cure their Madness And that there are those in England that will undertake to apprehend them all To which His Excellency on the 17 th of April returned this Answer That above a year ago two Proclamations did issue against the Popish Clergy with promise of Rewards to those that should apprehend them and that if any in England will undertake it they shall have the promised Reward and his Thanks besides And that to tell him of the insolent Deportment and signal Perfidy of the Popish Clergy of Ireland is to preach to him that there is pain in the Gout and protests That he would rather be rid of Them than of that Disease And for his farther sense of them refers to a Letter of his printed near the end of P. W. ' s Remonstrance In May 1682. His Excellency went to England leaving his Son the Ear of Arran Lord Deputy until his return which happened in August 1684. On the 14th of March 1683. issued a Commission of Grace to the Chief Governour Chancellor High-Treasurer Chancellor of the Exchequer the three Chief Judges Master of the Rolls Secretary of State the second Justice of the Kings-Bench and the two Barons of the Exchequer to grant His Majesty's Title to those that were in possession and to grant Mannors and other Privileges for a reasonable Fine c. and by vertue hereof a Court called the Court of Grace sate at the King's-Inns which at length dissolved by the death of the King which happened on the 6th day of February 1684. As soon as the News of the King's death arrived at Dublin the Duke of Ormond summoned the Council and the next day they proclaimed King James II. great Solemnity but with such dismal Countenances and so much Concern as if they had that day foreseen as many did the Infelicity and Misfortune of the following Reign The Irish are generally a People that bear Adversity better than Prosperity In Tribulation they have shewn some Fortitude and Patience but they never met with the Smiles of Fortune without Transportation and Extacy and upon this extraordinary occasion they grew so extravagant and wild that I dare â—ver That the Irish in the short Reign of King James did commit more Insolencies on the English than These did on Them in 500 years before The Instances of this sort are innumberable and the Circumstances almost incredible It would be too tedious to enumerate the particular Batteries Perjuries Affronts and Murthers and therefore I will confine my self to Generals and of that sort was The desertion of their Cabbins by the Irish for several months together under pretence of a fear of being murdered by the English and this was done throughout the Kingdom and in many Parishes where there were few or no English to be afraid of and the design of all this was to get the English disarm'd and to usher in a practice which was as general viz. Of impeaching the English for assembling together in the night-time And although the Perjuries in this Affair were so notorious that the very Promoters of this Design were asham'd of it yet near 3000 were indicted of this Offence and for Treasonable Words and the like in one Vacation and especially in the County of Tipperary and if the Courage and Integrity of Sir John Mead had not â—topped their Career there the Consequence of this Trick had been fatal to the English of that County and as it was it did them a great deal of harm And in the County of Cork Major Lawless a waspish and inveterate Fellow was the grand Prosecutor but he having more Malice than Wit managed the matter with such rashness and unbecoming vehemence as expos'd him to the Censure even of his own Party And besides a thousand other severities he did to the English he caused Sir Emanuel Moore Edward Rigs Esq and thirty-three Protestants more to be indicted and tried for High-Treason although he had nothing at all to say against the first but that he was a Protestant nor any more to object against the second but that he should say That he had a good Estate in England and if he could not live quietly in Ireland he would go thither However he was so
furious in this matter and so inhumane that he kept one Henry Rice in close Prison six weeks in a Dungeon and kept him waking a very long time in hopes that Severity and Distraction might induce him to accuse the rest of his Acquaintance and when he found they were all acquitted even by a Jury whereof the Foreman was a Papist he was enrag'd and troubl'd to the last degree and died within a week afterwards But on the last of March 1685. the Duke of Ormond came to London leaving the Sword with the Lord Primate and the Earl of Granard who were nominally Lords Justices but the Power was in effect in the Earl of Tyrconnell who was Lieutenant-General of the Army and by his means the English Militia were not only deprived of their Arms and by Proclamation ordered to send them into the Stores but the English in the Army began also to be turned out under the pretence of being Oliverians or the Issue of such But 1678. not long after the Protestants were revived by the arrival of the Earl of Clarendon Lord Lieutenant and Sir Charles Porter Lord Chancellor for tho the Irish did every-where give out That they were both Papists yet they soon became sensible of their error and to their great trouble found that those Lords wanted no other Qualifications but that of Power to make the Protestant Religion and the English Interest flourish in Ireland In short they did all that wise and honest Men could do and were too great a Blessing for that unfortunate Countrey to enjoy long and therefore they were removed in February 1686. to make room for the Earl of Tyrconnell who was then sworn Lord Deputy For tho this Lord being Lieutenant-General did even in the Lord Clarendon's time so model the Army that most part of the English were disbanded yet he met with so many rubs in That and Other of his Designs that he despaired to accomplish his Project or to satisfie his Ambition unless he were Supreme in the Government Tyrconnel having thus gotten the Sword of State into his hands quickly turned the Edge of it upon the poor Protestants who were amaz'd to see him act so openly in such a Despotical and Arbitrary manner for some of his Agents not only disbanded most part of the remaining English but insulted on their Misery by doing it reproachfully and added to their affliction by turning them out far from their Friends and their Habitations and took away the Cloaths of some and the Horses and Arms of others without giving them any proportionable recompence And he also changed the Irish Soldiers so often that tho the Army did not consist of more than seven or eight thousand Men yet five times that number by these frequent Changes were taught the use of their Arms and by this means he had a considerable Militia ready upon all occasions Moreover he issued Quo Waranto's against all the Charters at once and altho that procedure did manifest to the World that it was not the Fault of any one or more Corporations that was endeavour'd to be punish'd or reform'd but that it was a fixed design to Subvert the Corporations and consequently to Model the Parliament and the Laws to the Interest and Humour of the Papists yet being Masters of standing Armies both in England and Ireland they thought themselves sure of their Game and that it would be the more Generous and Brave if they acted publickly and as it were in defiance And therefore they dissembled the Matter no longer but appointed two Popish Judges in every Court that they might be sure of a Majority upon all Occasions they also appointed Popish High-Sheriffs throughout the Kingdom and they put so many Papists into the Commission of Peace the Privy-Council and all Places of Authority that they were able to Rule all where-ever they came And as soon as the Charters were Condemn'd there were new Ones granted for the most part to such inconsiderable and beggarly Fellows as were unable to pay for them so that many were left with the Attorney General in Pawn for his Fees however in all these Charters they put in near one third English most of which were Quakers or other Dissenters but at the same time took care to limit the Power and especially that of chusing Parliament Men so that the English if unanimous should not be able to give them any Impediment But the English being the principal Traders and the most Wealthy Men in Ireland It must necessarily follow that the removal of their Plate and other Effects into England and the general Decay of Trade that ensued upon the Apprehensions they had of these Violent and Irregular Proceedings did diminish the Publick Revenue to a degree of rendring it unable to support the Necessary Expences of the Government this indeed was a sensible Stroak and would have changed all their Measures if any thing less had been in the Bottom than a fixt Resolution to subvert the Established Religion and to introduce Popery and to make Ireland a secure Retreat for those whose designs might perhaps miscarry in England However these rapid Motions of Tyrconnel made such a noise in England as occasion'd that Lord to be sent for over to meet the King at Chester the poor Protestants flattered themselves with hopes of some intervals of Moderation from this Interview but they soon found the fatal Effects of this Conference not only in the Continuation but in the encrease of their Grievances And thus the Irish having to their Advantage in Number gained also the whole Power Military and Civil into their Hands thought themselves in a Condition not only to secure Ireland but also to send over considerable Assistance to carry on THE CAUSE in England and accordingly Tyrconel did send thither about 3000 of his choicest Men. This was the single Action that conduced most to the Preservation of these Kingdoms all other things were but subservient thereunto or at most but concurrent with it for whilst other Grievances did but disoblige a certain Number or a Party the bringing in of the Irish alarm'd every Body and especially the Army so that his Present Majesty Landing not long after met with such easy and speedy Success as amazed the present and will be the Wonder of future Ages Moreover to compleat the aforesaid Number of 3000 Men Tyrconel did very improvidently withdraw the Garison of Londonderry without sending another in its stead as not suspecting the sudden Revolution which afterwards happened nor thinking that Derry would dare to refuse a Garison whenever he should think fit to send them one But it was not long before he saw his Error and having Recruited his Forces he sent a new-rais'd Regiment under the Earl of Antrim to possess themselves of the City of Derry This Regiment Quartering in and about Newton on the 6th of December Collonel George Philips sent one James Boyle to give notice thereof to Londonderry and to advise them to shut their
whereupon he this Examinant came to Connaught on Wednesday night last and finding the said Hugh come to Dublin followed him thither he came hither about Six of the Clock this Evening and forthwith went to the Lodging of the said Hugh to the House near the Boot in Oxmantown and there he found the said Hugh and came with the said Hugh into the Town near the Pillory to the Lodging of the Lord Mac-Guire where they found not the Lord within and there they drank a Cup of Beer and then went back again to the said Hugh's Lodging He saith that at the Lord Mac-Guire's Lodging the said Hugh told him that there were and would be this Night great Numbers of Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Irish Papists from all parts of the Kingdom in this Town who with himself had determined to take the Castle of Dublin and to possess themselves of all his Majesties Ammunition there to Morrow Morning being Saturday and that they intended first to Batter the Chimneys of the said Town and if the Citizens would not yield then to Batter down the Houses and so to cut off all the Protestants that would not joyn with them He further saith That he the said Hugh told him that the Irish had prepared men in all parts of the Kingdom to destroy all the English Inhabiting there to Morrow Morning by Ten of the Clock and that in all the Sea-Ports and other Towns in the Kingdom all the Protestants should be killed that night and that all the Posts that could be could not prevent it And farther saith That he moved the said Hugh to forbear executing of that business and to discover it to the State for saving of his own Estate who said he could not help it but said that they did owe their Allegiance to the King and would pay him all his Rights But that they did this for the Tyrannical Government that was over them and to imitate Scotland who had got a Priviledge by that course And he further saith that when he was with the said Hugh in his Lodging the said Hugh swore that he should not go out of his Lodging that Night but told him he should go with him the next Morning to the Castle and said if this matter were discovered somebody should die for it Whereupon this Examinant fained some necessity for his Easement went down out of the Chamber and left his Sword in Pawn and the said Hugh sent his Man down with him and when this Examinant came down into the Yard and finding an opportunity he this Examinant leaped over a Wall and Two Pales and so came to the Lord Justice Parsons October 22. 1641. Owen O Conally William Parsons Thomas Rotheram Robert Meredith Appendix III. A Copy of a Letter directed to the Lord Viscount Costilough from the Rebels of the County of Longford in Ireland which he presented to the State in their behalf Nov. 10. 1641. Our very Good Lord OUr Allyance unto your Lordships Ancestors and your self and the tryal of your and their performance of Trust unto their Friends in their greatest Adversity encourageth us and engageth your Honour to our fruition of your future Favours the fixion of our confidence in you before any of the Peers and Privy Counsellors of the Kingdom doubleth this obligation Your Lordship may therefore be pleased to acquaint the Lords Justices and Councel to be imparted unto his Sacred Majesty with our Grievances and the causes thereof the Reading of which we most humbly pray and the Manner of it First The Papists in the Neighbouring Counties are severely Punished and their Miseries might serve as Beacons unto us to look unto our own when our Neighbours Houses are on Fire And we and other Papists are and ever will be as Loyal Subjects as any in the Kings Dominions for manifestation whereof we send herein inclosed an Oath solemnly taken by us which as it receiv'd indelible impression in our Hearts shall be Sign'd with our Hand and Seal'd with our Blood Secondly There is an Incapacity in the Papists of Honour and the Immunities of true Subjects the Royal marks of Distributive Justice and a disfavour in the Commutative which raised Strangers and Foreigners above those whose Valour and Vertue was Invincible when the old Families of the English and the major part of us the meer Irish did Swim in Blood to serve the Crown of England and when Offices should call Men of Worth Men without Worth and Merit obtain them Thirdly The Statute of 2 Eliz. of force in this Kingdom against us and they of our Religion doth not a little disanimate us and the rest Fourthly The avoidance of Grants of our Lands and Liberties by Quirks and Quiddities of the Law without reflecting upon the Kings Royal and real intention for confirming our Estates his Broad Seal being the Pawn betwixt his Majesty and his People Fifthly The Restraint of Purchase in the meer Irish of Lands in the Escheated Counties and the taint and blemish of them and their Posterities doth more discontent them than that Plantation Rule for they are brought to that Exigent of Poverty in these late times that they must be Sellers and not Buyers of Land And we conceive and humbly offer to your Lordships consideration principiis obsta that in the beginning of this Commotion your Lordship as it is Hereditary for you will be a Physitian to cure this Disease in us and by our examples it will doubtless beget the like auspicious success in all other parts of the Kingdom for we are of opinion it is one Sickness and one Pharmach will suffice Sublata causa tollitur effectus and it will be recorded that you will do Service unto God King and Country and for salving every the aforesaid Sores your Lordship is to be an humble Suitor in our behalf and of the rest of the Papists that out of the abundance of his Majesties Clemency there may be an Act of Oblivion and general Pardon without Restitution or account of Goods taken in the time of this Commotion a Liberty of our Religion a Repeal of all Statutes formerly made to the contrary and not by Proclamation but Parliamentary way a Charter-free Denizen in ample manner for meer Irish all which in succeeding Ages will prove an Union to all his Majesties Dominions instead of Division a Comfort in Desolation and a Happiness in perpetuity for an imminent Calamity And this being granted there will be all things Quae sunt Caesaris Caesari and quae sunt Dei Deo and it was by the Poet written though he be prophane in other matters yet in this Prophetically Divisum Imperium cum Jove Caesar habet All which for this present we leave to your Honourable care and we will as we ever did and do remain Your very humble and assured ever to be Commanded Hugh mac Gillernow Farral James Farral Bryan Farral Readagh Farral Edmond mac Cael Farral John Farral in Carbuy Garret Farrel Lisagh mac Conel Farral
