to raise a Monarchy for himself Whereupon he was recalled and the Government committed unto John Constable of Cheshire May 1181. Baron of Halton-Castle and Richard de Peach Lord Bishop of Coventry Lords Justices of Ireland But they continued in that Dignity but three Months for Lacy behaved himself with that Discretion and Modesty and gave the King such Satisfaction in all Matters objected against him That Hugh de Lacy August 1181. Lord Justice was again sent over with Robert of Shrewsbury a Clergy-man his Assistant and about the same time the famous Courcy also returned being Dignified with the Titles of Lord of Connaught and Earl of Vlster and accompanied with his Brother S. Laurence There were some who reported That these two fought a successful Battle with the Irish Brady 367. at the Bridge of Ivora near the Hill of Hoath where the Valour of S. Laurence was so conspicuous that it got him both the Land and Title of Hoath which last continues to this Day in his Name and Family We left Cogan and Fitz-Stephens in the peaceable Enjoyment of their Kingdom of Cork but we shall not find them so for Cogan and young Fitz-Stephens at the Persuasion and Invitation of one Mac Tirid made a Journey to Lismore to treat with the Men of Waterford about some Controversies that were between them they were to lodge at Mac Tirid's House but he perfidiously took his Opportunity and unexpectedly fell upon them and murdered them and five of their Company Immediately the whole Country was up in Arms and conspired a general Rebellion Donald More in Curraugh Mac Carthy whom the Irish still called King of Cork got his Forces together and laid Siege to the City not doubting but that he had now a favourable Opportunity to expel the English thence The Poor Old Fitz-Stephens was in a sad Condition distressed by Enemies without and Suspicions of Traytors within he had no Hopes of Relief or Assistance saving only from Reymond le Gross who lay at Wexford to him a Messenger was sent and without Delay put to Sea with twenty Gentlemen and one hundred Archers and entred the River of Cork whereupon the Enemy dispersed and all was set at Rights again Nevertheless as soon as the King heard of the aforesaid Treachery he sent Richard Cogan Philip Barry Giraldus Cambrensis and a Good Party of Horse and Foot to help Fitz-Stephens by their Assistance the City and Kingdom of Cork were kept in Quiet for some Time but the Old Fitz-Stephens had but little Benefit of it for being much broken with Age and Misfortunes he first lost his Senses and not long afterwards his Life But Lacy the Lord Justice was again become suspected for as he grew Great his Enemies grew Envious and the King Jealous so that he was once more sent for and Philip of Worcester September 1184. Lord Justice or Governour of Ireland came over with a smart Party of Horse and Foot he also brought with him Hugh Tirrel a Man of ill Report He was not long in the Government before he seized on the Lands of O Cathesie to the King's Use though Lacy had formerly sold them He also went a Circuit to visit the Garisons and in March came to Armagh where he exacted from the Clergy a great Sum of Mony thence he went to Down and so to Dublin loaden both with Curses and Extortions Tirrel took a Brewing-Pan from the poor Priests at Armagh and carried it to Down but the House where he lay was burnt and so were also the Horses in the Stable so that he was fain to leave the Pan for want of Carriage and Philip had a severe fit of the Gripes like to cost him his Life both which Punishments they say were miraculously inflicted upon them for their Sacrilege In July came over John Comin Archbishop of Dublin to prepare for the King 's youngest Son John Earl of Moreton to whom the Kingdom of Ireland was assigned towards his Portion Brady 369. Some say that he was made King of Ireland at the Parliament held at Oxford 4 Inst 360. anno 1177. his Father having obtained Licence from the Pope to make which of his Sons he pleased King thereof saving to the See of Rome the Peter-pence and the rest of its Rights And it seems Pope Vrban the Third sent Cardinal Octavianus and Hugo de Nunant his Legates to crown John King of Ireland and by them sent him a Crown of Peacocks Feathers But King Henry better considered of that matter and either because he would not seem to derive his Son's Title from the Pope or because he was loath to trust his Son with that Royal Stile having already suffered by the like Indulgence to his eldest Son or because he saw it Inconvenient and Illegal to separate Ireland from the Crown of England It is certain he found means to carry the Legates with him into Normandy and thereby prevented that once designed Coronation So that the Impression of the Great Seal of Ireland was no more than this Johannes Filius Regis Angliae Speed 478. Domini Hiberniae Earl John was then about twelve Years old when on Wednesday in Easter-week 1185. anno 1185 with about four hundred Gentlemen most Normans some Clerks and particularly Giraldus Cambrensis and a great Company of others he took Shipping at Milford-Haven being accompanied to the very Ship by Randulph Glanvile principal Counseller of the King and Kingdom and Justiciary of England The Irish Potentates flock'd to their new Prince but their Trouses and Mantles their Glibbs and Behaviour were derided by the Normans who used them scurrilously one pats the Irish Prince on the Pate another pulls him by the Mantle a third pricks him in the Breech with a Pin a fourth shuts the Door upon his Heels every Body abuses them Wherefore away they get as fast as they can and every-where publish'd the Ill Usage they received at Court Rotherick O Conner Mac Carthy and O Bryan were then preparing for their Journey but upon this News they better considered it and confederated to raise a general Rebellion There were many Reasons why Earl John's Voyage to Ireland was not successful The Superstitious People observ'd That he had not pay'd his Devotions at S. Davids before he imbarqued and attributed it to that Others blamed him and his Followers more for their Rude and Ungenteel Abuse of the Irish Lords and Gentlemen Others imputed all to the Debauchery of the Soldiers who by the example of their Captains were grown Idle and Insolent Wherein they were the more indulged because they were ill paid To these may be added the Litigiousness of the Natives in Towns and Cities who were perpetually wrangling with and suing such new Inhabitants as came to settle among them But there was a greater Cause than all these which arose from the different Interests then in Ireland which inâ—luenced the Normans English Welch and the Natives The Normans were most in
Favour and consequently luxurious they always followed the Court and hated to be put in Frontier Garrisons or Places of Danger They were says Cambrensis great Talkers Boasters and Swearers very Proud and Contemners of all others greedy of Places of Places of Honour and Profit but backward in undertaking any hazardous and dangerous Action or performing any Service that might deserve them Moreover many of the English and Welch were dispossest of their best and safest Castles to make Room for the Normans and forc'd to take others in Exchange on the Frontiers by which means they were impoverish'd and discourag'd Add to this That several of the faithful Irish who had submitted to the English Government and lived within their Quarters and thereby became acquainted with the English Conversations Humors Strength Policies Seats and Habitations were likewise dispossess'd to make Room for the Normans and thereby forced to revolt to the Irish and became the most Dangerous of all the Enemies as being most Knowing and most Provok'd And thus it came to pass that after Earl John had wasted his Army in small and unprofitable Skirmishes and had staid eight months and done no other Good than that he built the Castle of Tybrach perhaps Typerary Lismore and Ardfinin the King sent for him and his Beardless Counsellors and in his Room substituted John de Courcy Earl of Vlster Lord Lieutenant of Ireland he brought over with him about four hundred Volunteers 1185. September And soon after his arrival he made a Progress into Munster and Connaught to put those Countries in order but it seems he fell into an Ambush or had some Skirmish with the Irish for it is said That he lost twelve Knights in his Return from Connaught 1186. On Midsummer-day the Prime of Limerick slew four Knights and a great part of the Garrison of Ardfinin And soon after by a Slight drew that Garrison into an Ambush by exposing a Prey to their View which they thought to have taken but he fell upon them and surprized and slew most of them But the Irish had not so good luck in Meath where they of Kenally had made Incursions and taken a Prey for William Petit rescued the Prey defeated them with great Slaughter and sent an hundred of their Heads to Dublin Old Lacy was now busie building his Castle of Derwath and himself working with a Pick-ax for Diversion when one of the malicious and ungrateful Workmen took the Opportunity whilst he was stooping Cambden 151. and with another Pick-Ax knock'd out his Brains And it seems there was an Insurrection thereupon for it is said That Courcy and Young Lacy revenged the Murder and reduced all things to quiet But it seems afterwards there grew some Distast between Courcy and Lacy so that Lacy who was the better Courtier supplanted Courcy who was the better Soldier and got himself into his Room This Courcy came from Stoke-courcy commonly call'd Stogussy in the County of Somerset I find that Robert de Courcy was made a Baron at Westminster 33 Henry 1. but whether he was the Ancestor of this Family I will not determine This Earl of Vlster had a natural Son John Lord of Kilbarrock and Raheny who was murdered by the Lacyes so that it is the Brother of this Earl John that was the Ancestor of the Noble Family of Courcy Lord Baron of Kingsale In the mean time King Henry died in Normandy on the sixth Day of July 1189. He was so well pleased with the Conquest of Ireland Davis 11. that he placed the Title of Lord of Ireland in his Royal Style before his Hereditary Estates of Normandy and Aquitain Baron Finglas M. S. And yet that Country was at that Time so inconsiderable or so little improv'd that there were not five Castles or Piles for Defence of Irish building in the whole Kingdom Dublin Cork and Waterford were built by the Easterlings and all the rest have been built since the Reduction of Ireland This King was both Wise and Valiant he was also Generous to the highest Degree so that he deserved to be ranked among the bravest Princes of that or any other Age and perhaps had made as great a Figure in History as any of them if the Undutifulness of Becket and the Rebellion of his own Sons had not interrupted his Designs However there are some who will never forgive him the Conquest of Ireland and therefore do load his Memory with many Malicious Aspersions equally Ridiculous and False Polichronicon l. 7. c. 21. They say his Grandmother could not endure the Mass and that her Husband ordered four Knights to hold her by Force whilst the Priest was celebrating but in spight of them she flew out of the Window with two of her Sons and was never seen after And that 't is no Wonder they that come of the Devil should go to the Devil And that King Henry's Embassador urging the King's Son to have Peace with his Father was answered That it was Natural to their Brood to hate one another That Henry was a Bastard and that S. Bernard the Abbot prophesied of him That from the Devil he came and to the Devil he should go That his Father had gelded a Bishop and that himself had murdered S. Thomas of Canterbury That his Father had Carnal Knowledge of Henry's Queen Elianor and abundance more of such silly Stuff THE REIGN OF John Earl of Moreton LORD of IRELAND Afterwards King of England Duke of Normandy c. RICHARD I 1189. for his Valour Sirnamed Ceur de Lyon by unquestionable Right Succeeded his Father on the Throne of England and was crowned at Westminster the third Day of September 1189 but his Style was no more than Speed 482. Rex Anglor dux Normannor Acquitan comes Andegavor For John Earl of Moreton youngest Son of the deceased King by virtue of the aforesaid Donation at the Parliament at Oxford anno 1177 succeeded his Father in the Sovereignty of Ireland And therefore we find the Pope's Legate had Commission to exercise Jurisdiction in Anglia Davis 19. Wallia illis Hiberniae partibus in quibus Johanes Comes Moretonii potestatem habet dominium For tho' it be a Fundamental Maxim of State That Ireland must not be separated from the Crown of England And tho' it be also an undoubted Maxim of Law That the King cannot alien any part of his Dominions yet neither of these were thought to be transgressed by the aforesaid Donation because it was made to the King's Son whose Interest and Expectations in England were thought to be sufficient Security for his Good Behaviour What Controulment Earl John might have met with in the Soveraignty of Ireland if the King Richard had been at Leisure to inspect that Matter is incertain But it is manifest That the King was so taken up with his Voyage to the Holy Land and so embarassed by the unfortunate Consequences of it that he never did
take any notice of Ireland and therefore we take no further notice of him than to give this brief Account of the Reason of our Silence in that Particular Hugh de Lacy was made Lord Justice of Ireland as aforesaid And as soon as he arrived he sent Imperious Letters to Courcy to discharge him of his Command and behaved himself so insolently that all was in Disorder Which the Irish perceiving and also that the King of England was preparing for a Voyage to the Holy Land they thought this an happy Opportunity to extirpate the English to which End they had a General Meeting and resolved unanimously to fall upon them Hanmer 169. and in order to it they entred into a League or Association and solemnly swore First To be true to one another and to the common Cause Secondly Never to yield any Obedience to the English again Ibid 162. And to begin the Business they fell upon Roger Poer Governour of Leighlin and barbarously murdered him and most of the Garrison Cormock O Connor Son of Rotherick King of Connaught commonly called Crove Darig because his Hand was red was the chief of the Conspirators he was an Active Valiant Gentleman and of so great Reputation that he was able to assemble twenty thousand Men of his own and the Confederates with which Army he designed first to clear Connaught then Vlster and afterwards the whole Kingdom In the mean Time Courcy Lord of Connaught and Earl of Vlster considering that he should have no Aid nor Help from the Lord Justice endeavoured to strengthen himself the best he could and to that End sent for his Brother S. Lawrence who made more Haste than good Speed for he came away with thirty Horse and two hundred Foot and at Knockmoy in the County of Galway fell into an Ambush the King of Connaught had laid for him and tho' they fought so valiantly that they killed one thousand Irish Men yet the Issue was That this small Army was totally destroyed not one escaping And tho' O Connor in Remembrance and Ostentation of this Victory did there build the Abbey de Colle Victoriae yet when he had well considered the prodigious Valour of that Handful of Men and his own Loss he thought himself necessitated to sue to Lacy for Peace which he soon obtained upon reasonable Conditions About this Time Robin Hood and Litle John were Famous Robbers in England but their Company being dispersed and Robin Hood taken Litle John fled to Dublin and shot an Arrow from Dublin-Bridge to the litle Hill in Oxman-Town thence called Litle John's Shot He was called Litle John Ironically for he was not less than fourteen Foot long believe it who will Hector Boetius affirms The Hole of his Huckle Bone was so big that he could thrust his Hand through it He fled from Dublin to Scotland where he dyed This Year Isabel 1189. only Daughter of Strongbow by Eva Prencess of Leinster was married to William Lord Maxfield Earl Marshal of England He was a great Favourite to King Richard and at his Coronation carried the Regal Scepter whereon was a Cross of Gold He was afterward by King John Hanmer 177. created Earl of Pembrook and had five Sons who were successively Earls and all died without Issue and he had five Daughters among whom his Estate was divided viz. to Joan the County of Waxford to Matilda the County of Caterlough to Isabel the County of Kilkenny to Sybilla the County of Kildare and to Eva the Mannor of Downmass in Leix now the Queen's County in all which they exercised Palatine Jurisdiction Of this Family Thomas Mills in his Catalogue of Honour gives this Account That Richard Earl of Chepstow was nick-named Strongbow because of his exceeding Strength so that he drew an traordinary Srong Bow his Arms were so long that he could stand upright and with the Palms of his Hands touch his Knees That his Daughter Isabel was fourteen Years a Ward to Henry II That her Husband William Earl Marshal was created Earl of Pembrook 27 May 1199 and that she dyed anno 1221 and was buried at Tintern Abbey and that he dyed 16 March 1219. They had five Sons and five Daughters William married Elianor Sister of Henry III and died the sixth of April 1231. Richard died the sixteenth of April 1234. Gilbert married Margaret Daughter of William King of Scotland 1235 and died by a fall from his Horse the twenty eighth of May 1242. Walter died 1245 in Wales and Anselm died the same Month viz the twenty first of December Maud successively married Hugh Earl of Norfolk William Earl of Warren and Walier Lord Dunstanvil Joan married Warren Lord Montchensy the richest Baron in England Isabel married Gilbert Earl of Glocester and afterwards Richard Earl of Cornwal King of the Romans Sybil married William Earl of Ferrers and Darby and Eve married William de Brees Lord of Brecknock and Partition was made between these Noble Coparceners at Woodstock Lib. G. May 3. 31 Hen. 3. About this Time 1190. viz. Anno 1190 the City of Dublin was burnt by Accident 1191. so that it was almost totally destroyed and the Kingdom was governed by William Petit Burlace 11. who held it a very short Time before William Earl of Pembrook and Earl Marshal of England came over Lord Justice or Governour of Ireland he was the third of the Temporal Assistants King Richard had left to the Bishop of Ely for the Government of England he was a Valiant Man and had a great Estate in Ireland 1191. and therefore was thought the fittest Governour for that Country in this Critical Time whilst King Richard was Prisoner in Austria and Earl John was engaged in Troublesome and Ambitious Designs in England In the Year 1194. the Reliques of S. Malachy Bishop of Clareval Cambden 151. were brought into Ireland and with great Reverence and Devotion deposited in the Abby of Mellifont and other the Monasteries of the Cistersian Order It seems the Reputation or Power of this Noble Governour was sufficient to keep Ireland quiet 1197. for we read of little or no Disturbance there during his Time which was about six Years And then he resign'd to Hanno de valois a Gentleman of Suffolk Lord Justice of Ireland who continued in that Government until the Death of King Richard which happened at Chalons in France on the sixth Day of April anno 1199. John Earl of Moreton and Lord of Ireland did on the Death of King Richard without Title ascend the Throne of England Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury was a great assistant to this Usurpation he told the People That John had the Crown by Election which the King did not then gain-say it being no fit Time to dispute the MANNER so he had the THING he aimed at but the Right was in his Nephew Arthur whom he afterwards got into his Hands and caused him him to be murdered as was at that Time generally reported
the Observation of the English Laws in Ireland which I have already recited in the Reign of King John Hubert de Burgo or Burgh Chief Justice of England and Earl of Kent Splem Gloss 340. was made Earl of Connaught and Lord Justice of Ireland during Life and because he could not personally attend he deputed Richard de Burgo Lord Justice or Deputy to whom the King sent the following Writ March 10. 1227. for establishing the English Laws in Ireland REX dilecto sideli suo Ricardo de Burgo Justiciario suo Hiberniae Prin. 252. salutem Mandamus vobis firmiter praecipientes quatenus certo die loco faciatis venire coram vobis Archiepiscopos Episcopos Abbates Priores Comites Barones Milites libere tenentes Balivos singulorum Comitatuum coram eis publice legi faciatis Cartam Domini J. Regis Patris nostri cui Sigillum suum appensum est quam fieri fecit jurari à Magnatibus Hiberniae de Legibus Consuetudinibus Anglorum observandis in Hibernia praecipiatis eis ex parte nostra quod Leges illas ad Consuetudines in Carta praedict ' contentas de cetero firmiter teneant observent Et hoc idem per singulos Comitatus Hiberniae clamari faciatis teneri prohibentes firmiter ex parte nostra Forisfacturam nostram ne quis contra hoc Mandatum nostrum venire praesumat ' Eo excepto quod nec de Morte nec de Catallis Hibernensium occisorum nihil statuatur ex parte nostra citra quindecem dies à die Sancti Michaelis anno regni nostri duodecimo super quo respectum dedimus Magnatibus nostris Hibern ' usque ad terminum praedict Teste meipso apud Westmonast oct die Maii anno regni nostri duodecimo And at the same Time he received two Writs about the Debts due from the King to the late Lord Justice Archbishop Londres Burlace 20 21. and a third Writ to pay him an hundred Pound per annum out of the Rent of the City of Limerick and fifty Pound per ann out of the Rent of Dublin But this Justice did not continue long in the Government for his Patron Hubert de Burgh falling into the King's Displeasure both the one and the other were remov'd And Maurice Fitz-Gerald was made Lord Justice 1229. In whose Time viz. 14 Hen. 3. happened the great Case of Coparceners to decide which the King sent over by way of Writ what in the printed Statues is called Statutum Hiberniae And tho' the Lord Justice is there named Girald yet it is by Mistake for Girald Fitz-Maurice who was the Lord Justice's Father died anno 1205. And there is another Mistake in that Statute for it is said to be made 24 Regis whereas the Year 1229. could be but the fourteenth Year of his Reign Now came over Stephen the Pope's Chaplain to demand the Tenths of all Moveables to support the Holy See against the Efforts of Frederick the Emperour Hanmer 191. It was so hard a Tax in Ireland that they were fain to part with not only their Cadows and Aquavitae but also with their Chalices and Altar-Cloaths Not long after died William Earl Marshal Prince or Lord of Leinster 1231. who anno 1223 gave a new Charter to his Town of Kilkenny he was buried in the Choire of the Friers Preachers at Kilkenny and was succeeded in his Estates and Titles by his Brother Richard On the second Day of September 1232. the Lord Justice returned out of England but when he went thither or who was Deputy in his Absence non constat On the seventh of April 1233 Holingshead 27. say some but I think 1234 the English and the O Connors c. had a Battle on the Curragh of Kildare 1234. wherein Richard Earl Marshal Prince of Leinster had very foul Play from those of his own Side so that he was there mortally wounded and died in five Days after To atone for this the Lord Justice who went into England to satisfie the King in that Matter offered to build a Monastery and endow it liberally to pray for the Soul of Earl Richard Hanmer 195. And so at length by the intercession of the King and the importunate Entreaties of the Nobility Gilbert Earl Marshal and the Lord Justice were reconciled 1235. It seems the Alarm was very great on Earl Richard's Death for the King to Comfort and Quiet the Citizens of Dublin assured them by his Writ That he summon'd the Great Men of England Pryn 253. to consult about the Safety of England and Ireland and that their Determinations should be speedily communicated to them at Dublin From whence Mr. Pryn observes That the Laws and Ordinances of the King and Parliament of England did bind Ireland in those Days But it seems that about this Time the Spiritual Courts did encroach too much on the Temporal Jurisdiction 1233. and therefore the King sent over the following Writ REX Co. Lit. 141. Comitibus Baronibus Militibus liberis Hominibus omnibus aliis de Terra Hibern ' salutem Quia manifeste esse dignoscitur contra Coronam Dignitatem nostram Consuetudines Leges Regni nostri Angl ' quas bonae memoriae Dominis Johannes Rex Pater noster de communi omnium de Hibern ' consensu teneri statuit in Terra illa quod placita teneantur in curia Christianitatis de advocationibus Ecclesiarum Capellarum vel de laico feodo vel de catallis quae non sunt de Testamento vel Matrimonio vobis mandamus prohibentes quatenus hujusmodi placita in curia Christianitatis nullatenus sequi presumatis in manifestum Dignitatis Coronae nostrae prejudicium scituri pro certo quod si feceritis dedimus in Mandatis Justiciario nostro Hiberniae statutae curiae nostra in Anglia contra transgressiones hujus Mandati nostri cum justicia procedat quod nostrum est exsequatur Teste Rege 28 Octobr. Decimo oct Regni nostri c. mandatum est Justiciario Hibern per literas clausas quod predictas Literas Patentes publice legi teneri faciat In the Year 1234 died Walter Lacy Lord of Meath without Issue Male so that his great Estate was divided between his two Daughters viz. Margaret married to the Lord Theobald Verdon and Matilda married to Geofry Geneville Whilst the Lord Justice was in England the King of Connaught exhibited a grievous Complaint against John de Burgo That he had entred his Country with Forces Hanmer 195. and wasted the same with Fire and Sword humbly beseeching his Majesty to do him Justice and to bridle such rash Attempts Alledging That he was a loyal Subject and payed for his Kingdom an annual Pension Davis 123. amounting in all from his first Subjection to five thousand Marks and desired the King That he would rid him of that base
the following Order to stop any farther Proceedings upon the aforesaid illegal Writ which I do the rather recite at large because it justifies my Assertion that Ireland is inseparable from the Crown of England since we find the King effectually interpose to rectifie Miscarriages there notwithstanding the aforesaid Donation to the Prince which was as full as it could be worded REX Thesaurario Baronibus de Scaccario Dublin Ibid. 255. Salutem Quia de assensu voluntate Praelatorum Magnatum Terrae Hiberniae dudum fuit provisum concessum quod eisdem Legibus tenerentur in Terra illa quibus homines Regni nostri utuntur in Regno nostro Angliae quod eadem Brevia quoad terras tenementa recuperanda teneant in terra illa quae tenentur in regno praedicto sicut justa Et dicta provisio concessio omnibus retroactis temporibus fuerunt obtenta approbata miramur quamplurimum quod sicut ex insinuatione venerabilis patris Thomae Lismorensis Episcopi accepimus emanare permisistis ex Cancellaria Edwardi filii nostri in Hibernia contra consuetudinem obtentam formam Brevium in regno nostro usitatam Breve infra-scriptum contra praefatum Episcopum in haec verba EDwardus Illustris Regis Angliae primogenitus ad Vic. Waterford Salutem Praecipe Thomae Lismorensi Episcopo quod juste sine dilatione reddat Waltero Episcopo Waterford Maneria de Archmurdeglan Kilmurdri Motha cum pertinentiis quae clamat esse jus Ecclesiae suae in quae idem Episcopus non habet ingressum nisi per Alanum quondam Lismorensem Episcopum cui Griffinus quondam Lismorensis Episcopus qui inde injuste sine judicio disseisivit Robertum quondam Waterford Episcopum predecessorem Episcopi post ultimum reditum c. QUia vero dictum Breve tam dissonum est Stat. Marlbridge cap. 30. contra Leges Consuetudines in regno nostro tentas formas Brevium nostrorum ibidem approbatas praesertim cum Breve ingressus non transeat tertiam personam nec ratione intrationis in terram aliquam post mortem alicujus comperat actio alicui de terra illa nisi illi cui per mortem illam jus debetur in eadem Nec enim dicitur intrusio qui jure haereditario vel ratione Ecclesiae suae succedit Predecessori suo in hiis de quibus idem Predeces fuit seisitus in Dominico suo ut de feodo die quo obiit Vobis mandamus quod si dictum Breve a Cancellaria praedicta in forma praedicta emanaverit executionem ejusdem Brevis supersedeatis revocantes sine dilatione quicquid per idem Breve actum fuerit in Curia praedicti Filii nostri Teste apud Windsor 27 die Januar. Et eodem modo scribitur Adamo le Sole Justiciario Hiberniae intellige de Banco Regis Waleranno de Willesby Sociis suis Itinerantibus ut supra Alan de la Zouch 1255. who had been Chief Justice of the Kings Bench in England Hanmer 199. 34. Hen. 3. was now made Lord Justice of Ireland he had the Misfortune to be slain in Westminster-Hall by John Earl of Warren and Surrey half Brother to the King In his time some Rebel Irishmen were coming to aid the Earl of Chester against the King but Prince Edward with the English Navy had the good Fortune to meet with the Irish Fleet and to sink most of their Ships so that few of the Men were left alive to return Now flourished that famous Mathematician Johannes de Sacrobosco who was born at Holywood in Fingal not far from Dublin and thence had his Name de sacrobosco i.e. Holy wood It seems that the Prince 1258. by Virtue of the aforesaid Grant would have removed the Lord Justice and put another in his Room But the King by the Advice of the Barons of England wrote to the Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors Barons Brady 674. Knights c. That he heard his Son designed to make a new Justice in Ireland and to put his Castles into such Hands as it might be great Damage and not without fear of their disinheriting and therefore commands them not to obey such Justice Constables or Keepers of Castles made or appointed without his Letters Patents by Advice and Assent of his Council After the same manner he wrote to all the Mayors and Communities of Cities and Towns in Ireland and to the Constables of Castles and also commanded Alan de la Zouch his Justiciary not to obey or give up his Authority to any new Justiciary or Constable that should come without his Letters Patents But it seems this Matter was setled for the next Year we find Stephen de long Espee 1259. Lord Justice some call him Earl of Salisbury and Burlace stiles him Earl of Vlster but I think there is no Ground for either of the Titles he encountred O Neale and slew him and three hundred fifty two Irishmen in the Streets of Down 1260. but not long after the Lord Justice was betrayed and murdered by his own People And thereupon William Den was chosen Lord Justice In whose Time the Mac Carthyes plaid the Devil in Desmond they are the Words of my Author and by Ambuscade surprized and slew Thomas Fitz-Girald and John his Son 1261. at Calan in Desmond together with many Knights and Gentlemen of that Family whereupon the Carthyes grew so high that for the space of twelve Years the Giraldines durst not put a Plow in the Ground in Desmond Hanmer 201. until some Fewds arose between the Irish of Carby and Muskry and between the Carthyes Driscols Donovans Mahonyes and Swinyes so that they also weakned and destroyed one another and the Giraldines began to recover their Power and Authority again But the Lord Justice died this Year and Richard de Capella or Capel was made Lord Justice In his Time arose a great Contention between the Prior and Convent of Christ-Church and the Corporation of Dublin about the Tith-Fish of the River Liffy The Burks and the Geraldines quarrelled about some Lands in Connaught to that degree that they filled the whole Kingdom with War and Tumult and Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald not the Earl of Desmond but the same that afterwards anno 1272 was Lord Justice and John Fitz-Thomas afterwards Earl of Kildare at a Meeting at Castle-Dermond seized upon the Lord Justice and Richard Burk Heir apparent of Vlster afterwards called the Red Earl Theobald Butler 1264. Miles Cogan c. and imprisoned them in the Castle of Ley. But soon after a Parliament met at Kilkenny and ordered them all to be released which was done accordingly In the mean Time the King wrote to the Arcbishop of Dublin the Bishop of Meath his Treasurer Walter de Burg or Burk 1265. Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald That he heard there was like to be great Dissention between the great Men of Ireland and therefore ordered
Flames but the Devout Citizens first made a Collection for the Repair of the Church and then set themselves to the re-edifying their own Houses And so we come to a Trial 1284. very unusual in Courts of Justice in Ireland tho' too frequent in the Field viz. that of Battle Ware presul 142. for Jeofry Saintleger Bishop of Ossory in a Writ of Right for the Mannor of Sirekeran in Ely O Carol recovered the same and the Trial was by Battle between the Bishops Champion and the Champion of his Adversary The Lords and Potentates of Ophaly were grown strong enough to take and burn the Castle of Ley 1285. and it seems Theobald Verdon going to revenge that Injury lost both his Men and his Horses which was followed with a greater Misfortune for the next Morning Girald Fitz-Maurice was betrayed by his Followers and taken Prisoner Nor had the English better Success at Rathdod for in an unfortunate Skirmish there Sir Gerard Doget Ralph Petit and many more were slain and the Lord Geofry Genevil had much ado to save himself by Flight Amidst these Disturbances Burlace 31. the Lord Justice obtained from the King a Pension of five hundred Pound per annum for his Expence and Charge in the Government to continue as long as his Justiceship but if any extraordinary Accident should require more Expence than the Writ prescribes That a Vice-Treasurer be appointed to receive and pay the Revenue as the Lord Justice and the Court of Exchequer shall think fit But the next Year was more favourable 1286. so that Philip Stanton in November burnt Norwagh and Ardscol and other Towns and the great Rebel Calwagh was taken at Kildare which superseded these Stirs for a Time Nevertheless this Year was fatal to many Noblemen viz. Maurice Fitz-Maurice who died at Rosse as Girald Fitz-Maurice Oge did at Rathmore and the Lord Thomas de Clare could not escape the Common Fate to which the Lord Justice himself was forced to submit So that John Sandford 1287. Archbishop of Dublin was chosen Lord Justice His Government was the more uneasie to him because Richard Burk 1288. Earl of Vlster and Walter Lacy Lord of Meath confederated against Theobald de Verdon and Besieged him in the Castle of Athloan and came with a great Army as far as Trim However this was in a great measure recompenced by the Plenty of the Year which was so great even in England that a Bushel of Wheat was sold for four Pence It was usual in this King's Reign To send the new English Statutes in some reasonable time after they were made to be proclaimed and observed in Ireland Thus in the thirteenth Year of his Reign he sent by Roger Bretun the Statutes of Westminster the first of Glocester of Merchants and of Westminster the second to the Lord Justice Fulborne to publish and notifie them to the People And this Year the like was done by the Statute called Ordinatio pro Statu Hiberniae which was enacted in England and sent to Ireland to be observed there and is to be seen in French in the second part of the Ancient Statutes printed at London 1532. And the Statutes of Lincoln and of York were also sent to Ireland Ex lib. Alb. Scac. Hib. to be enrolled in the Chancery and to be published and notified to the People 20 Novemb. 17 Edw. 1. And it is to be observed That after Parliaments were held in Ireland yet the English Statutes did extend to Ireland as the eleventh of Edward III Lib. M. Lamb. of Drapery and the twenty seventh of Edward III of the Staple and the fourth of Henry V cap. 6-touching the Promotion of Clerks of the Irish Nation and many more But it is time to return to the Lord Justice whose Service the King had occasion to make use of in England and in several Foreign Embassies in all which he behaved himself honourably He was succeeded in Ireland by William Vescy 15 Novemb. 1290. Lord Justice Whose Government was disturbed by O Hanlon in Vlster and O Mlaghlin in Meath who were again in Rebellion but Richard Earl of Vlster had the good Fortune to suppress O Hanlon with a few Blows and the Lord Justice did as much for O Mlaghlin and pursued him so close that at last he was taken and slain by Mac Coughlan who grew so proud upon that Service that he set up for himself and gave a great Defeat to William Burk at Delvin and to the English in Ophaly And tho' the King in the thirteenth Year of his Reign had a Grant from the Pope of the Tenth of all Ecclesiastical Revenues in Ireland for seven Years toward the Holy War which was followed with a Grant of a Fifteenth from the Temporality yet now upon the Expiration of that Grant he wrote to the Bishops and Clergy for a Dism of their Spiritualities to defray his Debts in redeeming his Nephew Charles But they unanimously answered Quod concessioni petitionis praefatae minime supercederent But Cambden assures us That the Temporality granted another Fifteenth To this Lord Justice Cambden 78. Baliol King of Scotland did Homage for some Lands he held in Ireland and about the same time it was ordered 4 Inst 356. That the Treasurer of Ireland should account yearly at the Exchequer of England 1293. And the same Year came over Gilbert de Clare Earl of Glocester whose Wife Joan of Acres was the King's Daughter But now there arose great Feuds between John Fitz-Thomas Fitz-Girald Lord of Ophaly and the Lord Justice whereupon the Lord Justice did underhand encourage the Irish to do all the Prejudice they could to Fitz-Girald and his Partisans hence arose mutual Complaints and reciprocal Impeachments so that both of them went or were fent for into England But it will not be unpleasant to the Reader to have the Particulars of this famous Controversie in the Words of Holingshead The Lord Justice hearing many Complaints of the Oppressions the Country daily received Holingshead 35 which he thought reflected on him and insinuated his male Administration therefore to disburthen and excuse himself he began in misty Speeches to lay the Fault on the Lord John Fitz-Giralds Shoulders saying in parable wise That he was a great occasion of these Disorders in that he bare himself in Private Quarrels as fierce as a Lyon but in these Publick Injuries as meek as a Lamb. The Baron of Ophaly spelling and putting these Syllables together spake after this Manner My Lord I Am heartily sorry that among all this Noble Asembly you make me your only Butt whereat you shoot your Bolt and truly were my Deserts so hainous as I suppose you would wish them to be you would not labour to cloud your Talk with such dark Riddles as at this present you have done but with plain and flat English your Lordship would not stick to impeach me of Felony or Treason for as mine Ancestors with
the King appointed no small Provision was made for so eager a Combat as that was presupposed to have been But when the prefixed Day approached near Vescie turning his great Boast to small Roast began to cry Creak and secretly sailed into France King Edward thereof advertised bestowed Vescies Lordships of Kildare and Rathingan on the Baron of Ophaly saying That albeit Vescie conveyed his Person into France yet he left his Lands behind him in Ireland Mr. Pryn makes an Observation on this Case Pryn 259. as if an Appeal between Vescie and Fitz-Girald in Ireland had been adjourned to England But to make the Remark useful it is necessary not only to consider what he says but also to consult the Records which he cites William Hay 1294. Lord Deputy to whom a Writ was sent to admit Thomas Saintleger Bishop of Meath to be of the Privy Council And not long after John Fitz-Thomas return'd to Ireland big with Glory and Success which transported him to a Contempt of all his Opposers he began with Richard Burk Cambdens Ann. Earl of Vlster whom together with William Burk he took Prisoners in Meath by the assistance of John Delamere and confined them to the Castle of Ley. But he had not so good luck in Kildare which was made the Seat of the War so that between the English and Irish it was entirely wasted the Castle of Kildare was also taken and the Records of that County burnt by Calwagh Brother to the King of Ophaly And these Misfortunes were accompanied with great Dearth and Pestilence William Dodingzel Lord Justice found Work enough to struggle with these Difficulties and the rather because John Fitz-Thomas appeared again with a great Army in Meath But the Parliament soon after met at Kilkenny 1294. and obliged him to release the Earl of Vlster taking his two Sons Hostages for him And it seems that this did not satisfie the Complainants but that they impeached him at the Parliament in England Lib. GGG 23 E. 1. for divers Offences and Felonies done in Ireland Lambeth He protested he could clear himself by Law but because he would not Prin 259. cum ipso Domino Rege placitare he submits himself wholly to the King's Favour 1295. into which he was received upon Pledges for his future demeanour and 't is probable he was also obliged to release his Claim to the Castle of Sligo and other his Lands in Connaught which was the Occasion of all this Stir About Easter the King built the Castle of Beaumorris in Wales 1295. for the better security of a Passage to and from Ireland And about the same time Bishop Vsher's life 34. the King required Aid to marry his Sister to the Emperour and such as did contribute thereunto are mentioned in the Pipe-Rolls of the Exchequer In the mean time on the third Day of April the Lord Justice died and during the Interval of Government the Irish made use of the Opportunity and wasted great part of Leinster burnt Newcastle and many other Towns But at length the Council chose Thomas Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald Lord Justice he was nicknamed Nappagh Simiacus or the Ape because when his Father and Grand-Father were murdered Frier Russel M. S. at Calan the Servants on the news of it run out of the House as if distracted and left this Thomas in the Cradle whereupon an Ape which was kept in the House took up the Child and carried him to the top of the Castle of Traly and brought him down Safe and laid him in the Cradle to the admiration of all the Beholders This Lord Justice was Father of the first Earl of Desmond and was so great a Man that he is often styled Prince and Ruler of Munster But it seems he supplyed the Place of Lord Justice but a very short time for John Wogan 1295. Lord Justice arrived from England on the eighteenth of October He made a Truce for two Years between the Burks and the Giraldines and received a Writ to take the Fealty of the Abbot of Owny in the County of Limerick and having called a Parliament which it seems setled Matters to his Mind he went with a smart Party to aid the King in Scotland His Majesty nobly feasted them at Roxborough Castle and they in requital did the King very good Service But that you may see what sort of Parliaments were in Ireland in those Days I will present the Reader with a List of this Parliament Richard de Burgo Earl ofVlster Geofry de Genevil John Fitz-Thomas afterwards Earl of Kildare Thomas Fitz-Maurice Nappagh Theobald le Butler Theobald de Verdun Peter de Brimingham of Athenry Peter de Brimingham of Thetmoy Eustace de Poer John de Poer Hugh de Purcel John de Cogan John de Barry William de Barry Walter de Lacy. Richard de Excester John Pipard Water L'enfant Jordan de Exon. Adam de Stanton Symon de Phipo William Cadel John en Val. Morris de Carew George de la Roch. Maurice de Rochfort Maurice Fitz-Thomas of Kerry William de Ross 1296. Prior of Kilmainham was left Lord Deputy to Wogan but either the Irish did not fear him being a Clergyman or they thought this a time of Advantage whilst the Lord Justice and many of the Nobility and best Soldiers were in Scotland and therefore to improve it as they were used to do they rose in Rebellion in several Places Those of Slewmargy burnt Leighlin and other Towns 1297. But O Hanlon and Mac Mahon met with more Opposition in Vrgile for they were both slain John Wogan 1298. Lord Justice returned again from Scotland in October and throughly reconciled the Burks and the Giraldines and kept every thing so quiet that we hear of no Trouble in a great while except some Disturbance the Irish gave to the Lord Theobald de Verdun in attacking his Castle of Roch. Pollard Mony was now decryed both in England and Ireland 1300. and the King did again enter Scotland and sent to Ireland for Aid and wrote not only to the Lord Justice but also sent particular Letters to every one of the Nobility to attend him Whereupon the Lord Justice accompanied by John Fitz-Thomas Peirce Brimingham and many others made a second Expedition into Scotland with good Success In the mean time part of the City of Dublin and particularly S. Warberg's Church was burnt on S. Colme's Eve and the Irish were again at their usual Pranks taking Advantage of the Lord Justices absence who I suppose did again depute William de Ross and in Winter assaulted and burnt Wicklow and Rathdan 1301. but they were well paid for their pains and in Lent had been ruin'd but for the Dissention and Discord of the English and in the Harvest before some of the Irish also had their share of Civil Discord for they fell out amongst themselves so that the O Phelims and O Tools slew three hundred of the Birns
under the Notion of Thieves or Tories Neither was Munster free from the like Calamity for it felt the heavy hand of Walter le Poer who burnt and wasted great part of it Davis 93. Nevertheless the Justices in Eyre sate this Year at Tredagh And it seems that in those days as well Common Pleas as those of the Crown were tried before the chief Governor for I find this Entry 32 Ed. 1. A die S. Martini in quindecim dies de Commun Placit apud Dublin coram Johanne Wogan Justiciar Lib. G. Lambeth Hiberniae and sometimes they did it by Commissioners as 6 Ed. 2. Coram Waltero de Thornbury Cancellario Willielmo Alexander assignatis loco Edmondi le Butler Custode Terrae Hiberniae alibi in remotis agendis John Wogan Lord Justice 1302. being return'd call'd a Parliament the Effects whereof I find not but on the 17th of January issued a Commission to Richard Earl of Vlster the Lord Justice and Tho. Cantock Lord Chancellor to ask a Subsidy from the Clergy pro salvatione Coronae suae c. And the King wrote particular Letters to them but all to no purpose Nevertheless Pope Boniface would not be so served for he obtain'd or exacted from them a three years Disme to aid the Church against the King of Aragon The Lord Edmond Butler recovered the Mannor of Holywood in Fingal from the Archbishop of Dublin by Fine or Concord between them in the Kings Bench says Cambden and the same Archbishop took great pains to reconcile the two Churches of St. Patrick's and Christ-Church in Dublin Ware de Presul 110. and made Articles between them which were not observed in the mean time Says an 1300. Hugh de Lacy preyed the Estate of Hugh Verneil I suppose for some private Injuries Richard Burk 1303. Earl of Vlster accompanied with Eustace le Poer and a good Army went to aid the King in Scotland and the Earl made thirty three Knights in the Castle of Dublin before he set out and it is observable that in all Commissions and even in the Parliament-Rolls this Earl is always named before the Lord Justice This Year died Gerald 1304. eldest Son of the Lord John Fitz-Thomas as also the Countess of Vlster and William de Wellesby and Sir Robert Percival were slain in October also an Order issued to pardon Maurice de Carew Four hundred pound Arrearages he owed the King for his Lands in Desmond Lib. F. Lambeth because he was serving the King in Scotland and now again was a great part of Dublin accidentally burnt The next Year produced abundance of Villany 1305. for Jordan Comin with his Complices murdered Mortagh O Connor King of Ophaly and Calwagh his Brother and some others at Pirece Brimingham's House in Carbry in the County of Kildare and some Irish-men did the like by Sir Gilber Sutton Seneschal of Wexford at the House of Heymond le Grace and Heymond himself had much ado to escape and this year there was an Inquest of Trailbaston It seems the Mayor of Dublin had made some Complaints to the Irish Parliament against the Treasurer and Barons of the Exchequer 4 Inst 350. which was adjourned or transmitted to England and the Mayor was committed to the Tower and fined because he could not make out his Acusation The Year 1306. 1306. was not less bloody than the former for on the 13th of April the O Dempsyes made great Slaughter of the O Connors near Geashil in Ophaly and O Dempsy Captain of the Regans was there slain Soon after which O Bryan King of Thomond was murdered and Daniel Oge Mac Carthy did as much for his Father Donald Roe King of Desmond to which we may add that Pierce Brimingham was defeated in Meath May 12 and Ballymore was burnt by the Irish and Henry Celse was there kill'd Hereupon great Wars ensued and the English were summoned out of other Provinces to the Relief of Leinster they had a notable Battel at Clenfel where Sir Thomas Mandeville fought valiantly till his Horse was kill'd under him but what the Event of the Battel was is not recorded About this time Thomas Cantock Chancellor being consecrated Bishop of Emly made the greatest Feast for poor and rich that ever was seen in Ireland to that day This Year Murchod Ballagh was beheaded near to Merton 1307. by Sir David Canton or Condon who was afterwards hang'd for it in Dublin anno 1309. And on the first of May the Oscheles perhaps O Kellyes in Connaught routed and slew many Englishmen and the Tories of Ophaly razed the Castle of Geashil and on the 6th of July burnt the Town of Ley and besieged the Castle but at length they were dispersed by John Fitz-Thomas and his Son-in-Law Edmond le Butler In the mean time on the 7th of July this Noble and Victorious King died of a Dysentery at Barough upon the Sand in the five and thirthieth year of his Reign and of his Age the sixty eighth THE REIGN OF EDWARD II. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND EDWARD the Second stiled of Carnarvan 1307. the Place of his Birth began his Reign on the seventh Day of July 1307. with great Applause both of Nobility and People but he soon disappointed their good Expectations and not only recalled Gaveston contrary to his Fathers Express and Last Commands but also gave him the thirty two thousand Pound which his Father had specially appointed for the Holy War Baker 109. moreover he went to Bulloign and married Isabel Daughter of Philip the Fair King of France on the twenty second Day of January 1307 without any Portion in Mony And on the twenty fourth Day of February both he and she were crowned at Westminster by Henry Bishop of Winchester with exceeding Pomp. As to the Affairs of Ireland they were little regarded at this time so that there were small or no Alterations in that Government and Sir John Wogan still continued Lord Justice and in Decem. received an Order to suppress the Knights Templars which was effectually executed here on the third Day of February as it had been in England the seventeenth Day of January before Cambden 165. so that the King got four hundred Pounds Worth of their Goods which it seems was a great Sum in those Days This Year proved very unfortunate as well by the Death of the famous Peter de Breminghan on the twelfth of April as by the Rebellious Disturbances of the Irish amongst whom William mac Balthar was most active for he and his Complices burnt the Castle of Kenun on the eleventh of May and slew most of the Ward they also burnt the Town of Courcowly and on the sixth of June discomfited the Lord Justice near Glandelory where John de S. Hogeline John Norton and John Breton were slain and being elevated with this Success on the sixteenth of June they burnt Tobir Danlavan and many other Villages But the Lord
Justice was so vigilant that before the end of August the Rebels were dispersed and their Captain William mac Balthar was taken and hanged In the midst of these Disturbances John Decer Mayor of Dublin who had some time before built the Bridge over the Liffy Ibid. 166. near S. Wolstons and the Chappel of our Lady at the Friers Minors and had also repaired the Church of the Friers Preachers and every Friday feasted the Friars at his own Cost did now build the high Pipe in Dublin But the Lord Justice being sent for into England to give an Account there of the miserable State of Ireland substituted William Burk August 1308. Custos Warden or Deputy of Ireland He was Ancestor of many Noble Families and particularly of the Lords Castleconel and Leitrim In his time the Irish burnt Athy and Richard Talon was murthered by Maurice de Condon Cambden 166. and Candon was served in the same kind by the Roches and Odo mac Cathol O Connor slew Odo King of Conaught But in March following Peirce de Gaveston an insolent Frenchman was by the Nobility of England in Parliament banished that Kingdom whereupon the King to make this Exile of his Favorite as easie as he could gave him the Government of Ireland and assigned to him the Revenue and Royal Profits of that Realm so that thither he came with a great Retinue and he behaved himself so well that he broke and subdued the Rebels in the Mountains near Dublin He slew Dermond O Dempsy a great Irish Captain at Tully he marched into Munster and subdued O Brian in Thomond he rebuilt the new Castle of Mackingham in the Kevins Country and repaired the Castle of Kevin and cut and cleansed the Paces between that and Glendelough he was exceedingly beloved of the Soldiers both for his Liberality and Valour and might have done much Good there if he had staid longer Nevertheless he could not brook Richard Earl of Vlster who was the greatest Lord in Ireland This Earl as it were to nose Gaveston did at Whitsontide keep a great Feast at Trim Camb. 166. and dub'd two of the Lacies Knights and marched as far as Tredagh to encounter the Lord Lieutenant but on better Advertisement he returnd But the King impatient of Gaveston's longer Absence recalled him on the twenty third of June and sent in his Room Sir John Wogan 1309. Lord Justice M. S. Fragm and in October following the Noble Lord 4. says 1308 Roger Mortimer came over with his Wife Heiress of Meath and had quiet Possession of that Country the Grand-father Sir Geofry Genevil entring into a Monastery On the second of February Sir Arnold Poer slew Sir John Bonevil at Arstol but it was found to be in his own Defence Cambded 167. And in the same February there was a Parliament held at Kilkenny before the Earl of Ulster and the Lord Justice according to the Custom and Usage of those times which appeased many Civil Discords and enacted many good Laws which Mr. Pryn says Pryn 259. were printed in Bolton's Edition of the Irish Statutes 1621. And he reckons this to be the first Parliament that was held in Ireland except that of Henry II aforesaid but without question he is mistaken And it seems Pryn 259. That in the beginning of the next Year or the latter end of this there was another Parliament or Assembly of the great Men at Kildare where Poer was acquitted of the Death of Bonevil About this time Wheat was sold for twenty Shillings the Erane Cambded 167. and the Bakers were drawn on Hurdles through the Streets of Dublin for their Knavery In the Year 1310. Richard de Havering who under Pretence of the Popes Provision 1310. had assumed the Title of Arch bishop of Dublin and enjoyed all the Profits of that See without Consecration for four Years and upward was so terrified by a Dream that he resigned his Bishoprick to the Pope that gave it him Ware de praesul 111. And though Alexander Bricknor had the better in the Election the seventeenth of March 1610. yet John Lech by the Power and Favour of the King enjoyed the Bishoprick and begun the Controversie with Rowland Jorse Archbishop of Armagh about elevating his Crosier in the Province of Leinster and managed it so dextrously or rather so violently Hook 65. that he forced the Primate to fly by Night in his Pontificals from Howth to the Priory of Grace Dieu and thence chased him out of the Diocess or rather Province of Dublin and in the same year the Judges of the Court of Kings Bench were reduced to the number of Three The Year 1311 was troublesome enough 1311. for Frag. 4. in May Richard Earl of Vlster invaded Thomond Davis 134. and marched up to Bunratty where Richard de Clare met and defeated him and took him the Lord William Burk and others of his Kindred Prisoners and slew John de Lacy and many more of the Earls Followers and in November following the same Richad de Clare defeated the Irish and slew Six hundred Galloglasses Nor were the Civil Discords less amongst the Irish for Donough O Bryan was murdered by his own Men in Thomond and John Mac O Hedan was slain by O Molmoy and William Roch was murdered by a Tory However the Birnes and Tools were numerous enough to invade Taslagard and Rathcanle and to terrifie Dublin by lurking up and down the Woods of Glendelory Nor could the State suppress them because Robert Verdon began a Riot in Vrgile and was so powerful that he defeated the Lord Justice and his small Army 1312. July 7. 1312. but afterwards upon better consideration he voluntarily submitted himself to the Kings Mercy whereupon the Lord Justice went for England and left in his stead Sir Edmond Butler 1312. Lord Deputy who being now at leisure to deal with the Birnes and Tools he manag'd that Affair so well that he soon forc'd them to submit and then sent his Father-in-Law the Lord John Fitz Thomas afterwards Earl of Kildare General into Munster who at Adare Knighted Nicholas Fitz Maurice afterwards Lord of Kerry and others This Year was famous for two mighty Marriages of Maurice afterwards Earl of Desmond and Thomas Fitz John afterwards Second Earl of Kildare to the two Daughters of the Earl of Vlster But these Rejoycings were soon over 1313. and the Misfortunes of the English in Scotland drew on a Scotch Invasion of Ireland At first the Scots only sent some Boats to prey the Costs of Vlster which were well resisted but before the year was out Edward Bruce came in Person he forc'd and rob'd the Castle of Man and took the Lord O Donel Prisoner it seems he retir'd again to collect a greater Army and the Deputy after he had on Michaelmas day made one and thirty Knights in the Castle of Dublin 1314. and had taken the best care he could
to defend the Realm against the Scots was sent for to England and Sir Theobald de Verdon was made Lord Constable or Justice of Ireland Prin 259. 31 Dec. 1314. In whose time the King sent John de Hothum Clerk into Ireland to treat with the great Men there about the Kings Affairs and by him sent Writs in the Nature of Letters of Credence to Richard Earl of Vlster and all the rest of the Nobility by Name and a general Writ or Letter to the Lord Justice and the great Officers of State to the same effect Ibid. 260. and another Writ to assist him and to summon the Nobility to a general Meeting that Hothum might communicate the Kings Pleasure unto them He also sent Writs to the Lord Justice the Earl of Vlster and several other great Men to attend his Parliament in England and to appoint a sufficient Deputy or Keeper of Ireland till their Return Prin 261. And because the Words Vestrumque Concilium impensuri are omitted Mr. Prin observes rightly that these Irish Lords went as Commissioners or Agents from Ireland to inform the King and Parliament of the state of Affairs there and did not go to serve in Parliament as my Lord Cooke would have it 4 Inst 350. I do not find whether the Lord Justice went or not nor if he did what Deputy or Keeper of Ireland was appointed in his room but whoever had it did not keep the Office long for on the 27th of Febr. Sir Edmond Butler Frag. 5. 1315. Lord Justice returned and soon after viz. on the 25th of May 1315 Edward Bruce and six thousand Scots Landed near Carigfergus in Vlster with them joyned several of the Irish and together they marcht to Dundalk which they took and burnt on the 29th of June they also spoil'd Vrgile and drove most of the English out of Vlster To oppose them an Army was rais'd which rendezvouz'd at Dundalk July 22. But whether it were that the Scots were retired or that the English Commanders could not agree the Lord Justice return'd to Dublin and left the Earl of Vlster to pursue the Scots with whom that Earl had a Battel near Colrain Camb. 169. on the 10th of September and was defeated and many of the English slain and William Burk John Stanton and others were taken Prisoners This great Loss could not be recompensed with the slaughter of forty Scots which was performed by some English Mariners and therefore Bruce to follow his Blow caused his Army to besiege Carigfergus Septem 15. and sends his Brother William Bruce into Scotland for a Supply 1315. In the mean time the Irish every where insult over the unfortunate English and generally rebel throughout Vlster and Connaught they burnt Athloan October and Randan and Cathol Roe O Connor razed three Castles of the Earl of Vlster's in Connaught In November following the English under Roger Mortimer 1315. had another Battel with the Scots at Kenlis in Meath and were routed with great Slaughter by the Treachery of the Lacies Hereupon Bruce burnt Kenlis Granard Finagh and Newcastle and came to Loghsendy where he kept his Christmas and afterwards also burnt it thence he marched through the County of Kildare unto Rathingan Kildare Castle-Dermond Athy Raban and Sketheris where the Lord Justice accompanied by the Lord John Fitz-Thomas and many others encountred him on the 26th of January and was defeated by reason of some unhappy Fewds and Misunderstandings in the English Army Hereupon the Irish of Munster and Leinster rose in Rebellion and the Birns Tools and Moors burnt the Countrey from Arclow to Leix but the Lord Justice gave them a Rebuke and brought fourscore of their Heads to the Castle of Dublin Ireland being in so tottering a condition the King sent Sir John Hotham over again to take the Oaths and Hostages of the Nobility and Gentry that still remained loyal which was accordingly performed by the Lord John Fitz-Thomas afterwards Earl of Kildare Cambd. 171. Richard de Clare Maurice afterwards Earl of Desmond Thomas Fitz-John Poer Arnold le Poer Febr. 4. Maurice Rochford David and Miles de la Roch and many others 1315. And now both Armies were early abroad The Scots having burnt the Castle and Church of Ley did on the 14th of February rendezvouz at Geashil as the English did the same day at Kildare But the Scots for want of Provision were forced to return to Vlster nevertheless in their way they took Northburgh Castle and then sate down in their Quarters to that degree of quietness that Bruce kept Court and held Pleas there as if it were in times of the most profound Peace For the English Army had work enough nearer home and therefore the Lord Justice on the Scots retreat did likewise return to Dublin and there summoned a Parliament or general Assembly which reconciled some great Men then at odds cleared Walter Lacy of the Treachery imputed to him and established the Measures of carrying on the War And it was wisely done to begin with the Moroughs Tools and other Mountaineers of the County of Wicklow because they daily infested the City of Dublin and had destroyed both the Town and Country of Wicklow and because the Army was not strong enough to secure the City and at the same time to pursue the Scots 1316. the Success justified their Conduct for in April the Tories were defeated However the Scots were not so much neglected but that the Lord Thomas Mandevil was appointed to have an eye to them but he could but skirmish with them which he did valiantly Camb. 172. and kill'd Thirty Scots in one Encounter and was himself slain in another But Bruce came over with fresh Supplies from Scotland and so despised the small force of the English that in May he caused himself to be Crowned King at Dundalk 1316. and thereupon grew so insolent that he spared neither Churches nor Abbeys Women or Children found no Mercy at his hands but on the contrary he destroyed all that opposed him or that belonged to the English and he burnt great part of the Countrey as the Irish did the Church of Athird It was high time to encourage the English to their defence and the defence of the Kingdom and therefore as well to reward for Services past 1316. as to engage them for the time to come Selden 838. says Kildare's Patent is the ancientest Form of Creation he had seen the Lord Justice was made Earl of Carrick and John Fitz-Thomas was made Earl of Kildare May 14. 9 Ed. 2. and others received other Favours from the King The Burks and Geraldines were reconciled and every one in his station set himself manfully to the preservation of the Kingdom Richard de Clare and Bremingham had the better of the Irish in Connaught and slew many of them and about Whitsontide made a Sally into Munster and kill'd three hundred Irish there and the
Whitsontide Prin 263. that Earl first taking an Oath on the Sacrament neither by himself his Friends or Followers to grieve those of Dublin for his Apprehension To all these Misfortunes was added that of a prodigious Dearth Wheat was sold for three and twenty Shillings the Cronoge Lib. P. Lambeth Oats six Shillings and Wine eighteen pence a Quart and other things proportionably so that many died for want The Lord Justice 1317. about Whitsontide marched to Tredagh and thence to Trim and sent for the Lacies who not only refused to come but murdered the worthy Messenger Sir Hugh Crofts but the Lord Justice soon revenged that Affront for he wasted the Lands and seized on the Goods of the Lacies slew many of their Men and drove themselves into Connaught and proclaim'd them Traytors and so return'd to Dublin by the way of Tredagh The Lord Justice had now leisure to assail O Fervil Cambd. whom he soon forced to submit as did also soon after O Birne tho' not till there was â—irst a Battle between the Lord Justice and the Irish of Omayle wherein the Irish were worsted In October the Archbales or Aspoles submitted to the Earl of Kildare and gave Hostages of their good Behaviour and in February Sir Hugh Canon Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas was murdered by Andrew Brimingham between the Naas and Castlemartin The Pope by his Bulls commanded a two years Truce betwixt the English and Scots but Bruce whose Quarters probably were so destroyed that they could not afford him subsistance refused to consent thereunto For about this time the Irish of Vlster were reduced to so great want that they took dead Folk out of their Graves Cambden and boyl'd their Flesh in their Skulls so that by reason of Famine and Sickness there escaped but three hundred of ten thousand men which were in Arms which my Author says was a Judgment on them for eating Flesh in Lent and other Wickednesses Not were the Men of Connaught in a mnch better condition for there happened a Feud between two of the Irish Princes there which occasioned the Slaughter of four thousand of their Followers On Shrove-Sunday the Lord Justice kept a great Feast in the Castle of Dublin and dubbed John Mortimer and four others Knights After Easter the Lord Justice received Command to repair to the King but before he went he had the bad News that the Lord Richard de Clare Sir Henry Capel Sir Thomas de Naas 1318. and two of the Cantons and fourscore others were slain by O Bryan and Macarthy on the 5th of May. This Lord Justice caused John de Lacy to be press'd to Death at Trim because he would not plead to the Indictment against him and then a Month after Easter he went for England being a thousand pound in debt to the Citizens of Dublin and he left in his room William Fitz-John 1318. Archbishop of Cashel Governor of Ireland in whose time great Plenty was again in that Kingdom and which was very strange new Bread was to be had on St. James's Day which was made of New Wheat of the same years growth Alexander Bicknor who was confirm'd Archbishop of Dublin was also sent over Lord Justice He landed at Youghal the 7th of October and soon after Bruce with about three thousand Men came to the Fagher within two Miles of Dundalk The Lord John Brimingham whom the Justice made General with many brave Captains and one thousand three hundred and twenty four good Souldiers marcht from Dublin to encounter him Cambd. 178. and they managed the Conflict so valiantly that they slew Bruce and two thousand of his Men On Calixâ—us Day and the General carried his Head to the King and was therefore made Earl of Louth and had twenty pound per annum Selden Titles of Honour Creation-Money and the Mannor of Athird granted to him Et sic per dextram Dei manus communis Populi liberatur populus Dei à servitute machinata praecogitata Lib. rub Scac. Dub. and so ended the Scotch Government in Ireland It is observable that the Primate of Armagb was at this Battel and came purposely to absolve bless and encourage the Royalists and it ought not to be forgot that a valiant Captain John Maupas was so resolute to destroy the usurping Prince that he rushed into the Battel with that Design and was after the Fight found dead stretcht on the dead Body of Bruce Roger Mortimer 1319. Lord Justice return'd from England and about Allhallontide the Pope sent over Bulls to excommunicate Bruce at every Mass The Towns of Atheisel and Plebs were burnt by John Fitz-Thomas Nappagh and the Bridges of Leighlin and Kilcullen were in this or the following year built by Maurice Jake Cannon of Kildare but it was not long before the Lord Justice made another Voyage to England and left in his room Thomas Fitz-John Fitz-Girald 1320. Earl of Kildare in whose time Bicknor Archbishop of Dublin obtained Bulls from Pope John 22th to erect an University at Dublin and St. Patrick's Church was appointed to be the publick place of their Exercise and it is observable that the King granted to this Earl of Kildare Lib. GGG Quod possit recipere ad Legem Angliae omnes homines Hibernos Tenentes suos qui ad eandem venire voluerunt Nor must it be forgotten 1319. That Pope John the 22th did by his Bull 12 Ed. 2. acquit and discharge the Crown of England from the Tribute or Peterâ— pence Lib. ZZ Lameth claim'd by the Holy See out of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland On the Ninth Day of May 1321. the People of Leinster and Meath gave a great Overthrow to the O Connors at Balibogan Frag. 7. and the Earl of Carrick died about the same time at London and was buried at Gauran not far from Kilkenny and not long after John Bermingham 1321. Earl of Louth was made Lord Justice Rex concessit Johanni Comiti Louth Officium Justiciarii Regis Hibern cum Castris aliis Pertinentiis 14 Ed. 2 par 2. Pat. in Tur. Lond. durante beneplacito Percipiendum per annum ad Scaccarium Regis Dublin 500 Marcas pro quibus Officium illud Terram custodiet erit ipse unus de viginti hominibus ad Arma cum tot equis coopertis continue durante custodio supradict The King on the Third of April 1322. in the 15th Year of his Reign wrote to the Lord Justice to meet him at Carlisle in Octab. Trin. following with three hundred Men at Arms a thousand Hoblers and six thousand Footmen armed with a Keton Lib. Lambeth a Sallet and Gloves of Mayl to serve against the Scots besides three hundred Men at Arms which Richard de Burgo Earl of Vlster had for his own share undertaken to conduct and though the English suffered a Defeat by O Nolan so that
175. In like manner did one of the Cavenaghs serve Carew about the Barony of Idrone and if I thought that no Body else would ever be served so hereafter I would have omitted this Remark In those Days there was small Respect paid to the Sabbath Fragm M. S. 4. in Ireland for the Markets were in several Places kept on Sundays but at Carlow the Market was about this time changed to another Day In England the sixth Penny of the Goods of Lay-men Baker 117. through England Ireland and Wales was granted to the King but how it was levied here non constat It appears by the Writ mentioned Pryn 263. that the denized Irish would not punish Felony with Death and therefore that Writ enjoyns them that are 14 Edw. 2. and them that shall be denized for the future to submit to the English Laws in that particular which confirms my former Observation That the Irish were fond of the Benefit of the English Laws but were very averse from the Penalties of them And by another Writ recited Pryn 263. it appears That Common Pleas were held before the chief Governour and because the Parties were poor and could not prosecute their Writ of Error in England according to Law the King did aâ—thorize the new Governour to examine the former Judgment and to reverse it if he found just cause c. And lastly we find a Writ which was sent to John Earl of Louth Pryn 264. whilst he was Lord Justice authorizing him to remove all such insufficient Persons as his Predecessor Mortimer had put into Office in that Kingdom which is a notable President worthy Imitation in all Places and Ages THE REIGN OF EDWARD III. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND EDWARD the Third upon the Resignation of his Father was proclaimed King the twenty fifth day of January 1327. and Crowned the first day of February following 1327. and being but fifteen years old had twelve Governors of him and the Kingdom appointed but they were but Ciphers and only had the bare Name of Governors whilst Mortimer and the Queen-Mother usurp'd and exercis'd the Power As for Ireland Thomas fitz-Fitz-John Earl of Kildare was made Lord Justice and Letters were sent to the Great Men of Ireland by Name to swear Fealty to the new King and to continue their Loyalty as they had done to his Predecessors And in his Time Adam Duff of the Family of O Toole in the County of Wicklow was burnt at Hoggin-Green in Dublin for Heresie or rather for most horrid Blasphemy for he denied the Trinity and the Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour c. And because it may be pleasant and useful to a curious Reader Lib. H. Lambeth I will give you a short Account of the Great Officers and others of Ireland and their Salaries as they were 1 Ed. 3. Earl of Kildare Lord Justice 500 Lib. Roger Outlaw Chancellor 040 Lib. Elias de Ashborne Justice for holding Pleas before the Justice and Council of Ireland 040 Lib. Roger de Werthorp Justice Itinerant 040 Mar. A Second Justice Itinerant Nicholas Falstoff Chief Justice of the Bench 040 Lib. John de Granset Second Justice 040 Mar. Roger de Preston Third Justice John Battalk Custos Brevium Rot. de Banc. 005 Lib. John Garnon Narrator Domini Regis 005 Lib. Simon Fitz-Richard Secundus Narrator 005 Mar. Richard Mayning Kings Sergeant 005 Mar. Robert Poer Treasurer 040 Lib. Thomas de Monte Pessulano Chancellor of the Exchequer 010 Lib. Roger de Birthorp Chief Baron 010 Lib. The Second Baron 010 Lib. Two Chamberlains of Exchequer 010 Lib. Remembrancer 010 Lib. A Summoner 004 Mar. Two Ingrossers of the Rolls in Term-time five pence per diem The Treasurers Clerk five pence per diem whilst the Exchequer is open Usher of the Chequer three half pence per diem A Chaplain of the Castle fifty Shillings per annum For Wax two Shillings Note a pound of Wax cost nine pence It was a common thing for the Great Men of Ireland as well Irish as English upon private Quarrels to make War one with another and sometimes upon very slight occasions an Instance whereof happened at this time Fragm 8. for Maurice Fitz-Thomas afterwards Earl of Desmond being disgusted with the Lord Arnold Poer for calling him Rimer did associate with the Butlers and Birminghams as Poer did with the Burks and began a War Davis 134. says it was Kildare that had like to have been fatal to the Burks and the Poers many of them were slain and more of them driven into Connaught and their Lands were burnt and preyed In vain did the Lord Justice interpose in this bloody Quarrel he appointed a Day to hear both Parties but the Lord Arnold Poer was so far from attending the issue of such a Meeting as well knowing that he was the first Aggressor and therefore the unlucky Causer of all those Calamities and Desolations that ensued that he fled to Waterford and thence into England The Army of the Fitz-Giralds and their Confederates was mightily increased in expectation of a greater resistance than they found but assoon as they understood that Poer was fled they executed their Revenge upon the Lands of their Enemies which had been to that time left undestroyed Cambden 181 They grew so formidable even to the Cities and Towns that they fortified and provided against them but upon notice of this the Confederates immediately sent word to the Lord Justice that they design'd no prejudice to the King or his Towns but had assembled to revenge themselves of their Enemies and that they were ready to appear before him at Kilkenny to clear themselves And accordingly in Lent they did meet at Kilkenny with the Lord Justice and the Kings Council 1327. and humbly crav'd a Charter of Peace or Pardon whereon the Lord Justice took time to advise But the Irish of Leinster hoped to advantage themselves of these Commotions and therefore set up Donald Mac Art Mac Morough of the Family of Mac Morough formerly Kings of Leinster for their King It seems he led his Army within two Miles of Dublin but he was defeated and taken Prisoner by Sir Henry Traherne and Walter de Valle who had one hundred and ten pounds reward for their pains and many of the Irish were slain but Mac Morough in January 1329. escaped out of the Castle of Dublin by help of a Rope sent him by Adam Nangle for which Fact Nangle was afterwards condemned and hang'd In the mean time the Lord Justice died at Minooth on Easter-Tuesday and Roger Outlaw Prior of Kilmainham Lord Chancellor was made Lord Justice in whose time David O Tool a strong Thief who had been taken Prisoner by the Lord John Wellesly the Lent before was this Summer condemned and executed at Dublin At this time in the Second Year of this Reign the Noble James Butler married the Earl of Hereford's Daughter Bakâ— which he had by
annexed to the Crown But two of the Burks seized upon most part of the Estate and divided it between them and knowing they could not hold it by the Law of England they confederated with the Irish and changed their Language Apparel Customs and Manners Nay their very Names were altered into those of Mac William Eighter and Mac William Oughter and by these means they have made a shift to keep some part of that mighty Estate for many score years The Lord Justice to revenge the Murder of the Earl of Vlster which made a great noise in Ireland call'd a Parliament by whose advice he went by Sea to Carigfergus on the first of July and by help of the Country People he destroyed the Murderers and their Abettors and thence with his Army he sailed into Scotland where he did very good Service But the Parliament sitting in England Cottons Rec. the 15th of March it was there resolved That because the Kings Affairs required him in France his Irish Voyage should be postpon'd for a year so as Aid might be sent in the mean time but it seems that the Scots so allarm'd him in the North that he performed neither the one nor the other Voyage And though both Houses apart advised the King to send Supplies of Men and Money to Ireland and gave him one Disme and one Fifteenth to that purpose yet I do not find that any considerable Recruits were sent thither but instead of that a Commission was sent to treat with the Rebels Prin 270. Whilst the Lord Justice was beyond Seas the Government was managed by Thomas de Burgh Lord Treasurer but it was not long before Darcy return'd with honour and releas'd Walter de Birmingham out of Prison in February following and soon after Sir Simon Archdeacon and others were slain by the Irish in Leinster Ibid. And the young Lord Roch prevail'd with the King to reduce to ten pounds a Fine of two hundred Marks impos'd on his Father for absenting himself from the Parliaments of 20 Edw. 2. and 2 Edw. 3. to both which he was summoned Maurice Fitz-Girald broke his Leg by a Fall from his Horse and was thereby hindred from repairing to England as he had promised and designed 1335. but now being recovered he went thither and was well received by the King and created Earl of Desmond 1336. 9 Ed. 3. On the 9th of August the English gave the Irishmen a great Defeat in Connaught Campion 88. and with the loss of one man slew ten thousand of their enemies and not long after the Lord Justice was removed and Sir John Charleton came over Lord Justice 1337. and brought with him his Brother Thomas Bishop of Hereford Lord Chancellor John Rice or ap Rees Lord Treasurer and two hundred Welsh Soldiers he called a Parliament at Dublin to which the Archbishop of Armagh designed to come Pryn. 409. and in order to it made great Preparations at S. Mary Abby but the Archbishop of Dublin would not permit him to advance his Cross in that Diocess till the King sent his Writs as well to the Archbishop as to the Corporation of Dublin not to molest the Primate Thomas Charleton 1338. Bishop of Hereford Governour of Ireland he caused Sir Eustace Poer and Sir John Poer to be imprisoned in the Castle of Dublin on the third Day of February And this Winter there was so great Frost and Snow from the second Day of December to the tenth Day of February that they Plaid Danced and roasted Fish on the Ice upon the River of Liffy And now again 1339. were all the Irish in Arms especially in Munster but the Earl of Desmond so well managed Matters there that he slew one thousand two hundred Men in Kerry and took Nicholas Fitz-Maurice Lord of Kerry Prisoner and kept him in Durance till he died Cambden 187. because he had joyned with the Irish against the King and the Earl Nor had the Earl of Kildare worse Success in Leinster for he pursued the O Dempsies so close that many of them were drowned in the River Barrow and the greatest Booty that ever was taken in that Country was brought by the Lord Justice and the English from Idrone in the County of Caterlogh about the latter end of February and in April following the Lord Justice being sent for to England resigned to Roger Outlaw 1340. Prior of Kilmainham Lord Justice he died the February following and by the Kings Patent constituted John Lord Darcy L. Justice during Life but he came not afterwards into Ireland but in May following sent over Sir John Morris 1341. Lord Deputy to whom the Inhabitants of Ireland did not pay that respect which was due to his Character for the English Irish were how grown so proud that they disdain'd to be under the authority of a Knight And therefore to mortifie them it was resolved to make a general Resumption of all Lands Liberties Signiories and Jurisdictions which this King or his Father had granted in Ireland QVia plures excessivae Donationes Terrarum Tenement 15 E. 3. m. 14 Libertatum in Terra Hibern ad minus veracem subdolem suggestionem potentium quam per Ed. 2. quam per Regem nunâ— facta sunt c. Rex delusorias hujusmodi Machinationes volens elidere de concilio peritorum sibi assistent omnes donationes Terrarum Tenement Libertat praedict duxit 〈◊〉 c. quousque de meritis personarum ac de causis conditionibus donationum praedict fuerit informat ideo Mandâ—â— est Justiâ— regni Hibern quod omnia Terras Ienementa c. praedict perdict Reges Justic aut locum tenentes suos quibuscunque personis fact seisire facias c. It cannot be expressed what Fewds Davis 138. that it was by good advice Heart-burnings and Dissatisfactions this one unadvised Act did create it was the rise and occasion of a distinction between the English of Blood and the English of Birth which had like to be fatal to the whole Kingdom Pryn. 272. all the old English were disobliged by this procedure and without their assistance the King could not keep much less enlarge his Interest in Ireland To qualifie this Matter and to allay these Heats 1342. a Parliament was summoned to meet at Dublin in October but the Earl of Desmond and other Great Men of that Faction openly refused to come and on the contrary they confederated with the Corporations and some Cities and the rest of the Male-contents and without consulting the Government they appointed a General Assembly at Kilkenny in November following and there they did accordingly meet and the Lord Justice had not Power to hinder them nor did he dare to come to them This Assembly sent Messengers to the King with their Complaints couched in these three Queries I. How a Realm of War could be governed by a Man unskilful in all war-like Service II. How an
three Estates were assembled and this sort of Parliament is intended in the Submission of Mac. Mahon 25. Hen. 6. whereby he promiseth that in time of Arch-Parliaments he will carry nothing away out of the English Pale contrary to the Statutes Thus the Annals of Ross mention Quod Magnum Parliamentum tenetur apud Dublin 1333. And Mr. Cambden ad annum 1341 calls it Commune Parliamentum But after all there were but very few Cities or Corporations that were concerned in or summoned to an Irish Parliament until of later Days The Earl of Desmond did indeed associate with the Deputies of many Towns in his Assembly at Kilkenny but that was to strengthen his Party and to enlarge his Confederacy so that whoever will look for an Irish Parliament consisting of Lords Spiritual and Temporal Knights Citizens and Burgesses summoned by the King 's Writ on forty Days Notice and sitting in several Houses as the Custom is now must search the Parliament Rolls to satisfie himself which was the first Parliament of that sort in Ireland for he will not in any History find a sufficient Information in that Particular as I suppose But let us return to the Lord Justice 1345. who summoned a Parliament to meet at Dublin the seventh of June but the Earl of Desmond still refused to come thither and had appointed another Assembly at Calan at which Place several great Men had promised to come Fryar Clun ad annum 1344. but they were prohibited by the King 's Writ and therefore excused themselves to the Earl But the Lord Justice to abate the Insolence of the Earl of Desmond advanced the King's Standard into Mâ—nster he seized on the Earls Lands and gave them in custodiam to those that would take them He also by Stratagem took the Castles of Iniskilly and Island in October following and he hanged three Knights that commanded them viz. Poer Grant and Cotterel Ware antiq 69. Quia multas graves extraneas intolerabiles leges exercuissent tenuissent invenissent viz. Coyn and Livery c. It is probable that Desmond was so mortified with this Usage that he surrendred himself to the Lord Justice and was let to bail on the Recognizance of the Earls of Vlster and Ormond Lib. P. and twenty four Knights but finding the Severity of this Governor he thought it dangerous to appear according to the Condition of the Recognisance and therefore it was estreated into the Exchequer and though the Noblemen and some of the Knights made a shift to get rid of this matter yet eighteen of the Knights lost their Estates and were utterly ruined thereby This Lord Justice did also use means to apprehend the Earl of Kildare which at last he effected and kept him in Prison where he continued till the twenty sixth of May 1346. and then he was discharged by the new Justice on the Recognisance of twenty four Lords and Gentlemen About this time viz. 18 Edw. 3. Seals were made for the Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas in Ireland And the King pardoned the Archbishop of Dublin late Treasurer of Ireland for sundry false Writs and Acquittances which he had put into his Treasurers Account in deceipt of the King But on Palm-Sunday being the ninth Day of April this severe Governor submitted to his Destiny 1346. to the great Joy of the generality of the People And it is observeable That his Lady who was received like an Empress and lived like a Queen was fain to steal away through a Postern-Gate of the Castle to shun the Curses of her Enemies and the Clamour of her Creditors Sir Roger Darcy was immediately appointed Lord Justice ex assensu ordinatione Regalium aliorum in Hibernia and sworn the 10th of April but he continued only till the 25â—h of May and then surrendred to Sir John Morris Lord Justice who met the bad News that in April before the O Mores had burnt the Castles of Ley and Kilmehide He released the Earl of Kildare out of Prison as aforesaid but continued not long in his Government so that there is little mention of what was done in his time saving that in June the Irish of Vlster slew three hundred of the English of Vrgile and immediately thereupon Sir Walter Birmingham 1346. Lord Justice landed in Ireland and was sworn the 19th of June he procured leave for the Earl of Desmond to manage his Cause in England where that Earl was kindly received and allowed by the King twenty Shillings per diem from the day he landed for his Expences his Estate being I suppose in Custodiam he was diligent in his business and followed the Law hard says my Author for satisfaction for the wrongs done him by Vfford The Lord Justice and the Earl of Kildare in November pursued the O Mores so effectually that they forced them to submit and give Hostages and thereupon the Earl of Kildare obliged by the kindness shewed to his Cozen Desmond in England went in May to serve the King at Calice 1347. where he was Knighted by the King for his good Service and the Lord Justice return'd to England leaving John Archer Prior of Kilmainham Lord Deputy in whose time Donald Oge mac Morrough call'd Prince of Leinster was murdered by his own Followers on the 5th of June and the Town of Nenagh was burnt by the Irish on St. Stephens Day Sir Walter Birmingham 1348. Lord Justice came again from England having first obtain'd for himself the Barony of Kenlis in Ossory which formerly belonged to Sir Eustace Poer one of the Knights taken by Vfford in the Earl of Desmonds Castle of Island and there executed It was about this time Cottons Rec. 66. viz. 21 Edw. 3. that the Commons in the English Parliament did petition the King that Enquiry might be made by good men why he taketh no Profit of what he hath in Ireland seeing he hath more there than any of his Ancestors had And if default be found in the Officers that then such others be put into their places as will answer the King of the reasonable Profit thereof and the King was pleased it should be so They also desire that the Estate of the Earl of Vlster which if the Kings Daughter-in-Law the Duchess of Clarence should die without issue might descend to Co-parceners some of which are the Kings Enemies might be setled otherwise And it seems that by the good usage Desmond and Kildare found in England and France and the daily expectation to have the resumed Lands and Jurisdictions restored which was done anno 1352. the Kingdom was so quiet that we find little or nothing recorded of these times except the alteration of the Governors viz. that The Lord Carew 1349. Lord Justice succeeded Birmingham and that Sir Thomas Rokeby 1349. Lord Justice came over the 20th of December and afterward he returned to England and left Maurice de Rochford 1351. Bishop of Limerick Lord
in Ireland by any of the Kings Officers without his special License contrary to the aforesaid Ordinance of Edw. 2. And so on the 8th day of September Lionel Duke of Clarenâ—e 1361. Earl of Vlster and Lord of Connaught came over Lord Lieutenant and brought with him an Army of fifteen hundred men by the Pole and his Entertainment was thirteen shillings and four pence per diem and two shillings apiece for eight Knights six pence apiece for three hundred and sixty Archers on Horseback out of Lancashire and two pence apiece for twenty three Archers out of Wales Under him was Ralph Earl of Stafford who had six shillings and eight pence per diem for himself four shillings for a Baneret two shillings apiece for seventeen Knights twelve pence apiece for seventy eight Esquires and six pence apiece for an hundred Archers on Horseback Davis 30 31. and four pence apiece for seventy Archers on foot And James Earl of Ormond had four shillings per diem and two shillings apiece for two Knights and twelve pence apiece for twenty seven Esquires six pence apiece for twenty Hoblers armed four pence apiece for twenty Hoblers unarm'd And Sir John Carew Baneret had four shillings per diem and two shillings for one Knight and twelve pence apiece for eight Esquires and six pence apiece for ten Archers on Horseback And Sir William Windsor had two shillings per diem and for two Knights two shillings each for forty nine Squires twelve pence apiece and for six Archers on Horseback sixpence apiece Upon his coming over Proclamation was made to remand out of England all Men that held Land in Ireland on pain of Forfeiture of their Land because he thought that by his Army 36 Edw. 3. m. 21. and the assistance of the English of Birth he should be able to do great Feats without the assistance of the old English and therefore he also proclaimed That none of the old English should joyn his Army or approach his Camp which gave great offence to those that were the Progeny of the first Conquerors and had hitherto preserved the Kingdom by their Valour However the Duke marched his Army against O Brian but not being acquainted with the Country nor the Manners of the Irish he soon lost an hundred of his Men and thereby found the want of the old experieneed English whom he at first rejected but he timely repair'd his Error by another Proclamation inviting and requiring them to come to him whereupon they united and the Affair proceeded prosperously so that O Bryan was subdued Hereupon the Duke made many Knights as well of Old as New English and some time after he removed the Exchequer to Caterlough and bestowed five hundred Pounds in walling that Town He did many other good Acts so much to the Satisfaction of the whole Kingdom that as well the Clergy as the Layity gave him two Years Profit of all their Lands and Tithes towards the maintenance of the War here He was the first that kept the Army under Discipline so that they were not grievous or burthensom to the Country as they used to be And so having behaved himself very well in Ireland he returned to England on the twenty second of April leaving James Butler 1364. Earl of Ormond Lord Deputy This Lord obtained a Licence from the King to purchase Lands to the value of sixty Pound per annum Lib. CCC non obstante the Statute or Ordinance That no Officer of the King's should purchase within his Jurisdiction But on the eighth Day of December Lionel Duke of Clarence Lord Lieutenant came over again but made a very short Stay before he left the Kingdom and deputed Sir Thomas Dale 1365. Lord Deputy in whose time great Contest arose between the Birminghams of Carbry and the Inhabitants of Meath for the very English were now grown so degenerate that they preyed and pillaged one another after the barbarous manner of the Irish so that Sir Robert Preston Chief Baron who had married one of the Daughters and Coheirs of Sir Walter Birmingham was forced to put a good Guard into his Castle of Carbry to secure his Estate against his seditious Neighbours Hereupon Lionel Duke of Clarente 1367. Lord Lieutenant came over again and held that renowned Parliament at Kilkenny which made that famous Act which is so often cited by the name of the Statute of Kilkenny The Bishops of Dublin Cashel Tuam Lissmore Waterford Killaloo Ossory Leighlin and Cloyne Lib. D. who were present at this Parliament did fulminate an Excommunication against the Transgressors of that Law The Lords and Commons sat together at the making of it and the Statute it self is in French and to be seen at large in the Library at Lambeth libro D. but the effect of it is That the Brehon Law is an evil Custom Davis 112 191. and that it be Treason to use it That Marriage Nursing and Gossiping with the Irish be Treason That the use of Irish Name Apparel or Language be punished with the loss of Lands or imprisonment until the Party give Security to conform That the English should not make War upon the Irish without Order of the State That the English should not permit the Irish to Creaght or graze upon their Land Nor present an Irishman to an Ecclesiastical Benefice Nor receive them into Monasteries or Religious Houses Nor entertain any of their Minstrels Rhimers or News-tellers Nor cess Horse or Foot upon the English Subject against his Will on Pain of Felony And that Sheriffs might enter any Liberty or Franchise to apprehend Felons or Traytors And that four Wardens of the Peace should be appointed in every County equally to assess every Man's Proportion of the publick Charge for Men and Armour But it seems this Statute did not affect the Irish because they were not amesnable to Law for notwithstanding this Act the Irish did always use their Brehon Law until the third Year of King James I. Nevertheless this Law Davis 193. together with the Presence of the King's Son and the Discipline he used did very much reform the degenerate English so that the Revenues certain and casual of Vlster and Connaught were thenceforward accounted for in the Exchequer and the King's Writ did run in both those Provinces and therefore this Statute was revived and confirmed by 10 Hen. 7. cap. 8. It is to be noted Lib. D. That at this time the Price of a Cow was but ten Groats and the Pay of a Foot-Soldier was but two Pence a Day whereof he paid a Penny for his Victuals Nor must it be forgot That about this time it was declared in England That the King could not by Law alienate his Dominions And that King John his Submission to the Pope being contrary to his Coronation Oath and to Law was utterly void But let us return to the Lord Lieutenant who having concluded this Parliament to his Mind went to
England and Gerard Fitz Maurice Earl of Desmond was made Lord Justice 1367. he procured a Parly between the Birminghams and some Commissioners he sent but they treacherously seized on Thomas Burly Prior of Kilmaynam and Chancellor the Sheriff of Meath 1368. and Sir Robert Tyrrel c. whereupon James Birmingham who was a Prisoner in Irons at Trim was exchanged for the Chancellor and the others were fain to pay their Ransoms 1369. But on the twelfth of July came over Sir William de Winsor Lord Lieuten who called a Parliament at Kilkenny which gave three thousand Pound Subsidy And soon after another at Ballydoil which gave two thousand Pound Subsidy Pryn 304. towards the Maintenance of the King's Wars Both which Sums were for some time forborn by the King's Order Prin 300 301 but were afterwards levied and paid to the Lord Lieutenant And the King would also have had a Law made against Absentees and sent Orders to that Purpose but it seems that he did not prevail in that Matter This Lord Lieutenant vigorously prosecuted the War against the O Tools and the Rebels of Leinster but was interrupted by a fatal Accident for on the sixth of July near the Monastery of Mayo in the Country of Limerick O Connor and O Bryan got the better of the English and slew the Earl of Desmond and took John Fitz Nicholas Lord of Kerry and the Lord Thomas fitz-Fitz-John and many others Prisoners Whereupon the Lord Lieutenant was obliged to march to the Defence of Munster where he behaved himself so well that John Macnamarra a great Man in Thomond was forced to submit Lib. D. and give Hostages for Performance of Covenants one of which was To keep the Peace especially towards the Bishops of Limerick and Killalow Another was Not to annoy the City or Castle of Limerick nor hinder that City in their Fishing or in cutting down Woods in Thomond to build or repair their Houses And a third was That he should restore the Books Ornaments and Chalices he had taken from the Church of Limerick From whence may be observed That Sacriledge was well known and practised in Ireland before the Reformation But to proceed The Lord Lieutenant was sent for to England and therefore on the twenty first of March he deputed Maurice 1371. Earl of Kildare Custos of Ireland and he was sworn the next Day and continued in that Office until Sir Robert de Ashton 1372. Lord Justice arrived In his time there were great Fewds between O Farrel and the English of Meath so that many were killed on each Side and particularly Hussy 1373. Baron of Galtrim the Sheriff of Meath and William Dalton were in May slain by the Irish in Kinaleagh And whereas the Court of Exchequer had issued Process to levy Escuage as well for the Lands seised by the Rebels as for those which the English kept in Possession the King on the twenty second of May sent a Writ to the Exchequer to order that Matter according to Reason and Equity And whereas he was informed That Customs and Impositions were laid upon them which the major Part of the Parliament had not consented to he sent the Lord Justice a strange sort of Writ Pryn 303. which shall therefore be recited REX dilecto sâ—ideli suo Roberto de Ashton Justic suo Hibern Salutem Ex gravi conquestione ligeorum nostrorum Terrae nostrae Hibern accepimus quod cum Willielmus de Winsore nuper locum nostrum tenens in Terra praedicta ad primum Parliamentum post adventum suum in Hibern tent apud Dublin diversa Custumas onera quae antea aliquo tempore concessa non fuerunt ab ipsis Ligeis nostris petiâ—isse viz. de quolibet lasto halecis tres solidos de qualibet centena grossi piscis duodecem denarios de qualibet Centena minoris piscis sex denarios de quolibet dolio Salmonis quatuor solidos de qualibet pipa Salmonis duos solidos de quolibet dolio Vini sex solidos octo denar de qualibet pipa vini tres solidos quatuor denar de qualibet libra â—arnium boum porcorum ovium sex denarios de qualibet weia frumenti sex solidos octo denarios de qualibet weia Brasei fabarum pisar hordei siliginis hastinel quinque solidos de qualibet weia salis sex solidos octo denaer de qualibet libra pellium equorum cervorum Aphrorum pillfell pannor laniar lineorum fuldingoram aliarum merchandizarum sex denarios licet Praelati Magnates alii ligei nostri pro majori parte in dicto Parliamento nostro existentes concessioni levationi solutioni custum onerum praedictorum expresse contradixerunt quidam Praelati de concilio assensu praefat Willielmi existentes aliae singulares personae pro minori parte ejusâ—em Parliamenti in quadam camera congregati custumam onera superdicta absque assensu majoris partis dicti Paliamenti per tres annos tantum non ultra concesserunt praefatus tamen Willielmus alii de concilio suo in rotulis Canc. nosâ—ri ejusdem irrotulari registrari fecerunt quod dicta custumae onera per omnes in dicto Parliamento presentes perpetuis temporibus percipienda concessa fuerunt in ipsorum ligeorum nostrorum Terrae nostrae praedictae destructionem depaâ—perationem manifestam unde nobis supplicarunt sibi per nos de remedio provideri nos nolentes ipsos ligeos nostros injuste onerari vobis mandamus quod premissa omnia eorum singula eisdem modo forma quibus gesta acta fuerunt in proximo Parliamento nostro in Terra praedicta tenendo coram Praelatis Magnatibus Communitate dicti Parliamenti recitari declarari si per expositionnem examinationem eorundem vobis constare poterit premissa veritatem continere tunc irrotulamentum ac record concessionis custumae onerum praedict de assenfu dicti Parliamenti sine dilatione cancellari damnari levationi exactioni custumae onerum praedict ratione concessionis antedict post dictum trientum faciend supersederi faciatis omnino Teste Rege apud Westm 28. die Maii. And now happened the famous Case of Sir Richard Pembridge who was the King's Servant and Warden of the Cinque Ports 2. Inst 47. and being ordered to go over Lord Deputy to Ireland he refused and it was adjudged he might because it was but an honourable Exile and no man can by Law be compelled Perdere Patriam except in the case of Abjuration for Felony or by Act of Parliament And therefore another was sent viz. Sir William Windsor 1374. Lord Lieutenant who arived at Waterford on the eighteenth Day of April 1374. and was sworn at Kilkenny the fourth of May He undertook the Custody or Government of Ireland for eleven thousand two hundred and thirteen
