being doone it was neuer intended that these forces should stand till the rest of the kingdome were setled and reduced onely that army which was brought ouer by the Earle of Essex Lorde Lieutenant and Gouernor generall of this kingdom in the 39. yeare of Queen Elizabeth to suppresse the Rebellion of Tirone which was spred vniuersally ouer the whole Realme That armie I say the command whereof with the gouernment of the Realme was shortly after transferred to the commaund of the Lord Montioy afterwards Earl of Deuonshire who with singular wisedom valour and industry did prosecute finish the Warre did consist of such good men of warre and of such numbers being wel-ny 20000. by the Pol and was so royally supplied and paid and continued in ful strength so long a time as that it brake and absolutely subdued all the Lordes and Chiefetaines of the Irishry and degenerate or rebellious English Whereupon the multitude who euer loued to bee followers of such as could master and defend them admyring the power of the Crownc of England being brai'd as it were in a Morter with the Sword Famine Pestilence altogither submitted themselues to the English gouernment receiued the Lawes and Magistrates and most gladly embraced the Kings pardon and peace in all parts of the Realme with demonstration of ioy and comfort which made indeede an entire perfect and finall Conquest of Ireland And thogh vpon the finishing of the warre this great armie was reduced to lesse numbers yet hath his Maiestie in his wisedome thought it fit stil to maintaine such competent forces heere as the Law may make her progresse Circuit about the Realme vnder the protection of the sword as Virgo the figure of Iustice is by Leo in the Zodiack vntill the people haue perfectly learned the Lesson of Obedience the Conquest bee established in the hearts of all men THus farre haue I endeuoured to make it manifest that from the first aduenture and attempt of the English to subdue and conquer Ireland vntill the last warre with Tyrone which as it was royally vndertaken so it was really prosecuted to the end there hath bin foure maine defects in the carriage of the martiall affayres heere First the armies for the most part were too weake for a Conquest Secondly when they were of a competent strength as in both the iournies of Richard the second they were too soone broken vp and dissolued Thirdly they were ill paide And fourthly they were ill Gouerned which is alwayes a consequent of ill payment BVt why was not this great worke perfourmed before the latter end of Queene Elizabeths raigne considering that many of the Kings her Progenitors were as great Captaines as any in the world and had else-where larger Dominions and Territories First who can tell whither the Diuine Wisedom to abate the glory of those Kings did not reserue this Worke to be done by a Queen that it might rather appeare to be his owne imediate worke And yet for her greater Honor made it the last of her great actions as it were to Crowne al the rest And to the end â—hat a secure peace might settle the Conquest and make it firme and perpetuall to posteritie caused it to bee made in that fulnesse of time when England and Scotland became to be vnited vnder one imperiall Crowne and when the Monarchy of Great Britainy was in league amity with all the worlde Besides the Conquest at this time doth perhaps fulfill that prophesie wherin the four great Prophets of Ireland do concur as it is recorded by Giraldus CambreÌ„sis to this effect That after the first inuasion of the English they shold spend many ages in crebris conflictibus longoque certanime multis coedibus And that Omnes fere Anglici ab Hibernia turbabuntur nihilominus orientalia maritima semper obtinebunt Sed vix paulo anté diem Iuditij plenam Anglorum populo victoriam compromittunt Insula Hibernica de mari vsque ad mare de toto subacta incastellata If S. Patrick and thâ—… did not vtter this prophesy certainly Giraldus is a Prophet who hath reported it To this we may adde the prophesy of Merlin spoken of also by Giraldus Sextus moenia Hiberniae subuertet regiones in Regnum redigentur Which is performed in the time of King Iames the sixt in that all the paces are cleared and places of fastnesse laid open which are the proper Wals Castles of the Irish as they were of the British in the time of Agricola and withal the Irish Countries beeing reduced into Counties make but one entire and vndeuided kingdome But to leaue these high obscure causes the plaine and manifest trueth is that the Kings of England in al ages had bin powerfull enough to make an absolute conquest of Ireland if their whole power had been employed in that enterprize but still there arose sundry occasions which diuided and diâ—…ted their power som other way Let vs therefore take a briefe view of the seuerall impediments which arose in euery Kinges time since the first ouerture of the Conquest whereby they were so employed and busied as they could not intend the finall Conquest of Ireland KIng Henrie the second was no sooner returned out of Ireland but all his foure Sonnes conspired with his enemies rose in Arrnes and moued warre against him both in France and in England This vnnaturall treason of his sons did the King expresse in an Embleme painted in his Chamber at winchester wherein was an Eagle with three Eglets tyring on her brest the fourth pecking at one of her eyes And the troth is these vngracious practises of his sonnes did impeach his iourney to the Holy-Land which he had once vowed vexed him all the dayes of his life and brought his gray haires with sorrow to the graue Besides this king hauing giuen the Lordship of Ireland to Iohn his youngest sonne his ingratitude afterwards made the king carelesse to settle him in the quiet and absolute possession of that kingdome RIchard the first which succeeded Henrie the second in the kingdom of England had lesse reason to bend his power towardes the Conquest of this Land which was giuen in perpetuity to the Lord Iohn his brother And therefore went hee in person to the holy warre by which iourney his captiuity in Austria and the heauy ransome that he paid for his libertie hee was hindred and vtterly disabled to pursue any so great an action as the Conquest of Ireland And after his deliuery and returne hardly was he able to maintaine a frontier warre in Normandy where by hard fortune he lost his life KIng Iohn his Brother had greatest reason to prosecute the Warre of Ireland because the Lordship thereof was the portion of his inheritance giuen vnto him when hee was called Iohn Sans-Terre Therefore hee made two iournies thither one when he was Earle of Morton and very yong about twelue
years of age the other when he was King in the 12. yeare of his raigne In the first his own youth and his youthfull company Roboams Câ—…sellours made him hazard the losse of al that his father had won But in the later he shewed a resolution to recouer the entire Kingdome in taking the submissions of al the Irishry and setling the estates of the English and giuing Order for the building of many Castles and Forts wherof some remaine vntill this day But hee came to the Crowne of England by a defeasible Title so as he was neuer well setled in the hearts of the people which drew him the sooner back out of Ireland into England where shortlie after he fell into such trouble and distresse The Clergy cursing him on the one side and the Barons rebelling against him on the other as hee became so farre vnable to returne to the Conquest of Ireland as besides the forfeiture of the territories in Fraunce hee did in a manner loose both the kingdomes For hee surrendred both to the Pope and tooke them backe againe to hold in Fee-farme which brought him into such hatered at home and such contempt abroad as all his life time after hee was possest rather with feare of loosing his head then with hope of reducing the kingdome of Ireland DVring the infancy of Henry the 3. the Barons were troubled in expelling the French whome they had drawne in against King Iohn But this Prince was no sooner come to his maiority but the Barons raised a long and cruell war against him Into these troubled waters the Bishops of Rome did cast their Nets and drew away all the wealth of the realm