the chief causes that obstructed the Conquest of Ireland till about the latter end of Queen Elizabeths reign as to Martial Affairs And secondly loosness in the Civil Government of Ireland for not communicating the Laws of England to the Irish I shall now endeavour in the next place to give some satisfaction touching those defects that were observed to be in the Civil Policy and Government of this Kingdome which gave no less impediment to the full Conquest thereof which doth first consist in this That the Crown of England did not from the beginning give Laws to the Irishry though the Irish did often desire to be admitted to the benefit of it and protection of the English Laws but could not obtain it For although King Henry the Second before his return out of Ireland held a Counfel or Parliament at Lismore where the Laws of England were willingly accepted off by all the Irishry and that confirm'd by their Oaths And though King John in the twelfth year of his Reign did establish the English Laws and Customes here and the Courts of Judicature at Dublin and placed Sheriffs and other Ministers to rule and govern the people according to the Laws of England yet it is evident by all the Records of this Kingdome that onely the English Colonies and some few Septs of the Irishry as O Neal of Vlster O Malaghlin of Meath O Connagher of Connaght O Brien of Thomond and Mac Muorrogh of Lynster who were enfranchised by special Charters were admitted to the benefit and protection of the Laws of England for in them onely the English Laws were published and put in execution and in them onely did the Itinerant Judges make their Circuits and Visitations of Justice as namely in the Counties of Dublin Kildare Meth Vriel Catherlogh Kilkenny Wexford Waterford Cork Limrick Kerry and Typperary and not in the Countries possessed by the Irishry which contained at least two third parts of the Kingdome and even in these Counties the said Laws stretcht no farther then the Lands of the English Colonies did extend so that the Irish were not only disabled to bring any actions but they were so far out of the protection of the Law as it was often adjudged no Fellony to kill a meer Irish man in time of Peace from whence it came to pass that in all the Parliament Rolls which are extant from the 40th year of Edward the Third when the Statutes of Kilkenny were enacted till the Reign of King Henry the Eighth we find the degenerate and disobedient English called Rebels but the Irish which were not in the Kings Peace are called Enemies Whereby it it is manifest that such as had the Government of Ireland under the Crown of England did intend to maintain a perpetual Separation and Enmity between the English and the Irish pretending that the English should in the end be able to root out the Irish which the English not being able to effect caused a perpetual War between both Nations which continued four hundred and odd years and might have continued to the worlds end if in the end of Queen Elizabeths Reign the Irishry had not been broken and Conquered by the Sword and since the beginning of King James his Reign had not been protected and governed by the Law Contrary to the practice of the Romans and others c. who communicated their Laws to the Conquered This was contrary to the practice of the Roman State which Conquered so many barbarous and civil Nations and therefore knowing by experience the best and readiest way of making a perfect and absolute Conquest refused not to communicate their Laws to the rude and barbarous people whom they had conquered neither did they ever put them out of their Protection after they had once submitted themselves but rather the better to assure their conquest by all the means imaginable they could allured them to Civility and Learning whereof the antient Britains were a famous instance This was also against the practise William the Conqueror used who governed both the Normans and the English under one Law And against the prudent course that hath been observed in the reducing of Wales partly perform'd by King Edward the First and altogether finished by King Henry the Eighth by dividing the whole Countrey into Shires and Circuits and establishing a Common-wealth amongst them according to the English Government by means whereof that entire Countrey was in a short time so securely setled in Peace and Obedience and hath attained to that civility of manners and plenty of all things as now we find it not inferiour to the best parts of England That the over great proportions of Land granted to the first Conquerors of Ireland occasioned great inconveniencies The next Error in the Civil Policy which hindered the perfection of the Conquest of Ireland did consist in the distribution of the Lands and Possessions which were won and conquered from the Irish For the Scopes of Land which were granted to the first Adventurers were too large and the Liberties and Royalties which they obtained therein were too great for Subjects though it stood with reason that they should be liberally rewarded out of the fruits of their own labours since they managed the War upon their