England There was also another Petition for a free intercourse of Trade between Ireland and Portugal Ibid. whereunto the King gave a Gracious Answer And it seems that the State of England was intent upon the Recovery and Improvement of Ireland for Sir Nicholas Dagworth was sent thither to survey the Possessions of the Crown Davis 201 and to call the Officers of the Irish Revenue to account and the more to humour the Irish who thiink themselves disgraced when ignoble Men are put in the highest Authority over them Edmond Mortimer Earl of March and Vlster Jan. 24. 1380. was sent over Lord Lieutenant Sometime before he came viz. in Jun. 1380. the French and Spanish Gallies which did much Mischief on the Coasts of Ireland were by the English Fleet forced to retire into the Harbour of Kinsale where they were assailed and vanquished by the English and Irish so that their Chief Captains were taken Paâ—ata Hiberniae 360. and four hundred of the Enemies slain there were also taken four of their Barges and one Ballenget and one and twenty English Prizes were recovered I cannot find but that Ireland was pretty quiet during the Government of this Lord Lieutenant which did not continue very long for he died at St. Dominicks Abby near Cork on the 26th of December 1381. and the next day John Cotton then Dean of St. Patricks Ware de Praesulibus 28. and Lord Chancellor afterwards Achbishop of Armagh was chosen and sworn Sord Justice 1381 in the Convent of Preaching Friars at Cork Pryn 309. but it seems he did not long exercise that Office for in Mr. Prins Animadversions on the 4th Institut we find a Writ Dated the 29th Day of March anno 1382. viz. 5 R. 2. Directed to Roger Mortimer Earl of March Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whereby he is directed to call a Parliament there for the good Government of that Country and the support of the Kings great Charge and Expence but it is probable that this young Lord could not manage that unruly Kingdom and therefore Philip de Courtny the Kings Cousin was sent over Lord Lieutenant 1383. he had a great Estate in Ireland and therefore was the fitter for that Government He came over on good terms for he had a Patent to hold that Office for ten years nevertheless he behaved himself so ill Lib. M. Lamb. that he was not only superseded but also was arrested whilst he was Lord Lieutenant and afterwards grievously punished for the wrongs and oppressions he had done in Ireland Davis 201. In his time hapned a great Mortality called the Fourth Pestilence and upon the removal of him the Government of Ireland was given to the great Favourite of that Age Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford afterwards Marquess of Dublin Decemb. 1384. and Duke of Ireland Lord Lieutenant The English Parliament to get rid of him gave him a Debt of thirty thousand Marks due from the French King upon condition that after Easter he should pass into Ireland to recover the Lands the King had given him there he had five hundred Men at Arms at twelve pence per diem and a thousand Archers at six pence apiece a day appointed him for two years super conquestum illius Terrae He was trusted with the whole Dominion of the Realm during his Life without paying any thing therefore or making any Account for it He had Power to pass all Writs under his own Test and to place and displace all Officers how great soever even the Chancellor Treasurer Admiral c. and to name his own Deputy and all other Ministers And it seems that he had afterwards a larger Patent 4th Instit 357 9 Rich. 2. whereby the King granted him Totam Terram Dominium Hiberniae Insulas eidem Terrae adjacentes ac omnia Castra Comitatus Burgos Villas Portus Maris c. una cum Homagiis Obedientiis Vassallis Servitiis Recognitionibus Praelatorum Comitum Baronum c. cum Regaliis Regalitatibus Libertatibus c. omnibus aliis qnae ad Regaliam Nostram pertinent cum Mero Mixto Imperio adeo plene integre perfecte sicut Nos ea tenuimus habuimus tenuerunt habuerunt Progenitorum nostrorum aliqui ullis unquam temporibus retroactis Tenendum per Homagium Ligeum tantum c. But that which is most strange is That those illegal Letters Patents should be authorized by Parliament Assensâ— Praelatorum Ducum aliorum Procerum Communitatis nostri Angliae in Parliamento but nullum violentum est perpetuum novus iste insolitus umbratilis honor cito evanuit But it is time to return to the great Minion the Earl of Oxford who came as far as Wales and the King with him but they could not be perswaded to part and therefore this Lord Lieutenant never went to Ireland but deputed Sir John Stanly 1385. Lord Deputy in whose time the Bridge of Dublin fell and at the Parliament held at Westminster Roger Mortimer Earl of March Son of Philippa Daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence Third Son of Edward the Third was established and soon after proclaimed Heir Apparent to the Crown and yet he was but Heir Presumptive but this Lord Justice was sent for and Alexander de Balscot April 26. alias Petit 1387. Bishop of Meath who had been Treasurer and Chancellor did execute the Office of Lord Justice until the return of Sir John Stanly 1389. Lord Deputy to the aforesaid Earl of Oxford Lib. D. Lambeth to him O Neal and his Sons made an humble Submission in Writing wherein they renounced the Bonaught of Vlster they also promised Allegiance and gave Oaths and Hostages for the performance thereof And it is to be noted 1390. That almost in every Parliament of this Reign held in England the King did desire Aid from them for the carrying on the War in Ireland But at length the English Parliament did so vigorously prosecute the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland that he was forced to fly beyond Seas and not long after died miserably at Brussels and thereupon James Earl of Ormond July 25. was made Lord Justice and the Archbishop of Dublin was constituted Lord Chancellor 1392. This Lord Justice beat the Mac Moyns at Tascoffin in the County of Kilkenny and slew six hundred of them And now the State of England began to think seriously of the Recovery of Ireland and finding that that Country was poor and almost depopulated by the mighty Concourse of Irish into England whereby the Kings Revenue was decayed and the Power of the Irish Rebels increased it was thought fit to revive the Law against Absentees and to issue a Proclamation requiring all those whose Habitations were in that Kingdom to repair home Also some Recruits of Men and Money were sent to Ireland and the King had by Indenture agreed with Thomas Duke of Glocester to be Lord Lieutenant of
to the Lord Justice 1422. whose Servants were on the Seventh of May attacked and defeated by the Irish Purcel Grant and five and twenty English more were slain and ten taken Prisoners and two hundred escaped to the Abby of Leix and to revenge this the Lord Justice invaded O Mores Country and defeated his terrible Army in the red Bog of Asby he relieved his own Men and burnt and preyed the Rebels Lands for four days until themselves came and sued for Peace And it seems O Dempsy notwithstanding his Oath of Obedience invaded the Pale and took the Castle of Ley from the Earl of Kildare which the Lord Justice had justly restored to the Earl whereupon Campion makes a severe Remark on the Irish That notwithstanding their Oaths and their Pledges they are no longer true than they feel themselves the weaker In the mean time Mac Mahon play'd the Devil in Vrgile and burnt and spoil'd all before him Camp 97. but the Lord Justice also revenged that Prank and forced Mac Mahon to submit and many other Noble Exploits did this good Governor for whose Success the Clergy of Dublin went twice every week in solemn Procession praying for his Victory over those disordered Persons which now in every Quarter of Ireland had apostatiz'd to their old Trade of Life and repined at the English And when I have mentioned a Deed made 9 Hen. 5. which is to be found Lib. GGG 24. at Lambeth whereby this Earl of Ormond constituted James Fitz-Girald Earl of Desmond his Seneschal of the Baronies or Signiories of Imokilly Inchicoin and the Town of Youghal during his Life I have no more to add but that this Victorious King after he had conquered France submitted to the common Fate on the last Day of August 1422 in the Flower of his Age and the Tenth Year of his Reign THE REIGN OF HENRY VI. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND HENRY the Sixth was but nine Months old at the Death of his Illustrious Father 1422. and therefore the deceased King had by his last Will appointed John Duke of Bedford to be Regent of France Humphry Duke of Glocester to be Governour of England and Thomas Duke of Excester and Henry Bishop of Winchester to be Guardians of the Young King's Person All which was duly observed and the Infant King was proclaimed in Paris and the Nobility that were there swore Allegiance to him James Earl of Ormond continued Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and upon a Petition preferred by the House of Commons to the King about the manifold Murders Robberies Rapes Riots and other Misdemeanours committed by the Irish in England Lib. M. it was enacted there That all Persons born in Ireland should quit England within a time limited except Graduates in either University Clergymen beneficed those that have Land in England or are married there or those whose Parents are English and even such are to give Security of their good Behaviour And not long after came over Edmond Mortimer 1422. Earl of March and Vlster Lord Lieutenant He died afterwards of the Plague at the Castle of Trym which was his own Inheritance And in his stead came John Lord Talbot 1425. Lord Justice In whose time the Barretts a Family of good account near Cork did by Indenture covenant to be obedient to the Earl of Desmond who was exceeding Powerful and lorded it over great part of Munster with a high Hand This Governour resigned to James Earl of Ormond 1426. Lord Justice In whose time John Duke of Bedford 4 Instit 360. Regent of France obtained a Patent for all the Mines of Gold and Silver within England Ireland c. rendring to the Church the tenth Part to the King the fifteenth Part and to the Owner of the Soil the twentieth part And then Sir John de Gray 1427. Lord Lieutenant landed at Hoâ—th the thirty first of July and was sworn the next Day but no mention is made of any thing he did but that he went for England and left Edward Dantzy Bishop of Meath 1428. his Deputy He was for a time Treasurer of Ireland and dyed the fourth of January 1428. Upon Notice whereof Sir John Sutton Lord Dudly was sent over Lord Lieutenant He held a Parliament in Dublin Friday next after the Feast of All Saints 1429. at which it was enacted That the Sheriff upon Pain of Amercement should add to the Panel of Jurors the Place Estate and Mistery of every Juror And in the Preamble to this Act the Lord Lieutenant is Styled The Right Noble and Right Gracious Lord. And on the sixth of the same November the King was crowned at Westminster And soon after the Lord Lieutenant returned and left Sir Thomas Strange 1429. Lord Deputy in whose time the King was crowned at Paris 1431. and took the Oaths and Homage of the Nobility and People there And now happened the famous Case of the Prior of Lanthony which was That a Judgment in the Common Pleas being removed to the Irish Parliament was affirmed there Whereupon a Writ of Error was sent from England but the King's Bench in England would not take cognizance of a Judgment in the Parliament of Ireland to reverse it And therefore the Prior petitions the King That the Record may be transmitted to the House of Lords in England to be examined there Sir Thomas Stanly was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1432. and it seems that he called a Parliament which enacted two Statutes that were afterwards repealed by 11 Jac. 1 cap. 5. And then he went to England leaving Sir Christopher Plunket Lord Deputy 1432. he was afterwards Baron of Killine in Right of his Wife Heir of the Cusacks and his second Son became Baron of Dunsany But Sir Thomas Stanly 1435. Lord Lieutenant returned and gave a Check to the Irish who were insolent beyond Measure and incroaching everywhere on the Pale making the best Advantage of the King's Minority and the Absence of the Military Men in France but the Lord Lieutenant with the Power of Meath and Vriel took Moyle O Donel Prisoner and slew a great many of the Irish And afterwards about Michaelmas he went again to England and left Richard Talbot Archbishop of Dublin 1436. Brother to the Earl of Shrewsbury Lord Deputy he was sometime Lord Chancellor of Ireland and was elected Primate of Armagh but he refused to change his Bishoprick Lion Lord Wells 1438. Lord Lieutenant in whose time a second Law was made in England Lib. M. obliging the Irishmen to return into their Native Country And another Statute was made in Ireland to stop the Passage of any more into England And on the twelfth of June 17 Hen. 6. Robert Fitz-Geofry Cogan granted all his Lands in Ireland being half the Kingdom of Cork to James Earl of Desmond and gave a Letter of Attorney to put him in Possession of Kyrrygrohanmore Lib. G. Downdrinane
alias Castlemore Rathgogan Bever Shandon Dofglass Ocorbelethan Kyrricurry c. and though it is manifest by innumerable Records That the Kingdom of Cork did by the Heirs General descend to Carew and Courcy who are charged in the Exchequer for the Crown-Rent of it for many Years viz. sixty Pound a piece per annum yet this Conveyance from Cogan the Heir-Mail was Pretence enough in those Times for the powerful Earl of Desmond to seize on that great Estate Richard Talbot 1440. Archbishop of Dublin was again Lord Justice and held a Parliament at Dublin Friday after the Feast of S. Dunstan at which it was enacted I. That no Purveyor or Harbenger should take any thing without Payment And if he did the Proprietor might resist II. That Comrick or Protection of Tories be Treason III. That charging the Kings Subjects with Horse or Foot without Consent is Treason IV. That the Party who desires a Protection cum clausa Volumus shall make Oath in Chancery of the Truth of his Suggestion c. But to make Provision for War Davis 52. in lieu of the former Exactions it was enacted That every twenty Pound-worth of Land should be charged with the furnishing and maintaining an Archer on Horseback This Lord Justice resigned to James Eaâ—l of Ormond Lord Lieutenant who the same Year surrendred to Lion Lord Wells Lord Lieutenant who probably did not come to Ireland but deputed James Earl of Ormond Ware de Praesulibus 170. Lord Deputy He had the Temporalities of the See of Cashel granted to him for ten Years after the Death of O Hedian and kept the Government of Ireland until William Wells 1442. Esq was made Lord Deputy to his Brother the Lord Wells Ibid. 115. In his time a Parliament was held at Dublin which sent Richard Talbot Archbishop of Dublin and John White Abbot of S. Maries to the King to represent the Miserable Estate and Condition of Ireland whereby the Publick Revenue was reduced so low Lib G. that it was less than the necessary Charge of keeping the Kingdom by one thousand four hundred and fifty six Pounds per annum And soon after James Earl of Ormond was made Lord Lieutenant 1443. and 23 Hen. 6. obtained a Licence to be absent for many Years without incurring the Penalty of the Statute of 3 Rich. 2. of Absentees and to him a Writ was sent 20 H. 6. to eject John Cornwalsh and to place Michael Griffin Chief Baron in his room because the King had granted him that Office for Life though the other had a prior Patent from Ormond This Lord Lieutenant was a fast Friend to the Earl of Desmond who probably was of his Faction against the Talbots between whom and the Butlers the Feud was so great so general and so violent that no Justice could be had or any business done for a long time because either Party as it got Advantage oppressed the other 23 Hen. 6. in Turri London pars 2. m. 12. to the utmost degree It was about this time that James Earl of Desmond obtained a Patent for the Government or Custody of the Counties of Waterford Cork Limerick and Kerry And not long after for his good Service in keeping those Counties in Peace and upon Pretence that he could not conveniently be absent from that Charge and that it was dangerous for a Man so hated by the King's Enemies as he pretended to be to travail to Dublin he obtained a Licence To absent himself during Life from all future Parliaments sending a sufficient Proxy in his stead And also to purchase any Lands he pleased by whatsoever Service they were holden of the King And this is the true Foundation and all the Grounds of that fantastical Privilege claimed by the succeeding Earls of Desmond Of not coming into walled Towns nor to Parliament but when they please And since that time this Example has been so infectious that it is no strange thing in Ireland to find a Tenant at Will pretend a Title and a Lessee to claim an Inheritance and he that has a Right to something confidently to usurp more But the Faction of the Talbots began to get Ground among the People it being in the nature of Mankind to be mutinous against an uneasie Government be the Fault where it will for the Multitude consider what they feel and cannot penetrate into the Cause or Cure of their Grievances and therefore they naturally fall upon the most obvious Remedy which is the change of the Governour In order to remove the Lord Lieutenant some of the Lords and more of the Commons petitioned the King seting forth That the Earl of Ormond was old and feeble and had lost many of his own Castles for want of Defence and therefore was not likely to maintain much less enlarge the King's Possessions in Ireland Secondly That he made such of his Irish Servants Knights of Shires as would not consent to any good Law and that he dispensed with the Absence of the Lords from Parliament for Mony Thirdly That he sent several Subjects Prisoners to O Dempsy's Castle and forced them to pay Ransom Lib. M. And therefore they desired he might be superseded and at length prevailed to have it so although the Bishop of Cork and Cloyne the Dean and Chapter of Cork the Corporations of Cork and Youghal the Lords Barry Roch and others gave a full Testimonial of the great Services the Earl of Ormond had done And John Talbot 1446. Earl of Shrewsbury was not only made Lord Lieutenant but also on the seventeenth of July 24 Hen. 6. the King granted to him the City and County of Waterford and the Dignity and Stile of Earl of Waterford together with Jura Regalia Wreck c. from Youghal to Waterford because that Country is wast Et non ad proâ—icuum sed ad perditum nostrum redundat And the Patent is Per breve de Privato Sigillo authoritate Parliamenti This Lord Lieutenant held a Parliament at Trim 1447. on Friday after the Epiphany at which it was enacted I. That any Officer may travail by Sea from one Part of Ireland to another without forfeiture or any where with Licence II. That no Toll or Customs shall be taken in High-ways but only in Cities and Towns according to Right on Pain of paying twenty Shillings for every Peny III. Every Man must keep his Upper-Lip shaved Repealed 11 Car. 1. cap. 6 or else may be used as an Irish Enemy IV. If any Irishman that is denized Repeal ibid. kill or rob he may be used as an Irish Enemy and slain by this Act appears the Inconvenience of those Denizations V. Against unlawful coyn Repeal ibid. O Reyly's Mony clipt Mony and gilt Harness or Armour VI. That the Sons of Husbandmen and Labourers shall follow their Fathers Calling or Occupation VII That Lords of Parliament in Pleas Real or Personal shall not be amerced more than others VIII To
pain of loss of Life Lands and Goods that never any of them do make War upon another without Licence or Commandment of you my Lord Deputy and the Kings Council for the utter destruction of these parts is that only cause and once all the Irishmen and the Kings Enemies were driven into a great Vally called Glanehought betwixt two great Mountains called Maccorte or the Leprous Island and there they lived long and many years with their White-Meat till at the last these English Lords fell at variance among themselves and then the weakest part took certain Irishmen to take his part and so vanquished his Enemy and thus fell the English Lords at variance among themselves till the Irishmen were stronger than they and drave them away and now have the whole Country under them but that the Lord Roch the Lord Courcy and the Lord Barry only remain with the least part of their Ancestors Possessions and young Barry is there upon the Kings Portion paying his Grace never a penny of Rent wherefore We the Kings poor Subjects of the City of Cork Kinsale and Youghal desire your Lordship to send hither two good Justices to see this Matter ordered and some English Captains with twenty Englishmen that may be Captains over us all and we will rise with them to redress these Enormities all at our own Costs and if you do not we be all cast away and then farewel Munster for ever and if you will not come nor send we will send over to our Liege Lord the King and complain on you all However I will not pretend to be exact in the timing of this Letter This Lord Lieutenant had a Son born at Dublin well known afterwards by the Name of George Duke of Clarence to whom the Earls of Ormond and Desmond were Godfathers and thereupon Desmond grew so insolent and haughty that his Oppressions were the chief Cause of the aforesaid Letter from Cork but it is probable that the Lord Lieutenant return'd to England and left James Earl of Ormond afterward Earl of Wiltshire 1451. and Lord Treasurer of England Lord Deputy in whose time Sir John Talbot was made Lord Chancellor of Ireland and it seems Complaint was made against him because he put in a Deputy in his room absque Regis licentia Lib. CCC This Lord Deputy was made Lord Lieutenant and went for England leaving John Mey Archbishop of Armagh Lord Deputy 1453. wherewith the Government of England being dissatisfied a Writ was sent to the Earl of Ormond commanding him Quod circa praemissis intenderet I suppose the Reason might be because there was a Necessity for the Presence of a Military Governour of Power and Authority in that Kingdom to repel the daily Incursions of the Irish into the Pale and therefore Ormond not being willing to come over the Government was committed to Thomas Earl of Kildare 1454. Lord Deputy who held it only until the arrival of Sir Edward Fitz-Eustace Lord Deputy to the Duke of York Who held a Parliament in Dublin at which it was enacted I. That all Statutes against Provisors in England or Ireland should be held in Force II. That Inquests before Coroners shall be discharged after a second Verdict that they do not know the Felon III. That no Appeals shall be to England except for Treason against the King's Person and in all false Appeals the Plaintif shall pay Damages and twenty Pound and one hundred Shillings Fine In the mean time the Duke of York in England obtained a famous Victory over the King's Forces at S. Albans where the Duke of Somerset was slain and the King himself was wounded in the Neck and afterwards on the ninth of July he was made Protector of the King's Person by Parliament And in Ireland Thomas Earl of Kildare was Lord Deputy to the Duke of York 1455. and held a Parliament at Dublin wherein it was enacted I. That no Exigents nor Outlawries be made by Commissioners II. That the Recorder of Dublin and Drogheda shall have but two Pence for every Plaint III. That every Man shall answer for his Sons and waged Men. IV. An Act about Escheators V. That a Parliament should be held every Year And he held another Parliament at the Naas Lib. M. 48. Friday after All Saints which enacted I. That all Strangers pay forty Pence per Pound Custom for transporting Silver II. That every Man shall answer for his Sons except in Cases Capital III. That no Person not amesnable to Law shall distrain without Licence on pain of forfeiting his Title And he held another Parliament at Dublin Friday after the Purification at which it was established I. That Beneficed Persons should reside II. That the Inhabitants to enclose the Village might remove the High-way forty Perch Richard Duke of York 1459. upon the Revolt of Andrew Trollop and the Callicians broke up his Army and fled first to Wales and afterwards to Ireland where he was kindly received and by his Deputy the Earl of Kildare he held a Parliament at Dublin the third of February which enacted That Warrants to the Chancellor bear the Date of the Delivery and that the Patents be of the same Date or else be void And the same Day twelve month he held another Parliament at Drogheda 1460. wherein it was enacted That no Man should sue in the Exchequer but a Minister of that Court on pain of ten Pound This Duke and his Abettors were in a Parliament at Coventry declared Traytors and thereupon the Earl of March came to his Father into Ireland and soon after returned to Calice and thence invaded England at Sandwich and on the ninth of July he fought and defeated the King at Northampton and took him Prisoner whereupon the Duke of York went to England and called a Parliament in the King's Name and in that Parliament boldly claimed his Title and so it was enacted That King Henry should keep the Crown during his Life and the Duke should be declared Heir apparent and in case of Opposition or farther Bustle about it should have present Possession But not long after the Duke was defeated and slain at the Battle of Wakefield This Duke behaved himself exceeding well in Ireland he appeased the Tumults there and erected Castles on the Borders of Louth Meath and Kildare to stop the Irish Incursions and was so well esteemed in that Kingdom that Multitudes of the Irish Subjects attended him into England to pursue his Claim to the Crown Nevertheless the Publick Revenue was but very low because the whole Kingdom was in Possession of the Irish except the Pale and some few Places on the Sea-Coast in Vlster and even that was so far from being quiet that they were fain to buy their Peace by yearly Pensions to the Irish and to pay Tribute and Contributions to them for Protection which nevertheless was but very ill observed to the English It cannot be expected I should give the Reader an exact
List of all that did pay this scandalous Contribution Lib. P. 174. and yet I am not willing to conceal from him the Account I have met with which is as follows lib. The Barony of Lecale to O Neal of Clandeboy per annum 20 The County of Vriel to O Neal 40 The County of Meath to O Connor 60 The County of Kildare to O Connor 20 The King's Exchequer to Mac Morough 80 Marks The County of Wexford to Mac Morough 40 The Counties of Kilkenny and Typerary to O Carol 40 The County of Limerick to O Bâ—â—an 40 The County of Cork to Mac Carty of Muskry 40 And whilst the English were engaged in England the Irish advantaged themselves of the Opportunity and without Colour of Right usurped many considerable Estates as they had done before in the time of Richard II and these two Seasons set them so afloat that they could never since be cast out of their forceable Possessions holding by plain Wrong the most part of Vlster and upon very frivolous Pretences great Portions of Laâ—d in Munster and Connaugh And so we are come to the end of this unfortunate Reign which determined some Years before the King's Life for he did not dye until the twenty first Day of May 1472. And it must not be forgot That one of the Articles against this King was That by the Instigation of divers Lords about him he had wrote Letters to some of the Irish Enemy whereby they were encouraged to attempt the Conquest of the said Land of Ireland THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND EDWARD Earl of March 1460. Son and Heir of Richard Duke of York immediately after his Fathers Death at the Battle of Wakefield betook himself with all Diligence to gather an Army near Shrewsbury and having got twenty three thousand Men together on the second of February he defeated the Earls of Ormond and Pembrook near Mortimers-Cross and killed three thousand eight hundred of their Soldiers and although the Queen not long afterward defeated the Earl of Warwick at Bernard-Heath near S. Albans yet he wisely made slight of that Misfortune and without any Regard to it marched directly to London where on the fourth Day of March by vertue of the aforementioned Act of Parliament he was proclaimed King by the Name of Edward the Fourth He was as to his Person the goodliest Man of his Time and he was not less Valiant than beautiful On the twelfth of March he advanced against his Enemies and on Palm-Sunday with an Army of forty thousand and six hundred Men he encountred with sixty thousand and obtained so great a Victory that thirty six thousand seven hundred and seventy two of his Adversaries were slain And so being safe in his Throne 1461. he thought it time to put the Crown upon his Head which was solemnly performed on the twenty eighth Day of June In the mean time Thomas Earl of Kildare was on the thirtieth of April chosen Lord Justice by the Council of Ireland and continued so until Sir Rowland Fitz-Eusâ—ace 1462. Lord of Portlester and Treasurer was appointed Deputy to the Duke of Clarence He held a Parliament at Dublin Friday before S. Luke's Day which enacted That ten Pound per annum Davis 96. be received out of the Profits of the Courts to repair the Castle hall It seems that one William O Bolgir was made Denizen about this time Lib. G. and that on the fourth of May 1463. Robert Barnwal was made Baron of Trimlets-Town and it must not be forgot That the Earl of Ormond was beheaded at Newcastle and attainted by Parliament in Englaâ—d ◠〈◊〉 4. and that that noble Family was in Disgrace all this â—eâ—gn for their firm adhesion to the House of Lancaster This Lord Justice was long after this in a very old Age made Viscount Baltinglass by King Henry VIII and now was forced to resign to George Duke of Clarence the King's Brother who was made Lord Lieutenant for Life and deputed his Godfather Thomas Earl of Desmond Lib. M. Lord Deputy in whose time Mints were established at Dublin Trim Drogheda Waterford and Galway to coyn Groats two Penny pieces Pence Halfpence and Farthings And not long after it was ordered That English Mony should advance a fourth Part in Ireland viz. That an English Nine Pence should pass for a Shilling in Ireland and a Shilling for sixteen Pence and so proportionably And it seems the Gold Noble coyned in the time of Edward III. was inhanced higher than the rest for it was ordered to pass for ten Shillings And this was the first time any difference was made in the value of Mony between England and Ireland This Lord Justice held a Parliament at Weys Friday before S. Martin's Day 1463. which the Thursday after was adjourned to Waterford to be held the Monday following It was again on Saturday before the Feast of Edward the Confessor adjourned to Naas Irish Statutes 19. to be held Monday before S. Matthias Day and thence on the Friday after it met there it was adjourned to Dublin to be held Monday before S. David's Day and there on the Saturday after it was dissolved having first enacted I. That all Parliament Men should have Priviledge forty Days before and forty Days after every Sessions And II. That the Attorneys Fees be regulated And III. That clipped Mony should not be currant He held another Parliament at Trim 1465. on Wednesday after S. Lawrence his Day at which it was enacted I. That the like Challenge may be had against the Feofee as against cestuy que use II. That any Body may kill Thieves or Robbers Repealed 11 Car. 1 c. 6. or any Person going to rob or steal having no faithful Men of Good Name in English Apparel in their Company III. That the Irish within Pale shall wear English Habit take English Names and swear Allegiance upon pain of forfeiture of Goods IV. That English and Irish speaking English and living with the English shall have an English Bow and Arrows on pain of two Pence V. That there be a Constable and Butts in every Town And Lastly That no Foreign Vessels fish on the Rebels Coast on pain of Forfeiture And every one that fisheth on the Coast of the Pale to pay a Duty But this Lord Justice who was the greatest Man that ever was of his Family began now to decline in the King's Favour and was obliged to give place to John Lord Tiptoft 1467. Earl of Worcester Treasurer of England and Constable of England for Life Lord Deputy of Ireland he was one of the most learned and eloquent Men in Christendom and held a Parliament at Drogheda At which it was enacted I. That the Governour for the time being may pass into Islands II. That none shall purchase Bulls for Benefices from Rome under great Penalty III. That the King's Pardon to Provisors be void IV. That the
Courts of Exchequer and Commonpleas be removeable at the Discretion of the chief Governour on twenty eight Days notice V. That the Earls of Desmond and Kildare and Edward Plunket Esq as well for Alliances Fosterage and Alterage with the King's Irish Enemies as in furnishing them with Horse and Arms and supporting them against the King's Subjects which is notoriously known to be against the Kings Laws and the laudable Statutes of the Land Lib. D. be attainted of Treason and that whoever hath any of their Goods or Lands and doth not discover it to the Deputy within fourteen Days shall be attainted of Felony By vertue of this Act of Parliament Davis 186. the great Earl of Desmond was beheaded at Drogheda the fifteenth of February 1467. Report makes his Crime to be That of extorting Coyn and Livery And the Irish say it was for an affront he put upon the Queen for being of a noble Race and a generous or rather proud Spirit he despised the King's Marriage with so mean a Subject as the Lady Elizabeth Grey and often said She was a Taylors Widow Perhaps he had more reason than any Man to speak bitterly against such Matches because he had no other Title to the Earldom of Desmond than by the Marriage of his Nephew Thomas the fifth Earl of Desmond to Katherin ni William mac Cormock one of his Vassals for which that Earl was so persecuted by his Relations that he was forced to resign his Earldom to this his Unkle who is commonly called by the Irish Thomas of Drogheda And it would be a very hard case that the Nephew should be so abused for an Act which the King had justified by following the Example and therefore the Unkle exclaimed against that Action as a thing too base to be imitated or excus'd There is also another Vulgar Tradition about this matter which seems very unlikely Lib. P. if not impossible and that is That the Queen should steal the Privy Signet and put it to an Order for his Execution But it is well worth our Observation Davis 185. That as the Earls of Desmond were the first Introducers of Coyn and Livery among the English and the first that broached the distinction between English of Birth and English of Blood and the first Peers that refused to come to Parliament upon Summons so they were the only Peers that ever were executed in Ireland and the only Noble English Family that was by the Hand of Justice extinguished there so that this degenerate Family which of all others was most injurious and ungrateful to the English Government did suffer more by the same Government than any other Family in that Kingdom and those Exactions of Coyn and Livery which were the Foundations of their Grandure did at last prove the cause or occasion of their Ruine in the person of Gerald the fifteenth Earl of Desmond On the twenty sixth of February Edmond Lord Dunboyn Lib. G. for taking Con O Connor Prisoner and delivering him to the Lord Deputy and for other Services he had done the State obtained a Patent for ten Pound per annum payable out of the Fee farm Rents of Waterford forfeited by the Attainder of James Earl of Ormond and also the Prisage of Limerick Cork Ross Galway Youghal Kingsale Dungarvan and Dingle and the Lands of Castle-Richard in Meath habendum during his Life It is plain by many Circumstances and particularly that of his short stay in Ireland that this Lord Deputy came over meerly to serve a turn for as soon as the Earl of Desmond was executed the Earl of Kildare was not only pardoned but also the Lord Deputy hastned to England and left Thomas Earl of Kildare 1467. Lord Justice and afterward Lord Deputy to the Duke of Clarence Selden 841. In whose time John Bold was made Baron of Ratooth This Lord Justice held a Parliament at Drogheda which enacted I. That whereas it was doubted October 1468. whether the Act of 6 Rich. 2. That Women consenting to Ravishers should forfeit their Inheritance were of Force in Ireland it is now put out of Doubt and that and all other English Statutes made before that time are confirmed here II. Against Regrators and Ingrossers He also held another Parliament at the Naas Friday after S. Andrew's Day 1472. which was adjourned to Dublin to the Friday after S. Gregory's Day and enacted I. That Staple Wares be not transported to Scotland without payment of the Custom called the Coquet upon Pain of Forfeiture of the same II. That every Merchant shall bring twenty Shillings worth of Bows and Arrows into Ireland Repeal 10 Car. 1. ch 22. for every twenty Pounds worth of other Goods he imports from England III. That no Grain be transported out of Ireland if the Market Price exceed ten Pence a Peck on pain of forfeiting Ship and Goods But it was all repealed by the Parliament Lib. G. 18 Edw. 4. Nevertheless there was an Act of Parliament this Year of 12 Edw. 4. to this effect That there should be a Fraternity of Arms of the number of thirteen Persons Ex offic magistr Rot. in Castr Dublin Davis 55. of the most Honourable and faithfully disposed in the Counties of Kildare Dublin Meath and Louth viz. three out of each County and four from Meath that is to say Thomas Earl of Kildare Rowland Eustace Lord of Portlester Sir Rowland Eustace Knight for the County of Kildare Robert Lord of Hoath the Mayor of Dublin for the time being and Sir Robert Dowdal Knight for the County of Dublin the Lord Gormanstown Edward Plunket Seneschal of Meath Alexander Plunket Esq and Barnaby Barnewal Esq for the County of Meath and the Mayor of Drogheda Sir Lawrence Taaf Knight and Richard Bellew Esq for the County of Louth And that they and their Successors should yearly assemble at Dublin on S. George's Day and there chuse one of them to be Captain for the next year the which Captain and Brethren shall be created a Society by the Name of the Captain and Brethren at Arms the Captain shall have an hundred and twenty Archers on Horseback at six pence a Day for Meat Drink and Wages and forty Horsemen and forty Pages at five pence a day for him and his Page and four Marks per annum Wages the Captain and Brethren and their Successors to support this Charge shall have twelve pence per Pound out of all Merchandize sold in Ireland whether it be imported or exported except Hides and the Goods of the Free-men of Drogheda and Dublin and the Mayors of Dublin and Drogheda to be the Receivers of the foresaid Poundage the Fraternity shall have Power to make Laws for the good Governance of the Society and to elect a new Brother in the place of any deceasing and the Captain shall have Authority to apprehend all Out-law'd Rebels and others that will not be justified by Law And this was the Original of the
bind themselves to Allegiance by Oath and Recognizance and when he returned to Dublin on the 26th Octavianus Archbishop of Armagh Philip Birmingham Chief Justice of the Kings Bench and Thomas Dowdal Master of the Rolls followed the same Example There was great intercession made for Prior Keating and Thomas Plunket Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and at length Plunket was pardon'd but Keating was not only left unpardoned but was also removed from the Command of the Castle of Dublin whereof it seems he was Governour or Constable and Richard Archbold whom he had formerly ejected was now restored and perhaps Keating had been used worse if his Habit and Order had not protected him for the King hated him more than all the rest being as it seems one of the most violent and most powerful Abettors of the Impostor Symnel and so Sir Richard Edgecomb having faithfully executed his Commission embarked at Dalky the 29th of July and arrived in Cornwal on the 8th of August Soon after this the Lord Deputy and Council sent over the Bishop of Meath to obviate the Designs of their Enemies and to thank the King for his Favours and to assure him of their future Allegiance and he managed his Negotiation so successfully that although the Archbishop of Armagh who was of the Kings side and a Favourite did use his utmost Endeavours to get the Chancellorship yet he could not obtain it lest thereby Kildare and his Party might be disobliged and the Kingdom just now appeased and growing towards a Settlement might again be disturbed by new Jealousies and Commotions And now the Lord Deputy is at leisure to call Macgeoghan to account for all his Depredations in the Pale 1489. he invaded his Country and took the Castle of Bileragh and preyed and wasted the whole Territory of Moycassel and being loaden with Booty he returned to Dublin But the King being still jealous of the Nobility of Ireland whom he knew to be exceedingly addicted to the House of York sent for most of them to come over to him into England and thither went the Earl of Kildare the Viscounts Buttevant and Fermoy and the Lords of Athenry Kingsale Gormanstown Delvin Hoath Slane Killeen Trimleston and Dunsany They waited on the King at Greenwich where Lambert Symnel served as Butler purposely to ridicule and expose their Folly who would Crown such a Fellow for their King but after some sharp Reproofs they were all taken into Favour and graciously dismiss'd I suppose not without some Presents though only that of three hundred Pieces of Gold to the Lord of Hoath be mentioned But whilst these things were doing in England Maurice Buckagh Earl of Desmond obtained two Victories in Ireland the one against Morough O Carol who was slain in the Battel together with his Brother Moyl Murry and the other against Dermond Mac Teige Carty whom he also killed On the 6th of July a Provincial Synod was held at Athird Ware 24. by Octavianus Archbishop of Armagh at which were present the Bishops of Meath Clogher Ardagh Dromore Kildare Raphoe and Cluanmacnoise There was a great Contest at this Synod between Thomas Brady and one Cormock about the Bishoprick of Kilmore it was by common consent refer'd to the determination of the Bishops of Meath Clogher and Ardagh and what End they made of it non constat but six years after both of them were called Bishops of Kilmore and as such both of them were permitted to sit in the Synod of Drogheda The Summer and Harvest were so wet in Ireland 1491. that the Corn could not be saved and therefore a great Dearth ensued which was accompanied with a Disease called the Sweating Sickness which now came to be first felt and known in Ireland And it seems that a Parliament was held at Trim on Friday after Epiphany but none of their Acts are extant But in March a Proclamation issued against bad Money and Nicholas Flyn was made Supervisor of the Mints at Waterford and Dublin It was about this time that O Neal wrote this short and famous Letter to Hugh Roe O Donel from whom he demanded Chief-Rent which the other denied and refused to pay Cur hoom mi Keesh no monna Curhir i.e. Send me my Rent or if you don't as much as to say he would force him to it But O Donel replied Neel Reesh a gut urm agus dabeh i.e. I owe you no Rent and if I did meaning that he would not pay it so to Blows they go and after some Bickerings and Losses on both sides they agreed to refer all their Differences to the Lord Deputy but in vain for all that he could do could not reconcile them So to Blows they fall again and came to a bloody Battel wherein the Loss was almost equal but if there were any disadvantage in that Point it was of O Donel's side but that was more than balanced by the Death of O Neal who in January 1492 was Murdered by his Brother Henry so that Tyrone became divided between Henry and Daniel O Neal betwixt whom there was continual Wars until the year 1497. and then upon the Resignation of Daniel Henry became sole Proprietor and the same year of 1497 O Donel likewise being superannuated and decrepit gave up his Principality of Tirconnel to his Son Con. But the King finding that the Duchess of Burgundy was again busie at work about setting up another Impostor thought it necessary to put the Government of Ireland in the hands of such as he might confide in and therefore he removed the Earl of Kildare and Walter Fitz-Symons 1492. Archbishop of Dublin was made Lord Deputy to Jasper Dukâ— of Bedford and Sir James Ormond Natural Son to John Earl of Ormond was made Lord Treasurer in the room of Eustace Lord of Portlester who had enjoyed that Office eight and thirty years This new Lord Treasurer came to Ireland in June with a small Band of Souldiers and it so hapned that upon some Quarrel between him and the Earl of Kildare near Dublin there was a Skirmish which proved very prejudicial to both the Families of Butlers and Giraldines and the more because the Irish took advantage thereby to infest the Pale and to disturb the English Borders However in September following more Alterations were made in the great Offices of State Alexander Plunket was made Lord Chancelor Thomas Butler Master of the Rolls and Nicholas Turner was constituted Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in August before and the Earl of Ormond and the Prior of Canterbury were sent Ambassadors to the French King This Summer was so dry that abundance of Cattel perished for want of Water and the Air grew so Pestilential that a multitude of People and particularly the Lord of Slane died of the Plague But a greater Mischief than this hapned to the unfortunate Kingdom of Ireland by the Arrival of Perkin Warbeck who to supply the Defects of the former Imposture did pretend to be Richard Duke of
H. Lambeth to this effect That the Irish were not to be reduced but by Conquest and that if the Army undertook but one Province at once then two thousand five hundred Men would suffice but their Conâ—ederacies would make it necessary to attack them in several Places at once and then less than six thousand would not do the Business all which must be paid and victualled out of England That Ireland is five times as big as Wales and therefore the Conquest would not be perfected in ten Years And that when it is conquered it must be inhabited by a new Colony of English for the Irish will relapse do what you can In Munster there were great Fewds between James Earl of Desmond and Cormock Oge Lader Mac Carthy of Muskry Ware 's Annals 104 says Mac Carty Riagh but is mistaken the Archbishop of Dublin and other Commissioners went to Waterford to appease them but in vain for Desmond persisted to burn and prey Mac Carthy's Lands And Cormock Oge was not backward to revenge the Injury for being Confederate with Sir Thomas Desmond the Earl's Unkle and yet implacable Enemy they fought a Battle with the Earl in September killed one thousand of his Men put himself to Flight and took two of his Unkles John and Gerard Prisoners But the Lord Lieutenant January 1521 Lib. H. being weary of the Government or indisposed in his Health obtained the King's leave to return and left behind him a good Reputation and by the King's Orders his intimate Friend Pierce Earl of Ormond February Lord Deputy who fearing the Defection of the Irish because the Earl of Surry had carryed with him all the Forces he brought out of England whereby the Army was left exceeding weak And being also doubtful of an Invasion from the Scots he desired of the Cardinal That six of the King's Ships might be ordered to cruise between Ireland and Scotland I have seen a Patent of Denization to Charles Mac Carthy of Castlemore too long here to be recited though there are many things observable in it particularly the Proviso Quod idem Cormacus homagium ligeum nobis faciet ut est justum And I suppose the like Proviso was in all other Patents of that sort and imported that the should have the Benefit of the Law no longer than they persisted in their Allegiance But though the King's Army was not in Action 1522. yet O Neal's and O Donel's were for the last Years Injury manet alta mente repositum However they managed their Wars rather like Tories than Soldiers for after some light Skirmishes O Neal pretending a Retreat on a sudden rushed into Tyrconnel where he burnt and demolished all he could find and particularly O Donel's best Castle of Ballyshanon Which he in the mean time revenged by an incursion into Tyrone and thence returned loaden with Prey and Prisoners And thus these valiant Princes made War almost fatal to both sides without Blows or Battle But let us leave the Camp and a while turn to the Court Lib. H. where we shall find an Irishman sent by Mac Gilpatrick Chief of Vpper Ossory to the King to complain against the Deputy He met the King going to Chapel and delivered his Embassie in these Words Sta pedibus Domine Rex Dominus meus Gillapatricus me misit ad te jussit dicere Quod si non vis castigare Petrum Rufum ipse faciet bellum contra te This Year was fatal to Ireland no less by the Plague than the Sword it raged especially at and about Limrick the Mayor whereof died of that Distemper And about this time died the famous Poynings and at Christmas the City of Rhodes was forced by the Turk The Earl of Kildare who returned in January last got leave of the Deputy to invade the Country of Leix 1523. and being accompanid with Jons Fitz-Simons Mayor of Dublin and some Citizens he entred the Country and burnt a few Villages but he was intercepted by an Ambush and lost a great many of his Followers and with some Difficulty made his Retreat And now Jealousies and Discords began to arise between the Earls of Ormond and Kildare which were so maliciously fomented by evil Instruments that the Affinity between them was little considered nor did their Animosities determine otherwise than by the Ruine of one Family and the Infancy of the other Among all their Followers James Fitz Gerald had most Credit with Kildare and Robert Talbot of Belgard was the chief Favorite of Ormond This Talbot was going to keep his Christmas at Kilkenny with the Deputy but being met by James Fitz Gerald near Ballymore was by him slain or rather murdered which so exasperated the Earl of Ormond that he immediately sent to England an Impeachment against Kildare Hereupon a Commission issued to Sir Ralph Egerton 1524. Sir Anthony Fitz-Herbert and James Denton Dean of Litchfield to examine that Matter with Instructions That if the Earl of Kildare purged himself of the Crimes objected that then they should depose the Deputy and place Kildare in his room This Commission and Instructions were procured by the Marquess of Dorset Kildare's Father-in-Law and the Success was according to his Desire for after a slight Enquiry into this Affair the Commissioners made a formal Agreement between both Earls by an Indenture dated the twenty eighth of July and in a little time after deprived Ormond of the Government and placed in his stead Gerald Earl of Kildare Lord Deputy It seems that his Patent and other necessary Circumstances were prepared beforehand for the Indentures made between the King and this Earl bear date the fourth of August 16 Hen. 8. and import That he took the Government as from Midsummer before and that the Earl of Ormond should receive the Revenue till that time That the Earl shall support the Government of Ireland with the Revenue of the Country and shall not take Coyn and Livery Lib. H. but at Hostings and then his Soldiers shall be content with Flesh Bread and Ale on Flesh-Days or two Pence in lieu of it and Fish or Butter on Fish-Days or two Pence in lieu of it the Foot Soldiers shall be content with three half Pence a Day in lieu of the said Allowance and Boys shall be content with what they can get or a Penny in lieu of it and each Trooper shall take but twelve Sheaves of Oats a Night or two Pence in lieu thereof The Day this Lord Deputy was sworn Con O Neal carried the Sword before him to Thomas-Court where he entertained the Commissioners at a splendid Banquet And so these Commissioners having determined this great and some lesser Controversies returned into England and according to their Instructions carried with them the aforesaid James Fitz-Gerald as a Prisoner The Cardinal Wolsy the implacable Enemy of the Giraldines was glad of this occasion to affront that Noble Family and therefore caused this James Fitz-Gerald to be carried through the
days But go too suppose he never be had What is Kildare to blame for it more than my good Brother of Ossory who notwithstanding his high Promises having also the Kings Power is yet content to bring him in at leisure Cannot the Earl of Desmond shift but I must be of Council Cannot he hide him except I wink If he be close am I his Mate If he be befriended am I a Traytor This is a doughty kind of Accusation which they urge against me wherein they are gravell'd and mir'd at my first denial You would not see him say they Who made them so familiar with mine Eye-sight Or when was the Earl within my view Or who stood by when I let him slip Or where are the Tokens of my wilful Hoodwink But you sent him word to beware of you Who was the Messenger Where are the Letters Convince my Negatives see how loose this idle Gear hangeth together Desmond is not taken well you are in fault Why Because you are Who proveth it No body What Conjectures So it seemeth To whom To your Enemies Who told it them They will swear it What other Ground None Will they swear it my Lord Why then of like they know it either they have my hand to shew or can bring forth the Messenger or were present at a Conference or privy to Desmond or some body bewrayed it to them or they themselves were my Carriers or Vicegerents therein Which of these Parts will they chuse For I know them too well To reckon my self convict by their bare Words or heedless Sayings or frantick Oaths were but meer Mockery My Letters were soon read were any such Writing extant my Servants and Friends are ready to be sifted Of my Cozen Desmond they may lie loudly since no man here can well contrary them Touching my self I never noted in them so much Wit or so fast Faith that I would have gaged on their silence the Life of a good Hound much less mine own I doubt not may it please your Honours to oppose them how they came to the knowledge of these Matters which they are so ready to depose but you shall find their Tongues chained to another mans Trencher and as it were Knights of the Post suborn'd to say swear and stare the utmost they can as those that pass not what they say nor with what face they say it so they say no truth But on the other side it grieveth me That your good Grace whom I take to be wise and sharp and who of your blessed disposition wisheth me well should be so far gone in crediting these corrupt Informers that abuse the ignorance of your State and Countrey to my peril Little know you my Lord how necessary it is not only for the Governor but also for every Nobleman in Ireland to hamper the uncivil Neighbors at discretion wherein if they waited for Process of Law and had not those Lives and Lands you speak of within their reach they might hap to lose their own Lives and Lands without Law You hear of a Case as it were in a Dream and feel not the smart that vexeth us In England there is not a mean Subject that dare extend his hand to fillip a Peer of the Realm In Ireland except the Lord have Cunning to his Strength and Strength to save his Crown and sufficient Authority to take Thieves and Varlets when they stir he shall find them swarm so fast that it will be too late to call for Justice If you will have our Service take effect you must not tie us always to those judicial Proceedings wherewith your Realm thanked be God is inured Touching my Kingdom I know not what your Lordship should mean thereby If your Grace imagine that a Kingdom consisteth in serving God in obeying the Prince in governing with Love the Commonwealth in supporting Subjects in suppressing Rebels in executing Justice in bridling blind Affections I would be willing to be invested with so Vertuous and Royal a Name but if therefore you term me a King in that you are perswaded that I repine at the Government of my Sovereign or wink at Malefactors or oppress civil Livers I utterly disclaim that odious Term marvelling greatly that one of your Graces profound Wisdom would seem to appropriate so sacred a Name to so wicked a thing But howsoever it be my Lord I would you and I had changed Kingdoms but for one Month I would trust to gather up more Crumbs in that space than twice the Revenues of my poor Earldom But you are well and warm and so hold you and upbraid not me with such an odious Term. I slumber in a hard Cabin when you sleep in a soft Bed of Down I serve under the King's Cope of Heaven when you are served under a Canopy I drink Water out of my Skull when you drink Wine out of Golden Cups my Courser is train'd to the Field when your Jennet is taught to Amble when you are Graced and Belorded and Crouched and Kneeled unto then find I small Grace with our Irish Borderers except I cut them off by the Knees Hereupon the Cardinal finding that Kildare was no Fool adjourned the Cause till farther Proof could be produced however being fretted at this Speech he remanded the Earl to the Tower contrary to the Opinion of most of the Council Speed 775. it seems he was afterwards Bayl'd on the Recognizance of the Duke of Norfolk and was again imprisoned upon some Light the Cardinal had gotten of the Message to O Neal and O Connor which Kildare had sent by his Daughter the Lady Slane It is reported That whilst the Earl and the Lieutenant of the Tower were at Play together at Slide-groat a Mandate was sent by the Cardinal to execute Kildare the next day Whereupon he changing Countenance the Earl swore by S. Bride That there was some mad Game in that Scroll but fall how it will this Throw is for a huddle says he Speed 775. And being told of the Contents of the Letter he desired the Lieutenant to know the King's Pleasure therein which he did and the King was surpriz'd at the thing for he knew nothing of it and to controll the Sawciness of the Priest as he phrased it gave the Lieutenant his Signet for a Countermand whereat the Cardinal stormed But it seems to me that this Story is a meer Fiction because I find not one Word of Kildare's Trial and it is not credible that they would execute a Man of his Quality before he was legally Tried and Condemned Afterwards this Earl was again enlarged out of Prison on very considerable Bayl viz. the Marchioness Dowager of Dorset Ware 119. the Marquess of Dorset the Lords Fitz-Walter and Mountjoy the Bishop of S. Asaph Richard Lord Grey John Lord Grey Leonard Lord Grey Sir Henry Gilford Sir John Zouch and John Abbot of Vale-Royal and was not long after restored to the King's Favour When the Earl of Kildare went to England
Kingdom and concludes with Commendations of the Lord Grey and desires he may be Lord Deputy and have Orders to call a Parliament What that Letter mentions of O Neal has reference to a Treaty between the Lord Deputy and him for when he understood that the Lord Deputy design'd an Expedition against him into the North to prevent it he desired a Parly and on the first of July by his Agent Gillaspick O Donel he concluded an Agreement with the Lord Deputy which afterwards was confirmed by Con O Neal himself at Drogheda on the twenty fifth of the same Month. In the mean time the Lord Deputy finding that Fitz-Girald had retired to Munster sent after him the Lord Grey Sir William Brereton and others who had several Skirmishes with his Party wherein nothing was got but Blows whereupon Brereton's Advice on the one side and Fitz Girald's Necessity on the other side produced a Parly the effect whereof was That Fitz-Girald surrendred to the Lord Grey and rode with him to Dubliu By the Lord Deputy's Letter to the King of August 24. he acquaints his Majesty That Fitz Girald and O Connor had submitted the former without any Condition or Promise of Life Lands or Goods and that he intends to send him over by the Lord Grey whilst himself in person goes to assist O Donel against his Son Manus But the Council by their Letter from the Camp to the King of the 27th of August inform his Majesty That O Connor an Abettor of Fitz-Girald's has given Hostages to abide the King's Pleasure and that Fitz-Firald submitted on the encouragements they gave him to expect Pardon for his Life That the Lord Grey is going with him leaving the Lord Butler in his room and they desire the King to thank the Lord Grey for his good Service Nevertheless others say That Fitz-Girald was by the Lord Grey absolutely promised his Pardon but if it was so it was more than he had Comission for and therefore no regard was given to that Pretence but the King being implacably enraged at this dangerous Rebellion caused Fitz-Girald to be arrested in the way to Windsor and afterwards viz. Febr. 3. 1537. he and five of his Unkles were executed at Tyburn although three of them had for a long time opposed their Nephews Extravagancies And thus ended a Rebellion Lib. CCC 85. which cost the King twenty thousand some say forty thousand Pound At which great Expence the King was so disturb'd that he called this Victory a new Conquest and put the Question to his Council how Ireland should be managed to bear the charge of its own Preservation and whether by Act of Parliament every mans Estate should not be made liable to contribute its proportion or whether by vertue of this Conquest the King might not seize on all the Estates in that Kingdom Temporal and Spiritual By a Letter from Stephen ap Harry who was afterward a great man with the Lord Grey of the sixth of October from Waterford directed to Mr. Thomas Cromwel Secretary of State he informs his Honour That the Lord Leonard Grey was gone to England with Fitz Girald and that the Lord James Butler marched to Clonmel where his Lordships Brother-in-Law Garret Mac Shane who could not speak one Word of English met him That thence they marched to Dungarvan which surrendred unto him and thence to Youghal where he had a Gallon of Gascoyn Wine for four pence and thence to Cork where the Lord Barry made great Complaints of Cormock Oge of Muskry and Mac Carty Riagh the former was willing to submit to the Award of the State but Mac Carty Riagh answered That what he got by the Sword he would keep by the Sword The like Controversie was between James Grandson of Thomas last Earl of Desmond and Sir John Brother of that Earl the young man offered to go to England and to submit to his Majesties Pleasure but Sir John said He scorned to contest with a Boy That they marched thence to Mallow and so to Kilmallock and thence to Lymerick where the Lord Butler's Brother-in-law O Brians Son desired Aid against his Father and Unkle and that the Lord Butler would besiege Carrigonel but he could not do it for want of Artillery and therefore marched to Cashel and thence to Clonmel having worthily behav'd himself all this Journey It seems the Lord Deputy had sollicited for the King's leave to return to England by reason of his Age and Infirmities but the King in his Answer thanked him for the taking Fitz-Girald but wished it had been done in another manner viz. by force and tells him That he must continue in the Government of Ireland notwithstanding his Age and Sickness and orders a Parliament to be called as â—â—on as conveniently might be but it is probable that soon after those Letters arrived the Lord Deputy died at Kilmainham in the latter end of December and was honourably buried in St. Patrick's Church And thereupon the Council chose Leonard Lord Grey 1535. Lord Deputy who was but newly returned from England and probably did not bring over so much Treasure as the Army both expected and needed and therefore the Souldiers mutined in January and thereupon the King by his Letter of the twenty fifth of February desires to know who were the Ringleaders of it and orders that as many of the Army as can be spared may be disbanded Lib. H. To which Letter the Lord Deputy and Council return'd for Answer That after the imprisonment of Fitz-Girald they had disbanded five hundred men but that his Unkles being at that time out and the Earl of Desmond O Brian and O Connor linked in a Confederacy it was no proper time then to dismiss any more but that they have now borrowed four hundred Pounds Irish and therewith have disbanded two hundred and fifty Foot and fifty Horse That the Revenue of the Kingdom was but five thousand Pounds per annum whereof a thousand Pound was then insolvent they advise the King to grant a Pardon to the County of Kildare to the end the People of that County may return to their Habitations and they advise That the Kings Lands may be set for a Term of one and twenty years and that a Mint may be erected in Ireland and none but Sterling Money be currant and thereby every Mark of the King's Revenue will be a Pound But I must interrupt the Series of this Discourse to give the Reader an Account of the miraculous preservation of one of the remaining Branches of the Noble Family of Kildare a Child of thirteen years old Brother of the Lord Thomas and Son of the deceased Earl who happened to be sick of the Small Pox at Donoare in the County of Kildare when his Unkles were apprehended whereupon his careful Tutor Thomas Leverouse afterwards Bishop of Kildare had the Child wrapt up warm and in a Cleef or Basket conveyed him into Offaly and after he was recovered he travelled into Thomond
Souls paid Tribute to Caesar though no Christian greater Honour then surely is due to your Prince His Highness the King and a Christian one Rome and her Bishops in the Fathers Days acknowledged Emperors Kings and Princes to be Supreme over their Dominions nay Christs own Vicars and it is much to the Bishop of Rome's shame to deny what their precedent Bishops owned Therefore his Highness claims but what he can justifie the Bishop Elutherius gave to S. Lucius the first Christian King of the Britains so that I shall without scrupling vote his Highness King Henry my Supreme over Ecclesiastical Matters as well as Temporal and Head thereof even of both Isles England and Ireland and that without Guilt of Conscience or Sin to God and he who will not pass this Act as I do is no true Subject to his Highness XIII That the King and his Heirs and Successors for ever shall have the twentieth part of the yearly Profits Revenues Rents Farms Titles Offerings and Emoluments Spiritual and Temporal belonging to any Archbishoprick Bishoprick Abbacy Monastery Priory Arch-Deaconry Deanry Hospital Comandry College House Collegiate Prebend Cathedral-Church Collegiate Church Conventual Church Parsonage Vicarage Chantry or Free Chappel or other Promotion Spiritual whatsoever And the King was so well pleased with this Act Lib. H. that he sent a particular Letter of Thanks to the Lords Spiritual for granting him the twentieth part of their Livings yearly for ever XIV That no Subject shall be shaved above his Ears or wear Glibbs or Crom-meals i.e. Hair on the upper Lip or Linnen died in Saffron or above seven yards of Linnen in their Shifts and that no Woman wear any Kirtle or Coat tucked up or embroydered or garnished with Silk or couched ne laid with Usker after the Irish Fashion and that no Person wear Mantles Coats or Hoods after the Irish Fashion except Women Horse-boys Cow-boys and Soldiers at the rising out and Hostings all which may wear Mantles And that every body shall endeavour to learn the English Language and conform to the English Fashion c. XV. And that Benefices shall not be given to any that cannot speak English unless after four Proclamations in the next Market-Town to the Benefice on four several Market-Days a Person that can speak English cannot be got and that then an honest able Irishman may be admitted on his Oath that he shall do his utmost endeavour to learn the English Language and observe the English Order and Fashion and teach those under him to do the like and shall keep an English School in his Parish to that purpose c. XVI An Act for the Suppression of Abbies XVII An Act against transporting of Wool and Flocks XVIII An Act about the Proof of Testaments XIX The Act of Faculties prohibiting the Subjects from paying any Pensions Cences Portions Peter-pence or any other Impositions to the use of the Pope and extinguishing and suppressing them for ever and authorizing Commissioners appointed by the King to grant Faculties and Dispensations as the Archbishop of Canterbury may do in England by vertue of the Act of Faculties there which is made of Force in Ireland XX. That Poyning's Act be suspended pro hac vice XXI An Act for Limitation of Actions on Penal Statutes viz. That Actions in the King's Name be commenced within three years after the Offence and Actions Popular within one year XXII An Act for prostrating the Wares on the River Barrow c. XXIII An Act for uniting and annexing the Parsonages and Vicarages of Dungarvan c. to the Crown XXIV That no body presume to leaze Corn whilst there be any Stacks or Reeks of Corn in the Field And that every man that cannot keep his Child at School do at ten years of Age put him to Handicraft or Husbandry XXV That the Leases made or to be made by the King's Commissioners viz. Saintleger Pawlet c. shall be good and valid any defect of Inquisition or Office c. notwithstanding Lastly An Act for the first Fruits of the great Abbies and Monasteries c. which were not vested in the King by the above Act ch 16. But this Statute is become useless by a subsequent Act that gives all the Abbies c. to the King And these are all the Acts of this Parliament to be found in the printed Statute-Book which I do not pretend to have critically or exactly abridged because I think it necessary for every man that will be nicely instructed in any Statute-Law to read the Statute at large and not to trust to an Abridgment but I have endeavoured to give such an Historical Account of these Acts as may illustrate this Collection and give the Reader some Light into the Affairs of those times Nor must it be forgotten that many of these Statutes are made in the later Sessions of this Parliament Anno 1537. And besides these Printed Acts there was another Law made at this Parliament against Fosterings and Marriage with the Irish and it was thereby made Treason to marry with the Child of any Man who had not swore allegiance and entred into Recognizance to observe it but this severe Law was repeal'd 11 Jac. 1. cap. 5. But whilst the Nobility and Gentry were at the Parliament O Connor made use of the opportunity as he used to do and invaded the Pale his Fury lighted most on the Barony of Carbry in the County of Kildare which he preyed and burnt and to revenge it the Lord Trimletstown and the Vice-Treasurer Brabazon with such men as they could on the sudden get together made an Incursion into Offaly and in like manner wasted and destroyed that Country which obliged O Connor to return home as fast as he could Sir William Brereton was likewise sent to the Confines of Vlster to parly with O Neal who complained That the League made between the Lord Deputy Skeffington and him was not duly observed on the English side so after some Expostulations upon that Point the same Agreement was renewed and confirmed And about the same time the King to reward the City of Waterford for its Loyalty and firm adhesion to the Crown sent to that City a gilt Sword and a Cap of Maintainance But John Earl of Desmond being dead the new Earl James who was a very active or rather a turbulent man began new Disturbances in Munster but he was timely opposed by the Lord Butler who wasted his Lands in the County of Limerick and repair'd and Garrison'd the Castle of Loghguir and it seems that the Lord Deputy came to Kilkenny the twenty fourth of July and having adjourned the Parliament Lib. D. as aforesaid he came to Loghguir the last of July and the next day he went to Carrigonel and took it the second of August and they say for some private Advantage redelivered it to the former Owner on the sixth of August they marched to Bryans-bridge and took the Castles and broke the Bridge but by the improvidence of
Carriages to a general Hosting did coss the Country or tax it to find so much Mony as would maintain a certain number of men three Months and accordingly in July this Year the Counties of Kilkenny Waterford Typerary and Wexford were ordered to levy Maintenance for two hundred and forty Kerns for three Months which came to no more than two hundred and four Pounds thirteen Shillings and four Pence whereby one may perceive that the Tax was easie enough but the Grievance was in the irregular Assessments and the oppressive manner of levying it The French King by his Ambassador Theobald de Boys tempted O Donel with Offers of Money and Arms to make an Insurrection but he could do little of himself and it was too soon to seduce others after such solemn and formal Submissions so lately made and so that Negotiation had little or no effect but in February the Lord Deputy was recalled to give the King an Account of his Administration of Affairs in Ireland and Sir William Brabazon was sworn Lord Justice in his stead Ware 168. his Patent bears date the twelfth of October 35 Hen. 8. To this Lord Justice new Seals were sent because of the Alteration of the King's Stile from LORD to KING of Ireland and the old Seals were sent back to England The Lord Justice 1544. by the King's Orders sent him seven hundred Men to Calice under the Command of the Captains Poer Finglass and Skurlock they were very serviceable to the King at Bulloign and did much Mischief to the French for being light of foot Holingshead 103. they would often range twenty or thirty Mile into the Country and as they returned would burn and spoil where-ever they came They had a pretty Trick to get a Prey which was to tie a Bull to a Stake and set fire about him and as the Fire scorched him the Bull would bellow and thereupon all the Cattel within hearing of him would flock that way and so were taken These Irishmen would never give Quarter and therefore whensoever the Frenchmen took any of them they gelded them and otherwise tormented them exceedingly After the Surrender of Bulloign a large Frenchman on the other side of the Haven braved and defied the English Army whereupon one Nicholas Walsh did swim over the River and cut off the Frenchmans Head and brought it back over the River in his Mouth for which bold Action he was bountifully rewarded Sir Anthony Saintleger June 11. 1544. being for his good Services made Knight of the Garter returned Lord Deputy and found the Kingdom quiet and he made it his Business to keep it so which he effectually accomplished by imprisoning two or three turbulent People and by taking Indentures and Hostages from those he suspected And this Lord Deputy knowing it was the only way to keep the Kingdom in peace Lib. D. made it his Business to break the Dependencies of the Irish and to that end upon all References to him he took care that the weaker Party might depend on the Government for Protection and that he should not rely upon nor be under the Subjection of any other and particularly on the fourteenth of July he made an Award or final Order between the Earl of Tyrone and O Donel whereby O Donel was freed from depending on O Neal any farther than that he still continued obliged to pay a yearly Rent of sixty Beeves to O Neal for the Island of Inisowen and it so hapned that the very next year O Neal invaded Tyrconel because that Rent was not paid whereupon there was another Reference to the Government and a new Peace was made between them Aug. 24 1546. In the mean time the Earl of Lenox 1545. who fled out of Scotland was kindly received by King Henry and married his Neece was by the King sent into Ireland to levy an Army to recover his Inheritance in Scotland he came to the Deputy at Kilmainham where he lived and being effectually recommended by the King he was so kindly received and his Business so heartily followed that by the middle of November he had raised fifteen hundred Men under the Command of Sir John Travers Master of the Ordnance to whom the Earl of Ormond joyned as many of his own Followers and was himself General of the Army They set Sail for Scotland in twenty eight Ships but the Levity of their Confederates in Scotland or the Power of Duke Hamilton disappointed this Design for not being able to gain Dunbritton-Castle which was promised to be delivered up to them and finding a potent Army ready to encounter them instead of Friends which they expected to embrace them and being shattered by a violent Storm the Irish were necessitated to return home re infecta In the mean time Lib. D. on the Nineteenth of October died Vlick Earl of Clanrickard whereupon a great Contest arose between his Sons about the Title and Inheritance because the Earl's first Wife Grany O Carol Mother of the Earl's Eldest Son Richard Burk had been formerly married to O Mlaghlin who was still living and undivorced as was alledged and she being still alive the Earl married Honora Burk and was afterwards divorced from her and married Mary Linch Mother of John Burk Grany the first Wife being still living But the Earl of Ormond and other Commissioners sent by the Lord Deputy and Council to settle this Affair soon determined the Matter and finding that the pretended Marriage with O Mlaghlin could not be proved they adjudged Grany to be the Earl's true Wife and placed her Son Richard Burk in the Earldom and Estate of his Father according to the Law of England and because he was under Age they made Vlick Burk Captain of the Country during his good Behaviour and the Minority of the Earl But now the Spirit of Rebellion had again seized the Irish Melvin's Memoirs 8 9. and O Neal O Donel O Dogharty and one Callock had made some Overtures to the French King about assistance to manage an Insurrection and they proposed to him to become his Subjects and to shake off the Yoke of England provided he would procure the Pope's Gift of Ireland and send two thousand Harquebusses two hundred Light Horsemen and four Canon to their assistance The French King thought the Offer so considerable that he sent over John de Monluck Bishop of Valence his Ambassador to Ireland to learn the Truth of their Circumstances and to certifie the King what probability there was of Success if he should engage in that Affair The Bishop arrived at Loghfoyle on Shrovetuesday and the next day was by O Dogharty carried to his House which was a great dark Tower there the Bishop found bad Entertainment and was forced to be contented with Herrings and Bisket and such like Lenten Fare which was the best the House afforded The Bishop had a Months Mind to O Dogharty's Daughter which two English Fryers observing to prevent any Abuse of the Damsel
incamped in Thomond and immediately sent the young Earl to take possession of the Country which he did and Daniel who was so brave a man that many of the old and new Irish courted him to be King of Ireland was forced to lie that tempestuous Night in a Cabbin but when according to the Irish fashion he thought to lead his Horse to stable in the same House with himself the proud Beast scorned to stoop until the Foot-boy whispered the Horse in the Ear and told him that his Master O Bryan would lodge that Night in that Cabbin Sullevan 80. and desired that he would lower his Crest and his Crupper and creep into the House to keep his Master company ut tu quoque equus suus capite dorso demisso inclinato Tygurium introeas and the Horse being well bred did very civilly comply in Matters of Ceremony but when he came to Supper he was at a loss for he was used to feed on Wheat and could not conform to Countryâ—entertainment until the Foot-boy whispered him once more that his Master O Bryan who fed on Oaten Cake did command Rosinante to be contented with the same Fare O Bryan Dominus tuus qui hac nocte Avenaceum panem comedit imperat ut tu quoque Avena vescaris and then he fell to it But to return Charles O Carol who had murdered Teig O Carol was himself murdered by William O Dar O Carol who thereupon took possession of that Signiory and held it for four years The Earl of Kildare and the Baron of Delvin at the request of Shane O Neal went into Vlster to aid him against Fylemy Roe O Neal they did no great Exploits but took a few Preys with the Loss of fifty of their own Men but a little after there was a smart Conflict between the Earl of Tyrone and Hugh Mac Neal of Clandeboy wherein the Earl was beaten and lost three hundred Men besides Prisoners In October Lib. CCC Sir William Fitz-Williams Sir John Allen and Valentine Brown were sent over Commissioners to assist the Lord Deputy in managing the Crown-Lands and afterwards in Queen Elizabeths Reign this Brown being a Protestant much employed by the Queen wrote a notable Tract for the Reformation of Ireland which I have seen and is to be found at Lambeth wherin there is nothing blame-worthy saving that he advises the extirpation of the Irish Papists and particularly of the Fitz-Giralds and therefore certainly did not foresee that his own Heir would degenerate into an Irish Papist and ungratefully oppose that English Interest upon which his own Estate is founded It is said That the Spaniards agreed to pay two thousand pound per annum for one and twenty years for leave to Fish on the Irish Coast but it seems there are no such Accounts in the Exchequer And now we are got there we ought to remember the Clerk of the Pipe Walter Hussy who died about this time at the Age of an hundred and seven years Bryan O Connor obtain'd so much Favour with the Queen that he had leave to come for Ireland Ware 211. and nevertheless to retain his Pension in England but he was not long at home before he was arrested upon Suspicion of new Combinations and imprisoned in the Castle of Dublin from whence he was not enlarged before he gave his Son Rotherick Hostage for his good Behaviour The Year 1555 1555. began with the Restoration of St. Patrick's Church in Dublin and Thomas Levereuse was made Dean thereof and held it in Commendam with the Bishoprick of Kildare And on the third of July Sir William Fitz-Williams was made Keeper of the Great Seal until the thirteenth of September Hugh Curvin who was Consecrated Archbishop of Dublin the Week before was made Lord Chancellor In Vlster the Scots Islanders besieged Carrigfergas in vain but Calvagh O Donel with another Party of Scots under Gilaspick Maccaline invaded Tirconel and took his own Father Prisoner at Rosragh and kept him in restraint till his Death he also took and demolished the new Castle of Inisowen and the Castle of Enagh and in the middle of May the next year he sent back his Auxiliary Scots Another Party of the Scots kill'd Hugh Mac Neal of Claneboy in a Skirmish whereupon that Territory was on the fifteenth of September divided by the Lord Deputy and Council between Fylemy Duff O Neal and the Sons of Fylemy Buckagh In May the Cavenaughs and their Complices invaded the North Part of the County of Dublin but the Citizens of Dublin with the Slaughter of many of the Rebels drove one hundred and forty to Powerscourt-Castle 1556. which they pretended to defend but upon the appearance of Sir George Stanly with Supplies they surrendred at Mercy and seventy four of them were hanged at Dublin and the rest were pardoned But the Lord Deputy's Enemies suggested at Court That he had formerly made some Rhymes ridiculing Transubstantiation and thereupon for that or for some other Reason he was soon after recalled and Thomas Ratcliff Lord Fitz-Walter Lord Deputy arrived on Whitsunday and on Tuesday after took the usual Oath at the Altar in Christ-Church on a Mass-book and Saintleger on his Knees surrendred the Sword and the Lord Deputy continued kneeling until Te Deum was sung He brought over with him Sir Henry Sydny Vice-Treasurer and twenty five thousand Pound in Money to provide against the Scots Islanders and the Irish Rebels The Instructions to the Lord Deputy and Council begin at the top Mary the Queen although she was married long before that to King Philip Lib. SSS 53. and the first Article is by their Example and all good means possible to advance the Honour of God and the Catholick Faith to set forth the Honour and Dignity of the Pope's Holiness and See Apostolick of Rome and from time to time to be ready with their Aid and Secular Force at the Request of all Spiritual Ministers and Ordinaries there to punish and repress all Hereticks and Lollards and their damnable Sects Opinions and Errors and to assist the Commissioners of the Legate Cardinal Poole which he designed to send into Ireland to visit the Clergy On the first Day of July the Lord Deputy marched to Vlster against the Scots Ware 216. and on the eighteenth of the same Month he defeated them with the slaughter of two hundred of them Sir Henry Sydny killed James Mac Connel with his own Hand and the Earl of Ormond and Sir John Stanly behaved themselves exceeding well and so the Lord Deputy having left Necessaries at Knockfergus and Stanly the Marshal Governour of Vlster returned to Dublin and not long after made a Journey to Munster where he received many English and Irish to Mercy Hereupon Shane O Neal came to the Lord Deputy to Kilmainham upon a Promise of Protection and made his humble Submission But since that time frequent Experience has convinced the Government That Protections have always
Miles long and 48 Miles broad without the Loss of one Man in Battle The Army being dissolved at Athlone the Deputy took care to place Garrisons in the Frontiers of the Pale And it was well he did for soon after the Deputy's Return O Neal in ostentation of his Power invaded the Pale and wasted the Country with Fire and Sword and at length besieged Dundalk but was again repulsed with Shame and Loss In the mean time the Deputy had ruined O Neal without much fighting for he not only deprived him of the great Tract of Land aforesaid but also of many of his Dependences particularly of Macguire a great Man in that Country also Alexander xge and Mac Donel and the Scots offered their Service against him on the one side as O Donel did on the other Nor was Turlogh Lynagh less troublesome to him than the rest Besides there were four Regiments in the Frontiers that daily infested him and the Deputy who in Person made many Incursions into O Neal's Country and continued about the Borders of the Pale to that intent on the thirtieth day of December issued out of Tredagh Irish Stat. 235 and took a Prey of two thousand Cows and five hundred Garrons so that O Neal was distressed on every side and brought to so low a Condition that he once designed to come with a Halter about his Neck and submit to the Deputy But partly his Guilt and partly the Advice of his Friends and the Hopes he had to perswade the Scots to his Aid diverted him from that Resolution and engaged him in a Journey to Clandeboy where Alexander Oge and six hundred Scots lay encamped And the more to ingratiate himself with them he enlarged Surly Buy Alexander's Brother whom he had for some time kept Prisoner but the Scots were as fly as he and pretended very fair to him Cambd. 121. till they had got him and O Donel's Wife and their Attendants into their Power and then in Revenge of the Death of the aforesaid James Mac Conel and the Injuries he had done the Scots anno 1564. and in Expectation of a Reward from the State they fell upon and murdered Shane O Neal and all his Company on the twenty second of June 1567. and sent his Head to the Deputy 1567. pickled in a Pipkin and it was afterwards set upon a Pole on the Top of the Castle of Dublin This Shane O Neal was a cunning subtil Man in his way but he could not write or speak English but very Imperfectly Hooker 113. he was so great a Sot that he had at once two Hundred Tun of Wine in his Cellar at Dundrun whereof and of Vsquebagh he would drink to that excess that to cool him he would be put into a Pit Cambd. Eliz. 106. and the Earth cast round him up to his Chin and so he remain'd as it were buried alive till his Body were in better Temper This Shane O Neal is recorded to be the proudest Man upon Earth he pretended to be King of Vlster and had six hundred Armed Men for his Guard and had ready for the Field four thousand Foot and a thousand Horse he trained up his Tenants to the Use of Weapons and claimed a Superiority over all the Lords in Vlster But we must look back to the Year 1566 and we shall find That the Earl of Desmond notwithstanding the Defeat given him by the Earl of Ormond by Drumelin continued his Outrages so that about Christmas the L. Deputy received Orders from the Queen grounded upon the complaints of the E. of Ormond that he should immediately march into Munster and take some course with the Earl of Desmond and accordingly the Lord Deputy marched in January with some Troops for his Guard and staid three Months in Munster and having heard the Complaints made against the Earl of Desmond and his Defence he adjudged the Matter against that Earl and made an Order that Desmond should make amends for the Trespasses he had committed which Desmond refusing to do the Deputy had him apprehended and imprisoned at Kilmallock and by the help of three hundred Citizens from Limerick had him safely conveyed to that City where he was Indicted of High Treason for Levying War against the Queen and his Brother John was Knighted and made Seneschal of Desmond and for a while behaved himself so well that in three Months time he made reparation to the People his Brother the Earl had injured to the value of three thousand Pounds nevertheless the Earl of Ormond was not pleased with this Preferment of Sir John Desmond as one who plainly foresaw that he would in time prove as troublesom as his Brother But the Lord Deputy being tired with the Complaints of Oliver Sutton a Gentleman of the Pale against the Earl of Kildare and others and the Accusations preferred by the Lady of Dunboyn Mac Brian Ara Oliver Fitz Girald and others against Sir Edmond Butler and Pierce his Brother was an earnest Suitor That a Lord Chancellor fitly qualified might be sent over to determine some of those Differences and accordingly Dr. Weston Dean of the Arches was made Lord Chancellor and arrived at Dublin in July 1567. and executed that Office to the great ease of the Lord Deputy and to the satisfaction of the People He also brought Letters advising the Lord Deputy to take care that Shane O Neal's Son who was Hostage for his Father's Loyalty should be safely kept in the Castle of Dublin which now upon the Death of Shane was diligently observed The Lord Deputy sent a Messenger to the English Garrisons with the News of Shane O Neal's Death and immediately marched to Vlster and incamped in the Heart of the Country and there Turlogh Lynogh and the rest of the Competitors for the Captainry of Tirone came to him and made their Submissions and most of the Gentry of Vlster did the like And so the Deputy having setled that Province as well as was possible after many pithy Exhortations to Peace and Obedience and a Promise to send Commissioners amongst them to decide all Controversies except those relating to Homicide and Free-hold he returned to Dublin with the applause of the People and at Dublin he received the Submission of the O Reylyes by Indenture on the twenty eighth of November and about the same time beautified the Castle of Dublin with stately additional Buildings which yet remain But howsoever these good Services were relished in Ireland where the Fruits of them were felt and perceived yet in England they were so little regarded that no mention was made of them in any of the Publick Dispatches but on the contrary the Publick Letters to the Deputy were full of Reprimands and sharp Reflections because of the Insolencies of the Earl of Desmond and therefore the Lord Deputy did endeavour his own Revocation and at length prevailed to get Licence to go for England he carried with him the Earl of Desmond the Baron of
to repeal Poyning's Act shall be certified into England until first it be agreed upon by a majority of the Parliament of Ireland IX That the rest of the Kingdom be divided into Shires X. That no Wool Flocks Flax Yarn Sheep-Skins Goat-Skins Calve-Skins or Deer-Skins unwrought nor Beef Tallow Wax or Butter shall be transported until it pay the Custom in the Act mentioned and the petty Duties to Coporations in the Act likewise mentioned on the Penalties therein contained provided Prosecution be made within nine Months after the Offence committed XI An Act for the Impost on Wines XII That the Earl of Kildare's Brother and Sisters be restored in Blood The Parliament was Adjourned to the twelfth of May and then they met and Enacted 1. That Schools be erected in the Shire-Town of every Diocess at the Costs of the whole Diocess by the direction of the Bishop and the Sheriff and the chief Governor shall nominate an English School-master and appoint his Salary whereof the Bishop shall pay one Third and the Clergy the other two Parts the Bishops of Armagh Dublin Meath and Kildare and their Successors shall name English School-Masters for their respective Diocesses 2. That all Exemplifications under the Great Seal and the Seals of the King's Bench Common Pleas and Exchequer subscribed by the Lord Chancellor both Chief Justices and Chief Baron shall be as effectual in all Courts as the Original Record but it must contain a Clause that all those Seals are to it 3. An Act about the Standard of Measures for Corn. 4. An Act impowering the chief Governour and Council to grant Patents to such of the Irish as the Queen shall direct And then the Parliament was Adjourn'd to the fifth of December 13 Eliz. At which Session the Earls of Thomond and Glencar who had reconciled themselves to the State were present and the Parliament made five Acts of no great importance recited in the Statute-Book from pag. 267. to pag. 279. But whilst the Lord Deputy and the Parliament were endeavouring the Prosperity and Peace of Ireland by enacting good and wholsom Laws others were as busie to countermine them and to put all into Disorder and Confusion for some of the looser sort of the Irish Lords were distasted to that degree at the loss of their Captainries and Irish Extortions as also at the Impost on Wine that they resolved by force to rescind those Laws or at least prevent the execution of them and so making Religion their Pretence they confederated together James Fitz-Morris was the Bell-weather of this Flock and the Ringleader of all this Mischief he added to the general Grievances the particular Injuries done to his own Family by the imprisonment of the Earl of Desmond and his Brother Sir John and he inveigled the Earl of Glencar by telling him That the Queen was to be married to the Earl of Leicester and that thereupon the Lord Deputy who married that Earl's Sister was to be King of Ireland and when the Earl of Glencar was once engaged Mac Donogh and many more of the Cartyes came in of course and Fitz Girald commonly called Seneschal of Imokilly was as forward in this Rebellion as any of them and although Sir Edmond Butler who was Seneschal to his brother the Earl of Ormond and consequently hated all the Family of Desmond and had formerly pretended to serve against James Fitz-Morris Yet partly because he did not dare to appear before Commissioners sent by the Lord Deputy to Kilkenny to examine and redress the grievous Complaints made against him and partly for Zeal to the Catholick Cause and Fondness of the Irish Usurpations he sacrificed his private Resentments to the publick Concern and joyned with the rest of the Rebels The Confederates being resolved to make something of this Rebellion if it were possible sent the Titular Bishops of Cashel and Emly Hooker 130. and the youngest Brother of the Earl of Desmond as their Ambassadors to the Pope and the King of Spain to implore Aid and Assistance to rescue their Religion and Country from the Tyranny and Oppression of Queen Elizabeth But the Lord Deputy was not idle but assoon as he had notice of this Confederacy he proclaimed them Traytors and ordered Sir Peter Carew Governor of Leighlin to begin the War which he did and being accompanied by the Captains Malby Gilbert Basnet and others he took Sir Edmund's Castle of Cloghgriman and gave the Spoil to the Soldiers and thence he marched to Kilkenny and upon intelligence that three thousand Men were within three Miles of that City Sir Peter Carew sent Henry Davels to discover them and being satisfied by him that they were not above two thousand he resolved to attack them Captain Gilbert and Davels and twelve more began the Charge which was well seconded by Carew Malby and Basnet and the Success was accordingly four hundred Gallowglasses being slain without the loss of any English Man Captain Malby's Servant only excepted Not long after James Fitz-Morris besieged Kilkenny but both Garrison and Citizens behaved themselves so well that Fitz-Morris was fain to execute his Malice on the Country-Villages and smaller Towns and those he did not spare particularly he robbed old Falco Quiverford of Galan who had been Servant to three Earls of Ormond of two thousand Pounds in Money Plate and Houshold-stuff besides Corn and Cattel Another Party went to the County of Wexford and at a Fair at Iniscorthy committed most vile Outrages ravishing Women and killing or imprisoning every body they met with nor did the Queens County and Ossory fare any better The Lord Power 's Estate and the whole County of Waterford were in the same condition and even the very County of Dublin had its share of Desolation But the Confederates finding no Effects of their former Ambassy sent new Messengers to the Pope and King of Spain and also sollicited Turlogh Lynogh to procure the Aid of the Scots and were so diligent that nothing was left undone that might tend to subvert the Government and clear the Country of all English Men and English Laws The Earl of Ormond then in England troubled at the Disloyalty of his Brethren offered his Service against them and undertook to reclaim them by Perswasion or Force and to that end he arrived at Wexford the fourteenth Day of August being the very Day of the aforesaid Fair at Iniscorthy I should have mentioned That Sir Warham Saint Leger was anno 1566 made President of Munster and now the Lord Deputy having notice that Sir Warham's Lady was in her Husband's absence much distressed at Cork and daily threatned by the Irish he resolved to march that way to relieve her and with six hundred Men only he set out from Kilkenny and came to Clonmel and thence he sent to Waterford for a few Citizens for three days to assist him in his Passage over the Mountains but that City obstinately insisted upon its Privileges and refused to send any Men however Mr. Wise
was not to be given to Irish or Scots The Earl was to be Captain-General for seven years and was to plant his Part as well as the Queen should hers until there should be a thousand English Inhabitants on each Moyety And so being made Earl-Marshal of Ireland he set about the necessary Preparations for his Irish Voyage and to that end borrowed ten thousand Pounds of the Queen on a Mortgage of his Lands in Essex But the Lord Deputy being unwilling to have any body independent on him in that Kingdom especially so great a man cloathed with such a large Authority and accompanied with such considerable Forces gave all the opposition he could to this Noble Undertaking of the Earls until at length this Medium was found out That the Earl of Essex should take a Commission from the Lord Deputy to be Governor of Vlster wherewith both Parties were satisfied or at least they acquiesced in the Expedient In the mean time Mr. Edward Tremain was sent over to the Lord Deputy 1. To know why he desired so earnestly to return to England Lib. c. 2. To enquire what was the yearly Charge of that Kingdom what number of Men in Pay and how disposed of when any were disbanded or dead and when their rooms supplied and how many more there be than was appointed in March was twelve-month 3. To know what has been received of the Impost of Wines since Michaelmas last and what is in Arrear and if he could not discover it then to move the Deputy to certifie the Quantum of each 4. To know of the Deputy and Lord President in what state Munster is and how to be preserv'd 5. To know what is done or intended to be done with Desmond and his Brother John and how their Creditors in England shall be paid 6. To enquire how Connaught stands and how the Castles of Athlone and Roscomon are and the condition of the Earl of Thomond and Clanrickard and his Sons 7. To enquire into the Outrage committed against Sir Barnaby Fitz Patrick and the taking away his Wife and Children and how the Offenders are punished and how the Birns and Cavenaghs stand affected 8. To tell the Deputy that the Earl of Essex with two thousand Men will in August next come to inhabit the forfeited Lands in the Glins Routs and Clandeboy that in the mean time the Deputy guard the Frontiers of the Pale that way and Publish that Essex comes to repel the Scots and not to hurt the Irish 9. To tell the Deputy not to raise more Forces but if his Ormond's and Kildare's Forces are not sufficient against the O Mores and Connors to borrow two or three hundred from Essex for that Expedition and pay them 10. To preserve the Corn c. in the Ardes till Essex comes 11. To know why he gave Commission to Sir John Perrot to sell Marul's Ship wherein was Goods of all Nations The English had a very hopeful Prospect of the Earl of Essex's undertaking in Vlster so that many Persons of Quality and abundance of Gentlemen concerned themselves in the Expedition The Lords Darcy and Rich Sir Henry Knowles and four of his Brothers Michael Carves and his Brother John and Henry William and John three Sons of the Lord Norris and many others accompanied the Earl in this Voyage and they Landed together at Carrigfergus in the latter end of August 1573 and assoon as they Landed Bryan Mac Phelimy waited on the Earl and in most submissive manner tendred his Duty to the Queen and his Service to Essex but assoon as he perceived that the Earl's Forces were not so considerable as was reported he presently apostatized and joyned in Rebellion with Turlogh Lynogh About the same time or rather a year sooner Sir Thomas Smith sent his Natural Son together with one Chatterton to make a Plantation in the Ardes Cambd. Eliz. 190. but young Smith was murdered by Neal Bryan Artho who was afterwards killed by Sir Nicholas Malby and so that Design became unsuccessful and the Earl did not speed much better for after the Expence of much Treasure and a years time he returned to England This year the Money sent by the Queen into Ireland Lib. H. since she came to the Crown was computed and it amounted to four hundred and ninety thousand seven hundred and seventy nine Pounds seven shillings and six pence halfpeny and the Revenue of Ireland in the same period of time came to no more than one hundred and twenty thousand Pounds It is reported of Bryan Mac Fylemy that he had thirty thousand Cows besides other Cattel and it is certain that the Lord Rich within a Month after he came to Ireland returned to England on his private Occasions and Henry Knolls was by Sickness forced to do the like and many others upon frivolous Pretences left the Earl of Essex and went back to England Cambd. Eliz. 202. besides his Soldiers were raw and it was late in the Year and his Commission was not yet sent him being purposely delayed by the Deputy so that all these and some other Difficulties concurr'd to make Essex's Expedition unfortunate Nevertheless he took the Castle of Liffer from Con O Doâ—el and in a Skirmish he killed two hundred Irish and took Bryan Mac Fylemy and his Wife and his Brother Rory Oge Prisoners In the mean time 1574. the Earl of Desmond notwithstanding his Oath to be a true Prisoners made his escape out of the Castle of Dublin whereupon the Deputy marched into Munster to prevent new Coâ—â—â—otions and ordered the Earl of Essex to guard the Borders of Vlster which very much hindred his Progress in building Fortifications in Clandeboy however he obeyed and at length the Earl of Desmond was prevailed upon to reconcile himself to the Government Sir Henry Sydny 1575. Lord Deputy arrived on the twelfth of September and was sworn on the eighteenth at Tredagh to which Place he went directly from the Skyrries because the Plague raged in Dublin It is observable of this great and good man that although he did most excellent Service in Ireland yet he was but ill rewarded for it in England and therefore he was with great difficulty prevailed with to accept the Government this seventh and last time for as he expressed himself in his Letter he cursed hated and detested Ireland above all other Countries not that he had any dislike of the Country but that it was most difficult to do any Service there where a Man must struggle with Famine and Fastnesses inaccessible Bogs and light-footed Tories and yet when these and all other Difficulties were surmounted no Service in the world was less reputed valued or requited than that and it is farther remarkable of him that though he was four times Lord Justice and three times Lord Deputy of Ireland yet he never purchased a Foot of Land in that Kingdom The Lord Deputy's Instructions were to find means to pay the Queens Debts if possible
