Reign when the Lord Lionel brought over a Regiment of 1500. men as is before expressed which that wise and warlick Prince did not transmit as a competent power to make a full conquest but as an honorable retinue for his son and withall to enable him to recover some part of his Earldom of Vlster which was then over-run with the Irish But on the other part though the English Colonies were much degenerate in this Kings time and had lost a great part of their possessions yet lying at the siege of Callis he sent for a supply of men out of Ireland which were transported under the conduct of the Earl of Kildare and Fulco de lâ— Freyn in the year 1347. AND now are we come again to the time of King Richard the second who for the first ten years of his Reign was a Minor and much disquieted with popular Commotions and after that was more troubled with the factions that arose between his Minions and the Princes of the blood But at last he took a resolution to finish the Conquest of this Realm And to that end he made two Royal voyages hither Upon the first he was deluded by the faigned submissions of the Irish but upon the latter when he was fully bent to prosecute the war with effect he was diverted and drawn from hence by the return of the Duke of Lancaster into England and the general defection of the whole Realm AS for Henry the Fourth he being an Intruder upon the Crown of England was hindered from all Forraign actions by sundry Conspiracies and Rebellions at home moved by the house of Northumberland in the North by the Dukes of Surrey and Exceter in the South and by Owen Glendour in Wales so as he spent his short Raign in establishing and setling himself in the quiet possession of England and had neither leisure nor opportunity to undertake the final conquest of Ireland Much less could King Henry the fifth perform that work for in the second year of his Reign he transported an Army into France for the recovery of that Kingdom and drew over to the siege of Harflew the Prior of Kilmaineham with 1500. Irish In which great action this victorious Prince spent the rest of his life AND after his death the two Noble Princes his Brothers the Duke of Bedford and Glocester who during the minority of King Henry the sixth had the Government of the Kingdoms of England and France did employ all their Counsels and endeavours to perfect the Conquest of France the greater part whereof being gained by Henry the fifth and retained by the Duke of Bedford was again lost by King Henry the sixth a manifest argument of his disability to finish the Conquest of this Land But when the civil War between the two Houses was kindled the Kings of England were so far from reducing all the Irish under their Obedience as they drew out of Ireland to strengthen their parties all the Nobility and Gentry descended of English race which gave opportunity to the Irishry to invade the Lands of the English Colonies and did hazard the Loss of the whole Kingdom For though the Duke of York did while he lived in Ireland carry himself respectively towards all the Nobility to win the general love of all bearing equal favour to the Giraldines and the Butlers as appeared at the Christning of George Duke of Clarence who was born in the Castle of Dublin where he made both the Earl of Kildare and the Earl of Ormonde his Gossips And having occasion divers times to pass into England he left the sword with Kildare at one time and with Ormonde at another and when he lost his life at Wakefield there were slain with him divers of both those families Yet afterwards thâ—se two Noble houses of Ireland did severally follow the two Royal houses of England the Giraldines adhering to the house of York and the Butlers to the house of Lancaster Whereby it came to pass that not only the principal Gentlemen of both those Sur-names but all their friends and dependants did pass into England leaving their Lands and possessions to be over-run by the Irish These impediments or rather impossibilities of finishing the Conquest of Ireland did continue till the Wars of Lancaster and York were ended which was about the twelfth year of King Edward the fourth Thus hitherto the Kings of England were hindred from finishing this Conquest by great and apparent impediments Henry the second by the rebellion of his Sons King John Henry the third and Edward the second by the Barons Wars Edward the first by his Wars in Wales and Scotland Edward the third and Henry the fifth by the Wars of France Richard the second Henry the fourth Henry the sixth and Edward the fourth by Domestick contention for the Crown of England it self BUT the fire of the civil war being utterly quenched and King Edward the fourth setled in the peaceable possession of the Crown of England what did then hinder that warâ—ick Prince from reducing of Ireland also First the whole Realm of England was miserably wasted depopulated and impoverished by the late civil dissentions yet as soon as it had recovered it self with a little peace and rest this King raised an Army and revived the Title of France again howbeit this Army was no sooner transmitted and brought into the field but the two Kings also were brought to an interview Whereupon partly by the fair and white promises of Lewis the 11. and partly by the corruption of some of King Edwards Minions the English forces were broken and dismissed and King Edward returned into England where shortly after findâ—ng himself deluded and abused by the French he dyed with melancholy and vexation of spirit I Omit to speak of Richard the Usurper who never got the quiet possession of England but was cast out by Henry the seventh within two years and a half after his Usurpation AND for King Henry the seventh himself though he made that happy Union of the two houses yet for more than half the space of his Reign there were walking spirits of the house of Yorke as well in Ireland as in England which he could not conjure down without expence of some bloud and Treasure But in his later times he did wholly study to improve the Revenues of the Crown in both Kingdomes with an intent to provide means for some great action which he intended which doubtless if he had lived would rather have proved a journey into France than into Ireland because in the eyes of all men it was a fairer enterprize THerefore King Henry the eighth in the beginning of his raign made a Voyage Royal into France wherein he spent the greatest part of that treasure which his Father had frugally reserved perhaps for the like purpose In the latter end of his Reign he made the like journey being enricht with the Revenues of the Abby Lands But in the