own account and received no pay from the Crown of England whereupon ensued divers inconveniencies that gave great impediment to the Conquest for first Earl Strongbow was entituled to the whole Kingdom of Lynster partly by Invasion and partly by Marriage albeit he surrendered the same entirely to King Henry the Second his Soveraign The manner how Ireland was divided amongst the first Engâ—ish Conquerors for that with his License he came over and with the aid of his Subjects he had gained that great Inheritance yet did the King regrant back again to him and his Heiâ—s all that Province reserving only the City of Dublin and the Cantreds next adjoyning with the Maritine Towns and principal Forts and Castles Next the same King granted to Robert Fitz-Stephen and Miles Cogan the whole Kingdom of Corke from Lismore to the Sea To Philip le Bruce he gave the whole Kingdome of Lymrick with the Donation of Bishopricks and Abbies except the City and one Cantred of Land adjoyning To Sir Hugh de Lacy all Meath To Sir John de Courcy all Vlster To William Bourke Fitz-Adelin the greatest part of Connaght In like manner Sir Thomas de Clare obtained a grant of all Thomond and Otho de Grandison of all Tipperary and Robert le Poor of the Territory of Waterford the City it self and the Cantred of the Oastmen only excepted And thus was alâ— Ireland Cantonized among ten Persons of the English Nation And though 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 be granted to the Natives whose petty Kings and Great ones our great English Lords could not endure
gallant and truly meritorious The Irish unanimously agreed to root the English out of Ireland It is not to be denyed but that the first and most bloudy executions were made in the Prevince of Vlster and there they continued longest to execute their rage and cruelty yet must it be acknowledged that all the other three Provinces did concur with them as it were with one common consent to destroy and pluck up by the roots all the British planted throughout the Kingdom And for this purpose they went on not only murdering stripping and driving out all of them Men Women and Children but they laid wast their Habitations burnt their evidences defaced in many places all the Monuments of Civility and Devotion the Courts and places of the English Government Nay as some of themselves exprest it they resolved not to leave them either Name or Posterity in Ireland Having thus far briefly rendered an account touching matter of fact That the Irish can pretend no grievances as motives to the last Rebellion An. 164â— transacted in this most bloudy Rebellion I shall in the next place take an occasion to enquire whether this desperate resolution of the Irish proceeded from the sense of some grievous oppressions imposed upon by their English Governours or rather meerly from an impetuous desire they had to draw the whole Government of the Kingdom of Ireland into their own hands Upon due consideration whereof I cannot find they had the least cause to complain of oppression for his late Majesties Indulgence was so great towards his Subjects of Ireland as that in the year 1640. upon their complaints and a general Remonstrance sent over unto him from both Houses of Parliament then sitting at Dublin by a Committee of four Temporal Lords of the Upper House and twelve Members of the House of Commons with instructions to represent the heavy pressures they had for some time suffered under the Government of the Earl of Strafford He took these Grievances into his Royal Consideration descended so far to their satisfaction as that he heard them himself and made present Provisions for their redress And upon the decease of Mr. Wandsford Master of the Rolls in Ireland and then Lord Deputy there under the said Earl of Strafford who still continued Lord Lieutenant of that Kingdom though then accused of High Treason and imprisoned in the Tower of London by the Parliament of England His Majesty sent a Commission of Government to the Lord Dillon of Kilkenny West and Sir William Parsons Knight and Baronet Master of the Wards in Ireland yet soon after finding the choice of the Lord Dillon to be much disgusted by the Committee he did at their Motion cause the said Commission to be Cancell'd and with their consent and approbation placed the Government upon Sir William Parsons and Sir John Borlace Knight Master of the Ordinance both esteemed persons of great Integrity and the Master of Wards by reason of his very long continued imployment in the State his particular knowledge of the Kingdom much valued and well beloved amongst the People They took the Sword upon the ninth of February 1640. And in the first place they aplyed themselves with all gentle lenitives to mollifie the sharp humours raised by the rigid passages in the former Government They declared themselves against all such proceedings lately used as they found any ways varying from the Common Law They gave all due encouragement to the Parliament then sitting to endeavour the reasonable ease and contentment of the people freely ascenting to all such Acts as really tended to a Legal Reformation