other that will covet the said Earl's Inheritance In witness whereof that this is our Counsel to the said Earl we have hereunto put our Hands the 18th of July 1578. Garret Desmond Thomas Lixnaw John Desmond John Fitz James Rory Mac Shehey Morrogh O Bryan Moriarta Mac Bryan of Loncorthe Fa K. E Fa D. K. B Theobald Burk Daniel O Brian Richard Burk John Brown Daniel Mac Canna of Dumbrain James Russell Richard Fitz Edmund Girald Vlick Mac Thomas of Ballincarrigy Vlick Burk John Fitz William of Karnederry Teig O Heyn of Chairely Nevertheless the Earl dissembled the Matter and temporized for a long time he was building a Castle when the news first came of James's Arrival and immediately he discharged the Workmen and pretending to oppose the Spaniards he sent to Mac Carthy More to summon him to assist him Mac Carthy came accordingly and shewed himself forward in the Matter but as soon as he discovered Desmond's Inclinations he took his leave and returned Nevertheless the Earl of Desmond at the perswasion of Captain Appesly was against his Will obliged to remove to Askeaton however he suffered and secretly encouraged many of his Followers to go over to the Spaniards but that did not satisfie them for when they found themselves disappointed of those great Aids that were promised them their Courage began to abate and they entertained Thoughts of returning home and undoubtedly they had done so but that James Fitz Maurice kept up their Spirits by large Promises of speedy Assistance and in order to procure it he undertook a Journey to Connaught but pretended only to go in Pilgrimage to pay his Devotions to the Holy Cross in Typerary he took with him four Horse and twelve Kerns and being come into Burk's Country in the County of Limerick Cambd. Eliz. 237. and wanting a Horse he ordered his Men to take the first they met with which they did out of a Plow of Burk's the Plowmen raise the Hue-and-Cry whereupon Sir William Burk's Sons pursued them and at length overtook them Headed by Fitz Morris with whom their Father had formerly joined in Rebellion Fitz Morris immediately calls out Coz Theodore Two Garons shall make no Breach between you and I I hope you will do as I do Burk replied He had too much of Rebellion already and had sworn the contrary and therefore would have his Horses Fitz Morris thought it dishonourable to part with what he had gotten and so to Skirmish they go which was brisk enough and ended in the slaughter of both of them Fitz Morris was quartered at Kilmallock and Sir William Burk was afterwards made Baron of Castleconnel with Joy whereof he died Upon notice that James Fitz Maurice and the Spaniards were arrived the Lord Deputy with the Army which was but four hundred Foot and two hundred Horse marched to Munster accompanied by the Marshal Bagnal Malby Wingfeild Waterhouse Fitton Masterson and others of that sort and by the Lords of Kildare Moungarret Upper Ossory and Dunboyn who brought two hundred Horse of their own besides Kern when they came to Kilmallock the Deputy sent Messengers for the Earl of Desmond and some others whom he suspected Desmond after much lingring and many vain excuses came to the Camp well attended but some of his tricks being discovered he was committed to Prison and thereupon being fearful lest all his secret Treasons and Combinations might be unravelled he so passionately humbled himself to the Deputy that upon the renewal of his oath of Allegiance he was set at Liberty In the mean time his Brother Sir John Desmond was at the head of the Rebels and encamped near Sleavelogher but the Deputy quickly feased them thence and having divided his small Army into three Parts he pursued the Irish so close that he often lay in the place where they had lain the night before nevertheless he could never overtake these light footed Enemies and therefore having destroyed the Forage he returned to Kilmallock and Encamped at Gibbings-Town and continued nine Weeks marching up and down thereabouts with very great toil but to no great purpose Only the Captains Herbert and Price being detached with two hundred Men did some Execution on the Rebels at a place called the Blackwood But in their return homeward they were surprized by an Ambush of Sir John Desmond's and themselves and most of their Company slain without any great dammage to the Irish saving that their Commander Sir John Desmond was wounded in the Nose But the Army being recruited by the arrival of the Captains 1579. Bourchier Carew and Dowdall with six hundred Men to Waterford and of Sir John Perrot with six Ships to Cork the Deputy made another incursion into Connilo but could not meet with the Rebels and so finding himself Sick he left the Army with Sir Nicholas Malby and retired to Waterford and having Knighted Bourchier Stanly Carew More Pelham Gorge Perrot and Walsh he died the last day of September 1579. The Earl of Desmond continued his Profession of Loyalty and pretended to act separately but would not by any means venture himself in the Camp or in any walled Town however he sent his only Son to be a hostage of his fidelity and the Countess brought the Child to the Deputy a little before his Death During the Interval between the Deputies sickness and the Election of a new one the Marshal Malby managed the Army which consisted of nine hundred Foot and an hundred and fifty Horse whereof he left fifty Horse and three hundred Foot with Captain Bourchier at Killmallock and marched with the rest to refresh them at Limerick After they had a little Rest the Marshal made an incursion into Connilo Cambd. Eliz. 338. and at Monaster Neva about nine Miles from Limerick he met with Sir John of Desmond and two Thousand Rebels and it came to a Battle wherein the Irish behaved themselves valiantly and with great resolution received the first and second Charge however they could not forget the known Maxim of some Men That if the Enemy wont run they will and therefore at the third Charge their Stomachs came down and their General Sir John was as nimble as any of them to shelter himself in a Bog however he left two hundred and sixty of his Myrmidons behind him who were killed upon the Spot and amongst them the famous Legat Doctor Allen. The Earl of Desmond and the Lord of Kerry from a little Hill hard by were the Melancholy Spectators of this Battle and although Desmond did the next day send a Messenger to Malby to congratulate his Victory and had put in his Son as a pledge for his Loyalty and although the Lord of Kerry's Son Patrick was a sworn Officer to the Queen in England and was now come over by her Majesties Leave only to see his Father and although all of them are of the noble Family of Fitz Girald and consequently of English Extraction yet they were so bigotted with sensless
with nineteen Spaniards and fifty Irish under one Julio an Italian Engineer The Lord Justice coming to view it had like to have been killed with a Musquet Shot nevertheless he persevered in his Resolution and caused the Castle to be battered with three Cannon a Culverin and a demy-Culverin till a Breach was made at which Captain Macworth entred and took the Castle putting fifty to the Sword and six he took and executed them in the Camp the Captain Julio was preserved two or three days for certain Considerations and then not complying with the Lord Justices Expectations he was Hanged On the third of April 1580. the Army sat down before Askeaton which is a very strong Castle built upon Rocks and of very difficult Access nevertheless the cowardly Garrison were so frightned with the example of Carrigifoyl Cambd. Eliz. 240. that they basely deserted the Castle the first night of the Siege having first layed a train of Powder which burned great part of the Castle but did not prejudice the principal Towers The same day George Carew and others with three Companies attempted Ballyloghane another Castle of Desmond's which the Garrison upon sight of them likewise deserted but not so timely but that being closely pursued many of them were slain Now was Desmond dispossessed of all his Castles and therefore the Lord Justice leaving four Companies at Askelon returned to Lymerick on the fifth of April as Ormond did to Kilkenny Malby to Connaught and others to Dublin However the Army tho in Garrison was not ildle but behaved themselves effectually as they found Occasion even the Lord Justice himself went by Sea from Lymerick to Adare and sent Captain Case by Land and both returned after the slaughter of many Traytors with a Prey of twelve Hundred Cows and many Sheep At Lymerick the fifteenth of May the Lord Justice received a Comâ—ission from the Queen to be Lord Justice and another 〈…〉 Sir William Burk Baron of Castleconnel with a Yearly Pension of an hundred Marks during Life On the thirteenth of May Sullevan 101. Walsh ' s Loyal Remonstrance Pope Gregory the thirteenth granted to all the Irish that would fight against the Queen the same plenary Pardon and remission of all their Sins as to those that are engaged in the Holy War against the Turk On the seventeenth of May a separate Commission of Martial Law was granted granted to the Lord Rooh and Sir Cormack Mac Teig of Muskry with Power to give Protection for fifteeen days to any other than the principal Rebels On the fourteenth day of June the Lord Justice invaded and destroyed Clanawliff and thence marched through Slevelogher to Kerry and on the fifteenth took a Prey of two Thousand Kine and many Sheep and mist but little of surprizing the Earl of Desmond and Doctor Sanders this last being fain for haste to leave his Gown behind him he took another Prey the next day at Castlemange nevertheless the Army being ill payed began to Mutiny and some of them refused to march with the Earl of Ormond into the Mountains of Kerry but by the Lord Justice's Discretion this Sedition was appeased and the Mutineers were Pardoned On the eighth of July the Popish Lords of Munster appeared before the Lord Justice at Limerick and being charged with Correspondence with the Rebels and negligence in Prosecuting them all of them except the Lord Barry submitted and promised future Loyalty and were ordered to maintain two thousand Men during the War and to give Pledges of Performance but the next day they thought the Charge too heavy and therefore were confined to their Chambers till they sent their Pledges soon after Sir Cormock Mac Teig was dismissed with Favour and an Order to the Country to assist him in his Attempts against the Rebels because he had promised to do some considerable Service which he very luckily effected for James of Desmond on the fourth of August invaded Muskry and took a Prey from Sir Cormock Mac Teig Cambd. Eliz. 240. then Sheriff of the County of Cork whereupon his Brother Daniel Mac Teig assembled what Force he could get together to rescue the Prey it was briskly disputed between them and the issue was the Desmonians being an Hundred and Fifty were beaten and most of them slain and Sir James being taken Prisoner was brought to Sir Warham Saint Leger and Captain Rawleigh who caused him to be Hanged Drawn and Quartered at Cork In August Ormond dislodged from Adare and marched to Buttevant where a strange kind of Sickness called afterward in England The gentle Correction seized the whole Army it took them in the Head and for two or three Days they lay Senseless and then recovered few or none died of it though by the Violence of the Disease it was not expected that many could recover Ormond divided his small Army into two Parts and marched with one half to Castle-Island and the other he sent to Traley in Kerry where all met and then dividing into three Parts marched to Dingle and as they went they drove the whole Country before them whereby they took a Prey of eight thousand Cows besides Garrons Sheep c. and slew a great many People and had slain more but that Sir William Winter who was then in the Harbour of Ventry with some of Her Majesties Ships gave many of them Protections This Winter was Vice-Admiral of England and came to cruise about the Coast and to prevent the Spaniards Landing if they should come but he had not the Patience to stay or else believed they would not come in the Winter so he returned home before they came In the mean time the Earl of Desmond was reduced to great Extremity more of his Followers having perished by the Famine than were destroyed by the Sword so that the Countess came with Tears in her Eyes to intercede for her Husband August and Sir John Desmond and Doctor Sanders endeavoured to fly to the Lord of Baltinglass who was up in Leinster but they were like to be intercepted by the Garrison of Kilmallock who met them and their two Servants and took the Servants whilst the Masters escaped so they were forced to return to Kerry and had been taken there but that a false Brother gave them notice of the Design however they took two Fryers and a Prey of two hundred and thirty Kine and slew divers of the Rebels In the mean time the new Lord Deputy landed at Dublin on the twelfth of August and immediately sent for the Sword but the Lord Justice did not think fit to part with it until he personally surrendred it which he made no haste to do but instead of going directly to Dublin having left Sir George Bourchier Collonel of Munster with two thousand eight hundred and twenty Foot and three hundred ninety five Horse and given him and others proper instructions he rode to Killalow where the unconscionable Bishop demanded thirty Pound for one Nights grazing for an Hundred
and sixty Horse and thence he went to Connaught to settle the new President Sir Nicholas Malby and so on the sixth of September he came to Dublin and on the fourteenth of the same Month at St. Patrick's Church he surrendred the Sword to Arthur Lord Grey Baron of Wilton Knight of the Garter 1580. Lord Deputy whose Instructions bearing date in July were 1. To observe former Instructions whereof he shall have a Copy 2. To assure the Irish of the Queens Protection and Favour if they deserve it 3. To hinder the Soldier from oppressing the Subject and to notifie this by Proclamation and to punish the Offenders though Captains 4. To shorten the War by effectual Prosecution 5. To continue the Justice of Munster and to encrease his Allowance as you and the Council think fit 6. After All-hollantide to disband as many of the new Soldiers as can be well spared and secure their Arms. 7. Not to grant Pardons and Protections but upon especial reasons and to mention the Crime in the Pardon This Lord Grey before he was sworn viz. in August having notice that one Fitz Girald with his Company which he had in the Quens Pay was revolted to the Lord Baltinglass and being joyned with Pheagh Mac Hugh and other Rebels had secured themselves in the fastnesses of Glendilogh in the County of Wicklow and did daily encrease both in number and mischief ordered a smart Party to attack them Cosby an experienced Soldier disswaded the Attempt but having positive Orders the Foot entred the Glins whilst the Lord Grey with the Horse scowred the Plains but the Rebels being well acquainted with these Woods Camb. Eliz. 241. laid their Ambushes so cunningly that the English could neither fight in that divelish place nor retire out of it Courage could but little avail them whilst being mired in the Bogs they were forced to stand still like Butts to be shot at Discipline or Conduct were of no use in that place where it could not be practised in short the English were defeated and the whole Company slain except some few that were rescued by the Horsemen August 25. and amongst the rest Sir Peter Carew Collonel Moor and the valiant Captains Audely and Cosby were killed in this unfortunate Conflict About the latter end of September seven hundred Spaniards and Italians under the Command of San Joseph an Italian landed at Smerwick in Kerry being sent by the Pope and King of Spain to propagate Catholick Religion in Ireland they immediately built a Fort and called it Fort del ore and they fortified and furnished it the best they could having brought with them Money and Ammunition and Arms enough for five thousand Men. Ormond encamped at Traley and the next day marched toward the Fort which the Spaniards deserted and retired to the fastness of Glanigall Cambd. Eliz. 242. but finding the English Army was small three hundred of them went to their Fort again and the next day sallied on the English who came to view the Fort whereupon Ormond finding he was not sufficiently provided with Artillery and other Necessaries retired to Rakele where he met the Lord Deputy The Deputy accompanied with the Captains Zouch Rawleigh Denny Macworth c. and about eight hundred Men discamped from Rakele and marched towards the Enemy but Captain Rawleigh well knowing the Customs of the Irish stayed some hours behind in Ambush till several Kearns came into the forsaken Camp as they were accustomed to scrape up what was left-behind but he surprized them all and punished them according to their Deserts Now was Sir William Winter return'd with his Fleet out of England so that he by Sea and the Lord Deputy by Land laid close Siege to the Fort having first summoned it and received for Answer That they held it for the Pope and the King of Spain to whom the Pope had given the Kingdom of Ireland and not long after the Spaniards made a Sally which was well received by Captain Denny and the Assailants were forced to retire That Night the English raised a Battery with great dexterity Cambd. Eliz. 242. which was ready by Break of Day nevertheless the Spaniards made a Sally but very faintly and without effect nor did they do any thing the third Day worthy their Reputation and on the fourth Day being close pressed from Land and Sea and all Conditions refused they yielded at Mercy which was too sparingly extended to them every one being put to death except the Commanders which very much displeased the Queen although there was a necessity for it by reason of the paucity of the English Army and the number of the Rebels approaching Sir John Fitz-Girald Lord of the Decies being a Prisoner to the Earl of Desmond was here found and set at Liberty the Fort was razed and the Army dispersed into Garrisons the Lord Deputy returned to Dingle where Ormond met him with Supplies and there Captain Zouch with four hundred and fifty Men was left Governor of Kerry and Desmond and had all the Victuals given him that were found in the Fort and then the Deputy returned to Limerick Now came out of England six new Companies under Barkley Cruse and others whereof Barkly and two hundred Men were placed at Askeaton and the rest were sent into Connaught where the Mac an Earla's or Clanrickard's Sons began to be unruly as the Lord Baltinglass and his Complices were in Leinster The Deputy having left Ormond Governor of Munster returned to Dublin where he took care of the other Provinces and being supplied with an hundred and fifty Horse out of England which were set out by the English Clergy under the Command of William Russel Son to the Earl of Bedford and Bryan Fitz-Williams he committed to the Custody of Wingfield Master of the Ordnance the Earl of Kildare and his Son in Law the Lord Delvin who were suspected to favour the Leinster Rebels whereupon the Lord Henry Fitz-Girald retired into Ophalia and was detained by the O Connors till the Deputy sent Ormond and several Persons of Quality for him to whom after much ado he was delivered and with his Father sent into England together with the said Baron of Delvin There was certainly a Plot to surprize the Lord Deputy Camb. Eliz. 257. and to seize on the Castle of Dublin Sullevan 93 and to Massacre the English and John Nogent one of the Barons of the Exchequer and others were Executed for it but whether they were guilty or not I leave as I found it doubtful however it seems that this severity frightned Thurlogh Lynogh O More O Brine and the Cavenaghs into a Submission In the mean time Captain Raleigh went to Dublin to complain of the Barryes and Condons Hooker 173. and obtained a Commission to seize upon Barryescourt and the rest of Barryes Estate and had some Horsemen added to his Company to enable him thereunto but Barry had notice of it and to prevent him Burned
to her Brother Owen O Moriarta al 's Droghbearla and made such piteous Complaint that he resolved to get her her Cattle again if possible wherefore he addressed himself to the English Governor of Castlemange so effectually that he obtain'd 7. Musketteers and 12. Kearne and with them he followed the Tract of the Cattle that night they came to the Wood of Clawniginky four Miles from Traley where they resolved to lodg but about Midnight seeing a Fire they drew towards it and so came to a Cabbin where they found an old Man alone sitting by the Fire the Servants having ran away on their Approach Kolly who led the Soldiers Cambd. Eliz. 290. and was bred by the English altho a Native Irishman struck the old Man with his Sword and almost cut off his Arm whereupon the old Man cried out that he was Earl of Desmond and Kolly would have spared him but finding that he bled so fast that he could not live he immediately cut off the Earls Head which was sent afterwards into England and placed on a Pole on Londonbridge and for this exploit the Family of the Moriarta's are in disgrace amongst the Irish to this Day Sullivan 100. and Mr. Sullivan says the place where his Blood was Spilt doth still continue red Nor had John Burk better Success for he being in Protection did nevertheless make an Attempt upon Adare and endeavoured to Prey and Plunder the Country thereabout but as he passed by a Boy from the Castle discharged his Gun and shot him Dead And thus ended the Rebellion of Desmond Cambden says The Eleventh in the Ruin of Girald the fifteenth Earl of that Family after whose Death the common People did manifest such Desires of living in Peace that the Forces of Munster were reduced to 200. And not long after a Commission issued to Sir Henry Wallop Sir Valentine Brown and others to take a Survey of all such Lands as had been forfeited within the four years last past And in Vlster Lib. C. Sir Nicholas Bagnall Sir Lucas Dillon and James Dowdall Commissioners of Vlster on the 22d day of October 1583 in the presence of the Baron of Dungannon and the Agents of Turlogh Lynogh and O Donell and by their Consent made these Orders between them 1. That the Truce between them be continued till the 17th of March next 2. That on the 2d day of December each of them shall put in Pledges at Dundalk to keep the Peace towards the Queen and each other 3. That the Controversies between the said Parties shall then be determined 4. That if either Injure the other during the Truce the Queen shall assist the Sufferer and Punish the Delinquent 5. That they shall chuse indifferent Arbitrators to examine Witnesses and determine the Differences between them if they can and if not then to Report the State of the Case to the Commissioners And in Leinster things were so quiet that two of the O Conners determined a Controversy in a form of Justice which being a matter extraordinary shall be related at large Teig Mac Gilpatrick O Connor was accused by Connor Mac Cormâ—ck O Connor Septemb. 1583. before the Lord Deputy and Council for Killing and Murdering his Men being under Protection Teig answered That they had since the Protection confederated with the Rebel Cahill O Connor and therefore were also Rebels and that he was ready to justify his Assertion by Combal Connor accepted the Motion and the Weapons which were Sword and Target being chosen by the Defendant the next day was appointed for the Battle and Patrons were assigned to each of them to introduce them into the Lists the Day being come and the Court sat the Combatants were likewise seated on two Stools one at each end of the Inner Court of the Castle of Dublin most of the Military Officers were present to render this Action the more Solemn and then the Pleadings being read the Combatants were stript to their Shirts and searched by Secretary Fenton and then each of them took a corporal Oath that his Quarrel was true and that he would justify the same with his Blood and then at the Sound of the Trumpets they began the Fight with great Resolution but at length Conner was twice wounded in his Leg and once in his Eye and thereupon design'd to close with his Adversary but Teige being too strong for him pummell'd him till he loosned his Murriâ—n and then he easily Stunn'd him and with Conner's own Sword cut off his Head and brought it to the Lords Justices But Mr. Sullevan Sullevan 108. who exclaims against this barbarous way of Tryal commits three Mistakes in this one Story First he says That this happened in Sir John Perot's time And 2dly That he forced the Parties to the Combat and that they were asham'd to refuse it And 3dly That it was in a Controversy about Lands in Ophaly But to proceed The Viscount Ballinglass that great Incendiary of Leinster was so totally dismayed at the News of the Death of the Earl of Desmond that he also privately Embarked for Spain where not long afterwards he died for grief So that the Kingdom being thus quieted the publick Revenue for the year 1583. Lib. M. amounted unto 23565 l. 12 s. Sir John Perrot Lord Deputy was Sworn the 26th of June 1584. his Commission was as usual during Pleasure 〈◊〉 make War and Peace Caballa of Letters 336. and to punish Offences or 〈◊〉 them Treason against the Queen's Person or Counterfeiting Money only excepted to make Orders and Proclamations to Impose Fines and Dispose of Rebels Estates to exercise Martial Law and to Assemble the Parliament with her Majesties Privity to confer all Offices except Chancellor Treasurer three Chief Judges and Master of the Rolls and to collate and confer all Spiritual Promotions except Arch-Bishops and Bishops to do all things relating to Justice and Government that the Queen could do if present The Lord Deputies Instructions were as followeth I. To Assemble and Consult the Council how the Government may be managed that Justice may take place the Charge lessened the Revenue increas'd and the Subject not oppressed II. To reduce the Army and the Pay as formerly especially in the Countries not wasted and to prevail with the Country to contribute as Carbury heretofore hath done III. To keep the Army in Discipline that they do not oppress the Subject and that the Companies be kept Compleat and Full. IV. To consider how Munster may be Repeopled and how the forfeited Lands in Ireland may be disposed of to the Advantage of Queen and Subject but first they must be Surveyed by Commissioners now sent over to that purpose and for the Encouragemennt of the Undertakers and to avoid Fraudulent Conveyances by the Rebels let there be a Parliament in a proper Season to pass Acts of Attaindure of fraudulent Conveyances and of Qualifying Uses V. That where Leases have been made without usual Reservation of
Portcorn that matter be likewise amended next Parliament VI. To Report to the Queen the Quality and Merit of those that have acted or suffered for her and the Quantity of the Reward fit to be given them out of the forfeited Lands and under what Covenants and Reservations and She thinks it better to give it to their younger Sons than themsevles to increase the number of Freeholders VII To the same Effect VIII To lessen or dissolve the Pensions and gratify the Parties with Portions of forfeited Lands certifying the Value and Condition of the same IX To grant no more Land to any Man than he shall be able to People X. To renew and observe the Directions to former Deputies in all things that are not contradicted hereby XI Because the Tenants of the Crown are disabled by the Rebellions of James Fitz-Morris and Desmond to pay their Arrears to let them have new Leases for the Remainder of the Terms at the old Rent the fourth Part of which shall be paid in Beeves at 9 s. a piece or Corn at the rate of Port-Corn and for the Arrearages to give Instalments or to remit part or all as you shall find requisite XII To resume by Act of Parliament or on Composition with the Parties the Demeasnes and Conveniences of Her Houses and Castles of Dublin Killmamham Athloan Caterlagh Leighlin Monasterevan c. and to annex them inseperably to the respective Castles or Houses by Act of Parliament reserving the Ancient Rent XIII To do the like by any of the forfeited Lands that lie convenient for those Castles c. XIV To preserve the Woods on any forfeited Lands near any Navigable River for her use XV. That no Man Ecclesiastical or Civil that has any Function or Office be suffer'd to be absent from his Charge above two Months without special License on pain of Forfeiture XVI To enquire with the Council what Outrages have been done since March the 25th 1583. and how redressed who of Quality are Loyal Disloyal or Suspected and to send Her an Account of the true Estate of every Province in that Realm XVII To inquire into all the Jurisdictions and Irish-Chieferies Exactions Cuttings and Spendings which the Attainted Rebels enjoyed that She may retain them or by relinquishing them manifest to Her Subjects the easiness of Her Government and their Happiness under it XVIII That Commissions do not issue for every trivial Concern and that the Allowance to Commissioners be not as great and burdensome as formerly XIX That the Establishment for Conaugh be lessened and that Richard Bingham be Chief Commissioner of Conaugh XX. To place John Norris Esquire President of Munster with the same Allowance your self had when President there XXI To make Thomas Jones Bishop of Meath Norris Bingham and Thomas L'Estrange Esquire of the Privy Council XXII To place such an Arch-Bishop at Armagh now void as you and the Council think fit XXIII To certify Quarterly the whole Expence in Ireland and what is sent hence and what is received there to defray it And afterwards additional Instructions were sent to him as followeth I. To endeavour to ease Her Majesties Charge in Victualling the Army Lib. C. by getting Victuals in Ireland and to save the charge and hazard of Transportation II. To consider how a College may be Erected and St. Patrick's Church and the Revenue thereof may be appropriated thereunto and every Diocess by Act of Parliament be made Contributary out of the Leases of Impropriations III. To Name some that may be made Lord Barons IV. In the next Parliament to revive the Impost which has been expir'd these two years V. To endeavour the getting in of the Debts due to Her Majesty VI. To Discharge such of the Pensioners or to Reward them in forfeited Lands as you shall think fit VII To Prefer the Ancient Officers and Soldiers before new Comers VIII To take off the Wards and Garison from Fernes and Iniscorthy and other unnecessary places IX To repair the Forts of Leix and Offaly at as small Charge as may be and to prevail with the Inhabitants of the Country for whose Defence they are made to provide Carriage and Labourers and to render an Account of the Condition of those Countries and the Causes of it X. To recompence Edward Waterhouse for the voluntary Surrender of his Patent for maintenance of Boats over the Sheuin such Entertainment as you and the Council shall think fit XI To suffer no Man that was in the late Rebellions of what Quality soever to keep any other Arms than Sword and Dagger XII To encourage the Loyal and protect the pardon'd People of Munster and send your best Advice how Munster may be Repeopled The Lord Deputy spent 18 days in close Consultation with the Privy Council who were the Arch-Bishop of Dublin Chancellor Earl of Ormond Treasurer the Bishops of Armagh Meath and Killmore Sir John Norris Lord President of Munster Sir Henry Wallop Treasurer of Wars Sir Nicholas Bagnall Knight Marshal Robert Gardener Chief Justice Sir Robert Dillon Chief Justice of Common Banc Sir Lucas Dillon Chief Baron Sir Nicholas White Master of the Rolls Sir Richard Bingham Chief Commissioner of Connaugh Sir Henry Cowley Sir Edward Waterhouse Sir Thomas L'Estrange Sir Edward Brabazon Jeffery Fenton Secretary of State Warham Saint Leger and Sir Valentine Brown And as soon as he understood the true State of the Kingdom and had laid down the Measures of his Government he issued a Proclamation of Oblivion and Indemnity and then he sent the Earl of Desmond's Son James into England On the 15th of July The Lord Deputy began his Progress and came to Molingar the 16th and thence sent a Cypher to the Lord Chancellor and Sir Henry Wallop to Dublin whereby they might easily Decipher and understand his Letters which would be unintelligible to the Rebels if they should happen to intercept them thence he proceeded to Connaugh where he endeavoured to reconcile all the great Men of that Country and put to Death Donogh beg O Bryan a bloody Murtherer in this Journey he converted Fryer Malachias a Malone Brother to Mac William Eughter and from Gallway he came to Limerick where he received the News that the Scots to the number of 1000. in favour of Surleboy had invaded Vlster and he also intercepted O Neals Fosterer returning out of Munster from exciting the Irish Lords and Gentlemen there to a new Rebellion but tho this Messenger upon Examination confessed his Errand yet he assured the Deputy that all those he had gone to refused to Rise as long as Sir John Perrot and the Earl of Ormond whom they deemed just Men continued in the Kingdom Hereupon the Deputy took Pledges from those he most suspected and leaving the County of Cork to the Justices Walsh and Miagh the Sheriff Sir William Stanley and the Lords Barry and Roch Limerick to the Provost Marshal Desmond to the Earl of Clancar 1584. Sir Owen O Sullevan and O Sullevan more
in many other high Regards 't is Expedition alone that can answer the Anxieties which England must be in for Your Majesty's Absence And seeing Your Majesty will leave behind that Great Pledge Your Royal Consort and our most Gracious Queen Your Majesty will not want Your own Anxieties also for a speedy Return But that it may be with such Laurels as may bring Terror to France with Triumph to Your own Kingdoms and a happy Restitution of Your poor Protestant Subjects of Ireland to their Native Homes is the most fervent Prayer of GREAT SIR Your Majesty's most Dutiful most Loyal and most Devoted Subject and Servant R. COX TO THE READER YOU have here a History of great Variety and much Intrigue It takes in a large Space of Time of above Fifty Years and begins at the End of one War and ends with the Close of another The long Interval between these Two Periods being almost Forty years was spent in a profound Peace the short Commotion of O Dogharty only excepted and in promoting all those Blessings of Plenty and Good Laws which the Industry of the English could accomplish But the subsequent Part of the Time was according to Bishop Usher's Prophetical Sermon Preach'd Anno 1601. turn'd into a Scene of Blood Treachery and Desolation which overturned all The Roots of that so great Cruelty and Universal Defection are already hinted at in the Preface of my Former Part by those Differences there set forth of Nation Interest and Religion Upon King James his Accession to the Crown the Irish were surfeited with War so that all things in that Kingdom had a tendency to Peace And tho' a Rumor spread abroad and believ'd by the Irish That the King was of their Religion put some of the principal Towns into a Commotion yet the Diligence and Expedition of the Lord Deputy did soon appease that Storm and reduce the Disobedient to their Duty And tho' the natural Inclination of that King to Peace was a great Temptation to the Irish to try their Fortune with him in a War and accordingly the Lords Tyrone and Tyrconell and Sir Cahir O Dogharty attempted it yet the Rebels were always baffled in their Undertakings by the Diligence Wisdom and Courage of those to whom the King entrusted his Irish Affairs And indeed both King James the First and King Charles the First did take a particular Care to put the Government of Ireland into such Hands as were worthy of it and underwent the Administration thereof with Advantage to that Kingdom and Honor to themselves The First was the Lord Montjoy whom King James found Deputy and soon after made Lord Lieutenant This Lord was thought in England to be a better Courtier than a Soldier but when he came to Ireland he proved the best Soldier that Kingdom had seen in many Years It was he that found out the true Way of making War with the Irish For being well supplied with Necessaries from England he plainly saw that if he could attack them at a time when they wanted all Conveniences to keep the Field he could meet with very little or no Resistance and therefore he supplied his Frontier Garisons with Men and Provisions and they by their frequent Excursions did such Execution on the Persons and Estates of the Irish that by One Winters War he reduc'd them to the Necessity of eating one another and forced their Ringleader the Earl of Tyrone to submit to his Mercy and so made an end of that Rebellion His Successor or rather Deputy Sir George Cary was Treasurer at Wars and a worthy Gentleman but nothing of extraordinary moment hapned during his Government The next was Sir Arthur Chichester afterwards Lord of Belfast one well experienc'd in the Affairs of Ireland whereof he held the Chief Government for Eleven Years He was a good Soldier and a true Englishman and did Three great Things towards a Reformation The First was his Management of the most stubborn Parliament that ever was in that Kingdom which nevertheless he prevail'd with to Attaint the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconell Sir Cahir O Dogharty and others and to make an Act of Recognition and to give the King a Subsidy And the Second was the Plantation of the Forfeitâ—d Estates in Ulster which he very much influenc'd and promoted And the Third was the Reviving and Restoring the Circuits for Judges of Assize in both the Provinces of Conaught and Munster The Lords Justices Doctor Jones Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor and Sir Richard Wingfield were Men Famous in their respective Faculties and are Founders of the Noble Families of the Earl of Ranelagh and Viscount Powerscourt And Sir John Denham Lord Chief Justice was not less Renowned than either of Them by reason of his great Learning in his Profession to which the Crown owes the first Advancement of that Considerable Branch of the Revenue arising by the Customs in Ireland The next Lord Deputy was Sir Oliver Saint John afterwards Viscount Grandison a Person Nobly descended and of a generous Temper He had given great Proof of his Courage and Conduct at the Battel of Kinsale and was not inferior to any of his Predecessors in a sincere Concern for the Protestant Religion and the Good of the Kingdom but he hapned in an ill time as did also his Successor the Worthy Lord Falkland whilst the Spanish Match was in agitation So that both these brave Men by the Clamour of the Irish and the prevailing Power of their Popish Enemies came away in Disgrace But their Innocence being afterwards vindicated as it was this Affront was in some measure atton'd for by the subsequent Favour of the King The Lords Justices that received the Sword from the Lord Falkland were the Viscount Loftus of Ely Lord Chancellor one of great Parts and Merit and the Noble Earl of Cork Lord High Treasurer who was one of the most extraordinary Persons either That or any other Age hath produced with respect to the great and just Acquisitions of Estate that he made and the Publick Works that he began and finished for the advancement of the English Interest and the Protestant Religion in Ireland as Churches Alms-Houses Free-Schools Bridges Castles and * Lismore Tallow Cloghnakilty Iniâ—keen Castletown Bandon which last Place cost him 14000 l. Townsâ— Insomuch that when Cromwel saw these prodigious Improvements which he little expected to find in Ireland he declared That if there had been an Earl of Cork in every Province it would have been impossible for the Irish to have rais'd a Rebellion And whilst he was carrying on these solid Works he lived in his Family at a Rate of Plenty that exceeded those who consumed great Estates in the lavish ways of ill-ordered Excess His †God's Providence is my Inheritance Motto shews from whence he derived all his Blessings the greatest of which was the Numerous and Noble * Earl of Burlington and Cork Viscount Kinalmeky Earl of Orrery Viscount Shannon Robert
he was one of the forwardest in disturbing the Lord Deputy with importunate and impertinent Petitions and refused to carry the Sword before him to Church he had formerly mis-behaved himself before the Lord Duputy at the time of the Gun-powder-Treason and he quarrelled with the Lord Barry in the Deputies Presence and the Lord Roch Delvin Trimletsowne and Slane were not less troublesome Sir Walter Butler Girald Nugent Sir Thomas Burk John Moore Richard Wadding and Boetius Clancy had their share in these Seditions and Thomas Lutterell had the Confidence to make Comparisons with the Earl of Thomond even in the Lord Deputies Presence But it will be pertinent to our Design O Sullivan 237. and not unpleasant to the Reader to hear O Sullivan give an Account of this Parliament which he says was observable for the Cruelty of the Protestants and the Civil resistance of the Catholicks And first he tells you That when the Senate meddles with Religion it becomes a wicked Conventicle rather then a Parliament that the Old Irish Grandees had Hereditary Voices in Parliament long before the English Conquest but are now denied them unless they have English Titles which alone makes the English Parliament in Ireland void since the principal Members are excluded The Catholick Bishops are serv'd in the same manner and the Heretical Usurpers of their Sees and Titles vote in Parliament in their stead The Protestants thought the Advancement of those Laws which they had made against Christ in England to be the readiest way of suppressing the Catholick Religion in Ireland if they could get them Enacted here but knowing the Catholicks would be most numerous in Parliament they us'd all imaginable Artifices of force and fraud to get Protestants unduly return'd they Elected their new Colonies into Burroughs and Counties to encrease the number of Heretical Parliament men they made small Villages into Corporations and made Porters Barbers and Strangers Burgesses for those Corporations and caused four Ministers to represent the Clergy of every Diocess nevertheless many Irish Gentry were chosen whom the People Men Women and Children desir'd to take Care of Religion assuring them That all should be void that should be Enacted against the Catholick Faith and when the day came most of the Irish Gentry thô not Parliament men came to Dublin that they might be ready there upon the place where their highest Concern viz. Religion was to be debated least perhaps any thing should happen contrary to Expectation The Catholicks were troubled because they could not find out what was to to be treated of in Parliament till at length they got sight of a Bill to expel the Catholick Clergy and the Titles of eleven Bills more viz. 1. For the building a convenient Prison for Noble Men in the Castle of Dublin 2. For disarming Idlers 3. About O Murroughs Lands 4. Against Marriage between Irish and Scots I suppose says he for fear they should joyn against the English 5. For banishing Hamilton and Wart if they refuse the Oath of Supremacy 6. That the Sallaries be continued to the new Pensioners tho' they refuse the Oath 7. For the distribution of the Money forfeited by Recusants 8. That the Children of Noble Men be sent into England 9. That stubborn Corporations shall loose their Franchises 10. The Recusants shall pay two Shillings a Sunday 11. For the more Cautious issuing of Excommunications for before that Sullivan 241. English would kill an Excommunicated Catholick says he But the Cathalicks resolving to resist even to Death thought of two ways First To hinder the meeting of the Parliament if possible and Secondly If it met not to receive or admit of the Heretick Parliament men because not Inhabitants in the Towns that chose them And with this Design they went to Dublin where all the Catholick Clergy also went to encourage the Gentry in this Holy Resolution On 18th May 1619. Caecos diaboli ministros The Parliament met at the Castle of Dublin and first the Lord Botevant carried the Sword before the Deputy to Church to hear the blind Ministers of the Devil and that being over when they came to the Castle the Guard disarmed the Nobility and Gentry as they entered but some resisted and did not part with their Arms and others that did â—ad other Arms secretly about them No sooner they State but the Soldiers were drawn into a Body in the Yard to terrifie the Catholick Members who in the upper House were less in number then the Protestants however resolv'd rather to dye which they expected then to forsake the Catholick Religion but if they had died for it The Gentlemen and Citizens then in Dublin assembled from all parts of the Kingdom had certainly reveng'd their Deaths and now the Eyes even of the English Irish were open and they cursing their former Folly in helping the Heretick would have repair'd it by a hearly Conjunction with the Old Irish now 〈◊〉 And afterwards he says That when the Papists refus'd to sit in the Parliament the Deputy did not dare to proceed without them not did he dare to force them because the Papists had many Friends in Town ready armed and the Deputy feared a General defection if he had proceeded my farther and then he says the SOUNDER part of the Clergy always oppos'd the Attaindâ—re of O Neal O Donell c. And the Archbishop of Tuam wrote a notable Letter against it but the worser part of the Clergy he means those of English Extraction perswaded the Popish Members to Consent to that Act but it is time to leave this whilsting Fellow and return to the true History of this Affair The Lord Deputy having Notice that several Papists that were not duly chosen Lib. C. nor return'd Members of Parliament did nevertheless intend to intrude into the House did on the 17th day of May being the last day of the Term cause Proclamation to be made in the four Courts that all those who knew themselves to be duly Elected Parliament then should attend the Lord Deputy and Council at Three a Clock that Afternoon at the Castle and accordingly most of them came Whereupon the Lord Deputy and Council sitting in the open Court of the Castle caused the Chancery Clerk of the Crown to call over the Names of those that were returned to serve in the approaching Parliament and that being done they caused Proclamation to be made that no Body should presume to come into the Parliament House but such as were return'd as aforesaid And 〈◊〉 on the next day 1613. being the 18th day of May the Parliament met and the Lords House was supplyed by the Earls of Kildare Ormond Thomâ—â—â— and Clanrickâ—â—dâ— and Viscounts of Buttevant Formâ—â— Gormanstoâ—â—â—â— Mountgarrets and Tullagh and the Barons of Athenry Kingsale Kerry Slane Killeen Delvin Dunboyn Houth Triâ—â—etsowne Poer Cahir Dunsany Louth Uppâ—r Ossery Castle Connel and 〈◊〉 Besides Twenty five of Protestantâ— Archbishops and Bishops that were present and the
other Stewards of the British Farmers and Inhabitants of the City and County of London-Derry ☞ by means whereof the worthy Plantation of that Country is almost destroyed and the Inhabitants are reduced to great Poverty and many of them forced to forsake the Country the same being the first and most useful Plantation in the large Province of Ulster to the great weakning of the Kingdom in this Time of Danger the said Plantation being the principal Strength of those Parts IX The late Erection of the Court of High-Commission for Causes Ecclesiastical in these necessitous Times the Proceedings of the said Court ' in many Causes without Legal Warrant and yet so supported as Prohibitions have not been obtained though legally sought for And the excessive Fees exacted by the Ministers thereof and the Encroaching of the some upon the Jurisdiction of other Ecclesiastical Courts of this Kingdom X. The exorbitant Fees and pretended Customs exacted by the Clergy against the Law some of which have been formerly represented to your Lordship XI The Petitioners do most heartily bemoan that His Majesty's Service and Profit are much more impaired than advanced by the Grievances aforesaid and the Subsidies granted in the last Parliament having much increased His Majesty's Revenue by the buying of Grants and otherwise And that all His Majesty's Debts then due in this Kingdom were satisfied out of the said Subsidies and yet His Majesty is of late as the Petitoners have been informed in the House of Commons become indebted in this Kingdom in great Sums And they do therefore humbly beseech That an exact Account may be sent to His Majesty how and in what manner his Treasure is issued XII The Petitioners do humbly conceive just and great Fears at a Proclamation published in this Kingdom in Anno Domini 1635. prohibiting Men of Quality or Estates to depart this Kingdom into England without the Lord Deputy's Licence whereby the Subjects of this Kingdom are hindred and interrupted from free Access to Address to His Sacred Majesty and Privy-Council of England so declare their just Grievances or to obtain Remedies for them in such sort as their Ancestors have done in all Ages since the Reign of King Henry the Second and great Fees exacted for every of the said Licences XIII That of late His Majesty's Attorney-General hath exhibited Informations against many ancient Burroughs of this Kingdom into His Majesty's Court of Exchequer ☜ to shew cause by what Warrant the said Burroughs who heretofore sent Burgesses to Parliament should send Burgesses to the Parliament And thereupon for want of an Answer the said Privileges of sending Burgesses were seised by the said Court Which Proceedings were altogether coram non Judice and contrary to the Laws and Privileges of the House of Parliament and if way should be given thereunto would tend to the Subversion of Parliaments and by consequence to the Ruin and Destruction of the Commonwealth And that the House of Commons hath hitherto in this present Parliament been deprived of the Advice and Counsel of many profitable and good Members by means thereof XIV By the Powerfulness of some Ministers of State in this Kingdom the Parliament in its Members and Actions hath not its natural Freedom XV. And lastly That the Gentry and Merchants and other His Majesty's Subjects of this Kingdom are of late by the Grievances and Pressures before said and other the like brought very near to Ruin and Destruction And the Farmers of Customs Customers Waiters Searchers Clerks of Unwarrantable Proceedings Pursuivants and Gaolers and sundry others very much enriched whereby and by the slow Redress of the Petitioners Grievances His Majesty's most faithful and dutiful People of this Kingdom do conceive great Fears that their Readiness approved upon all Occasions hath not been of late rightly represented to His Sacred Majesty For remedy whereof the said Petitioners do humbly and of right beseach your Lordship That the said Grievances and Pressures may be speedily redressed and if your Lordship shall not think fit to afford present Relief that your Lordship might admit a select Committee of this House of Persons uninteressed in the Benefit arising of the aforesaid Grievances to be licensed by your Lordship to repair to his Sacred Majesty in England for to pursue the same and to obtain fitting Remedy for their aforesaid and other just Grievances and Oppressions And upon all just and honourable Occasions they will without respect of particular Interest or Profit to be raised thereby most humbly and readily in Parliament extend their utmost Endeavors to serve His Majesty and comply with His Royal and Princely Occasions And shall pray c. As soon as the Lord Deputy had notice of this Remonstrance and perceived the Fury of the Irish Parliament he took occasion to Prorogue it on the Twelfth day of November but whatever he could do was ineffectual to stem the Tide which now ran too violent against him And therefore being heart-broken with his own and the Earl of Strafford's Misfortunes he died suddenly on the Third day of December 1640. Whereupon ROBERT Lord DILLON of Killkenny-West afterwards Earl of Roscomon Sir WILLIAM PARSONS Knight and Baronet Master of the Court of Wards were on the Thirtieth of December sworn Lords Justices 1640. But the Lord Dillon beings for his Intimacy and Alliance with the Earl of Strafford obnoxious to the aforesaid Irish Committee he was at their Instance removed and Sir WILLIAM PARSONS Master of the Court of Wards Sir JOHN BORLACE Master of the Ordnance were sworn Lords Justices on the Tenth of February to whom the King by his Letters of the Fourth of January before sent Orders at the Request of the Irish Committee That the Irish Subsidies which heretofore were Forty thousand Pounds should be reduced to a less Sum than formerly and that all Letter 's sent to the Chief Governor or other Publick Officers touching Publick Affairs or the Subjects Private Interests should be entred in the Signer-Office in England to the end the Subjects upon occasion might take Copies thereof and that all Dispatches from Ireland should be safely kept apart for the easier and readier recourse thereto and that His Majesty approves of the Repair of His Subjects to appeal to Him notwithstanding any Prohibition in Ireland to the contrary and orders That no body be prosecuted or molested on that score and that the Irish Committee shall have Copies of all Records Certificates Orders of Council Publick Letters or other Entries that are necessary to manifest or prove their Grievances And this Letter was on the Tenth of February 1640. by the Irish Parliament then sitting ordered to be entred amongst the Records and Ordinances of that House And soon after Rushw 15. the Irish Parliament did vote the following Grievances to be transmitted to their Committee in England which it seems were couched in Two Petitions one to the King and the other to the Parliament and both carried over by John Bellew
France in their favour and therefore were loth to foreclose themselves of Assistance abroad or Complices at home by taking an Oath of Allegiance at that time And accordingly on the 19th of June 1666. the Lord-Lieutenant wrote thus to the Secretary of State There is hardly an hour in a day wherein I have not hot alarums of Conspiracies ready to he executed by the Irish and such concurrent Intelligence from several places and persons concerning it that I now really believe they are put into a disposition of rebelling by some employed out of France I will according to Instructions keep the Irish Clergy to the letter of the Remonstrance or to a sense equivalent Most part of this Summer was spent in ordering the Militia and on the 7th of August the Parliament was dissolved having enacted as in the Irish Statute-Book and the Lord-Lieutenant made a progress into Munster and after his return viz. on the 27th of September Edmond Riley Titular Archbishop of Armagh was by the Lord-Lieutenant and Council sent Prisoner into England And at the same time the second Court of Claims sate in Dublin and were busie disposing of Lands and Houses by lot to the 49 Officers and in ordering Reprisals c. And on the 1st of October the Lord-Lieutenant and Council considered of a way to send 15000 Bullocks for the relief of the City of London then lately burnt And in March the notable Tory Collonel Costilo was killed and a Proclamation issued to appoint Granaries for Wheat and Oatmeal in several parts of the Kingdom The year 1667. was troublesom enough in Ireland that Kingdom being frequently alarum'd with Reports of a French Invasion so that the Militia was raised in all parts of the Kingdom and those of Leinster the City of Dublin excepted did rendesvouz on the Curragh of Kildare and thither the Lord-Lieutenant came to view them on the 13th of July And in the same month a considerable Squadron of Ships appearing upon the South-Coast very much frightned the Inhabitants thereabouts but it proved â—o be an English Fleet under Sir Jeremy Smith which came into the Harbour of Kingsale on the 11th of July And in the beginning of the year 1668. the Lord-Lieutenant embarqued for England and left his Son the Earl of Ossory Lord Deputy and he continued so until the 18th day of September 1669. at which time he surrendred the Sword to John Lord Roberts of Truro who staid but a very little time before the Popish Interest then prevailing at Court got him removed and placed in his stead John Lord Berkly Baron of Stratton who was sworn Lord-Lieutenant on the 21st day of May 1670. and whose Instructions were to the effect following viz. 1. The Introduction and first Instruction is in usual form That he is appointed Lord-Lieutenant and to receive the Sword of State and take the accustomed Oath 2 dly And forasmuch as all good success doth rest upon the Service of God above all things you are to settle good Orders in the Church that God may be better served in the true established Religion and the People by that means by reduced from their Errors in Religion wherein they have been too long most unhappily and perniciously seduced and never more than since the late fatal Rebellion which hath produc'd too plentiful a Seed-time of Atheism Superstition and Schism But in your care of Religion be sure to moderate the precipitation and preposterous Zeal of any on what specious pretences soever who under the name of Christ's Kingdom the Church and Religion disturb both Church and State and may endanger the peace thereof whereas by Wisdom and Moderation the Established Religion will not only be more firmly setled again but by a wise and diligent hand the Tares and Cocle which many years War and Confusion have sowed will be most safely pick'd out In order to this proceed as in the beginning of the Lord Chichester's time to the Building and Repair of Churches And because good Preachers will be difficultly obtained without competent Means inspect the Ecclesiastical Livings with assistance of some of the Church and others of skill and raise them as you can and supply those in Our Gift with pious apt and able persons Men of good respect and credit and Residents and persuade all Patrons to do the like and to eschew Corruption observe the Directions about the Church of Ireland Anno 1623. and see that the Clergy lose nothing designed for them in the several Plantations And that fit and diligent Schoolmasters may have the benefit of our Donations and the Act of Parliament And that you encourage the People to send their Youth to the College of Dublin 3dly Send us an account of the state of the Kingdom what is wanting and how it may be supplied 4thly Enquire diligently how Our Judges Officers and Ministers behave themselves in discharge of their respective Trusts and that faulty persons may be succeeded by better 5thly Take exact Musters and administer the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy to all Officers and Soldiers and Cashier such as refuse 6thly To prevent false Musters and the mustering of Servants and Tenants c. change Quarters often even to remote Provinces renewing in this particular the printed Instructions and Rules to the Commissaries in the Duke of Ormond's time with such Alterations and Additions as shall be found requisite 7thly Quarter the Soldiers most conveniently for our Service and the least burthensom to the Subjects and give strict directions that they live orderly and according to Discipline and that the Officer may not detain the Soldiers Pay nor absent himself without license which must not exceed three months 8thly Inspect the Revenue c. exactly as it was 20 January 1669. and is now 9thly And improve it by increase of the Income and abatement of the Charge 10thly If any Orders under Great or Privy-Seal Privy-Signet or Sign-Manual or from Privy-Council shall come unto you contrary to these Instructions or in your opinion unfit to be obeyed you may suspend your Obedience until you signifie your Reasons sor so doing and receive Our Answer 11thly Make no Grant or Lease of any thing of Ours till Office be found or Record entred and an indifferent Survey or Valuation thereof made and that then the same be put in charge in the proper Offices and the Grantee give good Security for Rents and Covenants 12thly That new Surveys be made of all forfeited escheated and concealed Lands c. 13thly Improve Trade as far as you can without breach of the Acts of Navigation and Transportation of Irish Cattel particularly incourage Fishery Linnen Manufactury the resort of Protestant Strangers and if they amount to any Number we will order them such Priviledges for their Religion as will best consist with the Peace of that Kingdom Have a strict eye to the Transportation of Wooll take Bonds Diligently and Prosecute them Severely and the better to discover Frauds Transmit your Bonds hither to be
compared with the Certificates here Also prevent the abuse in Coyning Vending annd Vttering small Moneys 14thly Endeavour to bring all to a Conformity in the Religion by Law Established and acquaint us with what difficulties you meet with therein 15thly Inspect our Forts Castles Magazines and Stores and endeavour to make Salt-Petre 16thly We are informed That small Profit hath heretofore come to our Exchequer by Castle-Chamber Fines tho Misdemeanors proper for punishment in that Court were many we would therefore have you look into the reasons thereof and to resettle and uphold the Honour and Jurisdiction of that Court for the repressing exorbitant Offences wherein our Learned Council are to do their Duty faithfully 17thly The Vice-Treasurer or his Deputy to receive all Money 18thly Reduce the Moneys there to the condition of Sterling and establish a Mint there 19thly Finding some Propositions of the Duke of Ormond recorded in the Register of Council-Causes 1662. fit to be observed we have renewed them with reference to your Government therefore observe them Lastly Several Popish Clergy since the return of the Duke of Ormond hither have exerâ—â—ed their Jurisdictions to the great grief of the Remonstrants If so execute the Laws against the Titular Archbishops Bishops and Vicar-Generals that have threatned or excommunicated the Remonstrants and that you protect such Remonstrants as have not withdrawn their Subscriptions These were the publick Instructions but the Administration of the Government seem'd to have another Foundation for now the Mystery of Iniquity began to appear and the Papists were publickly countenanc'd and indulg'd in Ireland many of them got into the Commission of the Peace and it was attempted also to bring them into the Army but Matters not running so smoothly as the Lord Lieutenant expected he returned to England for new Instructions and left the Government in the Hands of the Lord Chancellor and Sir Arthur Forbus Lords Justices who were Sworn on the 12 th of June and continued in that Office until his Excellency's return which was on the 23 d day of September 1671. In the mean time on the 21 st of February 1670. Collonel Richard Talbot Petitioned His Majesty in the behalf of His most distressed Subjects of Ireland who were outed of their Estates by the late Vsurped Powers which Petition was referr'd to a Committe of the Council to Examine and Report and a State of their Case was given to the Committee in Writing Whereupon on the 28 th of January the Kings Solicitor attended the Committe at the Council-Chamber His Majesty being present and there the Petition and Talbot's Commission from the Irish the State of their Case and the Paper of Instances were read On the 1 st of February the King being present Sir George Lane was call'd in and the first Instance being the Case of Mr. Hore was objected against him but Sir George baffled the Petitioners in that Matter and having prov'd an Agreement with Mr. Hore which His Majesty was pleased to say He remembred That Affair was clear'd to the satisfaction of the King and the Committee much contrary to the Expectation of the Petitioners who perhaps had prevail'd with the King to be there that he might be an Ear-witness of the Wrong that was done them But the King being weary of such Debates did on the 4 th of February in Council appoint the Lords Buckingham Anglesy Hollis and Ashley and Secretary Trevor or any three of them to be a Committee to Peruse and Revise all the Papers and Writings concerning the Settlement of Ireland from the first to the last and to take an Abstract of the State thereof in Writing And accordingly on the 12 th of June 1671. they made their Report at large which was the Foundation of a Commission dated the 1 st of August 1671. under the great Seal to Prince Rupert the Dukes of Buckingham and Lauderdale Earl of Anglesy Lords Ashley and Hollis Sir John Trevor and Sir Thomas Chichly to Inspect the Settlement of Ireland and all Proceedings from first to last in Order thereunto And this was followed by another Commission of the 17 th of January 1672. to Prince Rupert Earl of Shaftsbury the Lord Treasurer Clifford and others amongst whom the Dukes of Ormond was one to inspect the Affairs of Ireland viz. the Acts of Settlement and Explanation and the Execution of them and the disposing of Forfeited Lands and the State of His Majesties Revenue c. But how specious soever the Pretences were for these Commissions the secret Design was to unravel the Settlement and to humble the Duke of Ormond upon whom they always fell when the Popish Interest prevailed for otherwise the pretended Grievances if they had been really true were few and small and it were much better for the publick That even greater Irregularities than were complain'd of should remain unremedied than that the great and common Security of the Nation should be shaken And of this Opinion was the Parliament of England who always concern'd themselves effectually for the English Interest and the Protestant Religion in Ireland and accordingly on the 9th day of March 1673 they Address'd to His Majesty as followeth And this Address occasion'd that the aforesaid Commission of Inspection was Superseded on the 2d of July 1673. WE Your Majesties most Loyal Subjects the Commons in this Present Parliament Assembled taking into Consideration the great Calamities which have formerly befallen Your Majesties Subjects of the Kingdom of Ireland from the Popish Recausants there who for the most part are profest Enemies to the Protestant Religion and the English Interest and how they make use of Your Majesties Gracious Disposition and Clemency are at this time grown more Insolent and Presumptuous than formerly to the apparent Danger of that Kingdom and Your Majesties Protestant Subjects there the consequence whereof may likewise prove very fatal to this Your Majesties Kingdom of England if not timely prevented And having seriously weighed what Remedies may be most properly applied to those growing Distempers do in all Humility present Your Majesty with these our Petitions 1. That for the Establishment and Quieting the possessions of Your Majesties Subjects in that Kingdom Your Majesty would be pleased to maintain the Act of Settlement and Explanatory Act thereupon and to recall the Commission of Enquiry into Irish Affairs bearing date the 17 th of January last as containing many new and extraordinary Powers not only to the Prejudice of particular Persons whose Estates and Titles are thereby made liable to be questioned but in a manner to the overthrow of the Acts of Settlement and if pursued may be the occasion of great Charge and Attendance to many of Your Subjects in Ireland and shake the Peace and Security of the whole 2. That Your Majesty would give order that no Papist be either continued or hereafter admitted to be Judges Justices of the Peace Sheriffs Coroners or Mayors Sovereigns or Portreeves in that Kingdom 3. That the Titular Popish Archbishops
of Tanistry and Gavelkind abolished 10 Commission of Grace 11 15 32 Case of Tâ—nures 56 Conaught Transactions there An. 1641 97 Anno 1642. 113 Anno 1643. 113 Anno 1644. 146 Anno 1645. 159 Anno 1646. 190 Anno 1647. 198 Anno 1648. 203 Coot Sir Charles slain at Trim 107 Committee of English Parliament sent over and what they did 108 109. Cessation treated of 130 and concluded 133 how resented 133 wherein violated 135 Cessation between the Irish Insiquin 199 Cromwel landed at Dublin C. 2. 7 and takes Tredagh C. 2. 8 and Wexford C. 2. 9 and Ross ibid. 10 and Clonmell ibid. 10 returns to England ibid. 17 Clanrickard Marquess made Lord-Deputy C. 2. 52 High Commission Court and what they did C. 2. 70 D. O Dogharty rebells 13 and is slain 14 E. Earls of Tyrconnell and Antrim created 8 Earl of Castlehaven executed 54 F. Lord Falkland Lord-Deputy 39 has a Controversy with the Chancellor 42 is removed 53 G. Glamorgan Earl sent to Ireland 150 makes a secret Peace with the Irish 154 is committed 155 his Opinion of the Irish 157 Grant Winter his Negotiation 194 Galloway surrendred C. 2. 69 H. Hartegan's Letter 149 I. Irish demand Toleration of Religion 8 43 and obtain Graces 45 whereupon they grow 〈◊〉 53 they desire to inspect the Store 71 and universally rebel 72 and enter into an Association 123 and appoint a Government 125 and send Ambassadors to Foreign Princes 149 197. Instances of their Disloyalty C. 2. 54 Lords Justices Jones and Denham 33 Ely and Powerscourt 36 Ely and Cork 53 Ely and Wandesford 59 Dillon and Parsons 64 Parsons and Burlace ibid. Burlace and Titchburn 127 Inquisitions into the King's Title 56 Ireton has command of the Army C. 2. 17 and takes Waterford C. 2. 56 and Limerick ibid. 69 and dies ibid. K. King James of Irish Extraction 1 his Title to the Crown 2 his Declaration against the Rebel Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel 12 his Speech to the 〈◊〉 Irish 25 his Answer about Sir Oliver St. John â— 35 King Charles Crowned 41 sends notice of the Irish Conspiracy 65 and Proclamations against the Rebels 86 and surrenders himself to the Scots 164 King Charles II. proclaimed C. 2. 1 declares against the Peace of 1648. C. 2. 34 L. Lalor the Priest indicted of Premunirâ— 11 his Equivocation ibid. London City their Articles with the King about their Plantation in Ulster 16 Lords of Kerâ—y and Slane dispute Precedency 29 Lords Courcey and Saâ—sfield dispute the Title of Kingsale 43 Lord High Steward appointed to try Lord Dunboyn by his Peers 42 Limerick deals barbarously with the Heralds 166 and as bad by the Ld Lieut. C. 2. 21 is taken by Ireton C. 2. 69 Lorrain Duke his Negotiation 25 27 M. Mountjoy Lord made Lord Lieutenant 8 goes to England ibid. Monasteries rebuilt 10 Meleâ—ont surrender'd 82 Munster the Transactions there An. 41. 93 Anno 1642. iii 1643. 129 143 1644. 144 1645. 157 1646. 189 1647. 196 1648. 203 Munster Towns revolt C. 2. 12 Mahonyes libellous Book publish'd 198 N. O-Neil Sir Phelim repuls'd at Lisnegarvy 82 yet refused to treat of Peace 87 Nuncio arriâ—es 153 and opposes conclusion of the Peace 155 and delares against it when made 166 and endeavours to intercept the Lord Lieutenant 169 is Generalissimo of two Armies C. 2. 17 which he march'd to Dublin 17 and prefers a 〈◊〉 Wrâ—tch to a 〈◊〉 20â— and Excommunicateâ— the Supram Council c. 199 and leaves the Kingdom C. 2. 3 O. Ormond comes to Dublin 75 obtâ—â—â—â— a Victory in Kilrush 106 and another at Roâ—â— 3 is made Lord Lieutenant 137 is like to be intercepted by the Nâ—â—â—â—io's Party 169 therefore Treate with the Parliament of England 179 and renews that Treaty 187 and surrenders Dublin 193 but returns to Ireland 202 and concludes the Peace of 1648. 204 marches towards Dublin C. 2. 4 is defeated at Rathmines C. 2. 7 Excommunicated by the Irish C. 2. 31 and leaves the Kingdom C. 2. 5â— Oxford the Negotiation of the Irish Agâ—nts there 138 139 140 141. 〈◊〉 P. Papists generally come to Church 9 are mutinous in the Parliament 23 send Agents to England 25 revolâ—e from the Army 86 Parliament intended in Ireland 18 and called 21 disturb'd by the Papists 22 but 〈◊〉 with Effect 30 Plot of the Irish of Ulster discovered 33 another Plot discovered 56 Pope forbids the Oath of Allegiance 141 sende a Bull to the Irish 12â— Proclamation against Popish Clergy 53 St. Patricks Purgatory discovered to be a Cheat 54 Parliament of Ireland sâ—â—d a Râ—monstrance to England 61 and a Petition with a Schedule of Grievances 164 and impeach the Bishop of Derry 〈◊〉 Lord Chanceller c. 65 i◠〈◊〉 Annâ— 1644. 137 and makes a Remonstrance of Thanks to Ormond 188 Pale Lords and 〈◊〉 of it rebel 76 83 are ill used by the Irish of Ulster 93 Peace 〈◊〉 of Anno 1644. 143 the Treaty resum'd Anno 1645. 150 Lord Digby's Letter to hasten it 151 the Assâ—â—blies Declaration concerning it 152 it is opposed by the Nuntio 155 and â—â—butâ—d in the Assembly 156 but is concluded 162 and published 165 and immediately broken 166 and rejected by the Assembly 185 Peace of 1648 made 204 Preston General proclaims the Peace 165 and breaks it 170 his Letter on that Occasion 170 his O-Neals 〈◊〉 Propositions 173 his Engagement and Oath to the Nuntio 170 yet he agrees with Ormond 181 and breaks that Agreement 182 for which Ormond reproaches him 183 Popish Clergy meet at Kilkenny 123 and at Waterford 166 and at Clâ—anmacnoise C. 2. 14 and deal deceitfully with Insiquin and Ormond C. 2. 19 they meet at Jamesâ—Town C. 2. 25 and Excommunicate the Lord Lieutenant and endeavour to revive their first Confederacy C. 2. 50 53 R. Rebellion of the Irish 1641. 72 â—ruel beyond Example 73 93 and no less treacherous 77 79 82 discovered by Owen Oâ—Conally 74 Lords of the Pale engaged in it 76 Irish pretend the Kings Commission 78 Declarat of Irish Parlm against it 80 the King's Proclamation against it 86 Read Sir John rackâ— and why 104 Remonstrance from Longford 80 from the Irish at Trim 110 Rupert Prince at Kingâ—ale C. 2. 1 S. St. John Sir Olâ—ver Lord Deputy 33 is removed 36 and made Lord Grandison c. 36 Spanlard has liberty to raise 4000 Men in Ireland 71 Supream Council appointed 126 are imprisoned by the Nuntio 170 make Cessation with Insiquin 199 are Excommunicat by the Nuntio ib. T. Tyrone Earl renews his submission â— rebels again 12 and is attaâ—â—â—ed ibid. Tredagh besieged by the Irish 88 taken by Insiquin Cromwel C. 2. 4 8 V. Vniversities of Valadolid and Salamanca their judgment 3 Usher Bishop of Meath preaches before the State 39 but is forced to explain his Sermon ib. Ulster Transactions Anno 1641. 98 Anno 1642. 114 1644. 147 1645. 160 1646. 190 1647. 198 1648. 203 W. Waterford loses its Liberties 34 Wentworth Lord made Ld Deputy 55 calls a Parliament ibid. which gave six Subsidies ibid. be returns to England 57 his Speech at the Council-Board ibid. he returns to Ireland 58 and back to England 59 and returns Earl of Strafford and Lord Lieutenant ibid. holds a Parliament which grants four Subsidies ibid. his Impeachment and Defence 66 A Table to the Appendix I. A Letter from the City of Cork II. Owen O-Conally's Examination III. The Irish Remonstrance from Longford IV. The Lords Justices and Councils Letter to the King V. The Irish 〈…〉 VI. An excellent Answer to it VII The Lord Macgâ—â—re's Examination VIII The Lord of Gâ—rmanstown's Commission IX Dr. Jones's Examination X. Dr. Maxwell's Examination XI The Irish Declaration upon what Terms Protestants might live in their Quarters XII The Declaration of the Irish Parliament against the Rebellion XIII The King 's Proclamat against the Rebellion XIV The Irish Oath of Association XV. The Pope's Bull. XVI The Articles of Cessation XVII The Lord Insiquin's Complaint for the Breaches thereof XVIII The Declaration of the English Parliament against the Cessation XIX A Proclamation of an Irish Governor against Commerce with the English XX. The Army's Remonstrance XXI 〈◊〉 Propositions of the Irish Protestants to the King at Oxford XXII Instructions on which they were founded XXIII The Irish Propositions at Oxford and the Answers 〈◊〉 them XXIV The 〈◊〉 of Peace 1646. XXV The Munster â—â—tition against that Peace XXVI The Articles between Sir Kenelm Digby and the Pope XXVII Articles made with the E. of Glamorgaâ— XXVIII The Kings Letter about Glamorgans Peace XXIX The Determination of the Popish Clergy about restoring Churches to the Protestants XXX The Declaration of the Congregation at Waterford against the Peace of 1646. XXXI The Nuncio's Excommunication of the Aâ—â—erents to the 〈◊〉 of 1646. XXXII Preston's Engagement Oath to Nuncio XXXIII Marquesâ— of Clanrickard's Engagement XXXIV Preston's Engagement to the L. Lieutenant XXXV The Declaration of the Papists against the renewed Peace XXXVI The Declaration of the Assembly against the Peace of 1646. XXXVII Clanrickard's Letter about the Proceedings of the Irish XXXVIII Articles between the Mâ—rquesâ— of Ormond and the Parliament Commissioners XXXIX The Remonstrance of the Army in Munster January 1647. XL. Instructions for the Irish Ambassadors 〈◊〉 Foreign Princes XLI Friar King's Letter to the Tâ—t 〈…〉 XLII Ormond's Declaration on his arrival 1648. XLIII Articles of Peace 1648. XLIV A Circular Letter from the Popish Clergy in approbation thereof XLV Remedies proposed by the Popish Clergy and the Answer XLVI The Address of the Popish Clergy to the Lord Lieutenant and the Answer XLVII The Commissions to the Titular Bishop of Fâ—rns c. to treat with Foreign Princes XLVIII The Declaration and Excommunication of the Lord Lieutenant by the Popish Clergy at James-Town XLIX Marquess of 〈◊〉 Information and the Observations thereupon Errata in the Letter Page 14. line 29. dele fourty Page 17. dele 1678 in the Margent
and Knowledge and when the Doctors of other Nations had Liberty to return home Ireland soon returned to its former Ignorance so that long before the English Conquest there were hardly any Footsteps of Learning left in that Kingdom and to this Day very few of the Irish aim at any more than a little Latin which every Cow-Boy pretends to and a smattering in Logick which very few of them know the use of As for the Riches of the Irish Nation before the Conquest certainly they were very inconsiderable for tho Sir James Ware mentions That they had a Crown of Gold and Jewels and Gold Rings which may be True though I doubt it because the Irish Kings were never crowned but however that be it is certain their Wealth consisted in Cattle and those none of the best insomuch that even since the Conquest they paid the King's Revenue in Cows for want of Money and yet it may be true that they might have some Money tho' very little brought in by the Oestmen but it is certain they never coyned any themselves And indeed it is impossible they should be Rich since they had little or no Traffick with any other Nation neither had they any Artificers at home that could support a Trade abroad Perhaps they had but few other Kinds of Mechanicks except Weavers Cotners Taylors Broge-makers and Smiths Hats and Sadles came into use but of late and the Irish Carpenters and Masons must not be mentioned Davys 155. since Sir John Davys assures us That the Irish never did so good a thing as to build a City and indeed it is manifest That all the considerable Towns and Piles in the Kingdom were built by Ware 110. others and not by the Irish Dublin Coâ—â— Limerick Wexford and Waterford were built by the Oestmen and Galway was built by the English and is inhabited by Englishmen only to this Day viz. the Burks Frenches Bodkins Lynches Kerevans c. the Castles of Ardfinin Nenagh Lismore Tybrack and Limerick were built by King John Castledermood Castlederwagh Kilkea and Leighlin by the Lacyes Ferns Sligo Traly Geshil Adare Askeaton by the Fitz-Giralds the Grey-Friers at Leighlin Ballymarter Ardtully Lixnaw and Macrome by the Carews Philipstown and Mariburgh by Bellingham Athenry by Birmingham Green-castle Castle carbry Athassel Carlingford Castleconnel Loghreagh and Portumny by the Burks Kilkenny by Ranulph Earl of Chester Castle of Kilkenny by the Earl of Ormond Thomastown by Thomas Fitz-Antony Ross and Caterlogh by Isabel Daughter of Strongbow Carrigfergus was walled by Sir Henry Sydny Lord Deputy Castle Island in Kerry was built by Geofry de Marisco as Tymoleague Castle was by Barret and Trim by William Peppard the Town and Castle of Roscomon and the Towns of Clonmel Youghal Bandon Londonderry Colerâ—in Kingsale Carrik Athy c. were likewise built by the English and so were most of the Abbies and Cathedral Churches as you may read at large in Sir James Ware 's most excellent Treatise de antiquitatibus Hibernia The first Pile of Lime and Stone that ever was in Ireland was the Castle of Tuam built anno 1161 by Rotherick O Connor the Monarch and for the rarity called Castrum Mirificum for when O Morgaire Archbishop of Armagh began to build a Church of Stone such as he had seen beyond Sea the Irish upbraided his Pride and despised the Novelty and laught at his Folly to undertake a Work so much beyond his Ability unde tibi pauperi sumptus ad perficiendum say they but what need more be offered in this Matter than that Taragh was the Seat of the Monarch and the old Head of Kinsale was the Residence of Sovercy King of half Ireland but neither Place has the Ruines of any thing like a Palace nor is the old Head a situation fit for a private Gentleman much less for a Prince Their Building in those Days even of their Castles was no other than Turf or Watles plaistered over Cambrensis c. 11. Nor did Henry II find any thing better in Ireland nor Artificers that could make better As for the Christian Religion it was introduced into Ireland very early and the Testimony of Prosper That Paladius being ordained by Pope Celestine was sent to the Scots believing in Christ does manifest That the Scots i. e. Irish did believe in Christ before Paladius came Bishop of S. Asaph 84 85. And accordingly the Irish Tradition runs That they had Churches formed under Bishops Kiaranus Ailbeus c. before Paladius or S. Patrick and that they founded Bishopricks too at Ossory Lismore Ardmore and Beckerin however it must be allowed Ibid. 51. That S. Patrick who succeeded Palladius was the Person that had the good Fortune to convert the Body of that Nation to Christianity but he was so far from bringing them to Popery that they owned no Jurisdiction the Pope had over them but differed from the usage at Rome both in Tonsure and in celebrating the Feast of Easter and were therefore counted Schismaticks by the Romanists and although at this Day their Religion as my Lord of Orrery words it is something that pins them upon the Pope's Sleve Lord Orrery's answer to P. W. yet in the beginning it was not so but their Religion was pure and Orthodox And the Learned Primate Vsher has sufficiently proved Vsher's Religion of the ancient Irish That for Substance it was the same which the Protestants now proâ—â—â—ss and first he cites Sedulius and Claudius both Irishmen affirming in effect That Scripture is the Rule of Faith and he instances in the Successors of Columkille and in Bishop Aidan That they and their Company spent their time in searching the Scriptures he quotes the Testimony of S. Chrisostome and Bede That they had the Scripture in their Mother-Tongue and he gives you the Opinion of S. Patrick That continual Meditation of Scripture adds Vigour and Vegetation to the Soul and the Saying of Columbus sint tibi divitiae divinae dogmata legis by the Example of Furseus Kilianus and Bitihildis he proves That Children and Women did study the Scriptures and he produces many Instances wherein Sedulius and S. Patrick differed from the Rhemish Translation and the Vulgar Latin and shews That all preferred the Original before any Translation whatsoever As for Apocrypha though it was often cited by them with Reverence and Respect such as was given to the Writings of the Fathers and other good Men yet since they also cited the fourth Book of Esdras in the same manner which the Romanists deny to be Canonical it will follow that this Argument proves nothing or proves too much But to make the Matter more clear he cites Marianus Scotus born in Ireland 1028. and the Author of the Book de Mirabilibus Scripturae who was also an Irishman and they do expresly exclude out of the Canon of Scripture those Books we call Apocrypha In the next Chapter the Primate quotes Sedulius and Claudius for the
Conclusion had destroyed three of his Objections for if the Irish were in almost continual Rebellions as he says and is true how could he expect they should enjoy Offices sit in Parliaments or have Benefit of the Kings Laws But the weakness of these Objections will yet more plainly appear by the following Answers To the First the Instances are few and it is bad Logick to draw general Consequences from the Actions of two or three particular Men especially such as so bitterly reflect on a Government or Nation besides all these three were Papists and their Sacrilege does not concern the Protestant Government of Ireland which is what Mr. Sullevan design'd to asperse To the Second If this Author had consulted the Ecclesiastical Catalogue he would have found that the Natives had more than their share of Bishopricks and Arch-Bishopricks and that to the ruine of most of the Sees and in the Military List he might have found the Baron of Dungannon Neal Garuff Macguire O Connor and many more who had Pay or Pension and yet it is so far from being criminal to prefer the Colony before the Native to Offices of Trust and Profit in a conquered Country that it is a necessary Duty to do it Ne Victi Victoribus Legem darent at most this Partiality is but in matters of Favour so that there is no wrong and 't is founded on good Law and sound Policy But what would this Objecter and his Companions say if they should see a Popish Governor in Ireland against all Law and Policy to make it criminal to be an Englishman and a cause of deprivation to profess the Religion by Law established To the Third Several of the Irish Potentates did sit in former Parliaments and particularly in the Parliaments of the 8th of Edw. 2. O Hanlon O Neal O Donnel Macgenis O Cahon Mac Mahon and many more Irish Lords were present but since the Parliaments are better regulated 't is true that none are suffered to sit in the House of Lords but such as are Lords of Parliament by Law viz. by Writ or Patent but 't is as true that the principal men of the Irish have or had Titles that qualifie them to sit there as O Neal Earl of Tyrone O Donel Earl of Tyrconnel O Bryan Earl of Thomond Mac Carthy Earl of Clancarthy O Bryan Earl of Insiquin The Lords Macguire Clare Glanmalira and Dungannon Kavenagh Baron of Balion O Carol Baron of Ely and many more To the Fourth Since the Irish would not admit their Countries to be made Shire-Ground nor suffer Sheriffs to exercise any Authority in them so that they were not amesnable to the Kings Laws but were governed by their own Brehon Laws so that the English could have no Justice against them nor could the King punish Murder without sending an Army to do it there was no reason they should have the Benefit of that Law they would not submit to And this I take to be the true Reason why it was denied them Davis 6. 'T is true they often Petitioned for the Liberty to be Plaintiffs but they would not at the same time put themselves in a condition to be Defendants nor come within the Jurisdiction of the Kings Courts but by starts and for their benefit and therefore assoon as the Kingdom was throughly subdued and reduced into Shires so that the Kings Writ did run throughout the Realm the Irish had also an equal Benefit of the Law and were received into the Condition of Subjects So that this Objection has been long since quite taken away As to the Fifth They were not so ignorant but that they knew the necessity of leaving a Tenure in the King besides there was some small Reservation or Crown-Rent reserv'd by Contract or Agreement in every Patent and therefore they did not expect it as free as they surrendred it however they got well enough by the bargain for in lieu of a precarious Estate for Life at most they got legal Titles of Inheritance by the Kings Grants and certainly they had little reason to complain whilst as our Author confesses they enjoy'd both the Profits and the Possession But let us return to King Henry the Second who found work enough in France and was advised by his Mother Maud the Empress and others at a great Council held on that occasion Speed at Winchester to postpone his Irish Designs until he could meet with a more favourable opportunity which not long after hapned For Dermond Mac Murrough King of Leinster Regan having forced O Neale O Mlaghalin and O Caroll to give him Hostages grew so insolent at these successes that he became oppressive to his Subjects and injurious to his Neighbours more especially by the Rape of the Wife of Orourk King of Brehny 1167. who was Daughter of O Mlaghlin King of Meath Stanihurst whereupon he was invaded by his Enemies Cambrensis and abandoned by his Subjects and Tributaries particularly by Morough O Borne Hasculphus Mac Turkil Governor of Dublin and Daniel Prince of Ossory and after many Disasters 1168. was forced to quit his Country and betake himself to the King of England for Assistance He was accompanied by his Trusty Servant Auliff O Kinade and sixty others and safely arrived at Bristol where he was generously entertain'd at S. Austin's Abbey by Robert Fitzharding Regan M. S. and so having refresh'd himself and Servants he went forward on his Voyage to Aquitain where the King then resided He appeared before the King in a most shabby Habit 1169. says Friar Clin Stanihurst 6â— suitable to the wretched condition of an Exile He fell at his Majesties feet and emphatically bewail'd his own Miseries and Misfortunes He represented the Malice of his Neighbours and the Treachery of his pretended Friends and the Rebellion of his Subjects in proper and lively Expressions he suggested that Kings were then most like Gods when they exercised themselves in succouring the Distressed and that the Fame of King Henry's Magnificence and Generosity had induced him to that Address for his Majesties Protection Assistance But the King being engaged in France could not aid him personally however being mov'd with Dermond's cunning Speeches submissive Deportment Hooker 1. he pitied his Misfortunes entertain'd him kindly and gave him some Presents and then took his Oath of Allegiance and gave him the following Patent HEnry Stainhurst 66. King of England Duke of Normandy and Aquitain Earl of Anjou c. Vnto all his Subjects English Normans Welsh and Scots and to all Nations and People being his Subjects Greeting Whereas Dermond Prince of Leinster most wrongfully as he informeth banished out of his one Country hath craved our Aid Therefore for asmuch as we have received him into our Protection Grace and Favour whosoever within our Realm subject to our Commands will Aid and Help him whom we have embraced as our Trusty Friend for the Recovery of his Land let him be
at any Alarm Maurice Fitz Girald as soon as he discover'd O Mlaghlin's Design gave the Signal to Griffith but before he could come up the Irish had kill'd Lacy's Interpreter who interposed to save his Master and had his Arm cut off for his Pains Lacy himself was twice knockt down but Griffith being come he soon ended this Skirmish by the Death of O Mlaghlin whose Head he cut off and sent it into England But Lacy being unable to manage the Kingdom and the King being so perplexed with the Rebellion of his Sons that he could not personally attend the Irish Affairs it was necessary to send for Strongbow into Normandy where the King was and to give him the Government of Ireland Strongbow being sent for did readily wait on the King and being made acquainted with his Majesties Intentions he made it his Request That to avoid Envy and Jealousie Reymond le Gross might be his Colleague in the Government The King replyed That Reymond should be joyned with him as an Assistant but not in Commission And so having express'd much Confidence in the Earl he gave him the City of Wexford and the Castle of Wicklow and sent him to his Government Richard Earl of Chepstow commonly call'd Strongbow Chief Governour or Lord Justice of Ireland at his arrival there found all things in Disorder many of the Irish actually revolted and all of them confederated to shake off the English Yoke the Army also was Mutinous for want of Pay and the Generals Hervy and Reymond were at odds Immediately he put the Army under the Conduct of Reymond 1174. who led them into Ophaly where they met with good Prey Thence he advanced to Lismore and spoiled both the Town and the Country and so by the Sea-side he marched towards Waterford At Dungarvan he found thirteen Boats which he seized and loaded with Prey and Plunder But being detained there a long time by contrary Winds the People of Cork found means to fit out thirty two Barques and manfully assaulted the English in their Boats nevertheless the English Bows and Arrows prevailed and the Corcagians were defeated and their Admiral Gilbert mac Turger slain Whereupon the English under their Admiral Adam de Hereford sailed triumphantly into Waterford Dermond mac Carthy King of Cork came with his Forces by Land to countenance the aforesaid Attempt of the Corcagians by Sea and to seize on the English Boats if perhaps they should be forced ashore as he expected but Reymond met him and gave him such a Brush that he got a Prey of four thousand Cows by the Bargain and brought them safe to Waterford But whilst Reymond was thus busied in Munster he received Advice of the Death of his Father William Fitz-Girald which obliged him to take a Voyage into Wales to get Possession of the Inheritance descended to him By this Accident the Command of the Army fell to Hervy and abundance of Trouble and Misfortune hapned to the Earl For it was not long before Hervy perswaded the Earl to an Exploit 1175. somewhere about Cashel and in order to it to send for more Forces from Dublin but Donald Prince of Ossory having Notice of it surpriz'd them in their March and fell upon them in Ossory where he slew four Gentlemen and four hundred Soldiers being of that sort of the Citizens of Dublin which were called Easterlings With this great Victory the Irish were elevated beyond measure and fansied They had now got a favourable Opportunity to extipate the English And to that End they armed every where and even those Irish whom he had most obliged and those also from whom he had Oaths and Pledges did nevertheless joyn with the rest in this General Conspiracy Rotherick with a mighty Army passed the River Shenin and Burnt and Prey'd the Country even to the Walls of Dublin And Strongbow was coopt up in Waterford in continual Fear of a Massacre thereâ— In this miserable Condition he sent to Reymond into Wales desiring him to hasten over and promised him the Fair Basilia Strongbow's Sister as the Reward of his Expedition Reymond made all possible Hast and with thirty Gentlemen an hundred Horsemen three hundred Archers and Footmen and in twenty Barques arrived at Waterford very seasonably for the Citizens were then conspiring the Murder of the English which by this Accident was postponed for a Time Immediately the Earl Reymond and the Army march'd to Wexford and soon after the Citizens of Waterford murdered the Governour Pursel and butcher'd all the English Men Women and Children except such as saved themselves in Reginalds Tower But they manfully kept that Tower and afterwards regained the City and forced the Citizens to submit to hard Conditions Strongbow and the Army being at Wexford Reymond was married to the Fair Basilia and had with her Idrone Glascarig Fothard and the Constableship of Leinster But in the midst of their Jollity they received Information That Rotherick had invaded Leinster wherefore the next Day they marched towards Dublin But Rotherick at the News of their Approach retreated and Reymond caused the ruined Castles to be repaired particularly the Castle of Trim and so hoped that he might now enjoy his Beautiful Spouse in quiet But the Prince of Limerick was resolved to follow his Blow and continued in open Defiance so that Reymond was forced to march to him September 1176. with twenty six Gentlemen three hundred Archers and three hundred Horsemen David Walsh forded or rather swam the River of Shenin into the Island of Limerick whom by Reymond's Persuasion and Example the rest followed October 1. and took that City and after plundering it they left a Garrison in it under Meyler of S. Davids consisting of fifty Gentlemen two hundred Horse and two hundred Archers and returned Hervey of Mount-Morris by his Letters to the King had suggested That Reymond intended to keep Limerick for himself and that he and Strongbow would monopolize Ireland and several other Falsities which so moved the King's Jealousie that he sent over Robert Power Osbert of Hereford William Bending and Adam of Germeny whereof two were to bring over Reymond and the other two to stay and watch the Earl In the mean Time Letters came from Limerick importing That the Garrison was in Distress besieged by Daniel O Bryan Whereupon it was resolved as well by Strongbow as by the new Messengers That Reymond must undertake to relieve it Wherefore taking with him eighty Gentlemen two hundred Horse and three hundred Archers with some Irish under Morough of Kensile and Donold of Ossory he marches towards Limerick but O Bryan not willing to fight with the Army and Garrison at once raises his Siege and marches towards Cashel 1177. and by plashing the Trees and trenching his Camp he made it as strong as he could It was pleasant to behold the Prince of Ossory who was O Bryans Mortal Foe to tell the English That they must fight valiantly and be Victors or He
Popes Familiar and Kinsman and both Bastards saith Bale fill'd in like sort his Fardles in Scotland These Nuncio's were so crafty that they needed no Brokers they secretly understood by Posts and Cursitors the State of the Court of Rome which quailed them full sore that the Pope was either gone or panted for Life secretly by the conduct of the Monks of Canterbury they were conveyed to Dover where they took Shipping and crost the Seas The Emperor Frederick against whom this Provision was made having intelligence thereof and secretly acquainted with the Popes state wrote to the King of England to apprehend such Prollers wherein he also reprov'd his Cowardize The Emperor when he understood that the Birds were flown away made search for the Nest yet overtook them in Italy where to be short he imprison'd them their Kindred and Favourites rifled them of their Money and sent them to Rome to sing for more He that will read the Story more at large let him repair to Matthew Paris In the Year 1242 1242. the Lord Justice built the Castle of Sligo in Connaught and plac'd in it able Warders and the next Year died Richard de Burgo and the famous Hugh de Lacy Earl of Vlster 1243. whose Daughter and Heir was married to Walter de Burgo in her Right Earl of Vlster The King sent to the Lord Justice for Aid against the Welsh 1244. which it seems was long a coming but at length it did come under the Conduct of the Lord Justice and Phelim O Connor they Landed in the Isle of Anglesey and pillaged the Island and were hastning to the Ships with their Prey but it seems the Welshmen overtook them and forced them to leave their Burdens behind However they afterwards joyn'd the Kings Army and did the Work they came for for the King discomfited the Welsh victualled his Castles and victoriously returned into England The Lord Justice being come back to Ireland 1245. found Vlster over-run by O Donel who took advantage of the Death of Lacy and the absence of the Lord Justice but by the assistance of Cormock mac Dermond ma◠Rory the Lord Justice invaded Tirconnel routed the Irish and slew many of the chief of them on the English side was lost William But by Cambden and others call'd Sheriff of Connaught and his Brother Cambden does also mention several Expeditions but the Issue of them all was this That the Lord Justice Manned his Castle of Sligo forced O Neal to give Hostages and then gave half Tyrconnel to the said Cormock ma◠Dermond and return'd with great Booty But the King was displeased with the Lord Justice for his slowness and delay in bringing Aid to him in Wales and therefore remov'd him from the Government Novemb. 4. 1245. and appointed Sir John Fitz Geofry de Marisco I suppose Lord Justice who receiv'd a Writ that the Executors of the Bishop of Ossory should be suffered to administer and dispose of the Testators Goods and Chattels the Debts due to the King being first Levied thereout and in September 1247. Prin H. 3. 107. the King directed a Writ to the Arch-Bishops and others in Ireland That the Laws of England should be strictly observed there as his Father King John had formerly commanded QVia pro communi utilitate Terrae Hiberniae Prin 254. unitate Terrarum Regis Rex vult de communi Concilio Regis provisum est quod omnes Leges Consuetudines quae in Regno Angliae tenentur in Hibernia teneantur eadem Terra eisdem Legibus subjaceat per easdem regatur sicut Dominus Johannes Rex cum ultimo esset in Hibernia statuit fieri mandavit Quia etiam Rex vult quod omnia Brevia de communi jure quae currunt in Anglia similiter currant in Hibernia sub novo Sigillo Regis Mandatum est Archiepiscopis c. quod pro pace tranquilitate ejusdem Terrae per easdem Leges eosdem regi deduci permittant eas in omnibus sequantur in cujus c. Teste Rege apud Wodestoke nono die Septembris anno Regni 30. Which Writ is imperfectly cited 1 Inst 141 b. Theobald Butler 1247. Lord of Carrick and John Cogan Lords Justices in whose Time the Popes Agent Johannes Refus was sent into Ireland clothed with Authority to collect the Popes Money Hanmer 198. my Author says that though he was not clad in Scarlet for fear of giving Offence yet he was such a Sophistical Legate and plied his business with that diligence that he extorted Six thousand Marks out of Ireland and by help of the Clergy transported it safely to London John Fitz Geofry was again Lord Justice 1248. in his time the King sent the following Writ Lib. P. Lambeth REX Justiciario Hibern Salutem Monstravit nobis Mamorch Offerthierun Rothericus Frater ejus quod antecessores sui ipsi licet Hibernenses semper tamen firmiter fuerunt ad fidem servitium nostram Prin 255. predecessorum nostrum it should be Nostrorum Regum Angl. 1253. ad conquestum una cum Anglicis faciendum super Hibernenses ideo vobis mandamus quod si ita est tunc non permittas ipsos M. R. repelli quin possint terras vindicare in quibus jus habent sicut quilibet Anglicus quia si ipsi antecessores sui sic se habuerunt cum Anglicis quamvis Hibernenses injustum esset licet Hibernenses sint quod exceptione qua repelluntur Hibernenses à vindicatione terrarum aliis repellantur c. By which Writ it appears that the King did design that all the Irish who would live as Subjects should have the benefit of the English Laws but that such of the Irish as were Enemies or Rebels and would not be Amesnable to Law should not have any Advantage by the Law But now the King to qualifie his Son for a Marriage with the Infanta of Spain Davis 22. amongst other things gave the Kingdom of Ireland to Prince Edward and his Heirs Lib. G. Lambeth in as ample manner as himself enjoyed it except the Cities of Dublin and Limrick nevertheless with this express Condition in the Patent 1254. Ita quod non separetur à Corona Angliae Whereupon Ireland was called the Land of the Lord Edward and the Officers there were stiled the Officers of Edward Lord of Ireland and the Writs did also run in the Name of the Prince In the same Year but I suppose before the Donation to the Prince the King sent a Writ to the Nobility of Ireland Prin 255. most earnestly desiring their Assistance with Men and Ships for his Wars in Gascony But the Prince had issued a Writ of Entry out of the Chancery of Ireland against the Bishop of Lismore which was illusory to the Laws of England established by the King and King John and therefore upon Complaint the King sent
them to secure the Peace of the Nation And sent them farther private Instructions by Robert Waspail who carried those Letters to whom he commanded them to give Credit And not long after the Lord Justice was removed and David Barry the worthy Ancestor of the Noble Family of Barrymore was made Lord Justice 1267. he so managed the Giraldines that he took from them the Castle of Sligo and all their Lands in Connaught and thereby put an End to those Wars and Differences that were between them and the Burks And in his Time the Friers Preachers were setled at Ross Kilkenny and Clonmel Sir Robert de Vfford was made Lord Justice of Ireland 1268. and began to build the Castle of Roscomon In his Time Cnoghor O Brian of Thomond was slain i.e. murdered by Dermònd mac Monard and Maurice Fitz-Girald not of Desmond as the Annals say but Son of Maurice Lord Justice anno 1272 was drowned between Ireland and Wales And about this Time came over a Writ from the King to levy Aurum Reginae for Elianor the Prince's Wife as was used in England which you may read at large 4 Inst 357. On which I will make but this one Remark That if the Sovereignty of Ireland were in the Prince how comes the King to send the Writ But it will evidently appear by the following Writ That the Prince had not the Sovereignty of that Kingdom CVm Rex per Cartam suam concessit Edvardo 52 Hen. 3. primogenito suo Terram suam Hiberniae cum pertinentiis Lib. GGG c. habendum sibi haeredibus suis Lambeth ita quod non separetur a Corona Angliae idem Edvardus sine Licentia Regis alienationes quorundam terrarum tenementorum spectantium ad Terram praedictam fecerit contra tenorem feofamenti Regis quod idem rex sustinere voluit ideo nunc dedit potestatem mandatum nepoti suo filio Regis Alemani the Son of Richard Earl of Cornwal King of the Romans revocandi omnia maneria terras tenementa quae dictus Edvardus filius Regis sic alienavit post feofamentum praedict c. Richard de Excester 1269. Lord Justice In whose time Othobon the Pope's Legate made excellent Constitutions at London He made a more firm Peace and Reconciliation between the Burks and Giraldines And not long after died and Sir James Audly 1270. or de Aldethel was made Lord Justice and had a very unfortunate Government of it for the Irish were every where troublesome Fragm M. S. Quasi omnes Hiberni guerraverunt omnes munitiones Fortifications in Ophaly praeter Castrum de Lega Ley destructi sunt Anglici inde expulsi magna strages utriusque nationis facta est in Connacia The Irish burn'd spoil'd destroyed and slew as well Magistrates as others and the King of Connaught in plain Field defeated Walter Burk Hanmer 202. Earl of Vlster and killed a great number of Nobles and Knights and particularly the Lords Richard and John Verdon and a great Famine and Pestilence the natural Consequences of War spread over all Ireland and sorely afflicted the whole Kingdom The Castles of Aldleck Roscomon and Scheligah perhaps Sligo were destroyed Nevertheless the Pope without Regard to these Universal Calamities required the Tiths of all Spiritual Promotions for three Years to maintain his Wars against a Christian King viz. of Arragon and tho' the People murmured and their Poverty and Misery pleaded loudly for them yet the rapacious Nuntio would not go empty away On the 23 of June 1272. the Lord Justice was killed by a fall from his Horse in Thomond and Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald was made Lord Justice 1272. and so continued till the sixteenth Day of November at which time the King died in Peace and full of Days in his Palace at London having reigned longer than any King since the Conquest viz. six and fifty Years c. THE REIGN OF EDWARD I. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND EDWARD the First from the Talness of his Person Nicknamed Long-shanks succeeded his Deceased Father in all his Dominions on the 16th Day of November 1272 but he being at that time absent in the Holy Land the Nobility took care to keep all quiet until his Return and then on the 15th Day of August 1274. he was Crowned by Robert Archbishop of Canterbury Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald continued Lord Justice and to him Ware de pres 34. and to Hugh Bishop of Meath Lord Treasurer and to John de Sandford Escheator was a Writ sent December 7. 1272 Commissioning them to receive the Oaths of Fealty and Allegiance to the new King of all the Nobility Gentry and Commons of Ireland And the Lord Justice had another Writ of the same Date to proclaim the Kings Peace and to preserve it wherein 't is said That the King is willing and able by Gods Help to defend and do Justice to his People great and small And the Government of England being informed Prin. 256. That Avelina Countess of Vlster and Widow of Walter de Burgo had been endowed illegally both as to Quantity and Quality a Writ issued in the Kings Name to the Seneschal of Vlster to rectifie that Matter according to the Law and Usage of England In the mean time the Irish took advantage of the Kings absence from England and thought it an opportune Season to rebel 1273. they destroyed the Castle of Roscomon Aldleek Scheligath and Randon and found means to corrupt some of the Lord Justice Followers whereby he was betrayed into their hands in Ophaly and there taken and imprisoned whereupon Walter Genevil newly returned from the Holy Land was sent over Lord Justice Octob. 1273. to him a Writ was sent not to molest the Archbishop of Cashel for any Debts due from him to the King till his Majesties Return to England The Islanders and Red-shank Scots made a sudden incursion into Ireland and burnt several Towns and Villages killing Man 1274. Woman and Child most inhumanely and got away with vast Booty before the Country could get together or put themselves in a posture to prevent or resist this unexpected Torrent but not long after Richard de Burgo and Sir Eustace le Poer served them in their kind and entred the Islands and burnt their Cabbins and Cottages slew all they met with and smoakt out those that had hid themselves in Caves after the same manner that is used in smoaking a Fox out of his Earth Rosâ—omon-Castle was once again repaired 1275. or rather reedified and Mortagh a strong Tory being taken Prisoner by Sir Walter le Faunt was executed but the Lord Justice being recalled Sir Robert de Vfford was made Lord Justice 1276. in whose time Thomas de Clare Son of the Earl of Glocester came into Ireland and married Juliana Daughter of Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald though some say it was anno 1274. There is little