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
England in sending for and impeaching one of the Members then sitting and that it was declared in Print by their order that Ireland if nam'd is bound by an English Statute which is against Law and Custom for Four Hundred Years past and though they had notice of the Protestation made by the English Parliament against Catholicks and their Intention to make Laws for the extirpation of that Religion in the Three Kingdoms and had notice of the cruel and bloody Execution of Priests in England meerly for being Priests and that his Majesty had not power enough left to save one condemned Priest and that the Catholicks of England being the Parliaments own Flesh and Blood must either suffer or depart the Land and much more must the Irish being not so nearly related to them if they should once get Jurisdiction in Ireland yet all this did not prevail with the Remonstrants to take Defensive much less Offensive Arms they still expecting that His Majesty in a short time might be able to yeild them Redress 7. That the Lords Justices c. by untrue Informations and other malicious Contrivances did endeavour to hinder His Majesty from granting Graces to the Irish Committee of Parliament but not prevailing in that they endeavoured to delay and stop them and by misconstruction and misrepresentations of the Irish Parliament endeavoured to possess His Majesty with an ill Opinion thereof and That it had not Jurisdiction in Capital Causes thereby aiming at the Impunity of those Impeached and the Destruction of the Parliament to which that power is essential and that the Lords Justices and their Adherents with the height of Malice envying their Union endeavour'd to sow Dissention in the Irish Parliament and to raise distinction of Nation and Religion and thereby made a Faction which to prevent the Graces passing into Acts Tumultuously cryed to Adjorn the House but being over-voted the Lords Justices said that if they did not Adjorn the Saturday themselves would Prorogue or Adjorn the Parliament on Monday by which means and the multitude of Proxies from Lords that have no Estate in Ireland which is destructive to the Liberty and freedom of Parliament here the Parliament was Adjorn'd on the 7 th of August and tho' the Graces were brought over soon after and the Committee desired the Lords Justices would give notice of them to the People to prevent misunderstanding or despair and an instrument was provided accordingly yet the Lord Justices willing to add Fuel to the Fire of the Subjects discontent did forbear to make such-Publication 8. That many Petitions containing matters Destructive to the Lives Estates and Religion of the Catholicks and directed to the House of Commons in England were promoted at publick Assizes to get hands unto them by Sir William Parsons Sir Adam Loftus Sir John Clotworthy and Arthur Hill Esq and others of the Malignant Party which were the more dreadful because of the said Clotworthy's power in the Parliament of England and his Barbarous and Inhuman expressions in that House against Catholicks and soon after an Order made by that Parliament Not to bow at the name of Jesus came to the knowledge of the Catholicks as also that the Malignant Party there did contrive and Plot to extingish the Irish Religion and Nation Hence some of them considered the deplorable condition they were in by a Statute of 2 Eliz. found amongst the Records but never executed in the Queens time nor discovered till most of the Members of that Parliament were dead which if executed no Catholick could enjoy his Life Liberty or Estate and yet nothing hindred but the Kings Prerogative which the Malignants endeavoured to destroy and then the Plot of Destruction by an Army out of Scotland and another of the Malignant Party in England must be executed the fear of these twofold Destructions and their ardent desire to assert the Prerogative Necessitated some Catholicks to take Arms in maintainance of Religion His Majesties Rights their own Lives Liberties and Estates and immediately thereupon took a solemn Oath and sent several Declarations to the Government and offered to submit to the Parliament of Ireland but the Offers were slighted and the Parliament Prorogued and a Declaration Issued on 23 October Accusing all Catholicks of Disloyalty but upon Application of Catholicks of Quality that the Prorogation was against Law and that a Session of Parliament was the only means to compose matters the Lords Justices knowing that but few would appear yielded to a short Session but limited it so that no Act of Grace or any thing for the Peoples satisfaction might pass that the few that met tho' disarm'd and not permitted a Servant and awed with Muskets presentto their Breasts yet desired leave to sit a short time to expect their fellows and to quiet the Insurrection and that the Graces might be Enacted but this was denied and instead of it a Declaration was propounded that these DISCONTENTED Gentlemen took Armâ— in Rebellious manner which was much resented by the best affected in both Houses but being informed that the Musqueteers had Order to shoot some of them at their going out they through terror gave way to that Declaration 9. However the greater part of the Catholicks and all Cities and Corporations and whole Provinces stood quiet and yet the Lords Justices knowing that many powerful Members of the English Parliament stood in opposition to his Majesty they sent their Addresses to that Parliament stuffed with Calumnies and propos'd to send over Forces to Conquer the Kingdom and they also Arm'd the Malignants in Ireland and the Catholicks even in Dublin and other Cities were not only denyed Arms for their Mony but also Disarm'd and when the Parliament had ordered a Pardon to all that should submit by a day limited Sir William Parsons contriv'd it so that it was publish'd only in two Counties and a short day prefix'd and Freeholders were therein excepted whereby it was manifest the Estates of Catholicks were first aimed at and then their Lives Moreover Sir Charles Coot was sent into Wicklow where he destroy'd Man Woman and Child that had neither Will nor Power to do hurt and others at Santry near Dublin Murdered innocent Husbandmen some whereof were Protestants mistaken for Catholicks meerly to force Fingal to Arms And tho' Complaint was made yet no Redress could be had and therefore the fear of being Murdered oblig'd the Catholicks to quit their Houses and to stand together in their own defence unprovided of Arms as they were hereupon a Proclamation issued 13 December not published till the 15 th requiring George King and others to come in and promising them Protection and another to summon the Lords of the Pale to meet at Council the 17 th But to prevent the effect of these Proclamations the same 15 th of December Sir Charles Coot was sent to burn Clantarf Mr. Kings House and use all acts of Hostility which he performed and this breach of Faith discourag'd the Lords of
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
even this was sent to the Lord Lieutenant and His Majesties Directions were prayed therein and the like was done by a Paper of Grievances sent by the Lord Mountgarret to the Earl of Ormand at the same time and in August 1642. the Remonstrants sent to the Earl of Ormond a Petition directed to His Majesty which accordingly the Lords Justices transmitted to him That the Lords Justices did endeavour to stop the spreading of the Rebellion and to reduce the Rebels to Obedience by fair means Viz. by their Proclamations of 23 d. of October and 1 st of November promising Mercy to all that should desist from force by imploying a Committee of Parliament to treat with them but they scornfully rejected the Message and contemptuously tore the Committees Letter and the Order of Parliament and by imploying Doctor Cale and some of their own Clergy to treat with them whom they likewise abused and by authorizing the Lord Moor and afterwards Sir Richard Barnwall and Patrick Barnwall to perswade them to Submission and by giving Commissions to the Lord Gormanstown and other of the Remonstrants but whilst they found Success they were deaf to all Perswasions and now that they are baffled they forge Causes of Complaint so that His Majesty is not misinformed nor the Remonstrants unjustly traduced nor misrepresented to the King To the first Article they say that it is too general and generally untrue that Popery is a New Religion midwived into the World by the Council of Trent which ended 1563 and therefore could not be professed by the Remonstrants nor their Ancestors for 1300 Years that the Irish were at first Protestants as Bishop Vsher hath proved at large and in Henry the Eight's Reign were averse to the Papal Usurpations and consented to Laws to suppress them and generally came to Church until 13 Eliz. some of them flew off upon the Bull of Piut V. and 30 Eliz. upon the Arrival of some Spaniards shipwrackt on the Coast of Ireland the Apostasie became more common however the Recâ—sancy of coming to Church was not general until about the middle of King James his Reign But however that be this is certain that the Papists were so far from being persecuted that all Laws against them were suspended and they enjoyed a Connivance little differing from a Toleration so that even their Ecclesiastical Heirarchy publickly executed their Functions and the Clergy swarmed to that Degree that Paul Harris wrote to Pope Vrban 8ht That it was as difficult to number the Friers in Dublin as to reckon the Frogs in the second Plague of Egypt That notwithstanding the Statute of 2 Eliz. there have been ten chief Judges successively and all the inferior Judges of Irish Birth and Education that the first English Judge that came over after that Statute was Sir Robert Gardiner 29 Eliz. That several Irish Papists had commands in the Queen's Army and were Governors of Counties as the Earl of Thomond Clanrickard c. And even now at the Time of the Insurrection Papists were admitted to be High Sheriffs of Counties Justices of Peace Magistrates of Corporations Marshals upon Occasion Councellors at Law Doctors of Physick Clerks Attornies and Sollicitors c. so that none go abroad but for their Improvement as the Gentry of all Countries do or to Seminaries to become Clergymen And these Popish Natives have had their share of His Majesties Favour in dispensing of Honour several of them having been made Lords Baronets and Knights and such as were capable of it by Conformity and Education were preferred in the Church and even those that were unfit for it and were Papists were nevertheless upon an external and partial Conformity only continued in their Spiritual Dignities by Queen Elizabeth notwithstanding the Statute of 2 Eliz. Their Nobility had all the respect and priviledge which good manners and the Law gives to their Quality and by the industry and improvements of their English Tenants lived more Regularly Plentifully and Gentilely than any of their Ancestors ever did or could and that the Popish Youth were never denied admittance into any Free-School nor into the University nor any Question made about their Religion only when they come to be Graduates they must then conform to the Laws of the Land and the Statutes of the Colledge and the Answerers think that the Remonstrants have small reason to complain whilst they enjoy those Liberties and Favours which are denied to the Popish Natives of England who though less in number are much superior to the Remonstrants in Quality Loyalty and Riches But if the Laws of the Land do exclude Recusants from Offices of Trust and Honour they ought to have patience till his Majesty shall think fit to consent to a Repeal of them nay if their Oppressions were without Law their proper Remedy were by Supplication and Petition to the King and not by Murther Rebellion and Depredation To the Second they say it is an aspersion on the King for the ill choice of his Officers and is so undutiful that no Person of Honour will appear in it it was devised by the Popish Clergy and the Jesuited Lawyers who are the Firebrands of these horrible Flames which have almost consumed the Kingdom and it is notoriously false for the chief Government hath been placed either in Men of Nobility or great Estate or in Men of great Merit and in a high Station none of which ever built their Fortune on the Ruine of the Kings Subjects but some of them have been undone by the unjust clamour of the Irish who never endure long any English Governor that endeavours their legal obedience to the Crown So that of One and Twenty chief Governours successively Thirty Privy Councellors Twelve chief Judges and several inferior Judges sent out of England since the Statute of 2 Eliz. not one of them left any Estate there nor were enriched by that Service and even the Earl of Strafford paid great Sums of Mony for what he bought there whereas such of the Natives of that Kingdom as were Judges have left great and visible estates whereby it will appear who built most upon the Ruines of the Natives That the Natives became suspected and odious in England not by any scandals cast upon them but by their degeneracy and frequent Rebellions whereby Ireland whilst managed by them was always in disorder and so poor that it was a continual charge to England whereas since the management of it by English the dependancy of the People is placed in the Crown Legal Properties are secured the Irish pernicious Customs abolished Civility introduced the Kingdom improved so that it was better able to give Ten Subsidies now than one in former times Trade and Commerce increased the Revenue advanced from 8000 to 85000 l. per Annum the Laws duly administred Religion propagated the Army maintained without oppressing the Subject and a Navy kept to guard the Coasts the People are grown Rich and Numerous the breed of Cattle bettered and
