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
more than 50. There were a great many Projects in England for the Plantation of Ulster 1610. but many things that seem'd speclous in the Theory were afterwards found disadvantageous or impracticable Sir Francis Bacon's Notion was signified by his Letter to the King and is to be found in his Reâ—â—scitatio pag. 255. but it is not so exact as rest of that Great Man's Works However the Lands designed for the Undertakers were this Year disposed to them and two Books of Articles were printed for their better direction and it was particularly mention'd in their Agreements That they should not suffer any Labourer that would not take the Oath of Supremacy to dwell upon their Lands But the incomparable City of London was the Soul and Life of the intended Plantation and therefore the Lords of the Council in his Majesty's behalf entred into Articles with that City the Twenty eighth day of January 1609. to this effect First That Twenty thousand Pounds be levied by the City Fifteen thousand Pounds of it to be expended in the Plantation and Five thousand Pounds in clearing and buying Private Titles Secondly That Two hundred Houses be built at Derry and room for Three hundred more and Four thousand Acres profitable Land to be laid thereto and that the Bishop and Dean shall have convenient Plots for their Houses Thirdly That a hundred Houses be erected in Colerain and room for Two hundred more and Three thousand Acres to be annexed thereto and the King to maintain a Bridge for ever Fourthly That the whole County of Colerain be cleared by the City from all Claims except three or Four Irish Free-holders and the Bishop and Dean of Derry and the City to have the whole Territories of Glancanken and Killetragh and the Patronage of Churches Fifthly That the aforesaid Four thousand and three thousand Acres pay a Fee-farm Rent of Fifty three Shillings and four Pence and be held in Free Burgage and all the rest in Common Socage Sixthly That the City shall have all Customs Tonnage Poundage c. for Ninety nine Years at Six shillings eight pence per Ann. and the Fishing of the Ban and Laghfoyl as far as it ebbs Seventhly The City to have liberty to transport Prohibited Goods growing on their own Lands and the Office of Admiralty in the Counties of Tyrconell and Colerain Eighthly That no Flax Hemp Yarn or Raw Hides be transported from Derry or Colerain without Licence of the City-Officers Ninthly That their Land be freed from all Patents of Privilege and all Compositions and Taxes Tenthly That they have the Castle of Culmore keeping a Ward in it Eleventhly That the Liberties of each Town shall extend three Miles each way and shall have such farther Liberties as shall be thought fit on view of the Charters of London Cinque-Ports Newcastle and Dublin Lastly That the King shall keep necessary Forces a convenient time and that the City shall have Seven years to make demand of any thing reasonable and necessary which cannot be now foreseen and that an Act of Parliament shall pass to ratifie these Articles and the City to build sixty Houses in Derry and forty in Colerain with sufficient Fortifications by November next and to finish all by November 1611. But afterwards on the Twenty eighth of March 1611. the Londoners finding that they could not possibly accomplish their Undertaking within the appointed time petitioned the King that they might be permitted to proceed in their Buildings at Colerain and leave alone Derry till the next Year which was granted provided they would finish Colerain that Summer and fortifie or rather inclose Derry It seems the King and Council of England resolved to proceed effectually to the Reformation of Ireland by making Laws and by putting those that were made in execution and by putting that Kingdom under a regular and methodical Government and in order to it on the twenty fourth day of June 1611. the Lord Carew was sent Commissioner to Ireland to inspect Affairs there and to endeavor to lessen the Publick Charge and to inhance the King's Revenue and to provide for a Parliament He had Five Pounds a day allow'd him from the twentieth of May and Four hundred Pounds Imprest he received in England and was to sign next to the Deputy all Orders of Council-board And tho' the Lord Deputy complain'd that the Forts of Halbowling Castle-ni-park Duncannon Gallway and the Castle of Limrick were not finish'd and repair'd and that the Londoners did not proceed to build at Derry tho' they did at Colerain and that it was necessary to keep a considerable Force in the Kingdom nevertheless the Lord Carew and Council did proceed to lessen the King's Charge 13893 l. by reforming the Army which they reduc'd to 176 Horse 1450 Foot and 123 Warders contrary to the Deputy's Opinion who was therefore traduc'd as partial to Military Men and it seems that immediately the Fort of Castle-ni-park that is the Stone-work of it was built and afterwards a Blockhouse was also erected down lower and almost level with the Water and they also setled the Customs in all parts of the Realm On the thirteenth of July 161â— the former Proclamation of the fourth of July 1605. against Titular Bishops Jesuits Friars c. was reviv'd but so faintly executed that I find mention only of the Titular Bishop of Down and four Friars to have been apprehended thereupon There were also Orders issued to tender the Oath of Supremacy to all Magistrates Justices of the Peace and other Officers and to displace those that would not take it And in August there was an Inquisition by Jury to discover the Breaches of Articles made by the Planters and Undertakers in Munster and particularly Whether any Irish contrary to the Plantation-Covenants were permitted to inhabit or dwell on the Lands granted to the Undertakers Moreover there was a general Muster of the Signiory-men or English Inhabitants on the Plantation-Lands at which no body was found so well supplied with British Tenants as Sir Richard Boyle afterwards Earl of Cork for there were mustered of his own Tenants at Tallow Eighty Horsemen One hundred eighty six Pikemen Two hundred and fifty Shot and Six Halberdiers It is observed That all the Goods and Merchandizes exported and imported this Year did not exceed the Value of 211000 l. and before this time there was so little Foreign-Trade that Seven Years Customs probably from the beginning of the King's Reign to April 1609. did amount to no more in the several Ports than as followeth viz. Â l. s. d. Seven Years Customs in Wexford 36 08 10 Ross 53 10 09 Drogheda 215 02 08 Carigfergus 399 06 07 Youghall 70 00 00 Kingsale 18 02 03 Derry Ballyshanon 35 03 10 Cork 255 11 07 Dingle 01 06 06 Waterford 716 03 07 Dublin 1890 02 01 Dundalk 65 19 06 Gallway 72 17 06 Limrick 141 09 06 Dungarvan 00 13 11 But it seems that this was only the Custom of Prohibited Goods and the
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
married Men and some of them not in Orders succeeding each other in that See from the Year 966 to the Year 1130 so that S. Bernard says They were Episcopi but not Clerici The sixth Chapter shews That Monks formerly lived by their Labour and eat their own Bread they thought Idleness a sin whereas the later Monks and Fryers do rather extort than beg since their Importunity is so great that no body can deny them unless he cast away natural shame as S. Richard of Dundalk affirmed anno 1357 at the Synod of Avignion as also that such voluntary Beggery is sinful and was not known in the Church for the first 1200 Years He shews That in Fasts they eat nothing at all till Evening but did eat Eggs in Lent and Sunday was always excepted from Fasting and that it is infinitely more Christian to abstain from Vice than from Meats and that the later is vain if it be not in order to the former The seventh Chapter yields many Testimonies of Claudius Sedulius c. That the Church contains the Tares and the Wheat the Erroneous and the Orthodox That the Church may be brought so low that she will seem for a time as if Christ had utterly forsaken her that the Enemies of the Church shall be able to do many Jugling Miracles and Lying Wonders Sedulius warns us against these seeming Miracles such as Simon Magus his flying in the Air and says That the Faith having increased Miracles were to cease That Miracles are not a certain Sign of Grace since many will say That in Christ's name they have cast out Devils c. which yet are not of Christ Matth. 7. 22. and that Miracles are not to be done in vain As to the Papacy Sedulius assures us By the Word Foundation is meant Christ and that the Apostles who sometime are intended by that Word are nevertheless to be accounted the Ministers of Christ and not the Foundation because says Claudius other Foundation can no Man lay besides that which is laid which is Jesus Christ Claudius interprets Christ to be the Rock Matt. 16. 18. but allows Peter a Primacy over the Circumcision and also avers the like Primacy in S. Paul over the Gentiles and concludes That one was not inferior to the other he says The Power of the Keys was given to all the Apostles and so was the Holy Ghost and that the Church was founded on S. John as well as S. Peter S. Sachlin says the Church was built as well on S. Patrick as on S. Peter and that Christ chose him for his Vicar on Earth Ardmagh is called the Apostolick City the Bishop of Kildare is called Summus Pontifex summus Sacerdos the Bishop of Cahors in France is stiled Papa Apostolicus so that these Titles were not peculiar to the Pope in those Days but were common to him and other Bishops and promiscuously used to any of them Chap 8. he tells us That though Palladius and S. Patrick did receive their Ordination at Rome and probably were sent thence to preach the Gospel which Vincentius l. 8. c. 7. tells us was planted first in Ireland by S. James yet they did not come as Emissaries or Agents from the Pope to promote or establish his Jurisdiction there Nor did their Success give the Pope any Authority in Ireland any more than the Apostles that went from Jerusalem to propagate Christianity in other Countries did thereby give Jurisdiction to the Bishops of Jerusalem over the Places or People they converted or than the Irish Bishops Aidan and Finan did give their Successors in Ireland Jurisdiction over those Parts of Britain they converted and in this Sense the Reader must understand the Word Emissary postea pag. 2. And in truth that Universal Dominion the Popes have since usurped or at least challenged was not then thought of neither did the Popes for some Ages afterwards send any Legate or Deputy to exercise Jurisdiction in in Ireland Gilbertus was the first of that sort that was sent and he was contemporary with S. Bernard in the twelfth Century and therefore although Ireland so abounded with Holy Men that it was called The Island of Saints and also had several Archbishops yet we hear neither of Pall nor Canonization till the same twelfth Century and the Primate proves They had Archbishops in Ireland before the use of the Pall was known there and he shews That Bishops were sometimes ordained by one Bishop alone that S. Patrick ordained three hundred sixty and five Bishops and three thousand Presbyters and that the Number of Bishops so increased that sometimes there were two or three in a Town and some had no certain Diocess at all Emely was appointed to be the Archiepiscopal See of Munster and Fernes of Leinster and S. Bernard testifies That in his Time the Primate of Armagh did constitute another Archbishoprick perhaps Tuam subject to the Primacy whereupon Primate Vsher infers That the Church of Ireland had no dependance upon Rome at that time since it managed Matters of such great Importance without consulting the Papacy He shews further That in those Days the King Clergy and People chose the Bishop and the Pope did not put them in by Provision and that the Bishops of Dublin Waterford and Limerick which Cities were inhabited by Oestmen used to be consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury and that the Walls and Diocess of Dublin were of equal extent and that the first Bishop was Donatus anno 1074 And afterward the People of Waterford erected a Bishoprick there I must not omit the Writ King Henry I. sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury recited by the Primate in haec verba HEnricus Rex Angliae Radulpho Cantuariens Archiepiscopo Salutem Mandavit mihi Rex Hiberniae per breve suum Burgenses Dubliniae quod eligerunt hunc Gregorium Episcopum eum tibi mittunt consecrandum unde tibi mando ut petitioni eorum satisfaciens ejus consecrationem sine dilatione expleas Teste Raâ—ulpho Cancelar c. But as soon as the Palls were setled in Ireland this Correspondence with the Arcbishop of Canterbury determined As for the Quotation out of the Old Book of the Church of Armagh That if any Cause be too hard for the Primacy let it be referred to the See Apostolick if it be not forged yet it proves no more than that they had a great Regard to the Piety and Learning of the Bishops of Rome in those Days but does not prove that they fancied an Infallibility in that Church On the contrary the Irish rejected the Pope's Judgment as often as they thought they had Reason on their Side particularly the Irish adhered to the Council of Chalcedon against the fifth Synod and the Pope's Determination in condemning the tria capitula It seems that Pope Gregory's Epistle to the Bishops of Iberia was directed to Spain and not to Ireland but 't is no great matter which Chap. 9 and 10 shews That the Irish differed from
the common sort are not only capable but also very apt to learn any thing that is taught them so that I do impute the Ignorance and Barbarity of the Irish meerly to their evil Customs which are so exceeding bad Davis 150. that as Sir John Davys says Whoever use them must needs be Rebels to all good Government and destroy the Commonwealth wherein they live and bring Barbarism and Desolation upon the Richest and most fruitful Land in the World But the Irish Capacities are not to be questioned at this Day since they have managed their Affairs with that dexterity and Courage that they have gotten the whole Kingdom of Ireland into their Possession and by wheedling some and frightning others they have expelled the Body of the English out of that Island However let us not be dismaid for they are but the same People our Ancestors have so often triumphed over and although they are not to be so contemned but that we may expect they will make one good Effort for their Estates and Religion yet we may still depend upon it That their Nature is still the same and not to be so changed but that they will again vail their Bonnets to a victorious English Army AN EPITOME OF S R WILLIAM PETTY'S LARGE SURVEY OF IRELAND Divided into its 4 Provinces 32 Counties and the Counties into Their Several Barronies wherein are Distinguished y e Archbishopricks Bishopricks Citty 's Places that Return Parliament Men. also the Roads Bogs and Bridges By Phillip Lea At the Atlas and Hercules in Cheapside near Fryday Street LONDON The History of IRELAND From The Conquest Thereof By the ENGLISH to this Time By RICHARD COX Esq r Printed For JOSEPH WATTS at y e Angell in S t Pauls Church Yard THE REIGN OF Henry Plantagenet FITZ-EMPRESS Conqueror and Lord of IRELAND HENRY the Second of that Name King of England a Brave and Powerful Prince ambitious of Glory and the Enlargment of his Empire cast his Eye upon Ireland as a Country most easie to subdue and of great Advantage to him when conquered There were not wanting some Learned Men who affirmed The King had very fair Pretences if not good Title to that Island Speed 472. for besides the Conquests which the Kings Arthur and Edgar had formerly made there Spencer's view 33. they alledged That it was by Leave of the British King Gurgunâ—â—s Campion 26 28. and under Stipulations of Tribute that the Irish were first permitted to settle themselves in that Kingdom Besides the first Inhabitants of Ireland were Britains and those People which the Irish Historians call Fir-bolg and Tuah de Danan i. e. Vir Belgus i. e. Populus Dannonius were no other than the Belga and Dannonit Ancient Inhabitants of England To which might be added That Bayon from whence the Irish pretend to come Lib. P. Lambeth 153. was part of the Kings Dominion So that either Way his Majesty was their natural Prince and Sovereign But however that were yet the King had 〈◊〉 cause of War against the Irish because of the Pyracies and Outrages they daily committed against his Subjects and the barbarous Cruelties they exercised on the English whensoever they fell into their Power buying and selling them as Slaves and using Turkish Tyranny over their Bodies Speed 473. so that the Irish themselves afterwards confessed That it was just their Land should be transfer'd to the Nation they had so cruelly handled Wherefore the King as well to revenge those Injuries as to recover that Kingdom put on a Resolution to invade it But first it was necessary to consult the Pope in that Matter because he pretended no less than three Titles to Ireland First the Universal Patent of Pascâ— Oves which by their Interpretation was Synonimous to Rege Mundum Lib. P. Lambeth 48. Secondly the Donation of Constantine the Great whereby the Holy See was entituled to all the Islands of the Ocean Thirdly The Concession of the Irish Ibid. 154. on their Conversion to Christianity by which they granted the Temporal Dominion of their Country unto S. Peter's Chair And tho' the Answers to these Frivolous Pretences were easie and obvious viz. to the First That whatsoever Spiritual Jurisdiction was given by those Words yet our Saviour's Kingdom not being of this World it is certain no Temporal Dominion is granted thereby And to the Second That Constantine had never any Right or Possession in Ireland and therefore could not give to another what he had not himself And to the Third That the Allegation is false and the Popes had never any Temporal Dominion in Ireland but the same remain'd under their own Native Kings and Monarchs But this Forgery is yet more manifest Because the Irish were not converted by any Emissaries from Rome as appears by the Ancient Difference between the Churches of Ireland and Rome in some Baptismal Rites and the Time of celebrating the Feast of Easter Nevertheless the Pope's Licence in those Superstitious Times would create Reputation especially with the Clergy and his Benediction would as they fancied facilitate their Success and therefore it was thought fit That the King should send his Embassador John Salisbury to the Pope 1156. Sullevan 59. who was by Birth an Englishman and by Name Adrian IV. And how fond soever the Holy See doth now pretend to be of Ireland since the English Government and Industry have rendred it considerable 't is certain the Pope so little regarded it at that time when he received but small Obedience and less Profit from it that he was easily prevailed with to issue the following Bull. ADrian the Bishop Hanmer 107. the Servant of the Servants of God to his most dear Son in Christ the Noble King of England sendeth greeting and Apostolick Benediction Your Magnificence hath been very careful and studious how you might enlarge the Church of God here in Earth and encrease the Number of his Saints and Elect in Heaven in that as a good Catholick King you have and do by all means labour and travel to enlarge and increase God's Church by teaching the Ignorant People the True and Christian Religion and in abolishing and rooting up the Weeds of Sin and Wickedness And wherein you have and do crave for your better Furtherance the Help of the Apostolick See wherein more speedily and discreetly you proceed the better Success we hope God will send for all they which of a fervent Zeal and Love in Religion do begin and enterprize any such thing shall no doubt in the End have a Good and Prosperous Success And as for Ireland and all other Islands where Christ is known and the Christian Religion received it is out of all doubt and your Excellency well knoweth they do all appertain and belong to the Right of S. Peter and of the Church of Rome and we are so much the more ready desirous and willing to sow the acceptable Seed of God's Word because we know
the same in the latter Day will be most severely required at our Hands You have our well-beloved Son in Christ advertis'd and signified unto us That you will enter into the Land and Realm of Ireland to the end to bring them to Obedience unto Law and under your Subjection and to root out from among them their foul Sins and Wickedness as also to yield and pay yearly out of every House a yearly Pension of one Penny to S. Peter and besides also will defend and keep the Rites of those Churches whole and inviolate We therefore well allowing and favouring this your godly Disposition and commendable Affection do accept ratifie and Assent unto this your Petition and do grant That you for the dilating of God's Church the Punishment of Sin the Reforming of Manners planting of Virtue and the increasing of Christian Religion do enter to possess that Land and there to execute according to your Wisdom whatsoever shall be for the Honour of God and the Safety of the Realm And further also we do strictly charge and require That all the People of that Land do with all Humbleness Dutifulness and Honour receive and accept you as their Liege Lord and Sovereign reserving and excepting the Right of Holy Church to be inviolably preserved as also the yearly Pension of Peter-Pence out of every House which we require to be truly answered to S. Peter and to the Church of Rome If therefore you do mind to bring your Godly Purpose to effect endeavour to travail to reform the People to some better Order and Trade of Life and that also by your self and by such others as you shall think meet true and honest in their Life Manners and Conversation to the end the Church of God may be beautified the True Christian Religion sowed and planted and all other things done that by any means shall or may be to God's Honour and Salvation of Men's Souls whereby you may in the end receive of God's Hands the Reward of Everlasting Life and also in the mean time and in this Life carry a Glorious Fame and an Honourable Report among all Nations Together with this Bull the Pope sent King Henry a Gold-Ring as a Token of Investiture and somtime after a succeeding Pope Alexander III confirmed the former Grant by the following Breve ALexander the Bishop Hanmer 141. the Servant of the Servants of God to his dearly beloved Son the Noble King of England greeting Grace and Apostolick Benediction Forasmuch as things given and granted upon good Reason by our Predecessors are to be well allowed of ratified and confirmed we well considering and pondering the Grant and Priviledge for and concerning the Dominion of the Land of Ireland to Vs appertaining and lately given by Adrian our Predecessor We following his Steps do in like manner Confirm Ratifie and Allow the same reserving and saving to S. Peter and to the Church of Rome the yearly Pension of one Peny out of every House as well in England as in Ireland provided also that the Barbarous People of Ireland by your means be Reformed and Recovered from that filthy Life and abominable Conversation that as in Name so in Life and Manners they may be Christians and that as that Rude and Disordered Church being by you reformed the whole Nation may also with the Profession of the Name be in Acts and Deeds Followers of the same But saith Rossus of Warwick and he was no Protestant The King of England is not bound to rely on the Pope's Grant for Ireland Speed 472. nor yet to pay that Tax because he had a Precedent Claim to that Kingdom by hereditary Right Others object against these Bulls in another manner and particularly Philip O Sullevan who says They are void for many Reasons First Because they were obtained on false Suggestions and the Infallible Popes were deceived in their Grants Secondly That Regal or Sovereign Power is not granted by them but only that the Kings of England should be Lieutenants or Deputies to the Pope and Collectors of his Peter-Pence Thirdly That they were on a twofold Condition of paying Tribute and converting the People which not being performed the Bulls are void But because it is scarce credible that any Subject should be so Malicious against his Prince you shall have it in his own Words Rex hoc Decretum impetravit falsa Narrans ut ex ipso Decreto ego colligo pag. 59. Non Dominum Hiberniae sed Praefectum causa colligendi Tributi Ecclesiastici pag. 59. b. And again pag. 60. Non ut Rex aut Dominus Hiberniae sed ut a Pontifice Praefectus sic ego accepi ut Exactor Collector Pecunâ—ae quae ad Sedem Apostolicam pertinebat pag. 61. Ac mihi quidem rem totam sollicita Mentis acie contemplanti nihil Juris esse penes Anglos videtur For besides says he their Title was founded in Adultery meaning Dermond Mac Morough's they have exercised Fraud and Cruelty against the Catholicks that entertained them kindly and the very Temples have not escaped them Hinc igitur nemo ignorabit Hiberniam non Jure sed Injuria Narratione minime vera Sullevan 61. fuisse ab Anglis primo obtenta pag. 61. b. Nor can any Body believe says he that the Pope ever design'd so great an Injustice as to deprive the Irish Kings of their Birth-right Ibid. 62. and give it to Strangers And then he tells us That Laurence O Toole Archbishop of Dublin did obtain of the Pope a Bull to deprive the English King of his Government in Ireland but he dyed in his Return in France and is since canonized But says he supposing the Popes Grant at first were good yet 't is forfeited by Breach of Condition since the English did neither propogate Religion nor pay the Peter-Pence Postea omni Jure plane exciderunt Conditiones a Papa dictas constitutasque transgressi Nam Pensionem Divi Petri de medio sustulerunt nullam certam Religionem nullam firmam Fidem habent pro Deo Ventrem Voluntatem Libidinem colunt By this and the Approbation this Scandalous and Lying Treatise met with in Spain and the Repetition of the same things by divers others in their bitter Libels on the English People and Government and particularly by the Author of Analecta Hiberniae it is manifest that there are some Enemies of the Crown of England so malicious and unjust that they would make use of the most frivolous Pretences in the World to wrest the Kingdom of Ireland from the Dominion of the English Kings But as God Almighty has hitherto even many times to a Miracle protected the British Interest in Ireland so I doubt not unless we are wanting to our own Preservation but that he will continue that Noble Island under the Jurisdiction of the Crown of England for ever In the mean time though we lay no stress on the Popes Bulls yet because they are Argumenta ad Hominem and
Fastnesses of that Country at a Place called the Earls Pace he was briskly assaulted by O Rian and his Followers but O Rian being slain by an Arrow shot at him by Nichol the Monk the rest were easily scattered and many of them slain It was here that Strongbow's only Son a Youth about seventeen Years old frighted with the Number and Ululations of the Irish run away from the Battle and made towards Dublin but being informed of his Fathers Victory he joyfully came back to congratulate that Success but the severe General having first reproach'd him with Cowardize caused him to be immediately executed by cutting him off in the Middle with a Sword so great an Abhorrence had they of Dastardliness in those Days that in imitation of the Old Romans they punish'd it with a Severity which how commendable soever it may be in a General was nevertheless unnatural in a Father The Tomb both of Father and Son is yet to be seen in the Body of Christ-Church in Dublin whereon formerly was this bald Epitaph alluding to this Story Nate ingrate Hanmer 147. mihi pugnanti Terga dedisti Non mihi sed Genti Regno quoque Terga dedisti When Strongbow came near Wexford he received the ill News of Fitz-Stephens his Misfortune as also that the Irish had burnt Wexford and were retired to the Island Begory or Betherni and were resolved to kill Fitz-Stephens if they were farther pursued Wherefore he turned aside towards Waterford and march'd to that City where he met Hervy who was returned with Letters from the King wherein the Earl was ordered immediately to repair into England Strongbow presently obeyed and met the King at Newnham near Glocester on his Journey towards Ireland with an Army The Earl behaved himself so dutifully that the King was soon appeased for Strongbow did not only renew his Fealty but did also surrender to the King the City of Dublin and two Cantreds adjoyning and all Forts and Towns bordering on the Sea And on the other side the King was contented that the Earl should enjoy all the rest to him and his Heirs to be held of his Majesty and his Successors and so they marched by Severn-side through South Wales to Pembrook August 1172. and at length embarqu'd at Milford Haven In the mean time O Rorick and the King of Meath took Advantage of Strongbow's Absence in England and Reymond's at Waterford and with their united Forces besieged Dublin But Miles Cogan had the Courage to sally and the Good Fortune to defeat them with the Slaughter of Orourk's Son and many of his Followers On the eighteenth of October Regan M. S. King Henry arrived at Waterford with four hundred Knights and four thousand Soldiers The People of Wexford came with the first to make their court and complimented him with their Prisoner Fitz-Stephens whom the King continued in Prison and smartly chid him for invading Ireland without his Majesties special Licence But this was but a piece of King-craft to ingratiate with the Irish and to get the City of Wexford which Fitz-Stephens was forc'd to part with and to make his humble Submission and then at the King 's second coming to Waterford he was restored to his Liberty and the rest of his Estate To the King at Waterford came Dermond Mac Carthy King of Cork and voluntarily submitted and swore Allegiance He also agreed to pay a certain annual Tribute which being done the King marched to Lismore and thence to Cashel near which on the Banks of the Shure came Daniel O Bryan Prince of Limerick who in like manner submitted and swore Allegiance Whereupon Garrisons were sent to Cork and Limerick and the King returned to Waterford In like manner submitted Daniel Prince of Ossory O Phelin Prince of Decyes and all the great Men of Munster And the King gave each of them a Present and to all of them gracious and kind Reception All the Archbishops Brady 360. Bishops and Abbots of Ireland came unto the King of England at Waterford and received him as King and Lord of Ireland and sware Fealty to him and his Heirs and from every Archbishop and Bishop he received a Chart by which they acknowledged and constituted him King and submitted unto him and his Heirs as their Kings for ever And according to their Example the foresaid Kings and Princes received him as King and Lord of Ireland and became his Men and swore Fealty to him and his Heirs against all Men. These Charters were transcrib'd and the King sent the Transcripts to Pope Alexander who confirm'd by Apostolick Authority to him and his Heirs the Kingdom of Ireland according to the Form of those Charters as aforesaid The King left Robert Fitz-Barnard and his Houshold at Waterford and marched to Dublin through Ossory by the way he received the Submissions of the Prince of Ossory O Carol O Rurk O Chadess O Toole and several others but Rotherick the Monarch came no nearer than the Shannon-Side where Hugh de Lacy and William Fzadeline by Commission received his Oath of Allegiance and agreeed with him for a Tribute and as the rest did he likewise gave Hostages for his Performance so that there was no Prince or great Man in any part of Ireland except Vlster but by his Deputies or in Person did submit to the King Then did the King command to assemble a Synod at Cashel whereunto the Archbishop of Armagh consented afterwards though by reason of his great Age he was not present at the Synod Where after Christmas appeared Christianus Bishop of Lismore the Pope's Legate Donagh Archbishop of Cashel Laurence Archbishop of Dublin and Catholicus Archbishop of Tuum with their Suffragans and Fellow Bishops with divers Abbots Archdeacons Priors Deans and other Prelates And the King sent thither Ralph Abbot of Buldewais Ralph Archdeacon of Landaff Nicholas the Chaplain and divers other good Clerks and they made these following Canons First Cambrensis cap. 35. It is Decreed That all Good Faithful and Christian People throughout Ireland should forbear and shun to marry with their near Kinsfolk and Cousins and marry with such as lawfully they should do Secondarily That Children shall be Catechiz'd without the Church Door and Baptiz'd in the Font appointed in the Churches for the same Thirdly That every Christian Body do Faithfully and Truly pay yearly the Tithes of his Cattle Corn and other his Increase and Profits to the Church or Parish where he is a Parishioner Fourthly That all the Church-Lands and Possessions throughout all Ireland shall be free from all Secular Exactions and Impositions and especially that no Lords Earls or Noblemen nor their Children nor Family shall extort or take any Coyn and Livery Cosheryes nor Cuddyes nor any other like Custom from thenceforth in or upon any of the Church-Lands and Territories And likewise That they nor no other Person do henceforth exact out of the said Church-Lands Old Wicked and Detestable Customs of Coyn and Livery
which they were wont to extort upon such Towns and Villages of the Churches as were near and next bordering upon them Fifthly That when Earick or Composition is made among the Lay-People for any Murther That no Person of the Clergy though he be kin to any of the Parties shall contribute any thing thereunto but as they be guiltless from the Murther so shall they be free from Payment of Mony for any such Earick or Release for the same Sixthly That all and every Good Christian being Sick and Weak shall before the Priest and his Neighbours make his last Will and Testament and his Debts and Servant's Wages being paid all his Moveables to be divided if he have any Children into three Parts whereof one Part to be to the Children another to his Wife and the third Part to be for the Performance of his Will And if so be he have no Children then the Goods to be divided into two Parts whereof the one Moyety to his Wife and the other to the Performance of his Will and Testament And if he have no Wife but only Children then the Goods to be likewise divided into two Parts whereof the one to himself and the other to his Children Seventhly That every Christian being Dead and dying in the Catholick Faith shall be reverendly brought to the Church and to be buried as appertaineth Finally That all the Divine Service in the Church of Ireland shall be Kept Used and Observed in the like Order and Manner as it is in the Church of England For it is Meet and Right That as by God's Providence and Appointment Ireland is now become Subject and under the King of England so the same should take from thence the Order Rule and Manner how to Reform themselves and to Live in better Order For whatsoever Good Thing is befallen to the Church and Realm of Ireland either concerning Religion or peaceable Government they owe the same to the King of England and are to be thankful unto him for the same For before his coming into the Land of Ireland many and all sorts of Wickedness in Times past flowed and and reigned among them all which now by his Authority and Goodness are abolish'd And so says Cambrensis they having owned the King Supreme in Church and State he confirmed their Canons by his Royal Authority And it seems to me That at the same Synod the King declared his Pleasure to govern Ireland by the Laws of England Whereto they consented and swore Obedience accordingly for thus my Author phrases it Leges Angliae sunt ab omnibus gratanter receptae juratoria cautione praestita confirmatae Temple 5. And though others say This was done at a Synod Matth. Paris held about this Time at Lismore Yet I rather believe That the Bishop of Lismore his presiding at Cashel as he did being the Pope's Legate gave rise to the Mistake of the Place than that there should be two such famous Synods celebrated in the same Province in one Year But however that be this is certain That the King soon after his return into England caused an antient Treatise 4 Inst. 12. called Modus tenendi Parliamentum to be transcribed in a Parchment-Roll and to be sent into Ireland for their better Instruction The King kept his Christmas at Dublin in as great State as that Place would admit of for there was not any House to be found there that was capable of his Retinue and therefore he was necessitated to build a long Cabin with smooth'd Wattles after the Fashion of the Country and almost in the Nature of a Tent which being well furnished with Plate Housholdstuff and good Chear made a better Appearance than ever had been seen in Ireland before that Time and accordingly it was admired and applauded by the Irish Potentates who flocked thither to pay their Duty to the King But it was Time for Henry to mind his Foreign Affairs and therefore in order to his return to England he went to Wexford and there he staid almost three Months during which Time the Weather was so tempestuous that Ships durst not adventure to Sea so that the King could neither get to England nor receive any Intelligence from thence At length after Mid-Lent a Vessel arrived with the bad News of the King's Sons being in Rebellion and of the coming of the Pope's Legates to Interdict the Kingdom for the Murder of Becket He was also distressed in Ireland by the Plague which raged in his Army and by the want of Victuals which now began to be very scarce and dear so that he was necessitated to hasten to England although he was much troubled to leave Ireland in that unsetled Condition and without some Castles and Fortresses which he design'd and thought necessary for its Conservation But the Kings Jealousie was not so much of the Irish as it was of Strongbow whose Reputation and Interest were very great And therefore to ballance him the King raised several Grandees and gave them large Portions of Land together with great Jurisdictions and Priviledges particularly he gave Vlster to the famous John de Courcy and Meath to Hugh de Lacy and left Lacy with twenty Gentlemen and Robert Fitz-Stephens and Maurice Fitz-Girald with twenty more Governours of Dublin Waterford was committed to the Care of Humphry de Bohun Robert Fitz-Barnard and Hugh de Gondeville who had twenty Gentlemen to attend them and William Fitz-Adelme Philip of Hastings and Philip de Bruce had the like number of Gentlemen to keep Wexford And so in the Morning on Easter-Monday the King went on Board and was by Noon the same Day landed at S. Davids in Wales He left Hugh de Lacy Chief Governour Some call him O Râ—â—â—k or Lord Justice of Ireland who kept his Residence at Dublin and thither came to him O Mlaghlin of Meath to complain of some Hardships and Inconveniences he pretended to suffer in that Country or rather to adjust Matters between them about their respective Interests and Estates in Meath for he desired a Parly at the Hill of Taragh To which Lacy very readily consented And so after reciprocal Oaths for each others Safety 1173. they met at the Time and Place appointed O Mlaghlin had treacherously prepared an Ambush and when he found his Opportunity he gave them the Signal and upon their Approach he with a Pale Grim Countenance and with a Spar in his Hand made up to Lacy and assaulted him But it happened That one Griffith the Night before the Parly had dreamt That a parcel of Hogs fell upon Lacy and had killed him if he had not slain the great Boar This Dream being told to Maurice Fitz-Girald he gave such regard to it as Superstitious Men commonly do to such Whimsies and believing that it did forbode some Danger to Lacy he caused Griffith and six more secretly to arm themselves and to ride near the Place of Parley as it were for Pleasure and to be ready