disabled otherwise as shall be declared hereafter never sent over any Royal army or any numbers of men worthy to be called an army into Ireland untill the thirty sixth year of King Edward the third when Lionel Duke of Clarence the Kings second Son having married the Daughter and Heir of Vlster was sent over with an extraordinary power in respect of the time for the wars betwixt England and France were then in their heat as well to recover his Earldom of Vlster which was then over-run and possest by the Irish as to reform the English Colonies which were become strangely degenerate throughout the whole Kingdom FOr though King Henry the Third gave the whole Land of Ireland to Edward the Prince his eldest Son and his Heirs Ita quod non Separetur a Corona Angliae Whereupon it was styled the Land of the Lord Edward the Kings eldest Son and all the Officers of the Land were called the Officers of Edward Lord of Ireland and though this Edward were one of the most active Princes that ever lived in England yet did he not either in the life time of his father or during his own Raign come over in person or transmit any army into Ireland but on the other side he drew sundry aids and supplies of men out of Ireland to serve him in his wars in Scotland Wales and Gascoigne And again though King Edward the Second sent over Piers Gaveston with a great retinue it was never intended he should perfect the Conquest of Ireland for the King could not want his company so long a time as must have been spent in the finishing of so tedious a work So then in all that space of time between the twelfth year of King John and the 36. year of King Edward the Thâ—rd containing 150. years or thereabouts although there were a continual bordering war between the English and the Irish there came no Royal Army out of England to make an end of the War But the chief Governors of the Realm who were at first called Custodes Hiberniae and afterwards Lords Justices and the English Lords who had gotten so great possessions and Royalties as that they presumed to make war and peace without direction from the State did levy all their forces within the land But those forces were weakly supplied and ill governed as I said before Weakly supplyed with men and Mony and governed with the worst Discipline that ever was seen among men of war And no marvel for it is an infallible rule that an army ill paid is ever unruly and ill governed The standing forces here were seldom or never re-enforced out of England and such as were either sent from thence or raised here did commonly do more huâ—t and damage to the English Subjects than to the Irish enemies by their continual Sess and Extortion Which mischief did arise by reason that little or no Treasure was sent out of England to pay the soldiers wages Only the Kings revenue in Ireland was spent and wholly spent in the publick service and therefore in all the ancient Pipe-Rols in the times of Henry the Third Edward the first Edward the second and Edward the third between the Receipts and allowances there is this entrie In Thesauro nihil For the Officers of the State and the Army spent aâ—l so as there was no surplusage of Treasure and yet that All was not sufficient For in default of the Kings pay as well the ordinary Forces which stood continually as the extraordinary which were levied by the chief Governor upon journeys and general hoastings were for the most part laid upon the poor subject descended of English race howbeit this burthen was in some measure tolerable in the time of King Henry the third and King Edward the first but in the time of King Edward the second Maurice fitz-Thomas of Desmond being chief Commander of the Army against the Scots began that wicked extortion of Coigne and Livery and pay that is He and his Army took Horse meat and Mans meat and money at their pleasure without any Ticket or other satisfaction And this was after that time the general fault of all the Governors and Commanders of the Army in this Land Onely the Golden saying of Sir Thomas Rookesby who was Justice in the thirtieth year of King Edward the third is recorded in all the Annales of this Kingdom That he would eat in wodden dishes but would pay for his meat Gold and Silver Besides the English Colonies being dispersed in every Province of this Kingdom were enforced to keep continual guards upon the Borders and Marches round about them which Guards consisting of idle Souldiers were likewise imposed as a continual burthen upon the poor Engglish Freeholders whom they oppressed and impoverished in the same manner And because the great English Lords and Captains had power to impose this charge when and where they pleased many of the poor Freeholders were glad to give unto those Lords a great part of their Lands to hold the rest free from that extortion And many others not being able to endure that intolerable oppression did utterly quit their freeholds and returned into England By this mean the English Colonies grew poor and weak though the English Lords grew rich and mighty for they placed Irish Tenants upon the Lands relinquished by the English upon them they levied all Irish exactions with them they married and fostered and made Gossips so as within one age the English both Lords and Freeholders became degenerate and meer Irish in their Language in their apparel in their arms and manner of fight and all other Customes of life whatsoever By this it appeareth why the extortion of Coigne and Livery is called in the old Statutes of Ireland A damnable custom and the imposing and taking thereof made High Treason And it is said in an ancient Discourse Of the Decay of Ireland that though it were first invented in Hell yet if it had been used and practised there as it hath been in Ireland it had long since destroyed the very Kingdom of Belzebub In this manner was the War of Ireland carried before the coming over of Lionel Duke of Clarence This young Prince being Earl of Vlster and Lord of Conaght in right of his wife who was daughter and Heir of the Lord William Bourk the last Earl of Vlster of that Family slain by treachery at Knockefergus was made the Kings Lieutenant of Ireland and sent over with an Army in the six and thirtieth year of King Edward the third The Roll and List of which Army doth remain of Record in the Kings Remembrancers Office in England in the press de Rebus tangentibus Hiberniam and doth not contain above fifteen hundred men by the Poll which because it differs somewhat fâ—om the manner of this age both in respect of the Command and the Entertainment I think it not impertinent to take a brief view thereof The Lord Lionel was