contribution was worth And the Subsidies were not only First proposed by the Protestants but would never have been consented to by the Papists if they had not found the number of the Protestant Members sufficient to out-vote them and therefore when several of the Protestants were absent with the new Army near Carrigfergus and upon several pretences excluded and Popish Members chosen in their Room so that the Popish Party was most numerous Then the Subsidies which before were One and Forty Thousand Pound apiece were by them reduced to Twelve Thousand Two Hundred Pound apiece whereby the forwardness they boast of sufficiently appears to be untrue And as to Proportion the Protestants besides what the Clergy contributed paid above a Third part of the whole and how it was disposed of appears by the Accounts of the Officers and very much contrary to what the Remonstrants have scandalously suggested And if they were as well devoted to the Crown as the Protestants are his Majesty would soon reap considerable profit out of so fruitful and Flourishing a Kingdom to be disposed of as he should think fit To the 6 th that there was an absolute necessity of Disbanding the new Army there being neither Victuals nor Mony left for them and the charge being too great upon the Kingdom as the Remonstrants declared in Parliament when they were moved to contribute towards it however the Lords Justices did not Disband them without his Majesties Warrant for it and they had also the Kings approbation when it was done And now the Reason is manifest why some of the Remonstrants who were engaged in the Conspiracy were so loath to have that Army disbanded viz. because they saw themselves disappointed of such a help and those Arms with a more full hand to execute their Bloody Design upon the Protestants wherein many of that Army concurred and for the same reason they opposed the Transportation of any of those Forces to Spain and the Priests disswaded the Soldiers from going else certainly they would not be backward to rid the Country of those loose Idle Men nor to assist a Catholick Prince of whom soon after they implored Aid against his Majesty But they had another use of those Soldiers in prospect and which is since executed on the Protestants to the full and their fiction that one of the Earl of Strafford's Servants had threatned to blow them up whereupon a Committee was appointed to search under the Parliament House for Powder was only a Trick to discover the Stores for when they found none there they continued their importunity to see where the Magazine was and were discontented at the denial As for the Chimera of bringing Ten Thousand Scots to force the Papists to change Religion and the Speech that Ireland would never be well without a Rebellion to the end the Natives might be Extirpated it is no wonder the Remonstrants whose thoughts were full of Extirpations which they have too fully effected should think the like designed by others but that it is incredible that the Persons named whose Estates are in Ireland and Families are setled there should disturb that Peace they have so long endeavoured to Establish or should desire a Rebellion which would be doubtfull in Success but certain in Desolation And in like manner ridiculous is the Story of Wagers the truth of which is that at the Sheriffs Table at Wexford Assizes a Protestant proposed to a Papist that he would give him Five Pounds and the other should give him Fifty Pounds for it if he did not come to Church within a Twelve Month whereat the Papist not understanding the Joke seemed surprized and protested he would not come to Church within that time why then says a Third Person you will lose the Fifty Pound for it is to be paid if you dont whereat the Jest was understood and it became matter of laughter there though it be one of the Grievances here pickt up to stuff this Remonstrance and one of the Grounds to justifie their bloody Rebellion The Position that Ireland if named is obliged by an English Parliament affects the Protestants as much as the Papists of that Kingdom however it ought to be decided by Arguments and not by Arms Nor should the Resolution of that Point be written in the Blood of so many murthered Innocents but how the Remonstrants should before their Rebellion have notice of any Intention or Protestation of the Parliament of England to introduce a Law for extirpation of Popery is very unaccountable because the Vote that did pass was subsequent to the Insurrections of the Irish and in Detestation of their inhuman Cruelties Nor in truth were the Irish afraid of any Hardships from the English who lived amongst them even with such kindness and confidence as hath proved fatal to the whole party And though now they pretend that the Priviledges of Parliament are violated by sending for a Sitting Member to answer an Impeachment in England yet when that Point was debated in the Case of Sir George Ratcliff who craved the Aid and Protection of the House then one of these Remonstrants could advise the House to take no notice of it lest any variance should arise between the two Parliaments but when the Protestant was sent over then indeed they instructed their Committee to sollice and settle that Point for the future To the seventh the readiness in His Majesty to hear their Grievances which they confess should have obliged them to Loyalty and Obedience to him and at least Neighbourlike Demeanour to his Subjects and not to scandalize His Majesty through his Ministers by false Accusations against them for the Lords Justices did neither hinder the going of the Irish Committee to England nor send any after them to cross or impede their Design nor in any Case misinform His Majesty But on the contrary when they received a Commission dated the 4 th of January 1640 to continue ptorogue or determine the Parliament as they thought fit they believing that the Parliament designed the general good of the Kingdom not only continued it but also gave it all the Countenance they could So that a Noble Peer moved in the Lord's House That it might be recorded to remain to Posterity That the Lords Justices had always ohearfully received their Requests and Messages and wers ready to comply with them and since the Remonstrants by His Majesties Order had view of all the Private Letters if they could have found any such misinformation as they complained of they would have instanced it to His Majesty and not give him Suppositions for Gertainties And as to the Power of Judicature of the House of Lords in Cases Capital His Majesty wrote to know whether there were any Presidents of it and the Lords Justices having consulted the Upper House returned a true Answer that none were to be found nor do the Remonstrants regard that Power but at that Juncture their party being prevalent they thought they had an Opportunity to get
rid of some of His Majesties English Judges and Officers whom they cannot endure to bear rule over them though they saw the Kingdom prospered above any former Times under their Labour and Travel And it is untrue that the Protestants did envy the good Union of both Houses on the contrary they laboured to cherish and confirm it but if any Protestant opposed the Remonstrants upon any point how reasonable soever they presently clamour that it is done out of Malice against them and the Nation which is an unjust Obloquy and though the Pupists made daily Cabals yet the Protestant Members never had but one private Meeting and that without the Lords Justices knowledge and at that Meeting there were some Papists and the Design of it was to prevent an Impeachment intended by some of the Irish against those that were concerned in the Grand Inquisition of the Kings Title to Conaugth the Plantation of which Province with English the Natives abhorred as that which would have frustrated all their Evil Designs And as to the Session of the 11 th of May 1641 it continued very long viz. to the 7 th of August and was unprofitably spent in Protestations Declarations Votes upon Queries the Stay of Soldiers from going over Seas and private Petitions and it is untrue that there was any Certainty of the Committees being at the Water-side at the Time of Adjornment so on the 14 th of July the Lords Justices sent to both Houses to consider of a Time of Adjornment because the Harvest was approaching and the House was thin and on the 30 th of July the Commons desired the Adjornment might be delayed till the 7 th of August and on the 2 d. of August the Lords licensed the Judges to go their Circuits and the same Day the Commons desired the Adjornment might be from the 7 th of August to the 9 th of November to which the Lords agreed and on the 5 th of August a Committee of both Houses attended the Lords Justices with notice thereof and they consented thereunto by Order to be entred in the Houses as by their consent On the 6 th of August there arrived the Earl of Roscomon with a Letter from the Committee importing that they were busie about their Dispatch at London whereupon the Lords sent to the Commons that they continued their Opinion for the Adjornment and accordingly they did adjourn the next Day so that there is no Ground for the Calumny on the Lords Justices that they threatned to prorogue them or purposed to prevent the passing the Graces not then arrived into Acts. But those Remonstrants having broken Faith with His Majesty and all his faithful Subjects do take liberty to asperse his Governors and well affected Officers whom they desire for ill Ends to make odious to the People Lastly They close this Article with an Untruth for the Lords Justices did immediatly after the Arrival of the Committee write to all the Ports of the Kingdom with Briefs of the Graces concerning matters of Customs commanding the Officers to obey those Directions they also published Proclamations for transporting Wool and what Customs were payable for the same They sent Warrants for free Entries of Tobacco and what Customs were payable for it they gave Order for a Bill to be drawn for a Repeal of the preamble of the Act of Subsidies they also desired Sir James Mongomery and Sir William Cole to give notice to the Undertakers of Vlster of the Graces intended to them and they had formerly sent over the Bill for a General pardon and most of the rest of the Graces were to be executed in Dublin and respected the Regulation of the Courts there for which the Approaching Term was the proper Season But the Remonstrants had not patience to expect that but resolved to be their own Carvers and dispose of the King's Revenue and the Protestants Estates as they thought fit As to the Eighth Article the prodigious Tale of the Petition is untrue And but that these Remonstrants care not what Detractions how untrue and improbable soever they print or publish against those they hate they would not have averred this Story without producing a Copy of a Petition signed by so many Thousands but the Truth is the four Persous named had no hand in any Petition but there was indeed a Petition which reflected more upon the Protestant than the Popish Clergy but as soon as the Lords Justices had notice of it they got the Original into the Clerk of the Councils Office where it still lies What Sir John Clotworthy did or said in the Parliament of England was not known to the Protestants of Ireland nor is it material nor do they believe that any thing was then moved plotted or contrived against the Remonstrants or that the English Parliament resolved any destructive Course against them till after the Rebellion begun though the Remonstrants by confounding Times would use it as a Cover for their inhuman Perpetrations As for the Statute of 2 Eliz. the Remonstrants find fault with it because by repealing by Queen Mary's Act of Repeal it revives the necessary Statutes made by Henry 8 th against Papal Incroachments and Usurpations without which the Papists being dissolved from their dependence on the King's Auchority in matters Ecclesiastical would transfer that half of his Sovereignty to the Pope who might discharge their Allegiance in civil Causes as he hath often done here and elsewhere for as to the Penal part that Statute mitigates the Crime of Advancing foreign Jurisdiction which being Treason before is by that Act not made Treason till the third Offence after two Convictions and as to that part of the Statute about Officers and suers of Livery to take the Oath of Supremacy they have found so many Instances of His Majesties indulgence to them in that particular that it is ingratitude in them to complain And if they mean the second Chapter of secundo Eliz. it is answered that what Noise soever that Statute hath made yet it hath done very little Execution but the Complaint as if those Statutes were forged or had lain dormant till most of the Members of that Parliament were dead is of all other the most shameless for those Statutes were published in print with the rest Anno 16 Eliz. and were soon after too sparingly indeed put in Execution as appears by the Records but 't is true the second Chapter could not be executed because the Papists universally came to Church till of later Days and the Name of Recusant was not then known But afterwards when Popery became more bold and dangerous that Act was sometimes put in Execution but without danger to any Man's Life or Estate for the Penalty was but Nine Pence a Sunday and the Laws in England against Popery are very much more severe and yet upon this slender Ground and the vile Fiction of sending 10000 Scots which was never thought of till long after the Rebellion broke out do these
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
the President Routed them he found many of his Provincials amongst them yet he let them go as supposing they came to look after their Cattle But by the end of that Month the whole Province was in open Rebellion and yet it was not until February that the Lords Justices sent their positive Order to prosecute those wilful Rebels with Fire and Sword and in the latter end of February the President published his Majesties Proclamation under his own Hand and Signet but without effect for the Rebels said that it was Counterfeit and rejected it But Arguments are vain when the thing itself manifests the truth and if ever in any case certainly 't is in this that Res ipsa loquitur and that the President was not the Aggressor for he had neither Men Mony Ammunition or Arms or any other Provision of War fit to contest with so numerous an Enemy that were fledged with the Spoils and Riches of English and it is undeniable that the Irish began to plunder even in great Numbers and Armed in a War like manner and at Noon day but perhaps the Remonstrants think that is not a Commencement of War But in Conaught the case was far different from Munster though the Remonstrants not caring whether right or wrong have mingled both Provinces in the same accusation for the President of Conaught was then at Dublin and in the beginning of November when he went to Athlone he found many of his Provincials whereof some Gentry in open Rebellion who had committed many Murders and more Robberies he presently endeavoured a Treaty with the Gentry that had not yet declared presuming on his Alliance to some of them and his former private Friendship with them but all in vain so that his Case was miserable being surrounded with Multitudes of Rebels who took the Town and kept him Besieged in the Castle of Athlone all that Winter His whole force in the Province was but a Troop and a half of Horse most Irish and Six half Companies of Foot whereof One was Surprized and another sent to Dublin so that he was in no condition to rescue the Distresled English and much less to make any offensive War on the Irish or by any cruelty to force them into Rebellion as they have most untruly suggested The Lords Justices did also send Commissions of Government to the Lords of Clanrickard Mayo and Costilo and Commissions of Martial Law to some of the best of the Natives and the Lord Clanrickard did assure the Irish of his Majesties condescention to the Graces and yet all this could not prevent nor suppress their Rebellion To the Eleventh Whether the Parliament of Ireland have equal Power and Priviledges with the Parliament of England and whether an English Statute can bind Ireland is fitter to be disputed by Arguments than Arms but it is false that the Act of Adventurers in England was grounded or occasioned by any misinformations from Ireland Nor doth it extend to other Estates than those of the most Detestable and Sanguinolent Traitors that ever were heard of and therefore the Loyal Remonstrants should not be concerned but admitting the Act unjust yet it was subsequent to the Rebellion and so could not be a cause of it Nor can we believe it was forced upon his Majesty it being for his own advantage and for the benefit of his Beloved and ever Loving People and if his Majesty should lose by it at present yet he loses to Loyal and obedient Subjects who will in time reprize him as well by saving charge and preventing Danger and Rebellion as by straining themselves at any time for his Majesties Honour and Profit And since there is no Authority nor Command Civil or Military in Ireland but what is derived from his Majesties Authority and acts in obedience to it 't is strange that the Remonstrants should close this Article with a loud and known untruth to the contrary To the Twelfth That the Proclamations enjoyning Strangers to leave the City were issued not only upon sound Reasons and good cause since approved of by his Majesty but also were published at the request of the Popish Inhabitants of Dublin however no Person of Quality or Credit was affronted thereby but were civilly permitted to stay And the Third Proclamation viz. that of the 11 th of November was designed to send the Gentry home to keep the Country quiet unless they had cause of stay in the City however not so much as one Gentleman was either threatned or punished for disobedience thereunto But many and even some Citizens that had liberty to stay in Dublin went voluntarily and did joyn with the Rebels and now they cover their Treason with a pretence that they were forced to go And it is not true that any of the Rebels offered to submit until after the relief of Tredagh when his Majesties Army was Master of the Field nor that any of the Cizens were pillaged or their Goods seized until after the Remonstrants were in open Rebellion Nor then with the consent of the Government who did what it could to prevent and punish Pillaging as by their several Proclamations may appear And as the Lords Justices did nothing without the Council so neither did they countenance any disorder nevertheless they are not accountable for all the Irregular acts of an ill paid Army especially against Rebels that had given such barbarous provocations That the Lords Justices did give Commission to two Papists that desired it to treat with the Rebels but that indulgence as the rest was abused to base ends and produced nothing of the effect propos'd and that no Houses were willingly burnt unless they belonged to Persons in open Rebellion and for Protections the Government granted very few having found by Experience that Protections always turn'd to his Majesties disadvantage because the Protected underhand relieve the Rebels and when they find a fit opportunity do themselves relapse However those few Protections that were granted were punctually observed and the publick Faith never violated by the Lords Justices connivance or consent and when it was discovered that the Protected did Murther stragling Soldiers and carry Powder c. to the Rebels their Passes were revoked and superseded by publick Proclamation and timely notice given them and no man suffered quatenus a Catholick or Irish-man unless he were also a Rebel as they generally were Nor ought the Remonstrants to complain even of the unjustifiable insolence of the Soldiers since all inconveniences consequential to the Rebellion and occasioned by it are justly chargeable on those that begun it And as to such Slaughters as have happened amongst the Confederates in the course of a just War and in defence and necessary Preservation of an innocent People they are no Murthers but the just Chastisements of a Religious Prince on unnatural Rebels and do not amount to the Tenth part of the number they Murdered in cold Blood and without Provocation To the Thirteenth It is strange that those who are so