They betook themselves wholly to the advice of the Councel and caused all matters as well of the Crown as Popular Interest to be handled in his Majesties Courts of Justice no way admitting the late exorbitancies so bitterly decryed in Parliament of Paper-Petitions or Bills in Civil Causes to be brought before them at the Councel-board or before any other by their Authority They by his Majesties gracious directions gave way to the Parliament to abate the Subsidies there given in the Earl of Straffords time and then in Collection from forty thousand pounds each Subsidy to twelve thousand pounds a piece so low did they think fit to reduce them And they were farther content because they saw his Majesty most absolutely resolved to give the Irish Agents full satisfaction to draw up two Acts to be passed in the Parliament most impetuously desired by the Natives The one was the Act of Limitations which unquestionably settled all Estates of Land in the Kingdom quietly enjoyed without claim or interruption for the space of sixty years immediately preceding The other was for the relinquishment of the right and title which his Majesty had to the four Counties in Connaght legally found for him by several Inquisitions taken in them and ready to be disposed upon a due Survey to British undertakers as also to some Territories of good extant in Mounster and the County of Clare upon the same title Thus was the present Government most sweetly tempered and carryed on with great lenity and moderation the Lords Justices and Councel wholly departing from the rigour of former courses did gently unbend themselves into a happy and just compliance with the seasonable desires of the people And his Majesty that he might farther testify his own settled resolution for the continuation thereof with the same tender hand over them having first given full satisfaction in all things to the said Committee of Parliament still attending their dispatch did about the latter end of May 1641. declare Kobert Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant General of the Kingdom of Ireland He was Heir to Sir Philip Sidney his Unckle as well as to Sir Henry Sidney his Grandfather who with great Honour and much Integrity long continued Chief Governour of Ireland during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth and being a person of excellent Abilities by Nature great Acquisitions from his own private Industry and publick Imployment abroad of exceeding great Temper and Moderation was never engaged in any publick pressures of the Common-wealth and therefore most likely to prove a just and gentle Governour most pleasing and acceptable to the people The Romish Catholicks privately enjoyed the exercise of their Religion through all Ireland Moreover the Romish Catholicks privately enjoyed the free exercise of their Religion throughout the whole Kingdom according to the Doctrine of the Church of Rome They had by the over great indulgence of the late Governours their Titular Arch-bishops Bishops Vicars general Provincial Consistories Deans Abbots Priors Nuns who all lived freely though somewhat covertly among them and without controul exercised a voluntary jurisdiction over them they had their Priests Jesuits and Fryars who were of late years exceedingly multiplyed and in great numbers returned out of Spain Italy and other forreign parts where the Children of the Natives of Ireland that way devoted were sent usually to receive their Education And these without
that the Parliament of England had with great alacrity and readiness undertaken the War and not only engaged themselves to his Majesty to send over powerful supplies both out of England and Scoâ—land but by their publick order of both Houses sent over to the Lords Justices and Printed at Dublin in the month of November fully declared their resolutions for the vigorous prosecution of the War of Ireland And that some Forces were arrived at Dublin out of England the Siege of Drogedah or Tredagh raised those bold perfidious Traitors beaten back into the North the Lords of the Pale banished by force of his Majesties Armies of their own Habitations which were all spoiled and laid waste yet I say Such was the strength of the Conspiracy and so deeply were they engaged in it as that Limrick and Gallaway did openly declare themselves for the Rebels The one by besieging the English who had betaken themselves for protection in the Castle of Limrick And the other those who had upon the like score possessed themselves of the Fort of Gallaway both being at last forced to yeild for want of timely relief by means whereof many thousands of the English were exposed to the slaughter of their barbarous Enemies in a great part of the Provinces of Connaght Leinster and Munster which otherwise might have been wholy preserved from ruine if these two Towns alone which are admirable for their strength and situation had but cheerfully opened their Gates to the destressed and firmly continued in their ancient Loyalty to the Crown of England But seeing they so wilfully acted this mad part by the powerful advice of their Popish Priests and