Lord Justice was not less active in Leinster for he defeated O Morrough at Bally lethan and made a great Slaughter of the Rebels at Tristle Dermond and slew about four hundred of the Irish of Omayle There is a Writ in Mr. Prin's Animadversions on the 4th Institute Prin 261. too long to be here recited whereby it appears That an Englishman was punishable by Death for Killing Burning Theft or Robbery committed against an Englishman but an Irishman was only punishable at the discretion of the Brehon for Theft or Robbery of an Englishman but that in time the chief Governors did commute the punishment of any Felony even Murder of an Englishman for Money and thereby Witnesses were discouraged to testifie the Truth lest the surviving Felon might revenge it Therefore the Writ requires to assemble the Lords and COMMONS to advise c. In the same Writ is mentioned that the Irish petitioned for an Annual Parliament and because it is certain there were not Parliaments every year even in this Kings Reign Prin 263. Mr. Prin conceives that my Lord Cooke mistook that Petition for an Order for an Irish Annual Parliament which he says was at this time made but the Manuscripts M. and GGG at Lambeth 4 Insl 350. do agree with my Lord Cooke that there was such an Order But let us return to Bruce who on Midsummer-Day summoned Carigfergus and though eight Ships were sent thither from Tredagh yet the Garrison were reduced to the extremity of eating Leather and of feeding on eight Scots who were their Prisoners and so were at length forced by Famine to surrender in the latter end of August Nor did better News come from Connaught where O Connor defeated a Party of the English and slew the Lord Stephen of Exester Miles Cogan and eighty of the Barryes and Lawleys But this Misfortune was not long unrevenged Frag. 6. for on the fourth Day of August William de Burgo and Richard de Bremingham encountred Fylemy O Connor King of Connaught and a numerous Army of Irish near Athenry with prodigious Success for they slew the King of Connaught and eight thousand of his Men Aug. 1316. The Valour of Hussy a Butcher of Athenry was very remarkable on this Occasion for he fought with O Kelly and his Squire together and slew them both for which he was knighted and is Ancestor of the reputed Barons of Galtrim They say Athenry was walled with the Plunder of this Battle Cambd. 172. and that the brave Brimingham was made Baron of Athenry for this noble Service and his Heir is now the first Baron in Ireland About the same time viz. in August 1316. O Hanlon came for Contribution to Dundalk but the Townsmen under Robert Verdon who lost his Life in the Service entertained them so valiantly that O Hanlon was forced to leave two hundred of his Followers behind him About the end of August died the Noble Earl of Kildare Ibid. 173. and was succeeded by his Son Thomas On the fourteenth of September Ibid. Burk and Briminghan got another Victory in Conaught and slew five hundred Irish and their Captains Connor and the Mac Kelly and in the latter end of October John Loggan and Hugh Bisset routed the Scots in Vlster and slew one hundred with double Armour and two hundred with single Armour besides many of their naked Followers and sent Prisoners to Dublin Sir Alen Stewart Sir John Sandale Ibid. and other Scotchmen In December the Lacies procured themselves to be Indicted and Acquitted of introducing the Scots into Ireland and then had the King's Charter of Pardon Ibid. whereupon they renewed their Oath of Fealty and took the Sacrament to corroborate the same The Scots being joyned with the Irish of Vlster gathered a numerous Army computed to be near twenty thousand Men and in Lent they marched as far as Slane destroying the Country as they went The Earl of Vlster was then at S. Mary Abbey near Dublin but some Misunderstanding hapning between him and the Citizens 1316. Robert Notingham then Mayor of Dublin caused the Earl to be imprisoned in the Castle of Dublin and in the Fray seven of the Earl's Servants were slain and the Abby was spoiled and some of it burnt Hereupon Bruce marched toward Dublin Febr. 24. and took the Castle of Knock and the Lord Hugh Tyrrel in it who with his Wife were afterwards ransomed for a piece of Mony The Dublinians burnt the Suburbs to secure the City some Churches were destroyed in this Hurry and the Cathedral of S. Patricks did not escape But Bruce understanding the City was well walled and that the Citizens resolved to defend it he turned aside to the Naas being conducted and advised by Lacy notwithstanding his aforesaid Oath At the Naas they staid two Days spoiled the Churches opened the Tombs to search for Treasure and at last burnt the Town and thence marched to Castledermot Gauran and Callan destroying the Country as they went And what better could be expected when the King's Authority was so little regarded in Ireland that his Writ to bail the Earl of Vlster was disobeyed by the Mayor of Dublin Some of the Vlster-Men pretended an Aversion against the Scots Camb. 174. and desired Aid and Commission from the King they had the Commission at last and the King's Standard was delivered to them but they did more harm with it than the Scots had done they so behaved themselves if you believe my Author that they purchased the Curse of God and Man Bruce marched near Limerick to Kenlis in Ossory and about Palmsunday he came to Cashel and thence marched to Nenagh wasting all the Lord Justice's Estate in the Counties of Kilkenny and Typerary In the mean time the English Lords were Assembled at Kilkenny Davis 169. says Desmond was General and had gathered a numerous Army consisting of all sorts of thirty thousand Men and under the Conduct of the Lord Justice and Earl of Kildare designed to pursue the Scots 1317. when on Thursday in Easter-week there arrived at Youghal Roger Mortimer Lord Justice cum triginta octo Militibus who immediately sent word to the English Generals not to fight till he came but Bruce upon notice of his Arrival marcht toward Kildare and so to Naas and tho' he lurkt almost a week in the Woods near Trim to refresh his Men yet afterwards he made such haste that in the beginning of May he got into Vlster The Lord Justice seeing Bruce had retreated suffered his voluntary Army which the Irish call a rising out to return to their own homes the better to refresh themselves till a new Summons and went himself to Dublin and with the Lord Wogan Sir Fulk Warren and thirty Knights more he held a Parliament at Kilmainham where the deliverance of the Earl of Vlster was the chief thing treated of and it was at last effected at a second Meeting of the Parliament about
Elizabeth the Seventh Daughter of K. Edw. the First and was at the Parliament at Northampton Created Earl of Ormond And yet I have seen a Patent Dated 6 Edw. 3. Lib. G. Lambeth and exemplified 38 Edw. 3. Whereby James Butler is Created Earl of Ormond and Ten Pound per annum out of the Fee-Farm of Waterford granted to him for Creation-Money And now the Lord William Burk and Arnold Poer returned into Ireland and a Parliament was call'd at Dublin to compleat the Reconciliation between them on the one side and the Butlers Geraldines and Birminghams on the other which it seems was begun at the aforesaid Parliament at Northampton and now effected at this Parliament in Ireland Whereupon the Earl of Vlster made a great Feast in the Castle of Dublin and the next day after the Lord Maurice Fitz-Thomas did the like at St. Patricks-Church although it was in the time of Lent But a strange Accident fell out at this Parliament for the Lord Justice was forc'd to purge himself of Heresie Camb. 182. which the Bishop of Ossory laid to his Charge because he had abetted one Sir Arnold Poer whom the Bishop had condemned of certain Heretical Opinions But the Lord Justice made appear that the Bishops Proceedings were partial and unjust in favour of a Kinsman of the Bishops who began the Quarrel with Poer and that therefore he the Justice supported the Cause of the Oppressed and so after a very solemn Purgation the Lord Justice was acquitted and declared a true Son of the Church whereupon he made a great Feast for all Comers Nevertheless the unfortunate Poer who had been taken by the Kings Writ De Excommunicato capiendo grounded on the Bishops Certificate died in Prison before this Matter was fully adjusted and his Carcass was a long time kept above ground and unburied because he died unassoiled Sir John Darcy 1329. Lord Justice in whose time Macoghegan of Meath and other Irishmen of Leinster O Bryan of Thomond and his Confederates in Munster broke out into Rebellion and yet this common Calamity could not unite the English although their own Experience had taught them and frequent Instances have convinced the succeeding Ages since that the English never suffered any great Loss or Calamity in Ireland but by Civil Dissentions and Disagreement amongst themselves June 10. 1329. when the Earl of Louth and many other of the Birminghams Talbot of Malahide and an hundred and sixty Englishmen were murdered by the Treachery of their own Countreymen the Savages Davis 135. Gernons c. at Balibragan in Vrgile and when the Barryes and Roches in Munster did as much for James Fitz-Robert Keating the Lord Philip Hodnet Fragm 10. and Hugh Condon with an hundred and forty of their Followers what wonder is it if Macoghegan defeated the Lord Thomas Butler and others August 8. near Molingar to their loss of an hundred and forty of their Men Or if Sir Simon Genevil lost seventy six of his Soldiers in Carbry in the County of Kildare or if Brian O Bryan ravaged over all the Country and burnt the Towns of Athessel and Typerary However Holingsh 70. the Irish grew so Insolent and Outragious upon these small Victories that they shewed but little regard to God or Man In the Church of Freinston they found about fourscore People at their Devotions Cambden ad annum it seems the miserable Wretches well acquainted with the cruelty of these ungovernable Soldiers did not expect to escape their Fury 1331. and therefore made it their only Petition to save the Life of the Priest Lib. P. Lamb. but these Ruffians were deaf to all Supplications for Mercy the Priest was the first Man they wounded and after they had spurned the Host with their Feet they compleated their Sacrilege by burning the Church Priest People and all Nor did they regard the Ecclesiastical Censures nor the Pope's Interdict which afterwards issued against them on the contrary in all their Actions they manifested an entire contempt both of Ethicks and Christianity so that one would think the Poet prophesied of these Men when he said Nulla fides pietasve viris qui castra sequuntur But Pride will have a fall and Providence will certainly triumph over the Wickedness of Men in a proper Season and commonly Methods unexpected whereof this unruly Multitude is one Instance For the Men of Wexford by their imminent Ruine rendred desperat entertain'd a Skirmish with this formidable Rabble Cambd. 185. and had the good Luck to kill four hundred of them and the rest surprized with a pannick Fear on this unexpected Defeat ran away in such a confused and hudling manner that most of them were drowned in the River Slane and have left a just Occasion for this true Remark That huffing and insolent Men are always Cowards and if this be true any where in the World it is true in Ireland Camb. 183. Sir Philip Stanton had the ill Luck to be slain by the Irish and Sir Henry Traherne by the Means of Onolan was surprized in his own House at Kilbeg But in Revenge of it the Earl of Ormond burnt Foghird in Onolan's Country and the Lord Justice prosecuted the O Birnes so effectually that after the Slaughter of some of the best of them they were forced to submit But the Lord Justice finding himself too weak to deal with such a vast number of Rebels as were now in Arms in all parts of the Kingdom he invited Maurice afterwards Earl of Desmond to take the Field and promised him the King's Pay January 1329 Maurice came accordingly with a very considerable Army Fragment 9. and advanced against the Onolans he routed them and burnt their Country so that they were forced to submit and give Hostages He did the like to the O Morroughs and took the Castle of Ley from the O Dempsâ—es But the Lord Justice was not ablâ— to pay so great an Army being near ten thousand Men 〈◊〉 therefore he was fain to connive at their extorting Coyn anâ— Livery which now was first practised by the English But the Irish had used that barbarous Oppression long before and perhaps from the beginning as appears by the fourth Constitution of the Synod of Cashel Ante pag. 23. I have seen the Copy of a Patent Lib. CCC dated March 1. 3. Edw. 3. Lambeth constituting the Earl of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland but I find nothing more of it any where else But the same Year Typerary was made a Palatinate The Irish had again petitioned the King for a general Liberty to use the English Laws Davis 103. whereupon the King sent a Writ to the Lord Justice 22 Aug. to consult the Parliament in Ireland 2 Edw. 3. and to advise him of their Opinions in that Matter And by another Writ of the same Date the King orders the Justice and the Chancellor to supervise the Exchequer twice every
Year And it seems there was also a Parliament at Dublin this Year Prin 266. wherein it was ordained That the King's Peace should be fully kept and that every Nobleman and Chieftain should keep in his own Sept. Retinue and Servants Roger Outlaw Prior of Kilmainham was made Lord Deputy 1330. and kept the Kingdom quiet ' all the Summer and the Winter was so stormy and wet that nothing could be done till January and then the Macoghegans began to be troublesome again in Meath but the Earls of Vlster and Ormond gave them a Defeat near Loghynerthy about Lent whereupon they were so enraged that they burnt fifteen Villages but they paid for it in another Skirmish wherein three Irish Lords Sons and one hundred of their Followers were slain This Year a Parliament was holden at Kilkenny Pryn 267. at which were present Alexander Archbishop of Dublin the Earls of Vlster and Ormond the Lord William Birmingham and the Lord Walter Burk of Connaught and each of these brought a considerable Power with him to pursue O Brian and expel him from Vrkiffe near Cashil It seems this great Army march'd to Limerick and that the Burks did prey some of the Giraldines Lands in their March whereupon such Fewds arose between those Families that the Lord Justice was necessitated to confine the Earl of Vlster and Maurice of Desmond to the Custody of the Marshal at Limerick but Maurice quickly found means to escape and thereupon 't is probable the Earl was also enâ—arged It seems that both of them went to England But what became of this mutinous Army Frag. 9. I find no mention save that an anonymous Author reports Quod nihil perfecerunt But the next Year was more propitious 1331. for on the twenty first of April the English gave the Irish an Overthrow in O Kensâ—le And in May the English at Thurles defeated O Brian and slew many of his Followers And about the same time O Tool came to Tullagh and robbed the Archbishop of Dublin took three hundred of his Sheep and killed some of his Servants Upon notice of it Sir Philip Britt and others sallied out of Dublin but they were too forward and careless so that they fell into an Ambush in Culiagh and were most of them slain whereupon the Irish were elevated to that degree Cambd. 184. that they attacked the Castle of Arklow and took it but the Lord Birmingham with a smart Party undertook them and mortified them to the lowest degree of Submission and might have ruined them if he had not trusted to their false Promises Sir Anthony Luey 3 June 1331. a Man of great Authority in England was sent over Lord Justice he brought with him the Lord Hugh de Lacy who was now pardoned and in some Favour He also brought the King's Letters to the Earl of Vlster and others of the Nobility to give their best assistance to him the Lord Justice The Lord Justice designed by a severe Government to correct and reform the Distempers of those Times but alass it was too great an Undertaking for one Man and required more time than he had to spend in Ireland However his Government was auspicated with a Victory which those of the English Pale on the eleventh of June obtained over the Irish at Finnagh in Meath And though there was a great Dearth and Scarcity still continuing yet it was somewhat moderated by the great Plenty of large Fishes called Thurlehides sent by Providence into the Bay of Dublin in a prodigious number for the relief of the Poor A Parliament was summoned to meet at Dublin at Mid-summer by which it is manifest that they did not hitherto practise the formality of forty Days Summons the Appearance was so thin that the Parliament was adjourned to Kilkenny to the seventh of July And thither came Thomas Earl of Kildare and others that were not at Dublin and were freely pardoned what was past being first sworn on the Holy Evangelists and the Reliques of the Saints to Allegiance and Preservation of the peace for the future But in August the Lord Justice received the bad News That the Irish had taken and burnt the Castle of Ferns Whereupon he grew jealous That some of those English Lords that absented themselves from the Parliament at Kilkenny did underhand abet the Irish or else they durst not so frequently rebel and therefore he resolved to apprehend as many of them as he could get And first Henry Mandevil was by Warrant from the Chief Justice taken in September and Maurice of Desmond being arrested in Limerick in the beginning of October was by warrant from the Lord Justice and Council brought to Dublin Walter Burk and his Brother were seised in November and William and Walter Birmingham were secured in Clonmel in February following and afterwards sent to Dublin It seems there was more than bare Suspicion in this Matter for the Lord William Birmingham who had often done good Service for his King and Country was nevertheless executed the eleventh of July 1332. and his Son Walter had not escaped but that he was in Orders and Maurice of Desmond was likewise kept in Prison a Year and a half and then discharg'd upon very great Bail and sent into England to the King But let us look back to the third of March 1331. at which time the King and Parliament of England made Ordinances and Articles for the Reformation and Tranquility of Ireland and sent them thither in haec verba REX Justic Pryn 267. Canc. Thes suis Hibern salutem Mandamus vobis quod articulos subscriptos quos pro emendatione status Terrae nostrae Hiberniae quiete tranquilitate populi nostri ibidem per advisamentum Concilii nostri in ultimo Parliamento nostro apud Westmon tento ordinavimus in dicta Terra Hiberniae quantum ad vos attinet teneatis observetis per alios fideles nostros dictae Terrae teneri observari faciatis Tenor autem articâ—â—â—orum praedictorum talis est Imprimis Justiciarius qui nunc est vel pro tempore fuerit non concedat Cartas Pardonationis de morte hominis nec roberiis incendiis aliquibus nisi de roberiis incendiis ante festum Paschae anno regni Domini Edwardi Regis Angliae tertii post Conquestum quinto perpetratis Et quod de caetero certificet Regem de nominibus hujusmodi Pardonationes petentium de avisamento suo quod Rex faciat inde voluntatem suam quod nullus in Terra Hiberniae ex nunc faciat tales Pardonationes infra libertatem extra sub gravi forisfactura Domini Regi Item Quod dictus Justic de caetero non concedat tuitionem pacis felonibus ad silvam existentibus Item Quod una eadem lex fiat tam Hibernicis quam Anglicis excepta servitute Betagiorum penes Dominos suos eodem modo quo usitatum est in Anglia de Villanis Item
Quod Justic nec aliquis alius Minister de caetero det alicui custodiam vel maritagium alicujus haeredis ad regem pertinentis nec pardonet debita Regis seu fines amerciamenta vel catalla forisfacta sed quod Justiciarii alii Ministri hujusmodi custodias maritagia vendant aliud comodum Regis inde fac juxta discretiones suas Item Quod Vic. Coronatores de caetero eligantur per Communitates Comit. non alio modo quod catalla forisfacta remaneant in custodia Villar Item Quod Justic seu aliquis alius Minister non recipiet aliquem magnatem in pleg vel manucaptor versus Dominum regem nisi quatenus pro commodo Regis viderint faciendum Item Quod Justic obsides pro conservatione pacis sive liberatos in carceris Domini Regis fac salvo custodire ad sumptus suos proprios quod si ipsi qui posuerunt hujusmodi obsides conditiones conventiones quas fecerunt non observent Justic faciant Judicium de hujusmodi obsidibus Item Quod Justic seu aliquis Magnus Hibern non concedat protectiones alicui contra pacem Regis existent Item Quod nullus Minister Regis de caetero recipiatur in pleg vel manucaptorem versus Dominum Regem Item Quod fines de vaccis de caetero pro redemptione non capiantur sed denarii Item Quod Treuga capta capienda inter Anglicos Hibernicos de caetero observetur quod neutra pars damnum alteri durante hujusmodi Treuga inferat si fecerit pro felone habeatur Item Quod nullus ut lagatus in Gildabili receptetur infra libertates nec e converso inde fiat Ordinatio per Justic alios Ministros Dominos libertatum Item Quod Vic. alii Ministri computent quolibet anno semel ad minus si comode fieri poterit Item Quod Seneschallus alicujus Domini in Hibern non ponatur in aliquo Officio Regis Item Quod Thes vel aliquis alius Minister Regis ubi ipse intendere non potest supervideat quolibet anno castra Regis statum eorundem quod emendare fac defectus eorundem Item Quod vic in Turnis quae faciunt de Brevibus Domini Regis ponant nomina sua ita quod quilibet Vic. de exitibus forisfacturis aliis proficuis quae requiruntur sub nomine Vic. oneretur ad Scac. pro tempore suo proprio Item Quod extranei non assignentur Collectores Custumorum Regis sed Burgenses Villarum ubi tales Custumae colligi debent assignentur ad eas colligendas hoc fiat de potentioribus discretiorbus Item Quod Justic fac inquirere quolibet anno de Ministris Domini Regis eorum factis quod puniat delinquentes pert concilium avisamentum Canc. Thes aliorum de concilio Regis amoveat insufficientes Item Quod nullus manuteneat neo ducat Kernes nec Gentes vocat Idle men nisi in Marchis suis propriis ad custus eorundem nec faciat prizas Item Quod omnes Ministri Regis qui tenentur ad computandum non habent Terras seu Tenementa sufficientia in Hibernia invenient manucaptionem in Hibern ad respondendum Regi de compotis suis ibidem Item Quod habentes Terras Tenementa in Hibernia tam religiosi quam alii praemuniantur quod resideant in iisdem si sint in Marchis vel alibi vel ponent sufficientem Custodiam pro conservatione pacis in iisdem citra Fest S. Petri ad vincula prox futur si non fecerint quod Rex in eorum defectum Terras Tenementa illa in manum suam capiet de sufficiente custodia eorundem ordinabit Item Quod nullus cujuscunque status seu conditionis manuteneaâ— foveat nec defendat Hibernicos seu alium quemcunque contra pacem Domini Regis insurgentem si aliquis sic fecerit inde convictus fuerit pro Felone habebitur c. And at the same time the King sent another Writ Prin 269. commanding them to observe the Law of England in case of wardships without regard to the Custom or Usage of Ireland In July the Irish razed the Castle of Bunratty to the ground but in lieu of that 1332. the English on the 8th of August took the Castle of Arcklow and re-edified it They had also the good fortune to defeat the O Bryans Mac Carthyes and other Irish in Munster and to kill a great many of their Men and they also took the Castle of Coolmore The Irish Hostages that were kept at Limerick and Nenagh made notable Attempts to surprize and seize both those Castles and they pursued the Project so far as to get both of them into their possession but the English were resolved to regain them which they perform'd in a very short time and the Hostages at Limerick were put to death for their Treachery and those at Nenagh were still kept in durance But the O Tools of Leinster made a more successful Attempt on the Town of Newcastle in the County of Wicklow for they not only took it but also burnt it In the mean time Cottons Rec. 9. at the English Parliament holden in September principally for the Affairs of Ireland and the Kings Expedition thither it was fully agreed that the King should pass to Ireland in person Ibid. 10. and that in the mean time a Power should be sent to that Country and Commandment was given that all such as have Lands there should repair thither for defence of that Kingdom and that all such Learned in the Law as shall be sent as Justices or otherwise to serve in Ireland shall have no Excuse and that Search be made amongst all the Kings Records to see what hath been done for the Amendment of the Irish Lib. Z Z. And soon after a Writ was sent to William de Burgo and others to attend the King to consult of his Voyage to Ireland but because the time of year did not serve for the Kings Voyage nothing more was done than that the Lord Justice was recalled in November and in February after came over Sir John Darcy Lord Justice to whom the King gave the Mannors of Louth and Ballyogany which Simon Earl of Eu had forfeited by adhering to the French King Soon after his coming the Birminghams took a Prey of two thousand Cows from the O Connors in the County of Sligo But this small Success was quickly over-ballanced by a great Misfortue 1333. for William Burk Earl of Vlster was on the 6th of June basely murdered by his own perfidious Servants at Carigfergus whereupon his Wife and only Daughter sailed to England the Daughter was afterwards Married to the Duke of Clarence and had one only Daughter who was Wife to Roger Mortimer Earl of March and Lord of Trim And from her the Earldom of Vlster and Lordship of Connaught came by descent to be
Deputy who held that Place and discharg'd it worthily until Sir Thomas Rokeby 1353. Lord Justice returned he brought with him ten men at Arms and twenty Archers which were allowed him by the King over and above the ordinary Retinue of twenty Men. About this time lived Sir Robert Savage a very considerable Gentleman in Vlster who began to fortifie his dwelling House with strong Walls and Bulwarks but his Son derided the Fathers Providence and Caution affirming that a Castle of Bones was better than a Castle of Stones and thereupon the old Gentleman put a stop to his Building It hapned that this brave Man with his Neighbors and Followers were to set out against a numerous Rabble of Irish that had made Incursions into their Territories And he gave Orders to provide plenty of good Cheer against his return but one of the Company reprov'd him for doing so alledging that he could not tell but the Enemy might eat what he should provide to whom the valiant old Gentleman replied That he hoped better from their Courage Camb. 193. but that if it should happen that his very Enemies should come to his House he should be asham'd if they should find it void of good Cheer The Event was suitable to the Bravery of the Undertaking Old Savage had the killing of three thousand of the Irish near Antrim and return'd joyfully home to Supper But let us return to the Lord Justice of whom it is recorded that he us'd to say That he would rather eat his Meat in wooden Dishes and pay Gold and Silver for it than to eat in Golden Dishes and make wooden Payment However on the 20th day of July 1355. he did resign to Maurice Fitz-Girald 1355. Earl of Desmond Lord Justice he obtained so much favour in England Lib. M. that he had this Office granted to him for Life which expired the 25th day of January he was so just a man that he spared not his very Relations when they were criminal And about this time the Barons of the Exchequer were reduced to Three Lib. CCC 10. 29 Ed. 3. and John de Pembrook Chancellor of the Exchequer was made the third Baron Sir Thomas Rokeby 1356. Lord Justice returned again to Ireland and held a Parliament at Kilkenny at which many good Laws were enacted In his time a Memorable Writ was sent to the Lord Justice and Chancellor reciting That whereas the Subject found great difficulty to get Restitution according to Law of such Lands as were at any time seized into the Kings Hands Prin. 286. 29 Ed. 3. And whereas they refused in Parliaments here to take cognizance of erronious Proceedings in the Kings Courts but put the Subject to the trouble and charge of prosecuting a Writ of Error in England the King orders amendment and Reformation in both those Cases And not long after this worthy Lord Justice died at the Castle of Kilkea and was succeeded by Almaricus de Sancto Amando 1337. Lord Justice in whose time a great Controversie happened between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Regulars but at length by the favour of the Pope the Friers got the better of the Bishop To this Lord Justice the King sent a Writ or Commission Prin 294. authorizing him with the Advice of the Chancellor and Treasurer to give a special Pardon to as many English or Irish as he shall think fit for all Crimes except Treason Moreover for the better instruction of the People and because of the Non-residence of their Pastors Ibid. the King by his Sovereign Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Authoriz'd and Licenc'd the Archbishop of Dublin to constitute perpetual Vicars in all Benefices and Prebendaries belonging to his Archbishoprick and of the Kings Patronage with certain proportions of greater and lesser Tithes and other Profits to those who should reside upon them But which was more than all this the King by advice of his Council made most excellent Ordinances in England for the better Government of the Church and State of Ireland and the maintenance of the good Laws and Statutes of England there established they are to be found at large in Prins Animadversions on the 4th Instit pag. 287. and therefore are omitted here being very long though also very good only this must be observed that the Clause formerly quoted ad annum 1344 out of the 4th Instit is by my Lord Cooke mistaken both as to Time and Form as to the Time it was not 17 Edw. 3. as he says but it was 31 Edw. 3. And as to the Form it is thus VOlumus praecipimus quod Nostra ipsius terrae Negotiâ—a praesertim majora ardua in Conciliis per peritos Conciliarios nostros ac Praelatos Magnates quosdam de discretioribus probioribus hominibus de partibus vicinis ubi ipsa Concilia teneri contigerit propter hoc evocandos In Parliamentis vero per ipsos Conciliarios nostros ac Praelatos Proceres aliosque de Terra praedict prout Mos exigit secundum Justitiam Legem Consuetudinem Rationem tractentur c. But to return James 1359. Earl of Ormond Lord Justice was commonly stiled The Noble Earl because he was of the Royal Blood being great Grand-son to King Edward the first In his time 34 Edw. 3. the King ordered Proclamation to be made in Ireland That no Meer Irishman should be Mayor Bayliff or Officer of any Town within the English Dominion i.e. the Pale nor be advanced to any Ecclesiasâ—â—cal Benefice or Promotion 35 Edw. 3. but the next Year the King by his Writ explains the former Proclamation Pryn 296. and orders that it shall not extend to any Irish Clerks who have done him Service or are Loyal to him But it seems that the Lord Justice was sent for into England and until his Return Maurice Fitz-Girald March 30. Earl of Kildare was constituted Lord Justice 1360. by Patent under the Great Seal of Ireland he was to have the usual Sallary of five hundred pound per annum maintaining thereout Ninteen Horsemen besides himself but he did not continue long in this Station before James Earl of Ormond March 15. Lord Justice return'd and the King intending to send his Son to Ireland 1357. with a good Force summoned the Duchess of Norfolk and all other Noble and Gentle Men and Women that held Lands in Ireland to appear in Person or by Proxy 4 Instit. Pryn 296. before him and his Council to advise concerning the Defence of Ireland and to repair to that Kingdom in Person with all the Forces they could raise by a certain Day or to send their sufficient Deputies to assist the Kings Son in Defence of the Country And the same Day issued a Writ or Proclamation prohibiting the transporting of any Corn or Victuals out of Ireland on pain of Forfeiture and another Proclamation or Writ to seize all the Lands or Tenements purchased
Pound six Shillings and eight Pence per annum Lib. G. and obtained an Order from the King and Council That all those who had Lands in Ireland should repair thither or send sufficient Men in their Room to defend the Country on Pain of forfeiting their Estates Nevertheless this Lord Justice was so far from subduing the Irish that he confessed he could never get access to know their Countries or Habitations and yet he had spent more time in the Service of Ireland than any Englishman then living So finding he could do no good he resigned to James Earl of Ormond July 24. 1376 Lord Justice In whose time the Counties Cities and Burroughs of Ireland sent Commissioners to the King to Treat and Advise about the Affairs of that Kingdom and not to the English Parliament as some have mistaken it Pryn. 305. And the King did Issue a Writ to the Lord Justice and the Chancellor requiring them to levy the reasonable Expences of these Commissioners from the respective Places that chose them by Writ under the great Seal of Ireland And accordingly John Draper who served for Cork had a particular Mandate to the Mayor and Bayliffs of that City to pay him his reasonable Expences as aforesaid It will not be unuseful to recite this Lord Justice his Commission because the Reader will thereby perceive what Authority he had and will also note the Difference between this brief Commission and the prolix Forms that are now used REX omnibus ad quos Ibid. c. Salutem Sciatis quod commisimus dilecto consanguineo nostro Jacobo le Bottiler Comiti de Ormond officium Justic nostr Hibern Terram nostram Hibern cum Castris aliis pertinentiis suis custodiend quamdiu nobis placuerit percipiend per ann ad Scac. nostrum Hibern quamdiu in Officio illo sic steterit quingent libras pro quibus Officium illud terram custodiet erit se vicessimus de hominibus ad arma cum tot equis coopertis continue durante commissione supradicta c. But by a subsequent Patent the sixth of August he had Power to Pardon all Offences generally or to particular Persons and by consent of the Council to remove or displace any Officer those made by Patent under the great Seal only excepted Ibid. 307. And by another Writ of the same date the former Commission was explained not to extend to the Pardon of any Prelate or Earl for any Offence punishable by loss of Life Member Lands or Goods And the same time Alexander Bishop of Ossory was made Treasurer of Ireland and a Guard of six Men at Arms and twelve Archers at the King's Pay allowed him I have seen a Copy of a Commission to Maurice Fitz-Thomas Lib. G. 13. Earl of Kildare to govern Ireland till Sir William Windsor's return it bore date the sixteenth of February 50 Edw. 3. and Stephen Bishop of Meath was appointed to oversee Munster but because I find no other mention of his being in the Government about this time I have therefore omitted to name him as Lord Justice And so we are come to the twenty first Day of June 1377. 1377. on which Day this victorious King died at Shene in Surry in the sixty fourth Year of his Age and of his Reign the one and fiftieth Lib. M. His Revenue in Ireland did not exceed ten thousand Pound per annum though the Medium be taken from the best seven Years of his Reign THE REIGN OF RICARD II. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND RICHARD the Second only Son of Edward commonly called the Black Prince Eldest Son of King Edward the Third was by his Grandfather declared to be his Heir and lawful Successor and accordingly succeeded him in the Throne on the 21st of June and was Crowned at Westminster the 16th of July following 1377. His tender Age being but eleven years old required a Protector and because it seemed dangerous to commit that great Authority and Power to a single Person it was given to the Kings Unkles the Duke of Lancaster and the Earl of Cambridge and others who thought fit to continue in the Government of Ireland James Earl of Ormond Lord Justice he kept the Kingdom in as good order as those dangerous and troublesom Times would admit of Baker 141. for both the French and the Scots took advantage of the Kings Infancy to disquiet his Dominions but especially the Realm of England This Lord Justice according to the Usage in those days held Pleas of the Crown Lib. G. Lambeth and Gaol-delivery at the Naas on Monday after Valentines Day 1378. and not long after surrendred to Alexander Balscot Bishop of Ossory Lord Justice who continued in the Government until November following Lib. G. and then gave place to John de Bromwick 1379. Lord Justice in whose time Beauchamp Earl of Warwick was by the Parliament of England made sole Protector of the King and Kingdom And then was made that first Act or Ordinance against Absentees Lib. M. Lambeth 138. by the Assent and Advice of the Lords and Nobles of England Davis 38. 199 being in Parliament Whereby it is Ordained That all that have Lands 4th Instit. 356 360. Rents or Offices in Ireland shall return thither but if they have reasonable cause to absent that then they shall send sufficient Deputies to defend their Castles and Estates or contribute two Thirds of the yearly value towards the defence thereof but that Students and those in the Kings Service and those absent for reasonable Cause by Licence under the Great Seal of England shall be excused for one Third of the yearly Profit of their Estates This Act was confirmed afterwards Lib. F. 19 Edw. 4. and by vertue hereof the Mannor of Ballymaclo in Meath was seiz'd into the Kings Hands for the absence of William de Carew but was the next year restor'd to him on his Petition Prin 308. Septemb. 27. 1380. And it is to be remembred That this Act was occasioned by a Petition from Ireland and that it is mentioned in the Body of the Act that the Loss of Ireland would be a Disinherison to the King and his Crown of England Ibid. At the same Parliament at Westminster there was another Irish Petition for Mine and Coigne which I take to be a Liberty to dig Mines and a Mint to coyn Money For the Kings Answer is That for six years to come every one may dig in his own Grounds for any Mineral whatsoever even Gold and Silver paying the Ninth part thereof to the King and sending the rest to the Kings Mint at Divelin for the Coynage of which they shall pay the usual Rates but must transport none to any place except England on pain of forseiting it if it be seized or the Value if he be convict of it unless the Party had special Licence under the Great Seal of
twenty pence or two shillings from every one that passed the Seas On the twenty fifth Day of March the King knighted four Irish Kings 1395. Selden tit hon 842. and some other great Lords whereof Mr Selden out of Froisart gives the following Account Four Kings of several Provinces in Ireland that submitted themselves to Richard II were put under the Care of Henry Castile an English Gentleman who spake Irish well in order to prepare them for Knighthood by the Kings Command he informed them of the English Manners in Diet Apparel and the like He asked them If they were willing to take the Order which the King of England would give them according to the Customs of England France and other Countries They answered They were Knights already and that the Order they had taken was enough for them and that they were made Knights in Ireland when they were seven Years Old and that every King makes his Son Knight and if the Father be dead the next of Kin does it and that the manner is thus The new Knight at his making runs with slender Lances against a Shield set upon a Stake in a Meadow and the more Lances he thus breaks the more Honour continues with his Dignity But Mr. Castile told them They should receive a Knighthood with more State in the Church and afterwards being perswaded and instructed especially by the Earl of Ormond they did receive Knighthood at Christ-Church Dublin after their Vigils performed in the same Church and a Mass heard and some others were knighted with them but the four Kings in Robes agreeable to their State sate that Day with King Richard at the Table And so Davit 202. when the King had supplied the Courts of Justice with able Men particularly with Sir William Hankford Chief Justice who was afterwards Chief Justice of England and done his Endeavor to establish a Civil Plantation in the Mountains of Wicklow he returned to England about Midsummer 1394. as I suppose for on the fourth of July 1394 Roger Mortimer Earl of March was sworn Lord Lieutenant Pryn. 294. And not long after the aforesaid excellent Ordinances of 31 Edw. 3. were ratified revived and exemplified and sent into Ireland to be more duly observed than hitherto they had been But the Scene was changed and the Irish despising the weak Forces the King had left behind him began to lay aside their Mask of Humility and to make Incursions into the Borders of the Pale Nevertheless the English were not daunted their Valour supplyed what was wanting in their Number Cambd. particularly Sir Thomas de Burgh and Walter de Birmingham with their Forces slew six hundred of the Irish and their Captain Mac Con and the Lord Lieutenant and the Earl of Ormond wasted the County of Wicklow and took O Birnes House whereupon the Lord Lieutenant made seven Knights But this Victory was much overballanced by the Loss of forty principal Englishmen slain by the O Tools on Ascension-day and not long after by the Death of the Lord Lieutenant himself who was slain at Kenlis in Ossory by the O Birnes on the twentieth of July 1398. And thereupon Roger Gray was chosen Lord Justice 1398. pro tempore until the King sent over his half Brother Thomas Holland Duke of Surry Lord Lieutenant 1398. who landed at Dublin the seventh of October 1398. but did not long continue in that Office before the King pretending a Resolution to revenge the Death of his Cousin and Heir the Earl of March who was slain by the Irish as aforesaid He left the Government of England in the Hands of his Vnkle the Duke of York And on the first Day of June Richard 1399. King of England landed at Waterford with a good Army which he marched to Dublin through the wast Countries of Murroughs Kinshelaghs Cavenaghs Birns and Tooles but the Army was much distressed for want of Victuals and Carriages in those Deserts so that he performed no memorable Exploit save that he cut and cleared the Paces in the Cavenaghs Country and knighted Henry the Duke of Lancaster's Son afterwards Henry V for his briskness against the Irish On the sixth of June being the Friday after the King's arrival Jenico de Artois his faithful Gascoign slew two hundred Irish at Ford in Kenlis in the County of Kildare And the next Day the Citizens of Dublin made Incursions into Wicklow and killed thirty three Irishmen and took eighty Prisoners And on the twenty sixth of June the King came to Dublin and received the Submission of many Irish Lords But whilst he was consulting how to proceed he received the unwelcome News of the Duke of Lancaster's Progress in England whereupon he imprisoned his and the Duke of Glocester's Sons in the Castle of Trym and though he sent the Earl of Salisbury before him to gather an Army in Wales yet the King followed after so slowly that the Army was disperst before he arrived in England with which Misfortune his Courage fell so that on Michaelmass day he tamely surrendred the Crown and gave a just occasion for this true Remark Baker 152. That never any Man who had used a Kingdom with such Violence gave it over with such Patience He was afterwards deposed by Parliament and several Articles exhibited against him one of which was That he forced divers Religious Persons in England to give Horses Arms and Carts towards the Irish Expedition And another was That he carryed into Ireland the Treasure Reliques and other Jewels of the Crown which were used to be kept in the King's Coffers from all Hazard The King created Edward Plantagenet Earl of Cork in the twentieth Year of his Reign And the same Year gave a Licence under the Privy Seal to William Lord Courcy to buy a Ship to pass and repass to and from England And in this Reign happened this famous Case One Thomas a Clerk in England obtained a Judgment at Westminster against Robert Wickford afterwards Archbishop of Dublin and upon Affidavit That the Defendant lived in Ireland and had Goods and Lands there and the Sheriffs Return That he had no Lands nor Goods in England the Plaintiff had a Writ against the said Archbishop in haec verba IDeo vobis mandamus quod de terris catallis ejusdem Roberti Lib. M. jam Archiepiscopi in Terra nostra Hiberniae fieri facias praedict decem libras illas habeatis coram c. This Archbishop died anno 1390 so that this Writ must issue before that time THE REIGN OF HENRY IV. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND HENRY Duke of Lancaster eldest Son of the famous John of Gaunt fourth Son of King Edward the Third upon the Resignation of King Richard procured him to be deposed in Parliament and himself to be elected King and the Crown to be entailed on him and the Heirs of his Body His Claim was as Heir to Henry III but finding that
Pretence was Ridiculous because there were others of the same Lineage before him in the Pedigree and it was notorious That the Right of Succession was in Ann Daughter of Roger Mortimer Earl of March Son of Philippa Daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence third Son of King Edward III. and accordingly her Grand-son afterwards possest the Kingdoms by the Name of Edward IV. And also finding that it was more vain to claim by Conquest when there was no fighting he was at last forced to rely on the Consent and Election of the People which was the Title his Embassadors insisted upon in the Courts of Foreign Princes Thus was the Foundation laid of those tedious and bloody Wars that afterwards ensued between the Houses of York and Lancaster commonly distinguished by the Appellations of the Red-Rose and the White that being the cognizance of the House of Lancaster and this the Badge of the Family of York This King was crowned on the thirteenth Day of October anno Dom. 1399. 1399. and Ireland was committed to the Care of Sir John Stanly 1399. Lord Lieutenant who came over thither Cotton's Records 390. on the tenth Day of December In his time the King obtained a Subsidy in England for three Years to provide for the Affairs of Ireland c. And about Whitsontide the Constable of Dublin-Castle and others near Strangford in Vlster encountred the Scots at Sea 1400. but with very ill Success for many Englishmen were there slain and drowned About this time the Town of Kilkenny was walled by Robert Talbot 1401. And about May the Lord Lieutenant repaired to England leaving his Brother Sir William Stanly Lord Deputy who on the twenty third Day of August surrendred unto Stephen Scroop Lord Deputy to the King's Son Thomas Duke of Lancaster who it seems came over only to provide and prepare for the Reception of Thomas Duke of Lancaster Seneschal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland who landed on S. Bines-Day And on the fifth of July John Drake Mayor of Dublin with a Band of Citizens encountred and defeated four thousand Irish Outlaws near Bray in the Borders of Wicklow and slew four hundred ninety three of their best Men. This Lord Lieutenant held a Parliament in Dublin 1402. in September during which Sir Bartholomew Verdon James White Christopher White and Stephen Gernon slew John Dowdal Sheriff of Louth in Vrgile and committed sundry other Felonies and Robberies for which they were Outlawed and their Estates disposed of by Custodiam Cotton's Records 431. but afterwards the King pardoned them their Lives and restored them their Estates during their respective Lives only In October Daniel O Birne Lib. D. for him and his Sept or Nation submitted to the Lord Lieutenant and promised Allegiance and good Behaviour and to manifest his Sincerity he granted to the King the Castle of Mackenigan with the Apurtenances And on the thirteenth of December the Lord Lieutenant by Indenture set the Ferny in the County of Louth except the King's Castle to Aghy mac Mahon for Life Davis 48 at the Rent of ten Pound per Annum and Mac Mahon covenanted to be a good Subject And in February following O Reyly covenanted with the Lord Lieutenant and also swore to perform to the King during the minority of Mortimer all the Covenants he was obliged to perform to Roger Mortimer Earl of March and Vlster In May Sir Walter Betterly Steward of Vlster 1403. and thirty English were all slain And on the eleventh of November following the Duke returned to England and left Sir Stephen Scroop Lord Deputy 1404. who on the twenty sixth Day of October resigned to James Earl of Ormond 1405. Lord Justice who in April 1405 held a Parliament at Dublin and there the Statutes of Dublin and Kilkenny were confirmed as also the Charter of Ireland And this good Act was followed by good Success for in May two Scotch Barks were taken near Greencastle and another near Dalkye with their Captain Macgolagh Moreover the Merchants of Droghedae made Incursion into Scotland and brought thence both Pledges and Preys And the Dublinians also entred Scotland at S. Ninian and behaved themselves valiantly They also did the Welsh much harm and brought from thence the Shrine of S. Cubins which they placed in Christ-Church Dublin However the Irish burnt Oghgard and on the sixth of September the Lord Justice died at Gauran and was succeeded by Girald Earl of Kildare 1406. who probably was chosen Lord Justice by the Council In his time the Dublinians and their Neighbours on Corpus Christi-Day vanquished the Irish Enemies and took three Ensigns and brought to Dublin the Heads of those they had slain And the Prior of Conal had as good Success in the Plains of Kildare for with twenty Englishmen he defeated two hundred Irish and killed many of them But after Michaelmas came over Sir Stephen Scroop Lord Deputy He held a Parliament at Dublin in January which in the Lent after ended at Trim And about the latter end of February Meyler Birmingham slew Cathol O Connor About May the Lord Deputy 1407. accompanied with the Earls of Ormond and Desmond the Prior of Kilmainham and other Captains and Gentlemen of Meath set out from Dublin and invaded the Territory of Mac Morough at first the Irish had the better but at length the Constancy and Resolution of the English prevailed and O Nolan and his Son and others were taken Prisoners and after this was done they marched speedily to Calan in the County of Kikenny upon some Intelligence they had of the Rebels being thereabout and they so surprized them that the whole Party was routed and O Carol and eight hundred Men slain upon the Place But in June the Lord Deputy went to England and the Nobility and Council elected James Earl of Ormond Lord Justice In whose time a barbarous Tory called Mac Gilmore who is reported to have destroyed forty Churches and was never Christened had taken Prisoner Patrick Savage a Gentleman of great Esteem in Vlster they agreed upon his Ransome to be two thousand Marks and his Brother Richard was to become Hostage for it But this Subtle Barbarian managed the matter so that he received the Ransome according to Agreement and afterwards he murdered both the Brethren This Lord Justice held a Parliament at Dublin 1408. which confirmed the Statutes of Dublin and Kilkenny and also the Statute against Purveyors And on the second of August Thomas Duke of Lancaster came over Lord Lieutenant It seems that the Terms on which he undertook the Government were these First Lib. G. He was to hold the Place for seven Years Secondly He was to have five hundred Men at Arms and one thousand Archers for three Years Thirdly To have a Years Pay in Hand and afterwards to be paid every half Year Fourthly One thousand Marks per annum for himself and to be paid the Charge of Transportation
to and from England Fifthly That a certain Fund be appointed for their Pay Sixthly That at the King's Charge he might have a Family or two out of every Parish in England to inhabit Ireland Seventhly To have Power of granting Benefices and of making a Deputy And Lastly That the Demesnes of the Crown may be resumed and the Acts of Absentees may be executed The Lord Lieutenant within a Week after he came to Dublin caused the Earl of Kildare and three of his Family to be arrested and suffered the Earls Goods to be rifled and spoiled by the Duke's Servants and kept the Earl himself in Prison in Dublin Castle until he paid three hundred Marks It is recorded that the Lord Lieutenant was desperately wounded in an Encounter at Kilmainham and hardly escaped with Life but it is not mentioned how nor by whom but it seems he design'd to revenge it and to make a general Hosting for he made Proclamation that all such as ought by their Tenures to serve the King should assemble together at Ross He also held a Parliament at Kilkenny for a Tallage to be granted but what Success he had in these Assemblies is not so manifest as it is that he went to England on the 13th of March leaving Thomas Butler 1409. Prior of Kilmainham his Deputy in whose time the King gave the Sword to the City of Dublin and changed their PROVOST into a MAYOR and not long after the Barbarous Mac Gilmore being routed and pursued by the Savages fled to the Church of the Friers Minors at Carigfergus which he had formerly defaced but they got into the Windows whence this Tory had formerly taken the Iron Bars and there they put an end to his Villany and his Life In Vlster Jenico de Artois the famous Gascoigne behaved himself briskly and slew eighty of the Rebels in a Skirmish he had with them But on the twenty first of May or rather the thirteenth of June the Parliament began at Dublin 1410. and made it Treason to take Coyn and Livery Lib. D. and on the tenth of July the Lord Justice took the Castles of Mibraclide in Offerol and De-la-mare It seems he proceeded to invade O Birns Country with fifteen hundred Kerns or Irish Souldiers and the Consequence was that they betrayed him and half of them went over to the Enemy so that it had gone hard with the Lord Justice if the Power of Dublin had not been there and yet he escaped not without loss for John Derpatrick was there slain The next Year was probably more quiet 1411. for there is nothing recorded of it except some considerable Marriages amongst the Grandees On the tenth of April 1412. O Connor did much Mischief in Meath and took an hundred and forty English and O Tool and Thomas Fitz-Maurice Sheriss of Limerick kill'd each other in a Duel About this time the King granted the Town and Ferry of Inishonan Lib. G. to Philip de Barry and it is to be noted that almost in every Parliament holden in England during this Reign the danger of Ireland is remembred although very little was done for it because of the frequent Troubles in England and so we come to the 20th day of March on which the King died at the Abbot of Westminster's House in the fourteenâ—h Year of his Reign and of his Age the forty seventh He died so very poor that his Executors refused to administer and therefore the Archbishop of Canterbury who is Ordinary to the Court where-ever it is exposed the Kings Goods to Sale and King Henry the Fifth bought them for the value to be paid the Executors to be disposed of according to his Fathers Will Rolls Abr. 906. but it seems he never paid the Money for it was afterwards ordained in Parliament 4 Inst 335 that the Executors should not be sued by the Creditors The Bishop of Meath is said to have been Lord Justice about the Year 1402. But because I do find him omitted by others and do not find that he did any thing worth mention I have therefore not inserted him as Lord Justice in Order THE REIGN OF HENRY V. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND HENRY the Fifth succeeded his Father without any opposition and all the Nobility taking it then for a Law that the Crown belonged to the Heir of him that died last seized swore Homage and Allegiance to him before Coronation 1412. which was not usual in those days but this Magnanimous Prince was so taken up with Designs against France that Ireland was but little regarded in his Reign For the present He continued in the Government Thomas 1413. Prior of Kilmainham who did not long remain therein before he surrendred unto Sir John Stanly Lord Lieutenant he Landed at Clantarf the 7th of October and on the 6th of January after died at Ardee whereupon on the 11th of February the Nobility elected Thomas Crawly Lord Justice He was twice Chancellor and then Archbishop of Dublin and was a Man of fingular Piety and Learning and it is to be noted That the Parliament sate at Dublin the 26th of February so that it could not have above fifteen days of Summons though the Day of the Lord Justice his Admittance to the Government and the Day of the Session be included the Irish burnt the Pale during this Parliament as they used to do and therefore a Tax or Tallage was demanded but not granted and so that Parliament was dissolved after it had sate fifteen Days However 1414. the valiant Jenico de Artois invaded the Territory of Macgenis but was so unfortunate to lose many of his Men at Inor whereupon the Irish grew so insolent that the Lord Justice was necessitated to go out in person However he went no farther than Castledermond and there entrusting the Army with the Military men he remained with his Clergy in Procession and at Prayers for the Success of his small Army and the Event answered his expectation for the English slew an hundred of the Irish near Kilkea but that small Victory was soon over-ballanced by a Defeat which the English of Meath received from O Connor on the 10th of May to the Loss of Tho. Maureverar Baron of Shrine and many others and to the imprisonment of Christopher Fleming and John Dardis This Loss discovered the necessity of sending a Martial Man to the Government of Ireland and therefore on the 10th day of September Sir John Talbot Lord Furnival Lord Lieutenant Landed at Dalkye and immediately made a Circular Progress round the Pale in warlike manner He began with the Birns Tools and Cavenaghs on the South and so passing to the O Moors O Connors and O Ferrals in the West and ending with the O Relyes Mac Mahons O Neals and O Hanlons in the North he brought them all to the Kings Peace but he brought no Forces with him out of England and therefore though he had Strength enough to
make them seek Peace yet he was in no wise able to reduce them to the Obedience of Subjects or enlarge the Limits of the Pale however what he did was held so considerable that the Lords and Gentlemen of the Pale made Certificate of this great Service in French to the King Nevertheless the Army was so ill paid in this March that the Subject suffered more from the Cess of the Souldier than they gained by this small and temporary mortification of the Irish and this was the common Calamity from hence forward so that Necessity revived Coyn and Livery again by degrees notwithstanding that it remained Treason by Act of Parliament In August the Parliament met at Dublin 1415. and sate six weeks during which time the Irish followed their usual Course of falling upon the English and killed Thomas Ballymore of Ballyquelan and many others and on the 22th day of October the King obtained a most glorious and entire Victory over the French at the Battel of Agincourt But the Parliament was adjourned to Trym 1416. and there it sate on the 11th of May and continued seven days and gave the King a Subsidy of four hundred Marks in Money and the next year the Prior of Kilmainham with sixteen hundred Irish went to aid the King in France 1417. they Landed at Harslew in Normandy and did the King very good Service But I should have remembred That the King and Parliament at Westminster anno 1413. did Enact That for the Peace and Quietness of England and for the encrease and enstoring of Ireland That all Irishmen Irish Clerks Beggars and Chamberdekins be voided out of England before All-Saints next Lib. M. except Graduates in Schools Sergeants and Apprentices at Law and such as be Inheritors in England and Religious Persons professed and Merchants of good Name and Apprentices now dwelling in England and those whom the King will dispense with and that all Irishmen who have Offices or Benefices in Ireland shall dwell in Ireland for the defence of the Land And now 4 Hen. 5. Lib. M. It was likewise Enacted in England that all Archbishops Bishops Abbots and Priors of the Irish Nation Rebels to the King that shall make any Collation or Presentment to Benefices in Ireland or bring with them any Irish Rebels among the Englishmen to the Parliament Councils or other Assemblies within the same Land to know the Privities or States of the Englishmen their Temporalities shall be seized till they fine to the King and that the Governors of Ireland be defended and restrained to grant such Benefices or Pardons in the case to Irish Persons not English and that such Licenses shall be void There is very little recorded of the Year 1418 1418. and it is scarce worth mentioning That the Lord Lieutenant did spoil the Tenants of Henry Crus and Henry Bethel probably for some Misdemeanor by them committed against the Government But the Year 1419. 1419. will afford us more Matter for on the last Day of May the Lord Lieutenant accompanied by the Archbishop and Mayor of Dublin razed the Castle of Kenun having a little before in the same Month taken Prisoner Mac Morough the chief Captain of his Nation and on the 20th of June the Lord William de Burgh took O Kelly and slow five hundred Irish in Connaught but the Lord Lieutenant was sent for to England and substituted his Brother Richard Talbot Archbishop of Dublin Lord Justice or Deputy He held a Royal Council i. e. a Parliament at the Naas which gave a Subsidy of three hundred Marks On Maundy-Thursday O Tool took four hundred Kine from Ballymore and so broke the Peace contrary to his Oath but it fared worse with the Irish at Rodiston where thirty of them were slain by the English under the Command of the Lord Justice but on the 4th day of April Landed at Waterford James 1420. Earl of Ormond Lord Lieutenant His Commission is very large and beareth Date the 10th of Febr. 7 Hen. 5. and is to be seen Pryn 412. He held a Council at Dublin the 23th of April and summoned a Parliament to meet the 7th of June which did accordingly then meet and sate sixteen days and gave the King a Subsidy of seven hundred Marks and adjourned to Monday after S. Andrews Day and at that Session they gave another Subsidy of three hundred Marks and the publick Debts contracted by the Lord Talbot were paid and then they were Adjourned to the Monday after S. Ambrose's Day But it will be convenient to shew the Reader who paid these Subsidies and what their respective Proportions were and thereby he will perceive the vast Alteration for the better that is made in the State of Ireland since those Days This Subsidy was called Tertium Subsidium and was applotted thus Lib. CCC Â Lib. s. d. The Clergy of the County of Wexford 13 06 08 The Commons of Kildare 34 10 05 The Clergy of Kildare 04 02 10 Commons of Typerary 08 11 04 Clergy of Cashel 00 19 04 Commons of Limerick 02 03 00 Clergy of Limerick 00 08 01 Kingsale 01 16 08 Â Mar. s. d. Meath Liberty 83 00 00 Clergy of Meath 40 00 00 Clergy of Dublin 11 11 08 Drogehda 04 03 00 Commons of Carlow 04 01 04 Clergy of Ossory 02 00 11 Commons of Kilkenny 18 05 11 Commons of Louth 25 12 05 Clergy of Ardes 08 08 09 Commons of Dublin 40 10 00 City of Dublin 06 10 00 Clergy Cathedral of Dublin 11 11 08 Cork 02 02 00 On the 28th of October Thomas Fitz-Girald took Colmolin Castle and the Parliament met again according to Adjournment on Monday after S. Ambrose's Day and ordered that the Archbishop of Armagh Sir Christopher Preston and others should go Commissioners to the King to desire a Reformation of the State of the Land At this Parliament John Gese Bishop of Lismore and Waterford accused Richard O Hedian Archbishop of Cashel of Thirty Articles the Principal of which were First Ware de Praesul 170. That he loved none of the English Nation nor gave any Benefice to any Englishman and that he counselled other Bishops to do the like Secondly That he had counterfeited the Great Seal Thirdly That he designed to make himself King of Munster Fourthly That he had taken a Ring from the Image of S. Patrick which the Earl of Desmond had offered and gave it to his Concubine c. There was also a Contest between Adam Pory Bishop of Cloyne and another Bishop but it is probable that the former Accusation was suppressed because we find no farther Proceedings upon them and because the Archbishop seems to have been a more generous sort of Man for he not only repaired the Cathedral of Cashel and a Mansion-House or two for his Successors but also was otherwise a great Benefactor to that See and liberal to Pious Uses and the later Contest was transmitted to Rome But we should return
discourage the Transportation of Bullion the King shall have twelve Pence Custome out of every Ounce Upon his Return to England the Lord Lieutenant accused the Earl of Ormond of Treason Burlace 78. before the Duke of Bedford Constable of England in the Marshal's Couâ—t but the King abolished the Accusation Richard Talbot 1447. Archbishop of Dublin Lord Deputy he wrote a Tract de Abusu Regiminis Jacobi Comitis Ormondiae dum Hiberniae esset locum tenens Caâ—ton chron And it seems Thomas Fitz-Thomas Prior of Kilmainham was on the Archbishops side for he accused the Earl of Ormond of Treason and the Combat was appointed between them at Smithfield in London but the King did interpose and prevent it Hitherto the English had made but a bordering War in Ireland and that it self but very unluckily and the small Army that was kept on foot was ill paid and therefore more hurtful to the Subject by their Oppression than to the Enemy by their Valour so that it was necessary to send some great Man thither and no Body so fit for it as Richard Duke of York Earl of Vlster March Rutland and Cork Lord of Conagh Clare Trim and Meath for besides his Quality and Valour he had a great Estate in that Kingdom and it answered another Design of the Cardinal of Winchester who did then in effect govern England which was to remove this Duke from the Regency of France to make room for the Duke of Somerset and so he was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1449. and landed at Hoath the fifth of July 1449. But the Duke of York who fathomed their Designs and had other Intrigues of his own would not accept of the Government of Ireland Davis 51. but upon very advantagious Conditions which were reduced to Writing by Indenture betwixt the King and him and are recorded by Act of Parliament in Ireland and were to this effect I. That he should be the King's Lieutenant in Ireland for ten Years II. That to support the Charge of that Country he should receive the whole Revenue certain and casual without Account III. That he should be supplied with Treasure out of England in this manner viz. four thousand Marks the first year whereof he should be imprested two thousand Pounds before-hand and for the other nine years he should receive two thousand Pounds per annum IV. That he might let the Kings Lands to Farm and place and displace all Officers at his Pleasure V. That he might Levy and Wage what Number of Souldiers he thought fit VI. That he might make a Deputy and return at his Pleasure I do not find that this Lord brought over any considerable Forces with him or that he was able to keep any such on foot here not only because his Allowance was but small but also because that small Allowance was ill paid as appears by his passionate Letter to his Brother-in Law the Earl of Salisbury which is to be found Registred by Mr. Campion pag. 99. At his first coming 1450. the Irish were very insolent but he won upon them strangely Lib. M. partly by force and partly by their own Art of Wheedling He held a Parliament at Dublin in October Friday before S. Lukes Day and the Bishops of Leighlin Ossory Down and Limerick were fined for not coming to it This Parliament Enacted many good Laws viz. 1. That no Marcher or other keep more Horsemen or Foot than they can maintain and will answer for and that they give in a List of their Names to the Sheriff c. 2. It suppresseth Coynees Rep. 11. Car. 1. c. 6. Cuddies and Night-suppers and well sets forth the Grievances of those Times 3. That the Accuser shall give Security to pay the Damages of the Defendant if the Impeachment be found untrue 4. That every man may kill Robbers and notorious Thieves and shall have a Penny out of every Plow-land and a Farthing from every Cottage for his Reward 5. That the great Officers of the Kingdom shall not give Protections to any other than their Menial Officers and Attendants This Lord Lieutenant also held another Parliament at Drogheda in April on Friday before S. Mark 's Day which Enacted 1. That if the Remembrancer issue Process against any body that is discharg'd on Record in the Exchequer he shall forfeit his Office and treble Damage 2. That the Chancellor Treasurer and Judges or one of them be present at all Commissions of Oyer and Terminer in the Counties of Dublin Kildare Meath and Vriel 3. That no body shall sell Liquor but by Sealed Measures It seems that some of these Statutes were occasioned by a doleful Letter sent from Cork which the Irish Historians place in the Reign of Henry the Fourth and yet direct it to the Earl of Rutland and Cork and therefore it will be more properly applied to this Time when he was Lord Lieutenant and follows in haec Verba IT may please your Wisdoms to have pity of us Camp 94. the Kings poor Subjects within the County of Cork or else we be cast away for ever for where there was in this County these Lords by Name besides Knights Esquires Gentlemen and Yeomen to a great number that might dispend yearly eight hundred pounds six hundred pounds four hundred pounds two hundred pounds one hundred pounds one hundred Marks twenty pounds twenty Marks ten pounds some more some less to a great number besides these Lords following First The Lord Marquess Carew his yearly Revenues were besides Dorsey-Haven and other Creeks two thousand two hundred pounds sterling The Lord Barnewale of Bear-haven his yearly Revenues were besides Bear-haven and other Creeks sixteen hundred pounds sterling The Lord Uggan of the great Castle his yearly Revenues were besides Havens and Creeks one thousand three hundred pounds sterling The Lord Balram of Emforle his yearly Revenues were besides Havens and Creeks one thousand three hundred pounds sterling The Lord Courcy of Kilbreton his yearly Revenues besides Havens and Creeks one thousand five hundred pounds sterling The Lord Mandevil of Barnhely his yearly Revenues besides Havens and Creeks one thousand two hundred pounds sterling The Lord Arundel of the Strand his yearly Revenues besides Havens and Creeks one thousand five hundred pounds sterling The Lord Baron of the Guard his yearly Revenues besides Havens and Creeks one thousand one hundred pounds sterling The Lord Sleynie of Baltimore his yearly Revenue besides Havens and Creekss eight hundred pounds sterling The Lord Roche of Pool Castle his yearly Revenues besides Havens and Creeks one thousand pounds sterling The Kings Majesty hath the Lands of the late young Barry by Forfeiture the yearly Revenues whereof besides two Rivers and Creeks and all other Casualties is one thousand eight hundred pounds sterling And at the end of this Parliament your Lordship with the Kings most Noble Counsel may come to Cork and call before you all these Lords and other Irishmen and bind them in
BROTHERHOOD of St. George But to proceed William Sherwood 1475. Bishop of Meath was Lord Deputy to the Duke of Clarence he held a Parliament at Dublin Friday after the Feast of St. Margaret which makes it Treason to bring Bulls or Apostiles from Rome and orders the Lords of Parliament to wear Robes on pain of one hundred Shillings and enjoyns the Barons of the Exchequer to wear their Habits in Term-time and Enacts That if any Englishman be damnified by an Irishman not amesnable to Law he may reprize himself upon the whole Sept or Nation And that it shall be Felony to take a Distress contrary to Common Law which was a very necessary Act in those Times and is the only Act of this Parliament that is printed and though it be an English Case yet it may be useful in other Countries and therefore we will mention That George Nevil Duke of Bedford was this Year degraded 4th Instit. 355. because he had not any Estate left to support the Dignity Henry 1478. Lord Grey of Ruthen Lord Deputy held a Parliament a Drogheda which repeal'd all the Acts of the aforesaid Parliament of 12 Edw. 4. and then he resigned to Sir Robert Preston Lib. G. Lord Deputy who on the 7th of August was created Viscount Gormanston but he held the Government but a little time before he surrendred to Girald Earl of Kildare Lord Deputy he held a Parliament at Naas Friday after the Feast of St. Petronilla which Enacted 1478. 1. That Distresses taken for Rent might be sold And 2. That Non-Residents might be chosen Parliament-men 1480. but on the twelfth of August the Earl of Kildare was made Deputy to the Kings Son Richard Duke of York for four years from the fifth of May following Lib. M. by the Dukes Patent under the Kings Privy Seal quod nota and the Earl by Indenture with the King did Covenant to keep the Realm surely and safely to his power and was to have eighty Archers on Horse-back and forty other Horsemen called Spears and six hundred pound per annum to maintain them and if the Irish Revenue cannot pay it it shall be sent out of England This Lord Deputy held another Parliament on Monday after the Translation of St. Thomas at which it was Ordained 1. That no Hawks should be carried out of the Kingdom without great Custom And 2. That the Pale should have no correspondence with the Irish and it seems this Parliament Naturaliz'd Con O Neal Davis 93â— who had married the Lord Deputy's Daughter What the incomparable Spencer in his View of Ireland relates of the Duke of Clarence and Moroughen Ranagh O Brian is not to be placed in the Reign of Edward the Fourth because George Duke of Clarence was never actually in Ireland whilst he was Lord Lieutenant of that Kingdom but always managed that Province by Deputies and therefore I suppose that what Spencer has related will better suit with the Government of Lionel Duke of Clarence in the Reign of Edward the Third who did indeed marry the Heiress of Vlster and performed the other Atchievements Mr. Spencer writes of It was in this Kings Reign that the Jubile which before was every Fiftieth Year was by Pope Sixtus the Fourth brought to be every five and twentieth year and that the Primacy of Scotland was setled upon the Archbishop of St. Andrews And thus stood the Government of Ireland during the Reign of King Edward the Fourth who between the French King the troublesome Earl of Warwick the discontented Lords and the Attempts of the Wife and Friends of Henry the Sixth found so much work at home that Ireland was in a manner neglected and left to the Protection of the Fraternity of St. George when on the ninth Day of April 1483 the King died in the two and fortieth Year of his Age and of his Reign the three and twentieth THE REIGN OF RICHARD III. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND UPon the Death of King Edward his Son the Prince of Wales being then at Ludlow was Proclaimed King by the Name of Edward the Fifth and in his way to London was perswaded by the means of his Unkle the Duke of Glocester to dismiss great part of his Guards as well to save the Charge as to avoid giving Cause of Suspicion and Reasons of Jealousie to such as doubted that so numerous an Attendance was entertain'd upon Designs prejudicial to them And so having luckily mounted this first step to the Throne the Duke of Glocester proceeded to confederate with the Duke of Buckingham and the Lord Hastings and by their assistance he first seized on the Earl Rivers and others of the Kings Relations and Friends and then got the King himself into his power and brought him to London using a thousand Artifices to make the People believe that the Queen-Mothers Kindred designed the extirpation of the Ancient Nobility the Slavery of the People and the Ruine of the Kingdom This Duke of Glocester wheedled or bribed to that degree that he was chosen Protector by the unanimous Consent of the Council and afterwards got the Kings Brother out of Sanctuary at Westminster and under specious Pretences of their Security both the Princes were conveyed to the Tower of London in a most pompous and splendid manner and there they were afterwards murdered by the Appointment if not by the Hands of their Unkle King Richard took upon him the Regal Office on the 18th day of June 1483. and before the Murder of his Nephews and he was Crowned together with his Queen on the 6th day of July 1483. and being very busie in England to establish the Crown he had usurped he did not think it advisable to make any Alterations in Ireland but continued in that Government Gerald Earl of Kildare Lord Deputy to Edward the Kings Son who held a Parliament at Dublin wherein it was Enacted That the Mayor and Bayliffs of Waterford might go in Pilgrimage to St. James of Compostella in Spain leaving sufficient Deputies to govern that City in their absence 2. That the Corporation of Ross might reprize themselves against Robbers and that no Persons should alien their Free-hold in Ross to a Foreigner without the Licence of the Portriff and Council of that Town but these being private Acts are not Printed It seems that the next Year the Earl of Kildare as Deputy to the Earl of Lincoln 1484. Lord Lieutenant did hold another Parliament at Dublin wherein six private Acts only were made and not long after conven'd another Parliament at Trim which either did nothing at all or nothing worth mentioning but a subsequent Parliament at Dublin gave a Subsidy of Thirteen shillings and four pence out of every Plow-Land to the Deputy towards his Charges in the Service he did against the Irish wherein O Connor it seems was a Partner or Co-adjutor for he also had ten Groats out of every Plow-Land in Meath for
his Reward And this is all I find done in Ireland during this Kings Reign 1485. which ended at the Battel of Bosworth on the two and twentieth Day of August 1485. THE REIGN OF HENRY VII King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND HENRY TVDOR 1485. Earl of Richmond Heir of the House of Lancaster by the Victory at Bosworth obtained the Crown of England and had the more solemn Possession of it at his Coronation on the thirtieth Day of October following To these two Pretences of Conquest and Possession he added the more specious Title of an Act of Parliament and yet thought himself not secure until he married Elizabeth Daughter of Edward IV in whom the Right really lay she being Heiress of the House of York However he governed as in his own Right and that so absolutely that he suffered not the Queen to intermeddle in State Affairs even so much as was usual for the Wife of a King Gerald Earl of Kildare whom he found Deputy to the Earl of Lincoln Wares Annals 2. he continued Deputy to the Duke of Bedford he also continued the Chancellor Treasurer and other Officers of State whom he knew partial to the White-Rose without joyning others of his own Party with them because he would theâ—eby insinuate That he had a Confidence in their Integrity and that he was elevated above Fear or Suspicion Nevertheless Sir Thomas Butler Earl of Ormond whose Family were fast Friends to the House of Lancaster and for which they had suffered exceedingly was not neglected but was by Act of Parliament in England restored both to Honour and Estate and soon after he was sworn of the Privy Council in England Lib. G. Lamb. And it seems that the Family of Desmond was also restored because I find that the Lord of Kerry did this Year recover some Lands in that County by Assize in the Court-Palatine there before Thomas Copinger Gent. Seneschal of the Liberties of Kerry unto James Earl of Desmond I should not have observed that Edmond Courcy was now made Bishop of Clogher but that he was the first Englishman that ever sat in that See There is not much mention made of any Disturbances this Year Ware 3. except that remarkable Contest between James Keating and Marmaduke Lumley about the Priory of Kilmainham Keating had been deprived by the great Master of that Order anno 1482 being accused of pawning or selling divers Ornaments of the House and particularly a Piece of the Cross and for alienating and incumbring the Revenues of the Priory and Lumley was substituted in his room but as soon as Lumley arrived at Clantarfe to take possession of his new Dignity Keating with a Company of Men came thither and took him Prisoner and detained him in Custody until he resigned all the Writings and Instruments of his Election and Confirmation and then Keating gave him the Preceptory of Kilsaran in the County of Louth But Lumley complained of this Usage as well to the King of England as to the great Master of the Order at Rhodes and at length prevailed to get Keating excommunicated whereas he was so inraged that he turned Lumley out of his Preceptory by Force and put him in Prison in spight of Octavianus de Palatio Archbishop of Armagh who did his Endeavour to protect Lumley It is probable that Lumley died in Prison because we hear no farther of him and because it is certain he never came to be Prior And as for Keating although he did make a shift to keep the Priory almost nine Years afterward by strong Hand yet at last he was ignominiously ejected and died in Poverty and Disgrace being succeeded by James Vale. It became a Question this Year in England 1 Hen. 7. 4. b. How the Attainder of this King should be taken off but it was unanimously resolved by all the Judges That the Possession of the Throne or the Assumption of the Royal Dignity did take away all Imperfections Incapacities and Attainders whatsoever And it is observeable that the Judges say The taking upon him to be King did all this for the Crown did not Descend to Henry VII because he was not the true Heir but afterwards married her that was so Nor can any thing properly descend to a person attainted because the Blood is corrupted so that he cannot be Heir to any Body But the King perceiving that the Faction of York was at work in Ireland 1486. sent for the Lord Deputy to repair to him into England but he being loath to undertake that Journey procured Letters from the Council June 4. importing That his Presence was so necessary in Ireland that he could not at present be spared from that Government And by these Means he excused himself for a while In the mean time Lambert Symnel a Youth of a lovely and fascinating Countenance and of a princely Behaviour was well instructed by a crafty Priest Sir Richard Symon to personate the Earl of Warwick only Son of George Duke of Clarence for which Duke being their Countryman born the Irish had a wonderful Respect as indeed they had generally for all the Family of York This Youth had learned his Lesson so well that Margaret Dutchess of Burgundy resolved to set him up against King Henry although there were two great Flaws in this Contrivance The one was That the true Earl of Warwick was in King Henry's Hands in the Tower of London The other That he was not right Heir to the Crown because there were Children of King Edward the Fourth still living Nevertheless she sent this Counterfeit Prince to Ireland where he met with all the Countenance he could desire as well from the Lord Deputy as from almost all the rest of the Nobility Gentry Clergy and People the Archbishop of Armagh the Bishop of Clogher and the Families of Butler and S. Lawrence and the City of Waterford only excepted And though the King caused the true Earl to be taken out of the Tower and shewn publickly in London which marred all their Designs there yet the Irish were not thereby Discouraged but confidently accused the King of Imposture as he did them and therefore that Project was not so effectual to him as was another of getting a Bull from the Pope requiring the Clergy to excommunicate the Rebels as often as the King should desire it which did him a great deal of Service But Mac Mahon took advantage of these Stirs and invaded Louth which he burnt and preyed according to the Custom of making War in those Days he destroyed twenty eight Villages in that Country And the Tempest was no less fatal to Vlster where it rooted up Trees and threw down Houses In May the Dutchess of Burgundy sent over two thousand Germans under the Command of Martin Swart an old Soldier with them there came the Earl of Lincoln the Lord Lovel and others and were kindly received and lovingly entertained by the Nobility Gentry and People of
Ireland they proceeded to crown this Impostor at Christ-Church in Dublin with a Crown which they took from the Statue of the Virgin Mary in S. Mary-Abby and this Ceremony was rendred more solemn by a Sermon preached by the Bishop of Meath on the occasion and by the Attendance of the Lord Deputy the Chancellor Treasurer and other the great Officers of State And after he was crowned they carried him in Triumph upon the Shoulders of Great Darcy of Platten But the good Archbishop of Armagh refused to be present at this ridiculous Pageantry for which they gave him all the Trouble they could But it seems they were conscious of their Misdemeanour in this Matter and they knew how to purchase Absolution and therefore they called a Parliament or Assembly in the Name of their new King and the Clergy gave the Pope a Subsidy to absolve them So eager were these People to follow the Fortunes of this Mock-King that Thomas Fitz-Girald resigned the Chancellorship to the Lord of Portlester the better to be at liberty and so together they went for England and landed in Lancashire where Sir Thomas Broughton and his Party joyned them they marched through Yorkshire to Newark and being stopt there they turned aside to Notinghamshire and near the Village of Stoke 1487. on the the eleventh of June after a desperate Fight for three Hours they were totally defeated and all the Commanders and four thousand Soldiers slain and Lambert and his Master Symon were taken Prisoners and the latter was imprisoned and the former made one of the King's Falconers In December James Fitz-Thomas Decemb. 7. Earl of Desmond in the twenty eighth Year of his Age was murdered at Rakele by his Servant Shane Maunta and others who were all taken and executed for it by Maurice his Brother and Successor in that Earldom The Earl of Kildare and the other Ministers of State that were Faulty sent Messengers to the King to implore his Pardon which after some exprobration and reprimand was obtained and he was still continued in his Office of Lord Deputy Ware 14 And the same Year the Inconveniences of Sanctuaries were somewhat lessned by the Pope's Bull for the better Regulation of them It seems strange That hitherto the King did not send any Soldiers into Ireland to suppress the remainder of the Faction of York perhaps he knew That if he took any severe course with them it would utterly destroy the Pale and by weakning the small Colony of English would turn to the Advantage of the Irish and therefore he contented himself with the Submission of those that had been Faulty and sent over Sir Richard Edgcomb to take new Oaths of Allegiance of the Nobility and Gentry and to bind them in Recognizance to performance and thereupon to give them a Pardon He brought with him five hundred Men which was rather a Guard than an Army and he arrived at Kingsale with five Ships on the twenty seventh Day of June he did not intend to come on Shoar there and therefore the Lord Thomas Barry i.e. Barry oge came on Board and there did his Homage for his Barony and took his Oath of Allegiance but the next Day Sir Richard Edgcomb at the Importunity of James Lord Courcy and the Inhabitants of Kingsale did come into the Town and in their Parish Church dedicated to S. Multotius the Lord Courcy did Homage and he and the Townsmen swore Allegiance and entred into Recognizance for the Observation of it whereupon they were pardoned And so after Dinner Edgcomb sailed toward Waterford where he arrived the last Day of June and having applauded the Loyalty of that City and assured them That the King would liberally remunerate their Fidelity he set Sail for Dublin and there he arrived the fifth Day of July and was received by the Mayor and Citizens in most humble and submissive manner at the Gate of the Abby of the Friers Preachers where he was to lodge The Earl of Kildare was then upon some Exploit against the Irish so that he did not come to Dublin until the twelfth of July and then he sent the Bishop of Meath the Lord Slane and others unto Edgcomb to conduct him to S. Thomas-Court where the Lord Deputy lay Thither did Sir Richard come and with a stern Countenance delivered the King's Letters to the Lord Deputy after which they had a Private Conference but many of the Nobility being absent nothing more was done at that time and so they departed the Lord Deputy went to Minooth and Sir Richard Edgcomb returned to the Abby The next Day being Sunday Edgcomb caused to be read in Christ Church after Sermon the Absolution of the former Excommunication which the Pope had lately granted at the King's Request unto all those that should thenceforward continue loyal to his Majesty and after some time and many Expostulations between the Commissioners and the Nobility they did at last agree on the Form of an Oath to be found at large in Sir James Wares Annals p. 17. Wherein this is observable that they swore not to hinder or disturb the excommunication of all such as should oppose the King of what Quality soever they should be And in the Oath of the Clergy it was added that they should publish the Popes Excommunication against all the Kings Rebels or Enemies in Ireland as often as they should be thereunto required Salvo Ordine Episcopali c. And so on the 21st of July the Earl of Kildare being first absolved from the former Excommunication after the usual manner in time of Divine Service did Homage to the Kings Commissioner in the great Chamber in Thomas Court and swore Allegiance and entred into Recognizance for the due Observation of it and then Edgecomb gave him his Pardon and put a Gold-Chain about his Neck which the King had sent him for a Present to signifie his Majesties entire Reconcilation to him The like Oaths and Recognizances were made by Rowland Eustace Baron of Portlester Lord High Treasurer Robert Preston Viscount Gormanstown James Fleming Baron of Slane Nicholas St. Laurence Baron of Houth Christopher Barnewal Baron of Trimletstown John Plunket Baron of Dunsany Walter Archbishop of Dublin John Walton who had resigned that Archbishoprick reserving the Mannor of Swords to live upon during Life John Bishop of Meath Edmond Bishop of Kildare John Purcell Abbot of St. Thomas Abby Walter Champflour Abbot of St. Maryes and James Cogan Prior of Holm-Patrick and then Sir Richard Edgecomb entertain'd them all at a splendid Banquet at his Lodgings and the next day the Mayor and Citizens of Dublin took their Oaths at the Tolsel and remitted a Copy of the Oath under the City-Seal to the King to certifie His Majesty that they had taken it And so on the 23d day of July Edgecomb went to Drogheda and thence to Trim and both those Towns as also the Prior of St. Peters near Trim and the Abbots of Navan and Beclif did in like manner
York Second Son of Edward the Fourth to whom the Crown did really belong if he were living and this Perkin did personate him so well that there remains some doubt to this day whether he were an Impostor or not but supposing he was it was cunningly contrived to let him first appear in Portugal as a Child that had in a skulking manner fled from the Cruelty of his usurping Unkle besides Portugal was a Place with which the Duchess of Burgundy had not much Correspondence and therefore it could not be suspected that she had a hand in the Cheat but however that be young Perkin set Sail from Lisbon and arrived safely at Cork where he was kindly received by the Citizens and particularly by John Walters an eminent Merchant of Cork who probably was then Mayor and whose Apprentice Perkin had been as they say he wrote Letters to the Earls of Kildare and Desmond for their Assistance against King Henry but before he received their Answers he received Letters from the French King inviting him thither and so to France he went and was royally received and entertained until that King made Peace with King Henry and then Perkin made a seasonable Retreat into Flanders where he was exceeding welcome to his supposed Aunt the Duchess of Burgundy and there we will leave him for a while and return to our â—ord Deputy He held a Parliament at Dublin 1493. on Friday after Midsummer which it seems vacated some Indictments and Inquisitions that had formerly been made to the prejudice of this Lord Deputy by the Means of the Lord Portlester and now the Tables being turn'd and the Votaries of the House of Lancaster at Helm the Lord Portlester himself was questioned in the Exchequer for the miss-management of his Office of Treasurer This Parliament did also repeal a former Act made against the City of Waterford and restored that City to all its ancient Liberties and Priviledges and it is probable that there was also an Act of Parliament now made for the general Resumption of all the Crown Lands that were alienated or granted away since the first year of King Henry the Sixth but none of the Acts of this Parliament are Printed except one for the cleansing of the Water-Course in St. Patrick-street in Dublin and so this Parliament being dissolved in August the Lord Deputy on the sixth of September following resigned to Robert Preston Viscount Gormanstown Lord Deputy to the Duke of Bedford who it seems had not Commission to call a Parliament nevertheless he did call one which met at Drogheda and made several Statutes which were absolutely void for the Defect aforesaid however they were expresly repeal'd by 10 Hen. 7. cap. 23. And these farther Reasons were given for it 1. That the Lord Lieutenant had surrendred his Patent before the Summons And 2. Because the Parliamentary Summons did not issue to all the Shires but to four Shires only On the Twelfth of September this Lord Deputy called several of the Nobility to Trim where they subscribed Articles for the Peace of the Kingdom viz. That no man should make War without the Deputies Consent and that several Extortions and Tributes that were used and demanded should be abrogated and suppressed and that Murderers Thieves and Vagabonds should be punished c. There were present at this Assembly Alexander Plunket L. Chancellor Girald Earl of Kildare the Bishops of Meath Kildare the Lords of Slane Delvin Killeen Houth Trimletston and Dunsany c. And they gave Recognizanse and Hostages for the observation of those Articles and after this he called the Parliament aforesaid In October the late Lord Deputy Fitz-Symons went into England to give the King a full Account as well of his own Government as of the present State of the Kingdom of Ireland and not long after viz. in November following the Earl of Kildare hearing he was impeach'd in England went also thither to justifie himself before the King but the L. Deputy leaving the Government in the Hands of his Son followed the Earl to England and by the Assistance of Sir James Ormond Lord Treasurer of Ireland he so far prevailed that Kildare's Justification was rejected and himself sent over Prisoner to Ireland to the end the Matter might be more fully examined upon the place 1494. by Sir Edward Poynings Knight of the Garter Lord Deputy whose chief Errand was to suppress the Abettors of Perkin Warbeck he came over the thirteenth of September and immediately made great Alterations amongst the Ministers of State Henry Dean Bishop of Bangor he constituted Lord Chancellor Sir Hugh Conway was appointed Treasurer Thomas Bouring was made Chief Justice of the Kings Bench as John Topcliff was of the Common Pleas and Walter Ever was made Chief Baron of the Exchequer all which were Englishmen born and good Lawyers and were sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland This Deputy brought over with him about one thousand Souldiers and resolved to invade Vlster to pursue some of Perkins's Friends that fled thither it is strange he should use the Earl of Kildare's assistance in this Expedition however together they went accompanied with Sir James Ormond who had resigned the Office of High Treasurer they did great Execution on the Irish and harass'd the Territories of O Hanlon and Mac Genis and others It was suggested That Kildare did secretly treat and conspire with O Hanlon to destroy the Lord Deputy for which he was Attainted as shall be shewn hereafter but it seems he was innocent of that Matter not only because O Hanlon cleared him upon Oath two years after but also because he was acquitted in England upon full hearing before the King Nevertheless Kildare's Brother did at this time seize on the Castle of Caterlogh whereupon the Lord Deputy was necessitated to clap up a sort of a Peace with O Hanlon and Macgenis and so having taken their Oaths and Hostages he immediately marched to Caterlogh which after ten days Siege 1494. was surrendred unto him And so in November on Monday before the Feast of St. Andrew sate that famous Parliament at Drogheda which Enacted I. That the Treasurer might appoint his under-Officers here as is used in England and shall account once a year here before the Barons of the Exchequer and such of the Council as the Lord Deputy shall appoint and the same Accounts to be certified into England and finally determined and setled there II. That no Minister of Justice viz. The Chancellor Treasurer Judges Clerk or Master of the Rolls nor any Officer Accomptant shall have their Places but during the King's Pleasure III. An Act adnulling a Prescription which Traytors and Rebels claimed in Ireland The Reason of this Act was because Richard Duke of York at his last being in Ireland did Cause an Act to be made That Ireland should be a Sanctuary for Refugees and that it should be Treason to disturb any body there by any Writ Privy Seal or other Matter from England and
Resumption of all the Grants made by the Crown since the last day of the Reign of King Edward the Second Lib. G. except some Particulars mentioned in the Act and another Act Rot. Parl. c. 41. attaints the Earl of Kildare and his Brother James for High Treason for corresponding with O Hanlon and seizing the Castle of Caterlogh for extorting Coyn and Livery and for treating with the King of Scotland however he was afterward acquitted in England and received into favour and perhaps there was another Act to dissolve the Fraternity of S. George for it is certain that about this time that Brotherhood fell and so I have done with this Famous Parliament when I have told you that it is a Mistake in the Printed Statute-Book to place it anno 1495 because it is manifest That November 1494 was in the tenth Year of this King's Reign It is scarce worth mentioning Ware 43. That during this Parliament the Lord Deputy made another Expedition into Vlster because the Irish fled into their Fastnesses so that he reaped but small Fruit for his Journey In his Absence he left a Commission with the Chanchellor to continue adjourn prorogue or dissolve the Parliament as he saw cause About this time Cormock mac Teige mac Carthy of Muskry 1495. was basely murdered by his Brother Owen Ancestor of the Mac Carthyes of Cloghroe and was buried in the Abby of Kilcrea which he himself had founded But let us return to Perkin Werbeck who set sail from Flanders with about six hundred Men and arrived on the Coast of Kent but he found ill treatment there for one hundred and sixty of his Men were taken Prisoners and afterwards executed Thence he sailed to Ireland where he staid some time in Munster probably at Cork but finding the Irish unable to give him any considerable Assistance and fearing the Forces of the Lord Deputy he went thence into Scotland and by that King's Consent married the Earl of Huntly's Daughter who was nearly related to the Crown of Scotland The King of Scots did invade England in favour of Perkin but finding that none of the English came to assist the Impostor he wasted Northumberland and returned And thus Sir Edward Poynings drove Perkin out of Ireland and suppressed his Abettors and established many good Laws which though for the present they extended no further than the Pale yet their Effect and Influence increased and inlarged as fast as the King's Authority did so that those Statutes are at this day in full force over all the Kingdom And the King finding Ireland in so quiet a condition recalled the Lord Deputy and for his good Service made him Knight of the Garter And in his place appointed Henry Dean 1495. Bishop of Bangor Chancellor of Ireland and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury 1496. to be Lord Justice and on the twenty sixth of April William Ratcliff was made Vice-Treasurer and John Pimp Treasurer at War and on the twenty fifth of June the Lord Delvin was made General for defence of the Pale and in July Octavianus Archbishop of Armagh held a Synod at Droghedah the Acts whereof are not to be found and in August Hugh O Donel being returned out of Scotland encountred and defeated O Connor near Sligo Whereupon he besieged the Castle of Sligo but without Success for being frightned with the News of the Approach of the Burks of Clanrickard he raised the Siege and retired in hast towards Tyrconnel But Burk was not so satisfied but burnt and destroyed all the adjacent Territories that belonged to O Donel's Partisans But the Earl of Kildare was still kept in Prison in England for Grief whereof his Countess died The Earl was accused of burning the Church of Cashel and many Witnesses were ready to prove it when contrary to all their Expectations he readily confessed the Fact and swore by Jesus That he would never have done it but that he thought the Archbishop was in it Which being uttered with a bluntless peculiar to this Lord did exceedingly work upon the King for whilst the Earl did so earnestly urge that for his Excuse which was the greatest Aggravation of his Crime the King easily perceived That a Person of that Natural Simplicity and Plainness could not be guilty of those Finesses and Intrigues that were objected against him It is reported of this Earl That he desired the King to permit him to have Council to manage his Cause since he was altogether unqualified to deal with such cunning Knaves as his Adversaries The King told him He should have what Counsel he would choose and that it concerned him to get Counsel that were very good for that he doubted his Cause was very bad The Earl replied That he would pitch upon the best Counsel in England Who is that said the King Marry even your Majesty quoth the Earl Whereat the King laughed But nevertheless he so requited Kildare for his Complement that when the Adversary concluded his Oration That all Ireland could not govern this Man the King took that occasion to make reply That therefore he was the fittest Man to govern Ireland Ware 49. And so for his Jest-sake made him Lord Lieutenant of that Kingdom by his Letters Patent of the sixth of August and restored him to his Honour and Estate Nevertheless the King kept the Earls eldest Son Girald as Hostage of the Father's Fidelity which proved to be a matter of Caution rather than of Necessity for no body could behave himself with more Loyalty to his Prince nor more Vigor against the Irish than the Earl of Kildare did from henceforward But to proceed Girald Earl of Kildare 1496. being made Lord Lieutenant in a short time after he had received the Sword marched towards Thomond against O Brian he went through the City of Limerick and took the Castle of Feyback from Finin Mac nâ—marra and afterwards took and rased the Castle of Ballyniti or Ballynice and so returned to Dublin and was reconciled to the Archbishop of Armagh to their mutual Ease and Quiet and to the great Advantage of Publick Affairs which often suffer especially in Ireland by the private Animosities of the Grandees But the Bishop of Bangor was recalled into England and Walter Archbishop of Dublin was made Lord Chancellor in his stead This good Archbishop in a Synod at Dublin anno 1492 procured a Pension for a Divinity-Reader there to be paid by him and his Suffragans and their Successors for ever And it is reported of him That being present when a famous Orator made a most eloquent Speech to the King his Majesty asked the Archbishop How he liked the Oration The good old Man replied That he saw no other Fault in it but Flattery As God shall love me quoth the King That is the very Fault I my self espied The King by advice of the Lord Lieutenant resolved to pardon those great Men that had been concerned with Perkin Warbeck lest Despair might induce