angry at the Sitting of the Parliament and the Courts of Justice and have overturn'd all Laws and plucked them up by the Roots should yet keep such a stir about Fundamental Laws or that they should think themselves genuine Members of Parliament which is a Court of Peace and Order who have rent asunder all Bonds of Peace Order and Humane Society can they imagine that because they will Rebel we must have no Courts of Justice will nothing satisfy them but an universal concurrence in Confusion and is it because they are guilty of so many crimes themselves that they take liberty to speak evil of all others If this be the Liberty they Fight for certainly they espouse a very bad cause however it is better than Liberty of extirpating the Protestants which is what they really aimed at But they have no reason to complain of the Protestant Members of Parliaments either of his Majesties or his Fathers time they have Repealed many Acts that were prejudicial to the Natives but never made any that were so Are not the Persons they complain to have been Indicted in the King's Bench guilty of the Crimes they are accused of Have not those Soldiers that were Jurors Free-hold in the proper Counties and are they not capable to be Jurors according to Law These Remonstrants cannot deny these things and that their Rebellion forced these Gentlemen to be Soldiers and yet they complain as if it were unjust and a grievance But the allegation that any body under Protection or the Publick Faith was tryed for his Life is not true nor can they instance one and their Protestation against the Proceedings of Parliament is frivilous and vain And their desire to have a New which they call a Free Parliament whereunto they may be chose hath infinite inconveniences in it for then these Criminals will be acquitted and manage the most weighty affairs and either exclude or outvote the Loyal Protestant Subjects which have stuck by the Crown in this time of danger But the truth is that the Rebels have Murdered and Banished so many of the Protestant Free-holders and Inhabitants of Corporations that there can be very few if any Protestants in a new Parliament at this time whereby it would happen that what Protestants are left undevoured by the Sword ☜ should be destroyed by colour of Justice pursuant to their Oath of Confederacy And as to the place Dublin wants no other convenience but that of giving opportunity to Awe or Surprize the Chief Governour and the Members of Parliament and as to the Person that Nation doth not yield a Person of more honour and fortune than the present Lord Lieutenant the Marquess of Ormond And as to Poynings Act the Repeal or Suspension of it is desired to deprive the King of the Advice of his Privy Councils of England and Ireland and if it were done perhaps they would without his Majesties Knowledge transfer the Spiritual half of his Sovereignty to the Pope and attaint his Protestant Subjects and establish their Supream Council and alter the very form of Government but to be sure they would acquit themselves and deprive his Majesty of all the Forfeitures belonging to him by their attainders and therefore it is unfit at this time by suspending that Act to make such criminous Parties their own Judges Lastly These Remonstrants who so loudly clamour against others have nevertheless violated their own Publick Faith ☜ in breach of their Articles of the Cessation by taking and detaining several Places and Estates they were to restore by that agreement and by not paying any part of 30800 l. payable by those Articles at the time stipulated and in not paying above half of it yet to the Ruine of the Army that wanted it and depended upon it Appendix VII The Substance of the Lord Macguires Examination HE Saith Burlace Appendix 2 this Examination at large That the Inhabitants of Lainster were first engaged in the Rebellion and that Mr. Roger Moor first moved it to him that the design was to maintain their Religion and recover their Estates that the Lord of Mayo was in the First Conspiracy that they sent to consult the Irish in Spain and Flanders and received assurance of their assistance that the Earl of Tyrone sent them a Message that Cardinal Richlieu had promised him Aid and they sent him word that they would rise Twelve or Fourteen days before Alhollontide that the Gentry of the Pale were very loath that any of the Irish Army should be sent to Spain and opposed what they could in both Houses and had several consultations about that and to prepare for an Insurrection and that Colonel Plunket and the rest that were to carry Four Thousand Men to Spain proposed to Seize the Castle of Dublin with those Men and consulted with the Lord Macguire about it That the Lord Gormanstown was acquainted with the Plot and consented to it that the 5 th of October was the First day appointed and because all were not then ready it was changed to the 23 d. That Owen Roe had his Agent Captain Brian O Neal to promote the Conspiracy that they were all to rise on the same day that Mr. Moor and the Lord Macguire and the Colonels Plunket and Birne were with Two Hundred Men to Seize the Castle of Dublin and Sir Philem O Neale was to Surprize Londonderry and Sir Henry O Neale was to do the like to Carigfergus and Sir Con mac genis was to Seize the Newry and all were to carry it fair to the Scots till the business should be secure That Captain Con O Neal came to Dublin with fresh assurance of assistance from Owen Roe and Cardinal Richlieu and that but Eighty of the Two Hundred were come to Dublin the 22 th and therefore they intended to defer their Attempt until the Afternoon of the next day Appendix VIII The Lord of Gormanstown's Commission By the Lords Justices and Council William Parsons John Borlase Right trusty and well-beloved We greet you well WHereas divers most disloyal and malignant Persons within this Kingdom have tratierously conspired against His Majesty his Peace Crown and Dignity and many of them in execution of their Conspiracy are traiterously assembled together In a Warlike manner and have most inhumanly made Destruction and Devastation of the Persons and Estates of divers of His Majesties good and loyal Subjects of this Kingdom and taken slain and imprisoned great Numbers of them We out of our Care and Zeal for the common good being desirous by all means to suppress the said Treasons and Traitors and to conserve the Persons and Fortunes of His Majesties loving Subjects here in Safety and to prevent the further Spoil and Devastation of His Majesties good People here do therefore hereby require and authorize you to Levy Raise and Assemble all every and any the Forces as well Footmen as Horsemen within the County of Meath giving you hereby the Command in chief of all the
said Forces and hereby further requiring and authorizing you as Commander of them in chief to arm array divide distribute dispose conduct lead and govern in chief the said Forces according to your best Discretion and with the said Forces to resist pursue follow apprehend and put to death slay and kill as well by Battel as other ways all and singular the said Conspirators Traitors and their Adherents according to your Discretion and according to your Conscience and Discretion to proceed against them or any of them by Martial Law by hanging them or any of them till they be dead according as it hath been accustomed in Time of open Rebellion and also to take waste and spoil their or any of their Castles Holds Forts Houses Goods and Territories or otherwise to preserve the Lives of them or any of them and to receive them into his Majesties Favour and Mercy and to forbear the Devastation of their or any of their Castles Forts Holds Goods and Territories aforementioned according to your discretion Further hereby requiring and authorizing you to do execute and perform all and singular such other thing for Examination of Persons suspected discovery of Traitors and their Adherents parlying with and granting Protections to them or any of them taking up of Carts Carriages and other Conveniences sending and retaining Espials victualling the said Forces and other things whatsoever conducing to the purpose aforementioned as you in your discretion shall think fit and the Necessity of the Service require further hereby requiring and authorizing you as Commander in chief to constitute and appoint such Officers and Ministers respectively for the better performance and execution of all and singular the Premises as you in your discretion shall think fit And we do hereby require and command all and singular His Majesties Sheriffs Officers and Ministers and loving Subjects of and within the County of Meath and the Borders thereof upon their Faith and Allegiance to His Majesty and to his Crown to be aiding helping and assisting to you in the doing and executing of all and singular the Premises This our Commission to continue during our pleasure only and for the so doing this shall be your sufficient Warrant Given at His Majesties Castle of Dublin November 2 d. 1641. To our very good Lord Nicholas Viscount Gormanstown R. Dillon Jo. Temple Ja. Ware Rob. Meredith Appendix IX The Deposition of Henry Jones Doctor in Divinity and Dean of Kilmore I Henry Jones Doctor in Divinity in obedience to His Majesties Commission requiring an Account of the Losses of his Loyal Subjects wherein they suffered by the present Rebellion in Ireland Requiring also a Declaration of what traiterous Words Projects or Actions were done said or plotted by the Actors or Abetters in that Rebellion do make and give in this following Report of the Premises to the best of my knowledge As for the present Rebellion howsoever the breaking out of this Fire into a Flame began first on the 23 d. of October yet was it smoking as may well be conjectured for many years before God having given us many and apparent Grounds for the Discovery of it had they been duly considered or fully prosecuted to a discovery of which kind we find these following four particulars 1. The first that about three or four years since amongst many Books brought into Limeriek from foreign yarts and seized upon by the Reverend Bishop of that See as probibited being thereunto authorized by the State One had a written Addition to the first part which was printed the Manuscript containing a Discourse of the Fryers of the Augustine Order sometimes seated in the Town of Armagh in Vlster but by reason of the Times at that present resident as that writing imported in the City of Limerick in Munster that while it flourished at Armagh it was protected and largely provided for by the then Earl of Tyrone Since whose expulsion out of Ireland that Convent was also decayed and driven to those distresses it did for the present undergo but that within three years this is as I remember the time limitied Ireland should find that he had a Son inheriting his Fathers Vertues who should restore that Kingdom to its former Liberty and that Convent to its first Lustre or words to that effect This was related unto me by that zealous and learned Prelate Doctor Webb now Bishop of Limerick who saw and read the said passage purposing as his Lordship told me to send that Book to the Lord President of Munster to be taken into further consideration 2. Hereunto was added a second passage about the same time at Limeriek aforesaid where a Popish Priest gave out that within three years there should not be a Protestant in Ireland or words to that purpose with some other material Circumstances which I do not now remember yet all so concurring with the former or the first to this for which preceeded I know not both being about one time that it was thought fitting to be considered of the said Priest being sent unto the Lords Justices at Dublin and he committed to the Castle 3. The third did agree with the two former and fell out about the same time in the Country of Westmeath in the Province of Linster where Walter Nugent of Rathaspeck in the said County Eldest Son the Walter Nugent Esquire a Man of great Fortunes upbraiding an Irish Protestant who was the Parish Clark of Rathaspeck aforesaid with his Religion and both speaking Latin the said Newgent uttered these words Infratres Annos veniet tempus potentia in Hibernia quando tu longe likely meaning diu pendebis in cruce propter Diabolicam vestram Religionem The party to which this was spoken feared the power of the man and durst not speak of it only in private yet being called upon and examined juridically upon Oath he deposed these words And being demanded whether the words were in Hiberniam or Hibernia the first importing an Invasion the other an Insurrection at home he deposed the latter having time given him to consider of it These Examination were sent to Sir George Ratcliff Newgent was sent for and committed to the Castle of Dublin and remained in long durance but after was dismissed 4. Hereunto was added the fourth about the same time near the Nass about Twelve Miles from Dublin where a Popish Preist newly arrived out of Flanders did make his Address to the then Lord-Deputy and informed his Lordship of an intercourse of Letters between the Earl of Tyrone with others in Flanders and the Popish Primate of Armagh Rely concerning an Invasion within a short time intended upon Ireland the said Priest offering so his Person might be secured to direct such as should be thereunto appointed to the place where the said Letters were in the Custody of the said Rely Rely was thereupon sent for together with the Popish Vicar General of Armagh as I remember it both were committed to the said Castle of Dublin but soon after