Ophaly till he made him consent to accept of worse situated Land in lieu of it He made his Nephew Walter Almain a corrupt beggarly Fellow says Cambrensis Seneschal of Wexford and Waterford who received Bribes from Mac Morough of Kensile to prejudice the Fitz-Geralds and so Mercenary was Fitz-Adelm himself that the Irish flock'd unto him as to a Fair to buy their Demands At last having neither done Honour to the King nor Good to the Country he was revok'd and in his Room the King appointed Hugh de Lacy 1179. Lord Justice of Ireland to whom Robert le Poer the King's Marshal Governour of Waterford and Wexford was made Coadjutor Counsellor or assistant The King Lib. G. Lamb. at a Parliament held at Oxford anno 1177 had given the Kingdom of Cork The Patent from the River next Lismore running between that and Cork i.e. the River Bride to Knock-Brandon near the Shenin and so to the Sea unto Cogan and Fitz-Stephens Tenendum of him and his Son John per sexaginta feoda militaria except the City of Cork and the Cantred adjoyning which was the Eastmens He also gave the Kingdom of Limerick to the Brothers and Nephew of Richard Earl of Cornwal but they finding they could not get Possession in a little Time surrendred their unprofitable Grant Whereupon the King bestowed it upon Philip de Broase to be held of the King and his Son John by sixty Knights Fees and the City and a Cantred adjoyning were likewise excepted out of this Grant These three Adventurers joyned their Forces together and came to Waterford in November and so coasted it to Cork where they were kindly received by Richard de Londres the Governour Cogan and Fitz-Stephens agreed with Mac Carthy and the Irish Gentry That they should hold four and twenty Cantreds paying a small yearly Rent and of the seven Cantreds near Cork Cogan had the four Southern and Fitz-Stephens the three that were on the East-side of the City The Kingdom of Cork being thus setled they marched with Broase to Limerick with sixty Gentlemen one hundred and fifty Horse and a smart Party of Foot As soon as the Citizens perceived them they set the Town on Fire at which desperate Barbarity Broase was so offended that he could not be prevailed upon by any Arguments to settle there or to have any thing to do with such Rash and Heathenish People and therefore they returned to Cork which for some Time after Cogan and Fitz-Stephens joyntly and happily governed This Kingdom of Cork descended to Daughters Hooker 46. Hanmer 158. Brady 369. and so came by Marriage to Robert de Carew and Patrick de Courcy about the twentieth Year of the Reign of Henry III. Courcy's part of it was afterwards subdvided among many Daughters who were Heirs General of that Family so that a very small Proportion of it remains with the Heir-Male of that Name who was anciently Baron of Ringrone but now has the Title of Lord Baron of Kingsale As for the Carews they were Marquesses of Cork and built the Castles of Ardtully Dunkeran and Down Marque but they removed out of Ireland in the Time of the Civil Wars between York and Lancaster and others intruded into their Possessions and Estate and keep them to this Day except what they have sold or forfeited About this Time Sir Thomas de Clare obtained a Grant of Thomond Davis 122. as Otho de Grandison did of Typerary and Robert le Poer of Waterford and William Fitz-Adelm also got a large Proportion of Connaugh But it is time to return to the valiant John de Courcy Brady 368. who was engaged in Vriel on this Occasion he had sent into England for Victuals Ammunition and other Necessaries the Ship by Stress of Weather was driven into a Creek called Torshead O Hanlon and his Followers immediately came on Board the Vessel and murdered all that were in it and seized on the Cargo As soon as Courcy had Notice of this Misfortune he drew his Men together being above a thousand and marched towards the Newry on the Way he received Advice That the Irish were encamped near Dundalk in a great Body to the Number of seven thousand Courcy sent a Fryer to them and instructed him to tell them That there were great Forces arrived at Drogheda from England and that they were very near them and to justifie this Story the English did march with the greatest Shew and Appearance they could make and made a great Shout wherewith the Enemy was so daunted that they fled towards the River in great Confusion but the Tide being in many were drowned and more were slain However O Hanlon and the greatest part of his Army got over the River but the Frier guided the English over a Ford so that they came to a second Encounter wherein the Irish were so desperate That the English Foot were forced to retire but the Valiant Sir Armorick came in seasonably to their Rescue and persuaded them to rally and to make another Charge which they performed so briskly that the Irish were obliged to withdraw to the Fews as the English also did to Dundalk neither Party much boasting of the Victory because the Slaughter was great on both sides About this time two Cardinals come to England to invite the English and Irish Bishops to the Council of Lateran There went from hence Lawrence Archbishop of Dublin Catholicus Archbishop of Tuam and others but all of them first swore Not to procure any Damage to the King or his Dominions Sullevan Which Oath Lawrence did not very religiously observe for he not only spoke vehemently in the Council against the King's Administration of Affairs in Ireland but as the Irish say he obtained a Bull of Revocation from the Pope annulling the former Bulls granted to the King But this is not probable because no such Bull is extant and if there were it would be void but it is certain he was an inveterate Enemy to the English and gave them all the Opposition and Disquiet he could However he was reputed a very Holy Man being zealously addicted to the Superstitious Devotion Hanmer 163. so that he was canonized by Pope Honorius III. This is recorded of him That he was so grateful to the See of Rome for his Pall or so great an abhorrer of Immodesty that he refused to absolve the Priests convicted of that Sin insomuch that he sent one hundred and forty of them to Rome to pay for their Absolution there But it is time to return to the Lord Justice Lacy who govern'd very well and built many Castles in convenient Places and particularly Castle-Dermond Leighlin Leix Delvin 1180. Carlow Tullaghphelim and Kilka and Courcy was no less diligent in raising that kind of Fortification in Vlster However Lacy had given just Cause of Jealousie by marrying the Daughter of Rotherick King of Connaught whereupon his Enemis impeached him suggesting that he confederated with the Irish
to raise a Monarchy for himself Whereupon he was recalled and the Government committed unto John Constable of Cheshire May 1181. Baron of Halton-Castle and Richard de Peach Lord Bishop of Coventry Lords Justices of Ireland But they continued in that Dignity but three Months for Lacy behaved himself with that Discretion and Modesty and gave the King such Satisfaction in all Matters objected against him That Hugh de Lacy August 1181. Lord Justice was again sent over with Robert of Shrewsbury a Clergy-man his Assistant and about the same time the famous Courcy also returned being Dignified with the Titles of Lord of Connaught and Earl of Vlster and accompanied with his Brother S. Laurence There were some who reported That these two fought a successful Battle with the Irish Brady 367. at the Bridge of Ivora near the Hill of Hoath where the Valour of S. Laurence was so conspicuous that it got him both the Land and Title of Hoath which last continues to this Day in his Name and Family We left Cogan and Fitz-Stephens in the peaceable Enjoyment of their Kingdom of Cork but we shall not find them so for Cogan and young Fitz-Stephens at the Persuasion and Invitation of one Mac Tirid made a Journey to Lismore to treat with the Men of Waterford about some Controversies that were between them they were to lodge at Mac Tirid's House but he perfidiously took his Opportunity and unexpectedly fell upon them and murdered them and five of their Company Immediately the whole Country was up in Arms and conspired a general Rebellion Donald More in Curraugh Mac Carthy whom the Irish still called King of Cork got his Forces together and laid Siege to the City not doubting but that he had now a favourable Opportunity to expel the English thence The Poor Old Fitz-Stephens was in a sad Condition distressed by Enemies without and Suspicions of Traytors within he had no Hopes of Relief or Assistance saving only from Reymond le Gross who lay at Wexford to him a Messenger was sent and without Delay put to Sea with twenty Gentlemen and one hundred Archers and entred the River of Cork whereupon the Enemy dispersed and all was set at Rights again Nevertheless as soon as the King heard of the aforesaid Treachery he sent Richard Cogan Philip Barry Giraldus Cambrensis and a Good Party of Horse and Foot to help Fitz-Stephens by their Assistance the City and Kingdom of Cork were kept in Quiet for some Time but the Old Fitz-Stephens had but little Benefit of it for being much broken with Age and Misfortunes he first lost his Senses and not long afterwards his Life But Lacy the Lord Justice was again become suspected for as he grew Great his Enemies grew Envious and the King Jealous so that he was once more sent for and Philip of Worcester September 1184. Lord Justice or Governour of Ireland came over with a smart Party of Horse and Foot he also brought with him Hugh Tirrel a Man of ill Report He was not long in the Government before he seized on the Lands of O Cathesie to the King's Use though Lacy had formerly sold them He also went a Circuit to visit the Garisons and in March came to Armagh where he exacted from the Clergy a great Sum of Mony thence he went to Down and so to Dublin loaden both with Curses and Extortions Tirrel took a Brewing-Pan from the poor Priests at Armagh and carried it to Down but the House where he lay was burnt and so were also the Horses in the Stable so that he was fain to leave the Pan for want of Carriage and Philip had a severe fit of the Gripes like to cost him his Life both which Punishments they say were miraculously inflicted upon them for their Sacrilege In July came over John Comin Archbishop of Dublin to prepare for the King 's youngest Son John Earl of Moreton to whom the Kingdom of Ireland was assigned towards his Portion Brady 369. Some say that he was made King of Ireland at the Parliament held at Oxford 4 Inst 360. anno 1177. his Father having obtained Licence from the Pope to make which of his Sons he pleased King thereof saving to the See of Rome the Peter-pence and the rest of its Rights And it seems Pope Vrban the Third sent Cardinal Octavianus and Hugo de Nunant his Legates to crown John King of Ireland and by them sent him a Crown of Peacocks Feathers But King Henry better considered of that matter and either because he would not seem to derive his Son's Title from the Pope or because he was loath to trust his Son with that Royal Stile having already suffered by the like Indulgence to his eldest Son or because he saw it Inconvenient and Illegal to separate Ireland from the Crown of England It is certain he found means to carry the Legates with him into Normandy and thereby prevented that once designed Coronation So that the Impression of the Great Seal of Ireland was no more than this Johannes Filius Regis Angliae Speed 478. Domini Hiberniae Earl John was then about twelve Years old when on Wednesday in Easter-week 1185. anno 1185 with about four hundred Gentlemen most Normans some Clerks and particularly Giraldus Cambrensis and a great Company of others he took Shipping at Milford-Haven being accompanied to the very Ship by Randulph Glanvile principal Counseller of the King and Kingdom and Justiciary of England The Irish Potentates flock'd to their new Prince but their Trouses and Mantles their Glibbs and Behaviour were derided by the Normans who used them scurrilously one pats the Irish Prince on the Pate another pulls him by the Mantle a third pricks him in the Breech with a Pin a fourth shuts the Door upon his Heels every Body abuses them Wherefore away they get as fast as they can and every-where publish'd the Ill Usage they received at Court Rotherick O Conner Mac Carthy and O Bryan were then preparing for their Journey but upon this News they better considered it and confederated to raise a general Rebellion There were many Reasons why Earl John's Voyage to Ireland was not successful The Superstitious People observ'd That he had not pay'd his Devotions at S. Davids before he imbarqued and attributed it to that Others blamed him and his Followers more for their Rude and Ungenteel Abuse of the Irish Lords and Gentlemen Others imputed all to the Debauchery of the Soldiers who by the example of their Captains were grown Idle and Insolent Wherein they were the more indulged because they were ill paid To these may be added the Litigiousness of the Natives in Towns and Cities who were perpetually wrangling with and suing such new Inhabitants as came to settle among them But there was a greater Cause than all these which arose from the different Interests then in Ireland which inâ—luenced the Normans English Welch and the Natives The Normans were most in
Favour and consequently luxurious they always followed the Court and hated to be put in Frontier Garrisons or Places of Danger They were says Cambrensis great Talkers Boasters and Swearers very Proud and Contemners of all others greedy of Places of Places of Honour and Profit but backward in undertaking any hazardous and dangerous Action or performing any Service that might deserve them Moreover many of the English and Welch were dispossest of their best and safest Castles to make Room for the Normans and forc'd to take others in Exchange on the Frontiers by which means they were impoverish'd and discourag'd Add to this That several of the faithful Irish who had submitted to the English Government and lived within their Quarters and thereby became acquainted with the English Conversations Humors Strength Policies Seats and Habitations were likewise dispossess'd to make Room for the Normans and thereby forced to revolt to the Irish and became the most Dangerous of all the Enemies as being most Knowing and most Provok'd And thus it came to pass that after Earl John had wasted his Army in small and unprofitable Skirmishes and had staid eight months and done no other Good than that he built the Castle of Tybrach perhaps Typerary Lismore and Ardfinin the King sent for him and his Beardless Counsellors and in his Room substituted John de Courcy Earl of Vlster Lord Lieutenant of Ireland he brought over with him about four hundred Volunteers 1185. September And soon after his arrival he made a Progress into Munster and Connaught to put those Countries in order but it seems he fell into an Ambush or had some Skirmish with the Irish for it is said That he lost twelve Knights in his Return from Connaught 1186. On Midsummer-day the Prime of Limerick slew four Knights and a great part of the Garrison of Ardfinin And soon after by a Slight drew that Garrison into an Ambush by exposing a Prey to their View which they thought to have taken but he fell upon them and surprized and slew most of them But the Irish had not so good luck in Meath where they of Kenally had made Incursions and taken a Prey for William Petit rescued the Prey defeated them with great Slaughter and sent an hundred of their Heads to Dublin Old Lacy was now busie building his Castle of Derwath and himself working with a Pick-ax for Diversion when one of the malicious and ungrateful Workmen took the Opportunity whilst he was stooping Cambden 151. and with another Pick-Ax knock'd out his Brains And it seems there was an Insurrection thereupon for it is said That Courcy and Young Lacy revenged the Murder and reduced all things to quiet But it seems afterwards there grew some Distast between Courcy and Lacy so that Lacy who was the better Courtier supplanted Courcy who was the better Soldier and got himself into his Room This Courcy came from Stoke-courcy commonly call'd Stogussy in the County of Somerset I find that Robert de Courcy was made a Baron at Westminster 33 Henry 1. but whether he was the Ancestor of this Family I will not determine This Earl of Vlster had a natural Son John Lord of Kilbarrock and Raheny who was murdered by the Lacyes so that it is the Brother of this Earl John that was the Ancestor of the Noble Family of Courcy Lord Baron of Kingsale In the mean time King Henry died in Normandy on the sixth Day of July 1189. He was so well pleased with the Conquest of Ireland Davis 11. that he placed the Title of Lord of Ireland in his Royal Style before his Hereditary Estates of Normandy and Aquitain Baron Finglas M. S. And yet that Country was at that Time so inconsiderable or so little improv'd that there were not five Castles or Piles for Defence of Irish building in the whole Kingdom Dublin Cork and Waterford were built by the Easterlings and all the rest have been built since the Reduction of Ireland This King was both Wise and Valiant he was also Generous to the highest Degree so that he deserved to be ranked among the bravest Princes of that or any other Age and perhaps had made as great a Figure in History as any of them if the Undutifulness of Becket and the Rebellion of his own Sons had not interrupted his Designs However there are some who will never forgive him the Conquest of Ireland and therefore do load his Memory with many Malicious Aspersions equally Ridiculous and False Polichronicon l. 7. c. 21. They say his Grandmother could not endure the Mass and that her Husband ordered four Knights to hold her by Force whilst the Priest was celebrating but in spight of them she flew out of the Window with two of her Sons and was never seen after And that 't is no Wonder they that come of the Devil should go to the Devil And that King Henry's Embassador urging the King's Son to have Peace with his Father was answered That it was Natural to their Brood to hate one another That Henry was a Bastard and that S. Bernard the Abbot prophesied of him That from the Devil he came and to the Devil he should go That his Father had gelded a Bishop and that himself had murdered S. Thomas of Canterbury That his Father had Carnal Knowledge of Henry's Queen Elianor and abundance more of such silly Stuff THE REIGN OF John Earl of Moreton LORD of IRELAND Afterwards King of England Duke of Normandy c. RICHARD I 1189. for his Valour Sirnamed Ceur de Lyon by unquestionable Right Succeeded his Father on the Throne of England and was crowned at Westminster the third Day of September 1189 but his Style was no more than Speed 482. Rex Anglor dux Normannor Acquitan comes Andegavor For John Earl of Moreton youngest Son of the deceased King by virtue of the aforesaid Donation at the Parliament at Oxford anno 1177 succeeded his Father in the Sovereignty of Ireland And therefore we find the Pope's Legate had Commission to exercise Jurisdiction in Anglia Davis 19. Wallia illis Hiberniae partibus in quibus Johanes Comes Moretonii potestatem habet dominium For tho' it be a Fundamental Maxim of State That Ireland must not be separated from the Crown of England And tho' it be also an undoubted Maxim of Law That the King cannot alien any part of his Dominions yet neither of these were thought to be transgressed by the aforesaid Donation because it was made to the King's Son whose Interest and Expectations in England were thought to be sufficient Security for his Good Behaviour What Controulment Earl John might have met with in the Soveraignty of Ireland if the King Richard had been at Leisure to inspect that Matter is incertain But it is manifest That the King was so taken up with his Voyage to the Holy Land and so embarassed by the unfortunate Consequences of it that he never did
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
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
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
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-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
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
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
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
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
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
his Reward And this is all I find done in Ireland during this Kings Reign 1485. which ended at the Battel of Bosworth on the two and twentieth Day of August 1485. THE REIGN OF HENRY VII King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND HENRY TVDOR 1485. Earl of Richmond Heir of the House of Lancaster by the Victory at Bosworth obtained the Crown of England and had the more solemn Possession of it at his Coronation on the thirtieth Day of October following To these two Pretences of Conquest and Possession he added the more specious Title of an Act of Parliament and yet thought himself not secure until he married Elizabeth Daughter of Edward IV in whom the Right really lay she being Heiress of the House of York However he governed as in his own Right and that so absolutely that he suffered not the Queen to intermeddle in State Affairs even so much as was usual for the Wife of a King Gerald Earl of Kildare whom he found Deputy to the Earl of Lincoln Wares Annals 2. he continued Deputy to the Duke of Bedford he also continued the Chancellor Treasurer and other Officers of State whom he knew partial to the White-Rose without joyning others of his own Party with them because he would theâ—eby insinuate That he had a Confidence in their Integrity and that he was elevated above Fear or Suspicion Nevertheless Sir Thomas Butler Earl of Ormond whose Family were fast Friends to the House of Lancaster and for which they had suffered exceedingly was not neglected but was by Act of Parliament in England restored both to Honour and Estate and soon after he was sworn of the Privy Council in England Lib. G. Lamb. And it seems that the Family of Desmond was also restored because I find that the Lord of Kerry did this Year recover some Lands in that County by Assize in the Court-Palatine there before Thomas Copinger Gent. Seneschal of the Liberties of Kerry unto James Earl of Desmond I should not have observed that Edmond Courcy was now made Bishop of Clogher but that he was the first Englishman that ever sat in that See There is not much mention made of any Disturbances this Year Ware 3. except that remarkable Contest between James Keating and Marmaduke Lumley about the Priory of Kilmainham Keating had been deprived by the great Master of that Order anno 1482 being accused of pawning or selling divers Ornaments of the House and particularly a Piece of the Cross and for alienating and incumbring the Revenues of the Priory and Lumley was substituted in his room but as soon as Lumley arrived at Clantarfe to take possession of his new Dignity Keating with a Company of Men came thither and took him Prisoner and detained him in Custody until he resigned all the Writings and Instruments of his Election and Confirmation and then Keating gave him the Preceptory of Kilsaran in the County of Louth But Lumley complained of this Usage as well to the King of England as to the great Master of the Order at Rhodes and at length prevailed to get Keating excommunicated whereas he was so inraged that he turned Lumley out of his Preceptory by Force and put him in Prison in spight of Octavianus de Palatio Archbishop of Armagh who did his Endeavour to protect Lumley It is probable that Lumley died in Prison because we hear no farther of him and because it is certain he never came to be Prior And as for Keating although he did make a shift to keep the Priory almost nine Years afterward by strong Hand yet at last he was ignominiously ejected and died in Poverty and Disgrace being succeeded by James Vale. It became a Question this Year in England 1 Hen. 7. 4. b. How the Attainder of this King should be taken off but it was unanimously resolved by all the Judges That the Possession of the Throne or the Assumption of the Royal Dignity did take away all Imperfections Incapacities and Attainders whatsoever And it is observeable that the Judges say The taking upon him to be King did all this for the Crown did not Descend to Henry VII because he was not the true Heir but afterwards married her that was so Nor can any thing properly descend to a person attainted because the Blood is corrupted so that he cannot be Heir to any Body But the King perceiving that the Faction of York was at work in Ireland 1486. sent for the Lord Deputy to repair to him into England but he being loath to undertake that Journey procured Letters from the Council June 4. importing That his Presence was so necessary in Ireland that he could not at present be spared from that Government And by these Means he excused himself for a while In the mean time Lambert Symnel a Youth of a lovely and fascinating Countenance and of a princely Behaviour was well instructed by a crafty Priest Sir Richard Symon to personate the Earl of Warwick only Son of George Duke of Clarence for which Duke being their Countryman born the Irish had a wonderful Respect as indeed they had generally for all the Family of York This Youth had learned his Lesson so well that Margaret Dutchess of Burgundy resolved to set him up against King Henry although there were two great Flaws in this Contrivance The one was That the true Earl of Warwick was in King Henry's Hands in the Tower of London The other That he was not right Heir to the Crown because there were Children of King Edward the Fourth still living Nevertheless she sent this Counterfeit Prince to Ireland where he met with all the Countenance he could desire as well from the Lord Deputy as from almost all the rest of the Nobility Gentry Clergy and People the Archbishop of Armagh the Bishop of Clogher and the Families of Butler and S. Lawrence and the City of Waterford only excepted And though the King caused the true Earl to be taken out of the Tower and shewn publickly in London which marred all their Designs there yet the Irish were not thereby Discouraged but confidently accused the King of Imposture as he did them and therefore that Project was not so effectual to him as was another of getting a Bull from the Pope requiring the Clergy to excommunicate the Rebels as often as the King should desire it which did him a great deal of Service But Mac Mahon took advantage of these Stirs and invaded Louth which he burnt and preyed according to the Custom of making War in those Days he destroyed twenty eight Villages in that Country And the Tempest was no less fatal to Vlster where it rooted up Trees and threw down Houses In May the Dutchess of Burgundy sent over two thousand Germans under the Command of Martin Swart an old Soldier with them there came the Earl of Lincoln the Lord Lovel and others and were kindly received and lovingly entertained by the Nobility Gentry and People of
Ireland they proceeded to crown this Impostor at Christ-Church in Dublin with a Crown which they took from the Statue of the Virgin Mary in S. Mary-Abby and this Ceremony was rendred more solemn by a Sermon preached by the Bishop of Meath on the occasion and by the Attendance of the Lord Deputy the Chancellor Treasurer and other the great Officers of State And after he was crowned they carried him in Triumph upon the Shoulders of Great Darcy of Platten But the good Archbishop of Armagh refused to be present at this ridiculous Pageantry for which they gave him all the Trouble they could But it seems they were conscious of their Misdemeanour in this Matter and they knew how to purchase Absolution and therefore they called a Parliament or Assembly in the Name of their new King and the Clergy gave the Pope a Subsidy to absolve them So eager were these People to follow the Fortunes of this Mock-King that Thomas Fitz-Girald resigned the Chancellorship to the Lord of Portlester the better to be at liberty and so together they went for England and landed in Lancashire where Sir Thomas Broughton and his Party joyned them they marched through Yorkshire to Newark and being stopt there they turned aside to Notinghamshire and near the Village of Stoke 1487. on the the eleventh of June after a desperate Fight for three Hours they were totally defeated and all the Commanders and four thousand Soldiers slain and Lambert and his Master Symon were taken Prisoners and the latter was imprisoned and the former made one of the King's Falconers In December James Fitz-Thomas Decemb. 7. Earl of Desmond in the twenty eighth Year of his Age was murdered at Rakele by his Servant Shane Maunta and others who were all taken and executed for it by Maurice his Brother and Successor in that Earldom The Earl of Kildare and the other Ministers of State that were Faulty sent Messengers to the King to implore his Pardon which after some exprobration and reprimand was obtained and he was still continued in his Office of Lord Deputy Ware 14 And the same Year the Inconveniences of Sanctuaries were somewhat lessned by the Pope's Bull for the better Regulation of them It seems strange That hitherto the King did not send any Soldiers into Ireland to suppress the remainder of the Faction of York perhaps he knew That if he took any severe course with them it would utterly destroy the Pale and by weakning the small Colony of English would turn to the Advantage of the Irish and therefore he contented himself with the Submission of those that had been Faulty and sent over Sir Richard Edgcomb to take new Oaths of Allegiance of the Nobility and Gentry and to bind them in Recognizance to performance and thereupon to give them a Pardon He brought with him five hundred Men which was rather a Guard than an Army and he arrived at Kingsale with five Ships on the twenty seventh Day of June he did not intend to come on Shoar there and therefore the Lord Thomas Barry i.e. Barry oge came on Board and there did his Homage for his Barony and took his Oath of Allegiance but the next Day Sir Richard Edgcomb at the Importunity of James Lord Courcy and the Inhabitants of Kingsale did come into the Town and in their Parish Church dedicated to S. Multotius the Lord Courcy did Homage and he and the Townsmen swore Allegiance and entred into Recognizance for the Observation of it whereupon they were pardoned And so after Dinner Edgcomb sailed toward Waterford where he arrived the last Day of June and having applauded the Loyalty of that City and assured them That the King would liberally remunerate their Fidelity he set Sail for Dublin and there he arrived the fifth Day of July and was received by the Mayor and Citizens in most humble and submissive manner at the Gate of the Abby of the Friers Preachers where he was to lodge The Earl of Kildare was then upon some Exploit against the Irish so that he did not come to Dublin until the twelfth of July and then he sent the Bishop of Meath the Lord Slane and others unto Edgcomb to conduct him to S. Thomas-Court where the Lord Deputy lay Thither did Sir Richard come and with a stern Countenance delivered the King's Letters to the Lord Deputy after which they had a Private Conference but many of the Nobility being absent nothing more was done at that time and so they departed the Lord Deputy went to Minooth and Sir Richard Edgcomb returned to the Abby The next Day being Sunday Edgcomb caused to be read in Christ Church after Sermon the Absolution of the former Excommunication which the Pope had lately granted at the King's Request unto all those that should thenceforward continue loyal to his Majesty and after some time and many Expostulations between the Commissioners and the Nobility they did at last agree on the Form of an Oath to be found at large in Sir James Wares Annals p. 17. Wherein this is observable that they swore not to hinder or disturb the excommunication of all such as should oppose the King of what Quality soever they should be And in the Oath of the Clergy it was added that they should publish the Popes Excommunication against all the Kings Rebels or Enemies in Ireland as often as they should be thereunto required Salvo Ordine Episcopali c. And so on the 21st of July the Earl of Kildare being first absolved from the former Excommunication after the usual manner in time of Divine Service did Homage to the Kings Commissioner in the great Chamber in Thomas Court and swore Allegiance and entred into Recognizance for the due Observation of it and then Edgecomb gave him his Pardon and put a Gold-Chain about his Neck which the King had sent him for a Present to signifie his Majesties entire Reconcilation to him The like Oaths and Recognizances were made by Rowland Eustace Baron of Portlester Lord High Treasurer Robert Preston Viscount Gormanstown James Fleming Baron of Slane Nicholas St. Laurence Baron of Houth Christopher Barnewal Baron of Trimletstown John Plunket Baron of Dunsany Walter Archbishop of Dublin John Walton who had resigned that Archbishoprick reserving the Mannor of Swords to live upon during Life John Bishop of Meath Edmond Bishop of Kildare John Purcell Abbot of St. Thomas Abby Walter Champflour Abbot of St. Maryes and James Cogan Prior of Holm-Patrick and then Sir Richard Edgecomb entertain'd them all at a splendid Banquet at his Lodgings and the next day the Mayor and Citizens of Dublin took their Oaths at the Tolsel and remitted a Copy of the Oath under the City-Seal to the King to certifie His Majesty that they had taken it And so on the 23d day of July Edgecomb went to Drogheda and thence to Trim and both those Towns as also the Prior of St. Peters near Trim and the Abbots of Navan and Beclif did in like manner