another Parliament at Dublin by the Title of Lord Deputy to Henry the King 's second Son who it seems was about this time made Lord Lieutenant but there is no Record remaining of what they did except some Amercements or Fines they imposed on some that were summoned to that Parliament and did not appear The Lord Deputy began the Year 1499 with an Expedition into Connaught 1499. where he took the Castles of Athleage Roscomon Tuilsk and Castlereagh and placed Garrisons in them And in the mean time Tirlagh O Brian who after the Death of Gil-duff was Chief or Lord of Thomond had great Contests with Sir Pierce Butler about Preys and Bounds of Land which according to the Custom of these Times centred in a Battle wherein the Butlers were defeated and the Sovereign of Kilkenny was slain It seems that there was another Parliament held at Castledermond which Town I suppose was then and still is belonging to the Earls of Kildare on the twenty sixth of August which gave the King and his Heirs an Impost of twelve Pence per Pound of all Merchandize imported to be sold here Irish Stat. 43. Wine and Oyl excepted And it is probable That there were some Orders if not Acts That the Nobility should ride on Saddles Ware 's An. 60. according to the English Custom and should wear their Robes in Parliament And both the Clergy and Laity gave the King a Subsidy The Printed Book of Statutes has only the first of these Acts and places the Parliament in anno 1500. which is undoubtedly a Mistake And Sir James Ware ascribes the aforesaid Act against Customers to this Parliament which is also a Mistake And both these Oversights will appear and 〈◊〉 rectified if you rightly consider the beginning of the King◠Reign the twenty second of August 1485. and that the Earl of Kildare was Lord Lieutenant 14 Hen. 7. when 〈…〉 Act was made and was Lord Deputy when the later 〈…〉 sate And that this change of his Title happened 〈…〉 later end of the Year 1498. It seems that the Male-contents in Ireland having los◠their beloved Idol Perkin Warbeck would not so give out but were active to set up the Bastard-Son of Richard the Third or some body that should personate him but it came to nothing And so we are come to the Year of Jubile 1500. which concludes the Fifteenth Century and brought with it large Indulgences from the Pope Alexander the Sixth to be distributed by his Agent Gasper Pow to all the King's Subjects who would contribute to the War against the Turks but if we may believe Polydor Virgil the Irish had the good Manners to thank the Pope for his Favour and the Wit to keep the Money in their Purses But the Lord Deputy made another Expedition into Vlster probably in favour of his Nephew Tyrlogh O Neal for as soon as he had taken the Castle of Kinard he made Tyrlogh Governor of it and returned On the First of August the Charter of Cork was restored and their Priviledges enlarged by a new Charter which was followed by a sad Accident for David Barry Arch-Deacon of Cork and Cloyne murdered his own Brother William Lord Barry and was himself serv'd in the same kind by Thomas Barry and his Body taken out of the Grave and burnt by Command of the Earl of Desmond And so we must close this Century with the accidental and unfortunate Conflagration of the Town of Galway which was first governed by a Provost then Sovereign and Bayliffs then Mayor and Bayliffs and now by Mayor and Sheriffs and with very wet and bad Weather which continued from the middle of September to the End of Winter Leinster and Munster were indifferent quiet all this Year 1501. but Vlster and Connaught were far otherwise one of the O Connors took the Castle of Sligo by Assault and many private Murders were committed in Vlster O Neal also and the Scots had some Bickerings near Armagh on the 17th of March to the Damage of the later who lost four Captains and sixty Souldiers and to this time we must refer these Bald Verses representing the miserable Estate of Armagh Civitas Armachana Civitas vana absque bonis moribus Mulieres nudae Carnes crudae Paupertas in Aedibus The next Year produced a General Murrain amongst the Cattel all over Ireland and many Murders in Vlster upon private and frivolous Quarrels But in the beginning of the Year 1503. 1503. the Lord Deputy went to England leaving Walter Fitz-Symons Archbishop of Dublin Lord Deputy but he staid not above three Months in England for having done his Business to his Mind he return'd in August with great Honour and new Instructions Girald Earl of Kildare Lord Deputy being returned did about the latter end of Autumn make another Expedition into Vlster where he took and destroyed the Castle of Belfast and placed one Stanton and a good Garrison in Carigfergus and then marched back to Dublin In the mean time Theobald Burk Proprietor of Muskry-Cuirk in Munster was slain in a Skirmish with Donough O Carol and Cornelius O Dwyer but another of the Burks had better Fortune in Connaught for he defeated Malachiah O Kelly and all his Party On the 18th of February Girald Fitz-Girald the Lord Deputy's Eldest Son was made Lord High Treasurer of Ireland of whom we shall read more hereafter But the Irish Lords finding themselves too weak separately to oppose Kildare as they used to do to other Governors many of them confederated together the Principal of them was Vlick Burk Chief of Clanricard commonly called Mac-William Tyrlogh O Brian Chief of Thomond Melrony O Carol c. and got together the greatest Army that had been in Ireland since the Conquest whereof the Lord Deputy having notice he also assembled his Forces and being accompanied by the Lords of Gormanstown Slane Delvin Killen Houth Trimletston and Dunsany John Blake Mayor of Dublin O Donel O Reyly Ware 71. the Bishop of Ardah the Gentlemen of Annaly now Longford and some Townsmen of Drogheda and some others from the North he marched into Connaught and on the 19th of August at Knocklow both Parties met and fought a bloody Battel 1504. which was for some hours very dubious but at last the Lord Deputy got the Victory with the Slaughter of four thousand of his Enemies nine thousand says the Book of Houth and he also took some Prisoners amongst whom the two Sons of Vlick Burk were the chiefest it is prodigious that not one Englishman should be so much as hurt in this mighty Battel and yet in the white Book of the Exchequer it is so recorded Holingshead 79 The Consequence of this great Victory was the Surrender of Gallaway and Athenry the Destruction of that whole Country and the overloading the Conquerors with Prey and Booty Kildare being returned bestowed thirty Tun of Wine upon his Souldiers and the King bestowed a Garter on him and made him a
Companion of The Order and though some say Davis 59. this War was commenced on private Distaste yet it is more certain that it determined to the Publick Advantage Walter Fitz-Symons Archbishop of Dublin was sent by the Lord Deputy and Council to give his Majesty an Account of this prodigious Success and to treat with his Majesty about other Matters of State He departed the 20th of September and performed what he had in Charge to the great satisfaction as well of the King as of those that sent him and in a little time return'd to Ireland with honour and applause In the mean time the King was importunate with Pope Julius the Second to Canonize his Predecessor King Henry the Sixth and in order to it he caused a Book to be written of his Virtues and Miracles and had it Printed And the Pope recommended the Examination of the Matter to the Bishops of Canterbury London Durham and Winchester by his Bull which the Curious may find at large in Sir James Ware 's Annals pag. 73. But it seems nothing farther was done in it and this is certain That those who say he was a Good Christian do nevertheless allow that he was a bad King for first he lost France from England and then he lost England from himself And now a Provincial was indicted to meet at Tredagh in July but the Pestilence raging almost every where in Ireland but especially in Vlster the Synod was therefore translated to Ardee in the County of Louth and there for the same reason was suddenly dissolved This Plague was followed with a Famine 1505. by reason of the Wetness both of Summer and Autumn and it was but small Relief the great Charities of Walter Archbishop of Dublin and John Allen Dean of St. Patricks could at that time administer in the noble Foundation of a Hospital at S. Kevins in Dublin to which the Archbishop gave Ground and the Dean gave considerable Revenues The next Year was also unfortunate 1506. not only by the Death of John Payne Bishop of Meath who was a very hospitable Man but also by the accidental Burning of great part of Trim they say by Lightning which was at that time the most considerable Town in Meath But the Lord Deputy summoned a Parliament to meet at Dublin in October 1508. 1508. which it accordingly did and both the Clergy and Laity gave the King a Subsidy of thirteen shillings and four pence out of every hundred and twenty Acres of Arable Land Ware 81. The Deputy once more invaded Vlster in favour of his Kinsmen the O Neals 1509. he design'd to recover the Castles of Dungannon and Owny which he effected for the Castle of Dungannon surrendred upon the first Summons and the other he took and demolished and set at liberty Art Mac Con O Neal who was Prisoner there and thus stood the Kingdom of Ireland which Kildare kept in a better condition than it had formerly been in for he awed the Rebels by his Reputation which was obtained partly by his courage and the fierceness of his Humour and partly by his great and frequent Success and he secured the Pale by Castles and Fortifications built on the Borders which kind of Defence former Ages had too much neglected And so on the 22th day of April the King died at his Palace of Richmond in the four and twentieth Year of his Reign and the three and fiftieth Year of his Age. THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII KING OF England and France Lord and afterward King of IRELAND HENRY the Eighth the only surviving Son of his Father succeeded peaceably to the Throne of his Ancestors April 22. 1509. in the eighteenth Year of his Age In him both Roses were united for by his Father he was Heir to the Lancastrian Line and by his Mother to the House of York and so being without Competitor was the more capable to effect those great Designs which he afterwards undertook He found in the Government of Ireland Gerald Earl of Kildare whom he continued Lord Justice and the Year following made him Lord Deputy and on good Reasons for though Kildare was counted Rash and Unpolitick yet he was a Man of great Interest and Courage and his Name was more terrible to the Irish than an Army And here let me observe once for all That no Nation in the Word is more governed by Reputation and Appearance than the Irish the Common People are dejected by a Trifle and elevated for less than nothing And this Observation is manifestly justified by their frequent Submissions and their as frequent Rebellions and if any object their continued Obstinacy to the Irish Interest and Popish Religion it is easily answered That as their Fears are without Cause so their Hopes are without Reason and that their Hope 's exceeded their Fears is partly to be attributed to the Nature of Man facile credimus quod volumus but chiefly to the Noblemen and Clergy whose Interest and Business it was to keep the Mobile always in Expectation and to make them believe That one Day or other the Popish Interest would prevail The King unwilling to disturb an infant Government by unnecessary and disobliging Changes did likewise continue all the Officers of State in their Dignities who together with the Deputy and the Mayor Aldermen and Citizens of Dublin immediately proclaimed him King of England and France and Lord of Ireland with as much Formality and State as the time could afford which was followed with the Shouts of the People ringing of Bells and Bonfires as is usual and the like was done in the other chief Cities and Towns After which on the twenty fourth Day of June the King and the Queen were crowned at Westminster by Warham Archbishop of Canterbury Kildare being now made Deputy designed an Expedition into Munster 1510. he levied an Army in the Counties of Dublin Louth Meath and Kildare and was also assisted by Hugh O Donel Lord of Tyrconnel they marched into Desmond without Opposition burning and spoiling all as they went and there they took some Castles but as they returned slowly being loaden with Prey at Monetrar in the County of Limerick Ware 's Annals 87. they met with a great number of their Enemies led by James eldest Son of the Earl of Desmond Tirlagh O Bryan Chief of Thomond and Mac William a Lord of the Burks both Sides were resolved to fight which they did desperately to the great loss of both Parties especially of the Royalists who were tired with long Marches and overburthened with too much Prey and perhaps it had been fatal to them if the Night had not ended the Conflict which gave Kildare the Opportunity to make a safe Retreat the next Day without further Damage This Year there were so great Floods and Inundations 1511. that Trees Houses and Bridges were overturned in several Places Cahir O Connor Prince of Offaly was murdered by his own Followers near the Abby called
secret and of great forecast very staid in Speech dangerous of every Trifle that touched his Reputation Kildare was open and plain hardly able to rule himself when he was moved to Anger not so sharp as short being easily displeased and sooner appeased being in a Rage with certain of his Servants for Faults they committed one of his Horsemen offered Master Boice a Gentleman that retained to him an Irish Hobby on condition That he would pluck an Hair from the Earl his Beard Boice taking the Profer at rebound stept to the Earl with whose good Nature he was throughly acquainted parching in the Heat of his Choler and said So it is and if it like your good Lordship one of your Horsemen promised me a choice Horse if I snip one Hair from your Beard Well quoth the Earl I agree thereto but if thou pluck any more than one I promise thee to bring my Fist from thine Ear. But after all this simple Story is founded on a Mistake for the Earl of Ormond whose Name was Thomas lived in England in great Repute all the Reign of Henry the Seventh and afterwards until his Death anno 1515 and therefore the Person intended by the Story must by Sir James Ormond formerly Lord High Treasurer whom I have often mentioned in the Reign of the last King But this digression has been too long 1513. let us therefore return to the Lord Deputy whom we shall find animated with the last Years Success and resolved to invade Ely O Carol early in the Summer but his Preparations being great took up more time than he thought they would require but at last they were got ready and he began his March in August but at Athy he fell sick and from thence was removed to Kildare where on the third Day of September he died and was buried in Christ Church in Dublin to which he had been a liberal Benefactor And thus were the great Designs of this mighty Lord defeated even in the midst of his Career and at the very time when he promised himself most Glory and Success Gerald Earl of Kildare Son of the deceased Earl and Lord Treasurer was by virtue of the Act of Parliament formerly mentioned anno 10 Hen. 7. and by reason of his Place of Treasurer Spelm. Glos 334. made Lord Justice by assent of the Council But it seems that afterwards viz. 32 Hen. 8. there was a Statute made intituled An Act for the electing of the Lord Justice which restrained the Council from electing any body but an Englishman born and not in Orders The Lord of Slane was made Lord High Treasurer and Sir William Crompton Lord Chancellor and all other publick Matters were ordered as well and expeditiously as they could nevertheless so much time was taken up in these Alterations and in the Formalities of State that the Season was too far spent for any military Action this Year so that Daniel Mac william met with little Interruption in taking the Castle of Dunluce nor did the rest of the Irish find any Opposition this Winter but ravaged over the Country as they pleased However they paid dearly for it the next Spring For the valiant Earl of Kildare 1514. who was Heir to his Fathers Courage as well as to his Honour grew impatient at the Insolencies of O More and O Reyly and therefore resolved to attack them successively He began with O More and invaded the county of Leix and beat that Rebel and his Party into the Woods which being done he turned aside into the Brenny and took the Castle of Cavan and having slain Hugh O Reyly and many of his Followers he chased the rest into their inaccessible Fastnesses and then burnt and destroyed the Country and returned loaden with Booty William Viscount Gormanstown was the thirteenth of June made Lord Justice 1515. probably in the Absence of the Earl of Kildare who might then go to England to confer with the King about the Parliament designed to be holden in the Spring But however that be it is certain That Girald Earl of Kildare was by the King made Lord Deputy and on the twenty fifth Day of February held a Parliament at Dublin which by several Prorogations continued until the Thursday after Michaelmas 1517. Ware 92. This Parliament gave the King a Subsidy and made one good Act for those times viz. That no Man shall be compelled by Privy Seal to answer any Complaint in England until the Accuser enters into Recognizance in the Chancery of Ireland to pay the Defendant his Costs and Damages if he be acquit which very much abated that vexatious Course of Proceeding so that it is now obsolete and quite out of use On the third Day of August Ware 93. died Thomas Earl of Ormond at London he had been Embassador into France Privy-Counsellor in England and had Place in the English Parliament above all the Barons He was the richest Subject the King had and left forty thousand Pound in Money besides Jewels and as much Land to his two Daughters in England as at this Day would yield thirty thousand Pound per annum but he left no Issue Male to enjoy his Irish Estate which therefore descended to his Kinsman Sir Pierce Butler Earl of Ormond The Lord Deputy to repress the Incursions of the bordering Irish 1516. and to shew himself as fit for War as Peace invaded Imaly and slew Shane O Toole in Battle and sent his Head to the Mayor of Dublin Thence he marched into Ely O Carol where he was joyned by several Noblemen of Munster and Leinster of English Extraction and particularly by Pierce Earl of Ormond and James eldest Son of the Earl of Desmond and being strengthned with this Supply he undertook the Seige of Lemevan-Castle which the Garrison defended for a Week and then by Night deserted and left it to be demolished as it was by the Lord Deputy With this good Success he was encouraged to attempt the Town of Clonmel which he did with so much celerity that the Townsmen being surprized immediately surrendred upon Conditions And so the Deputy ended this Campeign and returned loaden with Hostages Prey and Glory It is worthy observation That the Irish had great Expectations of Advantage this Year by reason of a blind Prophecy generally believed among them Ware 95. That the poorest and weakest Sept in Ireland should this Year prove the most Powerful and Warlike It is probable that they were encouraged thereby to provoke the Lord Deputy to the aforesaid Expedition But however that be this is certain That Superstition hath been often fatal to the Irish Nation But Kildare finding it necessary to advance his Victorious Arms in Vlster 1517. reinforced his Troops and marched into Lecale where he took the Castle of Dundrum which had been very offensive to the neighbouring English thence he marched against Fylemy Macgenis whom he easily conquered and took Prisoner with the Slaughter of many of his Followers
And so having wasted that Country he marched into Tyrone where he took and burnt the Castle of Dungannon and preyed and burnt all the Country thereabouts But the Citizens of Dublin had not so good luck for a Company of them thinking that the very Name of the King's Forces could obtain Victories over the Irish made an Incursion into Imaly but being as we say Fresh-Water Soldiers upon the Slaughter of a few of them the rest were frightned back to their Shops The Winter this Year was exceeding Cold and the Ice strong enough to bear all manner of Carriages which is very unusual in Ireland And this Winter Queen Mary was born whose Superstitious Zeal proved as extream Hot as the Weather was Cold. The Fortune and Victories of the Lord Deputy influenced the Irish to be quiet this Year and the Reputation of the Government was somewhat augmented by the Honourable Peace which the King made with the French 1518. in September which was afterwards proclaimed in Dublin In the mean time Ware 54. places this Anno 1597. but is mistaken great were the Dissentions in Ireland between Sir James Ormond a Man of great Courage and Reputation and Sir Pierce Butler a valiant Gentleman about the Earldom of Ormond the former was a Natural Son of John by some called Earl of Ormond elder Brother of Thomas the last Earl and the other was Son of Sir James Butler Son of Sir Edmund Son of Sir Richard Butler who was Brother to James the Fifth Earl of Ormond so that Pierce his Grandfather Sir Edmond was Cozen German to the Deceased Earl Thomas Hereby it appears that the Right to that Earldom was in Sir Pierce who had married the Lady Margaret Fitz-Girald the Lord Deputies Sister nevertheless Sir James having formerly been Lord Treasurer and a very popular Man and probably the Manager of this Estate for his Unkle Thomas who always resided in England by the help of the Tenants got into possession and by the same assistance and his own vigor he kept what he had got without allowing any thing to the right Heir towards his maintenance whereby that Noble Pair Sir Pierce and his Wife were reduced to great extremity It is scarce credible that Persons of that Quality and so well allied should be forced to lurk in Woods and want a Bottle of Wine for their Refreshment Holingsh 84. and yet Stanyhurst reports a formal Story That the Lady Margaret Fitz-Girald Wife of Sir Pierce Butler being great with Child complained to her Husband and their Servant James White that she could no longer live on Milk and therefore earnestly desired them to get her some Wine whereto Sir Pierce replied That she should have Wine enough within twenty four hours or feed alone on Milk for him and immediately he went away with his Page to lie in wait for his Competitor whom he met the next day riding with six Horsemen Attendants between Drumore and Kilkenny March 17. and upon a sudden Sir Pierce rushed in upon him and kill'd him with his Spear and thenceforward enjoyed the Estate in quiet This Year Rokeby Archbishop of Dublin who was likewise Lord Chancellor held a Provincial Synod at Dublin the Canons whereof are to be found in the Registry of the Bishop of Clogker And this Year or the next Art O Neal invaded and wasted O Dogherty's Island of Inisowen in the County of Donegal The Enemies of the Earl of Kildare had the last year done what they could underhand to disgrace him in England but he had so well defended himself by his Friends there 1519. that their Design was ineffectual wherefore they address'd themselves to Cardinal Wolsey and by his means procur'd Kildare to be recalled to answer Articles exhibited against him for Male-administration First Ware 98. That he had enriched himself and Followers by the King's Revenue and Land Secondly That he had Alliance and Correspondence with several Irish he had the King's Leave to substitute a Deputy so he appointed Sir Thomas Fitz-Girald of Lackagh a Knight of his own Family Lord Justice in the mean time Kildare marries in England with Elizabeth Grey Daughter of the Marquess of Dorset by whose means he got favour in England and was dismiss'd but Cardinal Wolsey suggesting the King had neglected Ireland too long and that some worthy man ought to be sent over that was impartial to any Faction or Party and was able to keep them not only more peaceable amongst themselves but also more serviceable to the King to the end that the Blood and Vigor which else would be spent in their Civil Dissentions might be opposed to the common Enemy he procured to be sent into Ireland Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey Lord Admiral of England Wales and Ireland Knight of the Garter Lord Lieutenant 1520. he came over the Wednesday before Whitsontide with an hundred of the Guards and a thousand others Horse and Foot by this the Cardinal obtained a double Advantage first In disappointing his Enemy the Earl of Kildare of the Government of Ireland and secondly In removing the Earl of Surry from the Court of England where he was a great Favourite On Whitsunday the Lord Lieutenant was alarum'd with a Report That Con Buckah O Neal who by Popular Election succeeded his Brother Art had invaded Meath with four thousand Horse and twelve thousand Foot says Paulus Jovius but falsly Surry was in haste to encounter the Rebel not doubting but that the Victory would be an honourable and happy Omen of his future Government and therefore adding to his small Army such of the Militia called The Risings out of City and Country as he could get on so short warning he marched to Slane but O Neal was frightned with the Name of this General and retir'd so fast that the Lord Lieutenant could neither find him nor his Army but not long after O Neal sent Letters to implore Pardon which was granted him on promise of future Obedience On the sixth of September the Lord Lieutenant wrote to the Cardinal That some Soldiers had seized on a Boat with design to be Pyrates but being prevented and apprehended they continued in Gaol because they could not be capitally punished by the Common Law and he had no Clause of Martial Law in his Commission as indeed he had not nor of conferring Knighthood which is strange and the better to ingratiate with the Cardinal he added That the Earl of Kildare will be found guilty of sending Letters to O Carol to raise a Rebellion and that if Kildare should be suffered to come to Ireland the whole Kingdom will be undone and he concludes That there is so great a Scarcity and Dearth in Ireland that the Soldier cannot live on four pence a day and therefore desires that a penny a day may be added to their Pay In October Lib. CCC the King wrote to the Lord Lieutenant That there will never be a thorough Reformation in Ireland until all
City of London to Prison with a Rope about his Neck Nevertheless it so happened afterwards that by the Intercession of the Dean of Litchfield James obtained his Pardon and was sent back home in spight of the Cardinal James Earl of Desmond a Man of great Power and Estate in Munster had for some time designed a Rebellion and to that end by his Agent Anthony Doily had solicited Francis the First the French King for Assistance and entred into Covenants with him anno 1523. however it came to nothing because of the Peace that ensued between both Kings upon which this Intrigue was fully discovered The Deputy had Orders to apprehend Desmond and to that end did march into Munster but either that Earl's Intelligence or Kildare's Correspondence with him prevented the Arrest the latter was vehemently suspected and not without Reason because of the great Friendship and the Consanguinity between them After this the Earl of Kildare and Con O Neal invaded Tyrconnel but upon notice That Hugh O Neal Competitor with Con was up in Tyrone they clapt up a Peace with O Donel and turned their Forces against O Neal whom they totally defeated and slew 1525. Maurice Cavenaugh Arch-Deacon of Leighlin had barbarously murdered his Diocesian Maurice Doran at Glanreynold for which he and his Complices were hanged and their Bowels burnt The last Year there was a great Dearth by reason of a Wet Autumn and this Year there was a great Plague especially about Dublin by reason of a Hot Summer Con O Neal and Manus O Donel Ware 118. repaired to Kildare to reconcile their Controversies 1526. but after many Altercations and Disputes they returned re infecta But Kildare had not only engaged the Birnes to serve the Earl of Desmond Lib. CCC but also by his Letter of the eighteenth of July invited Desmond to meet him in Ossory and this Letter being intercepted by the means of the malicious Cardinal Kildare was sent for to England to answer an Impeachment against him and particularly I. That he did not obey the King's Orders to apprehend Desmond II. That he had contracted Alliance with several of the King's Irish Enemies III. That he had executed several good Subjects only because they were Dependants upon the Family Ormond IV. That he had made private Confederacies with O Connor and other Enemies to invade the Territories of Ormond when he was Deputy Upon this Kildare was imprisoned in the Tower of London and being brought to the Council-Table Cardinal Wolsy then Lord Chancellor as the Mouth of that Honourable Board spoke to him as followeth I wot well my Lord that I am not the meetest at this Board to charge you with these Treasons because it hath pleased some of your Pew-fellows to report That I am a professed enemy to all Nobility and namely to the Giraldines but seeing every shrewd Boy can say as much when he is controlled and these Points so weighty that they should not be dissembled of us and so apparent that they cannot be denied of you I must have Leave notwithstanding your stale Slander to be the Mouth of these Hononrable Lords at this present and to trump your Treasons in your way howsoever you take me First You remember how the lewd Earl of Desmond your Kinsman who passeth not whom he serveth might he change his Master sent his Confederate with Letters of Credence unto Francis the French King and having but cold Comfort there went to Charles the Emperor proffering the Help of Munster and Connaught towards the Conquest of Ireland if either of them would help to win it from our King How many Letters what Precepts what Messages what Threats have been sent you to apprehend him and yet not done Why so forsooth I could not catch him Nay nay Earl forsooth you would not watch him If he be justly suspected why are you partial in so great a Charge if not why are you fearful to have him tried Yea for it will be sworn and deposed to your Face that for fear of meeting him you have winked wilfully shunned his Sight altered your Course warned your Friends stopped both Ears and Eyes against his Detectors and whensoever you take upon you to hunt him out then was he sure aforehand to be out of your Walk Surely this jugling and false Play little became either an honest Man called to such Honour or a Nobleman put in so great Trust Had you lost but a Cow or a Horse of your own two hundred of your Retainers would have come at a Whistle to rescue the Prey from the uttermost edge of Ulster All the Irish in Ireland must have given you the way But in pursuing so needful a Matter as this was merciful God How Nice how Dangerous how wayward have you been one while he is from Home and another while he keepeth Home and sometimes fled sometimes in the Borders where you dare not venture I wiss my Lord there be shrewd Buggs in the Border for the Earl of Kildare to fear the Earl nay the King of Kildare For when you are disposed you Reign more like than Rule in the Land Where you are pleased the Irish Foe standeth for a just Subject Hearts and Hands Lives and Lands are all at your Courtesie who fawneth not thereon cannot rest within your Smell and you smell so rank that you track them out at Pleasure Whilst the Cardinal was speaking the Earl chafed and changed Colour and at last brake out and interrupted him thus My Lord Chancellor I beseech you pardon me I am short-witted and you I perceive intend a long Tale if you proceed in this order half my purgation will be lost for lack of Carriage I have no School-tricks nor Art of Memory except you hear me while I remember your Words your second Process will hammer out the former The Lords associate who for the most part loved Kildare and knew the Cardinal's manner of Taunts so ready being inured therewith many years together humbly besought his Grace to charge him with Particulars and to dwell in some one Matter until it were examined throughly That granted it is good reason quoth the Earl that your Grace bear the Mouth of this Board But my Lord those Mouths that put these things into your Mouth are very wide Mouths such as have gaped long for my wreck and now at length for want of better Stuff are fain to fill their Mouths with Smoak What my Cozen Desmond hath compassed as I know not so I beshrew his naked Heart for holding out so long If he â—an be taken by mine Agents that presently wait for him then have mine Adversaries bewrayed their Malice and this heap of heinous Words shall resemble a Scare crow or Man of Straw that seemeth at a Blush to carry some proportion but when it is felt and poized discovereth a Vanity serving only to fear Crows and I verily trust your Honours shall see the proof by the thing it self within these few
he substituted his Brother Thomas Fitz Girald of Leixlip Lord Deputy but he in a very little time was forced to quit the Sword to Richard Nugent 1527. Lord Baron of Delvin Lord Deputy who could the easier keep the Kingdom quiet because the great Enemies and Competitors the Earls of Kildare and Ormond were both in England and about this time it hapned that the Title of Ormond was taken from Sir Pierce Butler who in lieu thereof was with great Pomp created Earl of Ossory 1528. at Windsor the 23d of February And whoever is curious to see the Copy of the Patent Ware says 1527. and a large and full Account of the whole Solemnity may find it Lib. G. 121 Baker says 1529. in the Library at Lambeth and particularly that he gave the Trumpeters twenty Pounds whereas the great Earl of Tyrone gave them but forty Shillings About the same time Sir Thomas Bullen who had married one of the Daughters and Co-heirs of Thomas Earl of Ormond was as it were Selden's Tit. of Honour 840. in her Right Created Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond and though there is but one Patent for both Titles yet there are several Clauses of Investiture several Habendums and several Grants of Creation-Money It has been already observed That many Irish Potentates had received Pensions for many years on the account of giving Protection to the King's Subjects or at least of sparing them from Plunder and although this scandalous and dishonourable Tribute was duly paid yet the Irish did not perform their Engagements but made frequent Sallies and Incursions as they had opportunity and particularly this very Spring O Connor made an irruption into the Pale 1528. and carryed away much Prey and Plunder into Offaly it seems the L. Deputy was too weak to revenge this Outrage by force Ware 's Annals 121. all that he could do was to withold O Connor's Pension which he did Hereupon the Rebel complained as if he had received the greatest Injury and desired to have a Parly with the Lord Deputy about it on the 12th of May the Lord Deputy consented and came at the time appointed not doubting but that he should convince all the World and even O Connor himself of the unreasonableness of his Demand but alas he was mistaken O Connor did not intend to argue the Matter fairly but was resolved to help himself by a Stratagem as they call it for he perfidiously set upon the Deputy and took him Prisoner and killed and wounded many of his Attendants And thereupon the Council chose Pierce Earl of Ossory Lord Deputy who being returned from England came to Dublin accompanied with O More O Carol and one of the O Connors and a numerous Train The first thing he did was to send a Message to O Connor to enlarge the Lord Delvin but he received a flat Denial and therefore the Lord Deputy and Council did by Act of State suspend the aforesaid Pension and not long after all those Pensions and the like Irish Exactions were suppressed and for ever extinguished by Act of Parliament Ware 122. The Sweating Sickness called Sudor Anglicus was fatal to many of the Irish this Year amongst the rest the Lord Chancellor died of it and was succeeded by the aforesaid Alan a Creature of Wolsy's raised by him to this Office purposely to oppress the Earl of Kildare That unfortunate Earl continuing his Enmity against the Earl of Ossory sent his Daughter the Lady Slane from Newington into Ireland to excite his Brothers and Friends O Neal and O Connor and whomsoever else she could to oppose the Lord Deputy and she was unhappy in being successful in her Negotiation for she procured much Mischief to the Lord Deputy and great Devastations on his Lands which afterward occasion'd great Trouble and Danger to her Father as aforesaid The Famous Emperor Charles the Fifth sent his Ambassador Gonzagues to the Earl of Desmond to stir him to Rebellion The Emperor's Instructions bear Date at Tolâ—do Feb. 24. and are 1529. to treat with Illustrissime il Conde de Desmond c. But this Embassie was ineffectual because that Earl died at Dingle the eighteenth of June 1529. He left one only Daughter who was afterwards married to James the sixth of that Name Earl of Ormond so that he was succeeded in the Earldom of Desmond by his Unkle and Enemy Thomas Moyle And now was the King's Divorce publickly ventilated in England and the Pope revoked his Legates and resumed the Cause to himself which enraged the King and was the Ruine of Cardinal Wolsy In the mean time the King made his Natural Son Henry Fitz-Roy Duke of Richmond and Somerset Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and sent over Sir Willian Skeffington Lord Deputy he arrived in August with Mony and with two hundred Horse accompanied by the Earl of Kildare freed from all his Troubles and were received by the Citizens of Dublin with great Joy His Instructions were I. To preserve the Peace between the Earls of Kildare Desmond and Ossory that so they might be the better able to assist the Deputy and the common Cause II. To be on the Defence only III. To make no Hostings without Advice of Council IV. To assist the Earl of Kildare privately I suppose in his Designs against the Irish V. To moderate the Exactions of the Soldiers VI. To subject the Lands of the Clergy to their part of the Publick Charge VII To call a Parliament And Lastly which is the strangest of all to endeavour to get a Subsidy before the Parliament sit About the same time Edmond Butler Archbishop of Cashel indicted a Provincial Synod at Limerick at which were present Nicholas Bishop of Lismore and Waterford John Bishop of Limerick Ware 125. and James Bishop of Killaloo they gave Power to the Mayor of Limerick to imprison Ecclesiastical Debtors until they pay their Debts without incurring any Excommunication of which Constitution or Canon the inferior Clergy grievously complained alledging That it was a Breach of their Priviledge But let us return to the Lord Deputy who invaded the Territory of Leix 1530. to suppress the Insolencies of O More and O Connor and their Confederates he destroyed O More by slight but frequent Skirmishes And so having preyed the Country he returned with these happy First-Fruits of his Government In the mean time the great Minster of State Cardinal Wolsy came to Disgrace in England and died the last Day of November And about the same time great Jealousies and Misunderstandings began to arise in Ireland between the Lord Deputy and the Earl of Kildare Nevertheless The Lord Deputy took that Earl to his Assistance in his Expedition into Vlster and there they took the Castle of Kinard and returned loaden with Prey and Plunder according to the Custom of those Times And with this Atchievment Hugh O Donel was frighted into a Submission which being himself sick he performed by his Delegates Con O
Faghil Abbot of Derry and Richard O Craghan 1531. who in the behalf of their Master perfected Indentures and swore Fealty to the King in presence of the Lord Deputy Davis 105. at Tredagh on the sixth of May 1531. And at the same time it is probable he made the Proposal mention by Sir John Davis Quod si Dominus Rex velit reformare Hiberniam He and His would gladly be governed by the Laws of England O Sullevan tells us a Story Sullevan 77. with great Ostentation That an English Ship took a Spanish Vessel that was fishing on the Coast of Ireland near the Dursies And that his Grand-Father Dermond O Sullevan Prince of Bear and Bantry having notice of it manned out a small Squadron of Ships and took both the Englishman and the Spaniard and hanged the English Captain but set the Spaniard at Liberty By which may be easily perceived What sort of Inclinations that sort of Men bear to an Englishman and what kind of Loyalty they paid to their King when they murdered his Subjects and cherished his Enemies But the Animosities and Feuds between the Lord Deputy and the Earl of Kildare did every Day increase and at length came to that height that they reciprocally impeached each other in England and Kildare did wisely to sail thither and personally solicite his own Affairs which he managed so successfully that Skeffington was superseded and Girald Earl of Kildare made Lord Deputy in his stead He also procured Alan the Lord Chancellor a Creature of Wolsies to be removed and Cromer Primate of Armagh to be placed in the Chancery July 5. 1532. in his room Nevertheless lest Kildare should grow too powerful the King to ballance him gave the Lord High Treasurers Staff to James Lord Butler who notwithstanding that he was Kildare's Nephew was nevertheless his bitter Enemy and heartily espoused the Quarrels of his Father the Earl of Ossory as it was his Interest and Duty to do But the Earl of Kildare having again gotten the Supreme Power into his Hands little valued the Opposition of his Enemies On the contrary he was transported with the Contemplation of the prodigious Success he had hitherto met with and presumed so far on its continuance that he precipitated himself into many vain and unaccountable Actions for he not only married two of his Daughters to O Connor and O Carol obstinate Enemies to the Crown of England but also with his Forces invaded Kilkenny and destroyed all he found belonging to the Earl of Ossory and his Friends he also persuaded his Brother John Fitz-Girald and O Neal to invade the County of Louth which they burned and preyed without Resistance And all these Extravagances contributed to the Destruction of a Noble Family and to leave this Earl of Kildare an Example to Posterity of the great folly of using Power immoderately On the nineteenth of May 25 Hen. 8. which was anno 1533 and not 1534 as is mistaken in the printed Statutes the Parliament met and enacted I. That sturdy Beggars should not leaze Corn nor any Body out of his Parish And that no Body should give Sheaves of Corn for Reaping or Binding And in all these cases the Corn may be taken away from the Transgressor II. That the Parsonage of Galtrim should be appropriated to the Priory of S. Peter's near Trim. III. That the Royal Fishing of the Banne be resumed into the King's Hands Ware 's Annals 130. But this last Act is not printed At this Parliament the Controversie was renewed between Cromer Primate of Armagh and Allan Archbishop of Dublin about Precedency in Dublin which was determined in favour of the Primate O Carol that married Kildare's Daughter was Tanist and Brother to the deceased O Carol and by the Law of Tanistry claimed the Signiory but the Son of the Desunct being of Age and a brisk Man would not be so served and therefore as Heir to his Father he seized on the Castle of Bi r which the Lord Deputy in favour of his Son-in-Law undertook to besiege and did so but it was in vain for at that Siege he received a Shot in his Head which sent him back faster than he came out and though he regained his Health yet he never recovered his Intellectuals but was ever after as we say A little crackbrained It is reported That when he was wounded he sighed deeply which a Soldier that was by observing he told his Lordship That himself had been shot three times and yet was recovered To whom the Earl replyed Would to God thou hadst also received the fourth Shot in my stead About this time John Allen who had been Clerk of the Council and was now Master of the Rolls a Creature of the deposed Chancellor Alans was sent by the Council into England about Publick Affairs Lib. 〈◊〉 His Instructions were To acquaint the King with the Decay of the Land and that neither English Order Tongue or Habit nor the King's Laws are used above twenty Miles in compass That this Decay is occasioned by the taking of Coyn and Livery without Order after Men's own sensual Appetites and taking Cuddees Garty and Caan for Felonies and Murder Alterages Bienges Saults and Slanciaghs c. And that they want English Inhabitants who formerly had Arms and Servants to defend the Country but of late the English Proprietor hath taken Irish Tenants that can live without Bread or good Victuals and some for Lucre to have more Rent and some for Impositions and Vassalage which the English cannot bear have expelled the English and made the Country all Irish without Order Security or Hospitality Formerly English Gentlemen kept a Retinue of English Yeomen according to the Custom of England to the great Security of the Country but now they keep Horsmen and Kernes who live by oppressing the poor People The great Jurisdiction of the Nobility is another Cause of destroying the King's Subjects and Revenue And the Black Rents which the Irish exact enriches them and impoverisheth the Englishman Also the making of a Native chief Governour and often change of the Lord Deputy are great Faults And ill keeping of the King's Records and putting unskilful Clerks in the Exchequer do occasion much Mischief But the Alienation of the Crown Lands so that the King's Revenue is not sufficient to defend the Realm is the greatest Grievance of all It is probable that these Instructions were kept secret from the Lord Deputy for it cannot be imagined That he would have consented that Articles which in effect were an Impeachment of himself should be communicated to the King and in truth Allen's Errand was to accuse the Deputy and he was imployed so to do by the Archbishop of Dublin the Earl of Ossory Ware 131. Sir William Skeffington and others and he performed his Commission so effectually that the Lord Deputy was sent for by the King's Letter to repair to England and answer the Crimes that were objected against him Kildare
did all he could to evade or at least procrastinate that Voyage which was to be fatal to him and his Family he sent his Wife to use the Interest of her Friends in England and to alledg several vain Pretences and particularly That the ill Posture of Affairs in Ireland could not permit his Absence But all these Contrivances proving ineffectual at last he seriously prepared to begin the Voyage But before he went he furnished all his Castles especially Minooth and Ley with Guns and Ammunition out of the King's Store although he had the King 's express Command to the contrary imparted to him by the Master of the Rolls Allen in the presence of the Bishop of Meath and others and the Act of Attainder also mentions That he furnished the Wild Irishmen being the King 's Mortal Enemies with Arms and Ammunition out of his Majesty's Stores which is not improbable because of his Allyance with O Connor and O Carol. It is certain That Quos Deus vult perdere dementat and the brave Earl of Kildare is a plain Example of it for being ordered by the King to leave a Deputy for whose Fidelity he would answer he substitutes his own Son Thomas Fitz-Girald 1534. a forward rash Youth scarce one and twenty Years old who nevertheless had Qualities worthy of his House and perhaps would in time have exceeded all his Ancestors if by laying this too great Burthen on his weak Shoulders so early they had not broken his Back in the beginning It seems the Earl had some Jealousies of what afterwards hapned and therefore to qualifie his Son 's youthful Passions in some measure before he delivered him the Sword he spoke to him as followeth before the Council at Drogheda where he presently after imbarqued and set sail for England Son Thomas Holingsh 88. I doubt not but you know That my Sovereign Lord the King hath sent for me into England and what shall betide me God knoweth for I know not but howsoever it falleth both you and I know That I am well stept in Years And as I may shortly dye for that I am Mortal so I must in haste decease because I am old Wherefore insomuch as my Winter is well near ended and the Spring of your Age now buddeth my Will is That you behave your self so wisely in these your Green Years as that to the Comfort of your Friends you may enjoy the Pleasures of Summer glean and reap the Fruits of your Harvest that with Honour you may grow to the catching of that hoary Winter on which you see me your Father fast pricking And whereas it pleaseth the King his Majesty That upon my Departure here hence I should substitute in my room such a one for whose Government I would answer Albeit I know that your Years are tender your Wit not setled your Judgment not fully rectified and therefore I might be with good cause reclaimed from putting a naked Sword in a young Mans Hand Yet notwithstanding forsomuch as I am your Father and you my Son I am well assured to bear that Stroke with you in steering your Ship as that upon any Information I may command you as your Father and correct you as my Son for the wrong handling of your Helm There be here that sit at this Board far more sufficient Personages for so great Charge than you are But what then If I should cast this Burthen on their Shoulders it might be That hereafter they would be so far with Envy carried as they would percase hazzard the loss of one of their own Eyes to be assured that I should be deprived of both mine But forsomuch as the case toucheth your Skin as near as mine because as I said before I rest in the Winter and you in the Spring of your Years and now I am resolved Day by Day to learn rather How to die in the Fear of God than to live in the Pomp of the World I think you will not be so brain-sick as to stab your self through the Body only to scarifie my Skin with the Point of your Blade wherefore my Son consider That it is easie to raze and hard to build and in all your Affairs be ruled by this Board that for Wisdom is able and for entire Affection it beareth to your House will be found willing to lesson you with Sound and Sage Advice for albeit in authority you rule them yet in Council they must rule you My Son you know that my late Maims stifle my talk otherwise I would have grated longer on this Matter for a good Tale may be twice told and a sound Advice eftsoons iterated taketh the deeper Impression in the attentive Hearer's Mind But although my fatherly Affection requireth my Discourse to be longer yet I trust your good Inclination asketh it to be shorter And upon that Assurance here in the presence of this Honourable Assembly I deliver you this Sword Thus he spake for his last Fare-well with trickling Tears and having ended he rose up imbraced the Council committed them to God and immediately after imbarked leaving Thomas Fitz-Girald Lord Deputy 1534. to whom both the Allens were bitter Enemies One of them being Master of the Rolls told the Lord Deputy at a Banquet where they were discoursing of Heraldry That his Lordships House gave a Marmoset whose Property it was to eat her Tail To whom the Deputy replyed That he had been fed by his Tail and should take care that his Tail did not eat him Another time the Council waited three or four Hours for the Lord Deputy's coming whereat the Archbishop being dissatisfied he asked the Lords Whether it were not a pretty Matter that all they should stay so long for a Boy Which Words the Lord Deputy over-heard being just coming up Stairs and as soon as he entred he told their Lordships He was sorry they should stay so long for a Boy whereat the Archbishop was somewhat out of countenance The Enemies of the Giraldines had spread abroad a Report that the Earl of Kildare was Beheaded in the Tower and that the same Fate was designed for the Lord Deputy and all his Unkles and Letters were purposely spread abroad to that effect one of which by a strange Accident came to the hands of James de la Hide Principal Counsellor to the Lord Deputy by whose perswasion the Lord Deputy consederated with O Neal O Connor and others and on the eleventh day of June rode through the City of Dublin to Damsgate accompanied with seven score Horsemen in their Shirts of Mayl and there crossed the River and went to S. Mary Abby where the Council according to Appointment waited his coming and whilst he was sitting in Council some of his Followers rudely rush'd into the Council-Chamber Armed as they were and fell to talking aloud until at length Silence being commanded the Lord Deputy spake as followeth Howsoever injuriously we be handled Holingshead 90. and forced to defend our selves in Arms when neither
and Language and not to forestal the Markets of Limerick nor correspond with the Irish And so we come to the Parliament which began at Dublin on the first Day of May and on the last Day of that Month was adjourned to Kilkenny and did there sit the twenty fifth Day of July and on the twenty first was adjourned to Cashel and on the twenty eighth was from Cashel adjourned to Limerick and there it sat on the second of August and continued until the nineteenth and then was adjourned to Dublin to meet the fifteenth Day of September and so after several Prorogations it was finally dissolved the twentyeth Day of December 1537 and enacted as followeth I. The Attainder of the Earl of Kildare and his Complices This Act recites all their Treasons and Retrospects to the eighth Day of July 20 Hen. 8. II. The Parliament reciting That Ireland is appending and belonging to the Crown of England doth make void and nullifie the King's Marriage with the Princess Katharine his Brother's Wife and doth ratifie the Divorce judicially made between them by the Archbishop of Canterbury It also confirms the King's Marriage with Anne Bullen and prohibits Marriage within the Levitical Degrees and orders that Persons so married shall be divorced and their Children after such Divorce shall be illegitimate Then it entails the Crown on the King's Heir Males by Queen Anne and for want of such to his Heirs Males by any other Wife and for want of such to the King's Heirs Female by Queen Anne and particularizes the Princess Elizabeth and the Heirs of her Body c. And that it shall be Treason to Write or Act against the aforesaid Marriage or the Settlement of the Crown and Misprision of Treason to speak against either of those things and deprives the Offenders of Benefit of Sanctuary it makes the Queen and such Counsellors as the King shall appoint Guardians of the Infant King or Queen if it so happen till their respective Ages of sixteen if a Queen and eighteen if a King and prescribes an Oath for the Observation of this Settlement to be taken by the Subject and makes it Misprision of Treason to refuse it III. The Act of Absentees recites the Inconveniences that have happened by reason of the Absence of those that have Estates in Ireland and then vests in the King the Honours and Estates of the Duke of Norfolk the Lord Berkly the Earl of Waterford and Shrewsbury the Heirs General of the Earl of Ormond the Abbot of Furnes the Abbot of S. Augustins of Bristol the Prior of Christ-Church of Canterbury the Prior of Lanthony the Prior of Cartinel the Abbot of Kentesham the Abbot of Osny the Abbot of Bath and the Master of S. Thomas of Dacres 4 Inst 354. And it was resolved anno 1612. That the Earl of Shrewsbury did lose the Title of Earl of Waterford and Viscount Dungarvan by this Statute Nevertheless he had a very good Recompence in England for his Losses in Ireland And it is not unworthy our Remembrance How this Statute came to be made and the Occasion was thus The King being inclined to make Mr. Ailmer who was then Lord Chief justice of the Common Pleas Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench the Earl of Shrewsbury at the instance of some of his Tenants in Waterford or Wexford opposed his Preferment alledging That Ailmer was a silly fellow and unfit for such a Place whereupon the King repremanded the Lord Cromwel for recommending such a Coxcomb to him the Lord Cromwel begs the King to discourse with Ailmer assuring his Majesty That he was misinformed The King consented and Ailmer being come the King asked the true reason of the Decay of Ireland Ailmer Answered That it was because the Estated Men who used to Reside and Defend their own Estates and countenance their Tenants did now generally dwell in England and left Ireland a Prey to the Natives But that if his Majesty would oblige the Estated Men to Residence or seize their Estates to his own use he would soon find a Reformation The King tickled with this Advice gave Ailmer Thanks and assured him Care should be taken of it next Parliament IV. A Suspension or Repeal of Poyning's Act pro hac Vice V. That the King his Heirs and Successors be Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of Ireland and shall have Power to reform redress c. Heresies Errors and Offences c. And that his Commissioners shall take no Proxies for their Visitations but convenient Meat Drink and Lodging on pain of four times the value VI. That there shall be no Appeals to Rome on Pain of Premunire and that the Chancellor with the Consent of the two Chief Justices the Master of the Rolls and the Vice-Treasurer or any two of them may assign Delegates to Hear and Determine all Appeals to the Chief Governour VII An Act against slandering the King or Queen or their Title c. And that those guilty of High Treason shall not have the Benefit of Sanctuary and that Treasons committed beyond Seas may be tried in Ireland and that all Estates of Inheritance ergo Estates Tail shall be forfeited for High-Treason VIII That the Clergy shall pay Annates or First-Fruits i.e. a Years Profit and shall pay or compound before Possession The Chancellor Master of the Rolls and Vice-Treasurer or any two of them whereof the Vice-Treasurer to be one or any others commissioned by the King may compound and give Instalments That the Bonds for First-Fruits shall have the Effect of Bonds of the Staple and eight Pence to be paid for a Bond and four Pence for an Acquittance and no more IX An Act to vest in the King Sir Walter Delahide's Lands in Carbry in the County of Kildare X. That if the Robber or Felon be found Guilty upon an Indictment by means or Prosecution of the Party robbed that then he shall have Restitution as if it had been done upon an Appeal XI An Act to suppress all Tributes Pensions and Irish Exactions claimed by the Irish from Towns or Persons for Protection XII An Act against the Pope to suppress his Usurpations and that it shall be Premunire to defend or assert his usurped Authority or Jurisdiction and that all Persons Ecclesiastical or Lay That have Office or Benefice c. shall take the Oath of Supremacy mentioned in the Act and the Refusal of that Oath shall be Treason It seems there was much Difficulty to get this Act and the former Act for the King's Supremacy to pass both Houses many of the Clergy opposing them stifly until the Archbishop Brown made the following Speech which being well sconded by Justice Brabazon so startled the rest that at length both Bills passed The Archbishop's Speech was thus My Lords and Gentry of his Majesty's Kingdom of Ireland BEhold your Obedience to your King is the observing of your Lord and Saviour Christ Bish Brown's Life 7. for He that High-Priest of our
those in Authority there was so great scarcity of Victuals that a halfpeny Loaf was worth a Shilling And within four or five days the strong Castle of Carrigonel was lost by treachery but it was presently retaken with the Slaughter of sixty Rebels however the Wants of the Army occasioned a Mutiny so that the Soldiers refused to march for want of Pay and the Garrison of Loghguir deserted and a thousand other Inconveniences hapned On the twenty third of April 1537. the Lord Deputy began his Expedition into Offaly against O Connor to revenge the Insolencies of the last year but he was hindred by the abundance of Rain that fell at that time from doing the Execution he design'd Ware 147. so that he was fain to end this Quarrel by a dishonourable sort of Arbitration for although the Damages which O Connor had done were estimated at five thousand Marks yet the Lord Deputy compounded for eight hundred Beeves or six shillings and eight pence apiece in lieu of them but not long after he attack'd the Cavenaghs and O Carol with better Success and forced them to submit and give Hostages It seems that the Lord Deputy had new Instructions to oblige all the Irish by Indenture to own the King's Supremacy and to renounce the Popes Usurpations and to contribute something towards the support of the Government and to send a Quota of Men to every Hosting and to effect this the Lord Deputy marched to Offaly the seventeenth of June and on the eighteenth encamped in O Mulmoyes Country and took the Castle of Eglis on the nineteenth he took Bi r and Modrimye in O Carols Country on the twenty fourth O Kenedy submitted to him in Ormond and the twenty fifth Mac Brian Arra likewise submitted On the twenty sixth the Lord Deputy came to Abby Owny where O Mulrian Vlick Burk of Clanrickard and Tybot Burk Mac William made their Submissions and so on the twenty eighth he came to Limerick where the Mayor and Aldermen took the Oath of Supremacy and swore to renounce the Bishop of Rome's usurped Authority and the Bishop of Limerick did the like without scruple or hesitation and Order was left for the Clergy and Commonalty of that City to follow that Example and that Certificates of their performance be returned into Chancery And it is observable that here one of the O Bryans made Peace for a year and promised to do Service against his Brother Mortagh On the fourth of July the Army came to Bryans-Bridge and had a Skirmish with the Rebels without any Loss and on the sixth demolished the Castles and Bridge and on the eighth the Lord Deputy marched into Thomond and took the Castles of Clare and Ballycolome and on the ninth he came into Clanrickard and took the Castle of Ballyclare and delivered it to Vlick Burk and on the eleventh he came to Galway where the Corporation treated the Lord Deputy and all the English Soldiers gratis for seven days and Vlick Burk did the like to the Irish and the Mayor and Aldermen followed the example of Limerick and took the Oath of the King's Supremacy and renounced the Pope's usurped Authority And here O Flaherty O Maddin and Mac Yoris made their Submissions On the twenty first the Lord Deputy removed to O Kelly's Country where O Connor Mac Henry submitted and thence he went to Mac Coughlan's Country where he took a Castle because Mac Coughlan had not kept his Word with him and so on the twenty fifth he returned to Minooth And it is to be noted That all those that submitted were bound by Indenture as well as Oath to own the King's Supremacy and to renounce the Popes Usurpations but when the King had an Account of what was done be answered by his Letter to the Lord Deputy That their Oaths Submissions and Indentures were not worth a Farthing since they did not give Hostages and so it afterward proved The Earl of Desmond mollified by the Misfortunes of the last Year Ware 147. and fearing the Power of the Lord Deputy who was in the Field with his Army as I have already related sent Letters to the Deputy with Offers of Submission upon Terms but the Expostulations about it were so tedious that the Army for want of Provisions was forced to return however Commissioners were employed to continue the Treaty and conclude an Agreement if they could and in order to it they went to Clonmel but the Earl of Desmond refused to come into a walled Town insisting upon a Fantastical Priviledge which he claimed and thereupon the Commissioners forgetting the Dignity of their Character and the Royal Person they represented dishonourably condescended to go to Desmond's Camp and there they took his Oath of Fidelity and received his Bastard Son Thomas Roe as a Hostage for his performanoe But now the Jealousies between the Lord Deputy and the Earl of Ossory broke out into open Hostility and the Deputy was so extravagantly transported that he sent part of the Army to spoil the Territories of the Butlers he also quarrelled with Archbishop Brown and Allen Master of the Rolls and although Lib. D. by the King's Order their Complaints were heard before the Council of Ireland and the new Commissioners hereafter named and a Reconciliation made between them at least in appearance yet some of them stuck so close to him that at length they procured his Ruine But it should have been remembred that on the first of May Fylemy Roe submitted and on the twelfth of May Cavenagh alias Mac Murrough did the like but O Neal was so far from it that despising the Agreement he had not long before made with the Lord Deputy he undertook to reduce Arglass and in order to it sent an Army under his Son to attack that Town and Castle but assoon as he understood the Lord Deputy was ready to take the Field he immediately proposed a Treaty and on the fifteenth of June he made an Agreement with the Lord Chancellor the Bishop of Meath and Chief Justice Ailmer Commissioners appointed for that purpose and he swore to fight for the King contra omnes homines Mundi Ibid. and not long after died Sir Hugh O Donel Lord of Tyrconnel and was succeeded by his Son Manus who was according to Custom inaugurated on the Rock near Kilmacronan Church But in September there came over four Commissioners viz. Sir Anthony Saintleger Sir George Pawlet Sir Thomas Moyle and Sir William Barnes their business was to enquire into the Abettors of the late Rebellion and afterwards to give a General Pardon And though they were very moderate yet it fell heavy on many of the Pale who were compelled to joyn with the Rebels they had also Authority to assist the Lord Deputy and Council in setling the Revenue and to set the Crown Lands for one and twenty Years for a yearly Rent It was to these Commissioners that Bernard Fitz Patrick made his Submission October 8. and they
indented with him That he should be Baron of Colthil and Castleton and have the Lands in Vpper Ossory granted to him at three Pound per annum And these Commissioners caused the Earl of Kildare's Estate to be surveyed Lib. H. and it amounted to eight hundred ninety three Pound eleven Shillings and eight Pence half Penny per annum which was a mighty Revenue in those Days And in the latter end of the Year viz. the twenty second of February the Earl of Ossory was restored to the Title of Earl of Ormond which was afterwards confirmed to that Noble Family by Act of Parliament anno 1541. On the twenty fifth of July 1538. 1538. the Lord of Trimletstown who was also Lord Chancellor departed this Life and in his stead Sir John Allen Master of the Rolls was first made Lord Keeper of the Great Seal by the Lord Deputy and Council and afterwards on the eigteenth Day of October was made Lord Chancellor by the King In the mean time in the beginning of May the Lord Deputy marched from Trim to pursue O Reyly but he prevented it by his Submission And thereupon the Deputy marched against Savage a degenerate Englishman into Ards and Lecale and there he took Mac Genis his Castle of Dundrum and seven Castles more and wasted and preyed all that Country and which was worse he burnt the Cathedral Church of Downe and defaced the Monuments of the Saints Patrick Bridget and Columbus and committed many other Sacriledges And about the same time Images were every where defaced or taken away and particularly the famous Image of the Blessed Virgin at Trim was burnt and the Oblations and Treasures which many superstitious Votaries had offered there were also taken and carried away And it seems That whilst the Lord Deputy was engaged in the North O Connor on the one side and O Toole on the other fell upon the Inhabitants of the Pale and committed what Robberies and Depredations they pleased and returned Home without Loss But when the Lord Deputy came back and understood what they had done he resolved to be revenged of O Connor and immediately invaded Ophaly and took the Castles of Braghnal and Dingen And in his Letter to the King of the twelfth of August he writes That he forced O Carol and O Magher to give Hostages and that O Carol paid him three hundred Marks to redeliver his Son and desired to take a Patent from the King for his Country but it is not fit to grant it to him because he is False And that the English do now so well understand the Irishmen and Country that if the King will send them Mony they will manage the Irish as he Pleases And in his Letter of the twenty first of March he acquaints the King That Brian O Connor submitted in the open Fild and that he pursued Cahir O Connor until he forced him to come to Dublin to make his Submission there In the mean time the Reformation of Religion went on but very slowly in Ireland for although Archbishop Brown was very zealous for it yet the Primate Cromer was as industrious against it as will appear by the following Letter from Archbishop Brown to the Lord Cromwel Right Honourable and my singular good Lord I Acknowledge my bounden Duty to your Lordships Good-Will to me April 8. 1538. next to my Saviour Christ's for the Place I now possess I pray God to give me his Grace to execute the same to his Glory and his Highness's Honour with your Lordship's Instructions The People of this Nation be Zealous yet Blind and Vnknowing Most of the Clergy as your Lordship hath had from me before being Ignorant and not able to speak right Words in the Mass or Liturgy as being not skilled in the Latin Grammar so that a Bird may be taught to speak with as much Sense as several of them do in this Country these Sorts though not Scholars yet crafty to cozen the poor Common People and to disswade them from following his Highness's Orders George my Brother of Armagh doth under-hand occasion Quarrels and is not active to execute his Highness's Orders in his Diocess I have observed your Lordship's Letter of Commission and do find several of my Pupils leave me for so doing I will not put others in their Livings till I do know your Lordship's Pleasure for it is meet I acquaint you first The Romish Reliques and Images of both my Cathedrals in Dublin took off the Common People from the true Worship but the Prior and the Dean find them so sweet for their Gain that they heed not my Words therefore send in your Lordship's next to me an Order more full and a Chide to them and their Canons that they might be removed Let the Order be That the Chief Governors may assist me in it The Prior and Dean have written to Rome to be encouraged and if it be not hindred before they have a Mandate from the Bishop of Rome the People will be bold and then tug long before his Highness can submit them to his Grace's Orders The country Folk here much hate your Lordship and despitefully call you in their Irish Tongue The Black-Smith's Son The Duke of Norfolk is by Armagh and the Clergy desired to assist them not to suffer his Highness to alter Church Rules here in Ireland As a Friend I desire your Lordship to look to your Noble Person for Rome hath a great Kindness for that Duke for it is so talked here and will reward him and his Children Rome hath great Favours for this Nation purposely to oppose his Highness and so have got since the Act passed great Indulgences for Rebellion therefore my Hopes are lost yet my Zeal is to do according to your Lordship's Orders God keep your Lordship from your Enemies here and in England And in May after he wrote the following Letter Right Honourable MY Duty premised It may please your Lordship to be advertized Sithence my last there has come to Armagh and his Clergy a private Commission from the Bishop of Rome prohibiting his Gracious Highness's People here in this Nation to own his Royal Supremacy and joyning a Curse to all them and theirs who shall not within forty Days confess to their Confessors after the publishing of it to them That they have done amiss in so doing the Substance as our Secretary hath translated the same into English is thus I A. B. from this present Hour forward in the presence of the Holy Trinity of the Blessed Virgin Mother of God of S. Peter of the Holy Apostles Archangels Angels Saints and of all the holy Host of Heaven shall and will be always obedient to the Holy See of S. Peter of Rome and to my Holy Lord the Pope of Rome and his Successors in all things as well Spiritual as Temporal not consenting in the least that his Holiness shall lose the least Title or Dignity belonging to the Papacy of our Mother Church or to
grand Captain four shillings a petit Captain two shillings and an hundred Harquebusses I suppose on Horseback half at eight pence and the other half at nine pence a day makes three pound sixteen shillings and ten pence per diem and an hundred and seven pound eleven shillings and four pence per mensem and per annum 1402 04 02. Mr. Brereton's Retinue a grand Captain four shillings a Captain three shillings a petit Captain two shillings and an hundred and fifty Archers at six pence apiece is four pound four shillings per diem and one hundred and seventeen pound twelve shillings per mensem and per annum 1533 00 00. The Knight Marshal's Retinue a grand Captain four shillings and twenty nine Horsemen at nine pence a day is one Pound eight shilling per diem eleven Pound eighteen shillings per mensem and per annum 0511 00 00. Clerk of the Cheques Retinue ten Horsemen at nine pence and himself a shilling is eight shillings six pence per diem eleven Pounds eighteen shillings per mensem and per annum 0155 02 06 The Treasurers Retinue forty Horse at nine pence and himself at six shillings and eight pence per diem is per annum 0669 03 04 The Lord Deputy's Stipend is per annum 0666 13 04 Master of the Ordnance's Stipend per annum 0048 13 04 Charge of the Ordnance besides what comes out of England is per annum 0040 00 00 7982 06 08 It seems the reason why they had so little Foot was because the Lords and Gentlemen of the Country were bound by their Tenures to assist the King with a certain number of Men at every Hosting or rising out as they call it and as for the Artillery it was so contemptible that I find by one of the Letters from the Council at the Camp that the Army had but one broken Piece and therefore they desire another may be sent them But before we proceed farther in the Affairs of Ireland it will be fit to pay that respect to the Memory of the late Lord Deputy the Lord Grey as to give some Account of his Misfortunes and Destiny He had certainly performed considerable Atchievments in Ireland and great Commendations of him are contained in most of the Letters from the Council to the King and his Majesty did so well approve of his good Services that he Created him Viscount Grany and although the Earl of Ormond the Lord Chancellor Allen the Vice-Treasurer Brabazon and Sir John Travers went with him or immediately followed him into England to impeach him yet he was kindly received by the King and and carried the Sword before him on Whitsunday Nevertheless he was in a short time after imprisoned in the Tower and accused of very many Articles the principal of which are these First That O Connor feasted him and mended Toghercroghan for him and that in favour of O Molloy a Rebel he took a Castle from Dermond O Molloy whose Father-in-Law O Carol was a good Subject for which the Lord Grey had a Bribe and Stephen ap Harry had twenty Cows Secondly That he took the Castle of Bi r from a Loyal O Carol and gave it to a Rebel O Carol who married the Earl of Kildare's Daughter and also took Moderhern a Castle belonging to the Earl of Ormond and gave it to the Rebel O Carol and wasted the Earl of Ormond's Lands for which he had an hundred and forty Kine and Stephen ap Harry had forty and Girald Mac Gerrot had a black Hackny Thirdly That he took forty Kine from O Kenedy a Tenant of the Earl of Ormond's and his Son for Hostage Fourthly That he held secret and private familiar Correspondence with James of Desmond and went to visit him in his Tents in his Night-Gown and forced the Abbot of Owny to give him forty Pounds sterling to preserve that Abby from Ruine and O Brian to give him thirty Kine and Hostages Vlick Bourk a Bastard gave him 100 Marks to have Ballimacleere-Castle and to be made Mac William and that he carried the Artillery in a small Vessel to Galway and made the Town of Galway pay thirty four Pounds for that Carriage Fifthly That the Exploits at Bryans Bridge c. were in favour of O Bryan a Rebel Desmond's Son-in-Law and to the prejudice of Donough O Bryan a good Subject and that he took a Bribe of eighty Kine from Macnemarra Sixthly That trusting Desmond and O Bryan he hazarded the King's Army in a long and dangerous Journy wherein Desmond quarrelled and deserted him and O Bryan sent but one man with a Battle-Ax to guide him Seventhly That he rifled the Abby of Ballyclare and left neither Chalice Cross nor Bell in it Eighthly That he destroyed the Castles of Lecagh and Derriviclaghny in favour of Vlick Burk though the rightful Proprietor offered Submission and Rent to the King Ninthly That he had secret Conference with and received a Horse from O Connor Roe who was the chief Instrument in conveying away the young Fitz-Girald Tenthly That he took eighty Kine from O Maddin and forced O Mlaghlin's Son from Mr. Dillon whose lawful Prisoner he was for which he had seventy Kine And there was a Commission sent to Ireland to examine Witnesses and they say that these Articles were proved by the testimony of above seventy Persons whereof some were of Quality that is some of them swore to one Article and some to another so that the Lord Grey who was Son to the Marquess of Dorset and Viscount Grany in Ireland but no Peer in England being tried by a common Jury thought it his best way to confess the Indictment in hopes of the King's Grace and Pardon but in that he was mistaken and although his Services did infinitely over-balance his Faults yet he was publickly Executed on the twenty eighth day of July 1541. There are four other Articles mentioned by others Holingsh 102. to be laid to his Charge Ware 162. 1. His Partiality to his Nephew Fitz-Girald afterwards Earl of Kildare whom they say he might have taken 2. That his Servants pillaged the Gentlemen in Munster that entertained them 3. That he had inveigled Thomas Fitz Girald to submit by Promises which he had no Commission to perform and that he did it to destroy that Lord that his own Nephew might come to be Earl of Kildare as afterwards he did 4. His Sacrilege at Down But however that be it was not long after his Execution before a Commission was directed to Archbishop Brown and Cowly Master of the Rolls to make an Estimate or Survey of the Lord Grey's Estate in Ireland and to deliver it to the Lord Deputy Saintleger to be disposed of as the King shall direct Sir William Brereton 1540. Marshal of Ireland was sent by the Lord Deputy into Munster to take the Submission of James Fitz-John Earl of Desmond and to bring him to Dublin but the Marshal died at Kilkenny nevertheless the Earl on the
16 of January came to Cahir to Commissioners appointed for that purpose and there he renewed his Oath of Allegiance and delivered his Son Girald to be Hostage of his Loyalty and to be bred after the English manner and by Indenture he renounced that fantastical Privilege which he and his Predecessors had for a long time claimed of not being obliged to appear at the Parliament Lib. D. or come within any walled Town but at their own Pleasure and by the same Indenture did utterly deny and promise to forsake the Bishop of Rome's usurped Primacy and Authority and Covenanted that he would with all his Power resist and repress the same and all that should by any means use or maintain it and that he would contribute and pay his share of Taxes granted by Parliament as the Earl of Ormond and other Noblemen do And afterwards he did come to Dublin and made his Submission in a set Form of Words before the Lord Deputy and Council And it seems that about the same time Hugh Burk made his Submission Ibid. and by Indenture Covenanted to pay the King forty pound per annum for the Captainry of the Burks Country and an hundred Mark upon every Succession of Captainry and to find eighty Gallowglasses and forty Horsemen for six weeks every Hosting and his whole Force for three days whenever the Lord Deputy comes into the Country and also to give Bonnagh or Maintenance for eighty Gallowglasses for six Weeks every year and this Example was followed by many others varying the Proportions of every mans Contribution according to their respective Circumstances And about the same time Lib. 6. was Coyned that Piece of Money Ware 159. which they call King Harry's Groat and two-penny Pieces and Pence of the same Stamp and on the nineteenth of November they were made currant by Proclamation and the carrying them to England was prohibited under severe Penalties The Lord Deputy in the latter end of May went to Limerick 154◠to confer with O Brian about his Submission which I suppose was there performed and soon after he returned to Dublin to meet the Parliament which was summoned to sit there on the thirteenth of June which it accordingly did and continued until the twentieth Day of July and so after several Prorogations and Adjournments mentioned in the Statute Book it was finally dissolved on the nineteenth day of November 1543. There were present at this Parliament the Archbishops of Dublin Ware 160. Cashel and Tuam and the Bishops of Waterford Fernes Emly and 〈◊〉 and to oblige the principal Gentry the King 〈…〉 profuse of Honour than he used to be Enobling no less than six of them at the beginning of this Parliament viz. Edmond Butler Baron of Dunboyne and Bernard Fitz-Patrick Baron of upper Ossory June 11. Sir Oliver Plunket Baron of Louth June 15. William Birmingham Baron of Carbry June 17. John Rawson late Prior of Kilmainham Viscount Clantarfe June 20. and Thomas Eustace Viscount Baltinglass June 29. This Parliament made several good Laws viz. 1. That the King and his Successors be KINGS of Ireland and that it be so proclaimed in every Shire in the Kingdom and that all opposition to this Act or to that Style or Title be Treason 2. That no body shall buy Goods or Merchandizes to sell again except in open Market or Fair on pain of being punished as a Forestaller except Tanners buying Hides to Tan. This Act made perpetual by 11 Eliz. c. 5. 3. That the Plaintiff in Assize may abridge his Plaint 4. That Consanguinity or Affinity not being within the Fifth Degree shall be no principal Challenge against a Jury-man 5. That it shall be Felony in any Servant Apprentices under eighteen years of Age excepted to carry away or inbezil his Masters Goods to the value of forty shillings or upward 6. That Marriages solemniz'd in the Face of the Church and consummate with carnal Knowledge by Persons without the Levitical Degrees shall not be dissolved on any Pretence whatsoever without Carnal Knowledge Vide 2 Eliz. c. 1. 7. That because by reason of Secret Conveyances it is difficult to know the Tenant the Lords may avow the taking of a Distress on the Land without naming the Tenant and that the Avowant shall have Costs and Damages if it be found for him or the Plaintiff be nonsuit 8. That all Religious Persons belonging to the dissolved Abbies and Monasteries c. be capacitated to Purchase Sue c. 9. That the Justices of Peace at their Sessions after Easter and Michaelmas shall appoint the Wages of Artificers and Servants Perpetuated 11 Eliz. cap. 5. 10. That Joynt-Tenants and Tenants in Common may force a Partition by Writ and either of them may have Aid of the other to deraign the Warranty Paramount as in case of Partition between Coparceners 11. That Lessees for Years as to their term only may falsifie covinous Recoveries as the Tenant of the Freehold might do at Common Law and so may Tenants by Elegit or Statute Staple and the Recoverers shall have the same Remedy for Wast and Rent as the Lessors might have had 12. That the Impropriators and other Lay-men entituled to Tithes may sue for them in the Spiritual Court and that in all cases of Appeal from a Judgment for Tithes the Appellant shall pay Costs the Adversary giving surety to refund if it be adjudged against him on the Appeal and upon the Certificate of the Ecclesiastical Judge That he has given a definitive Sentence in case of Tithes two Justices of the Peace whereof one to be of the Quorum may imprison the Party without Bail or Mainprise until he give sufficient Security to obey the Sentence and that all such Writs and Remedies as Fines Writs of Dower c. shall as well be had for Tithes as for Lands by any Person that has a Temporal Interest therein only the Suit for substraction of Tithes must still be prosecuted in the Spiritual Court 13. That the Purchaser of a Signiory or Reversion by common Recovery may distrain or avow without Attornment and that all Avowants may recover Costs and Damage if the Plaintiff be barred in his Action 14. An Act to enable Commissioners therein named to to erect Vicaridges c. 15. An Act against Idlers and Vagabonds which had it been well executed would have reformed Ireland long agone for most of the Mischiefs that have happened to that Kingdom either in War or Peace have proceeded from such loose Fellows as were punishable and might have been reformed by the Statutes against Idlers Rogues and Vagabonds And at another Sessions of this Parliament begun at Limerick the fifth of February 1541. and not 1542 as the printed Statutes make it a former Act restraining the Parliament from sitting any where but at Dublin or Tredagh or from Proroguing or Adjourning above twice or from admiting any Knight Citizen or Burgess to sit unless he were resident at the Place of
the Ordinances already mentioned The Seventh Article is That if any of their Followers break the Peace they will prosecute and pursue him till he make amends And the Eighth is That they will not exact any Black Rents for the future from the Inhabitants of Cork Youghal or Kingsale And it seems that about this time Commissioners were appointed in every Province to decide the Controversies instead of Brehons viz. in Connaught the Bishops of Tuam and Clonfert and the Captains Wakely and Ovington in Munster the Bishops of Cork and Waterford and the Mayors of Cork and Youghal and in Vlster the Archbishop of Armagh and Lord of Louth And it is to be noted Davis 215. That these Submissions were so universally made all over the Kingdom that there was not a Lord or Chieftain of any note in Ireland but submitted in this or the like Form for they made no scruple to renounce the Pope when once they had resolved to obey the King And by these Means the Kingdom was so quiet and there was so great a Prospect of a Settlement that several of the Principal Lords of the Irish took Patents for their Estates and desired Titles of Honour according to the Law of England which hitherto they had despised But alass Ireland is an unfortunate Country that cannot be happy any considerable time and notwithstanding these dawnings of Felicity it must expect nothing but War and Desolation and this fourth general Submission of the Irish will be as vain and ineffectual as the other three and will manifest to the World That that Kingdom is not to be governed by Kindness but by Force But let us not anticipate our Misery by dreadful Prognostications of War but rather enquire into the management of Affairs during the short interval of Peace And first we shall find the great O Neal in September sailing toward England accompanied with the Bishop of Clogher and attended with many Gentlemen his Followers He came to the King at Greenwich where he was well received and having surrendred his Estate to the King and covenanted 1. To renounce the Name of O Neal. 2. That he he and his Followers should use English Habit Language and Manners 3. That their Children should learn English 4. That they should build Houses and husband their Land in English manner 5. That they should obey English Laws and not Cess their Tenants nor keep more Gallowglasses than the Lord Deputy allows And 6. That they should answer all general Hostings as those of the Pale do and shall not succour any of the King's Enemies On the first of October his Estate was regranted to him by Patent and he was created Earl of Tyrone for Life with remainder to his Son Matthew who for the present was made Baron of Dunganon in Tayl and two of his Followers Denis and Art Mac Genis were knighted and the Bishop of Clogher was confirmed and the Earl after his return was on the seventh Day of May sworn one of the Privy Council of Ireland In like manner the Earl of Desmond pursuant to his Promise repaired into England where he was graciously received and having made his Submission he returned with Orders likewise to be of the Privy Council In the mean time the Lord Deputy on the twenty fourth Day of May made an Order of Agreement between the Macgenis's and did the like between the O Carols on the second of July And on the fourth of July the O Birnes did submit by Indenture and granted the Town and Castle of Wicklow to the King and also surrendred to his Majesty the Castle of Mac Eningham and all spiritual Livings in their Possession Lib. D. They also covenanted to find one hundred and twenty Gallowglasses and their Servants for three Months when the Counties of Carlow and Kildare do so and twelve Horse and twenty four Foot at every Hosting and to raise their whole Force and keep them three days on any emergency And it is allowed by the Deputy that O Birn shall have twenty four Kerns called Kerne Tee for this year at the Charge of the Country as is usual wherewith he promises to aid the Sheriff and if O Birn misbehave himself the Lord Deputy may give the Kerns next year to whom he pleases And 't is agreed That no body shall keep Idlers but in his own House and concludes Quod si posthac ad morem Hibernicorum resilierit vel cum Hibernicis aliis susurraverit confederaverit vel consentierit impedire vel obstare Reformationi Hiberniae quam Dominus Rex intendit that then they will forfeit all And it seems that at the same time they proposed to have their Country made a County Davis 104. by the Name of the County of Wicklow and that in consideration thereof they would divide it into eight Plow-Lands and pay ten Groats per annum for ever to the King out of each Plow-Land On the 19th of November Thomas Butler was made Baron of Cahir and in the beginning of the next year Maurice O Bryan 1534. and Vlick Burk induced by the Example and Success of the Earl of Tyrone went to wait upon the King in England and having made their Submissions and surrendred their Estates O Brian obtained a Grant of all his Lands in Thomond and all the Abbies and Patronage of Benefices in the King's Gift within his Precincts to him and his Heirs Males and he was made Baron of Insiquine to him and his Heirs and Created Earl of Thomond for Life with a remainder to Donough O Bryan and his Heirs for ever who for the present was made Baron of Ibracane but whether this Donough were Nephew or Natural Son of the Earl's is not very plain This Lord of Ibrahcan had also an Annuity of twenty Pounds per annum granted to him in Tail and the Abby of Insula Canonicorum and half the Abby of Clare and the King bore the Earl of Thomond's Charges and gave him an Order to be of the Privy Council As for Vlick Burk he had likewise his Charges born and was Created Earl of Clanrickard and his Estate was regranted to him and the Abbies and Patronage of all Benefices within his Precincts The Cocquets of Galway were excepted in the Patent but in lieu of them the Earl had a Pension of thirty Pound per annum and the third part of the First-Fruits and the Abby of Via Nova or Confert And about the same time the Lord of Upper Ossory obtain'd a Grant for Fairs and Markets and the House of the Friars at Haghevo and the Monastery of Hackmacart and to each of these four Noblemen Davis 219. viz. the Earls of Desmond Tyrone Thomond and Clanrickard the King gave a House and a Parcel of Land near Dublin to encourage them to make their Appearance frequently at Court And it is to be noted Council Book of Ireland fol. 73. That many times the chief Governors of Ireland instead of Risings out and
they procur'd as good a Bed-fellow for the Ambassador though she was of meaner Quality this Liquorish Harlot unfortunately met with a small Bottle of choice Balm valued at two thousand Crowns which was given to the Bishop by Solyman the Magnificent when he was Ambassador in Turky she was invited by its Odour to try its Relish and it seems liked it so well that she licked it all out whereat the Bishop grew so outragious and loud that he discovered his Debauchery frightned the Woman away and made sport for the Irishmen and his own Servants After this the Bishop met with O Neal and the Titular Primate Robert Wachop in a secret place and heard the Overâ—ures of them and their Confederates and it is not to be doubted but they came to an Agreement because the Bishop soon after went to Rome but being unable to separate the Pope from the Interests of the Emperor this Negotiation had no effect In the mean time two of the Cavenaghs viz. Cahir Mac Art of Polmonty and Girald Mac Cahir of Garochil had fierce Contests about their Territory at length it came to a Battel as it were by consent and about an hundred on each side were slain but Cahir Mac Art had the better of it and finally obtain'd that Signiory But the Exchequer being empty the Lord Deputy designed to levy a Tax upon the People but the Earl of Ormond would by no means suffer that 〈…〉 whereupon the difference grew so high between him and the Lord Deputy that at last it came to mutual Impeachments whereupon both of them were sent for to England and by the King's Mediation were reconciled whilst the ambodexter Allen was imprison'd in the Fleet and deprived of the Great Seal and Sir Thomas Cusack was made Lord Keeper and not long after viz. about the twenty eighth day of October the Earl of Ormond and thirty five of his Servants were poyson'd at a Feast at Ely-House in Holborn so that he and sixteen of them died but whether this hapned by Accident or Mistake or were done designedly could not be discovered Sir William Brabazon was sworn Lord Justice on the first of April 1546. although his Patent bore Date the sixteenth of February Ware 174. In his time hapned a strange and unnatural Action for Bryan Lord of Upper Ossory sent his own Son Teige Prisoner to Dublin where he was executed and in July Patrick O More and Bryan O Connor with joint Forces invaded the County of Kildare and burnt Athy but the Lord Justice immediately pursued them and leaving a Garrison at Athy he marched into Offaly and made a Fort at Dingen now Philipstown and forced O Connor to fly into Connaught But the Necessities of the State obliged the King to Coyn Brass or mixt Moneys and to make it currant in Ireland by Proclamation to the great dissatisfaction of all the People especially the Soldiers and about the same time Edward Basnet Dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin and the Chapter after some Reluctancy surrendred their Possessions to the King Three Things are observable in the Letters during this King's Reign 1. None of them do mention either the Year of our Lord or the Year of the King's Reign though all of them do take notice of the Day of the Month whereby this Part of the History was so perplex'd and confus'd that I will not promise that I have always guess'd the time aright though I have used my utmost diligence and endeavours to do so 2. All the Letters of this Reign conclude thus So knoweth God to whom we pray for your Graccs Prosperity or to that effect but these Words So knoweth God are always in although in the subsequent Words there is some Variation according to the Fancy of the Writer 3. Most of the Letters from the great Irish Lords even some of English Extraction are subscribed with a Mark very few of thembeing able to write their Names Sir Anthony Saintleger Lord Deputy returned on the sixteenth day of December with Sir Richard Read who was made Lord Chancellor in the room of Cusack and Cusack was made Master of the Rolls And thus stood the Government of Ireland during the Reign of King Henry the Eighth who Died on the twenty eighth day of January in the thirty eighth Year of his Reign and of his Age the fifty sixth THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI. KING OF England France AND IRELAND EDWARD 1546. the Sixth of that Name since the Norman Conquest was born at Hampton Court on the twelfth Day of October 1537. and succeeded his Father in the tenth Year of his Age on the twenty eighth Day of January 1546. and on the first of February Edward Seymour who was the King's Unkle by the Mother was made Protector of the King and Kingdoms and was afterwards created Duke of Somerset and on the twentieth Day of February the King was crowned at Westminster with great Solemnity Sir Anthony Saintleger continued in the Government of Ireland Ware 177. at first by the name of Lord Justice and afterwards by the Title of Lord Deputy and he proclaimed the new King on the twenty sixth Day of February 1547. and not long after Sir Richard Read was made first Lord Keeper and afterwards Lord Chancellor and the Earl of Desmond was constituted Lord Treasurer of Ireland on the twenty ninth Day of March and on the seventh Day of April the Privy Council was sworn viz. Sir Richard Read Chancellor George Archbishop of Dublin Edward Bishop of Meath Sir William Brabazon Vice-Treasurer Sir Girald Ailmer Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench Sir Thomas Luttrel Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas James Bath Esq Lord chief Baron of the Exchequer Sir Thomas Cusack Master of the Rolls and Thomas Houth Esq one of the Judges of the King's Bench to whom afterwards others were added But the O Birnes took advantage of the Change of the Government and hoping that the Infancy of the King would occasion Disturbances in the State they began to be very unruly and troublesome insomuch that the Lord Deputy was necessitated to invade their Country he pursued them so close that he slew their Captain and drove themselves into the Woods and Fastnesses He also took two of the Fitz-Giralds who had formerly been Proscribed and now joyned with O Toole and he brought them and other Prisoners to Dublin where they were executed Nor were Patrick O More and Brian O Connor less forward than the rest but briskly invaded the County of Kildare and loaded themselves with Prey and Plunder but the Lord Deputy came seasonably to intercept them and having killed two hundred of the Rebels upon the Place the rest of them with their light-footed Captains fairly ran away But the Government of England wisely considering the fickle Inclinations of the Irish and the danger of a general Defection of that Nation from a Protestant King seasonably provided for that Kingdom so that Edward Bellingham with the
Title of Captain General brought over six hundred Horse and four hundred Foot whose Pay came to twelve hundred and twenty six Pound per Month viz seven hundred and seventy Pound for the Horse and four hundred fifty six Pound for the Foot and about Midsummer they landed at Waterford and being joyned by the Lord Deputy they invaded the Countries of Leix and Offaly and proclaimed O More and O Connor Traytors and having dispersed the Forces of the Rebels the Lord Deputy repaired the Fort of Dingen and built the Fort of Campaum alias Prolector now called Maryburgh whereupon O More and O connor were forced to submit and Bellingham was knighted and made Marshal of Ireland The Castle of Athloan was likewise repaired and garrisoned by Special Orders from England and the Vice-Treasurer Brabazon had the Care and management thereof and performed it effectually in spight of the great Opposition he met with from Dominick O Kelly and other Great Men of Connaught And this auspicious Year did also produce the mighty Victory which the English obtained over the Scots at Mussleburgh But as the Reformation proceeded in England 1538. so the Popish Zeal and Superstition increased in Ireland Ware 180. and the Pale it self began to be disturbed with it for Richard Fitz-Eustace and Alexander his Brother Sons of the Viscount Baltinglass were busie forming a Rebellion in the County of Kildare but the Presence of the Lord Deputy without Blows brought them to a Submissiom and stifled this Infant Conspiracy in the Cradle and it was well it did for this rebellious Distemper was very infectious and in a little time would have spread over the whole Kingdom the Lord of Baltinglass himself was a little tainted with it but by the means of Sir Edward Bellingham when Lord Deputy the Viscount was pardoned In the mean time the Lord Deputy Saintleger was sent for to England and carried with him O More and O Connor as Prisoners but upon their Submission they were received into Favour and honoured with a Pension of one hundred Pound per annum out of the Exchequer during their Lives which O More enjoyed not very long for he died within the Year suddainly at London Sir Edward Bellingham who had been sent into England with an Account of the Submission of the County of Kildare was now sent back Lord Deputy he landed at Dalkye on Whitson-Eve and two Days after he received the Sword at Christ-Church according to Custom He was a Zealous Protestant and a brave Soldier and by his means Sir John Allen was again made Lord Chancellor As soon as he was setled Davis 62. he marched into Leix and Offaly against Cahir O Connor and others that were brewing new Treasons there and forced them to submit and brought the Country to that degree of Subjection that he is said to be the first Man since Edward the third's time that enlarged the English Borders beyond the Pale and from Offaly the Lord Deputy marched to Delvin against Mac Coughlan whose Country he totally destroyed The Lord Deputy had express Orders to set up a Mint at Dublin which he did but it continued but a very little time for want of Bullion And this Year on the twenty second Day of April the City of Dublin which at first was governed by a Provost and by King Henry the Third subjected to a Mayor and Bayliffs and by Henry the Fourth was honoured with a Sword obtained their Bayliffs to be changed into Sheriffs and John Rians and Robert Eyons were the first two Sheriffs that were chosen or appointed for that City In the mean time Sir Francis Bryan who had married the Countess Dowager of Ormond and was made Marshal of Ireland and Governour of the Counties of Typerary and Kilkenny could by no means agree with the Lord Deputy their Differences grew at length to that height that Sir Francis impeached the Lord Deputy in England and prevailed to have him sent for to answer the Accusation But whilst that affair was transacting Ware 182. Teige O Carol plyed his own Business diligently and after a stout Defence he took and demolished the strong Castle of Nenagh and drove the English out of that Country In Vlster Manus O Donel quarrelled with his Son Calvagh and at length it came to Blows so that on the seventh Day of February Calvagh was routed and Manus Mac Donough O Cahan and many of his Followers were slain In the Lower Delvin Teige Mac Mlaghlin and Edmond Fahy with their united Forces did all the Mischief they could and almost totally destroyed that part of Mac Coughlans Country Nevertheless the Lord Deputy sent an Irish Brigade under the command of Donough O Conner accompanied with the Sons of Cahir O Connor to aid the King in his War against Scotland On the eighteenth of November Cormock Roe O Connor who was proclaimed Traytor came to Dublin and with Tears in his Eyes begged Pardon of the Lord Deputy and Council in Christ-Church and had it But being of a turbulent Spirit he soon after relapsed into Rebellion and being taken by the Earl of Clanrickard he was sent to Dublin and hanged so true is that Observation of Caesar Williamsons Nec gentem ullam reperies Cui peccare slere magis naturale est It is worthy Observation Holingsh 109. That though the Earl of Desmond for his Quality and vast Estate was made Lord High Treasurer yet he was not of the Privy Council nor indeed qualified to be so for he was Rude and Savage both in Apparel and Behaviour he had neither Learning nor Manners but lived after a barbarous fashion in the Country among the Wild-Irish and perhaps had not so much as a Glass-Window to his Houses and yet he was the best landed Subject in the King's Dominions About Christmas the Deputy sent for him to Dublin but he refusing the Lord Deputy himself with about twenty Horse made that haste to Munster that he took the Earl sitting by the Fire in his own House not at all suspecting that Expedition And it was well for him that he was so surprized for he was not only brought to Dublin and instructed in his Duty to his Prince and in good Manners and Civility towards his Fellow-Subjects but was also by the Lord Deputy's means pardoned and restored to the King's Favour so that he continued a good Subject ever afterwards during his Life and was so grateful to his Benefactor the Lord Deputy that he would pray for him constantly after every Meal And now it happened that the Earl of Tyrone Macguire Fylemy Roe O Neal 1549. and others referr'd all their Differences to the Lord Deputy and Council who on the twentieth day of June made their Decree wisely ordering Independency on O Neal. Therere are Copies of all these Decrees at Lambeth Lib. D. And they are to the same effect as that of Macguire's viz. Quod erit liber Ware 184. exemptus ab omni subjectione