released and the informer dismissed with ten pounds and a Suit of Cloaths or some such Reward 5. Hereunto may be further added another not so plain as the former that about the same time the Lord Baron of Dunsany did ride in disguise throughout all the parts of Munster pretending to satisie his curiosity in the knowledge of Places and Persons he not being discovered until his return at the Birr where having offered himself to be bound for one of his Company he writ himself in his own stile being loath to leave under his Hand a testimony of his disguised Person and assumed Name Hereunto may be added a Motion made by the Recusant Party in the Parliament of Ireland for hindring the sending away of certain Colonels with their Forces raised in the Kingdom and pretended to be for Service of Foreign parts many wondring it should proceed from them but therein considering these their former Practices their intentions may be discovered to be far different from what others conceived thereof who assented thereunto the imploying so many Thousands abroad being a great weakening of the Forces they purposed for this their soon after following Rebellion To descend now from the Antecedents of this Treason to the falling in thereupon and lastly to the consequents and what thereby hath been intended supposing it to succeed and that it attained the desired effect which by them was not doubted of And first for the entrance thereinto howsoever that the ground-work were long since laid yet would they not have it so to seem But new occasion must be found as the sole Cause of their breaking Out this being intended for the satisfying the minds of such of their own as have not hitherto been acquainted with the depth and mystery of this iniquity that they might not stand amazed at the suddenness of the undertaking or stand off from joyning with them in the worst part of their designs it being an apparent Rebellion The fittest means for this must have been by casting aspersions on the present Government which if long tolerated would prove extreamly dangerous not only to their Religion but their Lives and Posterity For effecting hereof reports were cast out that in the Parliament of England the cutting off of all the Papists in Ireland of what degree soever was concluded upon the Execution of that resolution being committed to the Counsel in Ireland The Lords Justices said they had laid down a day for this work being the 23 d. of November then next following and now last past or thereabouts for the better more secure and more secret managing of this pretended Plot such of the Popish Nobility and Gentry of both Houses as appeared in Parliament at Dublin should be secured And for the drawing together of the rest amongst other pretences this alledged to be one That his Majesties Rents were purposely omitted and not called upon in Easter Term with that earnestness as formerly and that such as made default should be Summoned to appear in Michadmas Term at Dublin and there surprised such of them as were in the Country wanting the Heads being easily cut off They say that this pretended Plot was I know not how discovered to them so that for the safety of their Lives and Profession they were inforced to stand upon their Guard and to Counter-work that day of the 23 d. of November laid for their Destruction by their declaring themselves in Arms on the 23 d. of October a Month before The serious part of this discourse was related to me by a Fryar intimate in their Counsel and by a Priest a Popish Vicar General thereby to give me satisfaction and to justifie their proceedings whose Names I do for the present forbear In respect of his Majesties Service By others also it was informed that this Plot was mainly intended in that Session of Parliament next after the Earl of Straffords beheading and the manner concluded upon In the Popish private meetings which were then observed to be frequent and by some suspected might prove dangerous and that for discovery of what provision of Arms and Ammunition our store of Dublin afforded it being by some suspected that most was sent before to Carrickfergus one of the Popish Faction in the House of Commons put one of the Protestant Members to move ☜ that some of the Earl of Straffords men had cast out some threatning Words against the Parliament in revenge of his Lord which could not be conceived to end in less than a Blowing up of the whole Houses of Parliament the Store lying under them whereupon a Committee of both Houses many of them prime Papists were appointed to make search in all the corners of the Store amongst these the Lord Mac Guire was one who was observed without ocasion to be liberal in disposing of Mony to some of the Officers of the Store in a way more than was ordinary with him The last Sessions of Parliament being Prorogued and the time drawing nigh for putting their design in Execution there was a great meeting appointed of the Heads of the Romish Clergy and other Laymen of their Faction said to be at the Abby of Mullifarnam in the County of Westmeath where is a Convent of Franciscans thereof openly and peaceably possessed for many years last past the day of their meeting being also on their Saint Francis day about the beginning of October last but the time and place I cannot considently affirm yet howsoever the several opinions and discussions are as follow like as I have received it from the said Fryar a Franciscan and present there being a Grardian of that Order where among many other things there debated the question was what course should be taken with the English and all others that were found in the whole Kingdom to be Protestants The Council was therein divided 1. Some were for their Banishment without attempting on their lives for this was given the Instance of the King of Spains expelling out of Granado and other parts of his Dominions the Moors to the number of many Hundred thousands all of them beirg dismissed with their Lives Wives and Children with some part of their Goods if not the most part that this his way of proceeding redounded much to the Honour of Spain whereas the slaughter of many Innocents wouls have laid an everlasting blemish of Cruelty on that State that the like usage of the English their Neighbors and to whom many there present owed if no more yet their education would gain much to the cause both in England and other parts That their Goods and Estates Seized upon would be sufficient without medling with their Persons that if the contrary course were taken and their Blood spilt besides the Curse it would draw from Heaven upon their cause it might withal incense and provoke the Neighbor Kingdom of England and that justly to take a more severe revenge on them and theirs even to extirpation if it had the upper hand 2. On the other
side was urged a contrary proceeding to the utter cutting off all the English Protestants where to the Instances of the dismissed Moors it was answered that that was sole act of the King and Queen of Spain contrary to the Advice of their Council which howsoever it might gain that Prince a name of Mercy yet therein the event shewed him to be most unmerciful not only to his own but to all Christendom besides That this was evident in the great and excessive charge that Spain hath been since that time put unto by these Moors and their Posterity to this day All Christendom also hath and doth still groan under the miseries it doth suffer by the Piracies of Argiers Sally and the like Dens of Thieves That all this might have been prevented in one hour by a general Massacre applying that it was no less dangerous to expel the English That these Robbed and Banished men might again return with Swords in their hands who by their hard usage in spoiling might be exasperated and by the hope of recovering their former Estates would be incensed far more than strangers that were sent against them being neither in their Persons injured nor grieved in their Estates that therefore a general Massacre was the safest and readiest way for freeing the Kingdom of any such fears 3. In which diversity of Opinions howsoever the first prevailed with some for which the Franciscans saith this Fryer one of their Guardians did stand yet others inclined to the Second some again leaned to a Middle way neither to dismiss nor kill And according to this do we find the event and course of their proceedings In some places they are generally put to the Sword or to other Miserable ends some restrain their Persons in durance knowing it to be in their hands to dispatch them at their pleasures in the mena time they being reserved eitheir for profit by their Ransom or for exchange of Prisoners or gaining their own Pardons by the lives of their Prisoners if Time would serve or by their death if the worst did happen to satisfie their fury The Third sort at the first altogether dismissed their Prisoners but first having spoiled them of their Goods and after of their Raiment exposed the miserable wretches to Cold and Famine whereby many have perished by deaths worse than Sword or Halter Hitherto of their Councils and the effects of them Now for their intentions all being reduced which God forbid into their Power and thereof they do as by some Law give such peremptory conclusions that it may well be wondred the thoughts of men professing themselves wise should be so vain and herein I do still follow mine Informer First Their Loyalty to his Majesty shall be still reserved Thus say they of the modest sort but both his Revenues and Government must be reduced to certain bounds His Rents none other than the antient Reservations before the Plantation and the Customs so ordered as to them shall be thought fitting Secondly For the Government such as would be esteemed Loyal would have it committed to the hands of two Lords Justices one of the antient Irish race the other of the antient British Inhabitants in the Kingdom Provided that they be of the Romish profession Thirdly That a Parliament be forthwith called consisting of whom they shall think fit to be admitted wherein their own Religious men shall be assistants Fourthly Poinings Act must be Repealed ☜ and Ireland declared to be a Kingdom Independent on England and without any reference unto it in any case whatsoever Fifthly All Acts prejudical to the Romish Reiligion shall be abolished and it to be Enacted That there be none other Profession in the Kingdom but the Romish Sixthly That only the antient Nobility of the Kingdom shall stand and of them Such as shall refuse to conform to the Romish Religion to be removed and others put in their room howsoever the present Earl of Kildare must be put out and another put in his place Seventhly All Plantation Lands to be recalled and the anuient Proprietors to be Reinvested in their formere Estates with the limitations in their Covenant expressed That they had not formerly Sold their Interests on valuable considerations Eightly That the respective Counties of the Kingdom be Subdivided and certain Bounds or Baronies assigned to the chief Septs and others of the Nobility who are to be answerable for the Government thereof and that a standing Army may be still in being the respective Governors being to keep a certain Number of men to be ready at all Risings out as they term it They also being to build and maintain certain Fortresses in places most convenient within their Precincts and that these Governors be of absolute Power only responsible to the Parliament Lastly For maintaining a correspondence with other Nations and for securing the Coasts That also they may be rendred considerable unto others a Navy of a certain number of Ships is to be maintained That to this end five Houses are to be appointed one in each Province accounting Meath for one of them That to these Houses shall be allotted an Annual Pension of certain Thousands of Pounds to be made up of part of the Lands appropriate to Abbies and a further contribution to be raised in the respective Provinces to that end That these Houses are to be assigned to a certain Order of Knights answerable to that of Malta who are to be Seamen And to maintain this Fleet that all prizes are to be appointed some part for a Common Bank the rest to be divided to which purpose the felling of Woods serviceable for this use is to be forbidden The House for this purpose to be Assigned to the Provice of Leinster is Kilmainham or rather Howth the Lord of Howth to be otherwise accommodated provided that he joyn with them that place being esteemed most convenient in respect of Situation For effecting of all which they cast up the Accounts of the whole Forces of this Kingdom ☜ that it is able to make up readily Two hundred thousand able men wanting only Commanders and some expert Soldiers for the present with Arms and Ammunition of all which they expect a speedy supply out of Flanders their own Regiments there Exercised being to be sent over and some Ships from Spain allotted for Service That this Kingdom being setled There are Thirty thousand men to be sent into England to joyn with the French and Spanish Forces and the Service in England performed jointly to fall upon Scotland for reducing both Kingdoms to the obedience of the Pope which being finished they have engaged themselves to the King of Spain for assisting him against the Hollanders And for drawing their followers to some Head and for giving the fairer Gloss to their foul Rebellion it is to be admired what strange and unlikely rumours of their own devising they cast abroad sometimes that many Sail of Spaniards are Landed now at one Port then at another that Drogheda
was taken at such a day and hour with all the circumstances at large and Letters to that purpose dated from Drogheda by the Rebels that that besieged it That Dublin was taken and being infinitely Ambitious of gaining the Earl of Ormond to their Part for the greater countenance to their Cause giving out that he was their own which was so long believed by the said followers until that Noble Earl giving daily those Honorable Testimonies to the contrary and they finding it to their cost tho' with the hazard of his own Person further than his place might well allow they are now otherwise satisfied and place him in the rank of their mortal Enemies together with that terror to them Sir Charles Coot and others And thus have I laid down all that I have heard to me related omitting what I find others more largely to insist upon All which their Treacherous vain and Airy projects God disappoint As for my own private sufferings by the present Rebellion I refer them to another Schedule this being so far taken up Hen. Jones Deposed before us March 3d. 1641. Roger Puttock John Stern John Watson William Aldrich William Hitchcock Appendix X. An Abstract of the Examination of Doctor Robert Maxwell afterwards Bishop of Kilmore THAT he observed Sir Phelim O Neal and other Irish overjoy'd at the Scots Invasion of England and as much dejected at the Pacification calling the English base degenerate Cowards and the Scots dishonorable Bragodochios that merchandiz'd their Honor for Mony and being asked the reason of their joy at bad news and their sorrow at good answered That if the Fewd had continued they hoped the Earl of Strafford would have perished in the Combustion That the Irish had frequent meetings Two or Three thousand in a company before the Rebellion and borrowed great Sums of Mony of the English without any apparent necessity but paid little or none that one Mac Case a Priest being disoblig'd by Sir Phelim inform'd the Lord Deputy Wandesford of a Plot but either he was not believ'd or said nothing to the purpose That Phelim O Neal brought home two Hogsheads of Powder under colour of Wine a little before the Rebellion and the Powder was bought by small parcels Ten or Twelve pound at a time in the Names of several Gentlemen and he brag'd that his Servants James Warren and Paul O Neal were in the Plot and apprehended but contrary to his expectation were dismiss'd at Council Table and that some Lord or other spoke for them there That Sir Phelim O Neal said that the Plot was in his Head Five or Six years before he could bring it to maturity and dissembled himself as a Fool to bring it about but since it was concluded on by the Catholick Members of the Parliament he was one of the last it was communicated to That Tirlogh O Neal Sir Phelim's Brother said that the business was communicated by the Irish Committee to the Papists in England who promis'd their Assistance and that by their advice some things formerly resolved on were alter'd and that it was a good Omen and Sign of Divine Approbation that the major part of the Irish Committee were Papists and that whilst the Protestants retir'd to a separate meeting at Chichester-Hall the remaining Papists sign'd a Combinatory writing of this Rebellion in the Tolsel which that Session drew on sooner than was at first intended That Sir Phelim said That if the Lords and Gentlemen of the other Provinces then not in Arms would not rise but leave them in the Lurch for all he would produce their Warrant Signed with their Hands and Written in their own Blood that should bring them to the Gallows and that they Sate every day at Council Board and whispered the Lords Justices in the Ear who were as deep in that business as himself That the Earl of Antrims Sister said Her Brother had taken Dublin Castle being removed thither to that purpose and her Brother Alexander had taken Carigfergus and that all Ireland was in the same Case with Vlster That the British should be preserv'd as long as it was consistent with publick safety and when not ' t is better an Enemy perish than ones self That Alexander Hovenden half Brother to Sir Phelim told him that the Fryers of Drogheda by Father Thomas Brother to the Lord of Slane had the Second time invited Sir Phelim and offered to betray the Town to him and Sir Phelim said of the same Fryer that he said Mass at Finglass on Sunday morning and in the afternoon did beat Sir Charles Coot at Swords and the Fryar being by answered that he hoped to say Mass at Christchurch Dublin within eight Weeks That several of the Irish Officers and Fryers said Why may not we as well fight for Religion which is the Substance as the Scots fight for Ceremonies which are but Shadows and that Straffords Government was intollerable and being answered that it lay no heavier on them than on the British they replied the British were no considerable part of the Kingdom and besides they were certainly inform'd that the Parliament of England had a Plot to bring the Papists to Church or cut them off viz. in England by English and in Ireland by the Scots that they were sure of aid next Spring from the Pope France and Spain and that the Clergy of Spain had already contributed Five thousand Arms and Powder for a whole Year then in readiness That the Priests and Fryers were their best Agents especially Paul O Neal upon whose arrival with advice from Spain the War broke out and since that he had gone to Spain with Letters and return'd back again with instructions in a Month. That being asked why they pretended a Commission from the King and at other times from the Queen they answer'd That it was Lawful for them to pretend what they could in advancement of their Cause and that in all Wars Rumours and Lies served to as good purpose as Arms. That Sir Phelim at first pretended only to Liberty of Conscience but as his Success so his Demands increased viz. To have all Offices of State and Justice in Irish hands and no Army Tithes and Church-Lands be restor'd to the Papists all Plantations since 1 Jacobi Dissanul'd no payment of Debts nor restitution of Goods to the Protestants all Fortiffcations in Popish hands British to be restrain'd from coming over Poynings Act and all Statues against Papists repealed and the Irish Parliament made Independent and even all this would not reduce Sir Phelim without a grant of the Earldom of Tyrone and the Priviledges of O Neal. That Sir Phelim pretended to a Prophesie that he should drive King Charles and his whole Posterity out of England to be profugi in terta aliena in aeternum and that several great Men drank a Health on the Knee to Sir Phelim O Neal Lord General of the Catholick Army in Vlster Earl of Tyrone and King of Ireland That he was informed That