bind themselves to Allegiance by Oath and Recognizance and when he returned to Dublin on the 26th Octavianus Archbishop of Armagh Philip Birmingham Chief Justice of the Kings Bench and Thomas Dowdal Master of the Rolls followed the same Example There was great intercession made for Prior Keating and Thomas Plunket Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and at length Plunket was pardon'd but Keating was not only left unpardoned but was also removed from the Command of the Castle of Dublin whereof it seems he was Governour or Constable and Richard Archbold whom he had formerly ejected was now restored and perhaps Keating had been used worse if his Habit and Order had not protected him for the King hated him more than all the rest being as it seems one of the most violent and most powerful Abettors of the Impostor Symnel and so Sir Richard Edgecomb having faithfully executed his Commission embarked at Dalky the 29th of July and arrived in Cornwal on the 8th of August Soon after this the Lord Deputy and Council sent over the Bishop of Meath to obviate the Designs of their Enemies and to thank the King for his Favours and to assure him of their future Allegiance and he managed his Negotiation so successfully that although the Archbishop of Armagh who was of the Kings side and a Favourite did use his utmost Endeavours to get the Chancellorship yet he could not obtain it lest thereby Kildare and his Party might be disobliged and the Kingdom just now appeased and growing towards a Settlement might again be disturbed by new Jealousies and Commotions And now the Lord Deputy is at leisure to call Macgeoghan to account for all his Depredations in the Pale 1489. he invaded his Country and took the Castle of Bileragh and preyed and wasted the whole Territory of Moycassel and being loaden with Booty he returned to Dublin But the King being still jealous of the Nobility of Ireland whom he knew to be exceedingly addicted to the House of York sent for most of them to come over to him into England and thither went the Earl of Kildare the Viscounts Buttevant and Fermoy and the Lords of Athenry Kingsale Gormanstown Delvin Hoath Slane Killeen Trimleston and Dunsany They waited on the King at Greenwich where Lambert Symnel served as Butler purposely to ridicule and expose their Folly who would Crown such a Fellow for their King but after some sharp Reproofs they were all taken into Favour and graciously dismiss'd I suppose not without some Presents though only that of three hundred Pieces of Gold to the Lord of Hoath be mentioned But whilst these things were doing in England Maurice Buckagh Earl of Desmond obtained two Victories in Ireland the one against Morough O Carol who was slain in the Battel together with his Brother Moyl Murry and the other against Dermond Mac Teige Carty whom he also killed On the 6th of July a Provincial Synod was held at Athird Ware 24. by Octavianus Archbishop of Armagh at which were present the Bishops of Meath Clogher Ardagh Dromore Kildare Raphoe and Cluanmacnoise There was a great Contest at this Synod between Thomas Brady and one Cormock about the Bishoprick of Kilmore it was by common consent refer'd to the determination of the Bishops of Meath Clogher and Ardagh and what End they made of it non constat but six years after both of them were called Bishops of Kilmore and as such both of them were permitted to sit in the Synod of Drogheda The Summer and Harvest were so wet in Ireland 1491. that the Corn could not be saved and therefore a great Dearth ensued which was accompanied with a Disease called the Sweating Sickness which now came to be first felt and known in Ireland And it seems that a Parliament was held at Trim on Friday after Epiphany but none of their Acts are extant But in March a Proclamation issued against bad Money and Nicholas Flyn was made Supervisor of the Mints at Waterford and Dublin It was about this time that O Neal wrote this short and famous Letter to Hugh Roe O Donel from whom he demanded Chief-Rent which the other denied and refused to pay Cur hoom mi Keesh no monna Curhir i.e. Send me my Rent or if you don't as much as to say he would force him to it But O Donel replied Neel Reesh a gut urm agus dabeh i.e. I owe you no Rent and if I did meaning that he would not pay it so to Blows they go and after some Bickerings and Losses on both sides they agreed to refer all their Differences to the Lord Deputy but in vain for all that he could do could not reconcile them So to Blows they fall again and came to a bloody Battel wherein the Loss was almost equal but if there were any disadvantage in that Point it was of O Donel's side but that was more than balanced by the Death of O Neal who in January 1492 was Murdered by his Brother Henry so that Tyrone became divided between Henry and Daniel O Neal betwixt whom there was continual Wars until the year 1497. and then upon the Resignation of Daniel Henry became sole Proprietor and the same year of 1497 O Donel likewise being superannuated and decrepit gave up his Principality of Tirconnel to his Son Con. But the King finding that the Duchess of Burgundy was again busie at work about setting up another Impostor thought it necessary to put the Government of Ireland in the hands of such as he might confide in and therefore he removed the Earl of Kildare and Walter Fitz-Symons 1492. Archbishop of Dublin was made Lord Deputy to Jasper Dukâ— of Bedford and Sir James Ormond Natural Son to John Earl of Ormond was made Lord Treasurer in the room of Eustace Lord of Portlester who had enjoyed that Office eight and thirty years This new Lord Treasurer came to Ireland in June with a small Band of Souldiers and it so hapned that upon some Quarrel between him and the Earl of Kildare near Dublin there was a Skirmish which proved very prejudicial to both the Families of Butlers and Giraldines and the more because the Irish took advantage thereby to infest the Pale and to disturb the English Borders However in September following more Alterations were made in the great Offices of State Alexander Plunket was made Lord Chancelor Thomas Butler Master of the Rolls and Nicholas Turner was constituted Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in August before and the Earl of Ormond and the Prior of Canterbury were sent Ambassadors to the French King This Summer was so dry that abundance of Cattel perished for want of Water and the Air grew so Pestilential that a multitude of People and particularly the Lord of Slane died of the Plague But a greater Mischief than this hapned to the unfortunate Kingdom of Ireland by the Arrival of Perkin Warbeck who to supply the Defects of the former Imposture did pretend to be Richard Duke of
York Second Son of Edward the Fourth to whom the Crown did really belong if he were living and this Perkin did personate him so well that there remains some doubt to this day whether he were an Impostor or not but supposing he was it was cunningly contrived to let him first appear in Portugal as a Child that had in a skulking manner fled from the Cruelty of his usurping Unkle besides Portugal was a Place with which the Duchess of Burgundy had not much Correspondence and therefore it could not be suspected that she had a hand in the Cheat but however that be young Perkin set Sail from Lisbon and arrived safely at Cork where he was kindly received by the Citizens and particularly by John Walters an eminent Merchant of Cork who probably was then Mayor and whose Apprentice Perkin had been as they say he wrote Letters to the Earls of Kildare and Desmond for their Assistance against King Henry but before he received their Answers he received Letters from the French King inviting him thither and so to France he went and was royally received and entertained until that King made Peace with King Henry and then Perkin made a seasonable Retreat into Flanders where he was exceeding welcome to his supposed Aunt the Duchess of Burgundy and there we will leave him for a while and return to our â—ord Deputy He held a Parliament at Dublin 1493. on Friday after Midsummer which it seems vacated some Indictments and Inquisitions that had formerly been made to the prejudice of this Lord Deputy by the Means of the Lord Portlester and now the Tables being turn'd and the Votaries of the House of Lancaster at Helm the Lord Portlester himself was questioned in the Exchequer for the miss-management of his Office of Treasurer This Parliament did also repeal a former Act made against the City of Waterford and restored that City to all its ancient Liberties and Priviledges and it is probable that there was also an Act of Parliament now made for the general Resumption of all the Crown Lands that were alienated or granted away since the first year of King Henry the Sixth but none of the Acts of this Parliament are Printed except one for the cleansing of the Water-Course in St. Patrick-street in Dublin and so this Parliament being dissolved in August the Lord Deputy on the sixth of September following resigned to Robert Preston Viscount Gormanstown Lord Deputy to the Duke of Bedford who it seems had not Commission to call a Parliament nevertheless he did call one which met at Drogheda and made several Statutes which were absolutely void for the Defect aforesaid however they were expresly repeal'd by 10 Hen. 7. cap. 23. And these farther Reasons were given for it 1. That the Lord Lieutenant had surrendred his Patent before the Summons And 2. Because the Parliamentary Summons did not issue to all the Shires but to four Shires only On the Twelfth of September this Lord Deputy called several of the Nobility to Trim where they subscribed Articles for the Peace of the Kingdom viz. That no man should make War without the Deputies Consent and that several Extortions and Tributes that were used and demanded should be abrogated and suppressed and that Murderers Thieves and Vagabonds should be punished c. There were present at this Assembly Alexander Plunket L. Chancellor Girald Earl of Kildare the Bishops of Meath Kildare the Lords of Slane Delvin Killeen Houth Trimletston and Dunsany c. And they gave Recognizanse and Hostages for the observation of those Articles and after this he called the Parliament aforesaid In October the late Lord Deputy Fitz-Symons went into England to give the King a full Account as well of his own Government as of the present State of the Kingdom of Ireland and not long after viz. in November following the Earl of Kildare hearing he was impeach'd in England went also thither to justifie himself before the King but the L. Deputy leaving the Government in the Hands of his Son followed the Earl to England and by the Assistance of Sir James Ormond Lord Treasurer of Ireland he so far prevailed that Kildare's Justification was rejected and himself sent over Prisoner to Ireland to the end the Matter might be more fully examined upon the place 1494. by Sir Edward Poynings Knight of the Garter Lord Deputy whose chief Errand was to suppress the Abettors of Perkin Warbeck he came over the thirteenth of September and immediately made great Alterations amongst the Ministers of State Henry Dean Bishop of Bangor he constituted Lord Chancellor Sir Hugh Conway was appointed Treasurer Thomas Bouring was made Chief Justice of the Kings Bench as John Topcliff was of the Common Pleas and Walter Ever was made Chief Baron of the Exchequer all which were Englishmen born and good Lawyers and were sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland This Deputy brought over with him about one thousand Souldiers and resolved to invade Vlster to pursue some of Perkins's Friends that fled thither it is strange he should use the Earl of Kildare's assistance in this Expedition however together they went accompanied with Sir James Ormond who had resigned the Office of High Treasurer they did great Execution on the Irish and harass'd the Territories of O Hanlon and Mac Genis and others It was suggested That Kildare did secretly treat and conspire with O Hanlon to destroy the Lord Deputy for which he was Attainted as shall be shewn hereafter but it seems he was innocent of that Matter not only because O Hanlon cleared him upon Oath two years after but also because he was acquitted in England upon full hearing before the King Nevertheless Kildare's Brother did at this time seize on the Castle of Caterlogh whereupon the Lord Deputy was necessitated to clap up a sort of a Peace with O Hanlon and Macgenis and so having taken their Oaths and Hostages he immediately marched to Caterlogh which after ten days Siege 1494. was surrendred unto him And so in November on Monday before the Feast of St. Andrew sate that famous Parliament at Drogheda which Enacted I. That the Treasurer might appoint his under-Officers here as is used in England and shall account once a year here before the Barons of the Exchequer and such of the Council as the Lord Deputy shall appoint and the same Accounts to be certified into England and finally determined and setled there II. That no Minister of Justice viz. The Chancellor Treasurer Judges Clerk or Master of the Rolls nor any Officer Accomptant shall have their Places but during the King's Pleasure III. An Act adnulling a Prescription which Traytors and Rebels claimed in Ireland The Reason of this Act was because Richard Duke of York at his last being in Ireland did Cause an Act to be made That Ireland should be a Sanctuary for Refugees and that it should be Treason to disturb any body there by any Writ Privy Seal or other Matter from England and
did all he could to evade or at least procrastinate that Voyage which was to be fatal to him and his Family he sent his Wife to use the Interest of her Friends in England and to alledg several vain Pretences and particularly That the ill Posture of Affairs in Ireland could not permit his Absence But all these Contrivances proving ineffectual at last he seriously prepared to begin the Voyage But before he went he furnished all his Castles especially Minooth and Ley with Guns and Ammunition out of the King's Store although he had the King 's express Command to the contrary imparted to him by the Master of the Rolls Allen in the presence of the Bishop of Meath and others and the Act of Attainder also mentions That he furnished the Wild Irishmen being the King 's Mortal Enemies with Arms and Ammunition out of his Majesty's Stores which is not improbable because of his Allyance with O Connor and O Carol. It is certain That Quos Deus vult perdere dementat and the brave Earl of Kildare is a plain Example of it for being ordered by the King to leave a Deputy for whose Fidelity he would answer he substitutes his own Son Thomas Fitz-Girald 1534. a forward rash Youth scarce one and twenty Years old who nevertheless had Qualities worthy of his House and perhaps would in time have exceeded all his Ancestors if by laying this too great Burthen on his weak Shoulders so early they had not broken his Back in the beginning It seems the Earl had some Jealousies of what afterwards hapned and therefore to qualifie his Son 's youthful Passions in some measure before he delivered him the Sword he spoke to him as followeth before the Council at Drogheda where he presently after imbarqued and set sail for England Son Thomas Holingsh 88. I doubt not but you know That my Sovereign Lord the King hath sent for me into England and what shall betide me God knoweth for I know not but howsoever it falleth both you and I know That I am well stept in Years And as I may shortly dye for that I am Mortal so I must in haste decease because I am old Wherefore insomuch as my Winter is well near ended and the Spring of your Age now buddeth my Will is That you behave your self so wisely in these your Green Years as that to the Comfort of your Friends you may enjoy the Pleasures of Summer glean and reap the Fruits of your Harvest that with Honour you may grow to the catching of that hoary Winter on which you see me your Father fast pricking And whereas it pleaseth the King his Majesty That upon my Departure here hence I should substitute in my room such a one for whose Government I would answer Albeit I know that your Years are tender your Wit not setled your Judgment not fully rectified and therefore I might be with good cause reclaimed from putting a naked Sword in a young Mans Hand Yet notwithstanding forsomuch as I am your Father and you my Son I am well assured to bear that Stroke with you in steering your Ship as that upon any Information I may command you as your Father and correct you as my Son for the wrong handling of your Helm There be here that sit at this Board far more sufficient Personages for so great Charge than you are But what then If I should cast this Burthen on their Shoulders it might be That hereafter they would be so far with Envy carried as they would percase hazzard the loss of one of their own Eyes to be assured that I should be deprived of both mine But forsomuch as the case toucheth your Skin as near as mine because as I said before I rest in the Winter and you in the Spring of your Years and now I am resolved Day by Day to learn rather How to die in the Fear of God than to live in the Pomp of the World I think you will not be so brain-sick as to stab your self through the Body only to scarifie my Skin with the Point of your Blade wherefore my Son consider That it is easie to raze and hard to build and in all your Affairs be ruled by this Board that for Wisdom is able and for entire Affection it beareth to your House will be found willing to lesson you with Sound and Sage Advice for albeit in authority you rule them yet in Council they must rule you My Son you know that my late Maims stifle my talk otherwise I would have grated longer on this Matter for a good Tale may be twice told and a sound Advice eftsoons iterated taketh the deeper Impression in the attentive Hearer's Mind But although my fatherly Affection requireth my Discourse to be longer yet I trust your good Inclination asketh it to be shorter And upon that Assurance here in the presence of this Honourable Assembly I deliver you this Sword Thus he spake for his last Fare-well with trickling Tears and having ended he rose up imbraced the Council committed them to God and immediately after imbarked leaving Thomas Fitz-Girald Lord Deputy 1534. to whom both the Allens were bitter Enemies One of them being Master of the Rolls told the Lord Deputy at a Banquet where they were discoursing of Heraldry That his Lordships House gave a Marmoset whose Property it was to eat her Tail To whom the Deputy replyed That he had been fed by his Tail and should take care that his Tail did not eat him Another time the Council waited three or four Hours for the Lord Deputy's coming whereat the Archbishop being dissatisfied he asked the Lords Whether it were not a pretty Matter that all they should stay so long for a Boy Which Words the Lord Deputy over-heard being just coming up Stairs and as soon as he entred he told their Lordships He was sorry they should stay so long for a Boy whereat the Archbishop was somewhat out of countenance The Enemies of the Giraldines had spread abroad a Report that the Earl of Kildare was Beheaded in the Tower and that the same Fate was designed for the Lord Deputy and all his Unkles and Letters were purposely spread abroad to that effect one of which by a strange Accident came to the hands of James de la Hide Principal Counsellor to the Lord Deputy by whose perswasion the Lord Deputy consederated with O Neal O Connor and others and on the eleventh day of June rode through the City of Dublin to Damsgate accompanied with seven score Horsemen in their Shirts of Mayl and there crossed the River and went to S. Mary Abby where the Council according to Appointment waited his coming and whilst he was sitting in Council some of his Followers rudely rush'd into the Council-Chamber Armed as they were and fell to talking aloud until at length Silence being commanded the Lord Deputy spake as followeth Howsoever injuriously we be handled Holingshead 90. and forced to defend our selves in Arms when neither
and after half a years abode there they went to Kilbritton in the County of Cork where Elianor Fitz-Girald Mac Carty Riagh's Widow then lived Soon after she married with O Donel and made it one of the Articles of her Agreement That he should protect her Nephew the young Fitz-Girald which he faithfully promised and thereupon they went together to Vlster but they were not there a Twelve-month before the Lady understood that her perfidious Husband had agreed to betray her Nephew and therefore she sent him privately into France and gave him sevenscore Pieces of Gold call'd Portugueses to bear his Charge and afterwards upbraided O Donel with his Treachery and told him That as nothing but the Preservation of her Nephew could have prevailed with her to marry such a clownish Curmudgen so since he villanously endeavoured to betray her in that Particular she would stay with him no longer and so away she went and never saw him more But the Young Fitz-Girald arrived safely at S. Maloes and being sent for up to Paris the English Embassador there demanded him of the French King by virtue of the Peace lately concluded The French King gave him a dilatory Answer and in the mean time Fitz Girald escaped to Flanders at Valencienes he was overtaken by James Sherlock whom the Embassador sent to pursue him but the Governour of that Town committed Sherlock and so Fitz-Girald got safe to Brussels but the English Embassador demanded him there also so that he was forced to remove to Leige and was by the Emperor recommended to the Bishop of Leige and allowed a hundred Crowns a Month for his Expence But he staid there not above half a Year before his Kinsman Cardinal Poole sent for him to Rome and placed him successively with the Bishop of Verona the Cardinal of Mantua and the Duke of Mantua and allowed him an Annuity of three hundred Crowns per annum and the Duke of Mantua gave him the like Pension With them he staid a Year and a half and then removed to Cardinal Poole's Palace in Rome where he continued three Years The next Year after he spent in Service with the Knights of Malta and behaved himself exceeding valiantly Then he became Master of the Horse to the Great Duke of Tuscany and continued in that Office three Years One Day as he was hunting Holingshead 99. in the company of Cardinal Farneze he fell into a Pit twenty nine Fathom deep and had the good Luck within two Fathom of the Bottom to quit his Horse and take hold of some Roots or Bushes that were on the Side of the Pit and by degrees he let go his Hold and gently descended upon his Horse which was dead in the Bottom of the Pit and there he stood three Hours up to the Ankles in Water until his Grey-hound called Griff-hound missing his Master hunted him to the Pit and there fell a howling till the Company came in and with a Rope and a Basket drew him up alive and well to all their Admirations to mine too if I did not think this part of the Story to be a little Monkish And since I am upon Digressions Analecta Hib. Sullevan Cath. Hist. 71. it will be fit to remember That Doctor Traverse who was an active Man in Fitz-Girald's Rebellion and was therefore executed at Tyburn as the Traytor well deserved has nevertheless found a Room in the Irish Martyrology and is mentioned as an Instance of the English Cruelty by the Irish Historians And so we will conclude the Year 1535 with the Consecration of George Brown Archbishop of Dublin Ware de Praesulibs which was performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of Rochester and Salisbury on the nineteenth or rather twenty ninth of March he had formerly been Provincial of the Fryers of the Order of S. Augustine Bish Brown's Life in England And whilst he was so he used to Preach That Salvation was to be obtained by the Merits of Christ and advised to make Application to him only for which Doctrine he was much taken notice of He became the first Protestant Convert of the Clergy in Ireland and was an exceeding Charitable and Meek Man He was the first that caused Images and other Superstitious Reliques to be removed out of the two Cathedrals in Dublin and out of the rest of the Churches within his Diocess And he caused the Ten Commandments the Lord's Prayer and the Creed to be placed in gilded Frames about the Altar in Christ-Church Dublin It seems that the King did send Commissioners into Ireland to remove the Pope's Authority thence and to reduce it to conformity with England if so undoubtedly Archbishop Browne was one of the Commissioners as will appear by the following Letter sent by him to Cromwel Lord Privy Seal who was the chief Mannager of that Matter My Most Honoured Lord YOVR humble Servant receiving your Mandate Septemb. 4. 1535. as one of His Highnesses Commissioners hath endeavoured almost to the Danger and Hazard of this Temporal Life to procure the Nobility and Gentry of this Nation to due Obedience in owning of his Highness their Supreme Head as well Spiritual as Temporal and do find much oppugning therein especially by my Brother Armagh who hath been the main Oppugner and so hath withdrawn most of his Suffragans and Clergy within his See and Jurisdiction He made a speech to them laying a Curse on the People whosoever should own his Highness's Supremacy saying That this Isle as it is in their Irish Chronicles Insula Sacra belongs to none but the Bishop of Rome and that it was the Bishop of Rome's Predecessors gave it to the King's Ancestors There be two Messengers by the Priests of Armagh and by that Archbishop now lately sent to the Bishop of Rome Your Lordship may inform his Highness That it is convenient to call a Parliament in this Nation to pass the Supremacy by Act for they do not much matter his Highness's Commission which your Lordship sent us over This Island hath been for a long time held in Ignorance by the Romish Orders And as for their Secular Orders they be in a manner as ignorant as the People being not able to say Mass or pronounce the Words they not knowing what they themselves say in the Roman Tongue The common People of this Isle are more Zealous in their Blindness than the Saints and Martyrs were in the Truth at the beginning of the Gospel I send to you my very good Lord these things that your Lordship and his Highness may consult what is to be done It is feared O Neal will be ordered by the Bishop of Rome to oppose your Lordships Order from the King's Highness for the Natives are much in Numbers within his Powers I do pray the Lord Christ to defend your Lordship from your Enemies On the twenty eighth of April the King sent Orders to the Town of Galway to use the English Order 1536. Lib. H. Habit
Souls paid Tribute to Caesar though no Christian greater Honour then surely is due to your Prince His Highness the King and a Christian one Rome and her Bishops in the Fathers Days acknowledged Emperors Kings and Princes to be Supreme over their Dominions nay Christs own Vicars and it is much to the Bishop of Rome's shame to deny what their precedent Bishops owned Therefore his Highness claims but what he can justifie the Bishop Elutherius gave to S. Lucius the first Christian King of the Britains so that I shall without scrupling vote his Highness King Henry my Supreme over Ecclesiastical Matters as well as Temporal and Head thereof even of both Isles England and Ireland and that without Guilt of Conscience or Sin to God and he who will not pass this Act as I do is no true Subject to his Highness XIII That the King and his Heirs and Successors for ever shall have the twentieth part of the yearly Profits Revenues Rents Farms Titles Offerings and Emoluments Spiritual and Temporal belonging to any Archbishoprick Bishoprick Abbacy Monastery Priory Arch-Deaconry Deanry Hospital Comandry College House Collegiate Prebend Cathedral-Church Collegiate Church Conventual Church Parsonage Vicarage Chantry or Free Chappel or other Promotion Spiritual whatsoever And the King was so well pleased with this Act Lib. H. that he sent a particular Letter of Thanks to the Lords Spiritual for granting him the twentieth part of their Livings yearly for ever XIV That no Subject shall be shaved above his Ears or wear Glibbs or Crom-meals i.e. Hair on the upper Lip or Linnen died in Saffron or above seven yards of Linnen in their Shifts and that no Woman wear any Kirtle or Coat tucked up or embroydered or garnished with Silk or couched ne laid with Usker after the Irish Fashion and that no Person wear Mantles Coats or Hoods after the Irish Fashion except Women Horse-boys Cow-boys and Soldiers at the rising out and Hostings all which may wear Mantles And that every body shall endeavour to learn the English Language and conform to the English Fashion c. XV. And that Benefices shall not be given to any that cannot speak English unless after four Proclamations in the next Market-Town to the Benefice on four several Market-Days a Person that can speak English cannot be got and that then an honest able Irishman may be admitted on his Oath that he shall do his utmost endeavour to learn the English Language and observe the English Order and Fashion and teach those under him to do the like and shall keep an English School in his Parish to that purpose c. XVI An Act for the Suppression of Abbies XVII An Act against transporting of Wool and Flocks XVIII An Act about the Proof of Testaments XIX The Act of Faculties prohibiting the Subjects from paying any Pensions Cences Portions Peter-pence or any other Impositions to the use of the Pope and extinguishing and suppressing them for ever and authorizing Commissioners appointed by the King to grant Faculties and Dispensations as the Archbishop of Canterbury may do in England by vertue of the Act of Faculties there which is made of Force in Ireland XX. That Poyning's Act be suspended pro hac vice XXI An Act for Limitation of Actions on Penal Statutes viz. That Actions in the King's Name be commenced within three years after the Offence and Actions Popular within one year XXII An Act for prostrating the Wares on the River Barrow c. XXIII An Act for uniting and annexing the Parsonages and Vicarages of Dungarvan c. to the Crown XXIV That no body presume to leaze Corn whilst there be any Stacks or Reeks of Corn in the Field And that every man that cannot keep his Child at School do at ten years of Age put him to Handicraft or Husbandry XXV That the Leases made or to be made by the King's Commissioners viz. Saintleger Pawlet c. shall be good and valid any defect of Inquisition or Office c. notwithstanding Lastly An Act for the first Fruits of the great Abbies and Monasteries c. which were not vested in the King by the above Act ch 16. But this Statute is become useless by a subsequent Act that gives all the Abbies c. to the King And these are all the Acts of this Parliament to be found in the printed Statute-Book which I do not pretend to have critically or exactly abridged because I think it necessary for every man that will be nicely instructed in any Statute-Law to read the Statute at large and not to trust to an Abridgment but I have endeavoured to give such an Historical Account of these Acts as may illustrate this Collection and give the Reader some Light into the Affairs of those times Nor must it be forgotten that many of these Statutes are made in the later Sessions of this Parliament Anno 1537. And besides these Printed Acts there was another Law made at this Parliament against Fosterings and Marriage with the Irish and it was thereby made Treason to marry with the Child of any Man who had not swore allegiance and entred into Recognizance to observe it but this severe Law was repeal'd 11 Jac. 1. cap. 5. But whilst the Nobility and Gentry were at the Parliament O Connor made use of the opportunity as he used to do and invaded the Pale his Fury lighted most on the Barony of Carbry in the County of Kildare which he preyed and burnt and to revenge it the Lord Trimletstown and the Vice-Treasurer Brabazon with such men as they could on the sudden get together made an Incursion into Offaly and in like manner wasted and destroyed that Country which obliged O Connor to return home as fast as he could Sir William Brereton was likewise sent to the Confines of Vlster to parly with O Neal who complained That the League made between the Lord Deputy Skeffington and him was not duly observed on the English side so after some Expostulations upon that Point the same Agreement was renewed and confirmed And about the same time the King to reward the City of Waterford for its Loyalty and firm adhesion to the Crown sent to that City a gilt Sword and a Cap of Maintainance But John Earl of Desmond being dead the new Earl James who was a very active or rather a turbulent man began new Disturbances in Munster but he was timely opposed by the Lord Butler who wasted his Lands in the County of Limerick and repair'd and Garrison'd the Castle of Loghguir and it seems that the Lord Deputy came to Kilkenny the twenty fourth of July and having adjourned the Parliament Lib. D. as aforesaid he came to Loghguir the last of July and the next day he went to Carrigonel and took it the second of August and they say for some private Advantage redelivered it to the former Owner on the sixth of August they marched to Bryans-bridge and took the Castles and broke the Bridge but by the improvidence of
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
16 of January came to Cahir to Commissioners appointed for that purpose and there he renewed his Oath of Allegiance and delivered his Son Girald to be Hostage of his Loyalty and to be bred after the English manner and by Indenture he renounced that fantastical Privilege which he and his Predecessors had for a long time claimed of not being obliged to appear at the Parliament Lib. D. or come within any walled Town but at their own Pleasure and by the same Indenture did utterly deny and promise to forsake the Bishop of Rome's usurped Primacy and Authority and Covenanted that he would with all his Power resist and repress the same and all that should by any means use or maintain it and that he would contribute and pay his share of Taxes granted by Parliament as the Earl of Ormond and other Noblemen do And afterwards he did come to Dublin and made his Submission in a set Form of Words before the Lord Deputy and Council And it seems that about the same time Hugh Burk made his Submission Ibid. and by Indenture Covenanted to pay the King forty pound per annum for the Captainry of the Burks Country and an hundred Mark upon every Succession of Captainry and to find eighty Gallowglasses and forty Horsemen for six weeks every Hosting and his whole Force for three days whenever the Lord Deputy comes into the Country and also to give Bonnagh or Maintenance for eighty Gallowglasses for six Weeks every year and this Example was followed by many others varying the Proportions of every mans Contribution according to their respective Circumstances And about the same time Lib. 6. was Coyned that Piece of Money Ware 159. which they call King Harry's Groat and two-penny Pieces and Pence of the same Stamp and on the nineteenth of November they were made currant by Proclamation and the carrying them to England was prohibited under severe Penalties The Lord Deputy in the latter end of May went to Limerick 154◠to confer with O Brian about his Submission which I suppose was there performed and soon after he returned to Dublin to meet the Parliament which was summoned to sit there on the thirteenth of June which it accordingly did and continued until the twentieth Day of July and so after several Prorogations and Adjournments mentioned in the Statute Book it was finally dissolved on the nineteenth day of November 1543. There were present at this Parliament the Archbishops of Dublin Ware 160. Cashel and Tuam and the Bishops of Waterford Fernes Emly and 〈◊〉 and to oblige the principal Gentry the King 〈…〉 profuse of Honour than he used to be Enobling no less than six of them at the beginning of this Parliament viz. Edmond Butler Baron of Dunboyne and Bernard Fitz-Patrick Baron of upper Ossory June 11. Sir Oliver Plunket Baron of Louth June 15. William Birmingham Baron of Carbry June 17. John Rawson late Prior of Kilmainham Viscount Clantarfe June 20. and Thomas Eustace Viscount Baltinglass June 29. This Parliament made several good Laws viz. 1. That the King and his Successors be KINGS of Ireland and that it be so proclaimed in every Shire in the Kingdom and that all opposition to this Act or to that Style or Title be Treason 2. That no body shall buy Goods or Merchandizes to sell again except in open Market or Fair on pain of being punished as a Forestaller except Tanners buying Hides to Tan. This Act made perpetual by 11 Eliz. c. 5. 3. That the Plaintiff in Assize may abridge his Plaint 4. That Consanguinity or Affinity not being within the Fifth Degree shall be no principal Challenge against a Jury-man 5. That it shall be Felony in any Servant Apprentices under eighteen years of Age excepted to carry away or inbezil his Masters Goods to the value of forty shillings or upward 6. That Marriages solemniz'd in the Face of the Church and consummate with carnal Knowledge by Persons without the Levitical Degrees shall not be dissolved on any Pretence whatsoever without Carnal Knowledge Vide 2 Eliz. c. 1. 7. That because by reason of Secret Conveyances it is difficult to know the Tenant the Lords may avow the taking of a Distress on the Land without naming the Tenant and that the Avowant shall have Costs and Damages if it be found for him or the Plaintiff be nonsuit 8. That all Religious Persons belonging to the dissolved Abbies and Monasteries c. be capacitated to Purchase Sue c. 9. That the Justices of Peace at their Sessions after Easter and Michaelmas shall appoint the Wages of Artificers and Servants Perpetuated 11 Eliz. cap. 5. 10. That Joynt-Tenants and Tenants in Common may force a Partition by Writ and either of them may have Aid of the other to deraign the Warranty Paramount as in case of Partition between Coparceners 11. That Lessees for Years as to their term only may falsifie covinous Recoveries as the Tenant of the Freehold might do at Common Law and so may Tenants by Elegit or Statute Staple and the Recoverers shall have the same Remedy for Wast and Rent as the Lessors might have had 12. That the Impropriators and other Lay-men entituled to Tithes may sue for them in the Spiritual Court and that in all cases of Appeal from a Judgment for Tithes the Appellant shall pay Costs the Adversary giving surety to refund if it be adjudged against him on the Appeal and upon the Certificate of the Ecclesiastical Judge That he has given a definitive Sentence in case of Tithes two Justices of the Peace whereof one to be of the Quorum may imprison the Party without Bail or Mainprise until he give sufficient Security to obey the Sentence and that all such Writs and Remedies as Fines Writs of Dower c. shall as well be had for Tithes as for Lands by any Person that has a Temporal Interest therein only the Suit for substraction of Tithes must still be prosecuted in the Spiritual Court 13. That the Purchaser of a Signiory or Reversion by common Recovery may distrain or avow without Attornment and that all Avowants may recover Costs and Damage if the Plaintiff be barred in his Action 14. An Act to enable Commissioners therein named to to erect Vicaridges c. 15. An Act against Idlers and Vagabonds which had it been well executed would have reformed Ireland long agone for most of the Mischiefs that have happened to that Kingdom either in War or Peace have proceeded from such loose Fellows as were punishable and might have been reformed by the Statutes against Idlers Rogues and Vagabonds And at another Sessions of this Parliament begun at Limerick the fifth of February 1541. and not 1542 as the printed Statutes make it a former Act restraining the Parliament from sitting any where but at Dublin or Tredagh or from Proroguing or Adjourning above twice or from admiting any Knight Citizen or Burgess to sit unless he were resident at the Place of