enemies for a time DUring the minority of King Henry the sixth and for the space of seven or eight years after the Lieutenants and Deputies made only a bordering war upon the Irish with small and scattered forces howbeit because there came no Treasure out of England to pay the Souâ—dier the poor English Subject did bear the burthen of the men of war in every place and were thereby so weakned and impoverished as the State of things in Ireland stood very desperately Whereupon the Cardinal of Winchester who after the death of Humfrey Duke of Glocester did wholly sway the State of England being desirous to place the Duke of Somerset in the Regency of France took occasion to remove Richard Duke of York from that Government and to send him into Ireland pretending that he was a most able and willing person to perform service there because he had a great inheritance of his own in Ireland namely the Earldom of Vlster and the Lordships of Conaght and Meth by discent from Lionel Duke of Clarence We do not finde that this great Lord came over with any numbers of waged Souldiers but it appeareth upon what good terms he took that Government by the Covenants between the King and him which are recorded and confirmed by Act of Parliament in Ireland and were to this effect 1. That he should be the Kings Lieutenant of Ireland for ten years 2. That to support the charge of that Country he should receive all the Kings Revenues there both certain and casual without accompt 3. That he should be supplyed also with treasure out of England in this manner he should have four thousand Marks for the first year whereof he should be imprested 2000. li. before hand and for the other nine years he should receive 2000. li. per annum 4. That he might Let to Ferm the Kings Lands and place and dis-place all Officers at his pleasure 5. That he might levy and wage what numbers of men he thought fit 6. That he might make a Deputy and return at his pleasure We cannot presume that this Prince kept any great army on foot as well because his means out of England were so mean and those ill paid as appeareth by his passionate letter written to the Earl of Salisbury his Brother in Law the Copy whereof is Registred in the Story of this time as also because the whole Land except the English Pale and some part of the Earldome of Vlster upon the Sea-Coasts were possest by the Irish So as the Revenue of the Kingdom which he was to receive dâ—d amount to little He kept the borders and Marches of the Pale with much adoe he held many Parliaments wherein sundry Laws were made for erecting of Castles in Louth Meath and Kildare to stop the incursions of the Irishry And because the Souldiers for want of pay were sessed and laid upon the Subjects against their wills upon the prayer and importunity of the Commons this extortion was declared to be High-Treason But to the end that some means might be raised to nourish some forces for defence of the Pale by another Act of Parliament every twenty pound Land was charged with the furnishing and maintenance of one Archer on horseback Besides the native subjects of Ireland seeing the Kingdom utterly ruined did pass in such numbers into England as one Law was made in England to transmit them back again and another Law made here to stop their passage in every Port and Creek Yet afterwards the greatest parts of the Nobility and Gentry of Meth past over into England and were slain with him at Wakefield in Yorkshire Lastly the State of England was so farr from sending an army to subdue the Irish at this time as among the Articles of grievances exhibited by the Duke of Yorke against King Henry the sixth this was one That divers Lords about the King had caused his Highness to write Letters unto some of his Irish enemies whereby they were encouraged to attempt the conquest of the said Land Which Letters the same Irish enemies had sent unto the Duke marvailing greatly that such Letters should be sent unto them and speaking therein great shame of the Realm of England After this when this great Lord was returned into England and making claim to the Crown began the War betwixt the two Houses It cannot he conceived but that the Kingdom fell into a worse and weaker estate WHen Edward the fourth was setled in the Kingdome of England he made his Brother George Duke of Clarence Lieutenant of Ireland This Prince was born in the Castle of Dublin during the Government of his father the Duke of York yet did he never pass over into this Kingdom to govern it in person though he held the Lieutenancy many years But it is manifest that King Edward the fourth did not pay any Army in Ireland during his Reign but the Men of War did pay themselves by taking Coigne and Livery upon the Country which extortion grew so excesssive and intolerable as the Lord Tiptoft being Deputy to the Duke of Clarence was enforced to execute the Law upon the greatest Earl in the Kingdom namely Desmond who lost his head at Droghedagh for this offence Howbeit that the State might not seem utterly to neglect the defence of the Pale there was a fraternity of men at armes called the Brother-hood of St. George erected by Parliament the 14. of Edward the fourth consisting of thirteen the most Noble and worthy persons within the four shires Of the first foundation were Thomas Earl of Kildare Sir Rowland Eustace Lord of Port-lester and Sir Robert Eustace for the County of Kildare Robert Lord of Howth the Mayor of Dublin and Sir Robert Dowdal for the County of Dublin the Viscount of Gormanston Edward Plunket Senesha I of Meth Alexander Plunket and Barnabe Barnewale for the County of Meth the Mayor of Droghedagh Sir Lawrence Taaffe and Richard Bellewe for the County of Lowth These and their Successors were to meet yearly upon St. Georges day and to choose one of themselves to be Captain of that Brother-hood for the next year to come Which Captain should have at his command 120. Archers on horseback forty horsemen and forty Pages to suppress Out-laws and rebels The wages of every Archer should be six pence Per diem and every Horseman five pence Per diem and four marks Per annum And to pay these entertainments and to maintain this new fraternity there was granted unto them by the same Act of Parliament a subsidy of Poundage out of all Marchandizes exported or imported thoroughout the Realm hydes and the goods of Free-men of Dublin and Droghedah only excepted These 200. men were all the standing forces that were then maintained in Ireland And as they were Natives of the Kingdom so the Kingdom it self did pay their wages without expecting any treasure out of England BUt now the wars of Lancaster