His Majesties Protestant Subjects and their Adherents respectively 7. It is Concluded and Accorded that what Corn hath been Sown by any of His Majesties Army or by any of his Protestant Subjects or their Adherents or by any of them within any of the Quarters allotted in the Province of Leinster to the said other Party the same shall be enjoyed by the Sowers and Manurers paying for the same as they did agree and in case they did not agree paying the Fourth Sheaf unto such Garrison within whose Quarters the same shall fall And that in case any of the said Roman-Catholick◠Subjects now in Arms c. or any of their Party have Sown Corn within any the Quarters alotted in the Province of Leinster to the said other Party the same shall be enjoyed by the Sowers and Manurers paying for the same as they did agree and in case they did not agree paying the Fourth Sheaf unto such Garrisons within whose Quarters the same shall fall And it is likewise Concluded and Accorded that those Places which have been Protected by the Lords Justices or any Officer of His Majesties Army do pay according to the Agreement which was made and if no Agreement were made to pay the Fourth Sheaf to those Garrisons or Persons who Protected them in whose soever Quarters they are◠And this to continue for a Rule other than as to so many of those Garrisons who granted such Protection and are since regained by the said Party or some of them for whom the said Donnogh Viscount Muskery and the Persons above named are authorised as aforesaid And that the Tenants of the Town of Balliboght in the County of Dublin if they have not been protected shall pay according to agreement and if no Agreement made then the Fourth Sheaf and to continue their Possessions during this Cessation And it is further Concluded and Accorded that where His Majesty on any of His Protestant Subjects or their Adherents shall happen to have any Garrison or Garrisons within the Quarters set forth in the next precedent Article for the said other Party that such Garison and Garisons shall have such competency of Lands as well profitable as unprofitable now termed waste as shall be found necessary for them by any indifferent Commissioners to be appointed for that purpose 8. It is concluded and accorded that the Quarters in the Province of Munster be as followeth viz. That the County of the City of Cork and so much of the County of Cork as is within the subsequent Garrisons viz. From Youghall to Mogeely thence to Formoy thence to Michelstown thence to Liscarroll and so in a line from Michelstown and Liscarroll northward as far as His Majesties out-Garrisons on that side do extend and from Liscarroll to Mallow thence to Cork thence to Carrig-Croghan thence to Rochfordstown thence to Bandonbridge thence to Timmoleage and thence forward to the Sea together with the said Garrisons shall during the said Cessation remain and be in the Possession of His Majesties Protestant Subjects and of such as adhere unto them Saving and excepting to the said Roman Catholick Subjects now in Arms c. and their party all such Castles Towns Lands Territories and the Lands and Hereditaments thereunto belonging which on the said Fifteenth Day of September 1643 ☜ at the hour aforesaid are possessed in the said Counties or any of them by any of the said Roman Catholick Subjects now in Arms c. and their party And that the residue of the said County of Cork shall likewise remain to the said party last named saving and excepting to His Majesties Protestant Subjects and their Adherents all such Castles Towns Lands Territories and the Lands and Hereditaments thereunto belonging which on the said Fifteenth Day of September 1643 ☜ at the hour aforesaid are possessed in the last mentioned Quarters by them or any of them And that the County of Tipperary the County of Limerick the County of the City of Limerick the County of Kerry the County of Waterford the County of the City of Waterford and the County of Clare shall during the said Cessation remain and be in the possession of the said Roman Catholick Subjects now in Arms c. and their party Except Knockmorn Ardmore Piltown Cappoquin Ballinetra Stroncally Lismore Balliduffe Lisfinny and Tallow all scituate in the County of Waterford or as many of them as are possessed by His Majesties Protestant Subjects and their Adherents the said fifteenth Day of September 1643 at the hour aforesaid and likewise except all such Castles Towns Lands Territories and Hereditaments thereunto belonging as within the said Counties respectively on the said fifteenth Day of September 1643 at the hour aforesaid are possessed by any of His Majesties Protestant Subjects or such as adhere unto that party respectively in the said County of Waterford and the rest of the last mentioned Counties And it is concluded and accorded that the like rule for Corn sown and what shall be payed by places protected and for the laying out wasts for the respective Garrisons shall be observed in the Province of Munster as it is set down for Leinster 9. It is concluded and accorded that the quarters in the Province of Vlster be as followeth viz. That such Counties Baronies Lands Tenements and Hereditaments in the Province of Vlster which the said fifteenth Day of September 1643 at the hour aforesaid are possessed by any of His Majesties Protestant Subjects or any that adhere unto them and all places protected by any Commander deriving Authority from His Majesty shall during the said Cessation remain entirely in the hands and in the possession of His Majesties Protestant Subjects and such as adhere unto them excepting such Castles Lands and Hereditaments as on the fifteenth Day of September 1643 at the hour aforesaid are possessed by the said Roman Catholick Subjects now in Arms c. or their party And that all such Counties Baronies Lands Tenements and Hereditaments in the said Province which on the said fifteenth of September 1643 at the hour aforesaid are possessed by the said Roman Catholick Subjects now in Arms c. and their party shall remain entirely during this Cessation in the hands and possession of the said Roman Catholick Subjects now in Arms c. and their party saving and excepting throughout all places protected by any Commander deriving Authority from His Majesty and likewise excepting there-out all such Territories Castles Towns Lands Tenements and Hereditaments which on the said fifteenth Day of September 1643 at the hour aforesaid are possessed by any of His Majesties Protestant Subjects or such as adhere unto them And it is concluded and accorded that the like rule for Corn sown and what shall be payed for protected places and for the laying down of wasts for the respective Garrisons shall be observed in the Province of Vlster as is set down for Leinster 10. It is concluded and accorded that the quarters in the Province of Connaght be
truly and inviolably observed fulfilled and kept 11. It is concluded and accorded that all Possessions and likewise all Goods and Chattles that shall be found in Specie taken by either party after the Hour of Twelve aforesaid and before Publication of this Cessation shall be restored to the Owners and after Publication all Possessions and Goods that shall be taken to be restored to the Owners upon demand or Damages for the same In witness whereof the said Marquess to the part of the said Articles remaining with the said Viscount Muskery and the rest of the above named Persons hath put his Hand and Seal And the said Viscount Muskery c. To that part of the Articles remaining with the said Marquess Ormond have put their Hands and Seals the Day and Year first above written Muskery Lucas Dillon Nic. Plunket Rob. Talbot Rich. Barnwell Torl o Neale Geffry Brown Ever Magennis Jo. Walsh An Instrument touching the manner of payment of 30800 Pounds Sterling by several Payments WHereas by an Instrument bearing date with these Presents we have in the behalf and by Authority from the Roman Catholicks of this Kingdom freely given unto His Majesty the Summ of Thirty Thousand Pounds Sterling wherein the times or manner of payments are not expressed We do therefore hereby agree that the same shall be paid in manner following viz. 5000 Pounds within one Month next after the date of these Presents the one half in Money and the other half in good and merchantable Beeves not under four or above ten years old at the Rate of 30 Pounds the score at the City of Dublin 5000 Pounds more within one Month next after the said first Month the one half in Money and the other half in Beeves as aforesaid at the like Rates at the City of Dublin aforesaid also within two Months next after Five Thousand Pounds more whereof one half in Beeves as aforesaid at the like Rates and the other half in Money One other Five Thousand Pounds at or before the last of February next and the Summ of 10000 Pounds being the last Payment of the said Thirty Thousand Pounds at or before the last Day of May next which shall be in the Year 1644. And we hereby further agree that Eight Hundred Pounds more shall be paid to His Majesties Use to whom the Lords Jnstlces shall appoint at the Garrison of Naas within two Months next ensuing the one half by one Months End next after the date hereof and the other half by the End of one Month more next after that First Month all other Payments in Money save the Eight Hundred Pounds shall be paid at Dublin and the rest of the Beeves save the said first two Payments to be paid within the several Provinces to His Majesties Use to such Persons as shall be appointed by His Majesties Lords Justices or other Chief Governor or Governors in this Kingdom they first giving notice to Us or any one or more of Us of their Pleasures therein In witness whereof We have hereunto put our Hands and Seals the sixteenth Day of September 1643. Muskery Lucas Dillon Nic. Plunket Rob. Talbot Rich. Barnwell Torl O Neale Geffry Brown Ever Magennis Jo. Walsh Appendix XVII The Lord of Insiquin's Complaints of the Breaches of the Cessation in Munster First THEY withhold from us the Fourth Sheaff in Barymore and Imokilly albeit those two intire Baronies were under the protection of our Army and most of them under particular Protection until Four or Five days before the Cessation during all which time they did contribute to our several Garrisons and were under our Command at the time of Sowing and for the most part at the time of Reaping the last Harvest and the Articles say That the places Sown under our Protection shall pay the Sheaff c. Secondly We being possessed of the whole Lands in Roches Country all the time before the Cessation they pretend to a Possession gain'd therein some days before the Treaty endedâ— by thrusting Three or Four men a piece into some old ruinous Castles or Houses deserted by us in a skulking manner it being very evident that they had no considerable Force drawn into all that Country save what they slipt into those deserted places as aforesaid whilst we had Two strong Garrisons at Mallow and Downeraile which would easily have repelled any Force that they brought into those parts if they had come in such sort as to be taken notice of Thirdly In like manner they have gained and do insist upon the Possession of Bally-begg near Buttivant and other places in Orrery Fourthly The Castle of Pilltown they entred into Four or Five days after the Cessation and do yet detain it and the Castle of Cloghleigh with others in Condons they gained as those in Roches Country Fifthly Several of the principal Gentry in Orrery as Mr. Robinson Stapleton Lombard and Magner with their Tenants having always adhered and contributed to our Party and never declared themselves against us by any publick Act have since the Cessation been drawn to join with their Party under pretence that they had past their private Promise to Mac Donogh and Donogh O Callaghane to join with them when the Cessation was concluded Sixthly Several of our Party being in actual Possession of sundry Tithes in Barrymore and Imokilly did make Sale thereof and contract for several Summs of Money in lieu of them for payment whereof they took Bills and other Security before we lost any part of our Interest there which Monies so contracted for they refused to pay Seventhly The Lord Roch by force and strong hand hath entred upon Mr. Cuishin of Farrihi's Lands and compelled him to the payment of Six or Seven Pounds and enforced divers of his People to Swear to further Payments Mr. Cuishin having been always of our Party both before and since the Cessation and not to be drawn to theirs by their vehement Perswasions since the Cessation and having for the most part a Ward in his Castle Eighthly Where by the Articles of Cessation competent proportions of Land ought to be allowed to all Garrisons and Wards Captain Garret Fitz Gerald hath entred upon the Liberties of the Town of Youghal and thereout expelled divers poor English by violent taking their distresses by placing Guards of Armed Men on the High-ways and enforcing the People to contribute to their Army Ninthly They have entred upon a Mill and Five Plow-Lands of Ballycrenan belonging to Robert Tynt Esquire since the beginning of April last which was formerly in his continual Possession Tenthly The Lord Roch hath violently taken away from Mr. Cuishin the Tithes belonging to Dean Boyl and by him contracted for and disposed of before the Cessation whilst the Barony of Fermoy was in our Hands Eleventhly Several other petty Injuries as Stealths of Cattle Detention of Corn Incroachments on Bounds and the like do daily occur touching which we cannot prevail with any of their Party to joyn or interpose in