by their prouisions and infinite exactions whereby the kingdom was so impouerished as the King was scarse able to feed his owne housholde and traine much lesse to nourish armies for the conquest of forren kingdoms And albeit he had giuen this Land to the Lord Edward his eldest sonne yet could not that woorthy Prince euer finde meanes or opportunity to visit this kingdome in person For from the time he was able to beare armes he serued continually against the Barons by whom hee was taken prisoner at the battell of Lewes And when that rebellion was appeased he made a iourney to the Holy Land an employment which in those daies diuerted all Christian Princes from performing any great actions in Europe froÌ„ whence hee was returned when the Crowne of England descended vpon him THis King Edward the first who was a Prince adorned with all vertues did in the mannaging of his affayres shew himselfe a right good husband who being Owner of a Lordship ill husbanded doth first enclose mannure his demeasnes neere his principall house before he doth improue his wasts a sarre off Therefore he beganne first to establish the Common-wealth of England by making many excellent Lawes and instituting the forme of publique Iustice which remaineth to this day Next hee fullie subdued and reduced the Dominion of Wales then by his power and authoritie hee setled the kingdome of Scotland and lastly he sent a royall armie into Gascoigne to recouer the Dutchy of Aquitaâ—… These foure great actions did take vp all the raign of this Prince And therefore we find not in any Record that this King transmitted any forces into Ireland but on the other side wee finde it recorded both in the Annalles and in the Pipe-Rolles of this kingdom that three seuerall armies were raised of the Kings subiectes in Ireland and transported one into Scotland another into wales and the third into Gascoigne and that seuerall aydes were leuied heere for the setting forth of those armies THe sonne and successor of this excellent Prince was Edward the second who much against his will sent one smal armie into Ireland not with a purpose to finish the Conquest but to guarde the person of his Minion Piers Gaueston who being banished out of England was made Lieutenant of Ireland that so his exile might seem more honourable He was no sooner ariued heere but he made a iourny into the Mountaines of Dublin brake and subdued the Rebels there built New-Castle in the â—irnes Country and repaired Castle keuin after passed vp into Mounster and Thomond performing euerie where great seruice with much Vertue and valour But the King who could not liue without him reuokt him within lesse then a yeare After which time the inuasion of the Scots and rebellion of the Barons did not onely disable this King to bee a Conqueror but depriued him both of his kingdome and life And when the Scottish Nation had ouer-run all this land vnder the conduct of Edward le Bruce who stiled himselfe King of Ireland England was not then able to send either men or mony to saue this Kingdome Onely Roger de Mortimer then Iustice of Ireland arriued at Youghall cum 38. milite saith Friar Cliuu in his Annalles But Bremingham Verdon Stapleton some other priuat Gentlemen rose out with the Commons of Meth and Vriell and at Fagher neere Dondalke a fatall place to the enemies of the Crowne of England ouerthrew a potent army of them Et sic saith the red Booke of the Exchequer wherein the victory was briefely recorded per manus communis populi dextram dei deliberatur populus dei a seruitute machinata praecogitata IN the time of King Edward the third the impediments of the Conquest of Ireland are so notorious as I shal not neede to expresse them to wit the warre which the King had with the Realmes of Scotland and of Fraunce but especially the Warres of Fraunce which were almost continuall for the space of fortie yeares And indeede France was a fairer marke to shoot at then Ireland could better reward the Conqueror Besides it was an inheritance newly discended vpon the King and therfore he had great reason to bend all his power and spend all his time and treasure in the recouery thereof And this is the true cause why Edward the third sent no armie into Ireland till the 36. yeare of his raigne when the Lorde Lionell brought ouer a Regiment of 1500. men as is before expressed which that wise and warlicke Prince did not transmit as a competent power to make a full conquest but as an honorable retinue for his sonne and withall to enable him to recouer some part of his Earledome of Vlster which was then ouer-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 siedge of Callis hee sent for a supply of men out of Ireland which wer transported vnder the conduct of the Earle of Kildar and Fulco de la Freyn in the yeare 1347. ANd now are we come again to the time of King Richard the second who for the first tenne yeares of his raigne was a Minor and much
disquieted with popular Commotions and after that was more trobled with the factions that arose betweene his Minions the Princes of the bloud But at last he tooke a resolution to finish the Conquest of this Realm And to that end he made two Royall voyages hither Vpon the first he was deluded by the faigned submissions of the Irish but vpon the later when he was fully bent to prosecute the warre with effect he was diuerted drawn from hence by the return of the Duke of Lancaster into England and the generall defection of the whole realme AS for Henrie the fourth he beeing an Intruder vpon the Crowne of England was hindered from all forraigne actions by sundry Conspiracies and Rebellions at home moued by the house of Northumberland in the North by the Dukes of Surrey Exceter in the South and by Oxen Glendour in Wales so as he spent his short raigne in establishing and setling him selfe in the quiet possession of England and had neyther leisure nor opportunity to vndertake the final conquest of Ireland Much lesse could King Henry the fift perfourme that worke for in the second yeare of his raigne he transported an armie into France for the recouery of that kingdome and drewe ouer to the siedge of Harflew the Priour of Kilmaincham 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 sixte had the Gouernment of the Kingdomes of England and France did employ all their Counsels and endeuors to perfect the Conquest of France the greater part whereof beeing gained by Henry the fift retained by the Duke of Bedford was againe lost by K. Henrie the sixt a manifest argument of his disability to finish the Conquest of this Land But when the ciuill Warre betweene the two Houses was kindled the Kings of England were so farre from reducing al the Irish vnder their Obedience as they drew out of Ireland to strengthen their parties al the Nobility and Gentry descended of English race which gaue opportunitie to the Irishry to inuade the Lands of the English Colonies and did hazard the losse of the whole kingdom For though the Duke of Yorke did while he liued in Ireland carrie himselfe respectiuely towards all the Nobility to win the generall loue of all bearing equall fauour to the Giraldines and the Butlers as appeared at the Christning of George duke of Clarence who was borne in the Castle of Dublin where he made both the Earle of Kildare and the Earle of Ormond his Gossips And hauing occasion diuers times to passe into England hee left the sworde with Kildare at one time and with Ormond at another when he lost his life at wakefield there were slaine with him diuers of both those families Yet afterwards those two Noble houses of Ireland did seuerally follow the two Royall houses of England the Giraldines adhering to the house of Yorke and the Butlers to the house of Lancaster Whereby it came to passe that not onely the principall Gentlemen of both those Sur-names but all their friendes and dependants did passe into England leauing their Lands and possessions to be ouer-run by the Irish. These impediments or rather impossibilities of finishing the Conquest of Ireland did continue till the Warres of Lancaster Yorke were ended which was about the 12. yeare of King Edward the fourth Thus hitherto the Kings of England were hindred from finishing this Conquest by great and apparant impediments