and York being ended and Henry the seventh being in the actual and peaceable possession of the Kingdom of England let us see if this King did send over a Competent Army to make a perfect Conquest of Ireland Assuredly if those two Idols or Counterfeits which were set up against him in the beginning of his Reign had not found footing and followers in this Land King Henry the seventh had sent neither Horse nor Foot hither but let the Pale to the Guard and defence of the Fraternity of Saint George which stood till the tenth year of his Reign And therefore upon the erection of the first Idol which was Lambert the Priests Boy he transmitted no Forces but sent over Sir Richard Edgecomb with Commission to take an Oath of Allegiance of all the Nobility Gentry and Citizens of this Kingdom which service he performed fully and made an exact return of his Commission to the King And immediately after that the King sent for all the Lords of Parliament in this Realm who repairing to his presence were first in a Kingly manner reproved by him for among other things he told them that if their King were still absent from them they would at length Crown Apes but at last entertained them and dismissed them graciously This course of clemency he held at first But after when Perkin Warbeck who was set up and foâ—lowed chiefly by the Giraldines in Leinster and Citizens of Cork in Munster to suppress this Counterfeit the King sent over Sir Edward Poynings with an Army as the Histories call it which did not consist of a thousand men by the Poll and yet it brought such terror with it as all the Adherents of Perkin Warbeck were scattered and retired for succour into the Irish Countreys to the Marches whereof he marched with his weak Forces but eft-soons returned and held a Parliament Wherein among many good Laws one Act was made That no Subject should make any War or Peace within the Land without the special Licence of the Kings Lieutenant or Deputy A manifest argument that at that time the bordering Wars in this Kingdom were made altogether by Voluntaries upon their own head without any pay or entertainment and without any Order or Commission from the State And though the Lords and Gentlemen of the Pale in the nineteenth of year of this Kings Reign joyned the famous Battel of Knocktow in Conaght wherein Mac William with four thousand of the Irish and degenerate Engglish were slain yet was not this journey made by Warrant from the King or upon his charge as it is expressed in the Book of Howth but onely upon a private quarrel of the Earl of Kildare so loosly were the Martial affairs of Ireland carried during the Reign of King Henry the seventh IN the time of King Henry the eighth the Earl of Surrey Lord Admiral was made Lieutenant and though he were the greatest Captain of the English Nation then living yet brought he with him rather an honorable Guard for his person than a competent Army to recover Ireland For he had in his Retinue two hundred tall Yeomen of the Kings Guard But because he wanted means to perform any great action he made means to return the sooner yet in the mean time he was not idle but passed the short time he spent here in holding a Parliament and divers journeys against the Rebels of Leinster insomuch as he was hurt in his own person upon the borders of Leix After the revocation of this honourable personage King Henry the eighth sent no Forces into Ireland till the Rebellion of the Giraldines which hapned in the seven and twentieth year of his Reign Then sent he over Sir William Skevington with five hundred men onely to quench that fire and not to enlarge the border or to rectifie the Government This Deputy dyed in the midst of the service so as the Lord Leonard Gray was sent to finish it Who arriving with a supply of two hundred men or thereabouts did so prosecute the Rebels as the Lord Garret their Chieftain and his five Uncles submitted themselves unto him and were by him transmitted into England But this service being ended that active Nobleman with his little Army and some aids of the Pale did oftentimes repel O Neal and O Donel attempting the invasion of the Civil Shires and at last made that prosperous fight at Belahoo on the Confines of Meath the memory whereof is yet famous as that he defeated well-nigh all the power of the North and so quieted the border for many years Hitherto then it is manifest that since the last transfretation of King Richard the second the Crown of England never sent over either numbers of men or quantities of treasure sufficient to defend the small Territory of the Pale much less to reduce that which was lost or to finish the Conquest of the whole Island After this Sir Anthony S. Leger was made chief Governor who performed great service in a Civil course as shall be expressed hereafter But Sir Edward Bellingham who succeeded him proceeded in a Martial course against the Irishry and was the first Deputy from the time of King Edward the third till the Reign of King Edward the sixth that extended the border beyond the limits of the English Pale by beating and breaking the Moors and Connors and building the Forts of Leix and Offaly This service he performed with six hundred horse the monethly charge whereof did arise to seven hundred and seventy pound And four hundred foot whose pay did amount to four hundred and forty six pound per mensem as appeareth upon the Treasurers Accompt remaining in the Office of the Kings Remembrancer in England Yet were not these Countreys so fully recovered by this Deputy but that Thomas Earl of Sussex did put the last hand to this work and rooting out these two rebellious Septs planted English Colonies in their rooms which in all the tumultuous times since have kept their Habitations their Loyalty and Religion And now are we come to the time of Queen ELIZABETH who sent over more men and spent more treasure to save and reduce the Land of Ireland than all her Progenitors since the Conquest DUring her Reign there arose three notorious and main Rebellions which drew several Armies out of England The first of Shane O Neal the second of Desmond the last of Tyrone for the particular insurrections of the Viscount Baltinglass and Sir Edmund Butler the Moors the Cavanaghes the Birnes and the Bourkes of Conaght were all suppressed by the standing Forces here To subdue Shane O Neal in the height of his Rebellion in the year 1566. Captain Randal transported a Regiment of one thousand men into Vlster and planted a Garrison at Loughfoâ—le Before the coming of which supply viz. in the year 1565. the List of the standing Army of Horse and foot Engâ—ish and