agrorum spoliatores per viam and Rape shall be punished with Death without Mercy 16. That no Man shall meddle with any Ecclesiastical Officer or Benefice but pay all their Tithe punctually and half Tithe of the Fish taken by Foreigners on the Coast 17. That Noblemen shall have but twenty Cubits or Bandles of Linnen in their Shirts Horsemen eighteen Footmen sixteen Garsons twelve Clowns ten and that none of their Shirts shall be dyed with Saffron on pain of twenty Shillings 18. That the Lord or Gentleman into whose Country a Theft is traced must trace it thence or make restitution 19. No Histriones Mummers or Players at Christmas or Easter Lastly The Earl of Ormond in the Counties of Waterford Typerary and Kilkenny and the Earl of Desmond in the rest of Munster are made Custodes Executores of these Ordinances with the Assistance of the Bishop of Cashel But we must not leave the Year 1541 Sullevan 79. until we have informed the Reader That Robert Wachop titular Archbishop of Armagh who is famous for riding Post the best of any Body in Christendom although he was blind from his Cradle did this Year introduce the Jesuites into Ireland by the Favour and Countenance of Pope Paul the third John Codur was the first of the Society that went thither and was followed by Alphonsus Salmeron Paschasius Broet and Francis Zapata and the observing Reader will easily perceive the dismal and horrible Effects of that Mission which hath ever since imbroiled Ireland even to this Day But the King to obviate the Designs of the Papacy and to assert his own Supremacy which was his Right by Common Law and was also declared and established by Act of Parliament caused all the Irish that submitted to him to renounce the Pope's Usurpations and to own the King's Supremacy by Indenture O Connor and O Dwyn or Dyn were two of the first that complied with this Form and their Example was followed by O Donel who by his Indenture of the sixth of August Lib. D. 33 Hen. 8 Covenants Quod renunciabit relinquet adnihilabit proposse suo usurpatam Authoritatem Primaciam Romani Pontiâ—icis sibi adherentes nullo modo acceptabit proteget aut defendet nec in patria sua illos aut aliquem illorum permittet sed omni industria diligentia illos quemlibet illorum expellet ejiciet eradicabit aut ad subjectionem dicti Domini Regis successorum suorum coercebit constringet Brian mac Mahon did the like the fourteenth of August And in January O Neal came to Minooth and did the same the thirteenth of May O More perfected his Indenture And on the twenty fourth of May 1542. 34 H. 8. Hugh O Kelly Abbot of Knockmoy surrendred that Abby and made his submission by Indenture in the Form aforesaid Moreover he covenanted to furnish the King with sixty Horse and a Battle of Galloglasses and sixty Kern when the Lord Deputy comes to Connaught and with twelve Horse and twenty four Kerne anywhere out of Connaught and so that Abby was granted to him during Pleasure O Rourk submitted the first of September and Mac Donel and Mac William did the like the eighteenth of May 1543. But because all these Indentures are to be found registred in the Red Book of the Privy Council of Ireland I will trouble the Reader only with the Substance of one of these Indentures by which he may easily guess at the rest HAec Indent Lib. D. fact 26. die Septembris 34 Hen. 8. inter prenobil Vir. Ant. Saintleger Jacobum Comit. Desmoniae Will. Brabazon Arm thesaur ad Guerras Subthesaur Reg. Hiberniae Johannem Travers Armig. magistr ordinatium Osborn Echingham milit mariscallum c. ex una parte Dom. Barry alias Great Barry Mac Cartymore Dom. de Rupe alias Lord Roch Mac Carthy Reagh Thadeum Mac Cormock Dom. de Musâ—ry Barry Oge alias the young Barry O Sullevan Bear suae Nation Capit. Donald O Sullevan suae Nation Primum Barry zoe alias the Red Barry Mac Donough de Allow suae Nation Capit. Donaldum O Callaghane Nationis suae primum Geraldum filium Johannis milit ex altera parte Testatur Quod predict Dominus Barry c. conveniunt concedunt consentiunt pangunt pro seipsis conjunctim divisim haered successor assignat Tenent sequacibus suis ad cum dicto Deputat c. quod tenebunt perimplebunt omnes singul Articulos conventiones pacta condiciones quae in hiis Indentur continentur ex parte eorum c. Imprimis Ipsi quilibet eor recognoscit Regiam Majestat predict haeredes successores suos Reges esse Naturalem ligeum Dom. suum illumque illos secundos post Deum honorabunt illisque obedient servient contra omnes creaturas mundi Ac suam Majestatem haeredes successores Reges acceptabunt tenebunt immediate sub Christo in terris Ecclesiae Anglicanae Hibernicanae supremum Caput illius illor locum tenent Deput vicem gerent in hoc Regno Hiberniae obedient inservient in omnibus servitium suae Majestatis haered successor Regum concernentibus Et quantum in illis conjunctim divisim aut assignat illor est vel fuit usurpator primaciam authoritatem Romani Episcopi adnihillabunt omnesque suos Fautores Adjutores Suffragatores ad sum posse illor precipitabunt abolebunt atque personas spiritual temporal quae promoventur ad ecclesiastica beneficia sive dignitat per Regiam Majestatem seu alios de jure patronos tantum absque aliqua provisione fienda dicto Episc Rom. manutenebunt supportabunt defendent ex hinc omnes singules Provisores alia Rom. pro promotione petentes confugientes apprehendent producent ad Reg. commun legem ib. judiciari rectari secundum statut ordination pro similibus casibus facta fienda The Second Covenant is To submit all their Controversies to the Determination of the Bishops of Waterford Cork and Ross the Mayors of Cork and Youghal Suffrain of Kingsale Philip Roch Esq William Walsh Esq the Dean of Cloyne or any three of them quorum Desmond to be one and the like is in other Provinces mutatis mutandis The Third is About their future Controversies to be decided by the Earl and the said Bishops or two of them quorum Desmond to be one and they may fine or amerce Wrong-doers of which Fine the King shall have one third and the Judges the rest The Fourth is That if the Case be too difficult for the Commissioners it shall be determined by Justices of Assize and no Force shall be used nor Peace broken on Pain of a Fine The Fifth is That they shall help and defend the Collectors of the King's Revenue The Sixth is To obey the Ordinances made by the Nobility and annexed to the Indenture which probably were
the Ordinances already mentioned The Seventh Article is That if any of their Followers break the Peace they will prosecute and pursue him till he make amends And the Eighth is That they will not exact any Black Rents for the future from the Inhabitants of Cork Youghal or Kingsale And it seems that about this time Commissioners were appointed in every Province to decide the Controversies instead of Brehons viz. in Connaught the Bishops of Tuam and Clonfert and the Captains Wakely and Ovington in Munster the Bishops of Cork and Waterford and the Mayors of Cork and Youghal and in Vlster the Archbishop of Armagh and Lord of Louth And it is to be noted Davis 215. That these Submissions were so universally made all over the Kingdom that there was not a Lord or Chieftain of any note in Ireland but submitted in this or the like Form for they made no scruple to renounce the Pope when once they had resolved to obey the King And by these Means the Kingdom was so quiet and there was so great a Prospect of a Settlement that several of the Principal Lords of the Irish took Patents for their Estates and desired Titles of Honour according to the Law of England which hitherto they had despised But alass Ireland is an unfortunate Country that cannot be happy any considerable time and notwithstanding these dawnings of Felicity it must expect nothing but War and Desolation and this fourth general Submission of the Irish will be as vain and ineffectual as the other three and will manifest to the World That that Kingdom is not to be governed by Kindness but by Force But let us not anticipate our Misery by dreadful Prognostications of War but rather enquire into the management of Affairs during the short interval of Peace And first we shall find the great O Neal in September sailing toward England accompanied with the Bishop of Clogher and attended with many Gentlemen his Followers He came to the King at Greenwich where he was well received and having surrendred his Estate to the King and covenanted 1. To renounce the Name of O Neal. 2. That he he and his Followers should use English Habit Language and Manners 3. That their Children should learn English 4. That they should build Houses and husband their Land in English manner 5. That they should obey English Laws and not Cess their Tenants nor keep more Gallowglasses than the Lord Deputy allows And 6. That they should answer all general Hostings as those of the Pale do and shall not succour any of the King's Enemies On the first of October his Estate was regranted to him by Patent and he was created Earl of Tyrone for Life with remainder to his Son Matthew who for the present was made Baron of Dunganon in Tayl and two of his Followers Denis and Art Mac Genis were knighted and the Bishop of Clogher was confirmed and the Earl after his return was on the seventh Day of May sworn one of the Privy Council of Ireland In like manner the Earl of Desmond pursuant to his Promise repaired into England where he was graciously received and having made his Submission he returned with Orders likewise to be of the Privy Council In the mean time the Lord Deputy on the twenty fourth Day of May made an Order of Agreement between the Macgenis's and did the like between the O Carols on the second of July And on the fourth of July the O Birnes did submit by Indenture and granted the Town and Castle of Wicklow to the King and also surrendred to his Majesty the Castle of Mac Eningham and all spiritual Livings in their Possession Lib. D. They also covenanted to find one hundred and twenty Gallowglasses and their Servants for three Months when the Counties of Carlow and Kildare do so and twelve Horse and twenty four Foot at every Hosting and to raise their whole Force and keep them three days on any emergency And it is allowed by the Deputy that O Birn shall have twenty four Kerns called Kerne Tee for this year at the Charge of the Country as is usual wherewith he promises to aid the Sheriff and if O Birn misbehave himself the Lord Deputy may give the Kerns next year to whom he pleases And 't is agreed That no body shall keep Idlers but in his own House and concludes Quod si posthac ad morem Hibernicorum resilierit vel cum Hibernicis aliis susurraverit confederaverit vel consentierit impedire vel obstare Reformationi Hiberniae quam Dominus Rex intendit that then they will forfeit all And it seems that at the same time they proposed to have their Country made a County Davis 104. by the Name of the County of Wicklow and that in consideration thereof they would divide it into eight Plow-Lands and pay ten Groats per annum for ever to the King out of each Plow-Land On the 19th of November Thomas Butler was made Baron of Cahir and in the beginning of the next year Maurice O Bryan 1534. and Vlick Burk induced by the Example and Success of the Earl of Tyrone went to wait upon the King in England and having made their Submissions and surrendred their Estates O Brian obtained a Grant of all his Lands in Thomond and all the Abbies and Patronage of Benefices in the King's Gift within his Precincts to him and his Heirs Males and he was made Baron of Insiquine to him and his Heirs and Created Earl of Thomond for Life with a remainder to Donough O Bryan and his Heirs for ever who for the present was made Baron of Ibracane but whether this Donough were Nephew or Natural Son of the Earl's is not very plain This Lord of Ibrahcan had also an Annuity of twenty Pounds per annum granted to him in Tail and the Abby of Insula Canonicorum and half the Abby of Clare and the King bore the Earl of Thomond's Charges and gave him an Order to be of the Privy Council As for Vlick Burk he had likewise his Charges born and was Created Earl of Clanrickard and his Estate was regranted to him and the Abbies and Patronage of all Benefices within his Precincts The Cocquets of Galway were excepted in the Patent but in lieu of them the Earl had a Pension of thirty Pound per annum and the third part of the First-Fruits and the Abby of Via Nova or Confert And about the same time the Lord of Upper Ossory obtain'd a Grant for Fairs and Markets and the House of the Friars at Haghevo and the Monastery of Hackmacart and to each of these four Noblemen Davis 219. viz. the Earls of Desmond Tyrone Thomond and Clanrickard the King gave a House and a Parcel of Land near Dublin to encourage them to make their Appearance frequently at Court And it is to be noted Council Book of Ireland fol. 73. That many times the chief Governors of Ireland instead of Risings out and
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
within his Dominions for his faithful Subjects to increase their Knowledge of God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ We therefore for the general Benefit of our well beloved Subjects Vnderstandings whenever assembled or met together in the said several Parish-Churches either to Pray or hear Prayers read that they may the better joyn therein in Vnity Hearts and Voice have caused the Liturgy and Prayers of the Church to be Translated into our Mother-Tongue of this Realm of England according to the Assembly of Divines lately met within the same for that purpose We therefore Will and Command as also Authorize you Sir Anthony Saint-Leger Knight our Vice-Roy of that our Kingdom of Ireland to give special Notice to all our Clergy as well Arch-Bishops Bishops Deans Arch-Deacons as others our Secular Parish-Priests within that our said Kingdom of Ireland to perfect execute and obey this our Royal Will and Pleasure accordingly But before Proclamations were issued out Sir Anthony Saint-Leger upon receipt of this Order call'd an Assembly of the Archbishops and Bishops together with the then Clergy of Ireland in which Assembly he signified to them as well his Majesties Order aforesaid as also the Opinions of those Bishops and Clergy of England who had adhered unto the Order saying That it was his Majesties Will and Pleasure consenting unto their serious Considerations and Opinions then acted and agreed on in England as to Ecclesiastical Matters that the same be in Ireland so likewise celebrated and performed Sir Anthony Saint-Leger having spoken to this effect George Dowdal who succeeded George Cromer in the Primacy of Armagh stood up and through his Romish Zeal to the Pope laboured with all his power and force to oppose the Liturgy of the Church that it might not be read or sung in the Church saying Then shall every illiterate Fellow read Service or Mass as he in those Days termed the Word Service To this Saying of the Archbishop's Sir Anthony replied No your Grace is mistaken for we have too many illiterate Priests amongst us already who neither can pronounce the Latin nor know what it means no more than the Common People that hear them but when the People hear the Liturgy in English they and the Priest will then understand what they pray for Upon this Reply George Dowdal bid Sir Anthony beware of the Clergy's Curse Sir Anthony made Answer I fear no strange Curse so long as I have the Blessing of that Church which I believe to be the true one The Archbishop again said Can there be a truer Church than the Church of St. Peter the Mother Church of Rome Sir Anthony return'd this Answer I thought we had all been of the Church of Christ for he calls all true Believers in him his Church and himself the Head thereof The Archbishop replied And is not St. Peter's Church the Church of Christ Sir Anthony return'd this Answer St. Peter was a Memher of Christ's Church but the Church was not St. Peter's neither was St. Peter but Christ the Head thereof Then George Dowdal the Primate of Armagh rose up and several of the Suffragan Bishops under his Jurisdiction saving only Edward Staples then Bishop of Meath who tarried with the rest of the Clergy then assembled on the Kalends of March 1550. Sir Anthony then took up the Order and held it forth to George Brown Archbishop of Dublin who standing up received it saying This Order good Brethren is from our Gracious King and from the rest of our Brethren the Fathers and Clergy of England who have consulted herein and compared the Holy Scriptures with what they have done unto whom I submit as Jesus did to Caesar in all things just and lawful making no question why or wherefore as we own him our true and lawful King And it seems that on Easter-Sunday the Liturgy in the English Tongue was read in Christ-Curch according to the King's Order and the Archbishop Brown Preached an excellent Sermon on these Words Open mine Eyes that I may see the Wonders of thy Law Psal 119. ver 18. But whether the Lord Deputy were not zealous in propagating the Reformation or what other Differences there were between him and the Archbishop I cannot find but it is certain the Archbishop sent Complaints against him into England Ware 190. and thereupon he was recalled and Sir James Crofts was made Lord Deputy by Patent 1551. Dated the twenty ninth day of April and the Instructions to him and the Council were 1. To propagate the Worship of God in the English Tongue and the Service to be translated into Irish to those places which need it 2. To prevent the Sale of Bells Church-Goods Chantry-Lands c. and to Inventory them 3. To execute the Laws justly collect the Revenue carefully and muster the Army honestly 4. To get the Ports into the King's possession that his Customs may be duly answered 5. To search for a Mine of Allum 6. To Lett the King's Lands especially Leix and Offaly for one and twenty years to such as will live upon them 7. To enquire into the Conveniency of Building Ships in Ireland 8. To endeavour to perswade the Nobility to exchange some Irish Land for the like value in England 9. That the Soldier be not sued except before the Deputy or Marshal but if Justice be not done in three Months then to remit them to the Common Law 10. To allow Trade to all Foreigners though Enemies 11. Above all to reduce the Birns and Tools and their Country When the Lord Deputy Landed he was informed That his Predecessor Saint-Leger was gone to Munster and thereupon he rode directly to Cork and on the twenty third of May he was sworn and received the Sword there and one of the Cavenaghs or Mac Moroughs for some Crime was there hanged The Lord Deputy who was a zealous Protestant endeavoured all he could to perswade the Primate Dowdal to observe the King's Order about the Liturgy but he continued obstinate and therefore the King and Council of England on the twentieth day of October deprived him of the Title of Primate of all Ireland and annexed it to the See of Dublin for ever whereupon Dowdal withdrew beyond the Seas and Hugh Goodacre was made Archbishop of Armagh in his room being together with John Bale Bishop of Ossory consecrated in Christ-Church Dublin by the Archbishop of Dublin and the Bishops of Kildare and Down on the second day of February 1552. About which time the English Liturgy with Orders and Rules for Ecclesiastical Habits and Ceremonies was reprinted at Dublin by Humyhry Powel But it is time to return to the Army which under the Command of the Lord Deputy marched into Vlster against the Scotch Islanders the English invaded the Isle of Raghlin but were forced to retreat with the Loss of one Ship and several Men Captain Bagnal also was taken Prisoner but he was afterwards exchanged for Surly buy Mac Donald who was then Prisoner at Dublin in
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
to repeal Poyning's Act shall be certified into England until first it be agreed upon by a majority of the Parliament of Ireland IX That the rest of the Kingdom be divided into Shires X. That no Wool Flocks Flax Yarn Sheep-Skins Goat-Skins Calve-Skins or Deer-Skins unwrought nor Beef Tallow Wax or Butter shall be transported until it pay the Custom in the Act mentioned and the petty Duties to Coporations in the Act likewise mentioned on the Penalties therein contained provided Prosecution be made within nine Months after the Offence committed XI An Act for the Impost on Wines XII That the Earl of Kildare's Brother and Sisters be restored in Blood The Parliament was Adjourned to the twelfth of May and then they met and Enacted 1. That Schools be erected in the Shire-Town of every Diocess at the Costs of the whole Diocess by the direction of the Bishop and the Sheriff and the chief Governor shall nominate an English School-master and appoint his Salary whereof the Bishop shall pay one Third and the Clergy the other two Parts the Bishops of Armagh Dublin Meath and Kildare and their Successors shall name English School-Masters for their respective Diocesses 2. That all Exemplifications under the Great Seal and the Seals of the King's Bench Common Pleas and Exchequer subscribed by the Lord Chancellor both Chief Justices and Chief Baron shall be as effectual in all Courts as the Original Record but it must contain a Clause that all those Seals are to it 3. An Act about the Standard of Measures for Corn. 4. An Act impowering the chief Governour and Council to grant Patents to such of the Irish as the Queen shall direct And then the Parliament was Adjourn'd to the fifth of December 13 Eliz. At which Session the Earls of Thomond and Glencar who had reconciled themselves to the State were present and the Parliament made five Acts of no great importance recited in the Statute-Book from pag. 267. to pag. 279. But whilst the Lord Deputy and the Parliament were endeavouring the Prosperity and Peace of Ireland by enacting good and wholsom Laws others were as busie to countermine them and to put all into Disorder and Confusion for some of the looser sort of the Irish Lords were distasted to that degree at the loss of their Captainries and Irish Extortions as also at the Impost on Wine that they resolved by force to rescind those Laws or at least prevent the execution of them and so making Religion their Pretence they confederated together James Fitz-Morris was the Bell-weather of this Flock and the Ringleader of all this Mischief he added to the general Grievances the particular Injuries done to his own Family by the imprisonment of the Earl of Desmond and his Brother Sir John and he inveigled the Earl of Glencar by telling him That the Queen was to be married to the Earl of Leicester and that thereupon the Lord Deputy who married that Earl's Sister was to be King of Ireland and when the Earl of Glencar was once engaged Mac Donogh and many more of the Cartyes came in of course and Fitz Girald commonly called Seneschal of Imokilly was as forward in this Rebellion as any of them and although Sir Edmond Butler who was Seneschal to his brother the Earl of Ormond and consequently hated all the Family of Desmond and had formerly pretended to serve against James Fitz-Morris Yet partly because he did not dare to appear before Commissioners sent by the Lord Deputy to Kilkenny to examine and redress the grievous Complaints made against him and partly for Zeal to the Catholick Cause and Fondness of the Irish Usurpations he sacrificed his private Resentments to the publick Concern and joyned with the rest of the Rebels The Confederates being resolved to make something of this Rebellion if it were possible sent the Titular Bishops of Cashel and Emly Hooker 130. and the youngest Brother of the Earl of Desmond as their Ambassadors to the Pope and the King of Spain to implore Aid and Assistance to rescue their Religion and Country from the Tyranny and Oppression of Queen Elizabeth But the Lord Deputy was not idle but assoon as he had notice of this Confederacy he proclaimed them Traytors and ordered Sir Peter Carew Governor of Leighlin to begin the War which he did and being accompanied by the Captains Malby Gilbert Basnet and others he took Sir Edmund's Castle of Cloghgriman and gave the Spoil to the Soldiers and thence he marched to Kilkenny and upon intelligence that three thousand Men were within three Miles of that City Sir Peter Carew sent Henry Davels to discover them and being satisfied by him that they were not above two thousand he resolved to attack them Captain Gilbert and Davels and twelve more began the Charge which was well seconded by Carew Malby and Basnet and the Success was accordingly four hundred Gallowglasses being slain without the loss of any English Man Captain Malby's Servant only excepted Not long after James Fitz-Morris besieged Kilkenny but both Garrison and Citizens behaved themselves so well that Fitz-Morris was fain to execute his Malice on the Country-Villages and smaller Towns and those he did not spare particularly he robbed old Falco Quiverford of Galan who had been Servant to three Earls of Ormond of two thousand Pounds in Money Plate and Houshold-stuff besides Corn and Cattel Another Party went to the County of Wexford and at a Fair at Iniscorthy committed most vile Outrages ravishing Women and killing or imprisoning every body they met with nor did the Queens County and Ossory fare any better The Lord Power 's Estate and the whole County of Waterford were in the same condition and even the very County of Dublin had its share of Desolation But the Confederates finding no Effects of their former Ambassy sent new Messengers to the Pope and King of Spain and also sollicited Turlogh Lynogh to procure the Aid of the Scots and were so diligent that nothing was left undone that might tend to subvert the Government and clear the Country of all English Men and English Laws The Earl of Ormond then in England troubled at the Disloyalty of his Brethren offered his Service against them and undertook to reclaim them by Perswasion or Force and to that end he arrived at Wexford the fourteenth Day of August being the very Day of the aforesaid Fair at Iniscorthy I should have mentioned That Sir Warham Saint Leger was anno 1566 made President of Munster and now the Lord Deputy having notice that Sir Warham's Lady was in her Husband's absence much distressed at Cork and daily threatned by the Irish he resolved to march that way to relieve her and with six hundred Men only he set out from Kilkenny and came to Clonmel and thence he sent to Waterford for a few Citizens for three days to assist him in his Passage over the Mountains but that City obstinately insisted upon its Privileges and refused to send any Men however Mr. Wise
injunctis eis seu alias quomodolibet debitis paenitentiis in forma ecclesiae consueta relaxamus Praesentibus ad decimum duntaxat valituris volumus autem quod si alias Câ—risti fidelibus dictam ecclesiam visitantibus aliam indulgentiam perpetuo vel ad certum tempus nondum elapsum duraturam concesserimus presentes nullae sint Dat. Rom. apud St. Marcum sub anulo piscatoris die 12 Julii 1601. Pontificat nostri Anno decimo And so I conclude this First Part of the History of Ireland with the Death of the most renowned and victorious Queen Elizabeth which happened at Richmond on the 24th day of March 1602. in the Seventieth Year of her Age and the Five and fortieth Year of her happy Reign FINIS An Explanatory INDEX OF SOME Quotations and Terms Necessary for the Understanding this and other Histories of Ireland A. A Trium dei Athird or Ardee in Com' Louth Alla Barony of Duhallow in Com' Cork Auriterra the Barony of Orry in Com' Armagh Alladensis episcopus Bishop of Killalla Arachta Fraghty O Cahan ' s Estate in Com' Londonderry Aurilia Vriel or Monaghan and part of the County of Cavan Arachta O Connor Iraghticonnor in Kerry Armachanus Archbish of Armagh Atharla Harlow Wood. Agerlentis Gortnapishy Aunliffy Liffy the River of Dublin B. Bea insula the Dursyes in Com' Cork Bettagh or Buddagh a Clown or Villain Berva the River Barrow Ballybetagh contains 16 Ballyboes Ballybo contains 16 acres and in some places 60 100 and 120. Bonagium Bonnaught and is either Bonnaughtbeg viz. a certain proportion of Meat Drink and Money for the maintenance of the Souldier or Bonnaught bur is free quarter at discretion or rather this is free quarter in specie and the other is a comutation for it in money Bally similida Trimletstown Banacha the Territory of Mac Swiny bane in Com' Donegall Brethina Brenny in Com' Leitrim Bentragia Bantry in Com' Cork C. Cronoge is sevenscore Sheaves of Corn. Clyn's Annals a Manuscript written by Fryar John Clin of Kilkenny in the time of Edward III. Corbâ— Chorepiscopus is a sort of a Lay-coadjutor to the Bishop or one that takes care of the Temporalities of the See Clera Cape Cleer an Island in Com' Cork Cartron contains 60 acres Cothlia Colly O Driscoll's Territory in Com' Cork Clenglasia Clenlis a Territory in Com' Limerick Cella Canici Kilkenny Coyne Livery is free quarter for Horse and Man and Money besides Cheifry is a Rent in half-faced Money which was better than Sterling rather worse than Sterling by a third part Cuddy or Quid-â—hy is a Supper or Entertainment for a Night or an equivalent for it in Honey Aquavitae or Money Coshering is living upon the Party or quartering with him for a time Cess is Horse-meat and Mans-meat at the King's price Cutting is a Tax on extraordinary occasion vide verbum South Campion a History of Ireland written anno 1571. by Edmund Campion the famous Jesuit he counterfeited himself a Protestant and was a Deacon in the Church of England and Fellow of St. John's Colledge in Oxford D. Dondygon a River South of Dundalk Damliaga Duleck Danguina Dingle-i-cush in Kerry Dowgello or black Rent is a Contribution towards the keeping of Dogs and Hunts-men Duacensis Episcopus Bishop of Kilmacough Dunensis Episcopus Bishop of Downe Derensis Episcopus Bishop of Londonderry Darensis Episcopus Bishop of Kildare Dalra Delvin in Westmeath E. Ergalia is the County of Monaghan Eyrus the River Nore that runs by Kilkenny Elia Carolina Ely O Caroll or O Caroll's Country being the West part of the King's County F. Fardarough Maâ—â—ew Fercallia O Mâ—lloy ' s Country Fuida insula Whiddy Island in Com' Cork Feurus laâ—us Lâ—ghfâ—yle near Londondâ—râ—y Fanida the Territory of Mac Swiny Fanagh in Donegall Fenaborensis Episcopus Bishop of Kilfenora Baron Finglas a Manuscript of the Decay of Ireland wrote 1535. by Patrick Finglas one of the Barons of the Exchequer G. Gort a Field of about 6 acres more or less Gallown of Land is 25 acres Goron Jeofry Gillycree a Stud-keeper Gillycon a Dog-keeper or Huntsman Gormleghan Barony of Barimore in Com' Cork Glinns a Territory in the County of Antrim Galvia Gallway H. Herenache is a sort of an Archdeacon or Oeconomus Holingsh. Ralph Holingshead's Chronicle wrote about the year 1575. Hooker a Supplement to the Irish History wrote anno 1586. by Johu Hooker alias Vowell and bound up with Holingshead Hanmer Dr. Hanmer's Chronicle of Ireland preserv'd by Bishop Vsher it was wrote anno 1604. I. Iveleghan the Barony of Barrymore in Com' Cork Imanya O Kellyes Territory in the Counties of Galway and Roscomon perhaps the Barony of Boyle Inisonia Inisowen the Island wherein Londonderry is scituate Ibacha Evagh Mac genis his Territory in Com' Down Imelacencis Episcopus Bishop of Emly K. Kenlisa Kenanisa Kells in Com' Meath Kilmuchaloga Kilmallock in Com' Limrick Kernety is a Tax of 3 s. 4 d. or 4s per Plow-land to maintain the Lords Kerne call'd Kern-tee L. Lovidia Louth Logh tee Demeasn or Mensal Lands for House-keeping Lucus Derry Leffria Liffer Laonia Killaloo in Com' Clare Laonenis Episcopus Bishop of Killaloo Lib. A. Lib. B. c. are Manuscripts in the Library of Lambeth to the number of fifty or more marked Alphabetically M. Mart a yearly Rent in Beef Menapia Waterford Musterown a Charge of Money and Victuals for Workmen that build for the Lord of the Soil Midensis Episcopus Bishop of Meath N. Nevoge a Boat or Cot covered with Hides O. Ochella Yonghal Oriria Barria Orrery formerly belonging to the Barries Onachta Owny O Donough Ogigia the History of Ireland written in Latin by Mr. Flagherty P. Pontana Drogheda Pottle of Land is twelve Acres Polle of Land is fifty Acres Portucastellum Castlehaven in Com' Cork The Pale That part of Ireland near Dublin which was answerable to Law and where the King's Writ was obey'd it once extended from Dundalk to Carlow and Kilkenny but was much streightned in Queen Elizabeth's time but now is quite abolish'd because the whole Kingdom is reduc'd Polychronicon a fabulous History written by Ranulphus Higgeden Propect a History of Ireland by Peter Walsh Q. Quirren of Butter a Pottle or four pound price 4 d. R. Roseglass Monasterevan Routs a Territory in the County of Antrim Rapotensis Episcopus the Bishop of Rapho Refection is a priviledge the Lord has of claiming Entertainment for one Meal and no more Raporees the Rabble of the Irish who are armed with a Half-pike which they call a Rapery and have plundered the English in all parts of the Kingdom Regan a Manuscript by Maurice Regan Servant to Dermond mac Morough wrote about the Year 1175. Rupesfergusia Carrigfergus S. Securigeri or Scotici Gallow-glasses Irish Foot-Soldiers arm'd with a Battle-Axe Surius the River Shure Silanchia the Barony of Longford in the County of Galway Srone of Oat-meal is three Pottles price 4 d. Shraugh a yearly Rent in Money Soroheen a
Twenty six before they came to Ireland and Fifty one in Ireland whereof Twenty four were Monarchs and Thirty three in Scotland and so succeeded by Hereditary Right from his Illustrious Irish Ancestors Now I say that they have gotten such a Rightful Hereditary King Analecta Hiberniae the Reader must not expect to hear of any more Irish Rebellions but on the contrary that their peaceable and Loyal Deportment will distinguish between Rightful and Usurping Princes Consanguinei Regis analecta Hib. 208. and that now theâ—â— own Kindred is restored to them we may expect to find that they will take pleasure and delight and a conscionable Pride as they phrase it to be Ruled and Commanded by their own Relations Ib. 276. Germen Hibernorum spes seminis jubar sanguinis and that their great Endeavours for the Kings of England of that Line to whom they are tyed by the Bond of * Cui obligati sumus vinculo sanguinis Consanguinity will be the Work of a Simpathy of Blood if there be any Truth in the Reports or Flatteries of the late Irish Historians or in the Speech of the present Recorder of Kilkâ—nny But alas these thin Pretences which in Ireland are thought Stratagems are easily seen through in England where it is believed that there is something more Criminal in Heresie then can be expiated by Extraction and therefore they expect that the Royal Family of the Stuarts whilst it continues Protestant must have their share of opposition and disturbance even from their own Irish Country-men and with as malicious Circumstances as any other Protestant Princes have had and how far they were in the right of it is Summarily related in my Epistle to the Reader but shall here be more at large explained JAMES VI. King of Scotland 1602. Succeeded the Deceased Queen Elizabeth on the Throne of England by unquestionable Right Ir. Stat. 2. Jac. 1. cap. 1. I say unquestionable notwithstanding the Book published against his Title and Right of Succession by Parsons the Jesuit under the name of Doleâ—an for the material Allegations of that Author are notoriously false and which is worse himself knew that they were so as Peter Walsh hath assured us Letter to the Bishop of Lincoln p. 212. and it is manifest to all the World that the King was the only Son of Mary Queen of Scots Daughter of King James the Fifth Son of James the Fourth by Margaret his Wife who was the eldest Daughter of Henry the Seventh by Elizabeth Heiress of the House of York and so was Heir to both the Families of York and Lancaster And was therefore Proclaimed King without any opposition Secretary Cecill himself reading his Title as also Queen Elizabeth's Will at Whitehall Gate on the 24th day of March 1602. And as to Ireland CHARLES Lord MOUNTJOY continued Lord Deputy 1603. and was afterwards made Lord Lieutenant of that Kingdom and having received Letters from the Council of England with a Proclamation of the new King he first Signed the Proclamation and all the Council did the like in Order and then with great Solemnity they published and proclaimed the same in Dublin on the Fifth of April and about the same time he received kind and gracious Letters from the King then in Scotland by one Mr. Leigh whom therefore the Lord Deputy Knighted The Earl of Tyrone who was brought to Dublin in Company with the Lord Deputy on the 4th day of April could not refrain from Tears on the News of Queen Elizabeths Death nor can we blame him for it for besides the unsecurity of the Pardon or Protection he relyed on being derived from a Princess that was Dead and an Authority that was determined before it was executed He had also lost the best opportunity in the World either of continuing the War with advantage or of making a profitable and meritorious Submission to the new King nor did he want Pretences and Circumstances that would have made his free Submission highly valuable and exceeding honourable however since he had missed the Season of doing better he thought it prudent to do the best for himself that his Circumstances would permit and to secure the Protection and Estate that were promised him and accordingly the 6th day of April the Lord Deputy did not only renew his Protection in King James his Name but soon after gave him Liberty to return to Ulster to settle his Concerns but first the Earl put in his Hostages and also renewed his Submission in a set Form of Words wherein he abjured all foreign Power and Jurisdiction in general Morison 279. and the King of Spain's in particular and renounced the Vraights of Ulster and the name of O Neal and all his Lands except such as should be granted to him by the King and he promised future Obedience and to discover his Correspondence with the Spaniard And at the same time he wrote to Spain for his Son Henry but without effect for he was afterwards found strangled at Brussels no Body knows how and on the 15 th day of April O Rourk in like manner by his Letters humbly offer'd to submit to his Majesties mercy which Offer was accepted These Great men having thus submitted and the Kingdom but especially Ulster being so wasted and destroyed that the Famine encreased to the degree of eating one another as I have already mentioned in my former Part. And the number of the Irish being exceedingly lessened by their many tedious and obstinate Rebellions and those that remain'd except Cities and Towns being so poor that the very estated Men had not wherewithal to stock or cultivate their Land nor had any improvements left upon their Estates Bello peste inedia fatigati Analecta Hib. 207. except perhaps a dismal Castle and a few pittiful Cabins One might expect that this miserable Condition which required a long interval of Rest and Peace to amend it would oblige these People to live peaceably and Loyally under this new King of their own Lineage And perhaps it might have done so if the Universities of Salamanca and Validolid had not about this time sent over their Determination of that knotty Point that Vexata Questio Whether an Irish Papist may obey or assist his Protestant King Which they resolved in the Negative by two Assertions Sullevan's Cath. History 203. 1. That since the Earl of Tyrone undertook the War for Religion and by the Pope's Approbation it was as meritorious to aid him against the Hereticks as to fight against the Turks And 2. That it was mortal Sin any ways to assist the English against him and that those that did so can neither have Absolution nor Salvation without deserting the Hereticks and repenting for so great a Crime But this New Declaration of two such famous Universities and the Impatience of their busie Priests set them a madding again so that they wanted nothing but Power to make a more general and formidable