Henrie the second by the rebellion of his sonnes King Iohn Henry the third Edward the second by the Barons warres Edward the first by his warres in wales and Scotland Edward the third and Henry the fift by the warres of France Richard the second Henry the fourth Henrie the sixt and Edward the fourth by Domestick contention for the Crowne of England it selfe BVt the fire of the ciuil warre being vtterly quenched and K. Edward the fourth setled in the peaceable possession of the Crowne of England what did then hinder that warlicke Prince from reducing of Ireland also First the whole Realme of England was miserably wasted depopulated impouerished by the late ciuil dissentions yet assoon as it had recouered it selfe with a little peace and rest this King raised an Army and reuiued the Title of France againe howbeit this Army was no sooner transmitted and brought into the fielde but the two Kings also were brought to an interview Whereupon partly by the faire and white promises of Lewes the 11. and partly by the corruption of some of King Edwards Minions the english forces were broken and dismissed King Edward returned into England where shortly after finding himselfe deluded and abused by the French he dyed with melancholy and vexation of spirit I Omit to speake of Richard the Vsurper who neuer got the quiet possession of England but was cast out by Henry the seauenth within two yeares and a halfe after his Vsurpation ANd for King Henry the seauenth himselfe thogh he made that happy vnion of the two houses yet for more then half the space of his raign there were walking Spirites of the house of Yorke aswell in Ireland as in England which he could not coniure downe without expence of some bloud and Treasure But in his later times hee did wholly studye to improue the Reuennues of the Crowne in both Kingdomes with an intent to prouide meanes for some great action which he intēded which doubtlesse if hee had liued woulde rather haue improued a iourny into Fraunce then into Ireland because in the eyes of all men it was a fayrer enterprize THerefore King Henry the eight in the beginning of his raigne made a Voyage Royall into France wherein he spent the greatest part of that treasure which his Father had frugally reserued perhaps for the like purpose In the latter end of his raign he made the like iourney being enricht with the Reuennewes of the Abbey Lands But in the middle time between these two attemptes the great alteration which hee made in the State ecclesiasticall caused him to stand vpon his guard at home the Pope hauing sollicited al the Princes of Christendom to reuenge his quarrell in that behalf And thus was King Henry the eight tained and diuerted from the absolute reducing of the kingdom of Ireland LAstly the infancie of King Edward the sixt and the Couerture of Qu. Mary which are both Non abilities in the Lawe did in fact disable them to accomplish the Conquest of Ireland SO as now this great worke did remaine to be performed by Queene ELIZABETH who though shee were diuerted by suppressing the open rebellion in the North by preuenting diuers secret Conspiracies against her person by giuing ayds to the French and States of the Low-Countries by maintaining a Nauall war with Spaine for
per interfectionem praedict ā cōmittere non potuit quia dicit praedict Rogerus Hibernic est et nō de libero sanguine dicit etiā qd praedict Rogerus fuit de Cognomine de Ohederiscal et non de cognonime de cautetons et de hoc ponit se super patriam c. Et Iurati dicunt super Sacram. suum quod praedictus Rogerus Hibernicus fuit et de cognonime de Ohederiscall pro Hibernico habebatur tota vita sua Ideo praedict Willielmus quoad feloniam praedict quietus Sed quia praedictus Rogerus Ottederiscall suit Hibernicus Domini Regis praedict Willielmus recommittatur Gaolae quovsque plegios inuenerit de quinque marcis soluendis Domino Regi pro solutione praedicti Hiberntci But on the otherside if the Iurie had found that the party slaine had beene of English race and Nation it had bin adiudged fellony as appeareth by a Record of 29. of Edward the first in the Crowne-Office heere Coram Waltero Lenfant et socijs suis Iustitiarijs Itinerantibus apud Drogheda in Comitatu Louth Iohannes Laurens indictat de morte Galfridi Douedal venit non dedicit mortem praedictam sed dicit quod praedict Galfridus fuit Hibernicus et non de libero sanguine et de bono et malo ponit se super patriam c. Et Iurat dicunt super Sacram. suum quod praedict Galfridus Anglicus fuit et ideo praedict Iohannes culpabilis est de morte Galfridi praedict Ideo suspend Catalla 13. s. vnde Hugo de Clinton Vicecom respondet Hence it is that in all the Parliament Rolles which are extant from the fortith yeare of Edward the thirde when the Statutes of Kilkenny were enacted till the raigne of King Henry the eight we finde the degenerat and disobedient English called Rebelles but the Irish which were not in the Kings peace are called Enemies Statute Kilkenny c. 1. 10. and 11. 11. Hen. 4. c. 24. 10. Hen. 6. c. 1. 18. 18. Hen. 6. c. 4. 5. Edw. 4. c. 6. 10. Hen. ◠c. 17. All these Statutes speak of English Rebels and Irish Enemies as if the Irish had neuer bin in condition of Subiectes but alwaies out of the protection of the Law and were indeede in worse cafe then Aliens of any forren Realme that was in amity with the Crowne of England For by diuers heauie paenall Lawes the English were forbidden to marry to foster to make Gossippes with the Irish or to haue anie Trade or commerce in their Markets or Fayres nay there was a Law made no longer since then the 28. yeare of Henrie the eight that the English should not marry with any person of Irish blood though he had gotten a Charter os Denization vnlesse he had done both homage and fealty to the King in the Chancery and were also bound by Recognisaunce with sureties to continue a loyall subiect Whereby it is manifest that such as had the Gouernment of Ireland vnder the Crowne of England did intend to make a perpetuall separation and enmity betweene the English and the Irish pretending no doubt that the English should in the end roote out the Irish which the English not being able to do did cause a perpetuall Warre betweene the nations which continued foure hundered and odde yeares and would haue lasted to the Worlds end if in the end of Queene Elizabeths raigne the Irishry had not beene broken and conquered by the Sword And since the beginning of his Maiesties raigne had not bin protected and gouerned by the Law BVt perhaps the Irishry in former times did wilfully refuse to be subiect to the Lawes of England and would not be partakers of the benefit thereof though the Crowne of England did desire it and therefore they were reputed Aliens Out-lawes and enemies Assuredly the contrarie doth appeare aswel by the Charters of Denization purchased by the Irish in all ages as by a petition preferred by them to the King Anno 2. Edward the third desiring that an Act might passe in Ireland whereby all the Irishrie might be inabled to vse and inioy the Lawes of England without purchasing of particular Denizations Vppon which petition the King directed a speciall Writ to the Lorde Iustice which is found amongst the CloseRolles in the Tower of London in this forme Rex dilecto fideli suo Iohannis Darcile Nepieu Iustic suo Hiberniae Salutem Exparte quorundam hominum de Hibernia nobis extitit supplicatum vt per Statutum inde faciendum concedere velimus quod omnes Hibernici qui voluerint legibus vtatur Anglicanis ita quod necesse non habeant super hoc Chartas alienas à nobis impetrare nos igitur Certiorari volentes si sine alieno praeiudicio praemissis annuere valeamus vobis mandamus quod voluntatem magnatum terr illius in proximo Parliamento nostro ibidem tenendo super hoc cum diligentia perscrutari facias et de eo quod inde inueneritis vna cum Consilio et aduisamento nobis certificetis c. Whereby I collect that the great Lordes of Ireland had informed the King that the Irishry might not be naturalized without damage and preiudice either to them selues or to the Crowne But I am well assured that the Irishrie did desire to bee admitted to the benefit of the Law not onely in this petition exhibited to king Edward the third but by all their submissions