of King Henry the third for the eldest being married to Hugh Bigot Earl of Norfolk who in right of his wife had the Marshalship of England The second to Warren de Mountchensey whose sole Daughter and Heir was match to William de Valentia half Brother to King Henry the third who by that match was made Earl of Pembroke the third to Gilbert de Clare Earl of Gloucester The fourth to William Ferrers Earl of Darby The fifth to William de Bruce Lord of Brecknock These great Lords having greater inheritances in their own right in England than they had in Ireland in right of their Wives and yet each of the Coparceners had an entire County allotted for her purparty as is before declared could not be drawn to make their personal residence in this Kingdom but managed their Estates here by their Seneschals and Servants And to defend their Territories against the bordering Irish they entertained some of the Natives who pretended a perpetual Title to those great Lordships For the Irish after a thousand conquests and Attainders by our Law would in those days pretend title still because by the Irish Law no man could forfeit his Land These natives taking the opportunity in weak and desperate times usurped those Seigniories and so Donald mac Art Cavanagh being entertained by the Earl of Nolfork made himself Lord of the County of Catherlough And Lisagh O Moor being trusted by the Lord Mortimer who married the Daughter and Heir of the Lord Bruce made himself Lord of the lands in Leix in the latter end of King Edward the seconds Reign as is before declared Again the decay and loss of Vlster and Connaught is attributed to this that the Lord William Bourk the last Earl of that name died without issue male whose Ancestors namely the Red Earl and Sir Hugh de Lacy before him being personally resident held up their greatness there and kept the English in peace and the Irish in awe But when those Provinces descended upon an Heir Female and an Infant the Irish over-ran Vlster and the younger branches of the Bourkes usurped Connaught And therefore the Ordinance made in England the third of Richard the second against such as were absent from their Lands in Ireland and gave two third parts of the profits thereof unto the King until they returned or placed a sufficient number of men to defend the same was grounded upon good reason of State which Ordinance was put in execution for many years after as appeareth by sundry seizures made thereupon in the time of K. Richard the second Henry the fourth Henry the fifth Henry the sixth whereof there remain Records in the Remembrancers Office here Among the rest the Duke of Norfolk himself was not spared but was impleaded upon this Ordinance for two parts of the profits of Dorburies Island and other Lands in the County of Wexford in the time of King Henry the sixth And afterwards upon the same reason of State all the lands of the house of Norfolk of the Earl of Shrewsbury the Lord Barkley and others who having lands in Ireland kept their continual residence in England were entirely resumed by the Act of Absentees made in the 28 year of King Henry the eigth But now again let us look back and see how long the effect of that Reformation did continue which was begun by Lionel Duke of Clarence in the fortieth year of King Edward the third and what courses have been held to reduce and reform this people by other Lieutenants and Governors since that time The English Colonies being in some good measure reformed by the Statutes of Kilkenny did not utterly fall away into Barbarism again till the Wars of the two Houses had almost destroyed both these Kingdoms for in that miserable time the Irish found opportunity without opposition to banish the English Law and Government out of all the Provinces and to confine it onely to the English Pale Howbeit in the mean time between the Government of the Duke of Clarence and the beginning of those Civil Wars of York and Lancaster we find that the State of England did sundry times resolve to proceed in this work of reformation For first King Richard 2. sent over Sir Nicholas Dagworth to survey the possessions of the Crown and to call to accompt the Officers of the revenue Next to draw his English Subjects to manure and defend their lands in Ireland he made that Ordinance against Absentees spoken of before Again he shewed an excellent example of Justice upon Sir Philip Courtney being his Lieutenant of that Kingdom when he caused him to be arrested by special Commissioners upon complaint made of sundry grievous oppressions and wrongs which during his Government he had done unto that people After this the Parliament of England did resolve that Thomas Duke of Glocester the Kings Uncle should be imployed in the reformation and reducing of that Kingdom the Fame whereof was no sooner bruted in Ireland but all the Irishry were ready to submit themselves before his coming so much the very Name of a great personage specially of a Prince of the blood did ever prevail with this people But the King and his Minions who were ever jealous of this Duke of Glocester would not suffer him to have the honour of that service But the King himself thought it a work worthy of his own presence and pains and thereupon Himself in person made those two royal journeys mentioned before At what time he received the submissions of all the Irish Lords and Captains who bound themselves both by Indenture and oath to become and continue his Loyal Subjects And withall laid a particular project for a civil plantation of the Mountains and Maritime Counties between Dublin and Wexford by removing all the Irish Septs from thence as appeareth by the covenants between the Earl Marshal of England and those Irish Septs which are before remembred and are yet preserved and remain of Record in the Kings Remembrancers Office at Westminster Lastly this King being present in Ireland took special care to supply and furnish the Courts of Justice with able and sufficient Judges And to that end he made that Grave and Learned Judge Sir William Hankeford Chief Justice of the Kings Bench here who afterwards for his service in this Realm was made chief Justice of the Kings Bench in England by King Henry 4. and did withall associate unto him William Sturmy a well Learned man in the law who likewise came out of England with the King that the legal proceedings which were out of order too as all other things in that Realm were might be amended and made formal according to the course and Presidents of England But all the good purposes and projects of this King were interrupted and utterly defeated by his suddain departure out of Ireland and unhappy deposition from the Crown of England HOwbeit King Henry the fourth intending likewise to prosecute this Noble