the said Lord Viscount Mountgarret and the rest of the Persons to be authorised as aforesaid or any Five or more of them and as to his Majesties Rents to grow due at Easter next and from thenceforth the same to be payable unto his Majesty notwithstanding any thing contained in the Article of the Act of Oblivion or in any other Article to the contrary but the same not to be written for or Lewed until a full settlement in Parliament as aforesaid 30. It is further concluded accorded and agreed by and between the said Parties and his Majesty is further graciously pleased That the Commissioners of Oâ—er and Terminer and Goal delivery to be named as aforesaid shall have power to hear and determine all Murthers Manslaughters Rapes Stealths Burning of Houses and Corn in Reek or Stacks Robberies Burglaries Forceable Entries Detainers of Possessions and other Offences committed or done and to be committed and â—one from the 15 th of September 1643 until the First day of the next Parliament These present Articles or any thing therein contained to the contrary notwithstanding Provided that the authority of the said Commissioners shall not extend to question any Person or Persons for doing or Committing any Act whatsoever before the conclusion of this Treaty by vertue or colour of any Warrant or Direction from those in pâ—ublick Authority among the Confederate Catholicks nor unto any Act which shall be done after the perfecting and concluding of these Articles by vertue or pretence of any authority which is now by these Articles agreed on Provided also the said Commission shall not continue longer than to the First day of the next Parliament In witness whereof his Excellency the Marquess of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Iâ—eland his Majesties Commissioner to that part of these Articles remaining with the said Richard Lord Viscount Mountgarret c. and the said Lord Viscount Mountgarret c to that part of these Articles remaining with the said Lord Lieutenant have put their Hands and Seals at Dublin this 28 th day of March 1646 and in the Two and Twentieth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign King Charles King of Great Britain France and Ireland c. Appendix XXV The Petition of the Protestants of Munster against a Peace with the Irish to the Right Honourable the Lord Lieutenant General and Council of Ireland Humbly Sheweth THAT whereas after a long and happy enjoyment of the Peace and Prosperity under which by his Majesties Gracious Government this Land did lately flourish the Irish Papists of this Kingdom have on or about the Three and Twentieth day of October 1641 entred into a most Wicked and Treacherous Conspiracy to surprise the then Lords Justices and Council together with the City of Dublin and all other his Majesties Forts and Holds within this Kingdom intending thereby totally and at once to extirpate the Protestant Religion and English Nation from amongst them and consequently to alienate this Kingdom from the Crown and Government of England And for those ends although they were by the Divine Providence disappointed in the main point of that Bloody and Cruel design have pursued the same with indefatigable malice into Acts of open Rebellion and most inhumane Barbarism Robbing and Despoiling his Majesties good Subjects of their Lives and Fourtunes in all parts of the Kingdom insomuch as his Majesty for the Vindication of his Protestant Subjects from the cruel Rapines of the said Irish Papists was justly occasioned to denounce and undertake a War in this Kingdom the managing and support whereof he was graciously pleased to recommend to and entrust with his Parliament then sitting in England who having piously begun the great work of Suppressing the Cruelties of the aforesaid Irish were by the unhappy interposition of sundry fatal differences in England somented as may be greatly doubted by the Rebels of this Kingdom diverted from the careful and provident courses requisite in so important an affair By means whereof this Majesty who had undertaken the War for our defence was now constrained for our preservation to treat and conclude of a Cessation of Arms for Twelve Months space in which time he was made believe the aforesaid Irish Papists would submit to some 〈◊〉 and honourable conditions of Peace To when purpose Agents from the aforesaid Irish were admitted to have access to his Royal presence and his Majesty did not only in manifestation of his Pâ—ous and Paternal care of his Proteâ—â—ant Subjects command certain select persons welliâ—ensed and interested in the State and Affairs of this Kingâ—om to atâ—end his Royal Person and give information and assistance in the debate of so weighty a business but did also give admission to such Agents as his Protestant Subjects were able to imploy in representing their particular and general grievanced and sâ—fferings by the said Irish Papists who in the negotiation of that whole matter have endeavoured to make advantage of his Majesties 〈◊〉 and by sinister and corrupt means with a lavish expence of that treasure and those Estates which your Petitioners have been dispoled of by them to raise a Factious Party at the Court to seduce and misguide his Royal Majesty and to beguil his Judgment with a selfe opinion of their inclination to Peace and feigned forwardness to advanâ—â— his Service and to discountance and suppress those whose attendance his Majesty had required and those Agents whom your Petitioneâ—s imployed by which subtil and serpentine courses â—he said Irish Agents having quasht and deprest all opposers and accusers and removed all impediments to their 〈◊〉 ends of exâ—irpaâ—ing the English and before any equal debate of the cause proâ—â—red a transmission of the whole affair unto your Lordships with Power and Commission further to treat and conclude of such conditions as by those deceitful courses they had gained too great hope to be confirmed unto them which for some reasons was not thought fit to be done in England they do now with the same art and subtilty study to trick your Petitioners here before your Lordships and to compound for all their mischiefs multiplied upon the Heads of your Petitioners at their own rates And therefore at a time when neither your Petitioners nor any from them are present when the Agents imployed to his Sacred Majesty are unreturned to this Kingdom and whilst most of your Petitioners evidences of their detestable Treasons and horrible Barbarisms are remaining in England they endeavour to strike up the business with your Lordships upon such terms as your Petitioners who were once a considerable part of this late flourishing and now unhappy Kingdom have not the honour to be made privy unto or to be called or admitted to any debate of the business of that main influence upon themselves and their Posterity Wherefore your Petitioners having seen how far some Persons of Honour have been misguided and by secret and subtil contrivances drawn to become abused properties and instruments to accomplish the wicked designs of the aforesaid
directions which shall issue to any such County for the applotting subdividing and levying of the said publick Assessements some of the said Protestant party shall be joyned with others of the Roman Catholick party to that purpose and for effecting that service and the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall have power to levy the arrears of all excises and other publick taxes imposed by the Confederate Roman Catholicks and yet unpaid and to call Receivers and other Accomptants of all former taxes and all publick dues to a just and strict account either by themselves or by such as they or any seven or more of them shall name or appoint and that the said Lord Lieutenant or any other chief Governour or Governours of this Kingdom for the time being shall from time to time issue Commissions to such person and persons as shall be named and appointed by the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them for letting setting and improving the Estates of all such person or persons as shall adhere to any party opposing his Majesties Authority and not submitting to the Peace and that the profits of such estates shall be converted by the said Lord Lieutenant or other chief Governour or Governours of this Kingdom for the time being to the maintenance of the Kings Army and other necessary charges until settlement by Parliament and that the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall have power to applot raise and levy means with indifferency and equality for the buying of Arms and Ammunition and for the entertaining of Frigots in such proportion as shall be thought fit by his Majesties Lord Lieutenant or other chief Governours of this Kingdom for the time being by and with the advice and consent of the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them the said Arms and Ammunition to be laid up in such Magazines and under the charge of such persons as shall be agreed on by the said Lord Lieutenant and the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them and to be disposed of and the said Frigots to be imployed for his Majesties service and the publick use and benefit of this Kingdom of Ireland and that the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall have power to applot raise and levy means with indifferency and equality by way of Excise or otherwise in the several Cities Corporate Towns Counties and part of the Counties now within the Quarters and only upon the Estates of the said Confederate Roman Catholicks all such sum and sums of mony as shall appear to the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them to be really due for and in the discharge of the publick ingagements of the said Confederate Catholicks incurred or grown due before the conconclusion of these Artieles and that the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall be authorized to appoint Receivers Collectors and all other Officers for such monies as shall be assessed taxed or applotted in pursuance of the authorities mentioned in this Article and for the Arrears of all former applotments Taxes and other publick dues yet unpaid and that the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them in case of refractoriness or delinquency may distrain and imprison and cause such Delinquents to be distrained and imprisoned And the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them make perfect books of all such monies as shall be applotted raised or levied out of which books they are to make several and respective abstracts to be delivered under their hands or the hands of any seven or more of them to the several and respective Collectors which shall be appointed to levy and receive the same And that a duplicate of the said books under the hands of the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them be delivered unto his Majesties Lord Lieutenant or other chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom for the time being whereby a perfect account may be given and that the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of therâ—s shall have power to call the Councel and Congregation and the respective supream Councels and Commissioners General appointed hitherto from time to time by the said Confederate Roman Catholicks to manage their publick affairs and all other persons accountable to an account for all their Receipts and Disbursments since the beginning of their respective imployments under the Confederate Roman Catholicks 28. Item It is concluded accorded and 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 the said Lord Lieutenant and the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall for the present agree upon such persons who are to be authorized by Commission under the great Seal to be Commissioners of the Peace Oyer and Terminer Assises and Goal Delivery in and throughout the Kingdom to continue during pleasure with such power as Justices of the Peace Oyer and Terminer Assizes and Goal delivery in former time of Peace have usually had which is not to extend unto any crime or offence committed before the first of May last past 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 Shipping Cattle or Goods heretofore taken by either party from the other or other injuries done contrary to the Articles of Cessation concluded by and with the said Roman Catholick party in or since May last but that the same shall be determined by such indifferent persons as the Lord Lieutenant by the advice and consent of the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall think fit to the end that speedy and equal Justice may be done to all parties grieved And the said Commissioners are to make their Estreats as accustomed of peace and shall take the ensuing Oath viz. You shall swear that as Justice of the Peace Oyer and Terminer Assizes and Goal delivery in the Counties of A. B. in all Articles of the Commission to you directed You shall do equal right to the Poor and to the Rich after your Cunning and Wit and Power and after the Laws and Customs of the Realm and in pursuance of these Articles and you shall not be of Councel of any quarrel hanging before you and the Issues Fines and Amercements which shall happen to be made and all
Forfeitures which shall happen before you you shall cause to be entred without any concealment or imbezling and send to the Court of Exchequer or to such other place as his Majesties Lord Lieutenant or other chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom shall appoint until there may be access unto the said Court of 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 Assizes and Goal delivery in that behalf and that you take nothing for your office of Justice of the Peace Oyer and Terminer Assizes and Goal 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 Kings Officers or Ministers or other indifferent persons to do execution thereof so help me God c. And that as well in the said Commission as in all other Commissions and Authorities to be issued in pursuance of the present Articles this clause shall be incerted viz. That all Officers Civil and Martial shall be required to be aiding and assisting and obedient unto the said Commissioners and other persons to be authorised as abovesaid in the execution of their respective powers 29. Item It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said parties and his Majesty is further graciously pleased that his Majesties Roman 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 cheif upon occasion of necessity as to the Martial and Military affairs lindx by such as his Majesty or his cheif Governour or Governors of this Kingdom for the time being shall appoint and the said appointment to be by and with the advice and consent of the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them and his Majesties cheif Governor or Governors is to issue Commissions accordingly to such persons as shall be so named and appointed as aforesaid for the executing 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 dye or misbehave themselves as the cheif Governor or Governors for the time being by the advice and consent of the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall think fit and to be continued until a settlement in Parliament as aforesaid 30. Item It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said parties and his Majesty is further graciously pleased that all Customs and Tenths of Prizes belonging to his Majesty which from the perfection of these Articles shall fall due within this Kingdom shall he paid unto his Majesties Receipt or until recourse may be had thereunto in the ordinary legal way unto such person or persons and in such place or places and under such Controuls as the Lord Lieutenant shall appoint to be disposed of in order to the defence and safety of the Kingdom and the defraying of other the necessary publick charges thereof for the ease of the Subjects in other their Levies Charges and Applotments And that all and every person or persons who are at present intrusted and employed by the said Roman Catholicks in the Entries Receipts Collections or otherwise concerning the said Customs and Tenths of Prizes do continue their respective employments in the same until full settlement in Parliament accountable to his Majesties Receipts or until recourse may be had thereunto as the said Lord Lieutenant shall appoint as aforesaid other than to such and so many of them as to the chief Governor or Governors for the time being by and with the advice and consent of the said Tho. Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall be thought fit to be altered and then and in such case or in case of death fraud or mis-behaviour or other alteration of any such person or persons than such other person or persons to be employed therein as shall be thought fit by the chief Governor or Governors for the time being by and with the advice and consent of the said Tho. Lord Visc Dillon c. or any seven or more of them And when it shall appear that any person or persons who shall be found faithful to his Majesty hath right to any of the Offices or Places about the said Customs whereunto he or they may not be admitted until settlement in Parliament as aforesaid that a reasonable compensation shall be afforded to such person or persons for the same 31. Item As for and concerning his Majesties Rents payable at Easter next and from thenceforth to grow due until a settlement in Parliament it is concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said parties and his Majesty is graciously pleased that the said Rents be not written for or levied until a full settlement in Parliament and in due time upon application to be made to the said Lord Lieutenant or other chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom by the said Tho. Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them for remittal of those Rents the said Lord Lieutenant or any other chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom for the time being shall intimate their desires and the reason thereof to his Majesty who upon consideration of the present condition of this Kingdom will declare his gracious pleasure therein as shall be just and honourable and satisfactory to the reasonable desires of his Subjects 32. Item It is concluded accorded and agreed by and between the said parties and his Majesty is graciously pleased that the Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol delivery to be named as aforesaid shall have power to hear and determine all Murders Man-slaughters Rapes Stealths Burning of Houses and Corn in Rick or Stack Robberies Burglaries Forcible Entries Detainers of Possessions and other Offences committed or done and to be committed and done since the first day of May last past until the first day of the next Parliament these present Articles or any thing therein contained to the contrary notwithstanding Provided that the Authority of the said Commissioners shall not extend to question any person or persons for doing or committing any Act whatsoever before the conclusion of this Treaty by vertue or colour of any warrant or direction from those in publick Authority among the confederate Roman Catholick nor unto any Act which shall be done after the