made to King Richard the second and to the Lord Thomas of Lancaster before the warres of the two Houses and afterwards to the Lord Leonard Gray Sir Anthony Saint-Leger when K. Henry the eight began to reforme this kingdome In particular the Birnes of the Mountaines in the 34. of Henrie the 8 desire that their Countrey might bee made Shire-ground and called the County of wicklow And in the 23. of Henry the eight O Donnel doth Couenant with Sir VVilliam Skeffington Quod si Dominus Rex velit reformare Hiberniam whereof it should seeme hee made some doubt that hee and his people would gladly bee gouerned by the Lawes of England Onely that vngratefull Traitour Tirone though hee had no colour or shadowe of Title to that great lordship but only by grant from the Crowne and by the Law of England for by the Irish Law he had beene ranked with the meanest of his Sept yet in one of his Capitulations with the State hee required that no Sheriffe might haue iurisdiction within Tirone and consequently that the Lawes of England might not be executed there Which request was neuer before made by O Neale or any other Lorde of the Irishry when they submitted themselues but contrariewise they were humble sutors to haue the benefit and protection of the English Lawes THis then I note as a great defect in the Ciuill policy of this kingdom in that for the space of 350. yeares at least after the Conquest first attempted the English lawes were not communicated to the
according to the examples before recited they had reduced as well the Irish Countries as the English Colonies vnder one forme of ciuil gouernment as now they are the Meres Bounds of the Marches and Borders had beene long since worne out and forgotten for it is not fit as Cambrensis writeth that a King of an Islande should haue any Marches or Borders but the foure Seas both Nations had beene in corporated and vnited Ireland had beene entirely Conquered Planted and Improoued and returned a rich Reuennew to the Crowne of England THE next error in the Ciuill pollicy which hindered the perfection of the Conquest of Ireland did consist in the Distribution of the Landes and possessions which were woonne and conquered from the Irish. For the Scopes of Land which were graunted to the first Aduenturers were too Large and the Liberties and Royalties which they obtained therein were too great for Subiects though it stood with reason that they should be rewarded liberally out of the fruites of their owne Labours since they did Militare proprijs stipendijs and receiued no pay from the Crowne of England Notwithstanding there ensued diuers inconuiences that gaue great impediment to the Conquest FIrst the Earle Strongbow was entituled to the whole Kingdom of Leinster partly by Inuasion and partly by Marriage albeit hee surrendred the same entirely to King Henrie the second his Soueraigne for that with his license hee came ouer and with the Ayde of his Subiects hee had gayned that great inheritance yet did the K. re-grant backe againe to him and his heyres all that Prouince reseruing onely the Citty of Dublin the Cantreds next adioyning with the Maritime Townes and principall Forts Castles Next the same King granted to Robert Fitz-Stephen and Miles Cogan the whole Kingdome of Corke from Lismore to the Sea To Phillip le Bruce he gaue the whole Kingdome of Limericke with the Donation and Byshopprickes and Abbeyes except the Citie and one Cantred of Land adioyning To Sir Hugh de Lacy all Meth. To Sir Iohn De Courcy all Vlster to william Burke Fitz-Adelm the greatest part of Conaght In like manner Sir Thomas de Clare obtained a graunt of all Thomond and Otho de Grandison of all Tipperary and Robert le Poer of the territory of VVaterford the Citty it selfe and the Cantred of the Oastmen only excepted And thus was all Ireland Cantonized among tenne persons of the English Nation And thogh they had not gained the possession of one third part of the whole Kingdom yet in Title they were Owners and Lords of all so as nothing was left to bee graunted to the Natiues And therefore we do not find in any Record or storie for the space of three hundred yeares after these Aduenturers first ariued in Ireland that any Irish Lorde obtained a grant of his Country from the Crowne but onely the King of Thomond who had a grant but during King Henry the third his Minority and Rotherick O Connor King of Conaght to whom King Henrie the second before this distribution made did graunt as is before declared Vt sit Rex sub eo moreouer Vt teneat terram suam Conactiae it a bene inpace sicut tenuit antequam Dominus Rex intravet Hiberniam And whose successour in the 24. of Henrie the third when the Bourkes had made a strong plantation there had welny expelled him out of his territory he came ouer into England as Matth. Paris writeth and made complaint to King Henrie the third of this inuasion made by the Bourkes vppon his Land insisting vppon the gâ—auntes of King Henrie the second and King Iohn and affirming that he had duely paide an yearely tribute of fiue thousand marks for his Kingdome Whereupon the King called vnto him the Lord Maurice Fitz-Girald who was then Lorde Iustice of Ireland and President in the Court and commanded him that he should roote out that vniust plantation which Hubert Earle of Kent had in the time of his greatnesse planted in those parts and wrote withall to the greatmen of Ireland to remooue the Bourkes and to establish the King of Conaght in the quiet possession of his Kingdome Howbeit I doe not read that the King of Englands commandement or direction in this behalfe was euer put in execution For the troth is Richard de Burgo had obtained a graunt of all Conaght after the death of the King of Conaght then liuing For which he gaue a thousand pounde as the Record in the Tower reciteth the third of Henry 3. claus 2. And besides our great English Lords coulde not endure that any Kings should raigne in Ireland but themselues nay they could hardly endure that the Crown of England it selfe should haue any Iurisdiction or power ouer them For many of these Lordes to whome our Kings had granted these petty kingdomes did by Vertue and colour of these Grants claime and exercise Iura Regalia within their Territories insomuch as there were no lesse theÌ„ eight Counties Palatines in Ireland at one time For VVilliam Marshall Earle of Pembroke who married the daughter and heyre of Strongbow being Lord of all Leynster had Royall Iurisdiction thoroughout al that Prouince This great Lord had fiue sonnes and fiue daughters euery of his sonnes enioyed that Seigniory successiuely and yet al died without Issue Then this great Lordship was broken and diuided pertition made betweene the fiue daughters who were married into the Noblest Houses of England The Countie of Catherlogh was allotted to the eldest VVexford to the second Kilkenny to the third Kildare to the fourth the greatest part of Leix nowe called the Queenes County to the fift In euery of these portions the Coparceners seuerally exercised the same Iurisdiction Royall which the Earle Marshall and his Sonnes had vsed in the whole Prouince Whereby it came to passe that there were fiue County Palatines erected in Leinster Then had the Lord of Meth the same Royall libertie in all that Territory the Earle of Vlster in all that Prouince and the Lorde of Desmond and Kerry within that County All these appeare vppon Record and were all as ancient as the time of King Iohn onely the liberty of Tipperarie which is the onely Liberty that remaineth at this day was granted to Iames Butler the first Earle of Ormond in the third yeare of King Edward the third These absolute Palatines made Barons Knights did exercise high Iustice in all points within their Territories erected Courts for Criminall and ciuill Causes and for their owne Reuennews in the same forme as the Kings Courts wer established at Dub lin made their own Iudges Seneshals Sheriffes Corroners and Escheators so as the Kinges Writt did not run in those Counties which took vp more then two partes of the English Colonies but onely in the Church Lands lying within the same which were