Rebellion than ever had been in Ireland to that time For the Lord Deputy having sent Proclamations of the King's Succession to all Cities and Burroughs not doubting but that they would be chearfully published in every place to his great amazement received this Account from Cork That Captain Morgan came thither with the Proclamation on the Eleventh of April and immediately Sir George Thornton one of the Commissioners of Munster went with it to Thomas Sarsfeild then Mayor who answered That by their Charter they might take time to consider it Sir George replied That since they knew the King's Right and that he was proclaimed in Dublin it would be taken ill if they delayed it The Mayor answered That Perkin Warbeck was also proclaimed in Dublin and that nevereheless much Damage hapned to the Country by their precipitation therein Whereupon Saxy Chief-Justice of Munster said That they ought to be committed if they refused But William Mead the Recorder told him That no body there had Authority to commit them Hereupon the Mayor and his Brethren c. went to the Court-house to consider of so important a Matter Sir George Thornton in the mean time staying in the Walk to expect their Resolution After an hours stay there he sent to know their Mind they put him off for an hour more and when that was expired they plainly told him They could not give their Answer till the next day Whereupon he said He would proclaim the King without them But they let him understand That he had no Authority within their Liberties to do so neither would they permit him to do it And so they put it off till the Thirteenth of April and then Sir George Thornton and the Lord Roch and about 800 Soldiers and others proclaimed the King in the North Suburbs near Shandon-Castle but the Mayor and Citizens deferr'd it till the Sixteenth and then wrote a sawcy Letter to the Lord Deputy importing That they had receiv'd the Proclamation on the Eleventh of April but had delayed publishing it till the Sixteenth for the greater Solemnity and they desired that Halbowling Fort not being in the Hands of a sufficient Commander to secure it might be put into the Hands of the Mayor and Citizens for whose Defence it was made But the Citizens not expecting an Answer to their minds from the Lord Deputy designed to set up their Religion by force and to that end they kept strong Guards on their Ports and Gates and stopt the King's Boats going with Victuals to Halbowling so that the Commissioners were forced to relieve that Fort with Ammunition and Victuals from Kinsale they also carried the Cross in Procession about the City and forced People to reverence it they also defaced Sentences of Scripture that were written on the Church-walls and painted the places with Pictures they re-consecrated the Churches and went daily in Procession they also took the Sacrament to spend their Lives in defence of the Roman Catholick Religion they disarm'd such Protestants as were in their Power and rejected the mixt Moneys and refus'd to suffer the King's Provisions to be taken out of the Store until they should be assured that the Soldiers should be sent out of the Liberties of the City they also endeavoured to get the South Fort into their Hands so that Sir George Thornton was forced to shelter himself in Shandon Castle Upon notice of these Proceedings Sir Charles Willmot who was besieging Mac-Morris in Ballingary Castle immediately repair'd to Cork and finding that no good was to be done by Treaty he sent 600 Men over the Ford by Gillabby into the South Fort and thô two of them were kill'd in their Passage by Shot from the Walls yet the rest got in safe and secur'd the Fort However the Citizens mounted some Guns and shot at the Bishop's Palace and Shandon Castle thô the Lord President Carew his Wife was in the one and the Commissioners of Munster in the other Nevertheless on the 28th of April the Lord Deputy wrote a kind Letter to the City of Cork and required them to suffer the King's Stores to be issued out to the Army but they excus'd themselves and answered That they did not know but those Stores if delivered out might be made use of against the Town Whereupon the Lord Deputy wrote a smart Letter to them on the First day of May but before it came to their Hands the Citizens under the Conduct of Christopher Murrough had removed the King's Stores into their own Cellars Morison 291. and being taught by a Seditious Priest That he could not be a Lawful King who was not approved by the Pope nor sworn to maintain the Catholick Religion they took a Resolution in Publick Council to excite the other Cities and Towns to Confederate with them for the Preservation of the Catholick Faith and resolved to defend themselves by Force It hapned that some few were slain on either Side and particularly a Minister was kill'd by a Shot from the Town and one of the Bishop's Servants was wounded and taken Prisoner and was told by them That the Traytor his Master should not escape Death if they could get him within their Power But their Insolence will best appear by their own Letter to the Lord Deputy the Substance of which is to be found here Appendix 1. In the mean time the Commissioners of Munster finding that they wanted Artillery sent for some to Halbowling but the Citizens having notice of that Design Mann'd out some Boats under William Terry to intercept them Nevertheless they arrived safely and thereupon the Citizens being frightned with the noise of the Great Guns agreed to a Cessation until the Lord Deputy should come But the City of Cork was not the only Place that was Rebellious at this Junctuâ—e Waterford was altogether as ill inclined tho' it had not an Opportunity of doing so much Mischief However they did their Share and first they pulled down Sir Nicholas Welsh their Recorder from the Cross where he was reading the Proclamation of the King's Succession They also broke the Doors of the Hospital and admitted Dr. White to preach a Seditious Sermon in St. Patrick's Church wherein amongst other inveterate things he said That Jezebel meaning Queen Elizabeth was dead They also took the Keys of the Cathedral from the Sexton and caused a Priest to celebrate Mass there Nor were the Towns of Clonmell and Wexford free from the like Insolencies but they being the weaker and the less populous Places were sooner sensible of their Faults than were other Towns where Tumult and Noise gave less opportunity of Thinking and Number and Fortification encourag'd to Obstinacy and therefore these Corporations restored the Churches and submitted to the Lord Deputy's Commands before the Army approached their Walls whilst on the contrary Limerick which has seldom been backward in an Irish Rebellion was one of the forwardest in this and gave their Priests the Possession of all their Churches where they erected Altars
and publickly celebrated Mass This City is seated in an Island surrounded with the River Shenin and joyned to the Continent by two stately Bridges of Stone it is fortified with good Walls and a strong Castle and is justly esteem'd the most Impregnable Town in Ireland and certainly its Strength and Reputation has often prov'd a Snare to the Inhabitants and prompted them to such Acts of Disloyalty as otherwise they would not have dared to perpetrate And tho' at this time Limerick did submâ—t without a Siege because all its Accomplices had first done so yet in the succeeding Rebellion it not only defied all His Majesty's Forces abus'd His Herald and affronted His Lord Lieutenant but at last put the whole Power of England to the Necessity of making a Second Tedious and Bloody Siege before they could reduce it which I have observed in this place because I would lose no Opportunity to put the English in mind how much it does import them upon a new Settlement that care be taken that those Strong Places should be inhabited only by a People faithful to the Crown But to proceed The Religious at Kilkenny were not less precipitate and insolent than their Brethren elsewhere Edmond Raughter a Dominican headed the Sedition in that City and broke open the Black-Friers which had for some time been used as a Court-house and pulled down the Seats and erected an Altar and forced the Keys of his House from one Mr. Bishop that lived in part of that Abby and gave Possession of the whole Abby to the Friers altho' by Act of Parliament it was turned to a Lay-Fee and by Legal Conveyances became the Propriety of other Men. These Rebellious Proceedings in so many principal Cities and Towns necessitated the Lord Deputy to undertake a Progress to Munster and on the Fifth of May he came to Gracedea near Waterford and summon'd the Mayor and his Brethren to open their Gates and receive him into the City with His Majesty's Army and tho' at first they refused to admit any Forces into the Town except the Lord Deputy and his Retinue alledging some Privilege or Exemption to that purpose by vertue of an Ancient Charter from King John yet when the Lord Deputy had told them That no King could give that Privilege to his Subjects whereby his Successors should be prejudiced in the due Obedience they were to expect from them and that if they did not open their Gates immediately but put him to the Necessity of entring by Force he would cut King John ' s Charter with King James ' s Sword and ruin their City and strew it with Salt they tamely opened their Gates notwithstanding their former boasting and the Lord Deputy and the Army march'd into the City But whilst he was in his Camp at Gracedea the Mayor at his Excellencies Request sent out Doctor White and a young pert Dominican Frier to discourse with his Lordship in Matters of Religion and to shew him the Grounds and Reasons of these Proceedings which his Lordship thought so temerarious and unaccountable And the Friers had the confidence to come in their Habits with the Crucifix exalted before them Sullivan 199. and to tell the Deputy That the Citizens of Waterford could not in Conscience obey any Prince that persecuted the Catholick Faith This led them into Discourse wherein at length Doctor White cited a Passage in St. Austin for the Proof of something he asserted and it hapning that the Lord Deputy had the Book in his Tent he caus'd it to be sent for and publickly shew'd to all the Company that the Words cited by the Doctor were not St. Austin's Opinion but were quoted by him as an Objection which in the same place he opposes and confutes and inferr'd That it was highly disingenuous in the Doctor to quote that Sentence as St. Austin's Judgment when he knew that his Opinion was directly contrary to it Whereupon the Doctor was confounded the Citizens were ashamed and the Conference ended In the mean time the Lord Deputy to prevent farther Mischief at Cork and to humble them with the certain notice of his Approach sent the Mayor of that City the following Letter FOr the dispatch of Your Messenger and not to omit any thing that lieth in me to make you understand your dutiful Obedience to His Majesty and the great Errors and insolent Demeanour you have of Self-will or Malice entred into I am content to write unto you tho' I know not well in what sort to write For by your Courses I cannot take you for Subjects and out of my desire to interpret your Actions to the best I could wish not to have cause to repute you Rebels To deal plainly with you for any thing that your selves inform or I can otherwise learn I see not that Sir Charles Wilmot hath done but as in his Duty he was tied to do But I am presently drawing down to the City of Cork and having reserved one Ear for any your just Complaints will judge of your Proceedings as I shall find them I have let you understand my Pleasure by my Letters one sent by Master Meade which if he have not delivered he is more to blame and I assure my self some of them came to your Hands and in all I have charged you upon your Allegiance as again by these I do to desist from Publick Breach of His Majesty's Laws in the Celebration of the Mass prohibited by the same and to yield due Obedience to His Magistrates and especially upon your extreamest Perils not to presume to make any stay of His Majesty's Victuals and Munition left upon especial Trust on your Fidelity within the Walls of that City but to suffer it by His Majesty's Commissioners of that Province to be issued to the Forts or where they shall think meet for the present Service I shall be glad to find that you conform your selves to due Obedience in all these and other Duties of Good Subjects if otherwise you obstinately persist in the contrary I must needs hold you for Enemies to the King and the Peace of these His Realms and as such think you fit to be prosecuted by the revenging Sword of these and other His Majesty's Forces From the Camp at Gracedea near Waterford the Fourth of May 1603. And on the Eleventh of May the Lord Deputy came with his Forces to Cork which had for some days been blocked up by the Commissioners of Munster Nevertheless he had immediate admittance into the City without any previous Capitulation whereby it is manifest That some who have but small regard to Dangers that are remote have a delicate sense of those that are near Would any Man believe that these insolent Rebels that refus'd to proclaim the King and seiz'd on His Stores threatned to murder the Bishop and shot at the Lord President 's Lady and the Commissionerâ—s and had kill'd a Minister and several others of the King's Subjects so that Mr. Sullivan brags That they
Parliament in Ireland till the Eleventh Year of this King's Reign Sullivan 211. and that Sullivan himself brings this very Neal Garuff on the English side again Anno 1608. But to proceed Sir ARTHUR CHICHESTER was sworn Lord Deputy on the Third of February 1604. and soon after establish'd a new Circuit for Judges of Assize for the Province of Connagh 1604. and retrived the Circuit of Munster Davis 265. which had been discontinued for Two hundred Years It must be observed That until this time the Papists generally did come to Church and were called Churchâ—Papists but now the Priests began to be seditious and did not only scandalize the Publick Administration of Affairs but also took upon them to review and decide some Causes that had been determin'd in the King's Courts and to oblige their Votaries on pain of Damnation to obey their Decision and not that of the Law they did also forbid the People to frequent the Protestant Churches and they publickly rebuilt Churches for themselves and erected or repaired Abbies and Monasteries in several Parts of the Kingdom and particularly at Multifernam in the County of Westmeath Killconell in the County of Gallway Rossariell in the County of Mayo Buttivant Kilkrea and Timoleague in the County of Cork Quin in the County of Clare Garinlogh in Desmond and in the Cities of Waterford and Kilkenny Sullivan 206. Intending says Mr. Sullivan to restore the Splendor of Religion And as many as pleased sent their Children to Foreign Seminaries without control And perhaps all this might have passed if they had not as foolishly as impudently publish'd every where and in all Companies That the King was of their Religionâ— 1605. But then the Government was necessarily obliged for the Vindication of his Majesty and to prevent the Growth of Popery and suppress the Insolence of the Papists to publish a Proclamation on the Fourth of July 1605. commanding the Popish Clergy to depart the Kingdom before the Tenth of December following unless they would conform to the Laws of the Land But this Proclamation being too faintly executed as Laws against Popery have hitherto always been produced more Noise than Effect so that it did little service in Ireland and yet furnished the Irish Papists with matter of Complaint beyond Seas where they usually make a great Clamour for a small Matter But on the Fifth of November was discovered the Damnable Popish Plot well known in England by the Name of The Gunpowder Treason the Design of it was to blow up at once the King the Nobility and the Principal Gentry of that Kingdom then assembled in Parliament The Papists did for some time with great Artifice and Confidence impose upon the World that this was a Plot of Cecill's making but finding at length that that Cobweb Pretence was too thin and was easily seen through they laid the blame upon a few desperate Villains as they always do when the Fact is too notorious to be denied But now that Matter is pretty well setled by the Confession of * Wilson Hist of K. James p. 32. Weston of the Earl of Castlehaven the Lord Stafford and Peter Walsh This Year the barbarous Customs of Tanistry and Gavelkind were abolish'd by Judgment in the King's Bench Davis's Reports and the Irish Estates thereby made descendible according to the Course of the Common Law of England and the City of Cork and the Liberties thereof were separated from the County of Cork and made a distinct County of it self reserving nevertheless Places in the City for a Gaol and a Court-house for the County at large In the Year One thousand six hundred and six 1606. the famous Robert Lalor Vicar-General of Dublin and other Diocesses in Leinster for disobedience to the aforesaid Prolamation was apprehended in the City of Dublin it being the Custom of these Ecclesiastical Spies to lurk about the Metropolis of every Kingdom he was in Michaelmaâ— Term indicted upon the Statute of 2 Eliz. cap. 1. for advancing and upholding Foreign Jurisdiction within this Realm but he humbled himself to the Court and voluntarily and upon Oath on 22d December 1606. made a Recognition in haec verba First He doth acknowledge that he is not a lawful Vicar General in the Diocess of Dublin Kildare and Fernes and thinketh in his Conscience that he cannot lawfully take upon him the said Office Item He doth acknowledge our Soveraign Lord King James Davis Rep. 83. that now is to be his Lawful Chief and Supream Governor in all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Civil and that he is bound in Conscince to obey him in all the said Causes and that neither the Pope nor any other Foreign Prelate Prince or Potentate hath any Power to controll the King in any â—ause Ecclesiastical or Civil within this Kingdom or any of his Majesties Dominions Item He doth in his Conscience believe that all Bishops ordained and made by the Kings Authority within any of his Dominions are lawful Bishops and that no Bishop made by the Pope or by any Authority derived from the Pope within the Kings Dominions hath any Power or Authority to impugne disannul or controll any Act done by any Bishop made by his Majesties Authority as aforesaid Item He professeth himself willing and ready to obey the King as a good and obedient Subject ought to do in all his lawful Commandments either concerning his Function of Priesthood or any other Duty belonging to a good Subject Upon this Confession he was indulged with more Liberty and the free Access of his Friends and would undoubtedly have been enlarged the next Term if he had not privately denied what he had publickly done protesting that his Confession did not extend to the Kings Authority in Spiritual Causes but in Temporal only this being told to the Lord Deputy it was resolved to try him upon the Statute of 16. R. 7. cap. 5. of Premunire and it was discreetly done rather to Indite him upon that than upon any new Statute made since the Reformation Davis Rep. 85. that the Irish might be convinc'd That even Popish Kings and Parliaments thought the Pope an Usurper of those exorbitant Jurisdictions he claim'd and thought it inconsistent with the Loyalty of a good Subject to uphold or advance his unjust and unreasonable Incroachments on the Prerogative of the King and the Priviledge of the Subject which tended to nothing less then to make our Kings his Lacquies our Nobles his Vassals and our Commons his Slaves and Villains Upon this Indictment he was tryed and found Guilty and upon his Tryal his aforesaid Recognition which he made upon Oath was publickly read which netled him exceedingly and the rather because he was asked whether he had not denied this Confession to some of his Friends to which he answered that he had not but only told some of them that he had not own'd the Kings Supremacy in Spiritual Causes which he said was true for the word
be are answered to the King and included in the Green-wax Money hereafter mentioned Secondly That by reducing doubtful Rents to a Third part it would make that Third part an easie Rent to the Subject and certain to the King and so 1800 l. doubtful Rents would be per Annum 600 l. Those doubtful Rents are so manag'd that in Munster they have yielded 180 l. per Annum and in Conaugh 11 l. 17 s. 3 d. but we can make nothing of them in Ulster Thirdly That the Composition in Munster is diminish'd and so many Lands are conceal'd as would yield per Annum 229 l. 14 s. 4 d. The last Composition was setled by Indenture Anno 1604. since which many Undertakers have recovered some of the Lands liable to Composition and they pay a greater Patent-Rent and therefore the Composition abates pro tanto Fourthly That the Composition of Conaught is defective 500 l. per Annum It was always incertain because Waste-land did not pay but whilst it was inhabited It was Anno 1622. 3569 l. 13 s. 9 d. Irish but since most part of Letrim which paid 138 l. is escheated to the Crown so that the remaining Composition of that County is but 26 l. 13 s. 4 d. but the new Patent-rents are 1175 l. 18 s. 0 ½ d. and the whole Province pays 3526 l. 11 s. 8 d. Irish per Annum which is less than it was Anno 1622. Fifthly The Composition of Twomond is abated per Annum 40 l. It paid then 687 l. 2 s. 2 d. and since is increas'd 1 l. 11 s. 0 ½ d. and no more Sixthly The Undertakers of Ulster for Breach of Covenants may be raised per Annum 2000 l. They are rais'd 1212 l. 9 s. 4 d. from Easter 1630. Seventhly The Rents of New Plantations in the King's County and Queen's County not yet in Charge per Annum 500 l. They come to 603 l. 10 s. 2 d. Eighthly That an Increase of Rent may be advanc'd on new Leases and the Composition of the County of Wicklow after Sir William Harington's death will be per Annum 200 l. It is so Ninthly The Court of Wards may be improv'd per Ann. 1700 l. It yielded then 3365 l. 2 s. 2 d. and Anno 1629. it advanc'd to 7000 l. but because of the Graces granted 1628. it is diminish'd above half Tenthly That the Royal Fishings may be set for 500 l. per Annum Not yet set Eleventhly That Respite of Homage might be improv'd 50 l. per Annum It was then 92 l. 4 s. 3 d. it is now 244 l. 15 s. Twelfthly That his Majesty's part of the Customs may be advanc'd above what they yield now to 2500 l. per Annum They were then 9686 l. 0 s. â— d. and are now 11050 l. out of which there are considerable Deductions Thirteenthly That the profit of the Seals and Fines on Original writs and the Half-fees on Latitats would yield 200 l. per Annum more than they did Then they yielded 373 l. 5 s. now 482 l. 12 s. and the Latitats 74 l. Fourteenthly That Felons Goods would communibus Annis advance 50 l. Anno 1622. they amounted to 66 l. 2 s. 10 d. and this Year to 232 l. Fifteenthly That the Green-wax Money might increase 4000 l. per Annum It was then 2006 l. 11 s. 1 d. it is now 4398 l. Sixteenthly That Fines in Star-chamber might advance 1000 l. per Annum Anno 1618. they amounted to 2246 l. but now decrease because whilst the Six score thousand Pound is paying Juries are not fined for not presenting Papists Seventeenthly That First-fruits and Twentieth paâ—â—â— may raise 300 l. per Annum The Twentieth part is certain 695 l. 13 s. only some not yet rated for which Commissions are gone out and the First-fruits are casual Eighteenthly That the Rent of Carrigfergus will be per Annum 40 l. But it is not payable till the Walls are finished By this Calculation which in some things is under but in most is over the right Mark it will appear that these Commissioners tho' they were learned active and wise Men yet being Strangers to Ireland they were at a loss in managing that Kingdom as probably all Strangers will be That do not consult the Inhabitants of that Country and how the Conduct of these Commissioners in Matters of Government was relished by the Earl of Strafford may be read Rushworth 171. But it is time to leave them and attend HENRY CARY Viscount Falkland Lord Deputy who was Sworn on the 8th day of September 1622. at which time Bishop Usher preached before him on Rom. 13. He beareth not the Sword in vain and in his Sermon advised That if his Majesty were pleased to extend Clemency to Recusants that yet they might not be suffered To give the Protestants publick Affronts nor to take Possession of their Churches before their Faces the reason of his saying so was because the Fryars of Multifernam were erecting a new Abby at Molingar and because that Mr. Anker going to read Prayers in a Church of his in Westmeath found an old Priest and forty People with him in the Church who were so bold to bid Mr. Anker depart until the Priest had done his Business However the Papists took such Exceptions at this Sermon and made such a noise about it as if the Bishop had advised that the Sword which had been so long born in vain should now be exercised to their Destruction That how groundless soever this Clamour was the Bishop was fain to Preach an Explanatory Sermon to appease it This Year there happened a dreadful Fire in Corke which consumed the greatest part of that City and on the 8th of March the King sent a Letter to make Malcolm Hamilton Archbishop of Cashell and Bishop of Emely and to Grant him in Comendam the Chancellorship of Down and the Parsonage of Davenis and to give him the Profits that accrued in the Vacancy And the like Order was sent to make Archibald Hamilton Bishop of Killalla and Ardconry and on the 10th of March Sir Edward Villars was made Lord President of Munster in the room of the Deceased Earl of Thomond In the time of this Lord Deputy several Popish Magistrates that had refused the Oath of Supremacy contrary to the Stat. of 2. Eliz. c. 1. were censured in the Star-Chamber on the 22d of November 1622 1622. at which time Bishop Usher made that Excellent Speech about the Lawfulness of that Oath which is published in his Answer to the Jesuite Malone 1623. and on the 21st of January 1623 there issued a Proclamation against the Popish Clergy Secular and Regular ordering them to depart the Kingdom within Forty days after which all Persons were prohibited to converse with them And on the 21st day of March 1624. Doctor Usher was made Archbishop of Armagh And thus stood the Government of Ireland during the Reign of King James which ended by his Death at Theobalds on the 27th day
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
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
would send it we being fleshed in Blood one against the other But whilst the Treaty between Ormond and the Irish was in agitation a Letter of his to the Supreme Council was intercepted and brought to the Parliament and by them shewed to the King who was then in the Isle of Wight whereupon they obliged His Majesty to write to the Lord Lieutenant not to proceed any farther in the Treaty with the Irish but that Letter was interpreted to come from one in Duress and being contrary to express Orders given his Excellency Not to obey any Commands inconsistent with those then received unless they were manifestly for His Majesty's Advantage until His Majesty were at liberty to declare his Sentiments freely That Letter was not much regarded and so after twenty days spent in the Treaty at Carrick the Lord Lieutenant about the middle of November removed to his Castle at Kilkenny upon the Invitation of the Commissioners and to be nearer the General Assembly which was then Sitting in that City he was received with such profound Respect as is usually paid to the Sovereign Authority and had his own Guards with him However it was the middle of January before the Matters relating to the Peace could be adjusted and then they passed unanimously even by the Votes of the Popish Bishops and were on the 17th of January mutually Ratified and afterwards Proclaimed with great Joy and followed by the * * Appendix 44 Declarations of the Popish Clergy expressing their great Satisfaction at this Peace which consisted of the Articles mentioned Appendix 43 which King Charles the second in the Preamble of the Act of Settlement had good reason to call Difficult Conditions Upon this Peace Ormond proposed to get together so good an Army as might by Force or Treaty prevent the Impending Fate of his Royal Master for the undertaken Quota's were as followeth  Foot Horse Munster Irish 4000 800 Leinster 4000 800 Insiquin 3000 600 Conaught 4000 800 Owen Roe if he would come in had 5000 500  20000 3500 But he depended upon a broken Reed for besides that the Irish had delayed the conclusion of the Peace too long to render it serviceable to the King and had exacted such Conditions as would rather hasten than prevent His Majesty's Ruine the Lord Lieutenant was exceedingly disappointed in his Calculation for Owen Roe did not at all come in till it was too late and most of the rest were deficient in their promised Proportions of Men or Money so that he was forced to borrow 800 l. upon his own Credit to enable the Army to march But it must not be forgotten that the Confederates still lay upon the lurch and in order to keep up their Dominion and Power notwithstanding the Peace they did on the 12th of January 1648 make the following Order By the General Assembly WHEREAS the Declaration of the General Assembly of the Confederate Catholicks Ante pag. 152. 〈◊〉 bearing date the 28th day of August 1645 and the Explanation of the 〈◊〉 General Assembly thereupon dated the First of September 1645 did relate to a Settlement of a Peace to be grounded on any Authority from his Majesty as by the said Declaration and Explanation thereupon more at large may appear It is this day ordered and declared by this Assembly ☜ That the said Declaration and Explanation shall CONTINUE and REMAIN in full force and be renewed as of this time and have relation to all Articles for a Settlement agreed on as well by Authority from His Majesty as from his Highness the Prince of Wales or both as if the said Declaration and Explanation had been NOW MADE to all Intents Constructions and Purposes But the Peace being concluded the Irish became very troublesom by their Importunities for Offices and Places of Trust and Honour Sir Richard Blake the very next week after the Peace wrote to Secretary Lane to mind the Lord Lieutenant to make him a Baron and others were as careful of their own Advancement but above all others the Insolence of a Son of Hugh O Connour is remarkable for he on the 9th of March wrote to the Lord Lieutenant to give him a Troop and his Brother a Foot Company or else they would shift for themselves To whom the Lord Lieutenant made answer That whatever he did with great Rebels he would not capitulate with small ones And now how gladly would I draw a Curtain over that Dismal and Unhappy Thirtieth of January wherein the Royal Father of our Country suffered Martyrdom Oh! that I could say They were Irish Men that did that Abominable Fact or that I could justly lay it at the Door of the Papists But how much soever they might obliquely or designedly Contribute to it 't is certain it was actually done by others who ought to say with the Poet Pudet haec opprobria nobis Et dici potuisse non potuisse refelli THE REIGN OF Charles the Second KING OF England Scotland France and Ireland CHARLES Prince of WALES 1648. eldest Son of the deceased King succeeded his Father in the Right of All and in the Possession of some of his Dominions and was by the Lord-Lieutenant first at Youghall where he then hapned to be in his return from visiting Prince Rupert and afterwards at Carrick proclaimed King by the Name of Charles the Second And altho' the new King did soon after by his Letters confirm the Marquess of Ormond in the Government of Ireland and acquainted him That the Kirk of Scotland had caused his Majesty to be proclaimed King on the 16th of February yet he also sent him the bad News of that Kirk's Declaration of the 13th of February against the Peace his Excellency had made with the Irish But the Lord-Lieutenant was encouraged to struggle with that Misfortune by two Accidents that happened in his favour viz. the Arrival of Prince Rupert and the Departure of the Nuncio The Prince being by the mistake of his Pilot put into Crook-Haven did not come into Kinsale till the 10th of February tho' his Brother Prince Maurice arrived above a Fortnight before he brought with him sixteen Frigats and his design was to make way for the Prince of Wales and he thought it a happy Omen that the first News he met with was that of the Peace Wherefore upon Conference with the Lord-Lieutenant at Corke it was resolved to send Capt. Ulbert to the Prince to hasten him for Ireland which was accordingly done and then the News of the King's Martyrdom arrving Prince Rupert proclaimed the new King at Kinsale with all the Solemnity that place was capable of and put himself and all his Officers in Mourning and even the Ensigns Jacks and Streamers of all the Fleet were altered to a colour suitable to the black and dismal Occasion Whilest Prince Rupert staid at Kinsale his Frigats cruis'd abroad and brought in several considerable Prizes and particularly three Corn-Ships which were of great consequence because of
the want of Provisions in the Navy his Highness did also raise some Forces which he sent to the Relief of Scilly and he also sent a Bill of 5000 Pistols to the new King Hereupon the Parliament sent their Sea-Generals Blake and Dean to block up this Fleet in Kinsale-Harbour which they did effectually all the Summer and took the Guinny-Frigot that was abroad and tho' the Prince did in person sollicite Waterford Cork and other Sea-ports for Assistance to sit out some Fire-ships yet at length it was resolved rather to let the Winter Storms remove the Enemy than to encounter them at so great disadvantage especially since the Prince could not be sure of his Men of whom so many deserted daily that it was found necessary to hang up ten of those Straglers for a terrour to the rest In the mean time Owen Roe sent a Message to his Highness That since he and Ormond had drawn and tasted of each others bloud he would never joyn with the Marquess but if his Highness would take the Command of the Kingdom he and all his would readily submit to One of the Bloud Royal. But this was counted a Complement which the Proposer knew the Prince could not accept of however it occasion'd that Capt. Leg was sent to hasten the King into Ireland but his Ship being taken he was for a long time imprison'd at Plimouth and by a Court-Martial condemn'd to die In the mean time the Prince was in great straits for all Necessaries and tho' he contracted his charge to the well Manning of four Frigats only besides his Flag-Ships yet there being no Supply from abroad Want over-took him even in this narrow Model and Reducement so that he was forc'd to rely on what his own personal Interest or Love to his Majesty's Cause could in so tottering a Conjuncture perswade People to lend And it was at this time that the Generous Loyalty of a private a Robert Southwell Esq Gentleman of Kinsale did signalize itself in furnishing the Prince with a considerable quantity of Provisions without which his Highness could not have gone to Sea and altho' at this time when Munster was meditating a Revolt to Cromwell which it soon after accomplished this action was of dangerous consequence to the Gentleman that did it yet he survived that danger and lived to be well considered for this Service by the Act of Settlement and as Marks of his Majesty's favour to be made one of the Council of Munster and Vice-Admiral of that Province and the Prince being enabled thereunto by these Supplies put to Sea and got safe to Lisbon But it is time to return to the Second Accident which I mentioned and that was The Departure of the Nuntio which happened in this manner The General Assembly of the Irish having approved of the Cessation with Insiquin and being exceedingly troubled at the Excommunication which the Nuntio had fulminated against all the Adherents thereunto and consequently against themselves they did not only imploy an Agent to prosecute their Appeal to the Pope but did also on the 19th of October write a Letter to the Nuntio then at Galway which Letter was signed by their Speaker and ordered him to withdraw out of the Kingdom at his peril and in it was enclosed a Schedule of Greivances occasioned by him and whereof they intended to impeach him to the Pope Tanquam qui huic parricidio occasionem dedissâ—t Beling 173. and it was also accompanied with a severe Declaration against all those that should correspond with his Reverence Whereupon finding that he had been one unhappy Cause of the King's Murder says Mr. Beling he took Ship at Galway on the 23d of February and returned to Rome where he was blamed by the Pope for acting so b Lemerarie se gesisti rashly Nevertheless the Irish could not be absolved from his unjust Excommunication for making a Truce with Insiquin P. W. Remonstrance 592. until they had done Penance in Forma Ecclesiae Consueta which imports an acknowledgement of the Crime But tho' the Nuntio was gone yet he had left Own Roe and his Army behind to support his Faction who together with the Marquess of Antrim did oppose the Peace because the six escheated Counties in Ulster were not restor'd to the old Irish Beling 165. and with these sided a Multitude of Fryers who railed against the late Peace and the scandalous Expulsion of the Nuntio and threatned inevitable Damnation to all those that should take part with the Lord-Lieutenant whereby the Peace became of little use to the King or advantage to his Affairs even whilst the Bishops and Secular Clergy adhered to it which was not long But on the 9th of March the King by his Letter from the Hague confirm'd the late Peace and ordered a new Great Seal to be made and to be disposed of to whom the Lord-Lieutenant should think fit and appointed the Lord of Insiquin to be Lord-President of Munster and the Marquess of Clanrickard to be Lord-President of Connaught if the Lord-Lieutenant find it convenient And thus ended the Year 1648. The Year 1649 opened with a Vote in the Parliament of England 1649. of the 28th of March That Oliver Cromwell should be General of all their Forces then in Ireland or that should be sent thither and accordingly he prepared dilligently for that Expedition But because besides his there were four other distinct Interests and Armies in that Kingdom viz. the King 's the Presbyterians the Supreme Council's and Owen Roe's it is necessary to treat of them separately to prevent confusion and that the Reader may the more clearly penetrate into the Intreigues of this Campaign And we will begin with the King 's both because it was his and because it was the most numerous and most considerable that of the Supreme Council being united unto it by vertue of the late Peace and many of the Presbyterians under the Lord of Ards falling into it afterwards it consisted of 3700 Horse and 14500 Foot under the Command of the Marquess of Ormond the Lord of Insiquin was Lieutenant-General of it and the Earl of Castlehaven was Lieutenant-General of the Foot and the Lord Taaf was Master of the Ordnance and thus composed part of this Army rendezvouz'd at Cashell on the 3d of May from whence Castlehaven was detach'd with a Party which took Rheban Maryburgh and Althy from Owen Roe's Souldiers with considerable slaughter and that being done it met at Cloghgrenan on the 26th of May and marching forward took Castle-Talbot Kildare Castlesalagh and Castlecarbry and on the 14th of June encamped at Naas And having rested two or three days they marched to Finglass and encamped there on the 18th of June and on the 19th a detached Party drew nearer Dublin and with some loss skirmished with the Enemies Horse and then return'd to Finglass and there Ormond received and dispos'd into convenient Quarters a great number of Papists whom Collonel Jones to