aut servitio dicto Comiti Tyrone suisque Haeredibus impendendo ac immediate parebit obediet Domino Regi sub ejus pace defensione perpetuo remaenebit suaeque Celsitudini de tempore in tempus solvet Bonagium Bonnaught caetera omnia Debita quoties ad id per Dominum Deputatum Concilium requisitus rogatus fuerit c. And on the eighteenth of July the like Order was made between O Donel and his Sons and several Proprietors of Tyrconel and O Donel's Authority was limited and both Parties were obliged to obey the Order on pain of forfeiting all their Estate And about the same time Brian Mac Mahon and Hugh Oge made their Submissions at Kilmainham and were pardoned the five hundred Marks they had forfeited by breach of their former Articles Lib. D. In the mean time the Scotch Islanders sent some Forces to the assistance of the Irish in Vlster but Andrew Brereton with five and thirty Horse met with two hundred of them and defeated them with great slaughter and by his good Conduct quieted Vlster and was therefore made General or Governor thereof But the Lord Deputy being recall'd took Shipping at Houth on the 16th day of December and being offered Testimonials of his good Government from the Council he modestly refused saying That if his Innocence would not defend him he would use no other Remedy than his Belief of the Resurrection of the Dead He was certainly a brave Man and an excellent Governor and would have been sent back with Honour if his Infirmities whereof he died the next year had not prevented it Sir Francis Bryan 1549. Lord Justice was chosen by the Council on the twenty 7th day of Decemb and sworn at Christ-Church in Dublin on the 29th but he enjoyed this Honour but a little while for the County of Typerary being infested by O Carol the Lord Justice made a Journy thither in favour of the young Earl of Ormond who was but twelve years old to protect the Country and on the second of February died at Clonmel whereupon Sir William Brabazon Lord Justice was elected by the Council he committed the Government of the County of Typerary to Edmond Butler Archbishop of Cashel and made a Journy to Limerick where Teig O Carol submitted and entred into Covenants of paying a yearly Tribute into the Exchequer and of serving the King with a certain number of Horse and Foot at his own charge and of renouncing his Pretences to the Barony of Ormond and afterwards the same Teig O Carol surrendred to the King his Country of Ely O Carol containing ninety three Plow-Lands and a half and the King re-granted the same to him and Created him Baron of Ely and by O Carol's means Mac Morough O Kelly and O Mlaghlin were now taken into Protection and Pardoned and by the Lord Deputy's Mediation the Earls of Desmond and Thomond who were wrangling about Bounds and the protection of each others Tories or Out-laws were reconciled on the eleventh of March Lib. D. and about the same time Dermond O Sullevan a great man in the County of Cork was together with his Castle or dwelling-House accidentally blown up by Gunpowder and his Brother Amalfus who succeeded him was likewise not long after killed But Bulloign being restored to the French on the twenty-fifth day of April 1550. the King was thereby enabled to send eight thousand Pound of the Money received there and four hundred men of that Garrison into Ireland which he did And thereby the Lord Justice was put into a Condition of pursuing Charles Mac Art Cavenagh Ware 188. who was again in Rebellion and was proclaimed Traytor and the Lord Justice acquitted himself so well in that Matter August that he killed many of Cave-nagh's Followers and burnt the Country But the French King hearing that the English marched an Army into Scotland lookt upon that Assault of his Ally as a Breach of the Peace with him and therefore sent an hundred and sixty small Vessels with Ammunition and Corn to assist the Scots it hapned that sixteen of them were shipwrackt on the Coast of Ireland however the King of England to obviate any Designs the French might have against his Dominions set forth a Fleet of twenty Ships and Pinnaces under the Lord Cobham which guarded two Harbors on the South and one in the North toward Scotland On the twenty third of October Richard Butler second Son of Pierce Earl of Ormond was Created Viscount Mountgarret and a little before that viz. on the tenth of September Sir Anthony Saintleger Ware 190. Lord Deputy returned to Ireland and Sir Thomas Cusack was made Lord Chancellor To this Deputy Mac Carty submitted in humble Manner and was pardoned and it seems that this Lord Deputy had Orders to call a Parliament but I do not find that there was any in Ireland during this King's Reign On the fourth of November Charles Mac Art Cavenagh made his Submission to the Lord Deputy at Dublin in presence of the Earls of Desmond Thomond Clanrickard and Tyrone the Lords Mountgarret Dunboyn Cahir and Ibracan and renounced the Name of Mac Morough and parted with some of his usurped Jurisdiction and Estate But let us cast an eye on the Affairs of the Church and we shall find that the Reformation made but small progress in Ireland since the same year produced Bishops of each sort for on the tenth of May Arthur Macgenis was by provision of the Pope constituted Bishop of Dromore and confirmed therein by the King and Thomas Lancaster a Protestant was on the third day of September made Bishop of Kildare However Bish Brown's Life 13. on the sixth of February the King sent the following Order for the Liturgy of the Church of England to be read in Ireland in the English Tongue EDWARD by the Grace of God c. Whereas our Gracious Father King Henry the Eighth of happy Memory taking into consideration the bondage and heavy yoke that his true and faithful Subjects sustained under the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome as also the Ignorance the Commonalty were in how several fabulous Stories and lying Wonders misled our Subjects in both our Realms of England and Ireland grasping thereby the Means thereof into their hands also dispensing with the Sins of our Nations by their Indulgences and Pardons for Gain purposely to cherish all ill Vices as Robberies Rebellions Thefts Whoredoms Blasphemy Idolatry c. He our Gracious Father King Henry of happy Memory hereupon dissolved all Priories Monasteries Abbies and other pretended Religious Houses as being but Nurseries for Vice and Luxury more than for Sacred Learning Therefore that it might more plainly appear to the World that those Orders had kept the Light of the Gospel from his People he thought it most fit and convenient for the preservation of their Souls and Bodies that the Holy Scriptures should be Translated Printed and Placed in all Parish-Churches
this Journey the Deputy received the Submissions of some of the Irish and drove others of them into Fastnesses About this time the Name of the King at Arms who was formerly called Ireland was changed to that of Vlster and Nicholas Narbon Richmond Herald in England was the first King at Arms by the Name of Vlster Ware 192. and upon his Death Bartholomew Butler succeeded him June 21. anno 1552. But upon the Lord Deputy's Return to Dublin Matthew Baron of Dungannon complained to him against his Father the Earl of Tyrone whereupon that Earl was imprisoned which enraged his other Sons to that degree that they burnt and destroyed that part of the Country which belonged to Matthew On the other side the Baron being assisted by the English resolved to revenge that Injury and at length it came to a Battel which was doubtful for some time but ended in the Defeat of Matthew and the Slaughter of two hundred of his Soldiers English and Irish Nevertheless the Earl of Tyrone remain'd confin'd to stay within the Pale until at the end of three Months he gave Hostages in February and returned to Vlster And about the same time O Connor made his escape out of the Tower of London but was retaken and again imprisoned but Mac Coghlan being weary of wandring in the Woods made his Submission and was restored to his Territory of Delvin And the Publick Records were removed from Birmingham's Tower to S. Patrick's Library in Dublin The Year 1552 1552. was propitious to the Noble Family of the Giraldines for Girald Son of the last Earl of Kildare whose miraculous Preservation hath been already mention'd was now received into Favour and on the twenty fifth of April was restored to Minooth and good part of his Estate and about two years after in the Reign of Queen Mary viz. on the thirteenth of May 1554. he was Created Earl of Kildare Lib. G. and Baron of Ophaly at Westminster But Donough Earl of Thomond who had that Title confirmed to him and his Heirs Males in January last had great Contests with his Unkle Daniel who claimed the Estate by Tanistry but at length by the Mediation of the Lord Deputy they came to an Agreement which is mentioned in an Indenture Tripartite between the Deputy the Earl and Daniel O Bryan Dated May 9 1552. In the mean time Sir Nicholas Bagnal was sent against Hugh Mac Morough and they came to a Battel which was so well fought on both sides that the Loss as well as the Victory is uncertain But the Garrison of Athloan had better Success at Cluan macnoise where they robbed or destroyed all they met with not sparing even the Church-Books The Lord Depury marched to Vlster and repaired and garrison'd the Castle of Belfast but it seems he brought but a small Army in expectation that the Baron of Dungannon would joyn him with his Forces and indeed the Baron designed it and endeavoured it but his Brother Shane O Neal surprized his Camp by night and routed his Army with a great Slaughter Whereupon the Lord Deputy returned to Dublin and intended for England but he was stopped for a while by Sir Henry Knolls whom the King sent over with Intelligence that the Queen of Scots had sent O Connor's son to Ireland to raise new Commotions but as soon as it was understood that his Negotiation was ineffectal the Lord Deputy prosecuted his former Resolution and embarked at Houth on the fourth of December and pursuant to the King's Letter of the seventh of November Sir Thomas Cusack Lord Chancellor and Sir Girald Ailmer Lord Chief Justice were chosen Lords Justices on the sixth of December and soon after one of the O Neals was imprisoned in Dublin for spreading false News about the late Lord Deputy but he was on the thirtieth of December enlarged on Bail In the mean time on the twenty eighth of December Lib. D. Hugh Mac Neal Oge of Clandeboy made his Submission to the Lords Justices or rather to the King and swore Allegiance and Agreed and Covenanted by Indenture to forfeit all if he ever relapsed or apostatized again Whereupon the King granted to him the Abby of Carrigfergus and Liberty to keep three Secular Priests as also the Castle of Belfast But Ireland was unhappy not only by the Civil Dissentions in Vlster between the Earl of Tyrone and his Son Shane O Neal and by the Scarcity of Provisions insomuch that a Kilderkin of Wheat was sold for four and twenty shillings which in the following year was sold for five shillings but also by the Death of Sir William Brabazon who died in July and was one of the most faithful men to the English Interest that had appeared in Ireland from the Conquest to that day The King was advised to lower the Value of Brass Money and to make the Bell-Groat currant at two pence and no more and also to build a Castle at Baltimore to oblige the Fishermen to pay Tribute the former he performed but the later as unpracticable was neglected or postponed The Earl of Thomond and his Unkles Donald and Trelagh were again at open Wars notwithstanding the aforesaid Agreement made between them by the Government February They took the Town of Cluanroad but the Earl defended the Castle for a time but not long after he was murdered by his Unkle Donald and was succeeded by his Son Cnogher whose Mother was Helen April Daughter of Pierce Earl of Ormond 1553. About the same time Teig Roe O Mlaghlin murdered Neal Mac Fylemy of the same Family coming from Molingar but the Murtherer was not long after slain in Battel by the Baron of Delvin and the Garrison of Athloan and in Connaught Richard Burk was at variance with the Sons of Thomas Burk Buckagh the issue whereof was that Richard was taken Prisoner and an hundred and an fifty of his Men slain Nor were the Contests less between Richard Earl of Clanrickard and John Burk the Earl besieged John's Castle but Daniel O Bryan came to John's Relief and forced the Earl to raise the Siege But whilst these things were doing the King died at Greenwich on the sixth Day of July in the seventh Year of his Reign aud the sixteenth Year of his Age. THE REIGN OF MARY QUEEN OF England France AND IRELAND MARY 1553. eldest Sister of the deceased King notwithstanding King Edward's Will and all the Endeavours that were used against her did succeed her Brother in the Throne and although she was Kept out of Possession by the Lady Jane about twelve Days so that she was not proclaimed at London until the nineteenth Day of July Yet there being no Interregnum in England her Reign must be computed from the sixth of July being the Day of her Brother's Death It may seem strange That the Protestants did so easily submit to her or that the Kingdom of Ireland should at all own her for their Queen Because I. She was the Issue
is made in England and so the English Statute of 35 Hen. 8. was in effect a Repeal of the Irish Statute of 28 Hen. 8. cap. 2. as it was actually a Repeal of the English Statute of the same tenor and effect But to proceed Sir Thomas Cusak Lord Chancellor and Girald Aylmer Lord Chief Justice continued Lords Justices and to them the Council of England on the twentieth Day of July sent an account of the Succession of Queen Mary together with a Proclamation wherein she was stiled Supreme Head of the Church 1553. which was read in Dublin and other Cities and Towns of Ireland as is usual and Orders were soon after sent to continue all Officers in their Places and another Proclamation To give Liberty of the Mass to all that would was likewise sent over and afterwards the Queen was crowned by Gardiner Bishop of Winchester Ware 204. on the first day of October and she gave a General Pardon to both her Kingdoms of England and Ireland In the mean time O Connor and his Complices were busie about the Invasion of Offaly but by the Prudence of the Lords Justices they were easily suppressed September Nor had O Neal better Success in the County of Lowth for though he did abundance of Mischief there yet the Lords Justices with the Militia of Dublin and such others as they could on a suddain scrape together gave him a great Defeat near Dundalk where he lost many of his Men. And on the eleventh of November Sir Anthony Saintleger Lord Deputy arrived at Dalkye and on the nineteenth he took the usual Oath and received the Sword in Christ Church Dublin and the Lord Chancellor Cusack's Patent was also renewed Cormack Mac Coghlan with the Aid of the Baron of Delvin made War against Mac Coghlan and invaded his Territory and though little more was done at first than the burning of some few Villages yet this was the beginning of a Contest so fierce and so tedious that at length the Territory of Delvin was entirely ruined Owen Macgenis was by the Lord Deputy admitted to be Chief of his Sept and Captain of his Country on the sixth of December upon his Oath of Fidelity to the Queen and her Successors and upon these Conditions following viz. 1. That he should not admit any Provisions from Rome Lib. D. but oppose them all he could 2. To serve the Queen with all his Power when Occasion required 3. To maintain twenty four Horse and sixty Foot and a Company integr prelium of Gallowglasses at every Northern Expedition of the Deputy for three Days going and three Days returning at his own Charge 4. To have no Correspondence with the Scots 5. To give the Wife and Daughter of Donel Macgenis their due 6. That he should not oppress the Queen's Subjects but assist them and the Queen would assist him against any of his Followers that should rebel 7. That he should pay one hundred Cows but this last was remitted him by the Deputy George Dowdal Archbishop of Armagh who fled beyond Seas in the Reign of King Edward was now recalled and restored to the Title of Primate of all Ireland and had the Priory of Athird given him for Life He held a Provincial Synod at Tredagh where they made some Progress towards restoring Popery 1554. and depriving the married Clergy but in April it went farther and the Primate and Dr. Walsh elect Bishop of Meath received a Commission to deprive them and accordingly Staples Bishop of Meath was for that reason deprived on the twenty ninth Day of June and in the latter end of the same Year the like was done to Brown Archbishop of Dublin Lancaster Bishop of Kildare and Traverse Bishop of Leighlin and the two other Protestant Bishops viz. Bale Bishop of Ossory and Casy Bishop of Limerick fled beyond the Seas In the room of these Protestant Bishops Popish Prelates were substituted Doctor Walsh was made Bishop of Meath and afterwards died in Exile in Queen Elizabeth's Reign Hugh Curvin succeeded in the See of Dublin as Thomas Levereuse did in that of Kildare Thomas O Fihely was by the Pope made Bishop of Leighlin Hugh Lacy was constituted Bishop of Limerick and John Thonory got the Bishoprick of Ossory but his Leases were afterwards avoided because Bale was never deprived and therefore he being alive at the time the Lease was made 2 Cro. 553. continued Bishop in Law and so Thonory had no power to dispose of any thing belonging to that See and in that case it was likewise adjudged that the King of England may nominate and appoint Bishops in Ireland without the Formality of a Conge de Eslâ—â—â— and that the Statute of 2 Elizabethae is for so much in Affirmance of the Common Law The Popish Bishops did take an Oath to the Queen in these Words Ware de Praesulibus 188. Ego A. B. Episcopus D. electus Consecratus profiteor me habere tenere ownes temporales Possessiones dicti Episcopatus de manibus vestris Successoribus vestris Angliae Regibus ut in jure Coronae Regni vestri Hiberniae vobisque Successoribus vestris Angliae Regibus fidelis ero ita me Deus adjuvet sancta Dei Evangelia But how well they kept that Oath I need not relate because it is notorious In November came over Girald Earl of Kildare who was restored the thirteenth of May before and Thomas Duff Earl of Ormond and Brian Fitz-Patrick Lord of Upper Ossory all which had behaved themselves exceeding well against Sir Thomas Wiat This Fitz-Patrick is famous for extraordinarily loving and being beloved of King Edward the Sixth and on the ninth of February Charles Mac Art Cavenagh was created Baron of Balian for Life and after his Death his Brother Dermond had the same Title The Queen ordered that the Army should be reduced to five hundred but that was not thought reasonable in Ireland However to comply as far as they could with her Majesties Orders they did reduce the Army to six hundred Foot and four hundred and sixty Horse and a few Kerns but were forced in a short time afterward to raise more and to send for fresh Supplies out of England In the mean time Lib. D. Daniel O Bryan claiming by Tanistry had great Contests with the Earl of Thomond about that Estate he had before this murdered the Earl's Father and though for the present they were reconciled by the Mediation of the Lord Deputy and Council about Michaelmas yet it was not long before their Dissentions broke out again But the Irish Historian Mr. Sullevan gives a very different Account of this Matter and tells us That the Lord President Fitton got Daniel O Bryan into Limerick upon his Oath that he would give him free and safe egress out of the Gates but the Sophistical Englishman turn'd him out of the wrong Gate so that there was the River of Shenin between him and his Army which was
Enemy's Camp and it succeeded according to his Desire for O Neal's Army being over-confident of their Numbers and despising the Weakness of their Adversaries had made no preparation to resist an Assault which they did not suspect and wanting such Scouts Out-guards and Centinels as Martial Discipline required and as was usual in all well-governed Armies they were easily surprized and defeated and Shane O Neal himself was forced to make use of his Heels As to Ecclesiastical Affairs there was a Provincial Synod held at Dublin Anno 1555 which made some Constitutions about the Rites and Ceremonies to be used in the Church and afterwards the Church-Goods and Ornaments were restored and particularly those belonging to the Churches of Dublin and Drogheda and although many Gleabs continued Lay-Fees during all the Reign of Queen Mary yet at the Request of Cardinal Poole her Majesty restored the Possessions of the Priory of Kilmainham and Oswal Messemberg was confirmed Prior by Patent dated the eighth of March 1557. but afterwards he fled beyond Seas and the Possessions of that Priory and of that Order in Ireland were by Act of Parliament annexed to the Crown in Queen Elizabeth's Reign There was also a Provincial Synod held at Drogheda this Year by Archbishop Dowdal and therein Leave was given to Husbandmen to work certain Days in Harvest The Lord Justice having on the twenty fifth Day of April received the Submission of O Reyly and his Fealty or Oath of Allegiance 1558. did on the twenty seventh surrender the Sword to Thomas Earl of Sussex Lord Deputy who brought over with him five hundred Soldiers and an Order to coyne Brass-Money and to make it currant by Proclamation which he did On the fourteenth of June he began his March to Munster against Daniel O Brian he came to Limerick and advanced forwards into Thomond he scattered the Rebels and took the Castles of Bunratty and Clare and then restored the Country to the Earl of Thomond who together with the Freeholders of that Country did on Sunday the tenth day of July swear on the Sacrament Lib. NNN and by all the Relicks of the Church as Book Bell and Candelight they are the very Words of the Herald's Certificate to continue Loyal to the Queen and to perform their Agreements with the Lord Deputy On the twenty first of June the Earl of Desmond made his Submission to the Deputy at Limerick and on the twenty sixth the Lord Deputy was God-father to the Earl's Son whom he named James Sussex and gave the Child a Chain of Gold and gave another Chain and Pair of gilt Spurs to Dermond Mac Carthy of Muskry whom he also knighted The Lord Deputy caused a Soldier to be nailed to a Post for drawing his Sword in the Camp contrary to Proclamation and then marched to Galway where he was well received especially by the Archbishop of Tuam and the Bishops of Clonfert and Clonmacnoise who with the Clergy met him in Procession On the fifteenth day of September the Lord Deputy shipped his Army at Dalky and sailed to Raghline and though he lost one Ship in the Storm yet he pursued his Design and took the Island and placed a Colony and a small Garrison in it and thence he invaded and wasted Cantire in Scotland Nor did the Islands of Aran and Comber escape the like Desolation and he intended as much against the Island of Ila but he was by ill Weather forced to put in at Carigfergus and so having burnt many Villages which were possest by the Scots in Vlster he returned to Dublin on the eighth day of November Sir Henry Sydny was sworn Lord Justice on the eighteenth of September by virtue of a Patent dated at Richmond the fourth of August and now when the Earl of Sussex return'd he was sworn anew on the tenth of November and had a new Patent bearing date the seventeenth day of August 1558. The Lord Deputy had a new Great Seal sent him out of England and also new Seals to the other three Courts which he delivered to the Lord Chancellor Chief Justices and Chief Baron in the Council Chamber and about the same time a Party of the Islander Scots that came into Connaught to the Assistance of one of the Burks was defeated by the Earl of Clanrickard and most of them slain And because the Author quotes the Most Reverend and Learned Primate Vsher and the Memorials of the Most Noble and Industrious Richard Earl of Cork for the following Story I will insert it verbatim as it is already printed in the Life of Archbishop Brown Queen Mary having dealt severely with the Protestants in England about the latter end of her Reign signed a Commission for to take the same Course with them in Ireland and to execute the same with greater Force she nominates Dr. Cole one of the Commissioners Sending the Commission by this Doctor who in his Journey coming to Chester the Mayor of that City hearing that her Majesty was sending a Messenger into Ireland and he being a Church-Man waited on the Doctor who in discourse with the Mayor taketh out of a Cloak-Bag a Leather-Box saying unto him Here is a Commission that shall lash the Hereticks of Ireland calling the Protestants by that Title the good Woman of the House being well affected to the Protestant Religion and also having a Brother named John Edmunds of the same then a Citizen in Dublin was much troubled at the Doctor 's Words but watching her convenient time whilst the Mayor took his Leave and the Doctor complementing him down the Stairs she opens the Box and takes the Commission out placing in lieu thereof a Sheet of Paper with a Pack of Cards the Knave of Clubs faced uppermost wrap up The Doctor coming up to his Chamber suspecting nothing of what had been done put up the Box as formely The next day going to the Water-side Wind and Weather serving him he sails towards Ireland and landed on the seventh of October 1558. at Dublin then coming to the Castle the Lord Fitz-Walters being Lord Deputy sent for him to come before him and the Privy Council who coming in after he had made a Speech relating upon what account he came over he presents the Box unto the Lord Deputy who causing it to be opened that the Secretary might read the Commission there was nothing save a Pack of Cards with the Knave of Clubs uppermost which not only startled the Lord Deputy and Council but the Doctor who assured them He had a Commission but knew not how it was gone Then the Lord Deputy made answer Let us have another Commission and we will shuffle the Cards in the mean while The Doctor being troubled in Mind went his way and returned into England and coming to the Court obtained another Commission but staying for a Wind at the Water-side News came unto him That the Queen was dead And thus God preserved the Protestants in Ireland This Queen died on the seventeenth day of
November 1558. And it is observable That though she was a very zealous Papist yet the Irish were not quieter during her Reign than they were under her Brother but on the contrary their Antipathy against Englishmen and Government induced them to be as troublesome then as at other times and prevailed with Mr. Sullevan to give this severe Character of her Reign Sullevan cath hist. 81. That although the Queen was zealous to propagate the Catholick Religion yet her Ministers did not forbear to injure and abuse the Irish Quae tametsi catholicam Religionem tueri amplificare conata est ejus tamen Praefecti Conciliarii injurias Ibernis inferre non destiterunt THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH QUEEN OF England France AND IRELAND ELIZABETH 1558. the only surviving Child of Henry the Eighth succeeded her deceased Sister Queen Mary on the seventeenth day of November 1558. and in the five and twentieth year of her Age the Parliament who were all Papists then sitting she was by their common consent immediately Proclaimed Queen And though Mary and Elizabeth could not be both legitimate no more than their Father could have two Wives at once for if the first Marriage and Dispensation were not good then was Queen Mary spurious and if they were valid then was Elizabeth the Issue of an adulterous Bed yet by a rare Example of Fortune they both enjoyed Successively the Dominions of their Father and Elizabeth succeeded as Heir to Mary But nothing in History is more strange than that the Papists who had the whole Power in their hands should so peaceably accept of a Queen who according to their Doctrine and by Act of Parliament primo Mariae was a Bastard and by Report was a Protestant and not so much as make one Essay in behalf of the Queen of Scots who was a Catholick Princess and in their Opinions the right Heir But the true Reason was because they believed Elizabeth would declare her self a Catholick and also marry the King of Spain both which Matters she managed so wisely that even the King of Spain himself was deceived thereby iâ— perhaps his Dread and Hatred of the Scots the ancient Allies of France did not prevail with him to favour Elizabeth even though she should prove a Protestant rather than see the English Crown placed on the Queen of Scotland who had espoused the Interests of France and was inseparably linked to them Nevertheless it must be confessed That the Statesmen of that time whose Interests and Designs were Popish were much overseen and did not build their Conjectures upon Reasons that were any thing solid for it was Elizabeth's greatest Interest to regard her own Legitimacy and it was notorious that by marrying King Philip her Sister's Husband she must justifie by her own example the Marriage of Henry the Eighth with his Brothers Wife and by submitting to the Authority of the Pope she must at least tacitly allow his Dispensation for the Marriage of Henry the Eighth and Princess Katherine both which things would by consequence bastardize her and render her Reign and Life precarious The Papists quickly perceived their Oversight and to redeem that Error fell into a worse and refused to Crown their Sovereign whom they had but a little before unanimously Proclaimed but at length it was performed by Doctor Oglethorp Bishop of Carlisle on Sunday the twenty fifth of January 1558. Thomas Earl of Sussex was Lord Deputy of Ireland and with an Army of one thousand three hundred and sixty Foot and three hundred and twenty Horse had kept that Kingdom for some time in a more peaceable and quiet condition than usually him the Queen continued for a while and sent him Instructions written by Sir William Cecil's own hand viz. That a new Survey should be made of all Lands Spiritual and Temporal and no Leases to be made but on the best Survey Secondly Lib. C. The Leases for Customs of Ports not to be renewed without increase of Rent Thirdly Leix Offaly Irys Glanmaliry and Slewmarge to be distributed according to Act of Parliament to Tenants and their Heirs Males Fourthly The Exchequer to be regulated according to that of England and a Book about the Methods of the Exchequer Signed by the Queen and subscribed by the Officers of that Court was sent to the Deputy but not long after he was recalled and thereupon the Council elected Sir Henry Sydny Lord Deputy whose Government was something troublesom by means of Shane O Neal who took upon him the Name of O Neal and disclaimed the English Jurisdiction because by the Laws of England he could not inherit for Henry the Eighth had given the Earldom of Tyrone to Con O Neal with Remainder to his Son Matthew whom for the present he made Baron of Dungannon as hath been already related This Con had two Sons Matthew and Shane but Shane alledging that Matthew was a Bastard and the Son of a Smith of Dundalk as inded he had been reputed for fifteen years did claim the Inheritance and having murthered his Brother Matthew and imprisoned his own Father who thereupon died with grief he set up for himself and broke out into Rebellion The Lord Deputy marched to Dundalk to fortifie and defend the English Pale and sent for Shane O Neal who lay at a House of his six Mile from Dundalk to come to him thither but Shane desired to be excused and prayed that the Lord Deputy would be pleas'd to be his Gossip and that then he would come and do all that should be requisite for her Majesties Service and though this seem'd dishonourable that the Deputy should be Gossip to a Rebel before Submission yet the necessity of the Queens Affairs required it and therefore he consented and on the last day of January he and James Wingfield Christned the Child After the Solemnity was over the Deputy expostulated with Shane about his Rebellion O Neal alledged the Bastardy of Matthew and that Con's Surrender was void because he had but an Estate for Life in his Principality nor could have more by the Law of Tanistry nor could surrender but by consent of the Lords of his Country and that even by the English Laws the Letters Patens were void because there was no Inquisition taken before they were pass'd nor could there be any Inquisition till Tyrone were made Shire-ground That he was elected O Neal by the Country according to custom and that he is the legitimate Son and Heir of his Father and that his Title to all he claims is by Prescription The Deputy replied That the Matter was of great moment and that he doubted not but that the Queen would do what was right and just and therefore advised him to a quiet and loyal Deportment till her Majesties Pleasure were known and so they parted in a friendly manner and by this means Shane O Neal continued pretty quiet during this Deputy's Government but on the twenty seventh of August Thomas Earl of Sussex 1559.
Knight of the Garter came over Lord Lieutenant Lib. C. says Burlace Lord Deputy says the Statute-Book He arrived at Bullock and was sworn in Christ-Church on the thirtieth day of August His Instructions bear Date the tenth of May and are to this effect First That the Army or rather Garrison shall be three hundred twenty six Horse eight hundred sixty four Foot and three hundred Kern Secondly That Port-Corn shall be reserved towards victualling the Army Thirdly That he endeavour to People Vlster with English and to recover Lâ—cale Newry and Carlingford from the Scots and to recompence Sir Nicholas Bagnal for his Interest in Vlster Fourthly Lib. H. That Mac Cartymore be ordered to hold his Estate after the English manner as the Earls of Thomond and Clanrickard do And he had also other Instructions to him and the Council to set up the Worship of God as it is in England and to make such Statutes next Parliament as were lately made in England mutatis mutandis and to dispose of Leix and Offaly to the best Advantage of the Queen and the Country This Lord Deputy held a Parliament at Dublin on the twelfth day of January which enacted the following Laws and then was dissolved on the twelfth of February First That the ancient Jurisdiction over the State Ecclesiastical and Spiritual be restored to the Crown And Foreign Authority abolished and that the Acts of Appeals and Faculties be revived and also as much of the Act of Marriage as concerns Consanguinity And the Act of Repeal made the 3 and 4 Philip and Mary repealed And an Act of 3 and 4 Philip and Mary to revive three Statutes concerning Heresie and the three Statutes therein named be repealed except so much thereof as concerns Premunire And that the Queen and her Successors may appoint Commissioners to exercise Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction And that all Officers and Ministers Ecclesiastical or Lay all Ecclesiastical Persons and every one that has the Queen's Wages shall take the Oath of Supremacy on pain of losing his Office And shall be uncapable to take any Office Ecclesiastical or Temporal if he obstinately refuses the Oath tendered to him He that sues Livery or takes Orders must take the Oath And a Penitent upon taking the Oath shall be restored to his Office of Inheritance He that shall extol maintain or advance Foreign Jurisdiction shall for the first Offence lose his Goods and if they be not worth twenty Pound then a Years Imprisonment without Bail besides and if it be an Ecclesiastical Person shall likewise lose all his Benefices and the second Offence to be Premunire and the third High-Treason provided the Prosecution for Words be within half a Year after the speaking Nothing shall be adjudged Heresie but what has been so by the Scripture first four General Councils or some other General Council by express Words of Scripture or shall be by Act of Parliament That there must be two Witnesses And that no Man be esteemed as Accessary till two Witnesses prove he knew the guilt of the Principal before he relieved him c. Secondly An Act for Uniformity of Common-Prayer Thirdly An Act for Restitution of the First-Fruits and twentieth part of Spiritual Benefices to the Crown Fourthly An Act for consecrating Archbishops and Bishops Bramhal 438. And it is observed by Archbishop Bramhal That no Papists ever did or could make the least Objection against the Ordination of the Protestant Bishops in Ireland For besides that Archbishop Brown the first Protestant Bishop in Ireland was ordained by the Bishops of Canterbury Rochester and Salisbury and many of the Irish Bishops were ordained by Brown The very Popish Bishops did assist at the Consecration of most of the Protestant Bishops and complied with the Government and kept their Sees until they had sacrilegiously betrayed the Church and alienated most of its Possessions one Bishoprick being left so poor that it had but forty Shillings per annum Ware de Praesulibus 27. and another but five Mark Thus Loftus Archbishop of Armagh was consecrated by the Popish Archbishop Curwin Ibid. 128. 59. Thomas Lancaster the first Protestant Bishop of Kildare Ibid. 148. was consecrated by Archbishop Brown and John Merriman Ibid. 188. the first Protestant Bishop of Down and Connor was consecrated by Lancaster when Primate Bale Bishop of Ossory was consecrated by the Popish Bishops of Armagh Kildare and Down Casy Bishop of Limerick was consecrated by Archbishop Browne assisted by the Popish Bishops of Kildare Ferns and Leighlin c. Fifthly An Act of Recognition of the Queen's title Sixthly That it be Premunire to say the Queen has no Right to the Crown and Treason to write it Seventhly That the Priory of S. John of Jerusalem be united to the Crown The Parliament being dissolved the Deputy went immediately to England to give an Account thereof and by the Queen's Orders substituted Sir William Fitz Williams 1559. Lord Deputy he was sworn in Christ Church on the fifteenth of February and his Patent bears date at Westminster the eighteenth day of January 2 Eliz. In his time Shane O Neal broke out again into Rebellion Cambd. 121. and overthrew O Reyly in the Field and took Calagh O Donel Lord or Chief of Tyrconnel Prisoner together with his Wife and Children and afterwards lived with her in Adultery and kept her by Force and he seized upon O Donel's Castles Lands and Goods and in all things behaved himself as King of Vlster 1560. And about the same time Money which in King Henry the Eighth his Days was much debased was raised near to the intrinsick value and Sterling Money was stamped but it was made currant at a fourth part more than it passed for in England so that an English nine Pence was twelve Pence Irish and so it continued until the Year 1601. when her Majesty's vast Expence in Ireland forced her by the Advice of the Lord Buckhurst to mingle Brass with the Silver which was therefore called mixt Monies but the Government then was so steady that the Soldiers suffered it without Mutiny although it was of infinite Prejudice to them But to proceed Thomas Earl of Sussex came over again Lord Lieutenant 1560. I suppose in April for on the seventh of May the Queen sent him Orders to perswade the Earl of Kildare to go to England and that the Queen would lend him Money in England on his Bond and if the Earl refused then the Lord Lieunant was to shew him the Queen 's positive Commands to that effect and if he still declined the Voyage then the Lord Lieutenant was to apprehend him This Lord Lieutenant brought with him new Instructions Lib. C. 1. To build Castles in Leix and Offaly and to people those Countries by granting Estates to the Planters and their Heirs Males 2. To settle Vlster and to admit Surleboy Tenant to the Lands he claims in Fee binding him to contribute to the Publick Service
3. To reduce Shane O Neal by force or otherwise 4. To invest the Baron of Dungannon in the Earldom of Tyrone if the Lord Lieutenant think fit 5. To apprehend the O Brians that oppose the Earl of Thomond 6. To make the Clerk of the Council Secretary of State 7. To make a Statute of Uses next Parliament 8. To grant Estates Tayl by Patent to all the Irish that will surrender 9. To reserve the best Rent that was at any time heretofore reserved on the Crown Leases and the Tenant to find a Horseman for every forty Pound Rent and a Footman for every six Pound thirteen Shillings and four Pence and if any Lease be voidable to let the Tenant renew increasing his Rent according to the best Survey 10. To augment the Revenue in granting of Wards and making them sue Livery and to collect and print the necessary Statutes It seems this Lord Lieutenant managed his Affairs well in Vlster 1561. although the Particulars are not recorded any where that I could find Lib. â— for on the sixth day of January Shane O Neal made his Submission to him and thereupon on the twenty second of the same Month he went to England leaving Sir William Fitz Williams Lord Justice 1562. who was sworn on the second Day of February and continued until the twenty fourth day of July and then Thomas Earl of Sussex Lord Lieutenant returned again and finding that the inconstant Shane O Neal had apostatized into Rebellion he prepared as fast as he could to reduce him to Obedience but the Winter approaching so near he was forced to adjourn his Design till the Spring and then on the first day of April he set forward 1563. and on the ninth there hapned a Fray between some Kirne in his Camp to the Slaughter of two or three of them but the Lord Lieutenant by his Authority composed that Matter On the thirteenth of April the English discovered an Ambush laid by Shane O Neal and fell upon them so that one and twenty of the Rebels were killed On the sixteenth the Lord Lieutenant passed over the Blackwater and took a Prey of two hundred Kine And on the twenty sixth he came back to Dundalk On the first of June he advanced again to Dungannon and quartered there and the next day came to Tulloghoge and undestanding that O Neale and his Party were in a Fastness not far off the English attacked them and drove them farther into the Woods And on the third of June the English took eighty Cattle and killed four or five Rebels And on the fourth the Army returned to Armagh And on the sixth day of June they took a Prey of three thousand Kine and one thousand five hundred Garons and Mares which were divided among the Soldiers and so the Army returned to Drogheda Hereupon O Neal being shrewdly terrified Cambden 121 and being also advised by the Earl of Kildare made his Submission to the Lord Lieutenant and promised to do the like in England which he performed in the presence of the Embassadors of Sweden and Savoy and upon his Promise of amendment he was taken into Favour and the Queen gave him some Presents and lent him two thousand five hundred Pound and ordered Sir Thomas Worth and Sir Nicholas Arnold whom she sent Commissioners into Ireland to establish a College at St. Patrick's Church c. to make an Enquiry about a Complaint that O Neal had made That one John Smith had design'd or attempted to poyson him After his Return home he behaved himself civilly and loyally for some time he assail'd the Scots and slew their Captain James Mac Conal and drove them out of Vlster he protected the poor from Injury and was orderly in every thing except his Tyranny over the Lords and Gentlemen of Vlster whom he challenged to be his Vassals Whereupon Macguire and others complained to the Government but O Neal disdaining to have his Princely Claim tried in a Court grows enraged at Macguire for putting the Dilemma upon him either of running into Rebellion again or submitting his Title to the Lord Lieutenant's determination 1564. and in this Fury O Neal invades Fermanagh expels Macguire burns the Cathedral Church of Armagh and besieges Dundalk but the Valour of the Garrison preserved the place till William Sarsfield Mayor of Dublin and a choice Band of Citizens raised the Siege nevertheless O Neal spoil'd and wasted the adjacent Country The Lord Lieut to revenge this proceeded briskly against O Neal Burlace 126. but before he could bring his Designs to perfection he was recalled in his time the Country of Annaly was made Shire-Ground and is called the County of Longford and Connaught was divided into six Counties Clare Galwey Sligo Mayo Letrim and Roscomon he also erected a kind of a Post-Office for the better Correspondence between England and Ireland Holingsh 114. And yet there are some who not without probability attribute these good Works to Sir Henry Sydny On the first of February there hapned a bloody Conflict between the Earls of Ormond and Desmond Lib. P. at Athmean or Affane in the County of Waterford where the latter lost two hundred and eighty of his Men but not long after the Lord Lieutenant was recalled and Sir Nicholas Arnold 1565. Lord Justice was sworn the twenty fifth of May and had an Army or rather a Garrison of fifteen hundred and ninety six Soldiers with which he made a shift to keep what he had but he did not enjoy that Honour long before Sir Henry Sydny Knight of the Garter Lord President of Wales came over Lord Deputy he Landed on the thirteenth of January and was sworn the next Sunday after being the twentieth he was received with great joy being a Person of whose excellent Government that Kingdom had long Experience and when he received the Sword he made an eloquent and pithy Speech to this effect setting forth what a precious thing good Government is and how all Realms Commonwealths Cities and Countries do flourish and prosper Hooker 111. where the same is orderly in quiet Justice and Wisdom directed and governed Secondly What a continual Care the Queens Highness hath had and yet hath not only for the good guiding and ruling of the Realm of England but also of Ireland which she so earnestly desireth and wisheth to be preserved as well in Peace as in War That she hath made great Choice from time to time of the most Grave Wise and Expert Counsellors for the one and the most Valiant Skilful and expert Men of Arms for the other That both in Peace and Wars the publick State of the Commonwealth and every Member therein might be conserved defended and kept in Safety under her Government And for the performance thereof her Majesty over and besides the Revenues of the Crown of Ireland did yearly far above any of her Progenitors expend of her own Coffers out of England great Masses of Money
amounting to many thousand Pounds All which her excessive Expences and continual Cares she made the less Account of so that her Realm and Subjects of Ireland might be preserved defended and governed Lastly Notwithstanding her Majesty might have made better Choice of many others who were better able to hold her Place in this Realm both for Honour Wisdom and Experience yet her Pleasure was now to cast this heavy Charge and Burden upon him Which he was the more unwilling to take upon him because the greater the Charge was the more unable and weak he was to sustain the same nevertheless being in good hope and well promised of her Highnesses Favour and Countenance in his well-doings and having his Confidence in them her Highnesses Counsellors assciated to him to join Aid and assist him in this Government he was and is the more ready to take the Sword in Hand in hope that this his Government shall be to the Glory of God the Honour of her Majesty the Benefit of the Commonwealth and the Preservation of the whole Realm and People of the same And so making his earnest Request to the said Lords present for their conjoyning with him and the aiding and assisting of him in this her Majesties Service he made an end of his Speech This Lord Deputy brought with him Instructions Signed by the Queen on the Fifth day of October 1565 and were to this Effect First That a Privy Council be named and established and sworn before the Lord Deputy as is usual and he was directed to consult and use their Advice and they were to respect and reverence his Quality and both to conspire the Good of the Realm Secondly Hooker 111. That Religion and Knowledge of the Scriptures should be propagated and encouraged by Doctrine Example c. And the Church-Lands and Estates preserved from Waste and Alienation Thirdly That the Law be administred uprightly and insufficient Judges and Officers removed and a Sheriff placed in every County Fourthly That the Army be kept orderly not oppressing the Subject that Musters be once a Month and Enquiry made whether the Soldiers be Englishmen or not and how paid Fifthly That Care be taken of the Revenues of the Crown The Privy Council being sworn they consulted the State of the Kingdom which they found in this miserable condition The Pale was over-run with Thieves and Robbers the Countriman so poor that he had neither Horse Arms nor Victuals for himself and the Souldier so beggarly that they could not live without oppressing the Subject for want of Discipline they were grown insolent loose and idle and which rendred them suspected to the State they were allied by Marriage to the Irish and intimate with them in Conversation Leenster was harrass'd by the Tools Birns Kinshelaghs O Morroghs Cavenaghs and O Moors but especially the County of Kilkenny was almost desolaâ—e Munster by the Dissentions between the Earls of Desmond and Ormond was almost ruined especially Tipperary and Kerry the Barony of Ormond was over-run by Pierce Grace and Thomond was as bad as the rest by the Wars between Sir Daniel O Bryan and the Earl of Thomond Connaught was almost wasted by the Fewds between the Earl of Clanrickard and Mac William Outer and other losser Contests And Vlster which for some time had been the Receptacle and Magazine of all the Preys and Plundcr goâ—â—en out of the other Provinces and so was riches than the rest was in open Rebellion under Shane O Neal. As for Religion Hooker 114. these was but small Appearance of it the Churches uncovered and the Clergy scattered and scarce the Being of a God known to those ignorant and barbarous People therefore for the present it was resolved to fortifie the Pale against O Neal and to remedy the rest of the Mischiefs as fast as they could Ormond and Desmond were now in England bandying their Cause before the Queen and Council but they differing in Matter of Fact it was necessary to examine their respective Witnesses by Commission in Ireland and upon return thereof the Queen undertook to determine their Controversies and the Earls were by Recognizances in Chancery of twenty thousand Pounds bound to stand to the Queens Award But whilst this was doing Sullevan 87. Sir John of Desmond with great violence and outrage invaded and fired part of Ormond's Estate and killed his Brother which nevertheless did not hinder but that this Matter was afterwards appeased Mac Carthy More the Chief of that Name a great Lord of Munster went over to the Queen and surrendred his great Estate unto her which she reconveyed to him by Letters Patents and when he had sworn Fealty she paid the Charges of his Journey and made him Earl of Glencar and Baron of Valentia on the twenty fourth day of June 1565. and on the eighteenth day of July O Sullevan Bear likewise took a Patent for his Estate Lib. M. wherein was inserted a Proviso That he pay such Rents and Services as are due to the Earl of Glencar But that the Reader may perceive the Slavery of that Age and Nation I will shew him by what Services O Sullivan More who was himself a great Lord and is by the Irish stiled Prince of Dunkerran held his Estate of Mac Carthy More Which were as followeth First To aid him with his whole Strength on Summons and to be the Marshal of his Army Secondly Every Arable Plow-land to pay five Gallow-glass or Kern or six shillings eight pence or a Beef for each at the Election of Mac Carty More Thirdly That Mac Carty shall have half a Crown for every Ship that comes to Fish or Merchandize in O Sullevan's Harbors Fourthly To have Merchandizes brought thither at the same Rate as O Sullevan has his Fifthly To entertain Mac Carty More and his Train two Days and Nights at Dunboy and at all other times he has occasion to travel that way to entertain Mac Carty and his Body-Servants and to quarter the rest on the Country Sixthly He is to send Horse meat to Palliâ—e for Mac Carty's Saddle Horses and pay the Groom three shillings four four pence out of every arable Plow-land Lastly He must find the Hounds Grey-hounds and Spaniels of Mac Carty whenever they come and one shilling and eight pence per annum to the Huntsman out of every arable Plow-land But to proceed Shane O Neal was so much dissatisfied at the Nobilitating of Mac Carty that he carried himself exceeding arrogantly despising the English Titles of Honour and to Commissioners that were sent to parly with him 1566. he said That though the Queen were his Sovereign Lady yet he never made Peace with her but at her seeking And That she had made a wise Earl of Mac Carty More but that he kept as good a Man as he That he cared not for so mean a Title as an Earl Hooker 114. That his Blood and Power was better than the best and that therefore he would give
Place to none of them That his Ancestors were Kings of Ulster That he won Ulster by the Sword and would keep it by the Sword Which for some time he performed but he kept it not long The Queen sent Sir Francis Knolls her Vice-Chamberlain to confer with the Deputy about the Suppression of O Neal He arrived at Dublin the seventh day of May and they resolved the Service should be performed the following Winter and that necessary Preparations should be made for it against that time In the mean time O Neal Rendezvouz'd at his House six Mile from Dundalk and Mustered four thousand Foot and seven hundred Horse with which he besieged Dundalk but the Garrison so valiantly defended it that he was forced shamefully to raise his Siege nor had he better Success at Whites-Castle nevertheless he made Inroads and Incursions into the Pale and did much mischief though a small Brigade appointed to watch his Proceedings did so gall and incommode him that he was forced to return with shame and loss But we must look back to July 1565 Davis 63. at which time the Army did not exceed twelve hundred Men until Colonel Randolph with seven hundred Souldiers was sent from England to Derry and there they intrenched and kept themselves safe until the Lord Deputy Sydny came to them and having staid there six days and put things in as good order as was possible he left them fifty Horse under Captain Harvy and seven hundred Foot under Captain Cornwal and a competent quantity of Ammunition Victuals and other Necessaries and so returned through Tyrconnel and Connaught to Dublin But O Neal very well knew that he should not be quiet in Vlster if he suffered that Garrison at Derry and therefore in October 1585. he incamped within two Mile of Derry with two thousand five hundred Foot and three hundred Horse and made many Bravadoes to entice and draw them out from their Garrison and accordingly it hapned but with other Success than O Neal expected For Colonel Randolph sallied out with three hundred Foot and fifty Horse and having made an Halt on the Ground where he designed to fight he there received the Enemies Charge and then fell upon them so suriously that he soon put the Rebels to flight and made them leave four hundred of their Companions dead on the Place without the loss of one Man on the English side except only the Colonel himself who was there slain Colonel Saintlow succeeded him in the Command of the Garrison and lived as quietly as could be desired for the Rebels were so daunted by the former Defeaâ— that they did not dare to make any new Attempt 1566. but unluckily on the twenty fourth day of April the Ammunition took Fire and blew up both the Town and the Fort of Derry whereby twenty Men were killed and all the Victuals and Provisions were destroyed and no possibility left of getting more so that the Soldiers were necessitated to imbark for Dublin only Captain George Harvy and his Troop being loth to kill their Horses took a resolution to march round through Tyrconnel and Connaught and valiantly performed it and although they were forced to march four days through an Enemies Country and were all that time pursued by a multitude of Rebels yet they got safe to Dublin to the great admiration of the Lord Deputy and Council But Mr. Sullevan makes a pleasant Story of this Sullevan 84. and tells us That Saint Columbus or Columkille the Founder and Tutelar Saint of Derry was impatient at the Prophanation of his Church and Cell by the Hereticks the one being made the Repository of the Ammunition and the other being used for their Lutheran Worship and therefore to be revenged on the English for this Sacrilege the Saint assumed the shape of a Wolf and came out from an adjacent Wood and passing by a Smith's Forge he took his Mouth full of red hot coals and ran with it to the Magazine and fiercely spit the Fire into the Room where the Ammunition lay and so set all on fire and forced the Hereticks to seek for new Quarters It seems that Shane O Neal had desired to have a Conference with the L. Deputy near Dundalk to which the L. Deputy consented and came accordingly on the 6th day of May and staid five days but whether Shane O Neal's Mind was altered by this Accident at Derry Irish Stat. 234. or what other Impediment he met with I cannot find but it is certain that he did not come and that he gave the Lord Deputy a second Disappointment in July following But whilst the Lord Deputy was hastning his Preparations to force O Neal to his Duty he received alarms from Munster That the Earl of Desmond was in the Field with two thousand Men and that he designed to joyn O Neal or give the Lord Deputy a Diversion in Munster and it was true that the Earl of Desmond was in the Field with that Force but his Design was to revenge private Injuries which he pretended to have received from the Earl of Ormond the Lords Barry Roch and others and therefore on the Lord Deputy's Summons he appeared at Dublin and together with the Lords Dunboyne and Poer he did according to Order bring up one hundred Horse and accompanied Sir Warham Saintleger to guard the Borders of the Pale whilst the Lord Deputy made the following Expedition to Vlster The Lord Deputy accompanied with the Earl of Kildare 1566. and such others as he thought fit did set out from Tredagh on the seventeenth day of September and encamped that Night at Rosskeath and so marched through Vlster to Galway where he established Sir Edward Fitton President of Connaught and he also took the Castle of Roscommon and left Thomas Lestrange and twenty Horsemen to garrison it and then marched to Athlone where he came on the twenty sixth of October and there discharged the Army and gave Order to build the Bridge of Athlone Hooker 116. In this Journey the Rebels never appeared except once by a Wood near Clogher where they had a small Skirmish wherein several were hurt but never an Englishman slain Contra Cam. as also they appeared with a great Body of Men near Turlogh Lynogh's Castle called the Salmon Eliz. 105. but made no attack The Deputy in this Journey restored O Donel to the Possession of his Country and particularly to the Castles of Ballyshanon and Donegal and received his Homage by Indenture and Oath reserving two hundred Marks per annum to the Queen and a number of Men to every general Hosting in Vlster He also received the Submissions of several that were weary of the Tyranny of O Neal and restored Rosscommon Castle which had been one hundred and forty Years in the Rebels Possession and took O Counot Sligo's Submission and O Connor Dun's Offlyn's c. all which yielded to pay Rent c. And so he retrieved to the Crown a County eighty
Dungannon O Connor Sligo O Carol and others When he came to Hampton-Court with two hundred Gentlemen in his Train it hapned that the Queen was looking out at the Window Hooker 118. and seeing such a Multitude she was thereat surprized until she was told it was the Lord Deputy of Ireland and then she replied It was well enough for he had two of the best Offices in the Kingdom And being come in he was well received for the present by the Queen but after a while was told by some of the Courtiers That the Scussle in Ulster was not worthy to be called a War since the principal Rebel Shane O Neal was but a Beggar and an Outlaw However the Earl of Desmond and O Connor were clapt up in the Tower and Sir John of Desmond was sent for and imprisoned in the same place But O Connor Lib. L. by Indenture made his Submission to the Queen Lib. H. and thereupon was enlarged and the next Year viz. the twelfth of July 1568 the Earl of Desmond submitted in most humble manner and laid all his Estate at her Majesties Feet and promised to convey what part she should be pleased to take of it and acknowledges to have forfeited a Recognizance of twenty thousand Pounds which he had formerly made to the Queen as hath been already related But when Sydny went to England he left Doctor Weston Lord Chancellor and Sir William Fitz-Williams Treasurer at Wars Lords Justices by Commission under the Great Seal of Ireland Dated the fourteenth Day of October In their time private Quarrels did swell almost into publick Wars for not only Sir Edmond Butler and Pierce Grace did invade Oliver Fitz Girald's Territories with great Fury but also the O Connors and O Mores who were Proclaimed Traytors did now appear in the Field with a thousand Gallowglasses and threatned to spoil O Carol's Country and to burn Kilkenny and the Defendants being in no good condition to resist did in vain importune the Government for Assistance Moreover Daniel Mac Carty More despising his Title of Earl of Glencar assumed the Title of King of Munster and having confederated with O Sullevan More Mac Swiny and others he invaded the Lord Roche's Country with Banners displayed and destroyed all the Corn together with seven Hundred Sheep and killed many Men Women and Children and carried away fifteen Hundred Cows and an Hundred Garrons Nor was the Contention less between James Fitz Maurice of Desmond and the Lord of Lixnaw And there happened another barbarou accident that was more surprizing than any of the rest for one Maurice Gibbon alias Reagh who was by the Popes Bull appointed to be Archbishop of Cashell had the Confidence to come to James Mac Caghwell who for some time had been Archbishop of that See Ware de presul 172. and to demand Possession which being refused the barbarous Villain stabbed the Archbishop with a Skein but it so happened that the Archbishod recovered and Maurice made his escape into Spain In Vlster Cambden 121. Turlogh Lynogh had assumed the Name of O Neal and in an Encounter with the Scots had killed Alexander Oge but it seems that quarrel was appeased and one Thousand of the Scots took Pay under Turlogh and invaded the Ferny contrary to Articles In Connaught there was a new Broil between Mac William Oughter and O Connor Sligo about a Rent in Eyter Conaught and in Thomond there were great Contests between the Earl and O Shaghaness and in this disorderly and tumultuous Condition stood the Kingdom of Ireland 1568. when in September Sir Henry Sydny Lord Deputy landed at Carigfergus he immediately sent for Turlogh Lynogh who came to him and confessed his Fault and with the greatest Humility begged the Lord Deputies Pardon which with great difficulty he at length obtained but not until the Scots Hostages were first Executed On the twentieth of October the Lord Deputy was Sworn at Dublin and immediately he sent for Sir Edmond Butler who upon several frivolous Pretences refused to come but broke out into Rebellion as shall be related hereafter In the mean time the Proceedings at Council-board will deserve a Paragraph in this History and the rather because a great and memorable Case was at this time agitated there for Sir Peter Carew whose Ancestor had formerly been Marquess of Cork and had great Possessions in several parts of the Kingdom came over well recommended to Ireland Lib. F. Lambeth and resolved to endeavour the recovery of that great Estate which was wrongfully withheld from him and particularly the Barony of Idrone in the County of Caterlogh was detained by the Heirs of those whom one of the Carews had employed as his Steward and had entrusted to mannage that Estate but Sir Peter being advised not to alarum the Irish by beginning with them first he did on the twenty ninth day of October prefer his Petition to the Council-board against Sir Christopher Chivers for the Mannor of Ballymaclethan in the County of Meath and in the Petition he suggested that Chivers was so popular and powerful a Man in his Country that there could be no indifferent Tryal had at Common-Law c. Hereupon Sir Christopher was summoned and when he appeared he pleaded ore tenus to the Jurisdiction of the Council-board in this Matter but Mr. Perriam gave three reasons why they might proceed First Because it was the common Practise to determine Causes at the Council-Table in England and instanced the Case of one Colshul about an Office in the Exchequer Secondly That in cases of Extremity as loss of Evidence want of just Tryal c. A Suit may be commenced before the Lord Chancellor or at the Council-board propter necessitatem ne curia domini Regis desiceret in Justitia exhibenda Thirdly That there are innumerable Presidents of Causes determined at the Council-Table in Ireland upon these reasons the Judges Dillon and Plunket were of Opinion the Board might proceed to determine this Cause and afterwards the two Chief Justices concurred in the same Opinion so that Chivers was forced to put in his Answer in Writing which he did but still it concluded to the Jurisdiction as before and in his Plea he insisted on the Statutes of Magna Carta cap. 11. and cap. 29. 25 Edw. 3. cap. 4. 28 Edw. 3. cap. 3. and 42 Edw. 3. cap. 3. But he likewise set forth his Title by Descent to part of the Lands in question and made some other Title to the rest The Court was angry with the Defendant for repeating his Plea to the Jurisdiction after it had been so solemnly over-ruled however they ordered the Plantiff to reply which he did by abridging his Plaint as to the Lands Descended and by a solid Answer to the rest of the Plea But at length the Parties agreed among themselves and Chivers for a small Consideration had a Release from Sir Peter however Sir Peter afterwards on the like Petition recovered the
and a few Volunteers and some Sea-men came to the Deputy and were very kindly received and the Disloyalty of the City was remembred at another time In Clonmel the Lord Deputy was nobly Treated in the Town-House which he requited by a most excellent Speech in commendation of Loyalty and thence marched to Cashil and in his March took a Castle held by Sir Edmond Butler and restored it to one Cantrel who was the right Owner 1569. and so he came to Cork where he found four hundred Soldiers newly arrived out of England under the Command of the Captains Shute and Ward as by his Letters to England he had desired From Cork the Lord Deputy made a step into Kirricurry and took the Castle of Carigoline and afterwards he marched into Orrery and took Butâ—ivant and so designed for Kilmallock but James Fitz-Morrice got there before him and took the Town by the help of scaling Ladders and finding that he could not keep it he burnt and destroyed as much of it as he could However the Lord Deputy marched thither and having given all the Encouragement that he could to repair and reedifie Kilmallock he setled a Garrison there of an hundred Horse four hundred Foot and some Kern under Colonel Gilbert who was made Governor or Colonel of Munster and so having taken the Oaths and Hostages of the Lords Roch Courcy Decyes Power and of Sir Cormock Mac Teige and many other Gentlemen and Freeholders of the Counties of Cork and Limerick he marched directly to the City of Limerick The Earl of Ormond came to the Lord Deputy at or near Limerick and brought with him his Brother Sir Edmond Butler who in the open Camp submitted to Mercy acknowledging his Follies and craving Pardon and thereupon he was set at Liberty upon the Earl's Recognisance for his appearance at Dublin and accordingly he did appear there on the sixteenth day of October together with Pierce Butler another Brother of the Earl's and both of them were indicted of High Treason However it seems that Pierce was afterwards bailed but Sir Edmond being a Cholerick Man did reflect upon the Lord Deputy and attributed all to his Partiality and alledged that the Lord Deputy did threaten him and would do him no Justice and vented many more such passionate expressions and therefore had not the favour of being bailed but was committed close Prisoner to the Castle of Dublin from whence in a very short time after he made a strange and hazardous escape by the help of a small Rope which broke within three yards of the ground and so bruised him that he could not go far so that he was forced to stay all that cold Winter-Night up to the Chin in the Water to prevent his Discovery However about three Months after viz. on the last of February the Earl of Ormond did again bring Sir Edmond and the rest of his Brothers before the Lord Deputy and Council at Dublin and there after a short Commitment and humble Submissions they were all pardoned for the sake of the Earl and perhaps by special Orders from the Queen who by the Mother was related to this Noble Family Cambd. Eliz. 138. and used to boast of the untainted Loyalty of the House of Ormond In the mean time Colonel Gilbert behaved himself so well in Munster that the Earl of Glencar and his Follower Mac Donogh were forced to come to him and to submit on their Knees craving Pardon for what was past and offering Hostages for their future Behaviour and afterwards that Earl came to Dublin to a subsequent Session of the Parliament and in the Presence-Chamber and in Christ-Church made most Pathetical Submissions on their 〈◊〉 and were Pardoned but the Collonel Gilbert being 〈◊〉 his good Service Knighted at Drogheda the first of January 1569 got leave to go to England and there he 〈…〉 a rich Widow and was not long afterwards drowned and thereupon Sir John Penott was Lord President of Munster In Leinster Sir Peter Carew had reduced the Cavenaghs to that low Condition that they were forced to submit to Mercy simply and without Stipulation and in Connaught Sir Edward Fitton by valour in the Field and severe Justice in the Courts did so quail the stubborn Hearts of the Rebels that his Province had but very little disturbance except what was given by the Earl of Thomond who could not brook the Severity of the President it seems he complained to the Lord Deputy before he entred into Rebellion for on the twenty third of April 1570. Lib. H. the Earl of Ormond was sent to treat with him but that Treaty proving ineffectual there ensued a smart Battle or rather Skirmish wherein the Earl of Thomond was worsted Contra Barkers Chron. 343. and Cambd. and thereupon he fled into France where he met with the English Ambassador Norris by whose means the Earl was pardoned Eliz. 153. and afterwards proved a very good Subject and did considerable Services to his Queen and Country Turlogh Lynogh whom I have already mentioned to have assumed the Name of O Neal was about this time shot in the Belly with two Bullets out of a Caliver by one of the Doniloghs who was a kind of a Jester he was at Supper with his Wife Aunt to the Earl of Argile when he received this Misfortune and though the Wound proved not to be Mortal yet it was so near it that the Auxiliary Scots began to think of deserting him 1570. and his own Country were in Factions about the choice of a new O Neal Lib. H. however he at length recovered and made an attempt to invade the Pale but the Scots dispersed for want of Pay so that O Neal was glad to treat with Justice Dowdall and the Dean of Armagh the Queens Commissioners and they came to an Agreement in O Neal's Camp at Dungannon on the twentieth day of January Lib. H. which was afterwards ratified by the Lord Deputy on the thirteenth day of March. On the eleventh of February the O Feralls or Ferells surrendred their Interest in the Annaly or County of Longford and took part of it back again at the Yearly Rent of an Hundred Marks c. The publick Expence for three Years viz. From Michaelmass 1565 to Michaelmass 1568 paid out of the Exchequer amounted unto Eighty eight Thousand nine Hundred thirty eight Pounds nine Shillings and eleven Pence whereof I suppose at least one half was remitted from England and yet the Lord Deputy was so Industrious in the Collection of the Revenue that he got twelve Hundred Pound of Hugh O Donell for the Arrears of Rent due for many Years past and the Queen was so intent on the Reformation and settlement of Ireland that she sent over Robert Leeth a Surveyor about the Year 1568 to make a true Survey and an exact Map of that Kingdom But Pope Pius the Fifth having by his Bull of the fifth of March 1569. Cambd. Eliz. 146. â—ulminated
his Excommunication against Queen Elizabeth and as Mr. Sullevan says pag. 70. deservedly deprived her of her Kingdoms we must not expect any more quiet during her Reign but that the bigotted Rebels like Virginal Jacks will start up one after another to disturb the Government of the Heretick Queen and to rescue themselves from the English Laws and the Protestant Religion which are the two things they chiefly hated and abhorred In Munster they met with their Match Sir John Perrot the President was one that knew them well he had experienced that they were like nettles which stung most when they were gently handled and therefore he squeezed them to purpose and so haunted them from one fastness to another 1571. that he gave them no rest so that in a little time he brought James Fitz Maurice himself who was the most valiant and most zealous of all the Confederates to submit simply to Mercy without any Conditions and on his Knees at Kilmallock to confess and lament all his Disloyalties and the Lord President by keeping Itinerant Courts of Justice and using necessary Severity soon brought Munster to that pass that the white Sheep kept the black and the Traveller might safely keep his Road without Arms or Company he also forced the Irish to conform to English Habit and to leave off several of their barbarous Customs and Fashions and he also brought the Irish Lords to contribute to the charge of the War So that on the twenty sixth day of September 1571. Lib. L. The following Lords and Gentlemen Covenanted with him to supply their respective Quota's for six Months viz.  Hor. Shot Gallowgl Kern Mac Cartymore 6 24 126 100 The Lord Barry 6 10 030 020 Mac Carty riah 8 10 040 050 Sr. Donough Mac Teige of Muscry 6 10 020 040 The Lord Courcy 2 04 006 008 Mac Donough 4 08 020 030 And the Earl of Glencar was to command them and in his Absence the Lord Barry they were to divide what Preys they should get proportionably with respect to their Contribution and if there should be need of it they were obliged to encrease their Forces It happened once Hooker 134. that Captain George Bourchier third Son to the Earl of Bath who served under Sir John Perrot in Munster was invited to a Gentlemans Castle to Supper under pretence of Parly and to use Bourchier's Mediation for his Pardon The Captain not at all suspecting any Treachery went thither according to the Invitation but the Perfidious Host thinking that the President would give him better Conditions for Bourchier's Liberty than he would for his Intercession detained him Prisoner and hand-locked him for some time and probably until he obtained his Pardon and what else he desired The Lord-Deputy received Letters of the thirteenth of December giving him leave to return to England and ordering him to substitute in his Place his Brother-in-Law Sir William Fitz Williams and accordingly he did set Sail on the 24th day of March and left Sir William Fitz Williams Lord Justice who was Sworn in April 1572. in St. Patricks Church in Dublin and in January following had a new Commission to be Lord Deputy In his time Brian Mac Cahir Cavenagh was very unruly and under pretence of revenging some Injuries done him by Robert Brown of Malrenkam Hooker 135. he killed Brown and insulted over all his Neighbours but Sir Nicholas Devereux and the People of Wexford not enduring his Insolence resolved upon their own Defence and at length it came to a smart Skirmish wherein thirty Gentlemen of Devereux's side were slain but about two Years after Brian submitted to the Government and was Pardoned and became a follower to Sir Peter Carew and was not only Faithful to him but also loved him to that degree that on Sir Peter's Death Brian pined away and in a little time died also he was the honestest and bravest of all the Cavenaghs and was a younger Son of Cahir Mac Art who was made a Baron for Life by King Henry the Eighth Conaught was disordered by the troublesome Sons of the Earl of Clanrickard Hooker 135. who could by no means endure the severe Government of Sir Edward Fitton President of Conaught and therefore broke out into Rebellion and hired one Thousand Scots to their Assistance The Earl himself was then Prisoner in Dublin and desired Liberty to suppress his Sons and quiet the Country and by advice of the Council it was granted him but he did not perform what he had promised however the same thing was in a great measure effected by a stupendious Victory obtained by Captain Collier who with one Company of Foot defeated and killed most part of the thousand Auxiliary Scots Camb. Eâ—iz 502. The Earl of Kildare for a certain sum to be paid by the Queen had undertaken to prosecute the O Mores and to defend the Pale against them but he did not so effectually perform it but that the O Mores Cambd. Eliz. 201. assisted by the O Connors made several Incursions into the Pale and burnt Athloan and did abundance of Mischief and in Vlster Bryan Mac Fylemy took and burnt Carrigfergus and to these Misfortunes was added a greater than either of them by the Death of the Lord Chancellor Weston on the twentieth day of May 1573. 1573. On the ninth of July the Queen granted unto Walter Devereux who not long before was made Earl of Essex the Moyety of the Signiories of Clandeboy Ferny c. And the Earl was by Indenture obliged to go thither before Michaelmas with two hundred Horse and four hundred Foot and to maintain them for two years and afterwards he was to keep as many Soldiers as the Queen should keep for the Defence of her Moyety not exceeding six hundred and no more and it was agreed that for the first two years the Queen would likewise keep two hundred Horse and four hundred Foot under the Command of the Earl and that every Horse-man Voluntier that will serve gratis for two years shall have four hundred Acres of Land and a Foot-Soldier two hundred Acres at two pence an Acre Quit-Rent and if any of them die within two year the Heir may supply his room in six Months It was farther agreed between them That necessary Fortifications should be made at the equal Charge of the Queen and the Earl and afterwards division should be made by Commissioners and 〈◊〉 division each might for twenty years build on her or his respective share as they pleased And the Earl was to have Timber out of Killulta Woods and might for seven years transport the growth of the Country without paying Custom and for twelve years more should pay no more Custom than is paid in England and he had liberty to transport Arms Money and all Necessaries out of England Custom-free giving notice thereof to the Officers of the Ports Each might dispose of five thousand Acres as they please but more than that quantity
and to grant Leix and Offaly to English Undertakers Lib. H. and the Queen promised him that besides the Irish Revenue twenty thousand Pounds per annum should be punctally remitted him out of England quarterly And Sydny undertook for that Sum to fortifie Carrigfergus and to build some Bridges and to keep the whole Kingdom in Subjection The Lord Deputy found Vlster in a Flame Surleboy had assaulted Carrigfergus and kill'd Captain Baker and forty Men and though by the Valour of the rest of the Garrison the Scots were repelled and the Prey rescued yet this small Victory gave the Rebels such Reputation that the Lord Deputy found it necessary to leave the Custody of the Pale with certain Gentlemen of Note and to march with his small Army of six hundred Men into Vlster he found all the Country ruined except the Newry where Marshal Bagnal dwelt and the Glins and Routs 〈…〉 which Surleboy and the Scots possest and some part of Killultagh but it happened luckily that Turlogh Lynogh and Surleboy could not agree so that they came to Blows with various and alternate Success Hereupon both Parties address'd themselves to the Lord Deputy who finding Turlogh to be more high and extravagant in his Demands than the other came to an Agreement with Surleboy which was followed by the Submission of Mac Mahon and one of the Macguires And O Donel and the Chief of the Macguires did also by their Letters offer to pay their Rents and Services due to the Queen by former Agreements provided they might be secured under the Queens Protection and be delivered from the Exactions of O Neal. By these Means and the diligent prosecution of the War against him Turlogh Lynogh was reduced to extremity so that first he sent his Wife a well bred Lady Aunt to the Earl of Argile to the Lord Deputy at Armagh who in her Husband's behalf Petitioned him that Turlogh might be Nobilitated and his Estate setled by Law that so for the future he might live in order in the sence of his Duty and Gratitude to her Majesty but whilst these things were under consideration Turlogh himself without any previous Provision for his Security came to the Lord Deputy and submitted simply without Capitulation or Conditions and so having staid two days he had liberty to return home Vlster being thus quieted the Lord Deputy Marched to Dublin and having setled things there he visited Leinster and found the County of Kildare almost waste and the King's County and Queens County groaned under the Tyranny of Rory Oge but by the perswasions of the Earl of Ormond Rory came to the Lord Deputy and publickly made his Submission in the Church of Kilkenny The Lord Deputy was very well received by the Townsmen of Kilkenny and nobly treated by the Earl of Ormond but while he staid there he received the unhappy News of Sir Peter Carew's Death to whose Burial at Waterford on the fifteenth of December the Lord Deputy was invited and went This Sir Peter Carew whose Ancestors had been Marquesses of Cork Lib. F. laid claim to a mighty Estate in Munster being half of the ancient Kingdom of Cork viz. Imokilly Trybarry Muskry Kinalea Trycoursy Carbry Kinalmeaky Collymore Collybeg Ivagh Synnagh O Donovan Wintervary Bantry Bear Clandonough Cleighboigh Iveragh Kirricurry Clanmorris Iraghticonnor Duhallow and Coshbride And he sent his Agent John Hooker to Cork Hooker 13â— where he had a solemn meeting with Mac Carty Riagh Cormock Mac Teige of Muskry Barry Oge O Mahon O Driscoll O Daly and others and they made this Proposal that they would advance three Thousand Kine with Sheep Hogs and Corn proportionable for the present and that if Sir Peter would live amongst them they would annually pay what should be reasonable and to his good liking whereupon Hooker did take a House for Sir Peter at Cork and another at Kingsale but as Sir Peter was going that way he died on his Journey at Ross in the County of Wexford the 27th day of November 1575. The Lord Deputy was magnificently received and treated at Waterford and from thence he marched to Dungarvan where the Earl of Desmond met him and so by easy Journeys they went together to Cork and there he stayed six Weeks during which time the Soldiers for half their Pay had Lodging Diet and Firing to their content and without the grumbling of the Citizens The Earls of Thomond and Glencar and the principal Gentry of the Province came to wait on the Lord Deputy at Cork and there they kept their Christmass and as soon as that was over the Lord Deputy began his Sessions and sat in Court almost every day from the seventh day of January to the one and thirtieth Condom and a younger Son of the Lord Roch were Condemned and though they were Reprieved yet there were twenty three other notorious Malefactors Executed and the better to discover Vagabonds and Tories every Gentlemen was commanded to give in a List of his Dependants and to answer for them and Proclamation was made That every Iâ—ler that was not named in one of those Lists should be punished as a Felon and a Vagabond to which the Irish Lords and Gentlemen gave their Consents with seeming Joy and every one of them gave in Pledges of his Loyalty to the Lord Deputy Whilst the Deputy was at Cork he had information of the Disloyalty of the Seneschal of Imokilly and of the Depredations and Violences he daily committed and thereupon being attended by two Hundred Citizens of Cork besides his own Forces the Deputy marched to Ballymarter and took that strong Castle and had taken Fitz Girald himself but that he narrowly escaped through a Hole in the dead of the Night There was abundance of Victuals found in the Castle besides other things of value but all the Spoil was given to the Soldiers and so a Garrison of twenty Men under Jasper Horsy being left in the Castle the Lord Deputy returned to Cork The Lord Deputy was so well pleased with Sir Cormack Mac Teige of Muscry that he gave him this Character in a Letter of his sent to England That for his Loyalty and Civil disposition he was the rarest Man that ever was born of the Irishy and in another Letter to the Lords of the Council he observes that the Lord Poer lived more plentifully than those that had far more Land and that his barren Land yielded more Rent than the richer soil of Kilkenny and Decyes and the reason was because he kept his Territory in order and free from Idlers and Vagabonds whereas on the contrary the Lord of Decyes was scarce able to subsist because his Country harboured more bad Men than it fed good Cattle From Cork the Deputy went to Limerick where he was entertained with more Pomp than any where else there he kept Sessions and observed the same Methods as he did at Cork and then he marched into Thomond which formerly belonged to the English Lords of Clare
used all his Tricks to prevent it but finding all other Devices fruitless in shew of kindness he invited the President to his House in Traly the President accepted the Invitation and with an Hundred and forty Persons went into Kerry keeping Sessions as he went Desmond had seven Hundred or eight Hundred Men ready to surprize and Murther him but when the President understood what condition he was 〈◊〉 he encouraged his People all he could and making a Vertue of Necessity resolved rather to give than receive the Charge which he did so bravely that the Rebels were amazed and fled The Countess of Desmond was much troubled at her Husbands Folly and prayed the President to believe that the Earl had assembled those Men only for a general Hunting to welcome his Lordship and desired him to be satisfied He temporized with the Earl at her Request but nevertheless kept Court and Sessions in Kerry whereupon Desmond having no other way with great Clamour impeach'd the President to the Deputy especially for taking of Cesse The Mac an Earla's Clanrickard's Sons were up again in Connaught â— and had gotten two thousand Scots to their Assistance they besieged Ballyriagh or Logreagh one of the Earl of Clanrickard's Castles but Thomas Lestrange and Captain Collier who lay in Garrison there with fifty Horse and an hundred Foot defended the Place so valiantly that they forced the Rebels to raise the Siege with the Slaughter of six Captains and an hundred and fifty of their Souldiers whereat the Rebels were so neâ—led that they immediately fell upon Mac William Oughter and wasted his Country but upon the Approach of the Lord Deputy the Rebels dispersed and thereupon the Deputy divided his Forces and by the help and intelligence of Mac William Oughter he met with and defeated several small Parties of the Irish and killed many and executed some and so having restored Mac William to most of his Castles and being informed that the Scots were retreated to the Routs and the Glinns he Knighted Sir Nicholas Malby and according to the Queens Orders left him Governor of Connaught and then returned to Dublin on the thirteenth of October In the mean time Walter Earl of Essex who had made a second Expedition into Vlster and proceeded successfully there by the means of his Enemies received many Affronts from Court and at length was forced to resign his Command in Vlster with the grief whereof or as others say with a Dissentery he died at Dublin on the twenty second day of September 1576. Sir John of Desmond had repudiated his own Wife to marry the Sister of Mac an Earlas though she was the rejected the Wife of O Rourk and by this means he held Correspondence with his Brothers-in-Law and assured them Aid out of 〈◊〉 if they would hold out but a little longer But this Treason being discovered Sir John was imprisoned and the Earl of Desmond was suspected but â—e was so narrowly watched and so briskly managed that he durst not stir but in his criminal Followers to be tried by â—aw which formerly he had refused to do But it was not the Earl of Desmond alone that was malecontent the Lords of the Pale also began to repiâ—â— and publickly complain'd of the Cess and the father because the Priviledges and Exemptions that some of them claimed were now suppressed by Proclamation whereupon they Petition'd the Lord Deputy and had a Day appointed to make out their Grievances at which time they alledged That they had Liberties and Priviledges which were invaded by the Cess Hooker 145. that the Cess was arbitrary and unreasonable that it exceeded ten or twelve Pounds a Plow-Land and that no Tax could be put on them but by Act of Parliament At another Day the Chancellor answered That the Liberties they pretended to were some void some expired and the rest not to be found on Record that the Cess should be ascertained to five Mark per Plow-Land if they pleased That it was the Queens Prerogative to impose it and that it had been Levied ever since the time of Edward the Third and that Necessity and Self-Preservation required it But the Defendants not contented Cambd. Eliz. 219. with that Answer appeal'd to the Queen and sent over three-Lawyers to negotiate for them viz. 〈…〉 and 〈◊〉 and sent Letters by them to the Queen and Council Dared the Tenth of September Subscribed by the Lords 〈◊〉 Delvin Houth Trimleston c. in the Name of the English Pale The Queen referr'd them to the Council who examined the Lords Kildare Ormond Gormanstown and Dunsany then in England and they all agreed That Cess was constantly imposed time out of mind but prayed there might be Moderation in Levying it Whereupon she finding that the Design of the Petitioners was to oppose her Prerogative sent the Agents to the Prison of the Fleet and ordered the Deputy to do the like with the Petitioners if they persisted in their Sedition but nevertheless the Cess should be moderated and all irregularities in the Levying it punished but the Petitioners were arrogant and stubborn and were therefore committed to the Castle of Dublin and their Agents were imprisoned in the Tower of London but afterwards they submitted and were Pardoned and the Cess was reduced to five Marks per Plowland However the Irish according to their custom of scandaliâ—ing and aspersing every thing that opposes them did 〈◊〉 the Deputy with Calumnies and Impeachments not at all regarding how true or false the Articles were or else this could never be one of them Hooker 147. That the Lord Deputy wanted 〈◊〉 in his Government because it is manifest that he was one of the wisest and most prudent Viceroys that ever governed that Kingdom But whilst these Controversies about the Cess were under Debate and James Fitz Morris who had been at Rome and in Spain was daily expected home 〈…〉 and O Connor with an Hundred and forty 〈…〉 Country and taking the advantage of the 〈…〉 Inhabitants of the 〈◊〉 who celebrated their 〈…〉 with the same Riot and Excess as the Pagans did their 〈◊〉 and so were dead Drunk they surprised that Town and burnt it Rory Oge himself 〈◊〉 like Nero at the Market-Cross rejoicing at these 〈…〉 thence he marched towards Leighlâ—n burning and destroying the Country in his March and particularly the Village at Leighlâ—n Bridge But George Carew who lay there in Garrison being ashamed to be so served issued our with seven Horse and five Shot and valiantly attacked the Tories who by this time were two Hundred and Forty they were surprized and fled but at length perceiving though in the Night the small number of the 〈◊〉 they rallied and pursued the English to the 〈◊〉 and some of them got within the Gaâ—e but were beaten out again in this 〈…〉 Captain 〈◊〉 and sixteen Tories were slain and the English lost two Men and one Horse and all the rest were wounded Rory Oge continued his Depredations and burnt many
May 〈◊〉 requiring him to stay till the Lord Chancellor Gerard to whom the Queen had granted Licence to transport Yarn non obstante the Statute and whom she commends exceedingly should arrive which hapning in August the Deputy by the Queens Orders surrendred to Sir William Drury on the twelfth of September and had Leave to go for England Henry the Eighth was this Godfather and Edward the Sixth his Companion and so fond of him that he died in his Arms And undoubtedly he was Cambd. Eliz. 231. as Cambden says One of the most commendable Deputies that ever was in Ireland Sir William Drury Lord Deputy was sworn in Christ-Church Dublin on the fourteenth day of September and on the twenty ninth he began his Journey to Munster being accompanied by Sir Edward Fitton and others of the Council and by their Letter to the Queen of the twentieth of November they shew the necessity of a President of Munster and that upon the 〈◊〉 of its Suspension the Irish Lords thought they lost time if they did not immediately resort to their former Tyranny Lib. S. S. S. they give some Instances and particularly of the Lord Roch who kept a Freeholder who had eight Plow-lands Prisoner and Hand-locked him until he had surrendred or released seven Plow-lands and an half of them upon agreement to keep the remaining half Plow-land free but when this was done the Lord Roch extorted as many exactions from that half Plow-land as from any other half Plow-land in his Country and that both the Lords Barry and Roch without Right or Process that very Harvest took away all the Corn from the Farms of those Tenants they had Controversy with or spight to and even the great Men were under the same Oppressions from the greater for the Earl of Desmond forcibly took away the Seneschal of Imokilly's Corn from his own Land although he was one of the most considerable Gentlemen in Munster which I observe to shew the difference between English Government and Irish Tyranny And it must not be forgotten that in October Matthew Sheyn Bishop of Cork burnt St. Dominick's Image at the high Cross of Cork to the great grief of the superstitious People there The Lord Deputy in his way to Limerick lay at Castleton Roch but the Earl of Desmond being at odds with the Lord Roch would not got go thither and the Deputy was afterwards troubled that he went thither when he understood that the Lorch Roch cessed his Tenants for the Deputies Entertainment The Deputy found the Earl of Desmond and the Earl of Glencar at so great difference that they were almost ready to draw into the Field as was usual their contest was about the Bounds of Kerry viz. Whether Macarty's Lands were within the County Palatine of Kerry or not Neither were the feuds between the Butlers and Giraldines any thing less than the other October 1578. both sides had made great Preparations for Battle but the Lord Deputy interposed effectually to determine or at least suspend these Controversies and he also perswaded Desmond to take a certain Rent of his Tenants instead of Coin and Livery and he Executed twenty two Criminals at Limerick and thirty six at Kilkenny one of which was a Blackamoor and two others were Witches and were condemned by the Law of Nature for there was no positive Law against Witchcraft in those Days Moreover the Lord Deputy bound several Citizens by Recognizance of forty Pound to come to Church to hear divine Service every Sunday pursuant to the Queen's Injunctions and he advised the Bishop of Ossory to make a Rate for the repair of the Church and to distrain for it and so having punished some Townsmen of Cork and Kilmallock for abusing the Soldiers and having received the Submission of Sir James Desmond Sir Pierce Butler and all the Cavenaughs he returned to Dublin In the mean time that indefatigable Rebel James Fitz-Morris nowithstanding his Oath of Allegiance taken before Sir John Perrot at Kilmallock went over to France Camb. Eliz. 236. and having two Years sollicited that King in vain he made a more successful Address to the Pope and the King of Spain by whom being furnished with a few Men and some Money 1579. he came accompanied with the Jesuits Allen and Sanders who was also Legate and out of his three Ships Landed fourscore Spaniards and some Irish and English Papists at Smerwick in Kerry in the latter end of July 1579. Immediately they built a small Fort and drew up their Ships under it and the Legate Sanders hallowed the place and promised them success but Captain Thomas Courtny being at Kinsale with one of the Queens Ships at the perswasion of Henry Davells doubled the Point and took the three Ships in the Bay and put the Spaniards into a Pannick Fear notwithstanding the Pope's Blessing However Sir John and James of Desmond as soon as they had not notice of the Invasion hastned to their Cozen James Fitz Morris and were at first kindly received but Sir John easily perceived a coldness towards him and that the Rebels entertained some Jealousies of him because of his Familiarity with his old Friend Henry Davells and therefore to establish his Reputation with them Sullevan 95. Camb. Eliz. 237. per aliquod facinus dignum as Mr. Sullivan phrases it he basely and perfidiously Murthered his Bosom-Friend Dâ—vells and one Carter at Traley and left a fair Caution to Posterity which has been simply and fatally neglected by those that pay dear for it at this Day however the Legate Sanders commended the Fact and said it was a sweet Sacrifice in the Sight of God The Earl of Desmond was as deep in this Rebellion as any body as is manifest from the following Confederacy WHereas the Right Honourable Garret Lib. C. Earl of Desmond hath Assembled us his Kinsmen Followers Friends and Servants about him after his coming out of Dublin and made us privy to such Articles as by the Lord Deputy and Council was delivered 〈…〉 eighth of July 1579. To be performed as also his 〈…〉 the said Articles which said Answers we find so 〈…〉 with one accord do counsel and advise the said 〈…〉 nor yield to any more than in his Letter is 〈…〉 and further the said Earl declared unto us that if he do not yield presently to the Performance of the same Articles and put in his pledges for observation thereof that then the Lord Deputy will bend his force and make War against him We the Persons underwritten do advise and Counsel the said Earl to defend himself from the violence of the said Lord Deputy that doth ask so unreasonable a Demand as in the said Articles is contained and for to defend and stick to this our Advice and Council we renounce God if we do spare Life Body Lands and Goods but will be aiding helping and assisting the said Earl to maintain and defend this our Advice against the said Lord Deputy or any