had reiected the English Lawes and submitted themselus to the Irish with whom they had many Mariages and Alliances which tended to the vtter ruine destruction of the commonwealth Therefore alliaunce by Marriage Nurture of Infants and Gossipred with the Irish are by this Statute made High-treason Againe if anie man of English race should vse an Irish Name Irish Language or Irish Apparrell or any other guise or fashion of the Irish if he had Lands or Tenements the same should be seized til he had giuen security to the Chancery to conform himself in al points to the English maner of liuing And if he had no Lands his bodie was to be taken and imprisoned til he found Sureties as aforesaide Againe it was established and commanded that the English in all their Controuersies should bee ruled and gouerned by the common Lawe of England and if any did submit himselfe to the Brehon Law or March law he should be adiudged a Traitor Againe because the English at that time made warre and peace with the bordering enemy at their pleasure they were expresly prohibited to leauie warre vpon the Irish without speciall warrant and direction from the State Againe it was made paenall to the English to permit the Irish to Creaght or graze vpon their Landes to present them to Ecclesiasticall Benefices to receiue them into any Monasteries or Religious Houses or to entertaine any of their Minstrels Rimers or Newes-tellers to impose or sesse any Horse or Footvppon the English Subiects against their willes was made felony And because the great Liberties or Franchises spoken of before were become Sanctuaries for all Malefactours expresse power was giuen to the Kinges Sheriffes to enter into all franchises and there to apprehend all Fellons and Traitours And lastly because the great Lordes when they leuied forces for the publick seruice did lay vnequall burdens vpon the Gentlemen and Free-holders it was ordained that foure Wardens of the peace in euery Countie should set downe and appoint what men and Armour euery man should beare according to his Free-hold or other ability of estate THese and other Lawes tending to a generall reformation were enacted in that Parliament And the Execution of these Lawes together with the Presence of the Kings Son made a notable alteration in the State and Manners of this people within the space of seauen yeares which was the tearme of this Princes Lieutenancy For all the Discourses that I haue seene of the Decay of Ireland doe agree in this that the presence of the Lord Lionel and these Statutes of Kilkenny did restore the English gouern ment in the degenerate Colonies for diuers yeares And the Statute of the tenth of Henry the seuenth which reuiueth and confirmeth the Statutes of Kilkenny doth confirme as much For it declareth that as long as these Lawes were put in vve and execution this Lande continued in prosperity and honor and since they were not executed the Subiectes rebelled and digressed from their allegeance and the Land fell to ruine and desolation And withall wee finde the effect of these Lawes in the Pipe-Rolles and Plea-Rolles of this Kingdome For from the 36. of Edward 3. when this Prince entred into his Gouernment till the beginning of Richard the second his Raigne we find the Reuennue of the Crowne both certaine and casuall in Vlster Munster and Conaght accounted for and that the Kings Writ did run and the Common-Law was executed in euery of these Prouinces I ioyne with these Lawes the personall presence of the Kinges Son as a concurrent cause of this Reformation Because the people of this Land both English Irish out of a naturall pride did euer loue desire to be gouerned by great persons And therefore I may heere iustly take occasion to note that first the absence of the Kings of England and nexte the absence of those great Lords who were inheritors of those mighty Seigniories of Leinster Vlster Conaght and Meth haue bin maine causes why this kingdome was not reduced in so many ages TOuching the absence of our Kinges three of them onely since the Norman Conquest haue made royall iournies into this Land namely K. Henrie the second King Iobn and king Richard the second And yet they no sooner arriued heere but that all the Irishry as if they had bin but one man submitted them-selues tooke Oaths of fidelity and gaue pledges hostages to continue loyall And if any of those Kings hadde continued heere in person a competent time till they had setled both English Irish in their seuerall possessions and had set the Law in a due course throughout the Kingdom these times wherein we liue had not gained the honor of the finall Conquest and reducing of Ireland For the King saith Salomon dissipat omne malum intuitu suo But when Moses was absent in the Mount the people committed Idolatry when there was no king in Israel euery man did what seemed best in his own eies And therfore when Alexander had conquered the East part of the world and demaunded of one what was the fitest place for the seat of his Empire he brought and laid a dry hide before him and desired him to set his foote on the one side thereof which being done all the other parts of the Hide did rise vp but when he did set his foot in the middle of the Hide all the other parts lay flat and euen Which was a liuely demonstration that if a Prince keep his residence in the Border of his Dominions the remoate parts will eafily rise and rebell against him but if he make the Center therof his seat he shall easily keepe them in peace and obedience TOuching the absence of the great Lords All Writers doe impute the decay and losse of Leinster to the absence of these English Lords who maried the fiue Daughters of william Marshall Earle of Pembroke to whom that great Seigniory discended when his fiue sonnes who inherited the same successiuely and during their times held the same in peace obedience to the Law of England were all dead without Issue which hapned about the fortith yeare of King Henrie the third for the eldest beeing married to Hugh Bigot Earle of Norfolke who in right of his wife had the Marshalship of England The second to VVarren de Mountchensey whose sole daughter and heire was matcht to william de Valentia halfe Brother to K. Henrie 3. who by that match was made Earle of Pembroke The third to Gilbert de Clare earl of Glocester The fourth to william Ferrers Earle of Darby The fift to william de Bruce Lord of Brecknocke These great Lordes hauing greater inheritances in their owne right in England then they hadde in Ireland in right of their Wiues and yet each of the Coparceners had an entire Countie allotted for her purparty as is before declared could not bee drawne to make their personal
Henry 7. For albeit in the time of King Henry 6. Richard duke of York a Prince of the blood of great wisedome and valour and heir to a third part of the Kingdome at least being Earle of Vlster and Lord of Conaght and Meth was sent the Kinges Lieutenant into Ireland to recouer and reforme that Realme where he was resident in person for the greatest part of 10. yeares yet the troth is he aymed at another marke 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 meanes to please them and by popular courses to steale away their hearts to the end hee might strengthen his party when he should set on foot his Title as is before declared Which policy of his tooke such effect as that he drew ouer with him into England the Flower of all the English Colonies specially of Vlster and Meth whereof many Noblemen and Gentlemen were slain with him at wakefield as is likewise before remembred And after his Death when the warres between the Houses were in their heat almost al the good English bloud which was left in Ireland was spent in those ciuill dissentions so as the Irish became victorious ouer all without Bloud or Sweat Only that little Canton of Lande called the English Pale containing 4. small Shires did maintain a bordering war with the Irish and retaine the forme of English Gouernment But out of that little Precinct there were no Lordes Knights or Burgesses summoned to the Parliament neither did the Kings Writt run in anie other part of the kingdome and yet vpon the Marches Borders which at that time were growne so large as they tooke vp halfe Dublin half Meth and a third part of Kildare and Lowth there was no law in vse but the MarchLawe which in the Statutes of Kilkenny is