Necessaries as an early Campaign he marcht out of his Winter-quarters in the latter end of February with 3000 Men and even that small Army was divided into two parties with the one Cromwell marched to Cahir which he took as he also did Kilfinin Gowlenbridge Fethard Cashell Clogheen and Roghill and sat down before Callan and Ireton with the other part being re-inforced by Reynolds and Zanchy took Ardkenon Dundrum Knocktopher Ballynard and other Castles and joyned Cromwell at Callan Which last place as also Graige and Thomastown were easily subdued by their united Forces so that they marched to Gowran to joyn Collonel Heyson who with a Detachment from Dublin had taken Ballysannon Kildare and Leighlin and met them at Gowran which was after too long Resistance surrendered by Collonel Hammond upon hard Conditions so that he and most of the Officers were shot to death And then the Army being very considerable and numerous especially in Horse besieged Kilkenny from whence Castlehaven and his Forces were withdrawn by reason of the Plague and the General Assembly was fled to Athloane so that there was but 600 Foot and 50 Horse under Sir Walter Butler and Major Walsh left in the City nevertheless they made a vigorous Defence and bravely repulsed the first Assault and afterwards having no hopes of Relief surrendered upon very honourable Conditions on the 28th of March 1650. From thence Cromwell marched to besiege Clonmell 1650. which he found well provided of all things necessary for its Defence so that it proved the hardest Task he undertook in Ireland Moreover the Titular Bishop of Ross had gathered about 5000 Men together and that Army was daily increasing with design to raise the Siege But it happened luckily that the Lord of Broghill being at Castlelyons had secret intimations from his Brother-in-law General Barry That the Irish had cast off the King's Authority and had put all into the hands of the Clergy and that Ormond had discovered their design and therefore gave liberty to the Protestants of his Army to treat with Cromwell And that the Irish designed to make Kerry and Conaught the seats of the War and that 20000 Men would suddainly be in Arms under the Command of the Titular Bishop of Ross who always advised to kill the English unless that Cockatrice be destroyed in the Egg. Hereupon the Lord Broghill posted to Cromwell and having obtained 2000 Horse and Dragoons and 1600 Foot he marched with incredible Celerity to Kilkrea and thence to Carrigadroghid which he found garrison'd with the Bishop's Souldiers however he left his Foot there and marched with the Horse to Maccroom Upon his approach the Irish fired the Castle and retired to the rest of their Army which to the number of 5000 were in the Part but the Lord Broghill lost no time but fell upon them briskly whilst they were amazed at an Assault they little expected In fine he totally routed the Army Battle of Maccroom 10 of May. and took the Bishop prisoner to whom he profered his Life if he would cause Carigdroghid to be surrendered and the Bishop promis'd fair but which he came to the Castle instead of ordering the Garrison to surrender he advis'd them to hold it out to the last whereupon he was immediately hanged and soon after Carigdroghid was taken by a very slight Stratagem for the English got two or three Teams of Oxen and made them draw some great pieces of Timber towards the Castle which the Irish thinking to be Cannon presently began to parly and upon Articles gave up the place But we must return to Cromwell whom we left at the Siege of Clonmell where having made a breach he caused it to be assaulted but as himself expressed it he had like to bring his Noble to Nine-pence for he lost above 2000 of his best Men and yet did not take the Town at that time but in a few days the Governor Hugh O Neal having spent his Powder and finding that the Town would be lost he withdrew all his Souldiers secretly and by night over the Bridge to Waterford and Cromwell not knowing of it gave the Town 's Men good Conditions for themselves upon which they surrendered It was at this Siege that Cromwell received possitive Orders to return to England and in obedience unto them he embarqued at Youghall on the 29th day of May and left the Command of the Army with his Son-in-law Ireton who was before Major-General of the Army and Lord-President of Munster But it is time to return to the Marquess of Ormond whom we left at Limerick with the Popish Clergy and the Commissioners of Trust where notwithstanding the respectful Answer and promises of the Clergy already mentioned the Citizens of Limerick were so far from complying with his expectation that they were deficient in common and outward Respect they did not permit access to him without special orders of the Mayor which was sometimes with difficulty obtained And they imprison'd the Lord Killmallock for quartering some Horse one night within their Liberties by his Excellency's order And the Officer of the City-Guards did neither come to receive the Word from his Lordship nor bring it to him Wherefore not willing to expose the King's Authority to so many Affronts he went to Loghreagh and the Popish Clergy adjourned thither also and there he gave them the Answer to their Paper of Advice mentioned Appendix 45 wherewith they seemed to be so well satisfied that on the 28th of March they issued the following Declaration The Declaration of the Undernamed Bishops in the Name of Themselves and the rest of the Bishops Convoked at Limerick as deputed by them Presented to the Lord Marquess of Ormond Lord-Lieutenant for his Majesty and General Governour of Ireland c. MAY it please Your Excellency to be informed That We are very sensible of the Jealousies and Suspicions conceived of Vs as was intimated unto Vs that we believe arising from some disaffected and misunderstanding Persons that spare not to give ill Characters of Vs as if these deplorable Times wherein Our Religion King and Country are come to the vertical Point of their total Ruine and Destruction it should be imagined by any that we behave ourselves like sleeping Pastors in no ways contributing our best Endeavours for the Preservation of the People which ought to be more dear unto us than any worldly Thing that may be thought of Wherefore as well for the just Vindication of our own Reputation against such undeserved Aspersions as for future Testimony of our Sincerity and Integrity to endeavour always the Safety of the People and to manifest to Your Excellency as the King's Majesty's Lieutenant and Chief Governour of this Kingdom That no Labour or Care of ours hath been or shall be wanting to proceed effectually to any Proposals you will please to make known unto us that may conduce to those ends We thought it therefore fit to present this Declaration of our real Intentions in the
Name of ourselves and the rest of our Brethren the Archbishops and Bishops of this Kingdom whereby we avow testify declare and protest before GOD and the World That since our General Meeting at Clanmacnoise or here we have omitted nothing that did occur unto us tending to the advancement of his Majesty's Interest and the Good of the Kingdom generally but have there and then ordered and decreed all to us appertaining or which was in our power necessarily conducing to the publick Conservation of his Majesty and his Subjects Interest And also do and have endeavoured to root out of Mens hearts all Jealousies and sinister Opinions conceived either against your Excellency or the present Governmen as by our Acts there conceived maâ— appear And aster our parting from thence in pursuance of our unanimous Resolution taken in that place we have accordingly declared to our respective Flocks our happy Agreement amongst ourselves and our earnest desire to labour with them to those ends and made use of our best perswasions for the purchasing of their Alacrity and chearful Concurrence to the Advantage of that Service So that if any thing was wanting of due Correspondence sought by your Ezcellency we conceive it cannot be attributed to any want of care or diligence in us And for further intimation of our hearty desires on all occasions to serve our King and Country we declare That we are not yet deterred for want of good Success in the Affairs of the Kingdom but rather animated to give further Onsets and try all other possible Ways Wherefore we most humbly entreat your Excellency to give us some particular Instructions and to prescribe some Remedies for and touching the Grievances presented by us to your Excellency for pacifying of Discontented Minds and put us in a way how to labour further in so good a Cause And we do faithfully promife that no Industry or Care shall be wanting in us to receive and execute your Conditions And in conclusion We leave to all impartial judicious Persons sad and serious Considerations to think how incredible it is that we should fail to oppose to the uttermost of our power the fearful and inceasing Potency of a Rebellious and Malignant Murderer of our late Soveraign King Charles to which Enemy also nothing seemeth more odious than the Names of Kings and Bishops and who aims at nothing so much as the Dethroning of our now Gracious King Charles the Second and the final Extirpation of our Natives in case as God forbid Events and Successes would fall suitable to his most wicked Designs So far we thought necessary to declare to your Excellency from ourselves as the sence likewise and true meaning of the rest of our Brethren other Bishops of this Kingdom Dated at Loghreogh the 28th of March Anno Domini 1650. Jo. Archiepiscopus Tuamensis Wa. Episcopus Confert Fran. Aladensis Rob. Corcagen Cluanensis Fr. Hugo Episcopus Duacensis But notwithstanding the specious pretences and fair promises in this Declaration they verified Cromwell's observation of them That they prefer'd their own Interest before the King 's and that their professions in favour of Protestants were hypocritical For although they desired Instructions so earnestly as if they meant to observe them yet having received Instruction to bring the City of Limerick to a better temper they did nothing effectually in it though they did colourably send Sir Richard Everard and Doctor Fennell to treat with that City and they carried with them Letters from the Commissioners of Trust to the Mayor and from the Bishops to the Archbishop of Cashell and Bishop of Limerick which if sincerely wrote could not in reason fail of producing some effect But the cause of suspecting their sincerity did not proceed barely from the unsuccessfulness of their Endeavours but also from a discovery of the dishonest manner of their proceedings with the Lords of Ormond and Insiquin whilst they were at Limerick for whilst some of the Prelates and leading Men of that City came to his Excellency under shew of Friendship and Respect and informed him That the Waywardness and Dissatisfaction of the People proceeded from their Aversion to Insiquin who had always prosecuted the War against them with Rigour and Animosity and had defiled himself with the Blood of the Religious at Cashel and of whom they could have no Assurance since his Principal Confidents betrayed the Towns of Munster but if his Excellency would dismiss that Lord and disband his Troops that then the whole Nation as one Man would be at his disposal Another party of Popish Bishops and other leading Men addressed themselves to Insiquin and assured him That they expected no Success under the Conduct of Ormond because he was not of their Nation and was so indulgent to English Interest and English-men that he little regarded them or theirs But if his Lordship who was of the most Ancient and Noble Extraction of Ireland had the Supreme Command then all would be well But these two Lords compared Notes and thereby discovered the bottom of the Contrivance which was to create a Quarrel between them that so they might the easier get rid of them both And indeed from that time forward Ormond had so small hopes of the Irish that he employed the Bishop of Derry to treat with some forreign Prince about transporting 5 or 6000 Men into their Service at usual Rates and he designed to go with them himself and having no means to support Insiquin's Army he did at the importunity of the Commissioners of Trust who were as weary of the Engling as the English were of them disband Insiquin's Forces except Collonel Buller's Regiment which was designed to be sent to the King from Galway And on the first of May Dean Boyle now Lord Primate was employed by Ormond and Insiquin to treat with Cromwell Upon what Terms the Protestants of their Party might be received into Protection In the mean time the King by his Letter of the 11th of March from Beauvois informs the Lord-Lieutenant That one Rochfort from Lieutenant-General Farrell and one Daly disguised under the Name of Dominico de Rosario were with his Majesty and represented Ormond as backward in granting Graces and Favours to the Irish But the King advises him to persevere and if need be rather to exceed in Concessions about Civil Matters than in Matters of Religion and that if there must be farther Concessions in Religion that thâ—n they should be made in general Terms with reference to a future Parliament and gives him full power to do as he sees fit and desires to know whether if he fail with the Scots he may conveniently come for Ireland And indeed this had been the proper time for his Majesty to have come thither and the Marquess of Ormond did invite him to do so and the Queen Mother on the 10th of March 1649 sent the Lord Byron on purpose to press him to the Voyage and to get the Scotch Commissioners consent thereunto And it
might be raised by desperate uninterested Persons against us or the Civil Government of that City whereunto we had cause to fear some loose People might by false and frivolous Suggestions be too easily instigated And to take away all possibility of suspition from the most jealous that we could have any other end to the prejudice of that City the Guards we proposed were but one hundred Foot and fifty Horse and those to consist entirely of those of your own Religion and such as by having been constantly of your Confederacy are interested in all the benefits of the Articles of Peace To this we received no positive reply but in an uncertain manner were told by the said Aldermen of some Uproar raised by a Fryer in opposition to the desires and intentions of the Mayor and principal Citizens touching our coming thither Whereupon we thought not fit to subject his Majesty's Authority placed in â—s to a possibility of being affronted by a wild Rabble of mean People but rather to expect the issue of more setled Councils Wherein we hope will be taken into consideration not only by what power you were first made a Corporation and by whose protection you have since flourished but also what solid foundation of Safety other than by receiving the Defence we offer is or can be discovered to you by the present Disturbers of your Quiet To conclude We expect your present Answer that in case we be encouraged to proceed in the ways we have laid down of serving the King and preserving that City from the Tyranny of the Rebels we may immediately apply ourself thereunto or failing in our desires therein we may apply ourself and the Forces we have gathered to that purpose to some other Service And so we bid you heartily Farewel From Shanbuolly the 14 of June 1650. To Our very loving Friend the Mayor of the City of Limerick These Your Loving Friend ORMOND But we must leave this rebellious City for a while to attend the Popish Bishop of Clogher who was so considerable a Man and so zealous in the Interests of the Church that by help of the Nuntio Party he expected to be made Generalissimo of all the Confederates and the better to fit himself for it he revived the National Distinction between old and new Irish and thâ—se latter being of English extraction he turn'd out of his Army and left none in but Macs and Oâ—s and then he thought himself so powerful that he gave his Forces the Name and Title of The Confident Victorious Catholick Army of the North Nevertheless on the 20th of May he and all his Officers had published a Declaration to wheedle such of the Scots and British as opposed the Parliament wherein they pretended great Loyalty And that as misconstruction and mistake made the Scots at first to rise against his Majesty who was their own flesh and blood so it was likewise misunderstanding that occasioned the falling out between the Irish and the Scots in the beginning of these Wars and therefore all should be forgotten and all distinctions of Nation and Religion should be postpon'd and sacrificed to his Majesty's interest and service But I suppose few of the Protestants were so simple as to be cajolled with that hypocritical Declaration for though many upon the principles of Loyalty did still continue their desires to serve the King yet they would by no means joyn with those that had purged their Army even of such Papists as were of English extraction And that the Reader may know that Confidence in Ireland is no certain symptom of Success I will make what hast I can to bring this Confident Victorious Catholick Army of the North to their total Defeat at the Battle of Skirfolas It was on the 14th of April that Sir Charles Coot being in the Lagan sent to Collonel Venables then in Claneboy to meet him at the Rendezvouz near Charlemont with what speed he could but the Bishop of Clogher having about the same time surprized Toom and passed over some Horse and Foot into the County of Antrim Venables was countermanded and was ordered to retake the Castle of Toom and Coot at the same time marched into the Barony of Loghinsolin to countenance that Attempt and to keep three Irish Regiments of Foot and five Troops of Horse that were in that Barony so employed that they might not disturb Venables and it succeeded according to expectation for Venables had Toom surrendred to him and Coot got good store of prey and returned to Dungannon but for want of Provisions he was forced to march to Omagh and the Irish Army came to Charlemont so that they were in the middle between Coot and Venables Hereupon Coot after several ineffectual experiments to get the Bishop from his ground or to joyn with Venables was necessitated to pass the River of Loghfoil so that the Bishop ravaged over the whole Country and though he was manfully repulsed at Lemavaddy by Major Dudly Phillips yet he took Dungeven by Storm after a gallant defence made by Lieutenant-Collonel Beresford and had Bally-castle pittifully surrendered to him Nevertheless he was sometimes disturbed by Major King who had three Troops of Horse and three hundred Foot at Inniskilling but that was not so considerable as to hinder the Bishop's resolution of passing over Clody-foard to fall upon Sir Charles Coot's party which he performed with great dexterity and courage but Coot who was aware of this had provided another retreat at Breagdough behind the River that runs into Loghswilly and though the Irish strove hard for that pass yet it was in vain for Coot maintained the pass and by this means Venables had an opportunity to march from Colerain to Derry and thence might ferry over to the Camp The Bishop who was a Man of great parts soon perceived his Error and saw there was no way to remedy it but either to fight or return over the River before Venables could come up and accordingly he put his Army in Battallia and faced the English but Coot who had with him but his own Regiment of Horse and four Troops of Coll. Richard Coot's and 300 Country Horse under Coll. Sanderson and about 2000 Foot had no reason to fight until Venables should arrive however they continued pickeering for many hours and in the evening the Bishop drew towards the pass but being disturbed by Coot's Horse and having lost sixty Men he posted himself at Litterkenny having before sent a party to take in Castle-Doe and to bring in Provisions Whereupon Coot being re-inforced with a 1000 of Venables's Foot wafted over from Derry took advantage of that opportunity and faced the Bishop and resolved to fight Battle of Skirfolas in short it came to a Battle at Skirfolas two mile above Litterkenny on the 21st of June the English being 800 Horse and 3000 Foot and the Irish 4000 Foot and 400 Horse but the ground was so rough that the Horse could do little service on either side
but the Foot fought stoutly even to club-Musket and push of Pike but the issue was that the Irish were totally routed and then the Horse did great execution in the pursuit which was continued farther than ever was heard of before viz. above thirty Miles for at Omagh Major King with his three Troops begun the pursuit afresh and gleaned up what had escaped from the Battle so that it was believed that 500 of all this Army did not escape and even the Bishop himself was also taken by Major a Afterwards Lord Kingston King and by order of the Lord-President was the next day hanged Nor is it amiss to observe the Variety and Vicissitude of the Irish Affairs for this very Bishop and those Officers whose heads were now placed on the Walls of Derry were within less than a Year before confederate with Sir Charles Coot and raised the Siege of that City and were jovially merry at his Table in the quality of Friends Nor must it be omitted that the Duke of Lorrain sent his Agent Collonel Oliver Synot into Ireland he landed on the 29th of April 1650 and made a great noise of his Master's affection to the King and his zeal to the Catholick Religion and pretended that he had brought Money with him and that he would lend 1000 l. for his Majesty's service on the Mortgage of any Town or Fort that was considerable Whereupon the Lord-Lieutenant appointed the Lords Taaf and Athenry and Jeoffory Brown to treat with him and proposed to Mortgage Galway for that Sum But at length it was found to be a juggle on Synot's side and that either he had no Money or no intention to part with it And the Secret of this Affair is that the Duke of Lorrain was engaged in a Negotiation at Rome to Legitimate some Children that he had by Madam de Causecroix in the life-time of his first Wife Nichol de Lorrain and the easier to accomplish his design he dissembled such an extraordinary Zeal for Religion as would transport his Arms into Ireland to the relief of the Catholicks there but when he had effected his business at Rome his Devotion to the Irish Service abated so that being seperately and at several times sollicited by the King and by the Agents of the Confederates to the first he answered That the King had nothing left in Ireland and therefore it was in vain to treat And to the others he answered That he could not treat with them any farther without the approbation of their King And so with his usual dexterity he extricated himself out of this Affair In the mean time Collonel Reynolds and Sir Theophilus Jones beat back some Forces that were sent to the Relief of Terroghan and disturbed a Consult that was held in Westmeath between the Lord-Lieutenant the Lords of Clanrickard and Castlehaven and the Titular Bishop of Clogher and they also in Trim Ballyhuse and Feynagh And thus matters still growing worse and worse and the Parliamentarians daily getting ground the Popish Clergy did Proprio Motu assemble at Jamestown on the 6th of August and on the same day did give Commission to the Bishop of Fernes and Hugh Rochford to Treat with forreign Princes as Appendix 46 and afterwards did several things more extravagant Nevertheless to dissemble the Matter and as preparatory to their Meeting they sent the Lord-Lieutenant the following Letter May it please Your Excellency THis Nation become of late the Fable and Reproach of the Christianity is brought to a sad Condition Notwithstanding the frequent and laborious Meetings and Consultations of the Prelates we find Jealousies and Fears deep in the hearts of Men Thorns hard to take out We see most Men contributing to the Enemy and rendring their Persons and Substance useful to his Mallice and destructive to Religion and the King's Interest This kind of Men if not timely prevented will betray irremediably themselves and us We find no Stock or Substance ordered for maintaining the Souldier nor is there an Army any way considerable in the Kingdom to recover what is lost or defend what we hold So as Humanely speaking if God will not be pleased for his Mercy 's sake to take off from us the heavy Judgments of his Anger we are in a fair way for losing Sacred Religion the King's Authority and Ireland The four Archbishops to acquit their own Consciences in the Eyes of God have resolved to meet at Jamestown about the sixth day of the next Month and to bring about as many of the Suffragans as may repair thither with safety The end of this Consultation is to do what in us lieth for the amendment of Errors and recovery of this afflicted People If your Excellency shall think fit in your wisdom to send one or more Persons to make Proposals for the Safety of the Nation we shall not want willingness to prepare good Answers nor will we despair of the Blessing of God and of his powerful Influence to be upon our sincere Intentions in that place Even so we conclude remaining June 14th 1650. For his Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland Your Excellency's Most Humble Servants Fr. Thomas Dublin Jo. Archiepiscopus Tuamen This Letter was answered by his Excellency as followeth AFter Our hearty Commendations We received yours of the 24th of July on the first of this Month and do with much Grief acknowledge that this Nation is brought into a sad Condition and that by such means as when it shall be known abroad and by Story delivered to Posterity will indeed be thought a Fable For it will seem incredible that any Nation should so madly affect and violently pursue the ways leading to their own Destruction as this People will appear to have done and that after the certain Ruine they were running into was evidently and frequently discovered unto those that in all times and upon all other occasions have had power to perswade or compel them to whatever they thought fit And it will be less credible when it shall be declared as with truth it will be that the Temporal Spiritual and Eternal Interest and Safety even of those that had this power and that have been thus forewarned did consist in making use of it to reclaim the People and direct them into the Ways of Preservation To be plain it cannot be denied but the Disobedience we have met with which we at large declared unto many of you who with divers others of the Nobility and Gentry were assembled at Loghreogh in April last was the certain ready way to the Destruction of this Nation as by our Letter of the first of May to that Assembly we made appear Ancient and late Experience hath made evident what power those of your Function have had to draw the People of this Nation to what they thought fit Whether your Lordships have been convinced that the Obedience which we desire should be given to his Majesty's Authority in Us pursuant to the Articles of Peace was the way
the Management of Affairs of greatest consequence will we doubt not added to other the reasons proposed by us induce you to embrace this Advice as proceeding from our Pious Intentions that look only on the Preservation of the Catholick Religion the Support of his Majesty's Authority and the Estates Liberties and Fortunes of his Subjects of this Kingdom Which we humbly offer as August 13th 1650. Your Excellency's Most Humble Servants Fr. Ol. Dromore Char. Kelly Upon receipt of this Message his Excellency imparted it to the Commissioners of Trust who were very much surprized at it and desired his Lordship not to answer that point but rather to propose a Conference with them at Loghreagh on the 26th of August which accordingly he did and in expectation to meet them there he travelled to Loghreagh but they did not vouchsafe to come or to send any body to confer with his Excellency upon that Subject but they appointed the Bishops of Cork and Clonfert to attend him there and receive his Answer whereupon his Excellency on the last day of August sent them the following Letter An Answer to the Message delivered to Vs by the Bishop of Dromore and Dr. Charles Kelly Dean of Tuam from the Prelates met at Jamestown by vertue of their Letter desiring us to give full Credence to the said Bishop and Dean Dated at Jamestown the 10th of August 1650. The Substance of which Message may be reduced to these Particulars I. THe Message or Advice which is For our speedy Repair to his Majesty to procure Supplies for the Relief of this Kingdom leaving the King's Authority in the hands of some person or persons faithful to his Majesty and trusty to the Nation than which they say they can find no other Expedient or Remedy for the Relief of this Gasping Nation and Preservation of his Majesty's Interests therein or to prevent the Ruine and Desolation of all II. The reason of this Advice which is That through the Trust reposed in Us by his Majesty and Our own Interest in Fortune Alliance and Kindred in the Nation they hope those Supplies may more easily and speedily be obtained by Our Mediation than by any other means III. The Prelates promise undertaking That in the mean time which we understand to be during Our absence they will do what lieth in their power to assist the person or persons that shall be entrusted with the King's Authority Whereunto we answer That as the principal Motives inducing Us through some Hazards and many Difficulties to come into this Kingdom were the Obedience we owe to his Majesty's Command and our earnest desire to preserve this Nation in their Allegiance to Him wherein we always have and ever shall place our Interest and the Interest of such Kindred and Allies as will be guided by our Advice and Example so we shall always readily expose ourself to the like or greater Hazards and Difficulties to remove out of the Kingdom when We receive his Majesty's Command for it or shall be convinced that our Removal tends more to His Service and the Preservation of the Nation than our stay We confess that observing the Destructive Disobedience and Obstinacy of divers Persons and Places We were once of opinion that we might have done Our King and Country better Service by withdrawing Ourself than by continuing here by how much there would then have been less ground for Division when the Nation should be governed by one or more of their own Religion And sure we wereâ— that the stronger the Resistance were that should be made against the Rebels under what Conduct whatsoever the better it would be for the King and for the Nation And though We hold it not fit for Us even in point of Honour in flat terms to propose Our Removal which might have met with as great Misinterpretation as other Actions and Propositions of Ours intended for the good of the People have done yet in a Discourse had with many of the Prelates first at Limerick and afterwards here We did in a manner lead them to the Proposition they have now made And We freely acknowledge that if they and the Nobility and Gentry here met in April last had not in Writing and in Discourse given Us assurance that they not only desired Our stay but would endeavour to procure such Obedience to Us as might enable us with Hope and Success to have gone on in the War We should have made use of the Liberty given Us or Command then laid upon Us by his Majesty to have freed Ourself from the Vexation We have since endured and the Dishonour We foresaw We should be subject unto for want of that Power without which as we then told the said Bishops c. We should be able to do nothing considerable for the King or Nation Those Assurances We have transmitted to his Majesty as also Our Resolution to attend the Effects of them But those Disobediences still continuing We have again acquainted Him with the state of His Affairs here and do daily expect His pleasure upon the Representation We have made to Him without which unless forced by inevitable Necessity We cannot answer Our Removal out of the Kingdom Which is Our first and Principal reason why We might not comply with the Advice given Us. Another reason is That We plainly observe that though the Division is great in the Nation under Our Government yet it will be greater upon Our Removal For which in a free Conference We should have given such pregnant Evidence as We hold not fit this way to declare The Third is That though since the Meeting here where we were assured of such effectual Endeavours to procure Obedience to the King's Authority placed in Us the particular Disobediences We then instanced have continued and been improved by many other Affronts yet it hath pleased God to raise His Majesty Affairs elsewhere to so hopeful a Condition that may occasion His Majesty's sending us such Commands as we should be sorry should not find us upon the place In the last place it is most certain that no Meditation of ours will prevail with his Majesty for sending Relief and Supplies hither as the Representations We desire to be enabled to make of the Dutifulness and Obedience of the People where unto to dispose them We do again call upon You to make use of all the means within Your power Given at Loghreagh the 13th of August 1650. ORMOND But all this Labour might have been saved if his Excellency had known what these Prelates had done for on the very same day the aforesaid Message was delivered to the Lord-Lieutenant by the Bishop of Dromore and Doctor Kelly viz. the 12th of August and without expecting any answer to it they issued the fatal and bloudy Declaration and Excommunication at Jamestown against the Lord-Lieutenant and all his Adherents recited at large Appendix 47 wherein the Bishop of Ferns says they were Unanimous and boasts that this Rejection of the