to return to their own Homes or Houses III. Catholick Commanders instanced by the Commissioners of Trust according to the Pacification and hereupon by his Excellency's Commission receiving their Commands in the Army as Col. Patrick Purcel Major General of the Army and Col. Pierce Fitz-Gerald alias Mac. Thomas Commissary of the Horse were removed without the consent of the said Commissioners and by no demerit of the Gentlemen and the said Places that of Major General given to Daniel O-Neal Esq a Protestant and that of Commissary of the Horse to Sir William Vaughan Kt. and after the said Sir William's Death to Sir Thomas Armstrong Kt. both Protestants IV. A Judicature and legal way of administring Justice promised by the Articles of Peace was not performed but all Process and Proceedings done by Paper Petitions and thereby private Clerks and other corrupt Ministers inrich'd the Subject ruined and no Justice done V. The Navigation the great Support of Ireland quite beaten down his Excellency disheartning the Adventures Undertakers and Owners as Capt. Antonio and others favouring Hollanders and other Aliens by reversing of Judgments legally given and definitively concluded before his Commissioners Authority By which depressing of Maritime Affairs and not providing for an orderly and good Tribunal of Admiralty we have hardly a Bottom left to transmit a Letter to his Majesty or any other Prince VI. The Church of Cloyne in our possession at the time of making the Peace violently taken from us by the Lord of Inchiquin contrary to the Articles of Peace no Justice nor Redress was made upon Application or Complaint VII That Oblations Book-monies Interments and other Obventions in the Counties of Cork Waterford and Kerry were taken from the Catholick Priests and Pastors by the Ministers without any Redress or Restitution VIII That the Catholick Subjects of Munster lived in Slavery under the Presidency of the Lord of Inchiquin these being their Judges that before were their Enemies and none of the Catholick Nobility or Gentry admitted to be of the Tribunal IX The Conduct of the Army was improvident and unfortunate Nothing hapned in Christianity more shameful than the Disaster of Rathmines near Dublin where his Excellency as it seemed to Ancient Travellers and Men of Experience who viewed all kept rather a Mart of Wares a Tribunal of Pleadings or a great Inn of Play Drinking and Pleasure than a well-ordered Camp of Souldiers Drogheda unrelieved was lost by Storm with much Bloodshed and the loss of the Flower of Leinster Weâ—ford lost much by the unskilfulness of a Governor a young Man vain and unadvised Ross given up and that by his Excellency's Order without any Dispute by Col. Luke Taaffe having within near upon 2500 Souldiers desirous to fight After that the Enemy made a Bridg over the River of Ross a Wonder to all Men and understood by no Man without any Let or Interruption our Forces being within seven or eight Miles to the Place wherein 200 Musqueteers at Rossberkine being timely ordered had interrupted this stupendious Bridg and made the Enemy weary of the Town Carrig being betrayed by the Protestant Ward there our Army afterwards appearing before the Place the Souldiers were commanded to fight against the Walls and Armed Men without great Guns Ladders Petards Shovels Spades Pickaxes or other Necessaries there being killed upon the place above 500 Souldiers valiantly fighting yet near Thomas-Town our Souldiers being of tryed Foot two to one and well resolved were forbidden to fight in the open Field having advantage of Ground against the Enemy to the utter disheartning of the Souldiers and People After this the Enemy came like a Deluge upon Calan Feathard Cashell Kilmallock and other Corporations within the Provinces of Leinster and Munster and the Country about rendred Tributary Then followed the taking of Laghlin and Kilkenny then that of Clonmell where the Enemy met with Gallantry Loss and Resistance Lastly Tecrohan and Catherlough two great Pillars of Leinster shaken down that of Tecrohan to speak nothing for the present of all other Places was given up by Orders Waterford block'd up is in a sad Condition Duncannon the Key of the Kingdom unrelieved since the first of December is like to be given up and lost X. That the Prelates after the numerous Congregation at Cloanmacnoise where they made Declarations for the King 's great advantage after printed and after many other laborious Meetings and Consultations with the Expressions of their sincerity and earnestness were not allowed by his Excellency to have employed their Power and best diligence towards advancing the King's Interest but rather suspected and blamed as may appear by his own Letter to the Prelates then at James-Town written Aug. 2. And words were heard to fall from him dangerous as to the Persons of some Prelates XI That his Excellency represented to his Majesty some parts of this Kingdom disobedient which absolutely deny any such disobedience by them committed and thereby procured from his Majesty a Letter to withdraw his own Person and the Royal Authority if such Disobediences were multiplied and to leave the People without the benefit of the Peace This was the Reward his Excellency out of his Envy to a Catholick Loyal Nation prepared for our Loyalty and Obedience sealed by the shedding of our Blood and the loss of our Substance XII That his Excellency and the Lord of Inchiquin when Enemies to the Catholicks being very active in unnatural Executions against us and shedding the Blood of poor Priests and Churchmen have shewed little of Action since this Peace but for many Months kept themselves in Connaught and Thomond where no Danger or the Enemy appeared spending their time as most Men observed in Play Pleasure and great Merriment while the other parts of the Kingdom were bleeding under the Sword of the Enemy This was no great Argument of Sense or Grief in them to see a Kingdom lost to his Majesty XIII That his Excellency when prospering put no Trust of Places taken in into the Hands of Catholicks as that of Drogheda Dundalk Trim c. And by this his Diffidence in Catholicks and by other his Actions and Expressions the Catholick Army had no Heart to â—ight or to be under his Command and feared greatly if he had mastered the Enemy and with them the Commissioners of Trust or the greater part of them and many thousands of the Kingdom also feared he would have brought the Catholick Subjects and their Religion to the old Slavery XIV We will not speak of many Corruptions and Abuses as passing of a Custodium upon the Abby of Killbegain worth in past Years to the Confederates well nigh 400 l. per Annum to Secretary Lane for 40 l. or thereabouts per Annum nor of many other such like to Daniel O Neil and others at an undervalue to the great Prejudice of the Publick XV. We do also notify to the Catholicks of the Kingdom most of the above Grievances and Breaches of the Peace being
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
of Tanistry and Gavelkind abolished 10 Commission of Grace 11 15 32 Case of Tâ—nures 56 Conaught Transactions there An. 1641 97 Anno 1642. 113 Anno 1643. 113 Anno 1644. 146 Anno 1645. 159 Anno 1646. 190 Anno 1647. 198 Anno 1648. 203 Coot Sir Charles slain at Trim 107 Committee of English Parliament sent over and what they did 108 109. Cessation treated of 130 and concluded 133 how resented 133 wherein violated 135 Cessation between the Irish Insiquin 199 Cromwel landed at Dublin C. 2. 7 and takes Tredagh C. 2. 8 and Wexford C. 2. 9 and Ross ibid. 10 and Clonmell ibid. 10 returns to England ibid. 17 Clanrickard Marquess made Lord-Deputy C. 2. 52 High Commission Court and what they did C. 2. 70 D. O Dogharty rebells 13 and is slain 14 E. Earls of Tyrconnell and Antrim created 8 Earl of Castlehaven executed 54 F. Lord Falkland Lord-Deputy 39 has a Controversy with the Chancellor 42 is removed 53 G. Glamorgan Earl sent to Ireland 150 makes a secret Peace with the Irish 154 is committed 155 his Opinion of the Irish 157 Grant Winter his Negotiation 194 Galloway surrendred C. 2. 69 H. Hartegan's Letter 149 I. Irish demand Toleration of Religion 8 43 and obtain Graces 45 whereupon they grow 〈◊〉 53 they desire to inspect the Store 71 and universally rebel 72 and enter into an Association 123 and appoint a Government 125 and send Ambassadors to Foreign Princes 149 197. Instances of their Disloyalty C. 2. 54 Lords Justices Jones and Denham 33 Ely and Powerscourt 36 Ely and Cork 53 Ely and Wandesford 59 Dillon and Parsons 64 Parsons and Burlace ibid. Burlace and Titchburn 127 Inquisitions into the King's Title 56 Ireton has command of the Army C. 2. 17 and takes Waterford C. 2. 56 and Limerick ibid. 69 and dies ibid. K. King James of Irish Extraction 1 his Title to the Crown 2 his Declaration against the Rebel Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel 12 his Speech to the 〈◊〉 Irish 25 his Answer about Sir Oliver St. John â— 35 King Charles Crowned 41 sends notice of the Irish Conspiracy 65 and Proclamations against the Rebels 86 and surrenders himself to the Scots 164 King Charles II. proclaimed C. 2. 1 declares against the Peace of 1648. C. 2. 34 L. Lalor the Priest indicted of Premunirâ— 11 his Equivocation ibid. London City their Articles with the King about their Plantation in Ulster 16 Lords of Kerâ—y and Slane dispute Precedency 29 Lords Courcey and Saâ—sfield dispute the Title of Kingsale 43 Lord High Steward appointed to try Lord Dunboyn by his Peers 42 Limerick deals barbarously with the Heralds 166 and as bad by the Ld Lieut. C. 2. 21 is taken by Ireton C. 2. 69 Lorrain Duke his Negotiation 25 27 M. Mountjoy Lord made Lord Lieutenant 8 goes to England ibid. Monasteries rebuilt 10 Meleâ—ont surrender'd 82 Munster the Transactions there An. 41. 93 Anno 1642. iii 1643. 129 143 1644. 144 1645. 157 1646. 189 1647. 196 1648. 203 Munster Towns revolt C. 2. 12 Mahonyes libellous Book publish'd 198 N. O-Neil Sir Phelim repuls'd at Lisnegarvy 82 yet refused to treat of Peace 87 Nuncio arriâ—es 153 and opposes conclusion of the Peace 155 and delares against it when made 166 and endeavours to intercept the Lord Lieutenant 169 is Generalissimo of two Armies C. 2. 17 which he march'd to Dublin 17 and prefers a 〈◊〉 Wrâ—tch to a 〈◊〉 20â— and Excommunicateâ— the Supram Council c. 199 and leaves the Kingdom C. 2. 3 O. Ormond comes to Dublin 75 obtâ—â—â—â— a Victory in Kilrush 106 and another at Roâ—â— 3 is made Lord Lieutenant 137 is like to be intercepted by the Nâ—â—â—â—io's Party 169 therefore Treate with the Parliament of England 179 and renews that Treaty 187 and surrenders Dublin 193 but returns to Ireland 202 and concludes the Peace of 1648. 204 marches towards Dublin C. 2. 4 is defeated at Rathmines C. 2. 7 Excommunicated by the Irish C. 2. 31 and leaves the Kingdom C. 2. 5â— Oxford the Negotiation of the Irish Agâ—nts there 138 139 140 141. 〈◊〉 P. Papists generally come to Church 9 are mutinous in the Parliament 23 send Agents to England 25 revolâ—e from the Army 86 Parliament intended in Ireland 18 and called 21 disturb'd by the Papists 22 but 〈◊〉 with Effect 30 Plot of the Irish of Ulster discovered 33 another Plot discovered 56 Pope forbids the Oath of Allegiance 141 sende a Bull to the Irish 12â— Proclamation against Popish Clergy 53 St. Patricks Purgatory discovered to be a Cheat 54 Parliament of Ireland sâ—â—d a Râ—monstrance to England 61 and a Petition with a Schedule of Grievances 164 and impeach the Bishop of Derry 〈◊〉 Lord Chanceller c. 65 i◠〈◊〉 Annâ— 1644. 137 and makes a Remonstrance of Thanks to Ormond 188 Pale Lords and 〈◊〉 of it rebel 76 83 are ill used by the Irish of Ulster 93 Peace 〈◊〉 of Anno 1644. 143 the Treaty resum'd Anno 1645. 150 Lord Digby's Letter to hasten it 151 the Assâ—â—blies Declaration concerning it 152 it is opposed by the Nuntio 155 and â—â—butâ—d in the Assembly 156 but is concluded 162 and published 165 and immediately broken 166 and rejected by the Assembly 185 Peace of 1648 made 204 Preston General proclaims the Peace 165 and breaks it 170 his Letter on that Occasion 170 his O-Neals 〈◊〉 Propositions 173 his Engagement and Oath to the Nuntio 170 yet he agrees with Ormond 181 and breaks that Agreement 182 for which Ormond reproaches him 183 Popish Clergy meet at Kilkenny 123 and at Waterford 166 and at Clâ—anmacnoise C. 2. 14 and deal deceitfully with Insiquin and Ormond C. 2. 19 they meet at Jamesâ—Town C. 2. 25 and Excommunicate the Lord Lieutenant and endeavour to revive their first Confederacy C. 2. 50 53 R. Rebellion of the Irish 1641. 72 â—ruel beyond Example 73 93 and no less treacherous 77 79 82 discovered by Owen Oâ—Conally 74 Lords of the Pale engaged in it 76 Irish pretend the Kings Commission 78 Declarat of Irish Parlm against it 80 the King's Proclamation against it 86 Read Sir John rackâ— and why 104 Remonstrance from Longford 80 from the Irish at Trim 110 Rupert Prince at Kingâ—ale C. 2. 1 S. St. John Sir Olâ—ver Lord Deputy 33 is removed 36 and made Lord Grandison c. 36 Spanlard has liberty to raise 4000 Men in Ireland 71 Supream Council appointed 126 are imprisoned by the Nuntio 170 make Cessation with Insiquin 199 are Excommunicat by the Nuntio ib. T. Tyrone Earl renews his submission â— rebels again 12 and is attaâ—â—â—ed ibid. Tredagh besieged by the Irish 88 taken by Insiquin Cromwel C. 2. 4 8 V. Vniversities of Valadolid and Salamanca their judgment 3 Usher Bishop of Meath preaches before the State 39 but is forced to explain his Sermon ib. Ulster Transactions Anno 1641. 98 Anno 1642. 114 1644. 147 1645. 160 1646. 190 1647. 198 1648. 203 W. Waterford loses its Liberties 34 Wentworth Lord made Ld Deputy 55 calls a Parliament ibid. which gave six Subsidies ibid. be returns to England 57 his Speech at the Council-Board ibid. he returns to Ireland 58 and back to England 59 and returns Earl of Strafford and Lord Lieutenant ibid. holds a Parliament which grants four Subsidies ibid. his Impeachment and Defence 66 A Table to the Appendix I. A Letter from the City of Cork II. Owen O-Conally's Examination III. The Irish Remonstrance from Longford IV. The Lords Justices and Councils Letter to the King V. The Irish 〈…〉 VI. An excellent Answer to it VII The Lord Macgâ—â—re's Examination VIII The Lord of Gâ—rmanstown's Commission IX Dr. Jones's Examination X. Dr. Maxwell's Examination XI The Irish Declaration upon what Terms Protestants might live in their Quarters XII The Declaration of the Irish Parliament against the Rebellion XIII The King 's Proclamat against the Rebellion XIV The Irish Oath of Association XV. The Pope's Bull. XVI The Articles of Cessation XVII The Lord Insiquin's Complaint for the Breaches thereof XVIII The Declaration of the English Parliament against the Cessation XIX A Proclamation of an Irish Governor against Commerce with the English XX. The Army's Remonstrance XXI 〈◊〉 Propositions of the Irish Protestants to the King at Oxford XXII Instructions on which they were founded XXIII The Irish Propositions at Oxford and the Answers 〈◊〉 them XXIV The 〈◊〉 of Peace 1646. XXV The Munster â—â—tition against that Peace XXVI The Articles between Sir Kenelm Digby and the Pope XXVII Articles made with the E. of Glamorgaâ— XXVIII The Kings Letter about Glamorgans Peace XXIX The Determination of the Popish Clergy about restoring Churches to the Protestants XXX The Declaration of the Congregation at Waterford against the Peace of 1646. XXXI The Nuncio's Excommunication of the Aâ—â—erents to the 〈◊〉 of 1646. XXXII Preston's Engagement Oath to Nuncio XXXIII Marquesâ— of Clanrickard's Engagement XXXIV Preston's Engagement to the L. Lieutenant XXXV The Declaration of the Papists against the renewed Peace XXXVI The Declaration of the Assembly against the Peace of 1646. XXXVII Clanrickard's Letter about the Proceedings of the Irish XXXVIII Articles between the Mâ—rquesâ— of Ormond and the Parliament Commissioners XXXIX The Remonstrance of the Army in Munster January 1647. XL. Instructions for the Irish Ambassadors 〈◊〉 Foreign Princes XLI Friar King's Letter to the Tâ—t 〈…〉 XLII Ormond's Declaration on his arrival 1648. XLIII Articles of Peace 1648. XLIV A Circular Letter from the Popish Clergy in approbation thereof XLV Remedies proposed by the Popish Clergy and the Answer XLVI The Address of the Popish Clergy to the Lord Lieutenant and the Answer XLVII The Commissions to the Titular Bishop of Fâ—rns c. to treat with Foreign Princes XLVIII The Declaration and Excommunication of the Lord Lieutenant by the Popish Clergy at James-Town XLIX Marquess of 〈◊〉 Information and the Observations thereupon Errata in the Letter Page 14. line 29. dele fourty Page 17. dele 1678 in the Margent
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