said to be no Law but a leud Custome So as vpon the end of these ciuill warres in England the English Law Gouernment was well banisht out of Ireland so as no foot-steppe or print was left of any former Reformation THen did King Henry 7. send ouer Sir Edward Poynings to be his Depuputy a right worthy seruitor both in war and peace The principall end of his employment was to expel Perkin warbecke out of this kingdome but that seruice beeing perfourmed that worthy Deputy finding nothing but a common misery tooke the best course he possibly could to establish a Common-wealth in Ireland and to that end he held a Parliament no lesse famous then that of Kilkenny and more auaileable for the reformation of the whole Kingdome For whereas all wise men did euer concur in opinion that the readiest way to reform Ireland is to settle a forme of Ciuill Gouernment there conformable to that of England To bring this to passe Sir Edward Poynings did passe an Acte 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 prouided 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 bee first transmitted into England and approued by the King and Counsell there as good and expedient for that Land and so returned backe againe vnder the Great Seale of England This Act though it seeme Prima facie to restrain the liberty of the subiects of Ireland yet was it made at the Prayer of the Commons vpon iust and important cause For the Gouernors of that realm specially such as were of that Contry Birth had layd many oppressions vpon the Commons and amongst the rest they had imposed Lawes vppon them not tending to the generall good but to serue priuate turnes and to strengthen their particular factions This moued them to referre all Lawes that were to be passed in Ireland to be considered corrected and allowed first by the State of England which had alwaies bin tender carefull of the good of this people and had long since made them a Ciuill Rich and Happy Nation if their own Lords and Gouernors 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 foure shires only and for that cause specially hee caused all the Acts of a Parliament lately before holden by the Viscount of Gormanston to be repealed and made voide Moreouer that the Parliamentes of Ireland might want no desent or honorable forme that was vsed in England he caused a particular Act to passe that the Lords of Ireland should appeare in the like Parliament Robes as the English Lords are wont to weare in the Parliaments of England Hauing thus established all the statutes of England in Ireland and set in order the great Counsell of that Realme he did not omit to passe other Lawes aswell for the encrease of the Kings Reuennue as the preseruation of the publick peace To aduaunce the profites of the Crown First he obtained a subsidy of 26. s. 8. d. out of euery sixe score Acres manured payable yearely for 5. years Next he resumed al the Crown land which had been aliened for the most part by Richard Duke of Yorke lastly he procured a subsidy of Pondage out of all Merchandizes imported exported to be granted to the Crown in perpetuity To preserue the publicke peace he reuiued the statutes of Kilkenny He made wilfull murther High-Treason he caused the Marchers to book their men for whom they should answere and restrained the making Warre or peace without speciall Commission from the State These Lawes and others as important as these for the making of a commonwealth in Ireland wer made in the Gouernment of Sir Edward Poynings But these Lawes did not spread their Vertue beyonde the English Pale though they were made generally for the whole Kingdome For the Prouinces without the Pale which during the warre of Yorke and Lancaster had wholly cast off the English Gouernement were not apt to receyue this seed of reformation because they were not first broken and maistered againe with the sword Besides the Irish Countreyes which contained two third parts of the Kingdome were not reduced to Shire-Ground so as in thē the Lawes of England could not possibly be put in execution Therefore these good Laws prouisions made by Sir Edward Poynings were like good Lessons set for a Lute that is broken and out of tune of which Lessons little vse can be made till the Lute bee made fit to be plaid vpon And that the execution of al these Lawes had no greater Latitude then the Pale is manifest by the Statute of 13. of Henry 8. c. 3. which reciteth that at that time the Kings Lawes were obeyed and executed in the four shires onely and yet then was the Earle of Surrey Lieutenant of
Ireland a Gouernor much feared of the Kings Enemies and exceedingly honored and beloued of the Kings subiects And the instructions giuen by the state of Ireland to Iohn Allen Maister of the Rols employed into England neere about the same time doe declare as much wherein among other things hee is required to aduertise the King that his Land of Ireland was so much decayed as that the Kings Lawes were not obeyed twenty miles in compas Whereupon grew that By-word vsed by the Irish viz That they dwelt By-west the Law which dwelt beyond the Riuer of the Barrow which is within 30. Miles of Dublin The same is testified by Baron Finglas in his Discourse of the decay of Ireland which hee wrote about the 20. yeare of King Henry 8. And thus we see the effect of the Reformation which was intended by Sir Edward Poynings THE next Attempt of Reformation was made in the 28. yeare of King Henry 8. by the Lorde Leonard Gray who was created Viscount of Garny in this Kingdome and helde a Parliament wherein many excellent Lawes were made But to prepare the mindes of the people to obey these Lawes he began first with a Martiall course For being sent ouer to suppresse the Rebellion of the Giraldines which he performed in few months he afterwards made a victorious Circuit round about the Kingdome beginning in Offaly against O Connor who had ayded the Giralà ines in their Rebellion and from thence passing along through all the Irish Countries in Leinster and so into Mounster wher hee tooke pledges of the degenerate Earle of Desmond and thence into Conaght and thence into Vlster then concluded this warlicke Progresse with the Battell of Belahoo in the Borders of Meth as is before remembred The principall Septs of the Irishry beeing all terrified and most of them broken in this iourney manie of their chiefe Lords vppon this Deputies returne came to Dublin and made their submissions to the crown of England Namely the O Neales O Relies of Vlster Mac Murrogh O Birne and O Carrol of Leinster and the Bourks of Conaght This preparation being made he first propounded and passed in Parlament these Lawes which made the great alteration in the State Ecclesiastical Namely the Act which declared King Henry the eight to bee supreame Head of the Church of Ireland The Act probibiting Apeales to the church of Rome the Act for first fruites and twentith part to be paid to the King the Act for Faculties and Dispensations And lastly the Act that did vtterly abolish the vsurped Authoritie of the Pope Next for the encrease of the Kings Reuennew By one Act he suppressed sundry Abbeyes and Religious Houses and by another Acte resumed the Lands of the Absentees as is before remembred And for the Ciuill Gouernment a speciall Statute was made to abolish the Black-Rents and tributes exacted by the Irish vpon the English Colonies and another Law enacted that the English Apparrell Language manner of liuing should bee vsed by all such as would acknoledge themselues the Kings Subiects This Parliament being ended the Lord Leonard Gray was suddenly reuokt and put to death in England so as hee liued not to finish the woorke of Reformation which he had begun which notwithstanding was well pursued by his successors Sir Anthony Saint-Leger Vnto whom all the Lords and Chiefetanes of the Irishry and of the degenerate English throughout the Kingdome made their seueral submissions by Indenture which was the fourth general submission of the Irish made since the first attempt of the Conquest of Ireland whereof the first was made to King Henry 2. the second to k. Iohn the third to K. Richard 2. and his last to Sir Anthony Saint-Leger in 33. of Hen. 8. IN these Indentures of submission all the Irish Lords