says Mr. Ponce the Irish are delivered and †Catholici hiberniae ab ea pace observanda liberantur ac ad confederationem priorem redire possunt Bishop of Ferns in Epist to Tyâ—ell freed from any obligation to the Peace and ought to resort to their first Confederacy says the Bishop of Fernes However this could not justifie their rejecting of the King's Authority by excommunicating the Lord-Lieutenant at Jamestown because that happened on the 12th of August which was four days before the other Nevertheless the King was exceedingly concerned at this Declaration and the scandal and prejudice it would bring to his Party in Ireland and therefore to obviate as much of the Inconvenience as was possible he hastned over the Dean of Tuam Dr. John King with a Verbal Message to the Lord-Lieutenant importing the necessity of his making the aforesaid Declaration and with what great regret he did it especially so precipitately since it might have been done gradually with Honour the greatest part of the Irish having broken that Peace and that he depended more upon Ormond than upon any Man living and desired him to use his utmost dexterity at this juncture and accordingly his Excellency did immediately write to the Commissioners of Trust as followeth AFter Our hearty Commendations Having lately received Assurance that his Majesty hath been induced to declare the Peace concluded in this Kingdom in the Year 1648 by vertue of Authority from his late Majesty of ever glorious Memory as also of his Majesty now Reigning to be void and that he is absolutely freed therefrom We have thought it necessary for the Vindication of our own Honour freely to declare unto you as well what hath passed from us to his Majesty that might give any colour for such a Declaration as what our resolution is thereupon It is very true that from time to time we endeavoured to give his Majesty a true account of his Affairs committed to our Charge in general and that therein we could not omit informing him of divers Affronts put upon his Authority by means whereof and the Disobediences of the remaining Towns if persisted in we were in dispair of doing him any considerable Service or defending the Kingdom from the Rebels But in our Dispatches we were careful that his Majesty should understand that the Nobility and greater part of the Gentry continued-faithful to his Majesty obedient to his Authority and worthy of his Favour and Protection Whether any of these Dispatches have come to his Majesty's hands or if they have whether before or since his making his Declaration against the Peace we know not but we find that his Majesty's Declaration is principally grounded upon the Unlawfulness of concluding the Peace with this Nation and the breaches on the part of the Nation are mentioned but in general terms and by the by so that however the Affronts put upon his Authority have been many and obstinately persisted in to this day and that in such places whereupon evidently depends the preservation or loss of the whole Kingdom to the Rebels Whereof we have several times given notice unto you and followed the Ways advised by you for reclaiming the said places without any success yet considering the Declaration gained from his Majesty is without hearing what could be said by the Nation in their own defence and such as involves it generally without exception in the guilt of Rebellion and that even those have with greatest Insolence invaded the Royal Authority and endeavoured to withdraw the People from their Allegiance do yet pretend that they will make their Complaint against us to his Majesty thereby implying that they will submit to his Judgement We have thought fit to let you know that notwithstanding the said Declaration by some undue means obtained from his Majesty we are resolved by all means it shall please God to offer unto us and through all Hazards in behalf of this Nation to insist upon and assert the lawfulness of the Conclusion of the Peace by vertue of the aforesaid Authorities and that the said Peace is still valid of force and binding to his Majesty and all his Subjects and herein we are resolved by the help of God to persist until that we and such as shall in that behalf be entrusted and authorized by the Nation shall have free and safe access to his Majesty and untill upon mature and unrestrained Consideration of what may on all sides be said he have declared his Royal Pleasure upon the aforesaid Affronts put upon his Authority provided always that in the mean time and immediately First That all the Acts Declarations and Excommunications issued by the Bishops met at Jamestown in August last whereby the People are forbidden to obey us as Lord-Lieutenant be by them Revoked and such Assurance as shall be agreed on by us and you the Commissioners authorized by us in pursuance of the Articles of Peace given by them that they nor any of them shall not attempt the like for the future and that they shall continue themselves within the Bounds prescribed by the Articles of Peace whereunto they are Parties Secondly That it be immediately declared by you that the said Declarations Excommunications and other Proceedings of the said Bishops is an unwarranted Usurpation upon his Majesty's just Authority and in them a Violation of the Peace and that in case they shall not give the Assurance before expressed or having given it shall not observe the same that you will endeavour to bring the Offenders to condign punishment pursuant unto and as is prescribed by the Laws of the Kingdom as Disturbers of the Peace of the Kingdom and Obstructers of the means of preserving the same Thirdly That a like Declaration be made by all that derive Authority from his Majesty Civil or Martial and by the respective Mayors Aldermen Common-Councel Burgesses and all other Magistrates in all the Corporations of the Kingdom Fourthly That we be admitted to make our free and safe Residence in in any place we shall chuse within the Limits not possessed by the Rebels Fifthly That we immediately be admitted to Garrison such places and in such manner according to the Articles of Peace as we shall find necessary for the defence of the Kingdom Lastly That a present course be taken for means for our Support in proportion answerable to our Place yet with regard to the State of the Kingdom which last we should not propose but that we are deprived of our private Fortune whereupon we have solely subsisted ever since we came to the Kingdom To all which we expect your present Answer And so we bid you heartily Farewel and remain at Enis the 13th of October 1650 Your very Loving Friend ORMOND Which Letter gave great Satisfaction to the Commissioners of Trust as appears by their following Answer May it please Your Excellency YOur Lordship 's of the 23d of this instant we have received and therein to our unexpressible grief we find that his Majesty
declared That this is not meant or intended by any thing herein contained that this Nation will not insist upon the performance of the Articles of Peace and by all just means provide against the Violation of the same And inasmuch as his Majesty is at present as we are informed in the power of a Presbiterian party of the Scots who declared themselves Enemies to this Nation and vowed the Extirpation of our Religion ☜ we declare That it is not hereby intended to oblige ourselves to obey or observe any Governour that shall come unduely nominated or procured from his Majesty by reason of or during his being in an unfree Condition that may raise Disturbance of the present Government established by his Majesty's Authority or redound to the Violation of the Articles of Peace By the General Assembly c. Logreogh 24th of Decemb. 1650. IT is declared That by the word OUGHT expressed in the said Declaration this Day voted in this Assembly it is not meant or intended to look back or have a retrospect into any former Proceedings of the Clergy However they would not consent the following Clause should be added viz. Or set free or discharge the People upon any pretence whatsoever from yeilding Obedience to the Power and Authority intrusted by his Majesty in any Governour of this Kingdom during the Continuance of his Commission or the Powers and Authorities from thence derived although the Lord-Deputy did very importunately desire it But now that the Confederates have gotten a Governour to their mind one of their own Religion and in truth a brave Man it is but reason to expect that the Assembly should take valiant and unanimous Resolutions for a suitable Defence but Experience hath convinced the World that they who are most quarrelsom are not always most stout and therefore it is not to be wondered that it should within very few Days and before any new Misfortune happened be proposed in the Assembly That they might send to Treat with the Enemy for the Surrender of all that was left However the major part of the Assembly rejected the Motion with Scorn whereupon the Bishop of Fernes proposed ☜ To resort to their first Confederacy and so proceed in their Preservation without any respect to the King's Authority And this disloyal Motion found so many Abettors especially of the Clergy that those who were zealous in opposing it were fain to reproach the Assembly by telling them That they now manifested that it was not their prejudice to the Marquess of Ormond nor their zeal to Religion that had transported them but their dislike of the King's Authority and their resolution to withdraw themselves from it That they themselves would constantly submit to it and defend it with their utmost hazard as long as they should be able and when they should be reduced to extremity that Treating with the Enemy could no longer be deferred they would in that Treaty make no provision for them but be contented that they should be excluded from any benefit thereof who were so forward to exclude the King's Authority ☞ But as some of the Irish that pretended Obedience and professed Loyalty were nevertheless daily undermining the Government in favour of the Nuntio and by b P. W. Remonstrance 583. mixing Truth and Lies indifferently and by clamour on the common Topick of ill Success did raise Sedition and foment Jealousies hoping to get rid of the Lord-Lieutenant and to get the Kingdom in their own power to dispose of it to the Pope or some other Forreign Prince as hath already been shewn So there were others that did actually correspond with the Cromwelists and poorly truckled to the prevailing Party for fear of whom they pretended at first to have rais'd their Rebellion insomuch that in a Letter of the Seventh of May the Earl of Castlehaven complains of the Marquess of Antrim's Defection and says That the Irish are so false that No-body is to be trusted for either the Husband or the Wife are still Treating with the Enemy and in their Camp And a greater Man than he in his Letter of June 26. to the King acquaints His Majesty That His Affairs are confounded by the ever-Disloyal Party of the Irish Clergy to whom Lying is as natural as Rebellion But that which is more wonderful is that the Popish Archbishop of Armagh and others should issue Precepts to pray for the Success of Cromwell's Forces P. W. Remonstrance 706 707. whilst Dominick Dempsy a Franciscan Fryer and Mr. Long the Jesuit asserted That the King being out of the Catholick Church it was not lawful to pray for him in particular or in general publickly except on Good-Friday as comprehended amongst the Infidels Jews Mahometans Pagans and Hereticks and even then it is lawful to pray but for the welfare of his Soul onely and not for his Temporal Prosperity But this will be the less admired P. W. Remonstrance when it is known that the same Archbishop of Armagh pleaded for favour from the Parliament to the Ulster Irish because says he They never had Affection to the King nor his Family And as for me says he I was never a Friend or Well wisher to any of the Four meaning the King the Dukes of York and Gloucester and the Marquess of Ormond And indeed the Irish began this Correspondence very early for in September 1649. Coll. Dungan writes to the Lord-Lieutenant That Kelly the Lord of Antrim ' s Priest was in Dublin with Cromwell And to manifest that it was not the Popish Clergy alone that entertained Disloyal Sentiments but that even some of their Nobility and greatest Men and such as had received both Honour and Estate from the King did ungratefully plunge themselves into the same Crimes I will add the substance of a Letter from Thomas Talbot to the Marquess of Ormond which I have faithfully extracted from the Original dated October 22. 1650 wherein he writes That General Preston being at the Lord Glanmalira ' s discoursing about the Clergy's Excommunication of all that should obey his Excellency's Orders wished The Plague had taken the Clergy that did not first seize on Ormond's Person and then they might go through with their Design c. That the General and Sir James Preston his Son after long and private Discourse with the Bishop of Dromore imployed Father Taylor to Ireton with many Instructions signed by Preston but written by the Bishop That Sir James Preston at Banchur expressed much bitterness against the King saying That he took the Covenant and Signed a Declaration against the late Peace with the Irish and wished The Devil would take all those that would Serve His Majesty after doing so base a thing and that for his part he would Treat with Ireton and was sure the Parliament would give the Irish advantagious Conditions That the said Sir James after long Discourse with Terence Coughlan told Mr. Talbot That Coughlan thought it Folly not to submit and take
Conditions and that he would procure an Assembly in Leinster to prepare Matters for a Treaty with the Enemy That in the presence of Lieutenant-Collonel Cusack O Shagness ' s Son Florence Mac Carthy Phillip Roch and John Roch at several times he spoke to the same effect and added That he would rather joyn with the Turk against the King than Serve him who would sign to such a Declaration and do so unworthy a thing against the Irish And being told That perhaps the King was forced to it he replied That is all one for they who forced him to that would force him to do more disadvantagious Things to this Nation and therefore the Nation play'd the Fool if they did not timely provide for themselves and being demanded How could they better themselves he answer'd That if he cou'd get no other he wou'd call in the Turk And upon farther Discourse about the Excommunication Mr. Mac Carthy and Mr. Roch said That Lay-men should not judge of Ecclesiastical Censures and Talbot replying That every Christian might safely obey the Word of God in submitting to the King and also uttering some words against the Bishop's Excommunication and those that should obey it they told him in Spanish That they never heard any Man speak so much aginst the Good of this Nation and Religion as he did That Sir James Preston corresponds with the Bishops at Galway and wrote to them That the King has taken the Covenant and declared against the Peace and sends them Copies of the Orders and Letters he receives from the Lord-Lieutenant That he bragg'd That he had Credit with Ireton and should have liberty to transport three or four thousand Men and often said That no Men in the Kingdom were more for an Agreement with the Parliament than his Father and himself c. So far that Letter And Thomas Dungan did also certifie That he heard very Seditious Discourse from the said Sir James Preston and particularly That he blamed his Excellency for sending his Father Orders to surrender Waterford whereas I my self have seen General Preston's Original Letter to the Marquess of Ormond setting forth the impossibility of defending that place and importuning Orders to deliver it up and when I have added that on 7 September 1650. Col. Grace was imprison'd for Correspondence with Ireton And that it was a common saying among the Nuntionists That if they must submit to a b Quando alter utro e duobus Hereticis succumbere necesse est uter prevaleat utri parendum susque deque perendum esse Beling 336. Heretick viz. Ormond or Cromwell it was no matter to which And that they did Anno 1651 offer to submit to the Parliament but were refus'd by Ireton and oppos'd by Clanrickard I have offered all that I think fit to say upon this Subject at this time except an Account of the Marquess of Antrim which take as follows The Marquess of Antrim by his Priest Kelly had been intrigueing with Cromwell since his first Landing but from the taking of Ross the Correspondence between them became the more intimate and effectual So that on the Ninth of May his officious Desires to serve that Party prevail'd with him to importune a Conference with Commissary General Reynolds and the Bishop of Clogher and afterwards with that Bishop and Col. Owen the substance of which Conference copied from an Original Certificate under the Hands of the Commissioners is recited Appendix 49 and the design of it plainly is to asperse the Memory of King Charles the First and consequently to justifie and encourage his Enemies and that it was so understood by Ireton will be manifest from the Favours and Kindness he thereupon shewed to that Lord. For not long after this Conference Antrim had a Pass for his going into England and an Order from Ireton to go among his Tenants and levy what Money he could for his Journey by Vertue whereof he raised 1000 l. and so came to Chester Wednesday 3. December 1650. and sent two Servants before to London to notifie his coming and to send a Coach for him to Barnard on Munday following he carried with him a Letter from Ireton to the Council of State importing That He the Marquess of Antrim had done the Parliament Army singular Service since the first day they came before Ross and so recommended him to their Favour to compound for his Estate and the rather for that it did not appear that he had a hand in the beginning of the Rebellion and adds that he had Nine Months time given him to make his composition for two Months of which he was to be protected from all Suits On Munday Decemb. 9. he came to Barnard and not meeting the Coach he posted to London and came through by-ways to the Earl of Newport's where he met with Advertisement from the Servants that he sent before him That he was like to find but cold Entertainment from the Parliament and that therefore he should immediately return to Barnard till further Notice And he did endeavour it but being benighted he took up his Lodging at High-gate but before Morning the House was beset with the Constable and his Assistants and Antrim was secured whereof the Parliament being inform'd they gave Thanks to the Constable for his Diligence and ordered Antrim to return to Ireland within two days which he accordingly did and took shipping at Nesson December 30. without being admitted to the presence of the Parliament and undoubtedly they would have committed him to the Tower and have us'd him worse if it were not for the regard they had to Ireton's Honour But it is time to return to the Parliament Forces which despis'd all opposition and met with incredible Success Tecroghan Haristown Naas Ballymore Ballymallock Rabridge Tullo Athy Maryburgh and Castle-Dermond were without much trouble surrendered to Reynolds and Hewson as was also Carlow to Sir Hardress Waller on the 19th of August Waterford and Duncannon were likewise blocked up since the beginning of June so that General Preston Governour of Waterford who was on the Second of July created Viscount Taragh did on the same day send a Letter to the Lord-Lieutenant most earnestly importuning him for greater Supplies then his Excellency could send or for leave to surrender the City since his Wants were so great within it that it was impossible to keep it however Ireton did not Summon the City until the 25th of July and then the Popish Clergy who had been such great Incendiaries and such violent and obstinate Promoters of the War when they found themselves in danger were the most forward of all others to Capitulate and accordingly after a Treaty drawn out in length General Preston did surrender Waterford on the 10th day of August which was soon followed by the Rendition of Duncannon on the 14th Nor had Sir Charles Coot and Colonel Venables less success in Ulster for they took the strong Fort of Charlemont on the day of and as for the Castles
and Garrisons of Inniskilling Culmore Cloghouter Castlejordan Carlingford Monaghan c. they made no considerable Resistance And in Munster Sir Henry Ingolsby went with a party to block up Limerick in July and had the good fortune to rout 4000 Irish that came to relieve it whereof 900 were slain and many taken Prisoners and Colonel Phair in August not only disturbed the Lord Insiquin's Levies in Kerry but also took in the Castle of Kilmurry and was very troublesome to the Lords Roch and Muskry But Ireton having refreshed his Army at Waterford marched through Wicklow and having taken a prey of 1600 Cows he sent Sir Har dress Waller with half of them to re-inforce the Blockade of Limerick and Waller in his march did take the strong Castles of Balliglaughan Ballycubane and Garygaglan and on the 9th of September summoned Limerick but it was in vain for the same Hugh O Neil that made the brave Resistance at Clonmell was now Governour of that City Ireton himself marched on to Sir Charles Coot and being joyned they went to Athlone but the Bridge being broke and the Town on Leinster side burnt Ireton left Coot there and having in his way taken two Castles in Mac Coghlan's Country together with Bi r which the Irish had deserted and burnt he came before Limerick but finding the Year too far spent and that Limerick could not be forced unless it were attacked on both sides the River he endeavoured to get Killaloo pass and so having taken Nenagh Castletown and Dromaneer he went into Winter-quarters to Kilkenny on the 10th of November In the mean time part of the Marquess of Clanrickard's Forces had retaken Bi r and the other two Castles in Mac Coghlan's Country and pretended to relieve Athlone if it should be distressed Whereupon Colonel Axtell Govenour of Kilkenny being joyned with the Wexford and Typerary Forces at Roscrea encountered them near Meleak-Island on the 25th day of October and gave them a sore Defeat killing 1500 Men and taking 200 Horse and all their Baggage In the mean time the Duke of Lorrain not having finished his Negotiations at Rome which I formerly mentioned continued his Dissimulation of Zeal for Religion and of concern for the Roman Catholick Irish whereupon the Lord Taaf whom Ormond had sent to the King to get forreign Supplies if possible finding that the King was in Scotland so that he could not get access to him made such importunate Application to the Duke of Lorrain that he procured the Abbot of Saint Catharines with some small Supplies to be sent to the Clergy and Catholick Nobility and Gentry of Ireland Ormond being then in France This Agent or Ambassador landed in the latter end of February 1650 at Galway and as soon as he understood that Clanrickard was left Lord-Deputy he gave his Excellency notice of his Arrival and afterwards shewed him his Credentials and assured his Excellency that the Duke his Master had so entire an affection to the King of England the prefervation of whose Interest in that Kingdom was the chief motive to him to offer his Assistance that if he had known any person had been intrusted there with his Majesty's Authority he would have Addressed himself unto him and no other and that he finding his Lordship invested with that power did what he knew his Master expected at his hands apply himself unto him with and by whose Directions he would alone steer himself through that Negotiation He told him the Duke had already disbursed 6000 Pistols for the supplying them with those things he heard they stood most in need of which were brought over by a Religious Person who came with him and that he was ready to be informed of what they would desire from his Highness that might enable them to resist their Enemy and that he would consent to any thing that was reasonable for him to undertake Hereupon a Committee of the Commissioners of Trust and some Prelates was appointed to Treat with him but as the Abbot varied from his first Proposals so the Popish Clergy did change and very from the Lord-Deputy's Instructions and turned out some of the Committee who would not comply with them and put in others in their room and though the Lord-Deputy prohibited their further progress in the Treaty upon such dishonourable Terms as the Abbot now propos'd yet they would go on to conclude it and thought they had excused their presumption well enough by saying That the Abbot would not consent to any other and that it was better to submit to hard Conditions than to break of the Treaty Whereupon the Lord. Deputy was so disgusted that he left the Town and refused to receive a Visit from this Ambassador that had so manifestly prevaricated from his first pretences By this stifness in the Lord Deputy the concluded Treaty vanished into smoak but the Abbot knowing his Master's design would not totally break off the Correspondence but on the contrary began to talk more mildly and as if the Duke would do very kind things if Agents were sent unto him Which being made known to the Lord-Deputy he appointed Sir Nicholas Plunket and Jeffery Brown for that Embasie and gave them such Instructions as he thought fit But the Prelates did not like that a matter of this importance should be managed without them and therefore under pretence of solliciting the Archbishop of Mecklin the Bishop of Leige and other Ecclesiasticks for Assistance they * Episcopi clerus multi alii precipui nobiles ac Magistratus earum Duarum civium quae Catholicis restabant Vindiciae Eversae 21. Vide the Commission Appendix 47. drew in some of the bigotted Nobility and Gentry and together impowered the busie Bishop of Ferns to interest himself in the Treaty with the Duke of Lorrain which he did with that Confidence and Rashness that was peculiar to him and spoiled whatever he meddled with and particularly the Negotiation in hand And that the World may know P. W. 585. they regard Clanrickard no more than Ormond that this Bishop and those of his party had no more regard to the King's Authority in the Roman Catholick hands of the Marquess of Clanrickard than whilst it remained with the Heretick Marquess of Ormond it is necessary to add the Bishop of Ferns's Letter to these Agents Plunket and Brown who were then in the same City with him viz. Brussels I Do with all sincerity offer mine own Opinion what is to be done by you in this Exigent which is to the end the Agreement you are making with his Highness the Duke of Lorrain become profitable to the Nation and acceptable in the Eyes of God that you would immediately with humble hearts make a Submission unto his Holiness in the Name of the Nation and beg the Apostolical Benediction that the Light of Wisdom the Spirit of Fortitude Victories Grace Success and those Blessings of God we one time enjoyed may return again to us The necessity of doing
occasion and we believe there is nothing contained in that Letter but is well known to be Truth and will be justified by many of best Quality in that Assembly What the words were which were heard to fall from us dangerous to the Persons of some Prelates when we are particularly charged with them we shall deny nothing that is Truth In the mean time let it be judged if we had such a desire of doing them hurt in their Persons whether in the Person of the Bishop of Killalloe who had signed this Declaration We had not in our Power a Subject whereon to have manifested our Disposition to revenge Whom yet the Bishops in a Letter of theirs to the Earl of Westmeath the Bishop of Leighlin and others which Letter is before recited upon another occasion do acknowledge to have been preserved by Our means Ante pag. 33. Part 2. though in the said Letter they untruly charge those they call Cavaliers with any Attempt or Purpose of doing the said Bishop's Person any further prejudice than to apprehend him and bring him before Us. As to the 11th Article Answer to the 11th Article We acknowledg to have represented to His Majesty That divers Places in this Kingdom were in disobedience to his Authority And that there were and are such places is a Truth as well known to these Declarers as any Work is known to the Workman that made it Which to have concealed from his Majesty had been to have betrayed the Trust by Him reposed in Us and to have taken upon Our Self the blame due to them We also acknowledg to have humbly desired his Majesty's leave to withdraw Our own Person out of the Kingdom in case those Disobediences were multiplied Which having received and those Disobediences being multiplied We had withdrawn Our Self from being an idle Witness of the loss of the Kingdom and the Ruin of many of Our Friends had not divers of these Declarers several times but more especially at Loghreagh disswaded Us from going and promised to do their uttermost endeavour to procure Us the Obedience We desired without which it was plain to all Men We could attempt nothing for the preservation of the Kingdom with hope of Success But We were not so bold as to direct his Majesty to remove his Authority or how else to dispose of it as the Declarers are But how really troubled they are that the People should be deprived of the King's Authority and the benefit of the Articles of Peace is apparent by this Declaration and Excommunication wherein they direct the People to return to their Association which is inconsistent with both And by the Answer of the Bishops at Galloway to the Commissioners whereof We shall have occasion to speak hereafter And where they charge Us with Envy to the Nation for doing Our Duty to the King We hope to have given such proof of the contrary as hath satisfied the most interested Men in the Nation And We conceive We could not have manifested Our Affection to it by a more Signal Instance than by offering to leave his Majesty's Authority in the Person of the Lord Marquess of Clanrickard and to withdraw Our Self to sollicite for Supplies when it was most probable they might be got finding that our being a Protestant gave these Declarers some advantage to withdraw the People from their Obedience to Us. As to the 12th Article Answer to the 12th Article we are not willing to look back so far as to the time when by his Majesties Command and Commission We bore Arms in the War against the Confederates but must justify Our Self that We were never active in unnatural execution against them but have many times suffered much Calumny for Our desire of preserving many of them that fell into our Hands as some in that Assembly can witness who were by Our means preserved and if they think fit may testify as much But if the Declarers oppose Our being active then to Our unactivity this last Summer as an Argument of Our want of desire to oppose the Enemy We answer That in the time they mention We had free election of Officers the absolute Power of Dublin and other Garrisons where We caused the Soldiers to be continually exercised their Arms kept in order and could in a short time when We pleased have drawn the Army together and marched with it where We pleased Advantages which rendred the Victories We gained full as easy as those gotten by the Enemy against Us have been upon the like advantage on their part It is true that all this last Summer We and the Lord Inchiquin have continued in Connaught and Thomond where there was no Enemy But it is also true ☜ that We were not suffered to have the means of preparing an Army fit to seek or oppose an Enemy as We have set down in Our Letter of the Second of August to the Bishops at James-Town recited formerly upon another Occasion And since they here mention the Lord Inchiquin with Us We think fit to mind divers in that Assembly to whom it is well known that many of the Bishops did long since upon several Occasions declare that all their Suspicion and the Suspicion the People held of Us was by reason of the Power the Lord Inchiquin had with Us. And that during his continuance in Imployment or the continuance of any of his Party in the Army it was not possible for them to remove that Suspicion out of the Minds of the People But that if his Lordship were once out of Command and his Party removed they doubted not full and chearful Obedience would be given Us. Hereupon his Lordship voluntarily withdrew himself from having to do with the Conduct of the Army ☜ yet is he by these Men charged for want of Activity When his Lordship had thus waved his Imployment and his Party were gone off and that they had wrought the like distrust of the remainder of the Party that came off to Us from Dublin and other Parts so that nâ—w We were forced likewise to send them away then they judgâ—â—â—t a fit time for them to declare also against Us. Then divers â—â—â—ops and other Church-men changed their Note and dealt undeâ—â—â—and with the Lord Inchiquin to stay in the Kingdom though We should go saying That the distrust and dislike of the People was only against Us and not against him Then they fell first to call their Meeting at James-Town and then to publish this Declaration from which they were with-held for fear all the time the foresaid Parties were with Us. This We suspected would be the issue of their working away the Protestant Party and of all their Promises Yet to leave them wholly without Excuse and to satisfy some that believed better of them We consented to part with those Men of whose Courage and Fidelity to his Majesty and Affection to Us We had good Experience and cast our Self wholly upon the Assurances these Bishops and
preceded their Declaration And if either his Majesty had refused them Hearing and Justice or if We had not submitted to his Determination there had been some colour for their proceeding as they did In the last part of their Conclusion they prepare the People with an Apology of the desperate State the Kingdom is left in by Us to bear the more patiently the utter loss of it under the Government they would set up and with a touch indeed of Episcopal Counsel to amend their Lives and depend upon God's Providence and Protection they dismiss them wherein what Example they have given Them We leave to the Judgment of God the Searcher of Hearts and the impartial Judg of the Thoughts and Actions of Men. In the Order attested by the Bishop of Clonfert for publication of the Excommunication which publication was made at Loghreagh the 15th of September it is expressed That the Order given to the Committee of Bishops at Galloway by the Congregation at James-Town was That in Case We would not depart the Kingdom upon their Advice and depute the King's Authority with Persons of Trust or that We denied to depart the Kingdom and no demonstration could be made how the Kingdom could be preserved under Our Government that then the said Declaration should be published It is further expressed in the said Order That We being solicited to the effect aforesaid with urgent Reasons absolutely denied to consent thereunto and that We neither did nor could demonstrate unto them any way of preserving the remainder of the Kingdom under Our Government and therefore according to the Trust reposed in them by the said Congregation they did publish the said Declaration denouncing to all Arch-bishops Bishops c. This is all We observe in this Order of Publication more than is contained in the Declaration at James-Town What We have to answer in this Order for Publication is breifly this They held it fit We should quit the Kingdom and depute the King's Authority with some Person or Persons of Trust that is pleasing to them We refuse so to do upon their Advice giving them some Reasons why We refuse and promising them more if they would at a free Conference hear them For not following this Advice without refuting the Reasons We gave for Our not going and without hearing or so much as asking what other Reasons those were which We were unwilling to write and yet would tell them at a free Conference by which Caution they might imagine they were of Moment they proceeded to their Declaration and Excommunication Here though We have formerly touched it let it be observed That having several Times and upon several Occasions offered to leave the Kingdom and to depute the King's Authority not to disparage the Nation with the * Clanrickard only Person in all respects fit for it and a Roman-Catholick this was not accepted of but We are made believe the Lord of Inchiquin being removed from any Charge of the Army and the Protestant Party gone there remained no further distrust or dislike of US and that then all Obedience would be given Us. All this and whatsoever else they advised being done on Our part Our Frigat which lay in Ire-Connaught whence We might have securely gone being sent away and the Harbours blocked up by the Rebels Ships they impose upon Us to effect an Impossibility namely to go out of the Kingdom without means of Transportation or else as far as in them lies We are rendred infamous throughout the World and to all Ages by their defamatory Libel Whatever Our Demerit had been and if We were the faithless the negligent the every-way unworthy Person they have described Us to be certainly they cannot free themselves from the guilt of so mean and base a Treachery Let it be next considered That if when a Company of Bishops or a Congregation of Arch-Bishops Bishops c. have a mind to set up themselves or any others as Governours over the Kingdom and this Power they assume at least in the interval of Assemblies and have now twice practised it and the Governor appointed by Royal Authority or when that is absent which should never be supposed by a just Representative of the Nation will not give them room by quitting the Government he is placed in at their desire without direction from the Power whence he derives his Authority or without unavoidable Necessity inforcing him if we say for his not doing a thing so contrary to the Trust reposed in him to the Sense of those intrusted by the People as the Commissioners of Trust were and contrary to the Sense of the most interested Persons of the Kingdom the foresaid Company of Bishops or Congregation may therefore with impunity deliver all Men to Satan that shall feed help or adhere to him It is in this Case easy to discover that such Bishops ☜ or a Congregation thus doing do aim at and will if so permitted easily compass the Supream Temporal Power If it be said they only do it upon evident Necessity for the preservation of the People in apparent Hazard of being lost and that in this Case only of so absolute necessity they pretend to such Power and when informed or convinced will lay it down to the King or Assembly We believe no King or State careful of their own preservation will allow they have this Power even in this Case For instance If the Bishops or Congregation of both Clergies of the Kingdom of Naples or of any Signiory under the State of Venice should pretend to a Power upon any Necessity whatsoever whereof the said Bishops and Congregation to be Judges of discharging the Subjects of the King of Spain from obeying the Vice-Roy of Naples or the Subjects of any Signiory under the State of Venice from obeying the Governor of any such Signlory appointed by the State directing them in the mean time to observe and obey such Form of Government as the said Congregation should prescribe till it should be otherwise ordered by the said King or State We suppose it would not pass for Orthodox Doctrine in that Roman-Catholick Kingdom or State that a Congregation is qualified with such Power Nor would the Necessity of their so doing nor yet the Sanctity of their Function or Persons protect them from severe Punishment That our King's Prerogative in that particular is as great in this Kingdom as the King of Spain's in Naples or that of the State of Venice in any Signiory of theirs it is Treason to deny as it is to affirm that in this Particular such a Congregation here hath more Authority than a like Congregation in that Kingdom or State But these Men have not only in this Case exceeded whatever at any time or in any place was pretended to by any of their Function but had less ground if less might be for such a Pretension than any others For here in a Solemn Assembly of the Nation a Peace was concluded most of the Bishops