Lawyers wherewith they did at that time mightily abound having then but a very inconsiderable number of Protestant Families to bear any sway amongst them I shall therefore conclude that next to a good Standing Army the most infallible way under God to secure both the Government and the British Planters in Ireland is to have the chief Towns and Fortresses thereof for the most part if not altogether Inhabited by Protestant Families A brief Character of the principal of which are here presented to your view and consideration in hopes that many more well worthy of notice will shortly be added to this number by such ingenious persons as are throughly acquainted with and well affected to that Country The Characters of the Chief Towns and Cities of IRELAND as they lie in each Province and first of those in the Province of Munster viz. MVNSTER WATERFORD Waterford on the River Shoure a well traded Port a Bishops See and the second City of the Kingdome of great fidelity till of late to the English since the Conquest of Ireland and for that cause endowed with many ample Priviledges First built by some Norwegian Pyrates who though they fixed it in one of the most barren parts and most foggy Aire of all the Country yet they made choice of such a safe and Commodious Site for the use of Shipping that of a Nest of Pyrates it was soon made a Receit for Merchants and suddenly grew up to great Wealth and Power And though it stands at a reasonable good distance from the main Sea yet Ships of the greatest burthen may safely saile to and ride at Anchor before the Key thereof which I presume is the handsomest of any in the Kings Dominions And for the conveniency of conveighing Commodities in smaller Vessels to several Towns in the adjacent Countries and namely Clonmell Carricke Rosse Kilkenny Carloe c. by two brave Navigable Rivers more neer Neighbours to this viz. the Noare and Barrow commonly called the three Sisters because a little below Waterford they all empty themselves in one channel into the Sea no place in Ireland can any way compare with it except Limrick This may be farther observed that this is the neerest Port and the readiest place in all Ireland to correspond with Bristol and all other Towns of Traffick upon the River Severn by a due Easterly wind from Bristol hither and so back from hence to Bristol by a due Westerly wind without any variation which necessity of various winds in the same Voyage occasions oftentimes passages at Sea to become both tedious and dangerous Kingsale Kingsale upon the Mouth of the River Bany a commodious Port opposite to the Coasts of Spain and fortified in Tirones Rebellion by a Spanish Garison under the command of Don John D' Aquila but soon recovered after the defeat of that Grand Rebel neer the Walls thereof by the valour and indefatigable industry of Charles Lord Montjoy the then Lord Deputy of this Kingdom This Town hath this peculiar property that it is the only safe and ready Port in all Ireland for our English Ships and others to victual at or refresh themselves bounding for or returning homewards from the West Indies and many other parts of the World Corke Corke by the Latines called Corcagia the principal of that County and a Bishops See well walled and fitted with a very commodious Haven consisting chiefly of one Street reaching out in length Inhabited by a civil wealthy and industrious people being now generally all English This may be farther said in praise of this place that it is like to be ere long as in good part already a very flourishing City being the Shire Town of the largest richest and best Inhabited County with English and Irish of any in Ireland And withal the only throughfare of all English Goods and Commodities as they tearm them namely rich Broad-Cloaths Stuffs and Linnen Fruits Spices c. sent most commonly this way out of England for those two remarkable Port-Towns of Limrick and Gallaway Yonghall Yonghall upon the Sea provided of a safe Road or convenient Haven it hath this peculiar that it is the most convenient place in all the South parts of Ireland from whence to transport Cattle Sheep c. to Mynhead or to any parts of the West of England Limrick Limrick the principal of that County and the fourth in estimation of all the Kingdome Situate in an Island compassed round about with the River Shannon by which means well fortified A well frequented Empory and a Bishops See Distant from the main Ocean about sixty miles but so accommodated by the River that Ships of burthen come up close to the very Walls The Castle and the Bridge pieces of great strength and beauty were of the foundation of King John exceedingly delighted with the situation This may be farther observed touching the happy situation of this place in relation to Traffick and Commerce that though by reason of some Cataracts or Rocky Falls in the River Shannon a little above Limrick the Merchants are necessitated for the space of about eight or nine miles to convey their Goods by Land as far as Killaloo but being brought thither they may be carried up along the said River by Boats of indifferent good Burthen into many parts of the