do acknowledge K. Henry the eight to be their Soueraign Lord and King and desire to bee accepted of him as subiects They confesse the Kings supremacy in all causes do vtterly renounce the Popes Jurisdiction which I conceiue to bee worth the noting because when the Irish had once resolued to obey the king they made no scruple to renounce the Pope And this was not only done by the meere Irish but the chiefe of the degenerate English Families did perfourme the same as Desmond Barry and Roche in Mounster and the Bourkes which bore the Title of Mac william in Conaght These submissions being thus taken the Lorde Deputy and Counsell for the present Gouernment of those Irish Countries made certaine Ordinances of state not agreeable altogither with the Rules of the Law of England the reason whereof is exprest in the preamble of those Ordinances Quia nondum sic sapiunt leges Iura vt secundū ea iam immediatè viuere regipossint The chiefe points or Articles of which Orders registred in the Counsel Booke are these That King Henrie the eight shold be accepted reputed and named King of Ireland by all the Inhabitants of the Kingdome that al Archbishops and Bishops should bee permitted to exercise their Iurisdiction in euery Diocesse throughout the Land that tithes should be duely set out and paide that Children should not be admitted to Benefices that for euery Manslaughter and theft aboue 14 d committed in the Irish Contries the offender shold pay a fine of 40. li. twenty pound to the King and 20. li. to the Captaine of the Country and for euery thefte vnder 14. d. a fine of fiue markes should be paid 46. s. viij d to the Captaine and 20. s. to the Tanister That Horsemen and Kearn shold not be imposed vppon the Common people to beefed and maintained by them That the Maister shold answer for his seruants and the Father for his Children That Cuttinges should not be made by the Lorde vppon his Tenants to maintaine war with his neighbors but only to beare his necessary expences c. These ordinances of state being made and published there were nominated and appointed in euery prouince certaine Orderers or Arbitraters who instead of these Irish Erehons should heare and determine all their Controuersies In Conaght the Arch-Bishop of Tuam the Bishop of Clonfert Captaine wakeley and Captaine Ouington In Munster the Bishop of VVaterford the Bishop of Corke and Rosse the Maior of Corke and Maior of Yough-hall In Vlster the Archbishop of Ardmagh the Lord of Lowth And if any difference did arise which they could not end either for the difficultie of the cause or for the obstinacy of the parties they were to certifie the Lord Deputy and Counsell who would decide the matter by their authority Heereuppon the Irish Captaines of lesser Territories which had euer bin oppressed by the greater mightier some with Risings out others with Bonaght and others with Cuttings and spendings at pleasure did appeale for Iustice to the Lorde Deputy who vpon hearing their Complaints did alwayes order that they should all imediatly depend vpon the King and
established the composition of the Pale in liewe of Purueyance and Sesse of Souldiers These were good proceedinges in the worke of Reformation but there were many defects omissions withall for though he reduced all Conaght into Counties he neuer sent any Justices of Assize to visite that Prouince but placed Cōmissioners there who gouerned it onely in A course of discretion part Martiall and part Ciuill Againe in the Law that dooth abolish the Irish Captain-ships he gaue waie for the reuiuing thereof againe by excepting such as should be granted by Letters Patentes from the Crowne which exception did indeede take away the force of that Law For no gouernour during Queene Elizabeths raign did refuse to grant any of those Captain-ships to any pretended Irish Lord who would Desire and with his thankefulnesse Deserue the same And againe though the greatest part of Vlster were vested by Act of Parliament in the actuall and reall possession of the Crowne yet was there neuer any seisure made thereof nor any part thereof brought into charge but the Irish were permitted to take all the profits without rendering any dutie or acknowledgement for the same and though the Name of O Neale were damned by that act and the assuming thereof made High-treason yet after that was Tirlagh Leynnagh suffered to beare that Title and to intrude vpon the possessions of the Crown and yet was often entertained by the State with fauour Neither were these lands resumed by the Act of 11. of Elizabeth neglected onely for the Abbaies and religious Houses in Tirone Tirconnell and Fermannagh though they were dissolued in the 33. of Henry 8. were neuer surueied nor reduced into charge but were continually possest by the religious persons vntill his Maiestie that now is came to the Crowne and that which is more strāge the Donations of Byshopprickes being a flower of the Crowne which the Kings of England did euer retaine in all their Dominions when the Popes vsurped Authority was at the highest There were three Bishopprickes in Vlster namely Derry Rapho and Clogher which neither Queene Elizabeth nor any of her Progenitors did euer bestow though they were the vndoubted Patrons thereof So as King Iames was the first king of England that did euer supply those Sees with Byshops which is an argument eyther of great negligence or of great weaknesse in the State and Gouernours of those times And thus farre proceeded Sir Henry Sidney AFter him Sir Iohn Perrot who held the last Parliament in this Kingdome did aduance the Reformation in three principall points First in establishing the great composition of Conaght in which seruice the wisedome and industry of Sir Richard Bingham did concurre with him next in reducing the vnreformed partes of Vlster into seauen shires namely Ardmagh Monahan Tirone Coleraine Deuegall Fermannagh Cauan though in his time the Law was neuer executed in these new Counties by any Sheriffes or Iustices of Assize but the people left to be ruled still by their own barbarous Lords and Lawes And lastly by vesting in the Crowne the Lands of Desmond and his Adherents in Mounster and planting the same with English though that plantation were imperfect in many points AFter Sir Iohn Perrot Sir william Fitzwilliams did good seruice in two other points First in raising a composition in Mounster and then in setling the possessions both of the Lords and Tenantes in Monahan which was one of the last Acts of State tending to the reformation of the Ciuill Gouernment that was performed in the raigne of Queene ELIZABETH Thus we see by what degrees what pollicy and successe the Gouernors of this Land from time to time since the beginning of the raigne of King Edward 3. haue endeuored to reforme and reduce this people to the perfect obedience of the Crowne of England And we find that before the Ciuill Warres of Yorke and Lancaster they did chiefely endeuour to bring backe the degenerate English Colonies to their Duty and Allegeaunce not respecting the meer Irish whom they reputed as Aliens or Enemies of the Crowne But after King Henry 7. had vnited the Roses they labored to reduce both English and Irish together which worke to what passe and perfection it was brought in the latter end of Queen Elizabeths raign hath bin before declared Whereof sometimes when I doe consider I do in mine owne conceit compare these later Gouernors who went about to reforme the Ciuill Affairs in Ireland vnto some of the Kings of Israel of whom it is saide That they were good Kings but they did not cut downe the Groues and High places but suffered the people still to burne Incense commit Idolatry in them so Sir Anthony Saint-Leger the Earle of Sussex sir Henry Sidney sir Iohn Perrot were good Gouernours but they did not abolish the Irish Customes nor execute the Lawe in the Irish Countries but suffered the people to worship their barbarous Lordes and to remaine vtterly ignorant of their Duties to God and the King AND now am I come to the happy raigne of my most Gracious Lord Maister K. Iames in whose time as there hath been a concurrence of many great Felicities so this among others may be numbred in the first ranke that all the Defects in the Gouernment of Ireland