Superstition that the Irish Priests who are the most ignorant Clerks in the World could lead these Noblemen by the Nose into the greatest Folly Ingratitude and Disloyalty that ever was known so that henceforward we must expect to find these English Lords in open Rebellion with the Irish against the Crown of England The victorious Malby encamped that night by the Abby of Monaster Neva and after two or three days removed to Rakele and encamped there a Party of the Earl of Desmond's came confidently within a Mile of the Camp but were well beaten for their pains and some that were taken Prisoners discovered many of Desmond's Designs and that he had been in the Field ever since the Battel of Monaster Neva but they needed not to be so nice in their Examinations for that very Night put the Matter out of doubt and Desmond and his Brother did personally assault the English Camp but came off as they used to do with Loss and Disgrace however the Marshal thought it necessary to remove to Askeaton having first setled a Garrison at Rakeal and he performed what he designed although the Enemy did frequently skirmish with him in his March and then having notice of the Deputy's Death he placed Sir William Stanly and Captain Carew at Adare and sent the rest of the Army to other Garrisons Hereupon the Rebels insulted at a great Rate bragging that they would take all the Garrisons and Sir John of Desmond with four hundred Foot and fifty Horse actually besieg'd Adare so that the Garrison durst not peep abroad till their victuals failed them and then Necessity whetted their Courage and made their Swords as sharp as their Stomachs so that Sir John was forced to retire The English had but one small Cot which would hold about eight Men and by help of it an hundred and twenty Men of the Garrison of Adare were wafted over the River Hooker 162 into the Knight of the Glinns Country and being unexpected there they did great Execution but they staid so long that the Knight of the Glin and Sir John Desmond had got together thirty Horse and four hundred Foot some Irish and some Spaniards and overtook them and entertain'd a brisk Skirmish for about eight hours nevertheless the English made good their Retreat without any considerable Loss and killed about fifty of the Enemy Sir William Pelham Lord Justice was chosen by the Council 1579. and sworn in Christ-Church Dublin on the eleventh of October and immediately he Knighted the Lord Chancelor Gerard and youg Edward Fitton After Dinner Cambd. Eliz. 239. the Council sate and directed Letters to all the considerable Irishmen to confirm them in their Loyalty particularly to Pheagh Mac Hugh Sir Hugh O Reily Sir Hugh Macguire Turlogh Lynogh c. and they also appointed the Earl of Ormond to be Governor of Munster and Sir Warham Saint-Leger to be Provost Marshal thereof and ordered Desmond's Son to be conveyed to the Castle of Dublin to be safely kept The Lord Justice having dispatched the Chancellor to England to inform her Majesty how Matters stood in Ireland and having committed the Care of the North-Borders to the Earl of Kildare marched into Munster taking with him the three Bands lately brought from Berwick by the Captains Walter Case and Pikeman he came to Kilkenny the nineteenth of October and kept Sessions two Days and sate in Person insomuch that Edmond Mac Neil and other notable Traytors were then executed and he also reconciled the Earl of Ormond and the Lord of Upper Ossory At Cashel the Earl of Ormond came to him with two hundred and thirty Men and hence his Excellency sent Letters to the Earl of Desmond to repair to him that he might reconcile him and Sir Nicholas Malby thence he went to Limerick where he was well received and the Mayor Presented him with a thousand Armed Citizens here also he was met by Malby and the Army and the next day he went to a Village called Fannings where he gave Orders for a General Hosting or Rising out and thither came the Countess of Desmond with Letters from her Husband Hereupon the Earl of Ormond was sent to expostulate with Desmond upon sundry Articles whereto he returned a trifling Answer on the the thirtieth of October complaining of old Injuries c. Wherefore other Letters were sent from Crome where the Lord Justice then was but to no purpose for though Desmond protested Loyalty yet he would not come to the Camp nay he was known to act rebelliously even while he was writing his Protestation for the Lord Justice being removed to Rakeal was allarm'd by some Rebels whereof four being killed one was found to be Desmond's Butler and himself was not far off wherefore he was Proclaimed Traytor in the Camp the second day of November 1579. unless he should surrender himself in twenty days and immediately the Army proceeded to destroy his Country with Fire and Sword And it must not be omitted that the Lords of Gormanstown and Delvin who were of the Council and attended the Lord Justice in this Expedition were so tainted and corrupted with Popery that they refused to sign the Proclamation against Desmond for which they were afterwards severely reprimanded by a Letter from the Lords of the Council in England On the third of November the Lord Justice removed to Puble O Bryan and Mustered the Army and so leaving two hundred and fifty Horse and eight Ensigns of Foot with the Earl of Ormond he returned to Limerick The Earl of Desmond thought to divert the Army from farther prosecution in Conilogh by making an Incursion into Imokilly and being there at the request of the Seneschal of Imokilly he attack'd Youghal and finding small resistance he easily took and afterwards plundered that Town whereupon the Earl of Ormond sent Captain White and a Company of Soldiers in a Ship from Waterford and they valiantly entred into the Town by the Water-gate but being over-powered by the numerous Forces of the Seneschal's White and most of his Men were slain and the rest with great difficulty escaped to their Ship Hereupon Desmond grew so insolent November 20. 1579. that he wrote an arrogant Letter to the Lord Justice importing that he and his Brethren were entred into the Defence of the Catholick Faith under the Protection of the Pope and the King of Spain and advised the Lord Justice to joyn with him and nine days after he wrote Circular Letters to such of the Lords and Gentlemen of Leinster as he thought to be rebelliously inclined the Form of which Letters may be seen in the following Letter which he sent to Pheagh Mac Hugh MY well beloved Friend I commend me to you It is so that I and my Brother are entred into the Defence of the Catholick Faith and the overthrow of our Country by English Men which had overthrown the Holy Church and go about to over-run our Country and make it their own and to make us
their Bond men wherein we are to desire you to take part with us according at you are bound by Conscience and by Nature to defend your Country And if you be afraid we should shrink from you after you should enter this Cause you shall understand that we took this Matter in hand with great Authority both from the Popes Holiness and from King Philip who do undertake to further us in our Affairs as we shall need Wherefore you shall not need to fear to take one part of it and be assured we will never agree with none of your Adversaries without your Consent and this our Letter shall be a sufficient Warrant for the same Newcastle Novemb. 29. 1579. Besides the Nonsence and Illiterature appearing in this Letter is it not prodigious that Fitz-Girald an English Man should rail against his own Nation and think that to be the worst of Faults which was most inseparable from him the Foundation of his greatness viz. his extraction or that he who held his Estate by English Laws and Patents should so insist upon his Possession as to forget his Title and by a stupid Contradiction look upon the English as Usurpers whilst he himself had no other Right But he who could fancy that any Authority in Ireland could be derived from King Philip might swallow impossibilities and without fear or wit run into destruction as he did In the mean time the Lord General Ormond invaded Connilogh December to which Place Desmond was again returned but did not at all expect that Attack so that most of the Inhabitants were surprized and either killed or taken Prisoners and the Villages were either plundered or burnt the Earl was like to be surprized at Newcastle and very narrowly escaped And not long after Ormond had a Brush with the Seneschal of Connilogh and though Ormond got the better yet he lost many of his Soldiers and therefore in revenge he burnt all the Country about Lefinnen and then marched to Cork and in the way he took a Prey of fifteen hundred Cows and brought them thither At Cork Ormond disposed of his Army into Garrisons and then went to Cashel having by the way taken the Mayor of Youghal who had formerly refused a Garrison and undertook to defend the Town against the Rebels and yet when Desmond attacked it the Mayor delivered it up almost without Blows and therefore to appease the Queen who was mightily troubled at the scandalous Loss of Youghal the Mayor was deservedly executed before his own Door and it is observable that Youghal was wholly deserted so that there was not one Soul left in it except one Fryar who was spared for the Humanity he had shewed to the Corps of Henry Davels which he carefully buried but the old Inhabitants were by Proclamation of the first day of February invited to return and to encourage them thereunto a Garrison of three hundred Foot was left in the Town under the Command of the Captains Morgan and Pierce In the mean time Ibid. Ormond made great Preparations to recover the Castle of Sangically from the Spaniards from whom he expected stout and obstinate Resistance but on the contrary they deserted the Castle upon view of the Army and fled over the Water but were so hotly pursued that most of them were slain and a Garrison was put into the Castle Ormond's Head Quarters were at Adare and it being usual for the Soldiers to range abroad for Forage or Plunder Desmond placed an Ambush so luckily that it once intercepted them but being stout and well disciplin'd Men they made good their Retreat without any Disadvantage In the mean time the Lord Justice whom we left at Limerick marched into Thomond where the Earl and his Son and two Servants very ill mounted met his Lordship and waited on him to Galway and there the Lord Justice confirm'd the Priviledges of that Town 1579. and thence marched through Athenry Ballinislow and Athlone to Dublin and there he found William Norris and an hundred and fifty brave Horse all in a Livery of Red Coats and Yellow Lace newly arrived from England which were immediately sent to Quarter at the Newry where Norris died on Christmas Day Captain Casy's Company that was left in Galway was forced to hire a House for the Soldiers and the Queen paid the Rent of it and on the twenty eighth of November a Custodiam of the Bishoprick of Ross was granted to Robert Drury for three Years and on the 3d. of Dec. the L. Justice kept Sessions at Trim and caused 16 Malefactors to be executed and on the 10th of Dec. Sir Hugh O Reily made his Submission at Drogheda and the same day 5000 l. in Money arrived out of England On the eighteenth of January the Lord Justice left Dublin and came by the Sea-coast to Wexford where he kept Sessions and sate personally in the Court thence by Tintern he came to Waterford where he was nobly received and the Mayor carried the Sword before him The Earl of Ormond met him at Waterford and upon Advertisement that the Rebels drew near Dungarvan and Youghal Captain Zouch was sent with four hundred Foot and an hundred Horse to oppose them On the Eleventh of February a Commission of Martial Law was sent to Sir Warham Saint-Leger Hooker 166. and then the Lord Justice having stayed three Weeks at Waterford removed to Clonmel where Ormond met him again and thence he marched to Limerick and had his Baggage carried a great part of the way on Mens Shoulders for want of Carriage-Horses or because of the badness of the Way or both at Limerick the Chancellor of that Diocess was found guilty of Treason for corresponding with Desmond but he made Shift to get a Pardon whilst the Bishop of Limerick who was shrewdly suspected was confined to his House On the Tenth of March the Lord Justice and Ormond met at Rakele and the next day they passed over the Bridge of Adare and returned at Night and then they divided their Forces and invaded Conniloe burning and spoiling the Country and incamped within one Mile of Kilcolman where they had News that Lieutenant Parker five Horse and three Foot coming from Limerick were set upon by an hundred Rebels near Rakele but they so behaved themselves that they slew the Commander and five or six more of the Enemy and came off with small Loss the same day a Soldier of the Marshal's encountred two lusty Kerns and having slain one he compell'd the other to carry his Fellow's Head to the Camp where he was likewise slain On the twelfth of March the Army being divided Preyed and burnt the Country to Slevelogher as they did likewise the next day and slew above four hundred Men whereupon the Lord Lixnaw was humbled and made his Submission The Lord Justice having marched as far as Slewemiss beyond Traley and not being able to pass farther resolved to besiege Carrigifoyl which was Desmond's chief strength and it was Garrisoned
Barryescourt and the Seneschall of Imokelly placed an Ambush for him at Corabby which Captain Raleigh manfully Encountred and Defeated or at least broke through them so that he came safe to Corke On the 25th of July one Eve Published Seditious Letters at Waterford importing that the Pope and the King of Spain and Duke of Florence had made a League to assist the Irish with Ten thousand Foot and a thousand Horse of the Popes Fifteen thousand Foot and a thousand five hundred Horse of the Spaniards and Eight thousand Foot and an hundred Horse of the Florentines and that the Irish should Elect a King of their own Nation and reject Elizabeth as a Bastard and a Heretick and republish the Bulls of Pius Quintus against her c. And it was true that the Prince of Conde brought such a League to the Queen which he said was made at Rome the 20th of February 1580. About the same time the Lord Baltinglass wrote an Answer to the Earl of Ormond assuring his Lordship that he had but two Councellors one that said Fear not those that can kill the Body only c. and the other bids us obey the higher Power for he that resisteth it resisteth God seeing then the highest Power upon Earth Commands us to take the Sword and to Fight and Defend our selves against Traytors and Rebels which do seek only the Murdering of our Souls he is no Christian that will not obey Questionless it is a great want of Knowledge and more of Grace to believe that a Woman Incapax of Holy Orders should be the Supream Governour of Christ's Church a Term that Christ did not grant to his own Mother You should consider that if Thomas of Becket Bishop of Canterbury had never suffered Death in the defence of the Church tho Butler alias Becket had never been Earl of Ormond c. and about the same time he wrote to a Merchant of Waterford to provide him Ammunition and Arms for which he would pay him to content In the mean time Captain Zouch who lay at Dingle lost a great many of his Men by sickness nevertheless when he understood that the Earl of Desmond and David Barry had assembled three thousand Men near Ahado in Kerry he Marched with the Remainder of his small Brigade to Castlemange and upon a sudden surprized them so that the Earl was fain to fly in his Shirt and shift for himself as well as he could he fled to Herlow-wood a very great fastness but being Necessitated to pass near Killmallock the Garrison there under Bourcher Dowdall Macworth and Norris pursued them into the Wood and were like to take the Earl but did take a great Pery and some of his Carriages and killed a great many of his Followers About the same time Fitzgirald commonly called Seneschaâ— of Imokilly preyed the Country about Lissmore and slew twenty five of the Garrison that sallied to recover the Prey The Lord Deputy appointed Archbishop Loftus and the Earl of Kildare Governours of the Pale during his intended Progress and they had a General Rendevouz at the Hill of Taragh in July and then the Earl with two hundred Horse and seven hundred Foot by the order of the Council went to Parly with the Lord of Baltinglass but to no purpose and thereupon the Earl unadvisedly returned to Dublin and the Enemy taking advantage of his Retreat Burnt Newcastle in the County of Wicklow 1581. In the mean time the Lord Deputy Marched to Munster and made Captain Zouch Governour of that Province and then returned to Dublin by the way of Connaugh Zouch kept his head Quarters at Corke and had Intelligencil that there was a great Feud between David Barry and the Seneschall of Imokelly and that they both lay on Dunfrinâ—en side of the Blackwater and that the Earl of Desmond and his Brother John lay on the other side of the River in Condens Country and that they were very active by their Messengers to procure a Reconcillation between Barry and the Seneschall but were hindred by the great Floods from Negotiating it personally as they designed whereupon Captain Dowdall sent one Richard Mac-James to the Irish Camp as a Spy to whom one of the Desmonds Messengers not mistrusting him discovered that Sir John Desmond designed to come and reconcile the aforesaid Parties the next Morning but I know not by what Artifice the Spy perswaded the Messenger to go to Corke and tell his own Story but 't is certain thereupon Zouch and Dowdall leaving the Government of Corke to Captain Raleigh Marcht on Hooker 175 pretending for Lymerick and by break of Day they got to Castlelyons and so Marching forwards to an Wood and placing some Shot between the Wood and Sâ—â—anâ—cally adjacent Bogg they met two Gentlemen in the Wood who happened to be Sir John of Desmond and James Fitz John of 〈◊〉 both which they took and Executed and which is most strange as Mr. Sullivane tells the Story 〈◊〉 great Hero was so daunted at the sight of the English Sullivan 99 that he was not able to mount his Horse tho at other times he was an active man But Zouch not contented herewith but remembring that David Barry and Gorin Mac Swiny had lately prayed Carbery and passing by Bantry had encountred the Garrison which Sallyed and kill'd every one of them but one was now resolved to revenge it and therefore fell upon their Army and routed them and this Defeat reduced Barry to the necessity of begging pardon which at length he obtain'd And so Munster being pretty quiet and no news of the Earl of Desmond the Munster Forces were reduced to four hundred Foot and fifty Horse But the Lord of Lixnaw and his Son pretending injuries from the Governour took advantage of the reducement of the Army and boldly went into Rebellion again and his beginning was very successful for he slew Captain Achin and the Garrison of Adare except some few that saved themselves in the Abby and recovered that Fortress also he took the strong Castle of Lisconnell by Stratagem and threw the Garrison over the Walls and tho he fall'd in his cunning design on the Castle of Adnagh yet he ranged over the Countries of Ormond Tipperary and Waterford without resistance Wherefore Zouch not able to endure these affronts with his small Army of four hundred Men March'd into Kerry and came to Adare which the Lord Lixnaw had forsaken and thence he March'd to Lisconnell Wood where he met the Baron with about 700 Men who upon the first Charge â—led and left their Goods and Cattle behind them Thence the Army March'd to Glyn Castle where Sir Henry Wallopps and Captain Norris's Companies being 200 men came to them from the Lord Deputy hence the Governour went to Lymerick leaving Captain Powdall to pursue the Baron who soon met with him near Glanflisk and defeated his Forces again Hooker 177. killing â—n hundred and forty of them and taking a Prey of 800
Kine 500 Horses besides Sheep Goats Money Cloarsh and Victuals with which he supplied the Garrisons and return'd to Adaro where he left a Garrison and return'd to Cork this misfortune quite spoil'd the Lord of Lixnaw so that he was never more able to hold up his head but most submissively applied himself to the Earl of Ormond who got him a Pardon tho he had formerly suffered very great injuries from him No sooner was this storm of the Lord of Kerryes allayed but the Earl of Desmond appear'd again near Adare and Skirmished smartly with the English so that having lost many men they had much ado to recover the Abby of Adare where they lay in Garrison About this time a contention arose between the Macan Earla's Vlick and John Burk on the Death of their Father but it was refer'd to Commissioners who ordered that Vlick should have Loghreagh and the Earldom of Clanrickard Lib. H. and that John should have Leitrim and that the Commissioners should intercede to have him created Baron of Leitrim and both of them agreed that if either proved a Traytor to the Queen the other should have all One Birne a Rebel being weary of that sort of life offer'd to Captain George Carew to bring his Captain Fitz-Giralds Head to him on condition to have his own Pardon but Fitz-Girald had timely intelligence and prevented the Execution of that Plot by Executing Birne and his Complices nevertheless he was so frightned with this attempt that he offered to do the like by Pheagh Mac Hugh for his own Pardon but Pheagh also had seasonable notice or a strong suspicion of this design and fairly hanged his Friend Fitz-Girald in his stead But this good Deputy by the contrivance of the Rebels was represented at the Court of England as a bloody man that regarded not the lives of the Subjects any more than the lives of Dogs Spencer 73. but had tyrannized with that barbarity that there was little left for the Queen to Reign over but Carcasses and Ashes And this false Story being believed in England a general Pardon was sent over to such of the Rebels as would accept thereof 1582. and the Lord Deputy in the midst of his Victories was recalled so that in August he left Ireland to the care of Adam Loftus Archbishop of Dublin Lord Chancellour Sir Henry Wallop Treasurer at Wars Lords Justices two men very unfit to be yoak'd together Spencer ' s View 76. the difference between them being no less in their minds and affections than it was in their bodies and professions Their Government was auspicated with the Death of Dr. Saunders Sullevan 100. who died miserably of a Flux and Famine in the Woods of Clenlis whereby the Kingdom was rid of a malicious cunning and indefatigable Traytor And the Earl of Desmond was reduced to such streights that he was forced to keep his Christmass in Kilquegg Wood near Kilmallock whereof the Garrison of Kilmallock having Notice they were induced by the importunity of John Walsh to endeavour to surprize him 4 January and in order to it they March'd in the night under the conduct of the Captains Dowdal Bangor and Thornton and came before Day to the River side and by means of some Hurdles which tied together and fastned with Ropes to a Tree on this side the River and made one of their men Swim over with the end of a Rope which he also fastned on the other side they safely passed the River but made so much noise that Desmond and his Wife took the Alarm and got out of their Cabbin into the River where they stood up to the Chin in Water on the Bank-side and thereby were undiscovered and escaped but his Servants were all kill'd and what Goods they had were carried away Soon after this Fitzgirald of Ballimartir commonly call'd Seneschall of Imekilly surpriz'd Youghall and entred one end of the Town but was so warmly receiv'd by Lieutenant Calverleigh and forty Shot he had with him that the Seneschal was forced to Retreat and leave fifty of his Men dead behind him About the end of January the Earl of Ormond Landed at Waterford with 400 Men which were disposed of to the Captains Bourcher Stanley Barkley and Roberts This Earl was also made Governor of Munster and procured two Pence a Day to be added to the Soldiers pay which gain'd him abundance of Love and Respect from the Army Ormond's first Attempt was in Harlow Wood in Pursuit of the Earl of Desmond he divided his Party into four Squadrons and searcht the Wood throughly Slew many Rebels and so dispersed and frightned the rest that they never met in any considerable Body afterwards but most of them one after another submitted and had Pardon and on the 5th of June Desmond wrot a submissive Letter to the Earl of Ormond which is to be found in the Caballa of Letters 223. In August the Garrison of Killmallock had fresh Advice 1583. that Desmond with 60 Gallowglasses was come into Harlow Wood whereupon Captain Dowall so timed the matter that he took 25. of them asleep in their Cabbins and the rest who were boiling Horseflesh he quickly Discomsited and Slew In September some of the Lord Roches Men met the Earl of Desmond in Duhallow accompanied by three Horse-men and a Priest they endeavoured to take him but being well mounted they all escaped except the Priest who discovered what Misery the Earl was in and that he was supported chiefly by one Goron Mac Swiny who was in Protection whereof Ormond having notice sent Captain Dowdall and a Garrison to Dingle whereupon the Earl retired into the Country of Desmond and got the greatest number of his Followers together that he could and particularly the said Goron and his Brother Morrogh Mac Swiny by whose Assistance he hoped to renew the War But it fell out otherwise for Goron Mac Swiny having taken a great Prey in Carbry three Irishmen who owned some of the Cattle followed them at some distance expecting an opportunity at night to Steal back their own Cattle or an Equivalent and to that end they hid themselves within a Musket-shot of Goron's Camp or Lodgment and it so happened that Goron and a Servant both unarmed walkt that way and came near the place where the three Men were hid and as soon as they perceived that Goron and his Servant were unarmed they surprized them and cut off their Heads and being satisfied with this Revenge they ran away to shift for themselves Desmond was beyond measure dismayed at this loss and saw there was no way to recover it unless he could regain such of his Followers as had taken Protection of the English and therefore in order to it or to be revenged of them he sent some of his Servants over the Strand of Traly to take a Prey which they did but a poor Woman of the Moriartas whose small Stock was all taken away by these Tories immediately repair'd
them desired the Deputy that his Chaplain might walk the streets with him in Trouses For then said he the Boys will laugh at him as well as at me whereto the Deputy gravely replyed That the want of Order and Decency would be their Ruine and demonstrated to them the Benefits of this Conformity But before we come to the Parliament I must take notice of an Inquisition taken at Cork on the 4th of Nov. 1584. whereby it appears 1. That the Manour of Guisnes alias Cloghroe belonged to the Crown and was usurped by Lombard Constable of the Castle 2. That the Manour of Callâ—n alias Glyn containing eight Plowlands between Cork and Kingsale was the ancient Inheritance of the Earl of March and was intruded upon by Richard Roch of Kingsale and that Glanny was an ancient Corporation 3. That Ballynimony alias Mourne near Mallow was an ancient Corporation 4. That on the death of Matthew Shyne Bishop of Cork that See had the three Plowlands of Ballynaspig the Rent of Rochfort's Lands the Rent of Curickanaâ—y of Ringnaskiddy Downaghmore Ahabullugg and Kanivy the Profits and Rent of Ballivorny and Killinully c. 5. That the Island of Inchydiâ—â—y near Cloghnakillty is escheated to her Majesty for want of Heirs and that the Bishop of Ross ought to have but seaven Marks half-faced Money out of the same 7. That Kinalmeky was the ancient Inheritance of the Crown and Barry Oge Farmer of it paid the Rent to the Exchequer and about the year 1460. O Mahown Carbry intruded on it and gave Mac Carty Reagh half for protection 7. That Cnoghor O Mahony was slain in the Earl of Desmond's Rebellion and dyed seized of the Signiory of Kinalmeaky On the 26th of April the Parliament met according to appointment and the Upper-house was very full for there appeared four Archbishops twenty Bishops the Earls of Ormond Kildare Tyrone Twomond Clanrickard and Glencar the Viscounts Buttevant Gormanstowne Formoy and Mountgarret and the Lords Athenry Kingsale Slane Delvin Killeen Honth Trimletstowne Dunsany Dunboyn Vpper Ossory Louth Curraghmore Insiquine Castleconnell and Cahir but the Lower-house was as thin for there were but 26 Cities and Boroughs in the Kingdom that sent Members to Parliament It was endeavoured to pass a Law to try Accessaries in absence of the Principals but it could by no means be effected however this Parliament did enact many other good Laws as followeth 1. An Act to attaint James Eustace Spencer 19. Viscount Baltinglass and others which is commonly called the Statute of Baltinglass and makes Estates Tail any kind of Inheritance forfeitable for Treason and provides against the fraudulent Conveyances of the attainted 2. An Act for the Restitution in bloud of Lawrence Delahide And then the Parliament was prorogued on the 29th day of May. The Lord Deputy did intend to suspend Poyning's Act that he might the more speedily pass such Laws as he thought necessary but some Gentlemen of the Pale grew jealous of the design and overthrew the Bill at the third reading and although upon a conference they were persuaded to pass the Bill yet their jealousies returning they overthrew it a second time There were also other Bills proposed viz. that the Lands of persons attainted of Treason should be vested in the Queen without Office and every Plowland should pay 13 s. 4 d. subsidy and that all those who should rebelliously take or detain any of the Queen's Castles should be guilty of Treason but these Bills were all damned in the Lower-house and the Acts against fraudulent Conveyances and an Act to help mispleading and Jeoffails were stopt in the Upper-house and an Act to enable Tenant in Tail to make Leases for 21 years could not obtain the Royal Assent The second Session of this Parliament was on the 28th of April 1586. and then the following Laws being enacted it was dissolved on the 14th of May. 1. An Act against Perjury and Subornation 2. An Act against Witchcraft and Sorcery 3. An Act against forging of Evidences 4. An Act of Impost and Custome of Wines 5. That all Conveyances made or pretended to be made by any person attainted within thirteen years before the Act shall be entered on Record in the Exchequer within a year or be void This Act did not pass the Houses without great difficulty and perhaps had not passed at all if John Mac Edmond Fitz-girald to prevent the Earl of Desmond's forfeiture had not produced a Feoffment made by that Earl before he entered into Rebellion which had taken effect and baffled the expectations of the undertakers if Sir Henry Wallop had not by good luck gotten the aforesaid Association made the 18th of July 1578. which was two months before the pretended settlement and to which this John Fitz Edmond himself was a party but upon the producing of that Confederacy and the discovering of this fraud and subtilty the honest part of the House were ashamed to abet so ill a cause and so this Act was made to prevent the like contrivances 6. An Act against forging or counterfeiting Coin not current in Ireland and that it be Misprision of Treason 7. An Act for the Attainder of the Earl of Desmond and many others his Complices mentioned in the Act. 8. An Act for the Attainder of John Browne of Knockmonhie and others 9. An Act for the Restitution in bloud of Taaf's Wife But I should have given a list of the Militia of Munster as it was in the year 1584. as followeth  Shot Bill-men The City of Waterford 100 300 Cork 100 300 Limerick 200 600 Clonmell 040 200 Killmallock 020 100 Fethard 020 100 Cashell 020 140 Kingsale 020 100 Carrick 020 040  740 1840 The Barony of Muskry 020 300 Carbry 030 1000 the County of Typerary 050 400 the Barony of Decyes 020 200 Imokilly 012 080 Condoni 008 060 Lord Barry's Countrey 030 200 Mac Cartymorâ— c. 008 400  178 2640 On the 26th day of December O Conner Sligo who had formerly taken a Patent for the County of Sligo at the yearly Rent of 100 l. per Annum did covenant that in lieu of Cess he would pay every year a fine Horse and 100 large fat Bieves per Annum for three years and afterwards 130 Bieves per Annum at Michaelmas at the Castle of Athlâ—an and also that he would at all Hostings bring 20 Horse and 60 Foot and maintain them 40 days and would pay in Money 25 l. per Annum and that in cases of necessity he should assist the Queen with all his Forces and that he should make legal Estates to the Freeholders they paying their proportion of the aforesaid Contribution and the Queen granted O Conner all Forfeitures for Felony or by Outlawry or Recognisance and all Waifs Strays and Penalties for Bloudshed On the 23d of May was published an Act or rather Proclamation of Indemnity and Oblivion for all Preys Stealths Plunders and many other Crimes committed or done before the first day of that
number of 2000 came to assist them and contracted to expell the English out of Connaugh and were to have a Proportion of Land for their pains The Deputy would have marcht against them but was restrained by order from the Queen not to march in Person without the consent of the Privy Concil so that he was forced to leave that matter to Sir Richard Bingham who began his march the Twelvth of July and came to Ballinrobe where the Earl of Clanrickard Brimingham O Kelly and many others met him and some Companies sent by the Deputy did also joyn him whereupon he sent Commissioners to parley with the Burks but to no purpose and thereupon he took a prey of 4000 Cows whereof 3000 were divided amongst the Army and the rest imployed otherwise in the Queen's Service and slew 140 Rebels whereupon Euston Mac O Donel and Edmund Mac Richard Burk submitted But the rest of the Burks together with the auxiliary Scots being about 3000 strong marched to the River Earne and were followed at some distance by the Earl of Clanrickard and Sir George Bingham with three Companies of Foot and a Troup of Horse The Lord President himself with the rest of the Forces was not so far behind but he could come to their relief if they should happen to be distressed The English Army staid fourteen days at Sligo and the Rebels marched through Leitrim over the Curlew Mountains into the County of Mayo Bingham followed another way and on a sudden turned aside to Roscomon to receive 50 Horse and some Companies of Foot that came to his assistence Hereupon the Rebels encamped at Ardnary or Ardanar on the River Moyn and gave out that the English were fled and that the Country was their own but they reckoned without their Host for Bingham on a sudden turned upon them and surprized them and gave them such a total defeat that of the 3000 there did not above seven escape The Lord Deputy on the former report that the English were fled came in Person as far as Molingar notwithstanding the former prohibition and there he met the news of that prodigious Victory and so having staid some few days to settle the Country he returned to Dublin In June 1589. Surlyboy Neale Oge and Shane Mac Brian O Neale made their humble submissions to the Deputy and not long after the Earl of Ormond's Officers made a complaint against Lovell Sheriff of the County of Kilkenny that he had executed Marshal Law on several Felons that had Lands and Goods which would be forfeited to the Earl by their Attainder and that the Sheriff took those Lands and Goods to his own use and it seems it came to a Tryall and Lovell was acquitted by the Jury which together with some encroachments Ormond thought was made on his Palatinate of Typerary occasioned a great feud betwixt him and the Deputy I have seen an Account of this Earl of Ormond's Services Lib. â— as followeth First That he maintain'd 200 Horse and 500 Foot in all Expeditions the Earl of Sussex made to the North and had fought on Foot in every Battel Secondly He relieved the besieged Earl of Twomond at Queen Mary's Request Thirdly He took the Castle of Clare Fourthly He took several of the O Mores Prisoners and delivered them to the Earl of Sussex Fifthly He took the Earl of Desmond Prisoner and kill'd 500 of his Men and thereby hangs a pleasant story for the Earl of Desmond being wounded was carryed on a Bier on Mens shoulders and one of them in an insulting manner asked where is the great Earl of Desmond now To which they say the Earl replyed Where should he be but on the Necks of the Butlers But to proceed Sixthly That he subdued O Sullevan More and the Earl of Twomond Seventhly That he forced the Earl of Desmond to submit Anno Dom. 1571. Eighthly That he subdued Peirce Grace Rory Oge and the Mac Swynyes Ninthly that in Desmond's Rebellion he had destroyed 46 Captains 800 notorious Traytors and 4000 common Soldiers Walter Riagh Fitzgirald a sturdy Rebel with some of the Birnes and Tools entred into Action as they call it but they were so hotly pursued that Walter having endured much misery at length submitted and was pardoned On the 26th day of April 1587. a Commission issued to Sir Robert Gardiner Sir Henry Wallop Sir Luke Dillon Sir Robert Dillon Sir Valentine Brown and Joshuah Smith Chief Justice of Munster or any three of them Brown or Smith to be one of the Quorum to make Books to the Undertakers of Munster which shall be a sufficient Warrant to the Chancellour to pass Patents accordingly And certainly it was a great Affront to the Deputy Lib. M. that the forfeited Estates in Munster were thus distributed by Commissioners without his interposing therein or being so much as named in the Commission Nevertheless his Enemies prevailed yet farther to get Sir William Stanly and 1000 men to be sent from Ireland into Holland where Stanly turned Papist and Traytor and to get the Vlster Forces disbanded whereupon the Deputy wrote a Letter full of Complaints to the Court but it was to no purpose for he was in disgrace with the Queen for his aforesaid passionate Expressions The Vlster Forces being removed except some few left with Turlogh Lynogh at his request and for his protection the Irish began to renew their Complaints Mac Mahon led the Dance and accused the Earl of Tyrone for cessing and oppressing the Countrey and was patiently heard and relieved Macguire was as loud against both Mac Mahon and Tyrone and complained of innumerable Trespasses and Wrongs they had done him he excused his personal appearance because he had the â—out but offered to double his Hostages is his Fidelity were questioned But these were trivial Contests compar'd to that between Bingham and O Rourk wherein the Deputy interposed so far as to advise O Rourk to Obedience and Bingham to a milder Government which he resented so ill that he told the Deputy at the Council-Board that he countenanced O Rourk to the diminution of his Authority in his Province Upon rumour of the Deputy's remove the Lords and Gentlemen of the Pale wrote a very kind Letter in his Favour and gave great testimonies of his good Government whereby the Deputy obtained some Reputation and Advantage The Cavenaghs had murthered Sir Dudley Bagnall and one Heron who had slain their Father wherefore alleadging many plausible pretences for their Rebellion they submitted begg'd pardon and had it Controversies arising between Turlogh Lynogh and the Earl of Tyrone the latter took a Prey of 2000 Cows from the former the Deputy ordered Restitution but instead of that Tyrone invaded Strabane but was forced to fly by two English Companies that were left there with Turlogh At the same time O Donell instigated by Tyrone refused to receive a Sheriff into Tyrâ—onnell and shewed other marks of Disloyalty and Tyrone lent some Mâ—n to the Scots on
levying Forces two year before to distrain for Rent he pretended due to him in the Ferny Camd. Eliz. 447. The Irish say he had hard measure and instance much foul practice in the Prosecution and Tryall but however that be the poor Gentleman was hang'd and his Countrey divided between Sir Henry Bagnall Cap. Henslow and four of the Mac Mahouns under a yearly Rent each of them giving considerable Bribes to the Deputy as they said in their Complaint to the Council of England but the Lord Deputy in his Answer did vindicate himself from these unjust Aspersitions or at least endeavour to doe so however it must be observed that from henceforward the Irish loathed Sheriffs and the English Neighbourhood as fearing in time they might all follow the Fate of Mac Mahoun and therefore in the great Treaty near Dundalk in Jan. 1595. they all desired to be exempted from Garisons Sheriffs and other Officers In May 1590. the Earl of â—â—â—one went for England where he was in an easie manner râ—â—trained of his Liberty because he came over without the Deputy's Licence but upon his submission he was discharged of his Confinement and came to a new Agreement with the Queen which is to be found at large Morison 9. and offered Hostages thereof provided they might be kept in some Merchant's House in Dublin or some Gentleman's House in the Pale and be exchanged every three Months The reason why he was so much favour'd and trusted was because he advised the suppression of the Name of O Neal which was really of great importance and he was believ'd to be sincere because being the Son of a Bastard he could have no pretence to it and it stood not with his interest that any body else should have it and so his Power and Authority was in England thought to to be a Bridle upon Turlogh Lynogh and the Sons of Shane O Neal. On the 28th of May 1590. seaventy one Soldiers of Sir Thomas Norris's Company mutinied for want of Pay they came arm'd to the Castle Gate The Deputy offered them two month's Pay but they insisted upon all whereupon he courageously caused the Gate to be opened and sent them a Message that whoever entered the Castle should be hanged as a Traitour they answered that they did not intend to enter upon that the Deputy rode out to Church Sir Geo-Carew Master of the Ordnance bearing the Sword before him the Mutiniers made a Guard for him and begg'd his Lordship would consider them but he briskly rode up to one of them and finding many Gentlemen behind him he ordered them to disarm the Mutiniers but they prevented it by laying down their Arms and placing themselves on their Knees supplicated his Lordship's favour and though they were tied two and two together and sent to Newgate to vindicate the Authority which they had affronted yet because their Indigencies were great I suppose they came off without much severity About December four considerable Prisoners escaped out of the Castle of Dublin December 1590. not without the privity of a great Man well bribed as was supposed viz. the two Sons of Shane O Neal O Donell's Son and Philip O Reily but the Weather being very bad and the Journey tedious Art O Neal one of the Prisoners dyed by the way but the rest escaped to Vlster where the two other Sons of Shane O Neal fell into the power and possession of the Earl of Tyrone anno 1594. who kept them Prisoners and would by no means enlarge them or deliver them to the Deputy Tyrone on the 9th of August appeared at Dublin and confirmed the Agreement he had made in England but when he was urged to the performance of it the used many shifts and delays and desired the like security might be requir'd of his Nighbours This Winter Turlogh Lynogh's Men were wounded by Tyrone's and the next Summer the Marshal Bagnall's Sister was taken away and married to the Earl of Tyrone so that he became again obnoxious to the State and odious to the Marshal because he had another Wife then living Wherefore on the 16th of July he wrote to the Lords of the Council in England that Turlogh's Men were preying his Country and were killed by their own fault and in October following he wrote to the Deputy that the Marshal's Sister married him voluntarily and that he was lawfully divorced from his former Wife In the mean time viz. July 1591. Tyrone was made a County and divided into eight Baronies Dungannon being appointed for the Shire-town which amongst other things and particularly the Authority of Marshal Bagnall so fretted Tyrone that 't is believed it was this Summer confederated between him and the rest of the Irish to defend their pretended Rights and Religion against all Heretical Opposers and not to admit Sheriffs into their Countries This Winter Commissioners sate at Monaghan in order to settle the Country on the Queen's Patentees and had 100 Soldiers for their Guard they were allarmed and disturbed at the rumour that Con Tyrone's Son was appoaching for which Tyrone was blam'd but he answered That they were frighted at the sight of two Horsemen there being no more near them at the time of the Allarm However the State grew every day more and more jealous of him and the â—ather because he entertained a Friendship with Hughroe who escaped out of Dublin Castle as aforesaid and was now the O Donell his Father being dead and had surprized the Castle of Montross nor did Tyrone's pretence that he did this in order to make O Donell a good Subject give any satisfaction to the State although at the same time he craftily desired the Lords of the Council to interpose so that he might have the Marshal's Love and that they might live friendly together On the 12th of July a Commission issued to Sir Thomas Norris Sir Robert Gardiner Sir Nicholas Walsh 1592. Roger Wilbraham and James Gold to compound with the Inhabitants of Munster for Cess and Purveyance c. and thereupon in September following the Commissioners did make a Composition for three years which amounted yearly to the following Summs viz. The Barony of Orrery 20 00 00 Condons 06 00 00 Kinalea 15 00 00 Ibawne 25 00 00 Fermoy 25 00 00 Ivelegham and Gormlehan alias Barrymore 42 00 00 Clanmorris 50 00 00 Desmond 30 00 00 County of Waterford Poers Country 45 00 00 Decyes 35 00 00 Â Coshmore Coshbride 12 00 00 Â Ifeagh 18 00 00 Â Imokilly 60 00 00 Â Barretts 23 00 00 Â Conrâ—yes 05 00 00 Â Duhallow 30 00 00 Â Muskry 35 00 00 Â Bear and Bantry 13 06 08 Â Carbry 80 00 00 The Barony of Connilo was to pay 25 s. for every quarter of Land and small County but five Shillings per annum and the rest of the County of Limerick 10 s. per annum for every Plow-land The Barony of Kyrricurry was to pay 1 6 8 in lieu of all charges
out of every Plow-land only the twenty Plow-lands formerly held by Sorohen should pay but 15 s. a piece per annum and in case of Invasion so that of necessity the Soldiers must victual on the Country six shillings and eight pence per Plow-land shall be abated therefore and the Territories of Trachanckmy Corkaguiny and Offerbuy were to pay 02 13 04 out of every Knight's-Fee but that which was the best Article in the whole agreement was that the Country was to appoint their respective Collectours of the Composition-Money The year 1593 is memorable for the College of Dublin 1593. which was then finished and made an University whereof the Lord Burleigh was the first Chancellour and Vsher afterward the Learned Primate was the first Scholar that was entred there which proved a good Omen that that Noble foundation would produce many Good and Learned men for the Service of God and the King both in Church and State But the rebellious Spirit of the Irish could be no longer restrain'd Camb. Eliz. 478. but that it must have some vent O Connor was troublesome in Connaugh as O Donell was in Vlster and Macguire chief of Fermanagh alledging that he had paid 300 Bieves to the Deputy to excuse his Country from a Sheriff during his Government and that nevertheless one Captain Willis was appointed Sheriff and kept 200 followers Men Women and Boys who prey'd on the Country did rise up in Arms and drove them all to a Church where he would have murthered them but for Tyrone who got their lives spared on condition they should depart the Country Hereupon the Deputy invaded Fermanagh and proclaimed Macguire Traitor and took Eniskilling and they say he let drop some words reflecting on Tyrone which he afterwards said was the first cause of the jealousie he conceived of the English But Macguire not discouraged at this by the importunity of Gauran titular Primate of Ardmagh invades Connaugh intending to prey upon that Country but the valiant Bingham routed him and his Forces many of which were slain and particularly the Primate It is observable that in the Course of this War Tyrone served with Marshall Bagnall against Macguire and in a Recounter got a wound in his Thigh Nevertheless the Feuds betwixt Tyrone Lib. L. 1594. and the Marshal continued and the Marshal impeached the Earl of divers Treasons 1. That he entertained the aforesaid Primate being a Traitor 2. That he corresponded with O Donell and other Traitors but he so well acquitted himself before the Deputy and Council at Dundalk and by his Letters in England that in August 1594. the Council of England commended him for his Service against Macguire pronounced him innocent of the Crimes laid to his charge and chid the Marshal for his partiality Nevertheless it is plain that this cunning Earl at this very time plotted that formidable Rebellion which afterward broke out and in order to it he used two Strategems 1. Having six Companies under his Command at the Queen's pay he altered and changed the men so often that thereby his whole Country became disciplin'd Soldiers 2. He got a great quantity of Lead into his possession under pretence of building a stately House at Dungannon But in August the Lord Deputy was recalled and Sir William Russel youngest Son of Francis Earl of Bedford Lord Deputy landed at the head of Hoath 31st of July and the next day he went to Dublin but refused to accept of the Sword till the Council had first given him in writing under their hands an account of the State and Condition of the Kingdom which being done he was sworn on Sunday the 11th of August with great Solemnity The same day news were brougt that Cormock Mac Baron Tyrone's Brother who besieged Iniskelling had defeated the English being 46 Horse and 600 Foot under the Conduct of Sir Edward Herbert and Sir Henry Duke whereupon Sir Richard Bingham who was the sixth of August sent to relieve that place returned to Dublin 11 August Hereupon orders issued for a general Hosting and the next day there came news of 2500 Scots who had landed and done much mischief at Carigfergus On the 13th of August an Order of Council was made That the Lord Deputy leaving the Earl of Ormond to defend the Pale against Pheagh Mac Hugh and Walter Riagh should march to relieve Iniskelling and it was also ordered and agreed That the Council being divided viz. some to stay at Dublin and others to attend the Lord Deputy the Acts and Orders of either Party should be as effectual as if they were all together and should be esteemed and obeyed as the Act of the whole Council In the mean time Lib. M. Lambeth on the 15th of August Tyrone himself unexpectedly and to the amazement of all men came to the Council Board without previous Pass or Protection and on the 17th made his submission on his knees and in writing Lib. B. 2. Lambeth this wheedling Submission together with large offers and expressions of Loyalty he pretended all his distaste was at the former Deputy but that he reverenc'd this and was ready to doe any service he could for Her Majesty or his Lordship he confess'd that no Prince in the World was more Gracious to a Subject than Her Majesty had been to him that She had advanced him to a large Estate and high Title and called God to Witness that Her Majesty's Displeasure was his greatest grief and he renounced God if ever he would heave up his hand against Her Majesty thereafter He also promised to send his Son to be educated at Dublin and to deliver sufficient Pledges of his Loyalty whereupon by the opinion of the major part of the Council he was discharged Camd. Eliz. 493. the Marshall Bagnall in vain offering to prove several Treasons against him But as soon as the Queen was informed thereof she smartly reprimanded this fatal oversight of the Deputy and Council who might at least have made use of Tyrone to relieve Iniskelling The Deputy marched from Dublin the 19th August 1594. and came to Trim that night the 20th to Molingar and the next day to Athloan the 23d to Roscomon the 24th to Abby Boyle on the 26th he passed the Curlew Mountains and encamped at Drumdone and the next day passed the Bogs and marched eleven Miles to the Hill of Killargan on the 28th he went over other Bogs with great danger and came to Ballaghnimerla and on the 29th to Glacknemansha on the 30th his Lordship with great difficulty and some loss passed the River with 500 Men and entered the Castle of Iniskelling without opposition the Enemy being fled upon the news of his approach Iniskelling being thus relieved the Deputy returned by easie Marches and came safe to Dublin on Monday the 9th of September On the 16th of January the Deputy took a Hunting Journy to Ballynecor and drove Pheah Mac Hugh into the Glinnes and garison'd Captain Street's Company in
Pledges and pay such reasonable Fine as Her Majesty shall think fit and so he sign'd a Submission and swore Obedience His Pardon was sign'd the 12th of May and sent to Sir Edward Moor to be delivered I suppose on the receipt of Hostages and on the 31st Tyrone sent the State a kind Letter he had received from the King of Spain but made the Messenger swear that no Copy of it should be taken The Queen was wonderfully pleased with the Pacification of Vlster 25 May 1596. and by her Letters to the Council commended Norris for that great service she upbraids Her Officers in Ireland with the monstrous Accusations brought against them by the Irish and declares she will subdue the stubborn by the Sword but will govern the oppressed by justice therefore she commands them to Unanimity in her Service and to commission Norris and Fenton to settle Connaugh and to examine the many Complaints that are made against Sir Richard Bingham Sir Edward Moor who carried Tyrone's Pardon could not find that Earl who purposely went out of the way to avoid it for three Pinaces with about 200 men and some Powder arrived from Spain in May consigned to O Donell with promise of farther supply as is most probable whereupon the Vlster Lords were so far from observing the late Peace that Tyrone took upon him to make an O Reily and entertain'd a correspondence with Pheagh Mac Hugh and other of the Rebels of Leinster Lib. M. Lambeth and on the 6th of July Tyrone O Rourk Mac William c. sent the Clan-shyhyes to stir up Rebellion in Munster and sign'd a general Letter or Credential to that effect he delay'd taking his Pardon till the 22th of July and even then refused to renounce foreign Aid upon Oath however he put in his Pledges and protested Loyalty and Obedience only to delay the War a little longer for which he was not yet so fully prepared as he desir'd for he had not an answer from Pheagh Mac Hugh till the latter end of August and then he received one to his content For in the beginning of August Pheagh Mac Hugh although he was under protection enter'd into open Rebellion Lib. B. 2. Lambeth and by surprise took and raz'd the Fort of Ballyne Cor and great suspicion was had of the O Moors and some of the Butlers there was noise also of some Spaniards at Sea so that the Lord Deputy complaining that he was not countenanced nor credited in England as he ought to be petitioned to the Lords of the Council there to be a means to remove him from the Government However these Misfortunes were somewhat alleviated by the quiet and peaceable condition of Connaugh which the General Norris and Sir Geoffry Fenton had reduced to terms of Submission The Deputy marched out of Dublin the 18th of September to prosecute Pheagh Mac Hugh and for some time encamped at Rathdrome he took many Preys and slew some Rebels and on the 16th of November caused two of the Pledges which Pheagh Mac Hugh had put in for his good behaviour to be executed in the Camp In like manner the Earl of Ormond effectually prosecuted the Butlers as Sir Anthony Samtbeger did the O Moors and O Connors In the mean time Tyrone is not idle but notwithstanding his Submission and his Pledges Camd. Eliz. 515. he attempted to surprise Armagh and killed 35 men of that Garison he oppos'd the Convoy that carried the Victuals thither and murthered eight of the Garison that went out for Wood his Son in Law Henry Oge made Incursions into the Pale as far as the River Boyne he also endeavour'd to surprise Carlingford Castle and contrary to his Covenant refused to suffer any relief to be brought to the Fort of Blackwater Whereupon the Lord Deputy and Council wrote him a smart Letter on the 30th of November which he answered the 4th of December and alleadg'd that he had just provocation to doe what he did because his Allie and Confederate Pheagh Mac Hugh was prosecuted by the State This was but a lame excuse for that Rebel was not at all comprehended in Tyrone's Articles however General Norris so far espoused O Neal's Quarrel that he wrote to the Council Board that one good Letter would have prevented the danger Armagh is in whereby he covertly reprehended the Deputy's severity But the Board sent him a smart answer and since he understood Tyrone's Humor best they left it to him to relieve Armagh by Force or Treaty as he thought fit On the 30th of December Captain Lea had a Rencounter with Pheagh Mac Hugh and had the good fortune to kill thirty of the Rebels and sent most of their heads to Dublin On the second of January Sir Richard Bingham being a severe Governour and perhaps therefore obnoxious to the Irish who were frequent Transgressours was upon their repeated complaints removed from the Government of Connaugh and Sir Conyers Clifford substituted in his room On the 15th of January General Norris accompanied by Bourchier and Fenton marched from Dublin to re-victual Armagh and on the 22d met with Tyrone who complemented the General at a great rate applauded his Moderation and thank'd him for his Friendship offered to suffer Armagh to be re-victualled as it was without opposition and made all the Protestations of Loyalty and offers of Submission that could be devis'd and desired that the General would procure a new Commission to conclude an everlasting Peace with him which accordingly was granted to Norris Bourchier and Secretary Fenton whereof they gave notice to Tyrone and appointed him to meet on the second of April but he by his Letter of the 15th of March alleadged many frivolous Excuses and though they by their dispatch of the 22d assured him of all reasonable satisfaction 1579. yet he still persisted in his Excuses wherefore they wrote to him again the tenth of April and he by his answer of the 15th made many triviall Complaints and particularly he questioned the General 's Power to make good what he should promise for that possibly the new Deputy should not approve of what they should agree to and therefore he desired a farther day whereupon the General finding too late that he was baffled and abus'd by that cunning Traitor he exclaimed against his Perfidiousness and broke off the Treaty In the mean time O Donell had invaded Connaugh in January and drew most of the late pardoned Rebels into a new Revolt so that Clifford was oblig'd to hasten to that Government Some of the Rebels of the Brenny attempted the Town of Kells but by the Valour and Vigilance of Captain Street they were disappointed and lost 35 of their Company The Deputy made a Journey to Caterlogh and thence to Kilcor and staid thereabouts pursuing Pheagh Mac Hugh and his Abetters from the 18th of February to the 15th of March Lib. B. 2. Lambeth on the 12th of which month 140 Barrels of Powder took fire at
the Crane in Dublin and did much harm On the seventh of May the Deputy made another journey into Pheagh Mac Hugh's Country 1597 and on the eighth had the good fortune to kill that Arch Rebel Ibid. and to take a Prey of 200 Cows which were divided amongst the Soldiers But the Queen believing that her Affairs were prejudiced by the disagreement between the Deputy and the General did at his own Request revoke the Lord Deputy and to supply his Place sent over Thomas Lord Burrough Lord Deputy who landed on the 15th of May and received the Sword in St. Patrick's Church on Sunday the 22d Camb. Eliz. 543. he had supreme Authority in Martial as well as Civil Causes and immediately ordered General Norris to his Presidency of Munster which Affront together with the Disappointment of the chief Government which he knew he merited and earnestly expected and the many baffles Tyrone had put upon him broke his Heart The Lord Deputy amongst other Instructions had charge to enquire what English Undertakers had ☜ contrary to their Covenants suffered Irishmen to inhabit their Lands and to enquire into the Earl of Glancar's Estate which for want of Heirs Males was devolved to the Crown After a Month's Truce with Tyrone the Deputy marched to Vlster where the Crown retained only Newry Knockfergus Greencastle Armagh Dundrum and Olderfleet Connaugh was likewise in Rebellion and so were some of the Butlers in Munster The Deputy met some opposition at a Pass near Armagh but he gallantly forced his way and thereby was convinced that the Irish would run if resolutely assaulted he soon took the Fort of Blackwater and garison'd it with English but whilst they were giving thanks to God for this Victory they were called from Prayers to Arms upon the appearance of the Irish Forces with whom they skirmished successfully yet so as that the Deputy's Brother-in-Law Vaughan and several others were slain and particularly two Foster-brothers of Henry Earl of Kildare for grief whereof the Earl soon after dyed Clifford Governour of Connaugh was ordered to advance with the Forces of his Province to the borders of Vlster wherefore with 700 old Soldiers he attempted it bravely but being opposed by a numerous Enemy he nevertheless made a gallant retreat above 30 Miles and in the face of 2000 Rebels without any considerable loss Upon the Lord Deputy's return towards the Pale the Earl of Tyrone immediately besieged the Fort of Blackwater and the Deputy as nimbly marched to its relief and having raised the Siege he designed to march to Dungannon and so to clear the way thither that on any occasion the Army might march that way but he fell 〈◊〉 and was forced to return and dyed in the way to Dublin and Sir Thomas Norris President of Munster was provisionally made Lord Justice on the 30th of August but he being melancholy at the death of his Brother soon grew weary of the Office and at his Request the Government was committed to Adam Loftus Lord Chancellour and Archbishop of Dublin and Sir Robert Gardiner Lord Chief Justice Lords Justices who were sworn on the 15th of November and the same day the Council gave in writing an account of the State of the Kingdom and concluded that it was an universal Irish Rebellion intended to shake off all English Government The Earl of Ormond was made Lieutenant General of the Army and he was to have 100 Marks per mensem and 30 Horse and 30 Foot and the Lords Justices were to have 33 l. 6 s. 8 d. per mensem and 20 Horse and 20 Foot equally divided between them The Earl of Ormond upon application made to him by Tyrone procured a Commission to himself the Bishop of Meath and Secretary Fenton to treat with that Rebel and on the 22d day of December they met at Dundalk and agreed to a Cessation for eight weeks on Tyrone's engagement to furnish the Fort of Blackwater with 50 Bieves and to give the Garison liberty of Forage and other Articles recited at large Morison 22. On the 18th of February O Rourk submitted to the Lieutenant General and subscribed the Agreement likewise mentioned at large Morison 22. and on the 15th of March Ormond proposed to Tyrone 13 Conditions of Pardon mentioned Morison 23. to most of which he agreed but because O Donell and some others did not appear that matter was adjourned to the 10th of April in the mean time the Pardon was drawn and bears date the 11th of April but I do not believe that Tyrone ever came for it both because he was Anno 1600. outlawed on the former Indictment and because he immediately relapsed into his former Disloyalties and not only sent aid to Phelim mac Feagh but also laid close Siege to the Fort of Blackwater but the defence made by Captain Thomas Williams was so considerable that Tyrone despair'd of effecting his design by Force and therefore resolved to starve them and indeed they were reduced to great necessity when in August Marshal Bagnall with 14 Ensigns of Foot and a choice Party of Horse was sent to relieve them The Rebels Camd. Eliz. 565. being a vast number fell upon the English in a Wood half a Mile beyond Armagh and the Earl of Tyrone having a particular spight against the Marshal Bâ—gnall he bent all his Force that way and had the good fortune to kill the Marshal and to rout the English Army with the slaughter of 13 Captains and 1500 Soldiers whereupon the shattered remnant of the English retired to Armagh and sent to Captain Williams to surrender the Fort of Blackwater that he might reinforce and preserve the rest of the Army By this Victory the Irish got Arms Ammunition and Victuals and which was more so much Reputation that the English could act only on the defensive part and not that it self without continual fear and danger But the Queen was nettled at this Defeat and by the 12th of September 1598. blam'd Ormond that he was not there and ordered him to reduce the old List to 8000 and to clear the Army from Irish and she also sent over Sir Richard Bingham to succeed Bagnall in the Office of Marshal but as soon as he landed he dyed at Dublin and Sir Samuel Bagnall was sent with 2000 Foot and 100 Horse which though at first designed to plant a Garison at Loghfoyle were on the aforesaid all news ordered to land at Carlingford In the mean time Tyrone sends Owny mac Rory Oge and Tirrel into Munster with 4000 Kernes 598. the President Sir Thomas Norris opposed them but was forced by necessary occasions or rather by reason of the weakness of his Forces to return to Cork whereupon the Munsterians generally rebell in October and kill murther ravish and spoil without Mercy and Tyrone made James Fitz Thomas Earl of Desmond on condition to be tributary to him He was the handsomest Man of his time and is commonly called the Sugan Earl And the Queen
thought this Rebellion so formidable that on the third of December 1598. she sent Letters to the Lord President if possible to retain Mac Donough the white Knight and Condon in their Duty by all reasonable favour and persuasion which undoubtedly he endeavoured to doe but all in vain But that all the World may know what Trust is to be given to the wheedlings and Submissions of Irish Rebels it must be remembred that amidst all these Treasons and whilst Tyrone magnified his Victories to the Spaniard and promised he would accept no Conditions from the English yet at the same time he wrote submissive Letters to the Earl of Ormond praying that he might be pardoned and offering to come in but indeed upon unreasonable conditions nor is Camden's Observation to be omitted Camd. Eliz. 566. That by long use it was grown a mischievous custome in Ireland that Rebels and Malefactours might with the Money they had gotten by Pillage and Plunder procure for themselves Protections and escape without Punishment The Queen was sollicitous to find a Governour fit for this disordered Kingdom and no body seem'd more proper for it then the Lord Montjoy but he durst not stand in competition with the great Favourite of his time the Earl of Essex who covering this great Authority and Station at once gratified his own Ambition and his Enemies malicious designs for they desired nothing more than his Absence from Court and so Robert Earl of Essex Lord Lieutenant landed on the 15th day of April and was the same day sworn at Dublin his Commission was larger than his Predecessours both in power of pardoning all Treasons and granting many of the great Offices as also in the Power of displacing all Officers that had no Patents and suspending those that had in making and executing Marshall Laws and in disposing the Lands of the Rebels in Fee at a small yearly Crown Rent to be reserved in Commanding all Ships in the absence of the Lord Admiral of England and in issuing the Treasure at Pleasure keeping within the Summe of the Establishment The particulars of the Establishment are to be found Morison 29 the whole of the years charge amounted to 299111 03 07 ½ besides some contingencies Camd. Eliz. 569. which perhaps exceeded 50000 l. more for Ammunition c. his Army was as great and as well furnished as his heart could desire for that service being at first 1300 Horse and 16000 Foot which were afterwards encreased to 20000 men complete and Sir George Cary was made Treasurer at Wars in the room of Wallop His instructions were according to his own former advice to Prosecute the Vlster Rebels and to plant Loghfoyle and Ballyshanon Garisons all which when he came to Ireland he neglected The Earl of Kildare and some gallant Gentlemen went for expedition's sake in a small Vessel but they made more haste than good speed and were all cast away The Council gave the Lord Lieutenant an account of the confused Estate of the Kingdom that there were of the Rebels in Arms In Leinster 3048 Foot 0182 Horse In Vlster 7220 Foot 1702 Horse In Munster 5030 Foot 0242 Horse In Connaugh 3070 Foot 0220 Horse  18368 Foot 2346 Horse Many of the Rebels had sworn at a publick Cross to be stedfast and true to their Religion meaning their Rebellion for the defence of it and even those Irish that were not out in action were so backward to help the Queen that they who could bring 100 Horse and 300 Foot to dispute their private quarrels would not bring six men to assist the State But Essex neglecting the chief Rebels which were in Vlster unfortunately marcht into Munster where he took Cahir Castle on the 30th of May and forced the Lord of Cahir Lord Roch c. to submit he also relieved Askeaton and had two or three Skirmishes with the Sugan Earl of Desmond and did some petty feats altogether unworthy of his Reputation or Army and so marched by Killmallock Mallow Fermoy Lismore Dungarvan Waterford Wexford and Arclow near which he had a small successfull Rencounter with the Rebels to Dublin where he came in the latter end of July his Army being very much diminished in number without any fighting worth mentioning In the mean time on the 15th of June he received advice that both the Spaniards and Scots had supplyed Tyrone with Amunition and that the Rebels were treating with the Scots for Aid and that therefore he had best prevent it by engaging them by better Subsidies according to a Project formerly laid by the Lord Burrough O Sullivan reports that Essex's Army was 7000 Foot and 900 Horse and that Owen Omoor with 500 men fell upon his Rear at Barnaglitty i.e. the Cap of Feathers and did good Execution and took many Plumes of Feathers which occasioned that name to be given to the place of Battel that the Earl of Desmond and Redmond Bourk came to the relief of Cahir whereby that Siege held ten days that Essex marched to Lymerick and thence to Askeaton that Desmond and Daniel Mac Carthy Moor laid an Ambush for him the ill management whereof raised a Feud between Thomas Plunket and Peirce Lacy wherein the former was slain that a Bloudy fight was near Crome where Henry Norris was slain and that for six days Desmond pursued Essex his Rear but there is little credit to be given to that Authour and yet some things that he says must be allowed to be true On the 15th of June Essex wrote a most Excellent Letter to the Queen which contains many good Instructions how to manage an Irish War and though some of his Notions are obsolete now yet because others are very usefull I will recite the Letter at large WHEN this shall come to your Majesty's Hands I know not but whensoever it hath that Honour give it leave I humbly beseech your Majesty to tell you that now having passed through the Provinces of Leinster and Munster and been upon the Frontier of Connaught where the Governour and the chief of the Province were with me I dare begin to give your Majesty some Advertisement of the State of this Kingdom not as before by hear-say but as I beheld it with mine own Eyes The People in general have able Bodies by Nature and have gotten by Custome ready use of Arms and by their late Successes boldness to sight your Majesties Troups In their Pride they value no man but themselves in their Affection they love nothing but idleness and licentiousness in their Rebellion they have no other end but to shake off the Yoak of Obedience to your Majesty and to rout out all remembrance of the English Nation in this Kingdom I say this of the People in general for I find not only a great part thus affected but that it is a general quarrel of the Irish and they who do not profess it are either so few or so false that there is no account to be made of them The Irish
and stronger Order than they and such means to keep from them the maintenance of their Life and to waste the Countrey which should nourish them your Majesty may promise your self that this Action will in the end be successfull though costly and that your Victory will be certain though many of us your honest Servants must sacrifice our selves in the Quarrel and that this Kingdom will be reduced though it will ask besides Cost a great deal of Care Industry and Time In June Sir Henry Harrington and some of his young Captains with 600 Men left in the Glinnes received a Baffle from the O Brians by their own fault which Essex punished by Decimation and the Execution of an Irish Lieutenant Pierce Walsh on whom the blame of that Disaster was chiefly laid But the Lord Lieutenant understanding the Queen was angry at his fruitless Munster-Expedition attributed the fault to the Council and assured Her Majesty by Letter of his speedy March to Vlster and yet instead of that he went with 2500 men into Leix and Ophaly and totally ruined the O Moors and O Connors and on his return found his Army so impair'd that he and the Council joyn'd in a Letter for a supply of 1000 Men. And being now resolved for Vlster he ordered Clifford Governour of Connaugh to march to Belick to distress Tyrone on that side accordingly he march'd with 100 Horse and 1400 Foot but being encountered by O Rourk and 200 Rebels at a Pass our Men being tired and wanting Powder were routed 140 slain together with Clifford and Sir Alexander Ratcliff and as many wounded nay they had all been lost were it not for the valour of the Horse who secured their Retreat and so the next day they marched back to Athloan Essex received the supply of 1000 Foot he had sent for into England and yet made no other attempts against Tyrone than that with 250 Foot and 300 Horse he came to the borders of Vlster about the lattter end of August and on the 8th of September held a Parley with Tyrone at the Ford of Balla-clinch Camd. Eliz. 570. and concluded on a Truce for six weeks and so from six weeks to six weeks till May provided either Party might break it on fourteen days notice before hand and on the 22d of September he gave a Commission to the Council of Munster or any three of them to govern that Province Quorum Sir Warham Saint Leger or Sir Henry Power to be one Soon after his return to Dublin Camb. Eliz. 572. Essex and the Council received a sharp Letter from the Queen dated the 14th of September taxing his and their ill Conduct and Disobedience to her positive Commands whereat he was so nettled that he immediately went for England where he unexpectedly came to Court on the 28th of September and being reprimanded for that Vagary Lib. C. his Apology was in effect That no harm had followed his rash Deserting Ireland that he left things in the best order and in the hands of the best Men he could and left so good Instructions that they have not been much altered since and that he came over in a time of Truce Adam Loftus Lord Chancellour Sir George Cary Treasurer at Wars Lords Justices were sworn the 24th of September whereupon Tyrone grew haugthy and publickly profess'd that he would recover the Liberty of Religion and his Countrey To him came Fryar Matthew de Oviedo titular Archbishop of Dublin and Don Martin de la Cerda they brought Papal Indulgencies for all that would take Arms against the English and a Phoenix Plume to O Neal and 22000 pieces of Gold from the King of Spain to distribute as they saw cause Hereupon O Neal in the beginning of December gave notice that after fourteen days he would break the Truce and soon after viz. the 20th of January under pretence of a Pilgrimage to the Holy Cross in Typperary he made a Journey into Munster to confer with the Sugan Earl of Desmond and to debauch those people from their Duty he had with him 2500 Foot and 200 Horse de deposed Daniel Mac Carty Moor and placed Florence Mac Carty in his stead he burnt and spoiled all that would not joyn with him especially the Lord Barry and he took Pledges of all those whose zeal he doubted and particularly of the White Knight and the Earl of Desâ—ond and by his Journey wonderfully encreased the number of the Rebels so that there were very few Irish that had not intelligence with him or shewed manifest inclination to him they were also very much encouraged by the death of Sir Thomas Norris Lord President of Munster who dyed at Mallow of a wound he had received in a Conflict with the Burks as also by the death of Sir Warham Saint Leger one of the Commissioners of Munster on the death of Norris who taking the air within a Mile of Cork was assaulted by Macguire and both of them slain so that it was now high time to provide a Govenour for the Kingdom and a particular President for that Province and the Queen shewed abundance of judgment in her choice of both Sir George Carew afterwards Earl of Totness was appointed Lord President of Munster and Charles Lord Montjoy Lord Deputy they landed at the Hill of Hoath the 24th of February 1599. The Lord President stayed at Dublin some time to get his Commission and Instructions and to learn the State of the Kingdom and on the seaventh of April 1600. with 700 Foot and 100 Horse being accompanied with his Excellency to Chappel Izzod he went to his Province Lib. C. and on the seventh of March 1599. the Lord Deputy and Council issued a Proclamation to give notice that the Queen had appointed Commissioners to sit three months to enquire what Money was due to the Subject by Bill Ticket or otherwise since the first day of Sir William Russel's Government for Bieves Diet of Soldiers Money delivered or other Services in order to their Satisfaction On the 10th of April the President being at Kilkenny 1600. was desired by the Earl of Ormond to go with him eight Miles to parley with Owen Mac Rory O Moor which he did and the Issue was Pacata Hibernia 24. that by the Treachery of the Rebels Ormond was taken Prisoner and the President and the Earl of Twomond hardly escaped by the swiftness of their Horses whereupon Pierce Lacy who was lately come into Protection relapsed again On the the 16th of April the Lord President came to Waterford where some Fitz-giralds of the Decyes and some of Powers submitted to him and were pardoned The Lord Lieutenant on the 10th of March went to Mulingar to intercept Tyrone in his return from Munster but he having notice of that design left 1000 Men with Desmond and 800 with the Butlers and with a small Company and by exceeding long Marches escap'd into Vlster but he lost his Reputation and many of his Men in this hasty
entred Clan William 1600. and John Burk refusing to submit personally pretending that his Priests taught him that it was a mortal sin so to doe The President disdaining that frivolous Answer the next day burnt and destroyed his Houses Corn and Country and then on the 30th of May Burk came and submitted and was with his brother Theobald with difficulty received upon their putting in Pledges for their future Loyalty The last of May the President took Ballytrasny Castle which the Ward had deserted and therein a great quantity of Corn and then part of the Army destroyed the Owny being O Mulrian's Country and then the whole Army returned to Lymerick and Garisons were placed in Asketon and Likadowne Killmallock and Lymerick Florence Mac Carty had by Letter to the Sugan Earl of Desmond a Truce or Cessation with the President and about this time had a meeting with the Confederates in Connilo where he slily betrayed his Brother-in-Law O Sullevan Moor and others and left them in pawn to Dermond O Connor for what Bonaught himself should have paid The President 's Army being refresh'd by the Arrival of Captain Harvy's Ship at Lymerick he put his Soldiers into the aforesaid Garisons to give the better opportunity to Dermond O Connor to effect his design against the Sugan Earl who would probably thereupon disperse his Forces likewise This plot was craftily managed and Desmond was taken and afterwards rescued by the Irish out of Castleishin the 26th of June whereof you may read at large in Pacata Hibernia In the meantime O Donell invaded Twomond with a great Force but that Earl having part of the President 's Army often skermish'd with the Rebels successfully and on Midsummer day forced them out of the Country But let us return to Vlster where we shall find O Neal in his Camp near the Newry triumphing because the Lord Lieutenant was gone to Dublin from his Camp On the eighth of June he wrote Letters to Owen Mac Rory about the delivery of the Earl of Ormond who was ransom'd on the 17th of June for 3000 l. for which he gave 12 Pledges who were afterwards delivered without payment of the Money upon the Submission of the Septs of Kellyes and Lalors in August following On the 19th of June the Lord Lieutenant wrote to England that he found more difficulty to govern the Subjects than to suppress the Rebels and that he fear'd an invasion from Spain and therefore desired that some Ships might lie on the West of Ireland and that the Army might be strengthened But it seems that Tyrone drew his Forces towards Loghfoyle to straiten Derry and that Sir Samuel Bagnall taking advantage of Tyrone's absence there and O Donell's in Twomond drew out of Newry into Managhan where he took a Prey kill'd six Commanders and about 60 Rebels and returned with the loss only of three men and 20 hurt and Sir Henry Dockwra and the Garison of Derry by the help of Art Mac Turlogh O Neal did waste O Cahan's Country and took Dunalong before Tyrone's face and placed Captain Bowles in Garison there and by the assistence of Neal Garve he also took the Castle of Liffer to O Donell's great dissatisfaction and about the same time a Spanish Ship arriv'd at Calebeg with arms and money and thereupon the Rebels flockt thither and left the Country open to the English Garisons The Subjects of the Pale sent over the Lord of Howth Morison 78. and Sir Patrick Barnewell to complain of the Injuries they received from the Army and made a Tax of 3 s. per Plow-land to bear the charge of their Agents though they had been very backward to contribute so much towards the Queen's Charge but these Deputies were reprimanded for coming without the Lord Lieutenant's leave and sent back with a Flea in their Ear and referr'd to the Lord Lieutenant From the 7th to the 12th of July Sir Oliver Lambert accompanied with the Earl of Southampton staid in Ophaly and made a Causway and a small Fort in the Fastness to faciliate the Relief and Victualling of Philipstown and about the same time Sir Richard Morison Governour of Dundalk took a considerable Prey in the Fews whereupon several Rebels offered to submit but were refused Pardon unless by Service they should deserve it On the 12th of July Mountjoy went to the Borders of Vlster where O Connon Roe Macguire submitted and was pardoned but O Neal keeping himself in his Fastness so that there was no coming to him the Lord Lieutenant returned to Dublin On the 12th of August Mountjoy with 560 Foot and 60 Horse and some Voluntiers march't to Naas and thence to Philipstown and in his way took a Prey of 200 Cows 700 Garons and 500 Sheep and so burning the Country on the 16th he came to the Pass where Sir Oliver Lambert was to meet him both of them skermished all the way and slew many Rebels and at Noon they met on the 17th they marched together to another Fastness where Owny Mac Rowry and Tyrell encountered them Montjoy was in great danger having his Horse slain under him but the issue was that Owny Mac Rowry and Callogh Mac Whalter and 35 Rebels were slain and 75 wounded whereby the O Moors were totally discouraged Montjoy staid in this Country till the 23d of August and destroyed 10000 l. worth of Corn and slew more or less of the Rebels every day one Lenagh a notorious Rebel was taken and hang'd and a Prey of 1000 Cows 500 Garons and many Sheep was taken by Sir Oliver Lambert in Daniel Spany's Countrey with the slaughter of a great many Rebels whereupon Redm Keating and the Septs of Kellyes and Lalors submitted and were pardoned on the discharge of the Earl of Ormond's Pledges which were in their Custody Sir Arthur Savage Governour of Connagh designed to meet the Lord Lieutenant but could not accomplish it though he prey'd and spoild the Country as far as he came and slew many Rebels in the Skermishes he had with them The Lord Lieutenant returned to Dublin August the 26th and on September the 14th began another Journey into the North on the 20th he encamped at Faghard three Miles beyond Dundalk where his Army being mustered were in List 4150 but by Poll but 2400 Foot and 300 Horse he was by extremity of Weather detain'd there till the first of October In the mean time O Neal had possessed himself of the Pass of the Moyry but on the 2d and 5th of October the English skermished so successfully with them that on the 9th they quitted the Fastness whereupon Montjoy cut down the Woods on both sides and having refreshed his Army at Dundalk on the 21st of October he march'd to the Newry where for want of Victuals he stayed till the second of November and then encamped near the place where he then built the Fort of Mountnorris and left in it 400 Men under Capt. Blany whilst they were building the Fort they had many Skermishes
with the Rebels with good success in one of which they took Prisoner Neal O Quin Tyrone's chief Favourite who was a butcherly sort of a Sot On the 10th of November Proclamation was made in face of Tyrone's Army That whoever brought O Neal alive should have 2000 l. and who brought his Head should have 1000 l. and then the English Army marcht to the Newry and thence to Carling-ford but in their way on the 13th of November they were attack'd briskly by the Rebels at the Pace of Carlingford Mar. 82. but the issue of the Battle was that the Enemy was routed with the loss of 200 men and in this whole Campaigne Tyrone lost 800 men and which was more his Reputation and of the English there were in this Journey about 200 slain Cambd. Eliz. 583. and 400 wounded Montjoy marcht from Carlingford to Dundalk and so to Dublin having distributed his Army into Winter-quarters where we will leave them and return to Munster On June 29. the President marcht from Limerick into Conilo to relieve Dermond O Conner who was besieg'd at Ballyalinan whereof the Rebels having notice they made an Agreement with Dermond and all joyn'd together to oppose the President However he seiz'd on the Castle of Crome which the Ward deserted and therein he found good store of Corn and other Provision and then for four or five days the Army hovered about Asketon in expectation of supplies of Victuals c. which were to come from Limerick by water and the Rebels to the number of 3000 kept very near them and sometimes within view but the Rebels had such jealousie of one another that they durst not attempt any thing and indeed William Burk and Morongh in Moe O Flaherty did July 3. by their Letters to the President offer to depart the Province for a Pass and a piece of Money Pac. hib 62. and to carry their Bonaughs with them being 2500 men But the Knight of the Glin although his Son was by himself put into the Presidents hands as a Pledge of his Loyalty was out in Rebellion and therefore on July 5. the President sat down before the Castle of Glin in the County of Limerick and although the Rebels Army being 3000 strong were within two miles of him yet he valiantly took the Castle by Assault with the slaughter of 80 Rebels It is observable that during the Siege and before the Artillery was mounted the Knight of the Glin had two Parleys with the Earl of Twomond and might have had good Conditions but he relied upon the Promises of his Confederates to raise the Siege and refused to submit The President having put 21 men under Captain Mordant in the Castle of the Glin design'd to attempt Carrigofoyle but O Connor Kerry prevented that by his submission and surrender and yet he also afterwards relaps'd when the Spaniards came In the mean time the President sent Maurice Stack with 50 men to Kerry where he surpriz'd Liscaghan-Castle burnt Adare and prey'd the Country and preserv'd himself safe till Sir Charles Wilmot came to his relief At length Dermond O Connor and the Bownaghs obtain'd leave of the President to return to Connagh but the Lord of Castlecoâ—el took no notice of their Pasport but in revenge of his two Brothers deaths whom they had slain he fell upon their rear in Clanwilliam and slew 60 of them On the 13th of July the President for want of Victuals return'd towards Limerick and in his way took the strong Castle of Corgrage by surrender and gave the Custody of it to Oliver Stevenson whose Posterity are now degenerate into meeâ— Irish He also placed 700 Foot and 75 Horse in Asketon and on the 15th he took the Castle of Rathmore by surrender and then sent 450 Foot and 50 Horse to Kilmallock and on the 16th he came to Limerick In the mean time the Rebels attempted Liscaghan Castle in Kerry to their loss of 23 Men and force not prevailing Florence Mac Carty used all his wheedling arts to terrifie or perswade the Garison to deliver it up but all in vain however the President being advis'd thereof on the 23d of July with 75 Horse and 1050 Foot set out by way of Thomond and transported his Forces over the Shenin at Carigofoyle the 28th and the 29th he sent Sir Cha. Wilmot with 600 Foot and 50 Horse into Clanmorris where he surpriz'd Lixnaw Rathowin and Tralee which was almost ruin'd by 150 Bonaughs imploy'd to that purpose whereof he slew thirty two and recovered 100 Arms and return'd to Carigfoyle on the second of August Patrick Lord of Kerry hereupon pull'd down his own Castle of Bealieu and on the 12th of August broke his heart and died the Rebels also ruin'd Castle Island and many other Fortresses because they should not be Garisons for the English But Florence Mac Carry began now to appear more openly so that he would by no means come to the President tho' twice sent for and it was rumor'd that he was projecting a Marriage between the Sugan Earl and the Lord of Muskry's Sister thereby to unite all the Cartyes who were 3000 able men to their confederacy and that he had also sent to Tyrone for assistance To prevent this the President leaves Wilmot in Kerry and returns to Cork by the way of Limerick and on the 23d of August in the way Piercy Lâ—cy offered to submit upon Conditions but the President would not capitulate with him In the mean time Captain Harvy with 70 Foot and â—4 Horse marched 21 Mile from Moyallo in pursuit of one John mac Redmond an Arch-Rebel by mistake they burnt a House in a Village belonging to the white Knight which they thought belong'd to the Rebels on discovery of the mistake the Captain offered to pay for the damage but John Fitz-Gibbon the white Knight's Son not satisfied therewith gather'd 160 Foot and 18 Horse and fell upon the English but he was forc'd to return with the loss of 60 of his Men without killing one English man and tho' the white Knight stormed a little at first yet when he knew the truth of the matter he was well satisfied however the malicious Guide that had misinform'd them was executed by the President 's Order Sir Charles Wilmot manag'd his business so well in Kerry that the Knight of Kerry and Lord of Lixnaw sued for protection which the Knight sometime after obtained and delivered up his Castle of Dingle in October following And it being certain that Florence mac Cartie had confederated with the Sugan Earl Daniel mac Cartie more was taken into protection and the Earl of Thomond was desired to govern at Asketon which he did and his Garrison soon after took the Castle of Mayn in Conilo The President had so ordered the matter that Cormock mac Dermond Cheif of Muskry became engaged for his Sister's appearance when sent for whereby the design'd Marriage with the Sugan Earl was prevented and soon after the O Mâ—ghons
and O Crowlyes of Carbry submitted and came under protection but they relaps'd when the Spaniards landed at King-sale And on the 29. August Cahir Castle was surrendred voluntarily by James Galde by the means of his Brother the Lord of Cahir And about the same time Mac Donough Mac Auliff and O Keef likewise made their submissions The Sugan Earl and Peirce Lacy being enrag'd at the Knight of Kerry's submission invaded his Country but were forc'd by the Knight to return faster then they came two of their Captains and sixteen of their Men being slain And soon after Sir Charles Wilmet took Ardart Castle in Kerry after a good Defence made by the Ward Honora ni Brien Sister to the Earl of Thomond and Wife to the Lord of Kerry invited the famous Maurice Stack to Dine with her at Beauliew where she caus'd him to be barbarously murder'd and the next day her Lord also hang'd his Brother Thomas Stack who was his Prisoner However Wilmot so manag'd his Affairs that the Sugan Earl was forc'd to leave Kerry and in his passage to Arloghwoods was set upon by the Garrison of Kilmallock and 120 of his best Men slain and 80 wounded and 150 Arms and 40 Horses taken as also 300 Garrans loaden with Baggage and all their Cows and Sheep whereby the Earl was quite undone and his Forces scattered and himself forced to fly into Typerary and Ormond and his Brother and Piers Lacy retired into Vlster It is observable that the Irish were so blindly devoted to Popery Cambd. Eliz. 584. that many of those that had been Loyal sent to Rome for a pardon for their sin in not entring into Action and a Dispensation for the time to come from entring into open Rebellion In the mean time the Queen by the Advice of Sir Ro. Cecil and the Lord President sent over James only Son of Garret last Earl of Desmond attended and equipp'd according to his Quality in hopes he might regain the Followers of his Family and reduce them unto their Obedience and Duty His Patent was sent to the President to keep or give it as he should see cause and a Company of Foot was cashier'd for his maintenance which was to be in the President 's House for fear of the worst when he came to Cork the Inhabitants finding he was a Protestant refus'd to entertain him so that he was fain to obtrude himself upon the Mayor where he supp'd and after Supper he wrote a Letter of this usage to the Lords of the Council but the Mayor told him No Letters should go out of his House but what he saw However the Earl sent away his Letters Lib. D. D. D. and the Queen on Notice hereof ordered the Lords of the Council to reprimand the Mayor c. which they did to purpose by their Letter of 10. November 1600. Upon this Earls first coming to Kilmallock multitudes flocked thither to see him and pay their Duty to him but as soon as they saw him go to Church they all forsook him yea cursed him and spit upon him however he prevail'd with Thomas Oge Constable of Castlemayn 4. November to deliver that Castle and two of Peirce Lacy's Sons into his Custody which was all the Service he did or could do whilst he staid in Ireland But it is worth noting that Florence Mac Curty upon the President 's Word came to him to Mallow and assur'd him of his Loyalty by all the Oaths and Asseverations imaginable and yet whilst he was in the House he wrote Letters to Thomas Ogeâ— not to surrender Castlemayn and assured him of Reward and Relief so exceedingly falshearted was this mighty Hypocrite and these Letters were by the diligence of Mr. Boyle afterwards Earl of Cork intercepted However at length he submitted and put in two Pledges on the 29th of October In the mean time Wilmot had taken the Castle of Clancoyne by Sir Fra. Barkly and on Notice that the Lord of Kerry and Knight of the Glin were in the Woods with 80 Men he pursued them so close that he slew 60 of them and narrowly mist the two principals And on the Fifth of November he sat down before the Castle of Listoel and after a good Defence and ten days time it was surrender'd to him together with the Lord of Kerry's Son and all his Chattels About the same time Sir Richard Pearcy sent part of the Garrison of Kingsale to Carbry where near Kilco they took a Prey of 300 Cows and in November took another Prey of 200 Cows in Kinalmeky and now some difference arising between the Cartyes and Learyes about some stolen Cows they had a Battle at Ahakery where O Leary and ten of his men were slain The Lord of Muskry would have reveng'd the slaughter of his Followers but the President would not permit him lest thereby he should put the Country in confusion and make such a Flame as he could not quench In the mean time the Lord or Chief of Muskry was underhand dealing with O Neal whom he advis'd not to trust any of English Extraction and assur'd him he would dissemble with the President until Aid should come and Florence Mac Cartie levied 1000 Bonaughs in hopes of Recruits they daily expected from Connaugh and Vlster and indeed Forces were there assembled for their assistance and they would have Invaded Munster but that Redmond Burk expected great matters from the President and therefore would not disturb his Province and the Sugan Earl was jealous of the Bonaughs and every body was doubtful of Florence Mac Carthy and so this great cloud vanished and the Rebels dispersed into Ormond and Typerary Sir Charles Wilmot drew near to the Abby of Ratoo in Kerry whereupon the Rebels burnt it however he met 100 Bonaughs under Mortagh mac Shihy whereof he slew 40. Dermond O Connor whose Wife was Sister to the Queen's Earl of Desmond was so well pleas'd with the Honours the English did his Brother-in-Law that he resolv'd to come to him and to do some service acceptable to the State and accordingly he obtain'd Pasports but Tybot ni Long who had a Company in the Queens Pay pretending ignorance of his Pasport in favour of the Rebels fell upon him in Claâ—riccard and slew 40 of his men and took him Prisoner and the next day cut off his head whereupon the Queen took away Tybbott's Company from him On the 18th of November the President kept Sessions at Limerick and afterwards at Cashell and on the 28th of November at Clonmell where the Earl of Ormond met him and promis'd to expel the Rebels out of his Palatinate and in order to it in January his Forces assail'd the Rebels slew 40 of them and particularly Thomas Burk Brother of Redmond and took 30 Arms and forc'd Redmond and his Followers into the River Nore where 70 of them were drowned and many with their Baggage taken and particularly John Burk another Brother of Redmonds who was soon after executed at Kilkenny
more and on the 30th of July the Deputy march'd to the new Fort at Blackwater and beyond it and spent two days in cutting the Woods and clearing the Paces and whilst they were doing so on the first of August the Rebels made an Alarum whereat the English Horses were frightned broke their Headstals and ran away some to Armagh and some to Newry but the Troopers recovered them all again by the cowardize and negligence of the Irish Horse-men who might easily have pursued and taken them all On the second of August the Deputy return'd to Armagh and march three miles farther to Ralawtany and sent out Sir Henry Danvers with 300 Foot to burn about 20 Houses which he effected but in his return was assaulted by Tyrene's Army However being succour'd from the Camp he made a safe Retreat though the Rebels pursued him even so far as to pour a Volly of Shot into the Camp and by reason of the adjacent Wood they also got away safe The next day the Deputy marched North of Armagh for convenience of Forage and to secure the Convoys and the Rebels being numerous drew down thorough the Woods near the Army which by Poll was but 1728 foot and above half of them Irish The fourth of August the Deputy drew out some Companies to cut down the Woods and they were not interrupted all day but after they were return'd to the Camp in the Evening the Rebels appear'd in a Meadow below the Camp with Drums and Bagpipes and pretended to assault the Camp but the Lord Deputy plac'd 400 men in Ambush and order'd them not to fire till the Enemy was very near The Rebels were encourag'd by their not firing so that they poured 2 or 3000 Shot into the Camp but the Ambush finding their opportunity gave them such a Volley in their teeth that turn'd their Musick to Allogone and slew many of their best men and particularly Peirce Lacy of the Brough one of the greatest Rebels in Munster But because Tyrone who had 3640 Foot and 400 Horse was strengthned by the access of Maguire mac Mahon and Cormack mac Baron and their Followers and was also elevated with the expectation of Spanish Succours the Deputy sent for Sir John Barkly's Regiment from Annaly and spent two days in cutting the Paces and on the 7th march'd to Mount Norris where he staid the 8th 9th 10th 11th and 12th and on the 13th came within three mile of Armagh and on the 14th victualled the Abby of Armagh and the Fort of Blackwater and return'd to his Camp and on the 15th he march'd to Mount Norris and on the 16th to Carrickbane near the Newry and on the 24th his Lordship left the Field and came to the Newry having plac'd his Forces in Garrison  Foot Horse  Viz. at Carigfergus 850 125 Sir Arth. Chichester Lecale 300  Sir Rich. Morison Newry 450 50 Sir Fran. Stafford Mount Norris 600 50 Sir Sam. Bagnal Armagh 800 125 Sir Hen. Danvers Blackwater 350  Capt. Williams But let us return to the Lord President of Munster who was alarum'd from Conaugh for in the latter end of March Redmond Burk and Hugh Mostian with 800 Canaugh-men and Teig Bourk John Fitz Thomas Donough mac Cormock and Peirce Lacy with 700 Vlster-men design'd to invade Munster by the way of Conaugh and the Lord of Kerry Teig Reagh mac Mahon and others were providing a Bark to come by Sea Sir John Barkly Governour of Conaugh in absence of Sir Arthur Savage was too weak to resist this Force and therefore the President sent him 1000 Foot under Sergeant-Major Flower in hopes to interrupt their passage over the Shenin Flower assisted by the Lord Twomond's Foot-Company on the 29th of March came to Quin in Thomond and hearing the Rebels were not far off notwithstanding that Teig mac Tirlogh O Brian and Walter Burk Son of the blind Abbot had three days before joyn'd them he drew towards them and so valiantly manag'd the Encounter that Teig and Walter were both slain and their Forces totally routed The remainder of the Rebels finding that the President had taken care to stop their passage by Sea retir'd into Tough Kinalehim a strong Fastness betwixt Clanrickard and Thomond where they continued till the 13th of April then being half starved and dispairing of assistance from O Donnel who had promis'd it they stole away in the Night to O Maddins Country the English pursued them several Nights till they pass'd the River Suck wherein 200 Irish were drowned and the rest dispers'd in the mean time the President himself came to Lymerick to countenance and be ready to assist the English Forces he also order'd the chief Irish Subjects with their risings out to meet at Galbally in the County of Lymerick under the Lord Barry where 1300 Foot and 120 Horse of the County of Cork only appeared The Rebels thus scattered Captain Flower returned to Lymerick the 21st of April and on the 26th the President returned to Cork in order to use all possible means to secure the Sugan Earl and Florence Mac Carty which not long after he luckily effected for on the 29th of May the White Knight alias Fitz Gibbon took James the Sugan Earl of Desmond prisoner in a Cave in the Mountain of Slevegrot and sent him to the President at Cork for which good service he had 1000 l. This Earl was arraign'd and condemn'd at Cork and afterwards sent into England together with Florence Mac Carty whom the President caus'd to be arrested in Cork in the beginning of June upon notice of his manifold Treasons and Breaches of his Protection which may be found at large in Pacata Hiberniae p. 164. both of them afterwards died in the Tower of London One of these was the most potent of all the Earls of Desmond having at one time 8000 armed Men under his command And the other had been the most considerable of the Mac Carties since the Conquest The President Pa◠Hib. 17◠to farther the intended Plantation at Ballishanon sent Sir Francis Barkley and 1000 Foot and 50 Horse to Conaugh by the Deputy's order where they did very good service On the 28th of July the President held Sessions of Goal-delivery at Cork where all the Freeholders were summon'd to appear and then he intended to seize upon the most suspicious persons in hopes that the News thereof would prevent the Spanish Invasion and accordingly he caus'd to be arrested Mac Donogh alias Dermond Mac Owen Teig Mac Dermond Carty Brother of the Lord of Muskry and Moyle more O Mahon of Kinalmeaky all which were fully resolved to joyn with the Spaniards and had license from the Priests to temporize till their deliverance should come About this time the Earl of Ormond did good service in Kilkenny and Tipperary and slew several considerable Rebels and near 100 others of lesser note But let us return to the Lord Deputy 1601. whom we left at the Newry where he receiv'd News that