11 Hen. 3. pat m. 3. 30 H. 3. pat m. 20 The meer Irish not admitted to have the benefit of the Laws of England The meer Irish reputed Aliens Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu in Castro Dublin That the meer Irish were reputed enemies to the Crown Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu in Castro Dublin Stat. de Kilkenny c 2. 3.10 Hen. 6. c. 1.28 Hen. 8 c. 13. The Irish did desire to be admitted to the benefit and protection of the English Laws but could not obtain it 2. Ed. 3. claus 17. The Council Book of Ireland 34 Hen 8 What mischief did grow by not Communicating the English Laws to the Irish What good would have ensued if the meer Irish had been governed by the English Laws Three general submissiof the Irish The English Laws were executed only in the English Colonies Archiu in Castro Dublin Statut. de Kilkenny c. 4. The Romans did communicate their laws to the nations which they conquerred Tacitus in vita Agricolae William the Conqueror governed both the Normans and the English under one Law Camden in Norfolke K. Edw. 1. did communicate the English laws to the Welshmen Giraldus Cambrensis l. 2. de Hibernia expugnata 2. The Lands conquered from the Irâ—sh were not well distributed The proportions of Land granted to the first Adventurers were too largeâ— Giraldus Cambrensis l. 2. de lâ—â—bernia expugnata In Arch. Tur. 5 Ed. 3. escheat numero 104. 2 Johan Chart. m. 15. m. 38. 6 Johan Chart. m. 1. 7 Johan Chart. m. 12. n. 109. 6 Edw. 1. Chart. m. 19.18 Ed. 1. m. 29. Girald Cambr. l. 2. de Hibernia expug All Ireland distributed to ten persons of the English Nation 6 H. 3. Chart. m. 2. Hovend in H. 2. fol. 302. Archiu tur 17 Johan Chart. m. 3. 6 Johan Claus m. 18. Matth. Paris in Henry the third 3 Hen. 3. The liberties granted to the first Adventurers were too great Eight Counties Palatines in Ireland at one time Annales Hiberniae in Camden In Archâ—uâ— 1â— Eâ—w 3. 〈…〉 Five Counties Palatines in Leinster Archiu in Castro Dublin Archiu Tur. pat 3. E. 3. m. 28. Archiu in Castro Dublin The inconveniences which grew by the large grants of lands liberties The English Lords in Ireland made war peace at their pleasure The war and dissention of the English Lords one with another Annales Hiberniae in Camd. Annal Hiber in Caâ— Annales Johan Clyn. Manusc Baron Finglas Manusc Stat. 10 H. 7. c. 4. Rot. Parl. in castro Dublin Baron Finglas Manuscript Archiu Tur. 5. Ed. 3. claus m. 4. Archiu tur 15. Ed. 3. claus m. 4. Annales Hiberniae in Camden The first Adventurers obtained these liberal Grants because the Kings of England dâ—d not prosecute the war at their own charge How the State of Rome rewarded their men of war William the Conqueror Camden in Chester Wales distributed to the L. Marchers The English Lords did not reduce the woods and wasts in Forrests and Parks Chart. de forest c. 2. 3. The English Colonies rejected the English laws and customs and embraced the Irish The Nature of Irish Customs The Irish laws and customs differing from the laws and customs of all civil Nations The Irish law in criminal causes The Irish custom of tanistry The Irish Custome of Gavel-kind The mischiefs that arise by these two customs The wicked customs of Coigne and Livery The mischiefs that did arise by Coigne and Livery The cause of idleness in the Irish Why the Irish are Beggars in forreign Countrys Why the Irish are reputed a crafty people Why the Irish are inquisitive after news Cosherings Sessings Cuttings Gossipred How the English Colonies becaâ—â—e degenerate Alb. libr. Scacc. Dubl 5 Ed. 3. m. 25. When how the English Colonies became degenerate The Scots overrun Ireland Annales Hiberniae in Camden Desmond chief commander in the war against the Scots When and how the extortion of Coign and Livery began among the English The rising Mac Murrogh and O Mâ—re in Leinster Annales hiberniae in Camden Annales Johan Clynne Manus The defect and loss of a great part of Leinster The Earl of Vlster murdered Annales Johan Clynne Manus The Earldom of Vlster recovered by the Irish Abridgement of Salus populi mascript Baron Finglas Manus Annales Hiberniae in Camden The defection of Conaght Baron Finglas Manus Annales Hiberniae in Camden What courses have been taken to reform this Kingdom since the English Colonies became degenerate Edw. 2. K. Edw. the third did first endeavour a reformation Archiu Tur. 2. E. 3â— clau pers 1. m. 16. Sir Anthony Lucy Annales Hiberniâ— in Camden Resumption of liberties Annales Hiberniae in Camden Sir Raphe Vfford Annales Joâ—an Manus Clynn Annale Hibernâ— in Caâ—deâ— Maurice Fitz-Thomas the first Earl of Desmond the author of the great oppressions and dissentions which destroyed the English Colonies The fortune of the house of Desmond The Council-book of Ireland 32 H. 8. The course Reformation pursued by Lioâ— Duke Clareâ— Archiu in Castro Dublin Statutes of Kilkenny C. 2. C. 3. C. 4. C. 10. C 12. C. 13. C. 15. C. 17. C. 22. C. 24. The Statutes of Kilkenny did much reform thâ— degenerate English Stat. 10 H. c. 8. The presence of the Kings son did much advance the reformation Absence of our Kings great English Lords a chief cause why the Kingdom was not reduced Abseâ—â— of oâ—â— King The absence of the great English Lords Baron Finglas Manusc Baron Finglas Manusc Arch Tur â— parliâ— n. 42. Arch in Oâ— Remâ— Dublâ— Act of Absentees 28 H. 8. The reformation intended by K. Ricâ— 2. Archiâ— Tur. 3 Rich. claus 3. Riâ— 2. Rotâ— Parlâ— 11.42 9 Riâ— 2. cl Walsiham â— Rich 349. Plac. coram Regâ— in Hibernia Hillar 18. Richâ— 2. The reformatâ—on intâ—â—ded by Hen. â— The course of reformation held by Sir Edward Poynings in the time of K. Hen 7. Poynings Act. The Coâ—â— Booâ— Irelâ— 16 â— The Reformation intended by the L. Leonard Gray 28 H. 8. Annalâ—â— Hiberâ—â— Manuâ— The Counâ—â— Book◠〈◊〉 Irelaâ—â— 2â— â—â— The câ—ursâ— Reforâ—â—tion â—sued Sir Aâ—thony S. Lâ— Four neraâ— submâ—ons the Iâ— The Couâ— Booâ— Irelâ— 32 3â— 34 â— The and genâ— Eaâ— renâ— the The Council Book of Ireland 33 H. 8. The course of reformation prosecuted by Tho. Earl of Sussex in the time of Queen Mary Liâ—x and Offaly made two Countiâ—s 3. 4. Phil. Mariae The course of reformation followed by Sir Henry Sidney in the time of Queen Elizabeth 〈◊〉 reâ—â—â—matiâ—â— adâ—â—â—ced 〈◊〉 Sir â—ohn â—errot The service of William Fitz-Williams tending to reformation How the Defects and errors in the government of Irel. have been supplied and amended since the beginning of his Majesties Reign Errors â—n the carriage of the martial affairs amended How the defects in the Civil Government have bin supplied â— By establishing the publick peace 2 By establishing the publick Justice in every part of the Kingdom The good effects which followed the execution of the Law throughout the Kingdom 3. The setling of the states and possessions of the Irishry as well as of the English How the commissions for Surrenders and defective Titles have been pâ— in execution No granâ— of Irish Captain-ships oâ— Sâ—neschaâ—ships since â—iâ— Majestie Reign The plantation on of Vlster