spoken of before haue beene fully supplied in the first nine yeares of his raigne In which time there hath bin more done in the worke reformation of this Kingdome then in the 440. yeares which are past since the Conquest was first attempted Howbeit I haue no purpose in this Discourse to set forth at large all the proceedings of the State heere in reforming of this Kingdom since his Maiesty came to the Crowne for the parts and passages thereof are so many as to expresse them fully woulde require a seuerall Treatise Besides I for my part since I haue not flattered the former times but haue plainely laid open the negligence and errors of euery Age that is past woulde not willingly seeme to flatter the present by amplifying the diligence and true Iudgement of those Seruitours that haue laboured in this Vineyard since the beginning of his Maiesties happy raigne I shall therefore summarily without any amplication at all shewe in what manner and by what degrees all the defects which I haue noted before in the Gouernment of this Kingdome haue bin supplied since his Maiesties happy raigne beganne and so conclude these obseruations concerning the State of Ireland FIrst then touching the Martiall affayres I shall neede to say little in regard that the Warre which finished the Conquest of Ireland was ended almost in the instant when the crown descended vpon his Maiesty and so there remained no occasion to amēd the former errors committed in the prosecution of the warre Howbeit sithence his Maiesty hath still maintained an Army heere aswell For a Seminary of Martiall Men as to Giue strength and countenance to the Ciuil Magistrate I may iustly obserue that this
pretending that hee was a most able and willing person to performe seruice there because he had a great inheritance of his owne in Ireland namely the Earledom of Vlster and the Lordships of Conaght Meth by discent from Lionell Duke of Clarence We do not finde that this great Lord came ouer with any numbers of waged souldiers but it appeareth vpon what good termes hee tooke that Gouernment by the Couenants betweene the King and him which are recorded and confirmed by Acte of Parliament in Ireland and were to this effect 1. That he should be the Kings Lieutenant of Ireland for ten yeares 2. That to support the charge of that Countrey he should receiue al the kings reuennewes there both certaine and casual without accompt 3. That he should bee supplyed also with treasure out of England in this maner he should haue four thousand Markes for the first yeare whereof he should bee imprested 2000. li. before hand and for the other nine yeares hee should receiue 2000. li. per annum 4. That hee might Let to Ferme the Kings Landes and place and displace all Officers at his pleasure 5. That he might leuy and wage what numbers of men he thought fit 6. That he might make a Deputy and returne at his pleasure We cannot presume that this Prince kept any great army on foote aswell because his means out of England were so meane and those ill paide as appeareth by his passionate letter written to the Earl of Salisbury his brother in Law the Coppy whereof is Registred in the Story of this time as also because the whole Lande except the English Pale and some part of the Earledome of Vlster vppon the Sea Coasts were possest by the Irish. So as the Reuennew of the Kingdome which he was to receiue did amount to little He kept the Borders Marches of the Pale with much adoo he held many Parliaments wherein sundry Lawes were made for erecting of Castles in Louth Meth and Kildare to stop the incursions of the Irishrie And because the souldiers for want of pay were sessed and laide vppon the subiects against their willes vpon the prayer and importunitie of the Commons this extortion was declared to be High-Treason But to the end that some meanes might be raised to norish some forces for defence of the Pale by another Acte of Parliament euery twenty pound Land was charged with the furnishing and maintenance of one Archer on horsebacke Besides the natiue subiects of Ireland seeing the kingdome vtterly ruined did passe in such numbers into England as one Law was made in England to transmit them backe againe and another Law made heere to stop their passage in euery Port creeke Yet afterwards the greatest partes of the Nobility and Gentry of Meth past ouer into England and were slaine with him at wakefield in Yorkshire Lastly the State of England was so farre from sending an army to subdue the Irish at this time as among the Articles of greeuances exhibited by the Duke of Yorke against K. Henry the sixte this was one That diuers Lords about the King had caused his Highnesse to write Letters vnto 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 vnto the Duke maruailing greatlie that such Letters should be sent vnto them speaking therein great shame of the Realme of England After this when this great Lorde was returned into England and making claime to the Crowne beganne the Warre betwixt the two Houses It cannot bee conceiued but that the kingdome fell into a worse and weaker estate WHen Edward the fourth was setled in the kingdome of England he made his Brother George Du. of Clarence Lieutenant of Ireland This Prince was born in the Castle of Dublin during the Gouernment of his father the Duke of Yorke yet did hee neuer passe ouer into this kingdome to gouerne it in person though hee held the Lieutenancie many yeares But it is manifest that King Edward the fourth did not pay any army in Ireland during his raigne but the men of war did pay themselues by taking Coigne and Liuery vppon the Countrey which extortion grew so excessiue and intollerable as the Lord Tiptoft being Deputy to the Duke of Clarence was enforced to execute the Law vppon the greatest Earle in the Kingdome namely Desmond who lost his head at Drogheda for this offence Howbeit that the State might not seeme vtterly to neglect the defence of the Pale there was a fraternity of men at armes called the Brother-hood of S. George erected by Parlament the 14. of Edward the fourth consisting of thirteene the most Noble and woorthy persons within the foure shires Of the first foundation were Thomas Earle of Kildare Sir Rowland Eustace Lord of Port-lester and Sir Robert Eustace for the County of Kildare Robert Lord of Howth the Maior of Dublin and Sir Robert Dowdall for the County of Dublin the Vicount of Gormauston Edward Plunket Seneshall of Meth Alexander Plunket and Barna be Barnewale for the County of Meth the Maior of Drogheda Sir Lawraunce Taaffe and Riehard Bellewe for the Countie of Lowtb These and their successors were to meet yearely vpon S. Georges day and to choose one of themselues to be Captaine of that Brother-hood for the next yeare to come Which Captaine shold haue at his commaund 120. Archers on horsebacke 40. horsemen and forty Pages to suppresse Out-lawes and rebels The Wages of euery Archer should be vj. pence Per diem euery horseman v. d. Per diem and foure Markes Per annum And to pay these entertainments and to maintain this new fraternity there was granted vnto them by the same Act of Parlament a subsidie of Pondage out of all Marchandizes exported or imported thoroughout the Realme hydes and the goods of Free-men of Dublin Drogheda onely excepted These 200. men were al the standing forces that were then maintained in Ireland And as they were Natiues of the kingdom so the kingdom it selfe did pay their wages without expecting any treasure out of England BVt now the warres of Lancaster and Yorke being ended and Henrie the seuenth being in the actuall peaceable possession of the kingdome of England let vs see if this King did send ouer a Competent Armie to make a perfect Conquest of Ireland Assuredly if those two I dolles or counterfets which were set vp against him in the beginning of his raign had not found footing and followers in this Lande King Henrie the seuenth had sent neither horse nor foote hither but let the Pale to the Guard and defence of the fraternitie of Saint George which stood till the tenth year of his raigne And therefore vpon the erection of the first I doll which was Lambert the Priests Boy he transmitted no forces but sent ouer Sir Richard Edgecomb with Commission to take an Oath of