Antrim himself confesses to be a Trustee and therefore we may be sure the King wrote sincerely to him ORMOND THough I am sorry for this Occasion I have to send unto you which is the sudden and unexpected Rebellion of a great and considerable Part of Ireland yet I am glad to have so faithful and able a Servant as you are to whom I may freely and confidently write in so Important a Business This is therefore to desire you to accept that Charge over this which you lately had over the former Army the which though ye may have some Reason to excuse as not being so well acquainted with this Lord-Lieutenant as ye was with the last yet I am confident that my Desire and the Importance of the Business will easily overcome that Difficulty which laid aside for my sake I shall accept as a great renewed Testimony of that Affection which I know ye have to my Service So referring what I have else to say to Captain Weemes Relation I rest Edinb 31 Octob. 1641. Your most assured Friend CHARLES R. Lastly The Credential which Burk had was not until the 8th day of February 1641. And that the Reader may see the bottom of this Intrigue I have added it verbatim copied from the Original ORMOND BEing well satisfied of the Fidelity of this Bearer Mr. Burk I have thought fit not only to recommend him to you but also to tell you that I have commanded him to impart to you what I have not time to write which I think will much conduce to the reducing of the Rebels which I know none desires more than your self and so I rest Windsor Feb. 8 1641-42 Your most assured Friend CHARLES R. FINIS ERRATA In the Apparatus Page 2. in margine for tanquam read tantam p. 3. l 28. f. 1643. r. 1642. In the History PAge 12. line 50. for dead read ready p. 21. l. 51. dele of p. 28. l. 23. dele besides p. 29. l. 40. r. returned to p. 44. l. 32. r. May 1628. p. 60. l. 23. f. was r. were p. 66. l. 9. f. his r. this p. 72. l. 42. f. 64. r. 65. p. 73. l. 49. f. trot r. go p. 75. l. 51. f. December r. November p. 77. l. 45. f. their Religion likewise persecuted by the Parliament r. of the same Extraction with themselves p. 86. l. 30. f. October r. December p. 95. l. 46. f. he r. the. p. 98. l. 42. f. alias r. Mac. ibid. l. 39. dele also p. 115. l. 6. f. hundred r. thousand p. 130. l. 6. f. A r. the. ibid. l. 44. r. they will p. 139. l. 37. r. and relieve p. 148. l. 49. f. Jany r. Inny p. 156. f. on r. in p. 175. l. 52. dele the. p. 177. l. 16. f. fifteen r. five p. 192. l. 39. r. for p. 193. l. 20. r. 38. p. 196. l. 30. l. 〈…〉 dele part of the 15th and all the 16th 17th and 18th Lines The Reign of King Charles the Second PAge 3. in margine r. Temerarie p. 6. l. 49. f. Batalia r. Readiness p. 136. l. 51. for all r. good part of the. In the Appendix Page 165. l. 40. f. 1641. r. 1648. p. 209. l. 29. f. was r. were Books printed for and sold by Joseph Watts at the Angel in St. Paul's Church-Yard THE History of Ireland from the Conquest to the End of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth By Richard Cox Esquire the first Part. Folio Chardyn's Travels into Persia and the East-Indies Folio The Trial of the Lord Russel c. Folio Diary of the late Expedition of his Majesty into England Quarto Representation of the threatning Dangers Impending over Great Britain before the coming of their Majesties King William and Queen Mary Quarto Treatise of Monarchy in two Parts By Hunton Quarto Discourse of the Opposition of the Doctrine Worship and Practice of the Roman Church to the Nature Designs and Characters of the Christian Faith By Gilbert Lord Bishop of Salisbury Quarto The True Test of the Jesuits or the Spirit of that Society disloyal to God their King and Neighbour 4 o. Sure and Honest means for the Conversion of Hereticks Published by a Protestant 4 o. The present Settlement vindicated and the late Misgovernment proved In Answer to a seditious Letter from a pretended Loyal Member of the Church to a Relenting Abdicator with the said Letter Quarto Journals of the House of Commons in 1680 and 1681. Octavo Treatise of the Corruption of Scriptures Councils and Fathers By the Prelates and Pastors of the Church of Rome for the maintenance of Popery By Thomas James 8 o. The True Nature of the Divine Law Octavo A Discourse of the Nature Use and right managing the Baroscope or Quick-silver Weather-Glass With the true Equation of Natural Days for the better ordering Pendulum Clocks and Watches By John Smith Octavo Reform'd Devotions in Meditations Hymns and Petitions for every Day in the Week By Theophilus Dorrington Twelves An Earnest Invitation to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper By Jos Glanvill The 7th Edition 12 o. The Mystery of Iniquity By Dr. Burnet Octavo Serious Reflections on Time and Eternity By John Shower 12 o. Expostulation with the Whigs in Scotland 4 o. The Earl of Rochester's Funeral Sermon 〈◊〉 Likewise Acts of Parliament Proclamations Declarations Orders of King and Council Speeches of the Kings c. in Parliament Pamphlets of all sorts Sermons on all Occasions Trials Narratives and Gazettes c. are sold by the said Joseph Watts A Table of the most Material Passages of this Book Note C 2. signifies that part of this History which contains the Reign of King Charles the Second A. Pag. ANalecta Hiberniae when published 33 Army encreased to 5000 Foot 500 Horse 41 and quartred upon the Country 42 and encreased to 8000 Foot and 1000 Horse more 51 but this Addition disbanded 71 Atherton Bp of Waterford executed 58 Adair Bishop of Killalla deprived and why 60 Athlone surpriz'd by Friar Dillon 170 Assembly General of the Irish sit 123 and make Orders 163 and declare against the Peace of 1646. 185 their Declaration previous to the Peace of 1648. 205 B. Baronets instituted 17 Bishops their Protestation against Toleration of Popery 43 Battel at Gelingston Bridg 82 in County of Wicklow 83 at Swords 87 of Kilrush 106 of Tymachoo 109 of Raconell ibid. of Ross 111 of Ballintober 114 of Rapho 115 of Killworth 129 of Castlelyons 158 of Bemburb 165 of Dunganhill 195 of Knocknanoss 197 of Rathmines C. 2. 7 on Wexford-strand 11 at Macrâ—ome 16 at Skirfolas 24 Knocknaclashy C. 2. 68 C. Cities of Munster rebel 4 5 and submit 7 8 have their Charters renewed 15 Cary Sir George Lord Deputy 9 Chichester Sir Arthur Lord Deputy 9 goes to England 25 and returns successfully 29 and is made Lord of Bellfast 33 Commissioners sent to inspect the Affairs of Ireland 36 their Computation mistaken 37 City of Cork made a distinct County 10 destroyed by Fire 39 Customs
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
that is What credit the Irish Roman Catholick Historians deserve in these matters and certainly it is so very little that I hope the greatest fault that will be found with this Collection will be that I have honoured Mr. Sullevan and others of them with too large a Confutation for besides the direct Testimony of Peter Walsh that these Popish Authors do a P. W. Remonstrance 583. mingle Truth and Lyes indifferently whoever will take the Pains to read their Books will find that they understand one anothers failings so well that when they fall out they do little else but give one another the b Fryar Paul King published innumera mendacia Beling in pref mendacia horrenda ibidem indigesta mendaciorum moles Beling 1. Belingus mentitur quidem splendide says Father Ponce vindiciae Eversae 175. vel mentitus es vel mendacium protulisti ibid. 12. Similiter ibid. pag. 4. 17. 28 c. Lye in a word I have not found one of them tolerable or of any credit except Peter Walsh and Mr. Beling And do think that all the rest of them that I have seen do deserve that Character which Mr. Beling has given to Fryar Paul King Tanquam capis in cudendis Mendacâ—â—s voluptatem ut ab eis etiam ubi rem tuam nihil promovent abstinere teâ—nequeas Beling 69. viz. That they take so much delight in Lying that they cannot abstain from it even where it does them no Serviâ—e This being Premised the first Question will be whether the Irish or English began the Rebellion for beside that the Irish have published b Burlace Epist 120. abroad both by word and writing That the English were the Aggressors R. S. in his Collection of Murders pag. 1. affirms that the Murder of Three thousand Irish in the Isle of Magee was the first Massacre in Ireland on either side But certainly it is more difficult to believe that any one could be so shameless to make this Objection then it is to give it a full and undeniable Answer for the Slaughter at Magee did not happen until the latter end of November and in revenge of the many Murders committed by the Irish on the Scots whom they spared for the first Ten days whilst in the mean time they murdered the English and it is notorious to all the World that the Irish Rebellion broke out the 23d day of October and that there were many Murders committed even that very day and every day after for a long time all which is testified by a Cloud of Witnesses and that the Rebellion was contrived c Review 10. Vindicae eversae 2. plotted and begun by the Irish will appear from the Testimony of the Lord Macguire Macmahon Tirlogh Oge O Neal and Sir John Read in their respective Examinations and by the Confession of the Earl of Castlehaven Peter Walsh the Bishop of Fernes and Father Ponce which two last do endeavour to justifie it as a Holy and Just War And that leads me to the Second Question Sanctum justissimumque decenii bâ—llum vindiciae eversae 1. viz. Whether it were a Rebellion or not for there are some that call it a Holy and Just War others dwindle it to a Commotion and P. W. is reprimanded for calling it a Rebellion As if says the Bishop of Fernes Belli nostri honestas justitia summa est ibid. 35. Our taking up Arms for the necessary Defence of Lives and Religion against the Protestants our Fellow Subjects could be a Rebellion and in their National Synod or Convocation at Dublin Bleeding Iphigenia Anno 1666. the Popish Clergy tho' prest to it refused to beg his Majesties Pardon for that War P. W. Remonstrance 666. for they knew not of any Crime they had committed therein To which I Answer P. W. Letters pag. 33. I must Confess says he I had not that Brazen brow of Impudence to deny either the notoriousness of the Fact or the clearness of the Law in their Case That the Irish Procurator P. W. has not only confessed this horrid Rebellion and proved it to be so but has assured us that all their publick Agents and Commissioners Sir Robert Talbot Colonel Moor the Earl of Clancarty the Lord Birmingham Sir Nicholas Plunket c. and many Thousands of the Irish Nobility Gentry and Lay Proprietors both at Dublin and London in their Petitions Answers Certificates Claims and other Papers acknowledge this fatal Stain under the very Term and Name of Rebellion I should not mention the Act of Adventurers 17 Car. 1. in England which adjudged this War not only to be a Rebellion but also so general a One that they thought several Millions of Acres of Land would be as they were forfeited thereby nor the Act of Settlement in Ireland which stiles it An unnatural Insurrection and Rebellion but that the former shews the Judgment of the King and Parliament of England in the Point and this latter Act was exposed to the censure of the Irish Papists and every word was expung'd which they could contradict But if the Murder of the Kings Subjects in a Hostile manner the declaring against his Religion the Ejection of his Clergy the seizing of his Forts and Castles the besieging of his Towns the fighting of Battles with his Armies the Usurpation of all his Prerogatives the seizing of his Revenues and the Presumption to Act as a Separate State be not a Rebellion it is very difficult to define what is But they Reply The Third Question That if it be a Rebellion and not simply justifiable yet it ought to be excused because the Motives to it and the Causes of it were so pressing as that they were not to be resisted by sensible Men for they were afraid the Monarchy was to be supprest and consequently they Being the a Catholicos ceteris omnibus fideliores Stirpitus devellendos vindiciae Catholicorum 4. Loyalest Subjects to be extirpated by the Puritans and they say they intercepted Letters importing that they must abjure their Religion or be sent to Ameria and they suffered a Thousand Grievances upon Account of b In odium tam Nationis quam Religionis ibidem Nation and Religion and therefore the Congregation of the Clergy in May 1643. declared their Insurrection just To this I Answer That they thought and will ever think the English Government a Yoke of Slavery and they had no other cause to Rebel but to shake that off and so Mr. Bealing one of the greatest and wisest of them ingeniously Confesses Vindiciae Catholicorum 2. Grave jugum sub quo à centum quod excurrit annis tota Natio ingemiscit excutere Statuunt They that speak plain Truth in their Books Printed beyond Sea acknowledge that it was for the Liberty of their Religion Bellum fuit pro Religione susceptum says the Bishop of Fernes in his Epistle to the Archbishop of Paris p. 37. Pro defensione Restitutione Religionis
Iblid 5 6. says Fryar Paul King and yet Mr. Beling Confesses that even the Regulars In omnibus fere Regni locis Libere quiete pacifice possidebant mansionibus They really had less cause to Rebel in 1641 than at any time before they never had greater indulgence than at that time and several new Graces and Favours were but the August before condescended unto them As for the intercepted Letters they could never shew any that were Authentick nor indeed any at all and if the Forgery of a Lye or the intercepting of a Letter perhaps written for that purpose by one of themselves is in their Opinion a sufficient excuse for so general and so inhumane a Rebellion how much does it import the Government to take care that they shall never be able to Rebel any more But could they really be afraid that it was a Puritanical War when they saw it managed by the Marquiss of Ormond from the very beginning or if their Jealousie of the Puritans was Earlier and the Motive to their Insurrection why then did they fall upon the Bishops and their Clergy and Murder the conformable Protestants And as for their Extirpation it was far from being designed or any thing like it in his Majesties Reign and in Truth is so contrary to the Nature of an English Man that we find that when the Parliament had subdued them and brought the whole Irish Nation under their Power and tho' they were provoked by this barbarous Rebellion and a Ten years War yet they did not extirpate them nor indeed lessen their number to that degree that in Prudence they ought to have done for the security of the English and to prevent their Expulsion out of that Kingdom a second time But it is necessary to observe that most of the things they offer to justifie or excuse this premeditated Rebellion were ex post facto and happened after the Rebellion broke out to which they had no regard in their first Conspiracy which the Earl of Castlehaven assures us Review 22. was laid partly at home and partly abroad several years before the Troubles either of England or Scotland began The next Objection is The Fourth Question That there were great Cruelties and many Murthers committed on both sides and that some English gave Orders not to spare Man Review 29. Woman nor Child in the Enemies Quarters and that the Irish desired the Murtherers on both sides might be punished and they desire you to Read R. S. his Collection of Murthers To which I Answer That if the Assertion were true yet it must be considered that what the British did was in time of War in the greatest Passion and upon the highest Provocation that could be and it is not strange that Men whose Substance was plundered and whose Relations were murdered should whilst the Anguish was upon them be intemperate in their revenge if the Irish could murder so many upon causeless and pretended Fears and Jealousies in a time of Peace why should they object some few Excesses in a just revenge for real Injuries in a time of War And indeed the Irish being the first Aggressors are answerable even for the severity they occasioned upon themselves but there is no need of farther arguing if a difference be not made between Execution in War and Murder in cold Blood and in time of Peace But 't is said they did consent the Murderers on both sides should be punished but who should be the Judges No others but an Irish Parliament of their own choosing which they knew would condemn the most Innocent Protestant and acquit the most Criminal Papist besides though it be no evidence to a Court that I left 500 persons behind me in such a Parish and that none of them can since be found or heard of and I believe were all murdered This I say is no Evidence against A. B. and yet it would satisfy any impartial Hearer that these persons came to untimely Ends and by the means of those in whose power they were so that the makers of the Act of Settlement had good reason to say That the Rapines Depredations and Massacres committed by the Irish and Popish Rebels and Enemies were not only well known to that Parliament but are notorious to the whole World Irish Stat. 502. not withstanding the many Means and Artifices which for many years together have been used to Murder such Witnesses Suppress such Evidences and also to Vitiate and Imbezil such Records and Testimonies as might prove the same against particular Persons And as to R. S. his Collection of Murders it is a mere heap of Forgeries designed only to make a noise he begins with the aforesaid Story of the Massacre in the Isle of Magee which he says was the first in Ireland though really it was subsequent to many hundreds of Murders committed by the Irish on the 23d of October and thenceforward he will not allow the Lord Mayo nor Lady Roch to be guilty though they were Condemned and Executed after a fair Tryal on full Evidence he falsly brags That there were no Murders in the County of Cork but I have mentioned some and given the reason why there were none published viz. The Murder of Archdeacon Byss who had the account of them Finally he says that 238 Irish were murdered in Cloghinkilty and 88 ty'd back to back and drown'd in Bandon And because I have for some years lived in both those Towns I can assure the Reader That the first is no more than what I have related page 113. saving that perhaps there might be some Women and Children in the number I there mention and the second is utterly false as I am credibly informed from several ancient Inhabitants of that Town The next Question is The Fifth Question Whether the King Countenanced or Commissioned the Irish Rebellion because the Irish Clergy assured the People he did and Sir Phelim O Neale shewed the Original Commission to several The Supreme Council favoured this Report by pretending to act for His Majesty's Service and by alledging That the Support of His Prerogative was the chief Motive of their Insurrection and their Generals Owen Roe and Preston did in effect avouch it by summoning Castles and Garisons in His Majesty's Name to Surrender to them to the use of His Majesty and particularly Preston did so at Castlejordan and Duncannon Moreover the Irish called themselves The Queen's Army and the King sent but 40 Proclamations against them and the Lord of Antrim's Information Appendix 49. and King Charles the Second's Letter to restore that Lord because what he did was by the King's Order do create abundance of Suspicion in this particular To which I answer That the King was altogether innocent in this matter and first I must premise That they who abett this Objection do greater Service to the Irish than they are aware of for if the King Commissioned them there could be no Rebellion they might be
Lord George Digby That the Protestant Forces that came from Munster were much dissatisfied that the Protestant Agents from Ireland received so little Countenance His Lordship answered That the greatest Kindness he could do them was to call them Mad-men that he might not call them Roundheads for putting in such mad Proposals And he desired to speak with some of them but they refus'd to come to one that had expressed so much Prejudice against them On the Ninth of May these Agents were ordered to attend the King and Council which they did and His Majesty told them They were sent by His Protestant Subjects to move Him in their behalf and desired to know in what Condition the Protestants of Ireland were to defend themselves if a Peace should not ensue They answered That they humbly conceived they were employed first to prove their Petition and to disprove the scandalous Aspersions which the Rebels have cast upon His Majesty's Government and the Protestants of Ireland The King replied That it needed not any more than to prove the Sun shines when we all see it They answered That they thought His Majesty was not satisfied but that those of the Pale were forced into Rebellion by the Governors The King said That was but an Assertion of the Irish and then He renew'd His former Question about their Condition to resist if a Peace did not ensue The Agents desired time to answer but the King told them He thought they came prepared to declare the Condition of the whole Kingdom and asked them Would they have Peace or no The Agents answered They were bred up in Peace and were not against it so that it might stand with His Majesty's Honor and the Safety of His Protestant Subjects in their Religion Lives Liberties and Fortunes Then the Lord Digby interpos'd and said That the Agents desir'd a Peace Yes says the Duke of Richmond and Earl of Lindsey provided it consists with the King's Honor and the Protestants Safety And I would rather says the King that they should have their Throats cut in War than SUFFER by a Peace of my making but I will take Care the Protestants of Ireland shall be secured And then His Majesty told the Agents they should have a Copy of the Irish Proposals and Liberty to answer them but that they were to consider of Two things First That He was not in a Condition to relieve them with Men Money Ammunition Arms or Victuals And Secondly That He could not allow them to joyn with the New Scots or any others that had taken the Covenant The Protestant Agents having got a Copy of the Irish Propositions did on the Thirteenth of May present to His Majesty a full Answer to them recited at large Appendix 23. This Answer being read the King asked Whether they had answered according to Law and Justice or prudentially with respect to Circumstances The Agents replied That they looked upon the Rebels Propositions as they appeared to them destructive to His Majesty His Laws and Government and His Protestant Subjects of Ireland Whereupon the Earl of Bristol interpos'd and said That if they asked what in Law and Justice was due from the Rebels their Answer was full but that the King expected from them what was prudentially fit to be done seeing the Protestants are not in a Condition to defend themselves and the King will not admit them to joyn with any Covenanters The King also asked What would become of the Protestants if the Irish Agents should break off the Treaty which 't is feared they will do if their Propositions for the most part are not yielded unto To which the Agents replied That the Rebels might be brought to better Terms if they were held to it and that they were assured the Lord Muskery refused to come with limited Instructions but would be at liberty to do as he should see cause Whereupon they were ordered to withdraw But the Protestant Agents hearing that Sir Robert Talbot and Dermond mac Teig O Bryan had left Oxford the Twelfth of May and that the Lord Muskery and the rest departed thence the 22th addressed themselves to Secretary Nicholas to know if His Majesty had further Service for them and thereupon on the Thirtieth of May they kist the King's Hand and were told by His Majesty That he had written to the Marquis of Ormond concerning the Protestants of Ireland and that He would use His best Endeavors for them there as He did for Himself here and said He meant His good Protestant Subjects and not Covenanters or their Adherents And thus Reader you have the Secret of this Great Transaction whereby you will perceive That the Irish Agents filled with the Contemplation of their own Power and the evil Circumstances of His Majesty's Affairs thought that the King would purchase their Assistance at any Rate and therefore insisted upon such exorbitant and unreasonable Demands as would have subverted the Laws and Constitution of the Government and would have rendred the Protestant Religion at most but Tolerated and that it self but poorly and precariously On the other side the English Agents did not fail to chastize this Vanity and to mortifie the Confederates with a Scorn and Contempt both of their Conduct and Courage They represented to the King That the Rebels got more by the Cessation than they could do by the War In fine they press'd the Execution of the Laws and demanded Reparation for Damages sustained during the Rebellion and desir'd that the Irish might be disarm'd and reduced to a Condition of not Rebelling any more The Commissioners from the Council would gladly have moderated these matters but they found there was no trust to be reposed in the Confederates and the Irish would not agree to any other terms than what continued the Power in their own hands so that the English should have no other security of their future Tranquility but the Honour and Promise of the Rebels It was very difficult to reconcile these Jarring and Differing Interests and indeed impossible to do it in England and therefore the Irish Agents who were men of Parts and Address having cunningly insinuated to the King That they believed that their Principals when truly informed of His Majesty's circumstances would comply with them so far as to moderate their Demands to what His Majesty might conveniently grant and promised they would sollicite them effectually to that purpose prevailed with His Majesty to send over a Commission under the Great Seal of England to the Lord Lieutenant to make Peace with his Catholick Subjects upon Conditions agreeable to the Publick Good and Welfare that might produce such a Peace and Union in Ireland as might vindicate his Royal Authority there and suppress those in Arms against him in England and Scotland and he also sent Instructions to continue the Cessation for another Year This Commission came to the Lord Lieutenant on the 26th of July but in regard the Confederates chose a Clergyman I suppose the Bishop of
Fernes to be one of their Commissioners which Ormond would by no means admit of the Disputes about this and other Preliminaries delayed the Treaty until the 6th of September at which time the Lord Chancellor who was Chief of the Commissioners for the King averr'd before the Confederate Commissioners That to that day no body had lost one drop of Blood upon the Statute of 2. Eliz. c. 1. which nevertheless was so much complained against however the Confederates notwithstanding the fair Promises their Agents had made at Oxford insisted stifly on the Repeal of part of that Statute and on several unreasonable Demands whereupon the Treaty was adjourned until the King's Pleasure should be known in the Particulars wherewith Ormond had acquainted him Hereupon the King who had promised Archbishop Usher at Oxford Bishop Vsher's Life 64. That he would not give Toleration to the Papists writes back to Ormond That he approves his Answers to the Rebels Proposals Febr. 16. 1644. and orders him to insist on them but if the Irish will not be perswaded to Moderation then rather to yield to Terms remitting much of what his Dignity and Interest would insist on at other Times and Circumstances than enter into a new War however not to consent to a Repeal of Poyning's Act unless in case of absolute necessity and by no means to admit of the Repeal of the Penal Laws against Recusants because that might endanger his Protestant Subjects for whose Preservation he makes the Peace since he is not able to carry on the War And about the same time His Majesty sent Orders to pass Pardons to all his Councellors and Servants Toties quoties as the Lord Lieutenant and Council shall think fit and to make the Lord Chancellor Baron of Bolton to him and his Heirs Males and that the Lord Lieutenant should make any two Lords he thought fit to be Earls and so the year 1644 was closed with an Adjournment of the Treaty of Peace to the 10th of May following But it is necessary to inspect the condition of the other Provinces and how they were manag'd since the Cessation and first let us cast our Eye on Munster which we shall find discontented at the Cessation but much more troubled at the many and daily Infractions of it by the Confederates whereof the Reader may find some Instances in the Lord of Insiquin's Complaint to the State hereafter mentioned in Appendix 17 and many more might be she 〈…〉 â—f it were needful Moreover the Protestants were daily alarm'd wiâ—â—â—ots and Contrivances against them but with none more than with a Conspiracy of Fryer Mathews Lord Orrery M. S. and some others to betray the City of Cork into the hands of the Confederates for which some of the Conspirators were Executed one of which confessed the Design whereupon the English were dissatisfied to the highest degree and importunately urged the Lord of Insiquin to disclaim the Cessation which was a Snare to them and exposed them to the Plots and Insolencies of the Rebels whilst themselves were fettered by it from taking Revenge and it happened luckily that this Lord returned dissatisfied from England because the Presidency of Munster which he expected and highly deserved was predisposed of to the Earl of Portland and by his discontent was rendered the more susceptible of those Impressions which the just Complaints of the Protestants of his Province did afterwards make upon him and therefore he did on the 18th day of July by an ingenious Artifice get the Irish out of Cork and kept them so and the next day * * Insiquin Brog-hill Sir W. Fenton Sir P. Smith Col. Bâ—ocket Colonel Searl Major Muschamp he and other Principal Officers of his Army wrote to His Majesty That no Peace could be concluded with the Irish Rebels which would not bring unto His Majesty and to the English in general a far greater Prejudice than the shew of a Peace there would bring them Advantage c. And thereupon besought him that he would not so much regard so inconsiderable a handful of People as they were as to purchase but a seeming Security by leaving thereby the Protestant Religion in all likelihood to be extirpated and His Majesty obnoxious to the loss of that Kingdom Further beseeching His Majesty That he would be pleased to proclaim again the Irish to be Rebels and not to Pardon those who have committed so many barbarous Crimes that they are as far above Description as they are short of Honesty the Irish professing They had His Majesty's Commission for what they did The true sense of which devilish Aspersion cast upon His Majesty with other Reasons made them resolve to dye a thousand Deaths rather than condescend to any Peace referring themselves in other things to their Declaration And besides this Letter they issued a Declaration to be sent to both Houses of Parliament and to be made publick which is worthy perusal and therefore is added to Appendix 25. The Revolt of the English Forces in Munster occasioned some Expostulations between Ormond and Insiquin but without effect for the later was resolved not to hazard himself and his Friends by a readmission of the Secluded Citizens of Cork which the Parliament having notice of and being desirous to Encourage and Reward his Steadiness and Zeal for the English Interest made him Lord President of that Province Nevertheless the Parliament not being in a condition to furnish Insiquin with Supplies little or nothing was done this year on the contrary the Irish and he agreed to a new Temporary Cessation because the English were weak and the Irish desired to preserve the Baronies of Imokilly and Barrymore from Contribution and so it continued until the Earl of Castlehaven renewed the War early in the Spring and in the mean time the strong Fort of Duncannon which had never submitted to the Cessation was surrendered to General Preston on the 6th of March for want of Provision whilst Sir Arthur Loftus though he got within the Harbor was by a Storm which lasted ten days hindered from putting Supplies into the place which therefore he carried to Cork But because the Irish do deny that there was any design to betray Cork and that it may appear that it was designed more than once I have thought it necessary to add an Extract out of Sir Richard Gething's Dispatch to Secretary Lane and to subjoyn a certain Letter whereof I have seen the Original Jan. 2. 1644. Sir Richard Gething writes That one Colonel Croning sent to Major Muschamp to give him a Meeting which done after some wise Preparatives exhorting him to be faithful and loyal to his Majesty c. He pretended to open him a way to great Preferment and Muschamp asking him how the other replyed By delivering up the Fort of Cork as the Lord Lieutenant should direct Muschamp answered That he desired no easier Step to Preferment than the Observance of the Lord of Ormond ' s Directions Then
Lord-Lieutenant and consequently of the King's Authority placed in him was done by the * Vnanimi universi cleri consensu vindiciae versae 25. Universal Consent of the Clergy Nor is this Affront to be wondered at being done with some sort of Order and Formality but it would amaze one to see the Captain of the Guard of young Men at Galway with the Rabble at his heels searching in every Corner for the Lord-Lieutenant as a Criminal or a Thief not but that they knew he was not in the Town but they did it at the instigation of the Clergy meerly to bring contempt on his Person and Authority and for the same reason that we hang fugitive Traytors in Effigie And which is yet more strange when Mr. Beling to lessen the Guilt of the Irish would palliate the matter by saying they did not force the Lord-Lieutenant out of the Kingdom Constat enim eum tum discessisse quia Prelati omnes unanimiter sub censuris vetuerant ne ullus illius pareret mandatis aut partes Sequeretur Vindiciae Eversae 173. The Reverend Father Ponce flies in his face and being loath to lose the merit of such a glorious Action he affirms That they did expel the Lord-Lieutenant and that they did force him away as much as a Man is forced to leave a sinking Ship 'T is true says he Ormond might have staid but no body would have obeyed him after our Excommunication and therefore we may truly say We compelled him to go And thus do these bigotted Zealots glory in their Shame and after all this have the confidence to claim the benefit of the Articles of 1648 which they had thus so publickly and so peremptorily not only violated but dissolved Non discessit ergo lubens nisi ut lubens voluntarit projicit quis metu naufragii merces in mare ne navis ipsemet una peâ—eat sic autem lubentem discessisse non arguit quin potestate Prelatorum factum sit ut discesserit Ibidem Sufficiebat ad expulsionem Ormonii Prelatos cavisse sub Excomunicatione ne quis partes ejus sequeretur ne quis obtemperet mandatis quamvis esset prorâ—â— Ibid. 174. But as these Prelates were exceeding rash in denouncing this Excommunication so they were altogether as light and inconstant in the publication of it for it was not promulged until the 15th day September and the very next day they suspended it again as appears by the following Letters to the Officers of the Army SIRS YEsterday we have received an Express from the rest of our Congregation at Galway bearing their sence to suspend the effects of the Excommunication proclaimed by their Orders till the Service of Athlone he performed fearing on the one side the Dispersion of the Army and on the other having received most certain intelligence of the Enemies approach unto that place with their full force and number of fighting Men and thereupon would have us concur with them in suspending the said Excommunication As for our part we do judge that Suspension unnecessary and full of Inconveniencies which we apprehend may ensue because the Excommunication may be obeyed and the Service not neglected if People were pleased to undertake the Service in the Clergy's Name without relation to the Lord of Ormond or any that may take his part Yet fearing the Censure of Singularity in Matters of so high a strain against us or to be deemed more forward in Excommunicating than others also fearing the weakness of some which we believe the Congregation feared we are pleased to follow the Major Vote and against our own Opinion concur with them and do hereby suspend the said Censure as above Provided always that after that Service performed or the Service be thought unnecessary by the Clergy or when the said Clergy will renew it it shall be presently incurred as if the said Suspension had never been interposed And so we remain Corbeg Sept. 16 1650. Your Affectionate Loving Friends In Christ Jesus Walter B. Clonfert Charles Kelly Nor is the following Letter less remarkable Our very good Lords and Sirs THe Colonels Mr. Alexander mac Donnel Bryen O Neil and Randal mac Donnel like Obedient Children of Holy Church have offered themselves to put up for the Clergy and that before publication of the Declaration and Excommunication God will bless their good intentions They go now to joyn with you on this side the Shannon and by making one Body to put forward our Cause This is the best way we can think of to encourage the Well-affected and curb the Malignant and Obstinate The Lord Bishop of Killaloe being taken Prisoner by the Lord-Lieutenant the Cavaliers would have had him forthwith hanged if his Excellency had given way thereunto His Excellency is giving Patents to as many Catholicks as are Excommunication-proof Ireland is an accursed Country that hath so many rotten Members Though things go hard with us God will bring the Work to a good end When you meet with those Colonels confer of what Service to take in hand Est periculum in Mora Praying to God to protect you in your Ways we remain To our very good Lords the Earl of Westmeath the Lords Bishops of Leighlin Cloanmacnois and Dromore Sir James Preston Colonel Bryan mac Pheilim and the rest of the Commanders of the Leinster Forces Galway Sept. 21st 1650. Your very Loving Friends Joan. Rapotensis Fr. Aladensis Nich. Fernensis But the folly of this Congregation was yet more manifest in that they set the People loose from all Government Civil and Military at a time when a potent Enemy was in the Field without directing them whom to obey any otherwise than by resorting to their Association until a General Assembly And if the Forces with Ormond and Clanrickard had obeyed this wild Declaration or thereby taken occasion to disperse the English would have passed the Shenin at both ends and would have spoiled both the Assembly and Congregation as they afterwards did And it is the more strange that the Popish Clergy should presume to dispose of the Supreme Authority and make themselves Judges of the Administration of Government because if the Articles of Peace had been violated the Commissioners of Trust were the proper Judges of that matter However those Prelates were resolved not to submit to any Government but in such manner and by such Persons as they should like which plainly shews how much it doth import the Temporal Magistrate not to trust them nor their Abettors with power enough to bring those matters in dispute In the mean time the Scots having already declared against the Peace with the Irish and having the Ascendant over the King to the degree of imposing the Covenant upon him did also prevail with him much against his will to publish a Declaration against the Peace made with the Confederates which was proclaimed at Dumferling on the 16th of August 1650 By which * Et plane Tiranicam Vindic Eversae 49. Tyranical Declaration