seventh year of King Edward the Third the Lord William Bourke Earl of Vlster and Lord of Conaght was treacherously murdered by his own Squires at Knockfergus leaving behinde him Vnicam unius anni filiam saith Friar Clinne Immediately upon the murder committed the Countess with her young daughter fled into England so as the Government of that Country was wholly neglected until that young Lady being married to Lionel Duke of Clarence that Prince came over with an Army to recover his Wives inheritance and so reform this Kingdom Anno 36. of Edward the third But in the mean time what became of that great inheritance both in Vlster and Conaght Assuredly in Vlster the Sept of Hugh Bog O Neal then possessing Glaucoukeyn and Killeightra in Tyrone took the opportunity and passing over the Banne did first expel the English out of the Barony of Tuscard which is now called the Rout and likewise out of the Glynnes and other Lands up as far as Knockfergus which Countrey or extent of Land is at this day called the lower Clan Hugh-Boy And shortly after that they came up into the great Ardes which the Latin writers call Altitudines Vltoniae and was then the inheritance of the Savages by whom they were valiantly resisted for divers years but at last for want of Castles and fortifications for the saying of Henry Savage mentioned in every Story is very memorable That a Castle of Bones was better than a Castle of Stones the English were over-run by the multitude of the Irishry So as about the thirtieth of King Edward the third some few years before the arrival of the Duke of Clarence the Savages were utterly driven out of the Great Ardes into a little nook of Land near the River of Strangford where they now possess a little Territory called the little Ardes and their greater patrimony took the name of the upper Clan Hugh-Boy from the Sept of Hugh Boy O Neale who became Invaders thereof FOr Conaght some younger branches of the Family of the Bourkes being planted there by the Red Earl and his Ancestors seeing their chief to be cut off and dead without Heir-male and no man left to govern or protect that Province intruded presently into all the Earls Lands which ought to have been seized into the Kings hands by reason of the minority of the heir And within a short space two of the most potent among them divided that great Seigniory betwixt them the one taking the name of Mac William Oughtier and the other of Mac William Fighter as if the Lord William Bourke the last Earl of Vlster had left two Sons of one name behind him to inherit that Lordship in course of Gavel-kind But they well knew that they were but Intruders upon the Kings possession during the minority of the heir they knew those Lands were the rightfull inheritance of that young Lady and consequently that the Law of England would speedily evict them out of their possession and therefore they held it the best pollicy to cast off the yoak of English Law and to become meer Irish and according to their example drew all the rest of the English in that Province to do the like so as from thenceforth they suffered their possessions to run in course of Tanistry and Gavel-kinde They changed their names language and apparel and all their civil manners and Customs of living Lastly about the 25. year of King Edward the third Sir Richard de Clare was slain in Thomond and all the English Colonies there utterly supplanted Thus in that space of time which was between the tenth year of King Edward the second and the 30. year of King Edward the third I speak within compass by the concurrence of the mischiefs before recited all the old English Colonies in Munster Conaght and Vlster and more than a third part of Leinster became degenerate and fell away from the Crown of England so as only the four shires of the English Pale remained under the Obedience of the Law and yet the Borders and Marches thereof were grown unruly and out of order too being subject to Black-Rents and Tribute of the Irish which was a greater defection than when ten of twelve Tribes departed and fell away from Kings of Juda. But was not the State of England sensible of this loss and dishonour Did they not endeavour to recover the Land that was lost and to reduce the Subjects to their Obedience Truly King Edward the Second by the incursions of the Scottish Nation and by the insurrection of his Barons who raised his Wife and his Son against him and in the end deposed him was diverted and utterly disabled to reform the disorders of Ireland But as soon as the Crown of England was transferred to King Edward the third though he were yet in his minority the State there began to look into the desperate estate of things here And finding such a general defection Letters were sent from the King to the great men and Prelates requiring them particularly to swear fealâ—y to the Crown of England Shortly after Sir Anthony Lucy a Person of great authority in England in those dayes was sent over to work a reformation in this Kingdom by a severe course and to that end the King wrote expresly to the Earl of Vlster and others of the Nobility to assist him as is before remembred presently upon his arrival he arrested Maurice Fitz-Thomas Earl of Desmond and Sir William Bremingham and committed them prisoners to the Castle of Dublin where Sir William Bremingham was executed for Treason though the Earl of Desmond were left to Mainprize upon condition he should appear before the King by a certain day and in the mean time to continue loyal AFter this the King being advertised that the over-large Grants of Lands and Liberties made to the Lords of English blood in Ireland made them so insolent as they scorned to obey the Law and the Magistrate did absolutely resume all such Grants as is before declared But the Earl of Desmond above all men found himself grieved with this resumption or Repeal of Liberties and declared his dislike and discontentment insomuch as he did not only refuse to come to a Parliament at Dublin summoned by Sir William Morris Deputy to the Lord John Darcy the Kings Lieutenant But as we have said before he raised such dissention between the English of blood and the English of birth as the like was never seen from the time of the first planting of our Nation in Ireland And in this factious and seditious humour he drew the Earl of Kildare and the rest of the nobility with the Citizens and Burgesses of the principal Towns to hold a several Parliament by themselves at Kilkenny where they framed certain Articles against the Deputy and transmitted the same into England to the King Hereupon Sir Raphe Vfford who had lately before married the Countess
work in the third year of his raign made the Lord Thomas of Lancaster his second son Lieutenant of Ireland Who came over in person and accepted again the submissions of divers Irish Lords and Captains as is before remembred and held also a Parliament wherein he gave new life to the Statutes of Kilkenny and made other good Laws tending to the Reformation of the Kingdom But the troubles raised against the King his Father in England drew him home again so soon as that seed of reformation took no root at all neither had his service in that kind any good effect or success After this the State of England had no leisure to think of a general reformation in this Realm till the civil dissentions of England were appeased and the peace of that Kingdom setled by King Henry the seventh For albeit in the time of King Henry 6. Richard Duke of York a Prince of the blood of great wisdom and valour and heir to a third part of Kingdom at least being Earl of Vlster and Lord of Conaght and Meath was sent the Kings Lieutenanr into Ireland to recover and reform that Realm where he was resident in person for the greatest part of ten years yet the troth is he aimed at another mark which was the Crown of England And therefore he thought it no pollicy to distast either the English or Irish by a course of Reformation but sought by all means to please them and by popular courses to steal away their hearts to the end he might strengthen his party when he should set on foot his Title as is before declared Which pollicy of his took such effect as that he drew over with him into England the Flower of all the English Colonies especially of Vlster and Meath whereof many Noblemen and Gentlemen were slain with him at Wakefield as is likewise before remembred And after his death when the wars between the Houses were in their heat almost all the good English blood which was left in Ireland was spent in those civil dissentions so as the Irish became victorious over all without blood or sweat Only that little Canton of Land called the English Pale containing four small Shires did maintain a bordering was with the Irish and retain the forme of English Government But out of that little Precinct there were no Lords Knights or Burgesses summoned to the Parliament neither did the Kings Writ run in any other part of the Kingdom and yet upon the Marches and Borders which at that time were grown so large as they took up half Dublin half Meath and a third part of Kildare and Lowth there was no law in use but the March-Law which in the Statutes of Kilkenny is said to be no law but a leud Custom So as upon the end of these civil wars in England the English Law and Government was well nigh banisht out of Ireland so as no foot-step or print was left of any former Reformation THen did King Henry 7. send over Sir Edward Poynings to be his Deputy a right worthy servitor both in war and peace The principal end of his employment was to expel Perkin Warbecke out of this Kingdom but that service being performed that worthy Deputy finding nothing but a common misery took the best course he possibly could to establish a Common-wealth in Ireland and to that end he held a Parliament no less famous than that of Kilkenny and more available for the reformation of the whole Kingdom For whereas all wise men did ever concur in opinion that the readiest way to reform Ireland is to settle a form of Civil Government there conformable to that of England To bring this to pass Sir Edward Poynings did pass an Act whereby all the Statutes made in England before that time were enacted established and made of force in Ireland Neither did he only respect the time past but provided also for the time to come For he caused another Law to be made that no Act should be propounded in any Parliament of Ireland but such as should be first transmitted into England and approved by the King and Council there as good and expedient for that Land and so returned back again under the Great Seal of England This Act though it seem Prima facie to restrain the liberty of the Subjects of Ireland yet was it made at the Prayer of the Commons upon just and important cause For the Governors of that Realm specially such as were of that Country Birth had laid many oppressions upon the Commons and amongst the rest they had imposed Laws upon them nor tending to the general good but to serve private turns and to strengthen their particular factions This moved them to refer all Laws that were to be passed in Ireland to be considered corrected and allowed first by the State of England which had alwayes been tender and carefull of the good of this people and had long since made them a Civil Rich and Happy Nation if their own Lords and Governors there had not sent bad intelligence into England Besides this he took special order that the summons of Parliament should go into all the shires of Ireland and not to the four shires onely and for that cause specially he caused all the Acts of a Parliament lately before holden by the Viscount of Gormanston to be repealed and made void Moreover that the Parliaments of Ireland might want no decent or honorable form that was used in England he caused a particular Act to pass that the Lords of Ireland should appear in the like Parliament Robes as the English Lords are wont to wear in the Parliaments of England Having thus established all the Statutes of England in Ireland and set in order the great Council of that Realm he did not omit to pass other Laws as well for the encrease of the Kings Revenue as the preservation of the publick peace To advance the profits of the Crown First he obtained a Subsidy of 26 shillings eight pence out of every six score acres manured payable yearly for five years Next he resumed all the Crownland which had been aliened for the most part by Richard Duke of York and lastly he procured a Subsidy of Pondage out of all Merchandizes imported and exported to be granted to the Crown in perpetuity To preserve the publick peace he revived the Statutes of Kilkenny He made wilful Murther High-treason he caused the Marchers to book their men for whom they should answer and restrained the making War or Peace without special Commission from the State These Laws and others as important as these for the making of a Common-wealth in Ireland were made in the Government of Sir Edward Poynings But these Laws did not spread their Vertue beyond the English Pale though they were made generally for the whole Kingdom For the Provinces without the Pale which during the War of York and Lancaster had wholly cast off the the English Government were not apt to receive this