time Macguire also submitted and promis'd to repair Eniskilling at his own charge and the Earl of Tyrone with about 600 Foot and 60 Horse were retir'd into an inaccessible Fastness at the end of Logherne But there being a Rumor that the Spaniards were again landed in Munster Sir Henry Dockwra was posted at Agher and Sir Arthur Chichester at Fort Montjoy and the Lord Deputy on the 11th of September return'd to Newry and soon after to Dublin and in November Rory O Donell and most of the O Relyes submitted unto him Morison 249. and on the 12th of November the Earl of Tyrone sent him an absolute Submission very handsomly worded and yet at the same time he wrote to O Connor Sligo not to make a separate Peace but that they should stand or fall together In the mean time Sir Oliver Lambert had driven the Burks and their Mac William out of the County of Mayo and on the 18th of November the Deputy began his Journey to Connaugh and on the second of December he came to Athloan and on the 14th of December O Connor Sligo and Rory O Donell came thither and made their Submission to him and although O Connor did act his part well and alleadg'd many plausible excuses yet O Donell not only out-did him but also exceeded all others that had submitted to that day for he was very frank and generous in his Deportment and submitted without Capitulation or Condition which was the more regarded because he was a man of Parts and Courage but the difficulty was how to compromise the matter between him and Sir Neal Garve who was no better than an insatiable unruly Beast The Deputy kept Christmas at Galway and there received into favour the Flahertyes Mac Dermonds O Connor roe and others so that only the sickle and treacherous O Rourk notwithstanding his Letters to the Deputy that he would submit and Tyrones Macguire and Tyrrell persisted in this Rebellion with the Earl of Tyrone The Deputy ordered that the Fort of Gallaway should be finished and appointed three several small Armies to attack O Rourk but because it may seem that these people could never relapse and apostatize as many of them did if there had been any obligation laid upon them to be loyal I thought it not unnecessary to inform the Reader that every man that submitted took the following Oath First Morison 251 I Do acknowledge Elizabeth by the Grace of God Queen of England France and Ireland to be the only true Absolute and Soveraign Lady of this Realm of Ireland and of every part and of all the People thereof unto whose gracious mercy I do humbly submit my Land and Goods and with all faithful Repentance for my unnatural Disobedience unto her Royal Majesty do most earnestly implore her Mercy and Pardon for my self and such of my Followers as with me have been seduced to this wicked Rebellion Further I do renounce all and any manner of Obedience unto any other Power or Potentate which I owe only to my dread Soveraign Elizabeth and utterly abjure any dependancy and adherence to any of her Enemies whatsoever or disloyal Subjects and do promise swear and vow from henceforth to live in her Subjection in all Duty and Obedience and to use my best endeavours to the utmost of my power to withstand and confound any Enemy either forreign or domestick that shall attempt any thing against the Sacred Person or Estate of her Majesty or to the hurt of her faithful and obedient Subjects And especially and namely I do renounce as before and promise my endeavours as aforesaid against the King of Spain and the Arch-Traytor the Earl of Tyrone About the latter end of January the Lord Deputy returned to Dublin having engaged Rory O Donell to prosecute O Rourk and in the beginning of March some Forces were sent to help Sir Arthur Chichester to expel Brian mac Art who had secretly entered Killultagh with 500 men and they performed that Service effectually Morisin 271. and brought the Rebels to so low a condition that they saw three Children eating the Entrails of their dead Mother upon whose Flesh they had fed twenty days and roasted it by a slow Fire and it was manifest that some older people had been in that starving condition that they murdered and eat Children for a long time together and were at last discovered and executed for that Barbarity In short the Famine of Jerusalem did not exceed that amongst the Rebels of Ireland and therefore it is no wonder that on the 30th of March 1602. Cambd. Eliz. 658. the Earl of Tyrone not knowing the Queen's death did at Melifont in most humble manner and upon his knees make his submission to the Deputy tho' at the same time Sir Neal Garve being discontented did with Mac Swiny concert the measures of a new Rebellion and took upon him the name of O Donell and made the people swear Fealty to him In Munster the Irish by the contrivance of O Sullevan Bear had surprized the Castle of Dunboy and taken it from the Spaniards in February whereat Don John was exceedingly troubled and offered to go in person to recover the Castle that it might be surrendered according to Capitulations 1601. but the Deputy and President who were willing to be rid of him excus'd him for that and told him They would take care to reduce the Irish to their Duty and so Don John and his Spaniards imbarqu'd for Spain on the 8th although they did not set sail till the 16th of March In the mean time O Sullevan was busie fortifying Dunboy and had hired Tirrell William Burk and others with 1000 〈◊〉 for his defence and the President was not idle but on the 9th of March sent the Earl of Twomond with 1200 Foot and 10 Horse into Carbery and Bantry to destroy those Countries and to view Dunboy that he might be the better able to provide for its Reduction but the Earl could march no farther than Bantry where he left five Companies in Garrison and returned to Cork On the 23th of April the President marched from Cork to Awnebuy 1602. and on the 24th came to Tymoleague the 25th to Ross the 26th to Castlehaven the 27th to Baltimore the 29th to Kilcoe and the 30th to Castle-Carew alias Dowminark On the first of May Capt. Taaf took a Prey of 300 Cows and many Sheep and on the second Capt. John Barry brought in another Prey of 500 Cows 300 Sheep and 300 Garrans and on the 8th 300 men were in the night sent to Artully to meet Sir Charles Wilmott's Forces and to conduct them to the Camp which was effected to the great grief of the Rebels and a Prey of 4000 Cows was taken in Iveragh This Sir Charles Wilmot had done great Services in Kerry where he took the Castles of Lixnaw Ballyhow Castle-Gregory and Raâ—ane and defeated the Knight of Kerry and forced him and Damell mac Carty to submit But the
Boyle Esq Countess of Barrymore Lady Digby Lady Goring Countess of Kildare Lady Ranelagh Lady Loftus Countess of Warwick Posterity he had to leave his Estate unto who enjoyed it until their Interests were buried under the sad Ruins that now cover that poor Country By some of whom or some other proper to preserve the Memory of so worthy and useful a Person I hope he may be afforded as he deserved a History by Himself and therefore I shall say no more of him here These Lords Justices surrendred the Swor'd toâ— the Earl of Strafford who being well known to the World to be a Man of whom a Prince might rather be afraid than ashamed I shall only add this of him That he very much improved Ireland both in Revenue and Value during his Government and that he did heartily dedesign the Advancement of the English Interest and Religâ—on in that Kingdom does sufficiently appear to me by the Care he took of the Protestant Church which for the most part he supplied with a Learned Pâ—ous and Orthodox Clergy and by the Malice and Hatred the Irish generally â—ore him As for the Lord Dillon afterwards Earl of Roscomon and Sir Christopher Wandesford we need say no more but that they were Loyal Men true to their King and â—ust to their Friend the Earl of Strafford by whose Directions and Sentiments they Govern'd the Kingdom The next that had the Title tho' not the actual Possession of the Government was the Noble Earl of Leicester and happy had it been for that Kingdom if he had gone over in time For altho' the Lords Justices Persons and Burlace were very worthy Men and did not deserve such Reproaches as the Irish aspersed them with yet the Government is not so strong nor so vigorous in Two Hands as in One especially unless they can be perfectly of One Mind in every Thing which these Two were not And so we are come to the Vespers of a Bloody Scene being that of a great Rebellion And as it was Unnatural in many Regards so particularly in this That altho' the Queen was a Roman Catholick and very zealous in Her Way and partially indulgent to all that were of It the Irish could even then be Disloyal and afflict Her Indulgent Husband while He was otherwise distrest But as Her Popery had no manner of Effect at a Time when there was some Reason or Motive that it might have done Good so in most other Cases it proved very detrimental and weâ— pray leave to trace it to the Original since it deserves some particular Remark France was hardly Match enough for Spain when King James meditated a Spanish Wife for His most excellent Son And the more formidable this Power then appeared unto Him the more intent He was on it being governed by Fear and too obsequiously humour'd therein by His next Governor the Duke of Buckingham His Favourite The First Instance of Spanish Authority in our Court may be that of Gondamour their Embassador who was able to bring Sir Walter Raleigh to the Block Surely it was a Case of the First Impression that a Man should suffer for acting by the Commission of his own Prince But because this was so incongruous and harsh they rake into an old Fault which in the Opinion of all Men was extinguish'd by his new Commission For who was ever made a General and intrusted with the Lives of other Men who was not understood at the same time to be Master of his own But the Second and more unfortunate Step was what we noted in His Treaty and Designation of a Lady of a different Religion for the Prince He had not done this in His own Case and there wanted in all Europe an Instance where any Roman Catholick Sovereign admitted of a Protestant for His Consort In this I reckon the Partition-wall was undermined and it was a Day of unhappy Counsel to the Prosperity of England But the Case having been decided by the Father and the same Favourite succeeding to the Son 't is probable the main Question never came so much as in Debate For King Charles coming then to the Crown and having resented the ill Treatment he found in Spain he presently took in with the alternate Power and Married a Daughter of France This was a Lady who had Wit and Beauty and the King being a Man of strict Vertue proved an indulgent Husband But He was often troubled with Her busie and intriguing Temper and the ill Company She brought with Her from France so that being at length scandalized at their Insolence and their tampering in Matters of Religion he dismist them into their own Country and War thereupon immediately ensued with the French King However thus it came to pass that Popery got Footing in our Court and tho' it were bounded and chained down by Articles yet when those who were to obey thought it Merit to transgress 't is possible this Serpent might creep sometimes out of its Circle and give occasion to Censures that were just Yet was it a Work of Time and there needed many other angry Conjunctures in Government before the Discontented could venture as afterwards to asperse and involve the whole Court in the Calumnies of Popery And as the World hath since had leisure to see why these Outcries were extended and what Ruins were thereby brought about so have they been convinc'd that most of those who were blasted in that Contagion have stood firm Pillars of the Church and above all the King Himself who died an insuperable Martyr for it However as to the Queen whether it were by Fatality or a mistaken Zeal surely the Event hath shewn that all Her intermedling in Affairs did but afflict the Cause of that Pious King Her restless Mind was like the Worm in the Gourd which tho' much restrain'd while He was alive yet since hath it eaten to the Root in a fatal perverting of His Offspring and laying the Foundations of their present Calamity But my Province being limited to Things of Ireland I shall only from the Topick which is touch'd observe That the greatest Obstacle and Contradictions that arose in Reclaiming the Irish and bringing them or the Forces that fought against them to His Majesty's Assistance was by those Two Emissaries that Her Majesty employed Sir Kenelm Digby in 1644. to Rome and the Earl of Glamorgan in 1645. into Ireland For both of these moving in different Measures from the Marquis of Ormond who was Lord Lieuteuant he was infinitely perplex'd thereby in his Treaty with the Irish they still pressing for more than he had either Instructions or Inclinations to allow them And when at last he compass'd a Treaty with them in 1646. it was presently broken and shamefully overthrown as in the following Story will be manifest The Truth is they needed but little Countenance of pretended Authority when the Fundamental Doctrines of their Church or at least the Documents of their Clergy led them from the Beginning unto all
the preposterous Courses they took For they were taught That the Pope was by Divine Right Universal Monarch and Governor of the World P. W. Remonstrance in Preface 6 7. and had Independent Sovereign Authority over Kings and Subjects in Temporal as well as Spiritual Concerns That he might Deprive and Dethrone Kings and had Power of both Swords to which every Soul upon pain of eternal Damnation was bound to give Obedience That he had power to absolve from all Oaths and that those who are slain in the Quarrel of the Church against an Excommunicated Prince die true Martyrs of Christ and their Souls fly to Heaven immediately So that it is no wonder that a People for the most part abounding in Ignorance and Bigotry tempted by the Hopes of Profit in the Plunders and Success of the War and stimulated by a National Malice against the British should be guilty of all that Cruelty and Treachery which they thought Meritorious and was in their Opinion conducive to their main Design of Extirpating the Protestants This tedious and bloody War which was at first begun by the Papists against the Protestants to support the King's Prerogative and suppress the Puritans as they pretended met with such prodigious Turns and Vicissitudes in the Progress of it that the most virulent Faction of the Papists joyn'd with the Puritans and fought for them against the King and against one another and all the Parties in the Kingdom which were * King Ormond Parliament Cooâ— Covenanters Lord of Ardes Supreme Couucil Preston Nuncio Owen Roe Five did one time or other in the War fight against the Faction it had formerly sided with But because this War was on the King's part managed by the Marquis since Duke of Ormond first in the Quality of Lieutenant General and afterwards as Lord Lieutenant it is necessary that according to my former Method I give some Account of Him which perhaps cannot be better done than from a MS. I accidentally met with wherein there are some short memorable Strokes of Him and his Family not unfit to be communicated to the Reader and therefore I have transcribed it as followeth 1. He was born at Clerkenwell in London on the Ninteenth of October 1610. and died at Kingstonhall in Dorset-shire on the 21th of July 1688. This was the 78th Year of his Age in which time he had seen Four Kings and served Three of them for 57 Years with an unshaken Zeal to the Crown 2. That he had seen Three Generations above him as maâ—â—ely his Father Thomas Viscount Thurles his Grandfather Walter Earl of Ormond and his great great Uncle Thomas Earl of Ormond who being a Black Man was commonly called by the Irish Thomas Duff This Thomas who was also Earl of Ossory was a Man of high Courage and Endowments and much favoured by Queen Elizabeth as being also Kinsman to her Mother He was Knight of the Garter Lord Treasurer of Ireland and General of the Army there He lived to the Age of Eighty seven Years and in the Reigns of Five Kings and Queens and died in 1614. So also had his Grace seen Three Generations below him as namely his Son Thomas the Renowned Earl of Ossory his Grandson James the present Duke and his great Grandson Thomas who was playing in the Room before him but a few Hours before his Death 3. That he had for some Years sat with Two of his Sons the said Thomas Earl of Ossory and Richard Earl of Arran in the House of Peers in England and his eldest Son was Knight of the Garter at the same time with Himself 4. That if the Siding and Partaking with the House of Lancaster in the Ancient Quarrels with the House of York which divided and at one time or other involved the whole Nation may pass for nothing it will not appear in all the Records that any Staln of Disloyalty was ever imputed to any that were the Chief Branch of this Family for Five hundred Years 5. That his Grace not to count what Titles they had before was the Twelfth Earl of Ormond and the Seventh of that Name of James He who was the Second James and styl'd The Noble Earl as being by his Mother de Bohun Great Grandson to King Edw. I. was thrice Lord Justice of Ireland And the Fifth James being by Hen. VI. made also Earl of Wiltshire Knight of the Garter and Lord Treasurer of England was Five times made Lord Deputy and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and had a Patent of it for Twelve Years His late Grace the Seventh James was Lord Lieutenant Four times which in all took in about Twenty four Years And if we shall reckon how many of this Family and how often they have been concern'd in that Government it thus appears That from the 31 Hen. 3. 1247. when Theobald Butler Lord of Carrick was made one of the Lords Justices to 1 Jac. 2. 1684. that his Grace was dismist from being Lord Lieutenant there have in the space of Four hundred thirty seven Years been Ten of this Family who have Seven and twenty times been either Lords Justices Lords Deputies or Lords Lieutenants of that Kingdom These Instances are perhaps sufficient to give the Reader some farther Curiosity to know by what Steps this Great Man grew up into the World who had a various and difficult Part in those Revolutions that befel Three Kingdome and the Monarchs thereof And inasmuch as they seem to reflect some Light on part of the following Story I will venture to add what I also found in the same Manuscript as followeth That the said Thomas Duff having no other Issue than his Daughter the Lady Elizabeth he first married her to his Nephew Theobald Viscount Tullough who was a Protestant as well as himself But he soon dying Childless and the young Widow being made very considerable in her Fortune by the Father's Indulgence there came Sir Richard Preston a Scotchman who being much favoured by King James and fortified by His Credentials he obtain'd the Lady and was made thereupon Lord Dingwell in Scotland and Earl of Desmond in Ireland This Earl soon began to stretch and enlarge his Pretensions to the Estate But Earl Walter the Heir at Law opposed him King James was pleased to take upon Him the Arbitration between them but did it with such partiality as Earl Walter thought that he chose rather to be thrown into the Fleet as for Contempt than to submit There he lay a Prisoner for Eight years together his whole Estate Sequestred and Extended his County Palatine of Tipperary which had been Three or Four hundred years in the Family seised by Quo Warranto into the King's Hands and he reduced to a shameful Want The Duke of Buckingham was active in this Oppression but the Cry of it grew so lowd at last that the King relented for what he had done In these Troubles it was that his Grace's Father Thomas Viscount Thurles coming over to prosecute in
this Contention was drown'd in 1618. upon which his Lady brought her young Son over from Ireland whither he had been carried at the Age of Three years and now he was about Nine She put him to a Private School under a Roman Catholick but by Order of King James he was removed to the Archbishop of Canterbury's Doctor Abbot and by him he was wholly maintain'd for Five or Six years without any Pension from Court or possibility of Help from home where all was sequestred and deprest By him also was he first instructed in the Protestant Religion and in the Doctrine of the Church of England unto which he stuck fast to his Death In 1628. his Grace was at Portsmouth to take Share in the Expedition then preparing for the Relief of Rochel but the sudden Death of the Duke of Buckingham put him upon other Measures for in a while after he married the Lady Elizabeth Preston which ended and reconciled the long Contentions of the Family This Lady was by the Marriage aforementioned the only Child of the said Earl of Desmond who being also lately drown'd she fell in Wardship to King Charles the First and His Majesty bestowed the Wardship upon the Earl of Holland then Lord Chamberlain She was intended for a Nephew of the Duke of Buckingham's which drew him into that Partiality and his Grace was in particular forbid by His Majesty to pretend unto His Ward However the young Lady saw none in the whole Court who either for Beauty or for Parts could outshine her Kinsman And Both being agreed he was forced to pay down Fifteen thousand Pounds to the said Earl of Holland for her Wardship These were all the Favours that either he or his Family could then meet with in the Court of England So hastning with his Lady to Acton near Bristol and there staying about a Year with his Uncle Sir Robert Poyntz he went for Ireland at the end of 1630. soon after which as the Manner there was he purchas'd a Troop of Horse in the Standing Army The Lord Wentworth afterwards Earl of Strafford went over Lord Deputy in 1633. In a while after he call'd a Parliament which being appointed to meet within the Castle of Dublin a Proclamation issued That none of the Members either Peers or Commons should enter with their Swords All obey'd the Order save this young Lord who told the Black Rod at the Door He should have no Sword of his except in his Guts So being the only Peer who sat that day in defiance of the Proclamation it fired the Lord Deputy as not wâ—nt to be disobey'd His Grace was call'd upon in the Evening to answer for it who thereupon shew'd His Majesty's Writ calling him to Parliament Cinctus cum gladio which sort of Answer being not expected and finding him like to prove an untractable Companion it was in deliberation that Night between the Lord Deputy and his Two-Friends Sir George Ratcliff and Mr. Wandesford Whether to trample him quite under foot or to oblige so daring a young Man who was now also grown very Popular But Sir George being for the more benign Extreme he was taken into Favour caress'd and made one of the Privy Council No Opportunities were from that time forward omitted to oblige him or set him forth in a high Character to His Majesty So that in the Year 1639 the Lord Lieutenant made him Lieutenant General of the Horse in the Army which was then newly rais'd but as soon disbanded Upon the neck of this the Earl of Strafford fell into those Troubles which in May 1640. hurried him to the Scaffold But the Earl having heard with what vigour his Grace contended to oppose and overthrow these Accusations which came against him from the Parliament of Ireland as it was the last Request this Earl made to His Majesty That he would be pleas'd to bestow his Blue Garter upon his Grace so in June following his Grace had notice of His Majesty's Gracious Intentions to confer it accordingly The Earl of Leicester was at this time appointed to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland tho' by some Accidents he never went over It was on the 23d of October 1641. that the Rebellion broke out the News whereof being brought to His Majesty then in Scotland His Majesty does by Letter to his Grace from Edinborough of the 31th of the same Month lament that Calamity and desires and presses his Grace to take on him to be Lieutenant General of the Army This was in effect by Necessity thrown on him even before that Command cameâ— but in May 1642. it came to him in Form by Commission from the Earl of Leicester as General In August after His Majesty being at Nottingham where He set up His Standard sent his Grace a Patent for the Honor of Marquis and in September following His Majesty by the Advice and Consent of the Lords Justices appointed him to â—old the said Command of Lieutenant General immediately from Himself by Patent under the Broad Seal It was by these Steps that his Grace came suddenly to be embark'd in a Course of Life to which he was utterly a Stranger He had not had the Means for Travel or ever seen War either abroad or at home He was made a General before he was a Soldier His very first Essay was to oppose a bloody Rebellion then newly broke out And how far he was able by a vigorous Body and the vivacity of his Parts and a boundless Zeal for the Crown to discharge and sustain that Trust or how he bore up in all those Vicissitudes of Exaltation and Banishment of Plenty and of Want of Dignity and Depression which did in the Course of about Fifty Years after so often befal him may prove Matter for a larger Place The last who manag'd the Sword of State was the Marquis of Clanrickard who was also an English Peer and Earl of St. Albans He was the First Roman Catholick that had been entrusted with the Chief Government since the Reformation But the Irish were come to that pass as not to endure a Protestant to be over them and so this brave Gentleman was deputed by the Marquis of Ormond to take his Place And tho' his Religion was pleasing to the Irish yet the King's Authority wherewith he was clothed was by no means acceptable to them that design'd to shake off the Yoke of England and therefore they proved as troublesom and refractary to him as they had been before to the Lord Lieutenant So that after Two Years vexatious Agitation amongst them and after he had in vain tried all ways to support the sinking State he laid down Arms and had Liberty to retire into England where he died He was a Person of sound Understanding and unblemish'd Loyalty and did from the beginning abhor their Courses towards the English And altho' the Nuncio and the Clergy made frequent Trials to seduce him from his Integrity yet being evermore fixt in his Principles he resisted all
that is What credit the Irish Roman Catholick Historians deserve in these matters and certainly it is so very little that I hope the greatest fault that will be found with this Collection will be that I have honoured Mr. Sullevan and others of them with too large a Confutation for besides the direct Testimony of Peter Walsh that these Popish Authors do a P. W. Remonstrance 583. mingle Truth and Lyes indifferently whoever will take the Pains to read their Books will find that they understand one anothers failings so well that when they fall out they do little else but give one another the b Fryar Paul King published innumera mendacia Beling in pref mendacia horrenda ibidem indigesta mendaciorum moles Beling 1. Belingus mentitur quidem splendide says Father Ponce vindiciae Eversae 175. vel mentitus es vel mendacium protulisti ibid. 12. Similiter ibid. pag. 4. 17. 28 c. Lye in a word I have not found one of them tolerable or of any credit except Peter Walsh and Mr. Beling And do think that all the rest of them that I have seen do deserve that Character which Mr. Beling has given to Fryar Paul King Tanquam capis in cudendis Mendacâ—â—s voluptatem ut ab eis etiam ubi rem tuam nihil promovent abstinere teâ—nequeas Beling 69. viz. That they take so much delight in Lying that they cannot abstain from it even where it does them no Serviâ—e This being Premised the first Question will be whether the Irish or English began the Rebellion for beside that the Irish have published b Burlace Epist 120. abroad both by word and writing That the English were the Aggressors R. S. in his Collection of Murders pag. 1. affirms that the Murder of Three thousand Irish in the Isle of Magee was the first Massacre in Ireland on either side But certainly it is more difficult to believe that any one could be so shameless to make this Objection then it is to give it a full and undeniable Answer for the Slaughter at Magee did not happen until the latter end of November and in revenge of the many Murders committed by the Irish on the Scots whom they spared for the first Ten days whilst in the mean time they murdered the English and it is notorious to all the World that the Irish Rebellion broke out the 23d day of October and that there were many Murders committed even that very day and every day after for a long time all which is testified by a Cloud of Witnesses and that the Rebellion was contrived c Review 10. Vindicae eversae 2. plotted and begun by the Irish will appear from the Testimony of the Lord Macguire Macmahon Tirlogh Oge O Neal and Sir John Read in their respective Examinations and by the Confession of the Earl of Castlehaven Peter Walsh the Bishop of Fernes and Father Ponce which two last do endeavour to justifie it as a Holy and Just War And that leads me to the Second Question Sanctum justissimumque decenii bâ—llum vindiciae eversae 1. viz. Whether it were a Rebellion or not for there are some that call it a Holy and Just War others dwindle it to a Commotion and P. W. is reprimanded for calling it a Rebellion As if says the Bishop of Fernes Belli nostri honestas justitia summa est ibid. 35. Our taking up Arms for the necessary Defence of Lives and Religion against the Protestants our Fellow Subjects could be a Rebellion and in their National Synod or Convocation at Dublin Bleeding Iphigenia Anno 1666. the Popish Clergy tho' prest to it refused to beg his Majesties Pardon for that War P. W. Remonstrance 666. for they knew not of any Crime they had committed therein To which I Answer P. W. Letters pag. 33. I must Confess says he I had not that Brazen brow of Impudence to deny either the notoriousness of the Fact or the clearness of the Law in their Case That the Irish Procurator P. W. has not only confessed this horrid Rebellion and proved it to be so but has assured us that all their publick Agents and Commissioners Sir Robert Talbot Colonel Moor the Earl of Clancarty the Lord Birmingham Sir Nicholas Plunket c. and many Thousands of the Irish Nobility Gentry and Lay Proprietors both at Dublin and London in their Petitions Answers Certificates Claims and other Papers acknowledge this fatal Stain under the very Term and Name of Rebellion I should not mention the Act of Adventurers 17 Car. 1. in England which adjudged this War not only to be a Rebellion but also so general a One that they thought several Millions of Acres of Land would be as they were forfeited thereby nor the Act of Settlement in Ireland which stiles it An unnatural Insurrection and Rebellion but that the former shews the Judgment of the King and Parliament of England in the Point and this latter Act was exposed to the censure of the Irish Papists and every word was expung'd which they could contradict But if the Murder of the Kings Subjects in a Hostile manner the declaring against his Religion the Ejection of his Clergy the seizing of his Forts and Castles the besieging of his Towns the fighting of Battles with his Armies the Usurpation of all his Prerogatives the seizing of his Revenues and the Presumption to Act as a Separate State be not a Rebellion it is very difficult to define what is But they Reply The Third Question That if it be a Rebellion and not simply justifiable yet it ought to be excused because the Motives to it and the Causes of it were so pressing as that they were not to be resisted by sensible Men for they were afraid the Monarchy was to be supprest and consequently they Being the a Catholicos ceteris omnibus fideliores Stirpitus devellendos vindiciae Catholicorum 4. Loyalest Subjects to be extirpated by the Puritans and they say they intercepted Letters importing that they must abjure their Religion or be sent to Ameria and they suffered a Thousand Grievances upon Account of b In odium tam Nationis quam Religionis ibidem Nation and Religion and therefore the Congregation of the Clergy in May 1643. declared their Insurrection just To this I Answer That they thought and will ever think the English Government a Yoke of Slavery and they had no other cause to Rebel but to shake that off and so Mr. Bealing one of the greatest and wisest of them ingeniously Confesses Vindiciae Catholicorum 2. Grave jugum sub quo à centum quod excurrit annis tota Natio ingemiscit excutere Statuunt They that speak plain Truth in their Books Printed beyond Sea acknowledge that it was for the Liberty of their Religion Bellum fuit pro Religione susceptum says the Bishop of Fernes in his Epistle to the Archbishop of Paris p. 37. Pro defensione Restitutione Religionis
what little jealousie he had of it was seasonably imparted to the Lords Justices by the Letter mentioned Page 65. as his surprize at that unexpected Rebellion is expressed in his Letter to the Earl of Ormond recited Appendix 49. The next thing in Dispute The Sixth Question is The Number of those that were Massacred which Sir William Petty computes not to exceed 37000 Not the twentieth part of what is reported says the Earl of Castlehaven not exceeding some hundreds says P. W. not above 400 says the Author of the Settlement and Sale of Ireland not above 4000 says R. S. in his Collection of Murders To which I answer That by Depositions upon Oath it does appear that many thousands of British were murdered and many more came to untimely Deaths by the Cruelty of the Irish and this is an undeniable way of Arguing That all the British that did not escape did perish by that Rebellion and though the Difficulty still remains to ascertain the number of those that escaped yet it is certain they could not be half of what were in the Kingdom because the Towns that were left for their Refuge were not capable to Receive or Entertain so great a number and even those that did escape to Towns did perish in heaps by reason of the ill usage they had received from the Irish And indeed Sir W. Petty does allow this method of Calculation but his mistake is occasioned by leaving out an Item that I conceive should have been added and that is the number of those born in Ireland and transported thither out of England and Scotland during the interval between 1641. and 1652. for his Compution runs thus British in Ireland anno 1641. 266550 British alive anno 1652. 150000 Ergo there perished in the War but 116550 Whereof one Third in the first Year of the Rebellion and the rest from thenceforward But he should have added That in those ten Years from 1641. to 1652. there were born in Ireland and there came thither out of England and Scotland in all about 300000 Souls and he should have added a proportion of that number to the other and then he had been near the Computation which other Judicious Men have made in that matter But others well knowing that the greatest part of the British that were in Ireland did really perish in the first year of that Rebellion do deny that there was any such Number there as is pretended to have been Massacred and one of them is so vain to say That the Irish were a hundred to one But whoever considers that the British Plantations in Munster had been setled forty years before and that of Vlster almost thirty years that half the Kingdom was the Propriety of Protestants that there were no less than 100000 Scots as the Earl of Strafford affirmed upon his Tryal that the Earl of Cork alone had above 10000 Protestant Souls upon his Estate that all the Officers of State War and Justice and most of the Mechanicks were British will find no Grounds for that Objection However I will not pretend to determine the Number but this I will say That it was great enough to draw the Curse of God and the Revenge of Man upon the infamous Authors of that Massacre as it afterwards did The next Objection is The Seventh Question That the Rebellion was not General but was begun by a few desperate Persons in the North and therefore the Popish Members of Parliament did readily agree to a Protestation against it Review 31. in a Session of Parliament on the 16th of November Quidam nobiles in Vltonia conspirant says Mr. Beling Page 2. To which I answer That the beginning of all Rebellions is by a few or at least there do but few appear in them at first but never any Rebellion in the world increased faster or became more General than this whereby it is manifest that the Design and Conspiracy was Universal and so Rory Macguire told his Brother-in-Law Colonel Awdly Mervin on the 27th of October That all Ireland was by that time in their hands and those that are Ingenious of that Party do confess it to be so P. W. Pref. to Remonstrance 12. their own Procurator P. W. does acknowledge That it was an Vniversal Rebellion and that all the Irish Papists a very few excepted P. W. Letters 54. that it was the National Sin of the whole Catholick Party by Participation were concerned in it O Reylye's Wife said The Lords of the Pale were the Ringleaders and Colonel Planket affirmed That all the Popish Lords had contracted before-hand and Patrick O Bryan testified the same upon Oath and named the Lord of Gormanstown particularly The Lord Macguire confessed That those of the Pale were privy to the Plotting of the Rebellion and Macmahon declared That all the Popish Lords and Gentlemen in Ireland were Engaged in the Plot and that twenty out of every County were to be detached for the Surprize of the Castle of Dublin There was not one County shall I say a Catholici intra Dublinium numero hereticis superiores paratissimi erant ad Vrbis deditionem concurrere vindiciae eversae 91. Temple 46. City in the Kingdom exempt from the Rebellion and in the Province of Vlster only there were 30000 Irish-men in the Rebellion by the 5th of November and I must do Father Ponce the Right to acknowledge That he is more just than to shelter his Party under this pitiful and false Subterfuge and therefore he frankly confesseth That they were all in the b Faedus initur ab omnibus vindiciae eversae 6. Conspiracy and that not the Great Men only but the c Non proceres modo sea eujusâ—bet conditionis per universum Râ—gnâ—m Cathoâ—â—â— Catholicks of all Conditions throughout the whole Kingdom were concerned And certainly it is Incumbent upon these Advocates to shew that those whom they would clear from this Rebellion did publish any Protest or Manifesto against it or d As the Marquis of Clanâ—ickard and some few others did fight against the Rebels or assist the Assaulted English but on the contrary it is manifest by the Decrees of the Assembly That they would suffer no Neuters amongst them But what need any more to be said than that a few could not have perpetrated the Murders and Robberies they have committed The Irish were not so stout nor the British so tame to be served so by a few It appears by Dr. Jones his Examination that the Conspirators at Multifernam computed their Number to be 200000 Men and the Event shewed they had no less but I will close all with the Expression of the Congregation at Kilkenny in May 1642. viz. There is the Vnanimous Consent and Agreement of almost the whole Kingdom in this War and Vnion And the saying of the King to the Protestant Agents at Oxford Anno 1644. when they offered to prove that it was a General Conspiracy and Rebellion
and other the Contents of their Petition His Majesty replyed It needed not any more than to prove the Sun shines when we see it The next Objection is The Eight Question That the Lords of the Pale and the Earl of Castlehaven in particular were necessitated for their own safety to joyn with the Rebels Vindiciae Catholicâ—â—â— 3. finding no Protection from the Government for the Lords Justices might easily have suppressed the Insurrection at first but they desired it might encrease that so there might be more Forfeitures But this is Gratis dictum and without Foundation as appears not only by the Commissions and Arms given to several Lords of the Pale which they perfidiously abused to the prejudice of the State Temple 33. and by the Lords Justices design to Arm all those of the Pale if need were but also by the very instance of the Earl of Castlehaven for tho' the Lords of the Pale went into Rebellion the Second of December yet he lived quietly at his House at Madingston many Months afterwards as himself Confesses and 't is certainly true that even he and the Marquiss of Antrim who was at his house came down to the English Army near Killcullen in March after to visit the Earl of O rmond and was kindly received by him and some few days afterwards being Victorious at the Battel of Killrush Castlehaven treated him at Madingston and mutual Civilities passed between them And about the same time he had such Correspondence with the State that he took upon him to intercede for the Lords of Gormanstown Slane and others so that he might have been safe enough if he pleased and was not under any necessity to go out into Rebellion as he afterwards did And tho' I believe that this Lord was not in the first Conspiracy yet it will appear by what has been said in the Answer to the former Objection that most of the other Lords of the Pale were nor indeed could the Irish have undertaken the Rebellion without them for they were not able to carry on the War by themselves P. W. Remonstrance 595. without the Assistance of the Old English for as Peter Welsh very well observes It is well known that the Irish never signified any thing considerable in any of their Vndertakings and had been presently crushed in this if the English Colonies had not joyned with and supported them But whoever frames an Idea of those times in his own thoughts and reads the passionate Letters of the State for Succours cannot conceive any thing so ridiculous as that the Lords Justices delighted in those sad Spectacles of misery which daily flocked to Dublin or in the report of the most barbarous Inhumanities every day committed on their Friends and Country men but above all the continual Danger they were in themselves and their disadvantage and loss by the Rebellion do sufficiently vindicate them from endeavouring to make this Rebellion more general and formidable than really it was But what did the Lords Justices get by this Rebellion or did they Act or send any dispatch without the Council or did they not importune Aid from England even to the degree of being troublesome or did they not ask enough to make a speedy end of the War or had they a Free-hold in their Places or an unconroulable Power while they held them or what solid Foundation is there for all the Clamour that the Irish have made in this Case against the Lords Justces The Ninth Question The Ninth Question will be whether King Charles II. upon his Restoration stood obliged by the Articles of the Peace made Anno 1646. or the other Peace made Anno 1648. because the Lords Muskery Taaf and others did not faulter in their Allegiance from that time forward and therefore could not forfeit the benefit of those Articles To which I Answer That the Peace of 1646 cannot come in Dispute not only because the Congregation of the Popish Clergy at Waterford did publickly declare against it and Limerick Waterford and Clonmel c. never received it and the Irish Armies perfidiously broke it by indeavouring treacherously to intercept the Lord Lieutenant near Kilkenny and afterwards actually besieging him in Dublin but also because the general Assembly the proper Representative of their Party and Nation did publickly disown and reject that Peace by their Declaration recited Appendix 36. And as for the Peace of 1648. it was made with a Society or a Confederate Body and not with particular Persons and if that Society hath no Right to the benefits of that Peace it is certain that no particular Person can have any because his Claim and Title to it is as he is a Member of that Body Politick and his Case is the same with that of an innocent Freeman in a Corporation whose Charter is forfeited However this Body Politick or Imaginary is composed of particular Men and may forfeit its whole Right by the fault of some of its Members for malum ex quocunque defectu but if the greater part be Guilty there can be no ground for a doubâ— This being Premised it appears by the 29th Article That the Confedrates and their Garisons Towns and Forts were to be Commanded Ruled and Governed in chief upon occasion of necessity as to Martial and Military Affairs by such as the Lord Lieutenant should appoint But this Clause of that Article of the Peace was entirely violated by the Towns of Wexford Ross Waterford Clonmel Limerick and Galway even to the degree of depriving his Majesty of all the benefits and advantages he expected from this Peace and at length to the loss of the whole Kingdom Secondly Those Towns were to be restored to his Majesty whenever the Articles of the Peace were performed on his Part but the Confederates by their own Fault and their own Act gave them up especially Limerick and Galway to the Kings Enemies These were the Jewels his Majesty bought so very dear and yet the Confederates are so unreasonable to expect the Price without delivering the thing contracted for And if they Reply That those Towns were forced from them and without their fault yet that if true as it is not would not Entitle them to the benefits of the Peace For if a Man sell Land and it be evicted from him before he delivers Possession no Body will say he has Right to have the Purchase-Money from the Buyer and yet that is a parallel Case Nor have the Confederates the least Spark of Equity on their side because they might have surrendred the Towns to their King and ought to have done so but they neither did that nor submitted to his Authority as far as they had promised and therefore since they did take upon them to keep these Towns it is certainly at their Peril if they lose them Thirdly They did dissolve and renounce this Peace and the Kings Authority which is the first and chiefest Article tho' placed by way of Introduction for the
Twenty six before they came to Ireland and Fifty one in Ireland whereof Twenty four were Monarchs and Thirty three in Scotland and so succeeded by Hereditary Right from his Illustrious Irish Ancestors Now I say that they have gotten such a Rightful Hereditary King Analecta Hiberniae the Reader must not expect to hear of any more Irish Rebellions but on the contrary that their peaceable and Loyal Deportment will distinguish between Rightful and Usurping Princes Consanguinei Regis analecta Hib. 208. and that now theâ—â— own Kindred is restored to them we may expect to find that they will take pleasure and delight and a conscionable Pride as they phrase it to be Ruled and Commanded by their own Relations Ib. 276. Germen Hibernorum spes seminis jubar sanguinis and that their great Endeavours for the Kings of England of that Line to whom they are tyed by the Bond of * Cui obligati sumus vinculo sanguinis Consanguinity will be the Work of a Simpathy of Blood if there be any Truth in the Reports or Flatteries of the late Irish Historians or in the Speech of the present Recorder of Kilkâ—nny But alas these thin Pretences which in Ireland are thought Stratagems are easily seen through in England where it is believed that there is something more Criminal in Heresie then can be expiated by Extraction and therefore they expect that the Royal Family of the Stuarts whilst it continues Protestant must have their share of opposition and disturbance even from their own Irish Country-men and with as malicious Circumstances as any other Protestant Princes have had and how far they were in the right of it is Summarily related in my Epistle to the Reader but shall here be more at large explained JAMES VI. King of Scotland 1602. Succeeded the Deceased Queen Elizabeth on the Throne of England by unquestionable Right Ir. Stat. 2. Jac. 1. cap. 1. I say unquestionable notwithstanding the Book published against his Title and Right of Succession by Parsons the Jesuit under the name of Doleâ—an for the material Allegations of that Author are notoriously false and which is worse himself knew that they were so as Peter Walsh hath assured us Letter to the Bishop of Lincoln p. 212. and it is manifest to all the World that the King was the only Son of Mary Queen of Scots Daughter of King James the Fifth Son of James the Fourth by Margaret his Wife who was the eldest Daughter of Henry the Seventh by Elizabeth Heiress of the House of York and so was Heir to both the Families of York and Lancaster And was therefore Proclaimed King without any opposition Secretary Cecill himself reading his Title as also Queen Elizabeth's Will at Whitehall Gate on the 24th day of March 1602. And as to Ireland CHARLES Lord MOUNTJOY continued Lord Deputy 1603. and was afterwards made Lord Lieutenant of that Kingdom and having received Letters from the Council of England with a Proclamation of the new King he first Signed the Proclamation and all the Council did the like in Order and then with great Solemnity they published and proclaimed the same in Dublin on the Fifth of April and about the same time he received kind and gracious Letters from the King then in Scotland by one Mr. Leigh whom therefore the Lord Deputy Knighted The Earl of Tyrone who was brought to Dublin in Company with the Lord Deputy on the 4th day of April could not refrain from Tears on the News of Queen Elizabeths Death nor can we blame him for it for besides the unsecurity of the Pardon or Protection he relyed on being derived from a Princess that was Dead and an Authority that was determined before it was executed He had also lost the best opportunity in the World either of continuing the War with advantage or of making a profitable and meritorious Submission to the new King nor did he want Pretences and Circumstances that would have made his free Submission highly valuable and exceeding honourable however since he had missed the Season of doing better he thought it prudent to do the best for himself that his Circumstances would permit and to secure the Protection and Estate that were promised him and accordingly the 6th day of April the Lord Deputy did not only renew his Protection in King James his Name but soon after gave him Liberty to return to Ulster to settle his Concerns but first the Earl put in his Hostages and also renewed his Submission in a set Form of Words wherein he abjured all foreign Power and Jurisdiction in general Morison 279. and the King of Spain's in particular and renounced the Vraights of Ulster and the name of O Neal and all his Lands except such as should be granted to him by the King and he promised future Obedience and to discover his Correspondence with the Spaniard And at the same time he wrote to Spain for his Son Henry but without effect for he was afterwards found strangled at Brussels no Body knows how and on the 15 th day of April O Rourk in like manner by his Letters humbly offer'd to submit to his Majesties mercy which Offer was accepted These Great men having thus submitted and the Kingdom but especially Ulster being so wasted and destroyed that the Famine encreased to the degree of eating one another as I have already mentioned in my former Part. And the number of the Irish being exceedingly lessened by their many tedious and obstinate Rebellions and those that remain'd except Cities and Towns being so poor that the very estated Men had not wherewithal to stock or cultivate their Land nor had any improvements left upon their Estates Bello peste inedia fatigati Analecta Hib. 207. except perhaps a dismal Castle and a few pittiful Cabins One might expect that this miserable Condition which required a long interval of Rest and Peace to amend it would oblige these People to live peaceably and Loyally under this new King of their own Lineage And perhaps it might have done so if the Universities of Salamanca and Validolid had not about this time sent over their Determination of that knotty Point that Vexata Questio Whether an Irish Papist may obey or assist his Protestant King Which they resolved in the Negative by two Assertions Sullevan's Cath. History 203. 1. That since the Earl of Tyrone undertook the War for Religion and by the Pope's Approbation it was as meritorious to aid him against the Hereticks as to fight against the Turks And 2. That it was mortal Sin any ways to assist the English against him and that those that did so can neither have Absolution nor Salvation without deserting the Hereticks and repenting for so great a Crime But this New Declaration of two such famous Universities and the Impatience of their busie Priests set them a madding again so that they wanted nothing but Power to make a more general and formidable
Parliament in Ireland till the Eleventh Year of this King's Reign Sullivan 211. and that Sullivan himself brings this very Neal Garuff on the English side again Anno 1608. But to proceed Sir ARTHUR CHICHESTER was sworn Lord Deputy on the Third of February 1604. and soon after establish'd a new Circuit for Judges of Assize for the Province of Connagh 1604. and retrived the Circuit of Munster Davis 265. which had been discontinued for Two hundred Years It must be observed That until this time the Papists generally did come to Church and were called Churchâ—Papists but now the Priests began to be seditious and did not only scandalize the Publick Administration of Affairs but also took upon them to review and decide some Causes that had been determin'd in the King's Courts and to oblige their Votaries on pain of Damnation to obey their Decision and not that of the Law they did also forbid the People to frequent the Protestant Churches and they publickly rebuilt Churches for themselves and erected or repaired Abbies and Monasteries in several Parts of the Kingdom and particularly at Multifernam in the County of Westmeath Killconell in the County of Gallway Rossariell in the County of Mayo Buttivant Kilkrea and Timoleague in the County of Cork Quin in the County of Clare Garinlogh in Desmond and in the Cities of Waterford and Kilkenny Sullivan 206. Intending says Mr. Sullivan to restore the Splendor of Religion And as many as pleased sent their Children to Foreign Seminaries without control And perhaps all this might have passed if they had not as foolishly as impudently publish'd every where and in all Companies That the King was of their Religionâ— 1605. But then the Government was necessarily obliged for the Vindication of his Majesty and to prevent the Growth of Popery and suppress the Insolence of the Papists to publish a Proclamation on the Fourth of July 1605. commanding the Popish Clergy to depart the Kingdom before the Tenth of December following unless they would conform to the Laws of the Land But this Proclamation being too faintly executed as Laws against Popery have hitherto always been produced more Noise than Effect so that it did little service in Ireland and yet furnished the Irish Papists with matter of Complaint beyond Seas where they usually make a great Clamour for a small Matter But on the Fifth of November was discovered the Damnable Popish Plot well known in England by the Name of The Gunpowder Treason the Design of it was to blow up at once the King the Nobility and the Principal Gentry of that Kingdom then assembled in Parliament The Papists did for some time with great Artifice and Confidence impose upon the World that this was a Plot of Cecill's making but finding at length that that Cobweb Pretence was too thin and was easily seen through they laid the blame upon a few desperate Villains as they always do when the Fact is too notorious to be denied But now that Matter is pretty well setled by the Confession of * Wilson Hist of K. James p. 32. Weston of the Earl of Castlehaven the Lord Stafford and Peter Walsh This Year the barbarous Customs of Tanistry and Gavelkind were abolish'd by Judgment in the King's Bench Davis's Reports and the Irish Estates thereby made descendible according to the Course of the Common Law of England and the City of Cork and the Liberties thereof were separated from the County of Cork and made a distinct County of it self reserving nevertheless Places in the City for a Gaol and a Court-house for the County at large In the Year One thousand six hundred and six 1606. the famous Robert Lalor Vicar-General of Dublin and other Diocesses in Leinster for disobedience to the aforesaid Prolamation was apprehended in the City of Dublin it being the Custom of these Ecclesiastical Spies to lurk about the Metropolis of every Kingdom he was in Michaelmaâ— Term indicted upon the Statute of 2 Eliz. cap. 1. for advancing and upholding Foreign Jurisdiction within this Realm but he humbled himself to the Court and voluntarily and upon Oath on 22d December 1606. made a Recognition in haec verba First He doth acknowledge that he is not a lawful Vicar General in the Diocess of Dublin Kildare and Fernes and thinketh in his Conscience that he cannot lawfully take upon him the said Office Item He doth acknowledge our Soveraign Lord King James Davis Rep. 83. that now is to be his Lawful Chief and Supream Governor in all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Civil and that he is bound in Conscince to obey him in all the said Causes and that neither the Pope nor any other Foreign Prelate Prince or Potentate hath any Power to controll the King in any â—ause Ecclesiastical or Civil within this Kingdom or any of his Majesties Dominions Item He doth in his Conscience believe that all Bishops ordained and made by the Kings Authority within any of his Dominions are lawful Bishops and that no Bishop made by the Pope or by any Authority derived from the Pope within the Kings Dominions hath any Power or Authority to impugne disannul or controll any Act done by any Bishop made by his Majesties Authority as aforesaid Item He professeth himself willing and ready to obey the King as a good and obedient Subject ought to do in all his lawful Commandments either concerning his Function of Priesthood or any other Duty belonging to a good Subject Upon this Confession he was indulged with more Liberty and the free Access of his Friends and would undoubtedly have been enlarged the next Term if he had not privately denied what he had publickly done protesting that his Confession did not extend to the Kings Authority in Spiritual Causes but in Temporal only this being told to the Lord Deputy it was resolved to try him upon the Statute of 16. R. 7. cap. 5. of Premunire and it was discreetly done rather to Indite him upon that than upon any new Statute made since the Reformation Davis Rep. 85. that the Irish might be convinc'd That even Popish Kings and Parliaments thought the Pope an Usurper of those exorbitant Jurisdictions he claim'd and thought it inconsistent with the Loyalty of a good Subject to uphold or advance his unjust and unreasonable Incroachments on the Prerogative of the King and the Priviledge of the Subject which tended to nothing less then to make our Kings his Lacquies our Nobles his Vassals and our Commons his Slaves and Villains Upon this Indictment he was tryed and found Guilty and upon his Tryal his aforesaid Recognition which he made upon Oath was publickly read which netled him exceedingly and the rather because he was asked whether he had not denied this Confession to some of his Friends to which he answered that he had not but only told some of them that he had not own'd the Kings Supremacy in Spiritual Causes which he said was true for the word
in the Confession was Ecclesiastical Whereupon the Attorny General Learnedly descanted upon the words Ecclesiastical and Spiritual and exposed the Knavery and Silliness of the Prisoners Equivocation and then Mr. Justice Sarsfeild pronounced the Sentence of the Law against him which nevertheless was never Executed upon him that I can find However to attone for this seeming Severity and to quiet and oblige the Irish the King issued out a Commission of Great under the Great Seal of England to confirm the Possessors of Estates in Ireland against all Claims of the Crown by Granting new Patents to them But the Irish are a People that seldom beaâ— good Fortune with any Moderation or Temper and the King and Council of England were mightily deceived when they thought that Lenity and Commissions of Grace would oblige them to Loyalty and Obedience on the contrary it always makes them think the Government weak and never fails to put them upon Action So true is that of the Poet Unguentem pungit pungentem Hibernicus Ungit And just so it happened after this Commission of Grace for on the 7th of May a Letter directed to Sir William Usher Clerk of the Council was dropt in the Council Chamber Temple 2. which discovered a Conspiracy of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel Macguire O Cahan the Lord of Delvin and almost all the Irish of Ulster to surprize the Castle of Dublin and Murder the Lord Deputy and Council and to set up for themselves Lib. C. They had sent a Baron to the Arch-Dukes to sollicite Assistance and probably had employed some Body else to Spain but as soon as they had Notice that their Plot was discovered the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel and the Lord Macguire fled beyond Seas to get Spanish Aid 1607. and the rest did shift for themselves as well as they could but some were taken and executed And not long after Justice Sibthorp and Baron Eliot attended by some of the Kings Council were sent into the Counties of Donegall and Tyrone with a Commission of Oyer and Terminer and so Indictments were found against these Conspirators and all those that fled were Out-law'd thereupon But because those Earls did alledge Lib. M. that they were persecuted for Religion and had been injuriously dealt with the King on the 15th of November 1607. published a Declaration wherein he affirms That they had not their Creations or Possessions by any Lineal or any lawful Descent from Ancestors of Blood or Virtue but were for Reasons of State preferred before others of better Quality and Birth in their Countrey and Protests they had not the least shadow of Molestation nor was there any purpose of proceeding against them in Matters of Religion their Condition being to think Murder no fault Marriage of no use nor any Man valiant that does not Glory in Rapine and Oppression and therefore 't were unreasonable to trouble them for Religion before it could be perceived by their Conversation they had any and that in all Matters of Controversie they were favoured except in such Cases where they design'd to Tyrannize over their fellow Subjects that they did stir up Sedition and intestine Rebellion in the Kingdom and sent their Instruments Priests and others to make Offers to Foreign States for their Assistance And that under the Condition of being made free from English Government they resolved also to comprehend the EXTIRPATION of all those Subjects now remaining alive within that Kingdom formerly descended of English Race In December 1607. The Lord Deputy and Council sent Sir Anthony Saintleger Master of the Rolls to the Lords of the Council in England to inform them that the Omores would by next May be transplanted from Leix into Munster and that it was fit the O Connors should be so too that the Lord Delvin must be severely persecuted because frequent Pardons do encourage Irish Rebellions that his Castle of Cloghouâ—er is taken and so is his Son and himself left as desolate as a Wood Keâ—n and to desire to be instructed what to do with those that refuse the Oath of Supremacy and to inform that they have stopt the Quo Warranto's because the Corporations will submit to the Customs if their Arrears be forgiven that there is a great Propensity in the Irish at this time to Rebel and that it were fit to send over Twenty thouthousand Pounds to lye dead for such an Accident and that the King would be pleas'd to decide the great Controversie between the Earl of Kildare and Sir Robert Digby which is now ready for Sentence in the Castle-Chamber and also to represent the State of that poor Kingdom c. But notwithstanding all the Care that was taken to keep the Kingdom quiet 1608. the Hopes and Expectations of Aid from Spain easily put the Rebellious Spirits in a ferment insomuch that Sir Cahir O Doharty Proprietor of Inisowen a Gentleman of great hopes but of few years not exceeding One and twenty was by Assurances from the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel of speedy and effectual Aid perswaded to begin the War his main Design was upon Derry which he surprized and burnt Sullevan 210. he also Murdered the Governor Sir George Pawlet and all the Protestants except the Bishops Wife that was ransomed he also surprized Culmore and the Magazine there Spretis centum argenti libris quibus pseudo Episcopus eos redinere Cupiebat and burnt Two thousand Heretical Books as he call'd them refusing to let them be redeem'd for an hundred pound And this Rebellion became the more formidable because it was fomented and encouraged by the Priests who affirm'd That all were Martyrs that died in the Service But for the better understanding of this matter it is necessary to inform the Reader that Queen Elizabeth finding it convenient to plant a Garison at Loghfoyle made several Attempts to that purpose but they all miscarried until Sir Henry Dockwra Landed at Kilmore or Culmore and erected a small Castle there and a Month after he took Derry without Resistance and built two Forts and a good House there but afterwards viz. Anno 1617. that place was built by the Londoners and became a fair and strong City well known by the Name of London-Derry This Sir Henry Dockwra also built the Castles of Dunalong and Lifford and afterwards assigned the Government of Derry to Sir George Pawlett a Hampshire Gentleman and the Command of Culmore to Captain Hart a Man of great Courage After Sir John O Dogharty's Death his Son Cahir shewing great Inclinations to the English and being a Youth of great hopes was not only Graced with Knighthood and made a Justice of Peace and a Commissioner in most of the Commissions that came to that Countrey but was also treated with all due Respect upon all occasions and he on the otherside contracted an intimate Friendship with the Chief of the English and particularly with Captain Hart Governour of Culmore to whose Son he was
matter of Parliament you have carried your selves tumultuarily and undutifully and that your Proceedings have been rude disorderly and inexcusable and worthy of severe Punishment which by reason of your Submission I do forbear but not remit till I see your dutiful Carriage in this Parliament where by your Obedience to the Deputy and State and your future good Behaviour you may redeem your by-past miscarriage and then you may deserve not only Pardon but Favour and Cherishing Hereupon they were all dismist and the Lord Deputy having O Dogharty's Estate in Inisowen given to him by the King for his good Service was sent back with Directions to hold the Parliament and so on the 27th of July 1614. Sir ARTHUR CHICHESTER Lord Deputy to Ireland and held the Parliament on the 11th day of October to which day it had been Prorogued and now were the Recusants at a stand for some invention or other to delay the Proceedings of this Parliament but could not find any other then a very simple Pretence That the Lord of Slane ought to take place of the Lord of Kerry and hereupon great Contests did arise and tho' it was formally determin'd on the 11th of November 1614. by the Lord Deputy and Council by Virtue of a special Commission yet the Lord of Slane being egged on by others of the discontented Lords desir'd are hearing which was granted and on the 18th of the same Month there was a second Debate which produced the Confirmation of the former Seâ—â—â—nce in favour of the Lord of Kerry but notwithstanding that the Lord of Slane being perswaded by the Lord of Delvin and some others of the Pale continued obstinate and refused to Sit in the House unless he might have his right place but at length being charged upon his Allegiante to appear in the House he did submit tho very unwillingly The Arguments urg'd by the Baron of Slane were 1. That his Predecessors were from the time of Henry the Second styled Barons of Slane 2. That in all Records they are named before the Lords of Kerry and particularly in a Record in the time of Edward the Second 3. That the Lord of Gormanstown had precedence of the Lord of Kerry at the Parliament 48 Edw. 3. and the Lord of Slane took place of him 4. The Lords of Kerry from 50 Edw. 3 to 1. Henry the Seventh never served the Crown nor held any Correspondence with the Government and therefore forfeited their Dignity 5. That the Lord of Kerry was indicted of Rebellion 42 Elizabeth and pleaded his Pardon last Term so that his Call to the Parliament is quasi a new Creation The Lord of Kerry answered to the first That Hussy Fippo and others that held per baroniam of the Palatines or Lords of Leinster were styled Barons of Galtrim Skrine and Bergy yet were not really Lord Barons because they did not hold their Lands immediately from the King To the Second That it is false and that there was no Regular Parliament in Ireland till 12. Edw. 3 Ergo No Lord of Parliament till that time That the Lord of Kerry was there and so was not the Lord of Slane besides the Lord Slane held his Barony of a Subject Bartholomew Burghese one of the Heirs General of Hugh de Lacy whereas the Lord of Kerry held his Barony of the King in Capite To the third it is denied that the Lord of Gormanstown was at that Parliament of 48 Edw. 3. To the fourth That it is false and is objected because the Records of those times are lost but if true makes nothing in this Case and it is notorious that in the Parliament 33. Hen. 8. and 3. and 4. Philip and Mary the Lord of Kerry had his right place To the fifth that the Lord of Kerry was not Attainted but being impeach'd was Pardoned and so he forfeited nothing and if he had not an ancient Right to Sit in the Parliament the Lord Deputy could not Summon him a new having received no Orders from the King to do so But that which was most remarkable in this Tryal was That one Velden came in and depos'd that on St. George's day 1594 in the Cavalcade at Killkenny the Lord Slane had Precedence of the Lord of Kerry and his Horse was accordingly led before the others Horse but this 〈◊〉 Witness was contradicted by the Lord Chancellor the Earl of Thomond the Lord Dunboyn and the Marshall all which affirmed that they were then at Killkenny which Velden Confess'd and they protested that the Lord of Kerry was not there at all And so the next Year viz. in January 1615. the Earls of Suffolk Paenox Lib. G. Worcester and Pembrooke who by Commission excented the Marshals Office in England did confirm the Sentence in Ireland and by their Letter to the Lord Justices determin'd the Lord of Kerryes Claim to be just This rub being removed the Parliament proceeded to business and notwithstanding the insolence of the Popish Lawyers in the House of Commons and all the Obstructions they could give these following Bills were at last passed into Acts viz. 1. An Act of Recognition reciting that Ireland which before his Majesties Access to the Crown had been subject to 〈◊〉 Rebellions Rapines and Oppressions was by his Majesties gracious Government 〈◊〉 to better Order and that he has establish'd his Government in the Hearts of his People by the General Proclamation of 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 Actions for Trespassis done in the War between Subject and Subject at his first coming by his special Charters of Pardon by Name freely granted to many Thousands by remitting many great Debts 〈◊〉 of â—ent and Forfeitures and by strengthning defective Titles and re-granting the Lands to them on Surrenders by erecting Court-houses and enlarging the number of the judges and by 〈◊〉 a Civil Plantation in the forfeited Paris of Ulster formerly the Neâ—â— of Rebellion to the great Security of the Commonwealth 2. An Act that all Crimes committed 〈◊〉 the Sea or within the Jurisdiction of the Admirally shall be Tried in any County according to the Rules of the Common Law by Commission to the Admiral or his Deputy and Three or Four more or any Four of them 3. An Act for taking away Benefit of Clergy in certain Cases 4. An Act for the Attainder of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconell Sir Cahir O 〈◊〉 and several others 5. An Act to Repeal some former Acts prohibiting Trade or Commerce with the 〈◊〉 Enemies or to Marry or Foster with them and commanding to seise them as 〈◊〉 6. An Act of Repeal of a former Statute against bringing in retaining or marrying with Scots 7. An Act for Repairing and Mending Highways and Cawseys c. 8. An Act for avoiding Private and Secret 〈◊〉 9. An Act of Obliviâ—â— and General Pardon 10. An Act for One Subsidy Analact Hib. lib. 2. Which amounted to no more than 26042 l. and yet the Irish complain'd of it as a heavy Tax tho' they did not pay
went into England to give his Majesty a full account of his happy and successful Administration of the Government for I find he was created Lord Baron of Belfast on the 23th of February 1615 and perhaps then made Lord High Treasurer THOMAS JONES Archbishop of Dublin Lord Chancellor Sir JOHN DENHAM Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench were Sworn Lords Justices on the 11th of February 1615. The Archbishop was the worthy Ancestor of the Lords of Ranelagh And Sir John Denham was the first that raised any Profit to the Crown from the Customs in Ireland which were Lett for Five hundred Pounds the first Year and before his Death which happened the 6th of January 1638 they were improved to that degree that they were farmed at Fifty Four thousand Pounds per Annum But the Papists beginning again to grow very insolent it was necessary to hasten the new Lord-Deputy thither and therefore on the 30th of August 1616. Sir OLIVER SAINT JOHN afterwards Viscount Grandison 1616. was sworn Lord-Deputy he behaved himself briskly against the Papists who were at that time very high in Ireland Mr. Sullivan says He was a Bloody Man and that he swore he would in two Years banish all the Priests and that he levied 600000◠from the Papists for Fines and Forfeitures for not going to Church and that in Dublin only he imprisoned Ninety Citizens for denying the King's Supremacy all which is notoriously 〈◊〉 And about the same time a most Scandalous lying Book was published Entituled Annalecta Hiberniae written by David Rooth Vicar Apostolick at the Instigation and Charge of the Lord M And stuffed with innumerable Lyes and malicious Accusations of the King's Government in Ireland and yet dedicated to the Prince of Wales which is a high strain of Impudence and Folly to dedicate to the Son Reflections and Scandals upon the Father and as if that Author intended to mock the Son as well as to abuse the Father and that his Dedication to him should pass for nothing he has added another Dedication by way of Appeal to all Foreign Emperors Kings and Princes wherein he avers That the Irish look for nothing but that the King would use them like a King i. e. not like a Tyrant and when I have added that he compares the King to Julian the Apostate and Cajus Caligula and the English-men to Dogs and Wild-Beasts I have said enough of the Spirit and design of that malicious Author The Exorbitances of the Papists did indeed at this time oblige the Government to keep a stricter hand over them than hitherto they had done and two things were resolved on to humble them one was to banish all their Regulars which did in great numbers swarm almost every where in that Kingdom And the other was to suffer no Magistrates or Officers but what should take the Oath of Supremacy according to Law and in order thereunto there did issue a Proclamation against the Popish Clergy on the 13th of October 1617. Anno Dom. 1617. And afterwards on the 5th of March 1617 Donogh Earl of Twomond Lord President of Munster and Sir William Jones Lord Chief Justice of Ireland did by Virtue of a Commission under the Great Seal bearing date the 23d of January 1617 seize on the Liberties of Waterford and all their Rent Rolls Ensigns of Authority and their publick Revenues which amounted to Three Hundred and Four Pounds Ten Shillings per Annum and kept Assizes in the City for the County of Waterford The cause of this Seizure was because Nicholas White who from Michalmas 1615. to the 20th of October then next following did exercise the Office of Mayor of Waterford did on the 20th day of October 1615. refuse the Oath of Supremacy being then tendered to him by the Lord President by Virtue of a special Commission to that purpose and that upon his refusal the City Elected John Skiddy who Acted as Mayor till the 1st of May 1616. and then refused the same Oath being tendred to him by the Lord President whereupon the City chose Alexander Cuffe and swore him Mayor on the 27th of May who likewise on the 8th of July refused the aforesaid Oath of Supremacy before the Lords Justices whereupon he forbore to Act any farther in the Mayoralty and so it stood till the 1st of April 1617. at which time Walter Cleer was sworn Mayor and so continued Moreover the City had no Recorder since the Death of Nicholas Walsh Anno 1615 and yet in January 1616 there was a Goal Delivery held before the said John Skiddy without any Recorder and one William Person was then Condemned before him and afterwards by his Order executed for Felony And it appeared that the Statute of Elizabeth of Uniformity had not been given in Charge in their Sessions at Waterford for Two years past and all this was found by Inquisition taken the 5th day of September 1617. In the mean time there were sharp Contests between several great Families in Ireland about their Inheritance Lib. F. F. F. 199. the one was between Katherine Lady Power who was Heir General to the Deceased Lord Barry and the then Lord Barry Viscount Buttivant and that was happily Compos'd by the Kings Mediation and the Marriage of the Lord Barry with the Lady Power 's Daughter and the other was between Walter Earl of Ormond and the Lady Dingwell Heir General of Thomas Duff Earl of Ormond who died Anno 1614. Their Case is to be found the very last Case in my Lord Hobert's Reports and was refer'd to the King who Anno 1618. made his Award and divided the Estate between the contending Parties but the Earl of Ormond thought that Distribution so unequal that he refused to submit to it and therefore endured a long Imprisonment and many other Hardships from the Court but after his Death that Controversie was also happily Compos'd by the Marriage of his Grandson the young Earl of Ormond with the sole Daughter and Heir of the Lady Dingwell and that happy Couple improved that divided and shattered Estate to be the greatest and best belonging to any Subject in the Kings Dominions and are well known to the World by the Names of the first Duke and Dutchess of Ormond In the Year 1620. 1620. The famous Doctor Usher was made Bishop of Meath and not long after there arose a Dispute between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Bishop Elect of Clogher about the Exercise of Jurisdiction before Consecration but after some Expostulations the Controversie was peaceably Compos'd The Year 1621. 1621. was famous for the Congregation de Propaganda fide then Erected at Rome the influence whereof the Subjects of Great Britain and Ireland have felt to the purpose and in the same Year Thomas Viscount Thurles Father of the first Duke of Ormond was drowned It was in this Year that the King to mortifie some of the most active Members of the House of Commons that had fallen under his
be are answered to the King and included in the Green-wax Money hereafter mentioned Secondly That by reducing doubtful Rents to a Third part it would make that Third part an easie Rent to the Subject and certain to the King and so 1800 l. doubtful Rents would be per Annum 600 l. Those doubtful Rents are so manag'd that in Munster they have yielded 180 l. per Annum and in Conaugh 11 l. 17 s. 3 d. but we can make nothing of them in Ulster Thirdly That the Composition in Munster is diminish'd and so many Lands are conceal'd as would yield per Annum 229 l. 14 s. 4 d. The last Composition was setled by Indenture Anno 1604. since which many Undertakers have recovered some of the Lands liable to Composition and they pay a greater Patent-Rent and therefore the Composition abates pro tanto Fourthly That the Composition of Conaught is defective 500 l. per Annum It was always incertain because Waste-land did not pay but whilst it was inhabited It was Anno 1622. 3569 l. 13 s. 9 d. Irish but since most part of Letrim which paid 138 l. is escheated to the Crown so that the remaining Composition of that County is but 26 l. 13 s. 4 d. but the new Patent-rents are 1175 l. 18 s. 0 ½ d. and the whole Province pays 3526 l. 11 s. 8 d. Irish per Annum which is less than it was Anno 1622. Fifthly The Composition of Twomond is abated per Annum 40 l. It paid then 687 l. 2 s. 2 d. and since is increas'd 1 l. 11 s. 0 ½ d. and no more Sixthly The Undertakers of Ulster for Breach of Covenants may be raised per Annum 2000 l. They are rais'd 1212 l. 9 s. 4 d. from Easter 1630. Seventhly The Rents of New Plantations in the King's County and Queen's County not yet in Charge per Annum 500 l. They come to 603 l. 10 s. 2 d. Eighthly That an Increase of Rent may be advanc'd on new Leases and the Composition of the County of Wicklow after Sir William Harington's death will be per Annum 200 l. It is so Ninthly The Court of Wards may be improv'd per Ann. 1700 l. It yielded then 3365 l. 2 s. 2 d. and Anno 1629. it advanc'd to 7000 l. but because of the Graces granted 1628. it is diminish'd above half Tenthly That the Royal Fishings may be set for 500 l. per Annum Not yet set Eleventhly That Respite of Homage might be improv'd 50 l. per Annum It was then 92 l. 4 s. 3 d. it is now 244 l. 15 s. Twelfthly That his Majesty's part of the Customs may be advanc'd above what they yield now to 2500 l. per Annum They were then 9686 l. 0 s. â— d. and are now 11050 l. out of which there are considerable Deductions Thirteenthly That the profit of the Seals and Fines on Original writs and the Half-fees on Latitats would yield 200 l. per Annum more than they did Then they yielded 373 l. 5 s. now 482 l. 12 s. and the Latitats 74 l. Fourteenthly That Felons Goods would communibus Annis advance 50 l. Anno 1622. they amounted to 66 l. 2 s. 10 d. and this Year to 232 l. Fifteenthly That the Green-wax Money might increase 4000 l. per Annum It was then 2006 l. 11 s. 1 d. it is now 4398 l. Sixteenthly That Fines in Star-chamber might advance 1000 l. per Annum Anno 1618. they amounted to 2246 l. but now decrease because whilst the Six score thousand Pound is paying Juries are not fined for not presenting Papists Seventeenthly That First-fruits and Twentieth paâ—â—â— may raise 300 l. per Annum The Twentieth part is certain 695 l. 13 s. only some not yet rated for which Commissions are gone out and the First-fruits are casual Eighteenthly That the Rent of Carrigfergus will be per Annum 40 l. But it is not payable till the Walls are finished By this Calculation which in some things is under but in most is over the right Mark it will appear that these Commissioners tho' they were learned active and wise Men yet being Strangers to Ireland they were at a loss in managing that Kingdom as probably all Strangers will be That do not consult the Inhabitants of that Country and how the Conduct of these Commissioners in Matters of Government was relished by the Earl of Strafford may be read Rushworth 171. But it is time to leave them and attend HENRY CARY Viscount Falkland Lord Deputy who was Sworn on the 8th day of September 1622. at which time Bishop Usher preached before him on Rom. 13. He beareth not the Sword in vain and in his Sermon advised That if his Majesty were pleased to extend Clemency to Recusants that yet they might not be suffered To give the Protestants publick Affronts nor to take Possession of their Churches before their Faces the reason of his saying so was because the Fryars of Multifernam were erecting a new Abby at Molingar and because that Mr. Anker going to read Prayers in a Church of his in Westmeath found an old Priest and forty People with him in the Church who were so bold to bid Mr. Anker depart until the Priest had done his Business However the Papists took such Exceptions at this Sermon and made such a noise about it as if the Bishop had advised that the Sword which had been so long born in vain should now be exercised to their Destruction That how groundless soever this Clamour was the Bishop was fain to Preach an Explanatory Sermon to appease it This Year there happened a dreadful Fire in Corke which consumed the greatest part of that City and on the 8th of March the King sent a Letter to make Malcolm Hamilton Archbishop of Cashell and Bishop of Emely and to Grant him in Comendam the Chancellorship of Down and the Parsonage of Davenis and to give him the Profits that accrued in the Vacancy And the like Order was sent to make Archibald Hamilton Bishop of Killalla and Ardconry and on the 10th of March Sir Edward Villars was made Lord President of Munster in the room of the Deceased Earl of Thomond In the time of this Lord Deputy several Popish Magistrates that had refused the Oath of Supremacy contrary to the Stat. of 2. Eliz. c. 1. were censured in the Star-Chamber on the 22d of November 1622 1622. at which time Bishop Usher made that Excellent Speech about the Lawfulness of that Oath which is published in his Answer to the Jesuite Malone 1623. and on the 21st of January 1623 there issued a Proclamation against the Popish Clergy Secular and Regular ordering them to depart the Kingdom within Forty days after which all Persons were prohibited to converse with them And on the 21st day of March 1624. Doctor Usher was made Archbishop of Armagh And thus stood the Government of Ireland during the Reign of King James which ended by his Death at Theobalds on the 27th day
of March 1625 having in his Life-time created the Irish Nobility hereafter mentioned viz. February 23d 1603. Rory O Donell Earl of Tyrconnel February 23d 1615. Sir Arthur Chichester Baron of Belfast since Earl of Donegal July 14th 1616. Brabazon Baron of Ardee since Earl of Meath September 29th 1616. Sir Richard Boyle Baron of Yough-hall afterwards Earl of Corke May 25th 1617. Ridgeway Baron of Galenridgeway since Earl of London-Derry July 20th 1617. Moor Baron of Melefont since Earl of Drogheda Septemâ—er 6th 1617. Touchet Earl of Castlehaven and Baron Orior February 17th 1617. Lambert Baron of Cavan since Earl of Cavan Ibid. Bourk Baron of Brittas May 8th 1618. Hamilton Baron of Strabane January 31st 1618. Blunt Baron Mountjoy Ex. June 29th 1619. Mac Donald Viscount Dunlucâ— since Earl and Marquess of Antrim February 19th 1619. Sir Richard Wingfeild Viscount Powerscourt July 1620. Preston Earl of Desmond Viscount Dunmore Ex. May 1621. Dockwray Baron of Culmore Ex. Ibid. Blany Baron of Monaghan March 1st 1621. Henry Power Viscount Valentia Ex. Theo. Butler Viscount Tullagh THE REIGN OF CHARLES I. KING OF England Scotland France AND IRELAND CHARLES the only surviving Son of the Deceased King James 1625. by undoubted Right succeeded his Father in all his Dominions on the 27th day of March 1625 and was accordingly Proclaimed the same day and on the 23d day of June following he was Crowned at the Abby of Westminster with great Solemnity and as to Ireland HENRY Viscount FALKLAND was continued Lord Deputy and other inferior Officers likewise were confirmed in their respective Places but the Affairs of England being not a little out of Order the Irish took advantage thereof to be very high and insolent at home to which they were much encouraged by the Bull of Urban the 8th of the 30th of May 1626. to the English Catholicks exhorting them rather to loose their Lives then to take Noxium illud illicitum Anglicanae fidelitatis Juramentum 1626. quo non Solum id agitur ut fides Regi servetur P. W. Remonstrance 11. sed ut sacrum Universae Ecclesiae sceptrum eripatur Vicariis Dei Omnipotentis that pernicious and uâ—lawful Oath of Allegiance of England which his Predecessor of happy Memory Paul 5th had condemned as such Hereupon it was found necessary to increase the Army to the number of Five thousand Foot and Five hundred Horse the Charge whereof amounted unto 64240 l. 1 s. 2 d. which was more then the Kings Revenue out of which the Civil List was nevertheless to be paid so that it was necessary to find out some other Bund for the support of the Army and until that could be done the Lord Deputy and Council on the 14th of September by their Letters did recommend several Troops and Companies of the Army to the Counties and Towns of the Kingdom to be maintained for three Months and so from three Months to three Months until the last day of March 1628 and this whole Charge or Incumbrance on the Countrey was estimated at 36951 l. 6 s. 7 d. ½ and in the King's Letter of the 22d of September 1626. to raise this Army and that the Countrey should maintain it with Money Cloaths and Victuals his Majesty promises in lieu thereof to Grant certain Graces to the Countrey and particularly to suspend the Composition But the Gentlemen that were Agents from Ireland did to ease the Kingdom from that oppression offer to pay 40000 l. a Year for three Years in the nature of three Subsidies and to pay it quarterly from the first of April 1628. which was accepted of and the same was Paid accordingly until the first day of October 1629. On the 16th of May 1626. 1626. The King reciting a Complaint of Sir Samuel Smith's against the Lord Chancellor and that there was difference between the Lord Deputy and Chancellor 1. Because the Chancellor refused to Seal some Patents offered to him 2. Because he denied to appoint Judges for Circuits when thereunto required by the Deputy 3. Because he refused to appoint Justices of Peace at the Lord Deputies Nomination and made one Justice of the Peace against his Express prohibition to which the Lord Chancellor made Answer That in the first Case there was matter of Equity Convenience of State and Question in Law unresolved and that in the sesond Case he had directions in the time of King James and that in the third Case it was the Priviledge and Jurisdiction of his place Therefore the King orders That the Chancellor bear fitting respect to the Lord Deputy who is his Majesties Representative and as to the Matters in Debate if the Chancellor refuse to Seal any Patent in question for Reasons of State that the Cause be debated in Council and if then they think it fit and the Chancellor still refuses till he has appeal'd to his Majesty as he may it shall be at his Peril if the State suffer by his delay if the Question be in Law that the Judges decide it and if the Chancellor be not satisfied therewith he ought to appeal to the King for farther Directions and particularly about the Patent for Tanning Leather As to the Second if the Chancellor will not appoint Judges as the Lord Deputy desires that then it be refer'd to the Council-board and their Sentence be definitive as to that And as to the Third the Chancellor will not refuse to make any Man a Justice of the Peace recommended by the Lord Deputy if he does that then the Order of the Council-Table shall govern that Matter and in all these Cases it becomes the Chancellor to repair to the Deputy and acquaint him with his Reasons whenever he refuses And as for Sir Samuel Smith's Complaint his Case was that he had the sole Nomination of those that should be Licensed to Sell Aquavitae and did set that Priviledge to one Miagh for the County of Cork the King appoints the Chief Justice Chief Baron and Sir John King to Arbitrate that Matter and to make Reparation to Miagh whose Patent must be called in because he is an infamous Person and unfit for that Trust and a new Patent for that County must be Granted to whom Sir Samuel Smith shall name In the same Month of May the King sent an Order to the Lord Deputy to make a Lord High Steward c. for the Tryal of the Lord of Dunboyn by his Peers upon an Indictment found against him in the County of Typerary for killing a Man and in January after the Earl of Marleburgh Duke of Buckingham and the Lords of Pembrook Dorset Grandison Conway and Carlton and Sir Richard Weston were made Commissioners or rather a Committee for Irish Affairs And on the Eighth of February Edward Brabazon Baron of Ardee was ordered to be Earl of Catherlogh but for what Reasons I know not he had not that Title but was afterwards made Earl of Meath And on the Second of March his Majesty sent an Order
for Sir William Saintleger to be Lord President of Munster And on the Fifteenth of March he ordered the Vice-Treasurer to pay what the Lord Deputy and Eight Privy-Counsellors should think fit for the Charges of the Lord Deputy's Progress On the Ninth of May 1627. upon Complaint of the Lord Courcy That Sir Dominick Sarsfeild had obtained the Title of Viscount Kinsale it was referred to the Lord president of the Council the Steward of the Houshold Earl of Totness Viscount Grandison and Chancellor of the Dutchy who report That the Lord Courcy and his Ancestors were Lords Courcy and Barons of Kinsale and Ringrone And thereupon the Defendant endeavor'd to carry the Barony to another Line and also alledged an Attainder but made out neither and then he propos'd That both Titles were consistent one to be Baron and the other to be Viscount of Kinsale But that being not thought convenient his Majesty orders That Sir Dominick quit the Title of Kinsale but retain the Name and Precedency of Viscount Sarsfeild and chuse some other Place to denominate his Honour and afterwards he did so and was created Viscount Killmallock And on the 24th of July the King orders That Nathaniel Catlin his second Serjeant at Law should have Precedence of the Attorney-General and Sollicitor-General and in February following his Majesty likewise gave Orders to make a new Examinator for the Court of Chancery there being but one Examinator in that Court before that time But in order to make the Papists the more willing to bear the great Charge of the Army and to consent to a constant Tax for its Support certain Propositions were set on foot in their favour viz. to suspend all Proceedings against them for Marriages and Christnings by Priests and to give them liberty of Suing out Liveries and Ouster le mains without taking the Oath of Supremacy with design to introduce a more Publick Toleration of Religion for which a good Sum of Money should be paid to his Majesty to maintain the Army to which end a Great Assembly of the Nation was Convok'd by the Lord Deputy But the Protestant Archbishops and Bishops abhorring this gross and scandalous Proposal did on the 26th day of November 1626. at the Lord Primate's House unanimously vote and subscribe the following Protestation viz. The Judgment of divers of the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland Life of Archb. concerning Toleration of Religion Vsher 28. THe Religion of the Papists is Superstitious and Idolatrous their Faith and Doctrine Erroneous and Heretical their Church in respect of both Apostatical To give them therefore a Toleration or to consent that they may freely exercise their Religion and profess their Faith and Doctrine is a grievous Sin and that in two Respects For First It is to make our selves accessory not only to their Superstitions Idolatries and Heresies and in a word to all the Abominations of Popery but also which is a Consequent of the former to the Perdition of the seduced People which perish in the Deluge of the Catholick Apostacy Secondly To grant them a Toleration in respect of any Money to be given or Contribution to be made by them is to set Religion to sale and with it the Souls of the People whom Christ our Saviour hath redeemed with his most precious Blood And as it is a great Sin so it is also a Matter of most dangerous consequence the Consideration whereof we commit to the Wise and Judicious beseeching the God of Truth to make them who are in Authority zealous of God's Glory and of the Advancement of True Religion zealous resolute and couragious against all Popery Superstition and Idolatry Amen Ja. Armachanus Mal. Casellen Anth. Medensis Tho. Ferns Leghlin Ro. Dunensis Georg. Derensis Richard Cork c. Andr. Alachadens Tho. Kilmore Ardagh Theo. Dromore Mic. Waterford Lismore Fra. Limerick This zealous Protestation of the Bishops against Popery which Downham Bishop of Derry read to the State in the midst of his Sermon at Christchurch on the 23th day of April 1627. drew on a Remonstrance from the House of Commons in England to his Majesty to this effect That the Popish Religion was publickly profest in every Part of Ireland and that Monasteries and Nunneries were thsre newly erected and replenished with Votaries of both Sexes which would be of evil Consequence unless seasonably repress'd These two extraordinary Actions put a stop to any farther Endeavors for the publick Exercise of Popery at that time Nevertheless because the Irish Agents in England did consent to the payment of 120000 l. in three Year it was thought reasonable that the King should signifie his Gracious Acceptance thereof by conferring some extraordinary Favours on the Agents and Contributors And therefore the King did on the 24th day of May not only grant them the following Graces which were transmitted to Ireland by way of Instructions to the Lord Deputy and Council but also sent with it a Letter recommending the Lord of Killeen and the Lord Poer and the rest of the Irish Agents to the Lord Deputy's Favour desiring that he would order such Moneys to be paid them by the Country as they were promis'd for their Agency and that he should issue necessary Warrants and Directions for levying the same Instructions to be observed by Our Right Trusty and Well-beloved Cousin and Counsellor Henry Lord Viscount Falkland Our Deputy-General of Our-Realm of Ireland and by Our Council there and by the Deputy or other Chief Governor or Governors and Council there which hereafter for the time shall be and by all other Our Officers and Ministers whom it may severally or respectively concern I. AT the humble Requests presented unto Us on the behalf of Our Subjects of Ireland upon mature Consideration had thereof and by the Advice of Our Privy-Council We are graciously pleased in the first place to order and direct for the better Preservation and Ease of our said Subjects that Our Soldiers there be called in and limited to the most Serviceable Garrisons and that they be not called from thence upon any Pretence but against the Enemy or Rebel that makes Head II. For the Collection of Our Rents in case of Default That first a Summons Process shall issue Secondly That a Purâ—uivant be sent and Lastly If this be not sufficient in case the Sum be of value that then Our Vice-Treasurer by Warrant from Our Deputy and Council shall appoint a competent Number of Soldiers of the next adjoyning Garison to collect Our said Rents at the Charge of the Parties complained of having care that any Man be not burdened with a greater number of Soldiers than the Service shall necessarily require III. And when Necessity requires the Marching of Our said Soldiers against the Enemy or Rebel That the Officers imploy'd shall give Ready Money or Ticket to be defalked out of their Entertainment and duly paid into the Country upon demand without taking Money Pawns or Distresses but such Meat and
of his Lands granted to any other the Barons of the Exchequer are to discharge the same upon sight of a Certificate That the Outlawry is reverst without any further Plea paying only Five shillings Sterling for entring the Certificate and Discharge LI. No Person is to be compelled to plead to any new Charge upon the Lands in his possession unless any Inquisition or other Matter of Record besides the New Patent appear to charge the Land therewith and the New Charge to be past insuper upon the New Patentee and Process to issue against him and his Lands and not against the other But the Protestants who bore above a third part of the Publick Charge were not a little troubled that they should buy Graces and Immunition for the Irish And on the other side the Papists did not at all â—â—â—der the Protestants part of the Contribution but valued themselves as if they had paid all and ascribed the whole Merlt of that Largess to themselves and upon that and the aforesaid Condescensions made them by the King they grew so insolent and troublesom that the Lord Deputy was necessitated to mortifie them by a Proclamation against the Popish Regular Clergy which issued the First day of April Bishop Vsher's Letters 407. 1629. and imported That the late Intermission of Legal Proceedings against Popish pretended Titulaâ— Archbishops Bishops Abbats Deans Vicars-General Jesuits Friars and others of that sort that derive their pretended Authority and Orders from the See of Rome in contempt of His Majesty's Royal Power and Authority had bred such an extraordinary Insolence and Presumption in them as he was necessitated to charge and command them in His Majesty's Name to forbear the Exercise of their Popish Rites and Ceremonies Hereupon they grew uneasie and complain'd that the Tax was too heavy and at length they gain'd their Point and in stead of 10000 l. Quarterly the Government condescended to take 5000 l. per Quarter from the First of October 1629. until the rest of the aforesaid 120000 l. should be paid But the Proclamation against the Popish Regular Clergy was baffled and ridiculed every where It was read in Drogheda by a drunken Soldier in such a ridiculous manner that it seemed like a May-game and was rather Sport than Terror to the Auditors It was so despised and contemned by the Popish Clergy that they nevertheless exercised full Jurisdiction Bishop Vsher's Letters 423. even to Excommunication and they not only proceeded in Building Abbies and Monasteries but had the confidence to erect an University at Dublin in the Face of the Government which it seems thought it self limited in this Matter by Instructions from England Nor was the Beauty of the Protestant Church sullied by its avowed Enemies only Bishop Bedel's Life 44. it was more defaced by its pretended Friends and Members Things Sacred were exposed to â—ale in a most sordid and scandalous manner Parsonages and Episcopal Sees were impoverished and their Revenues were alienated and incumbred to that degree that both the Bishopricks of Kilmore and Ardagh were not sufficient to support a Bishop that would not use indirect Means to get Money and the Churches were generally out of Repair Nevertheless Complaints were made by the Irish against the Lord-Deputy for Mal-Administration of the Government and though the Earl of Strafford his Successor Rushw 160. has assured us that this Lord-Deputy proceeded as honourably justly and nobly as any Man could do and though the Council did on the 28th of April 1629. write a kind and true Letter in the Vindication of his Innocence yet he was soon after removed and ADAM LOFTUS Viscount ELY Lord Chancellor And RICHARD Earl of CORKE 1629. Lord High Treasurer were Sworn Lords Justices on the 26th day of October and were allowed by the King One hundred pounds apiece every Kalendar Month They immediately directed that the Papists should be prosecuted for not coming to Church and accordingly the Statute of 2 Eliz. was given in charge at the Assizes but by Directions from England that Prosecution was superseded Nevertheless these Lords Justices 1630. being exceeding zealous against Popery caused St. Patrick's Purgatory in a small Island called Ilan de Purgadory in Logh Dirge in the County of Donegall to be digged up and thereby discovered that notorious Cheat to the World to the great loss and disgrace of the Popish Clergy who made vast Advantages of that ridiculous Sham. But there are a restless sort of Men in the World who are not to be daunted or put out of Countenance by any mischance whatsoever and therefore notwithstanding the aforesaid disaster and although the Popish Clergy were so debauched and ignorant that the bitterest Sarcasm that ever was put upon the Protestants was by an Irish-man Bishop Bedel's Life 76. who said That the King's Priests were as bad as the Pope's Priests yet did this unquiet Generation begin to rant it again in Ireland to that degree that a Priest being seized in Dublin was rescued by the People so that by their Insolencies they put a Necessity upon the Lords Justices to humble them Whitlock's Memoirs 15. and by Direction from the Council of England to seize upon 15 of their new Religious Houses to the King 's Use and their principal House in Back-lane in Dublin was Anno 1632 disposed of to the University of Dublin who placed therein a Rector and Scholars and maintained a weekly Lecture there which the Lords Justices often countenanced with their presence but afterwards in the Lord Strafford's time the House was disposed of to the former Use and became a Mass-house again In the Year 1631 the Earl of Castlehaven was tryed 1631. condemn'd and Beheaded in England Whitlock's Memoirs 16. for strange and prodigious Crimes not fit to be particularized or related of so Ancient and Noble a Family And this Year the King taking Notice of the increase of Popery in Ireland sent a Gracious Letter of Admonition to the Bishop of Armagh Bishop Vsher's Life p. 38. to be communicated to the rest of the Bishops thereby exhorting them to the careful Exercise of their Duty and to avoid all Abuses in disposing of Benefices And in the Year 1632 the aforesaid Subsidies or extraordinary Contribution being determined the Countrey finding the necessity of paying the Army to prevent their paying themselves did consent to continue the levying of Twenty Thousand Pounds per Annum quarterly for two Years more But the Irish valuing themselves upon this Bounty and thinking the Army could not he supported without their Contribution began to be very unruly again and though the Broils they made were soon appeased yet it was thought necessary to send over the new Lord-Deputy Wentworth and accordingly Conveniencies were prepared for him both in Ireland and England For on the Tenth of April 1632. 1632. he obtain'd an Order for making a new Great Seal new Signet and new Seals for all the Courts and on
not to be named did very much scandalize the Patrons of his Preferment Nevertheless his unparallel'd Repentance and the most Pious manner of his Death hath obtain'd for himself the Pity of all good Men and undoubtedly the Mercy of God And it is observable 1637. that the Earl of Cork and this Bishop Atherton did on the 27th of June 1637. joyn in a Petit on to the Lord Deputy and Council to appoint Arbitrators to decide their Controversies and accordingly the Bishop of Derry and the Master of the Court of Wards were Assigned to that purpose and in their Adward which I have seen they recite that the Bishopricks of Waterford and Lismore by the Alienations of former Bishops were left worth but Fifty pound per Annum Revenue in Land and that the Earl had not purchased any thing immediately from the Church but from other Persons for valuable Considerations near Forty years before yet out of Love to Religion and the Professors thereof he was contented to part with some of his Right and so they Adwarded Lismore c. to the Earl and Ardmore c. to the Bishop and this Adward was afterwards confirm'd by the Lord Lieutenant and Council and after that by the King Anno 1638. 1638. Doctor Bedell Bishop of Killmore held a Synod in his Diocess which was a thing very strange and unusual in Ireland Nevertheless it made excellent Cannons or Constitutions which are to be sound in Bishop Bedell's Life pag. 237. But Matters growing high in Scotland and England the Lord Deputy went over to the King and left ROBERT Lord DILLON of KILLKENNY WEST Sir CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD Mr. of the Rolls Lords Justices who were Sworn on the 12th of September 1639. and soon after call'd a Parliament which met on the 16th day of March but did little or nothing until THOMAS Earl of STRAFFORD returned Lord Lieutenant on the 18th of March 1639. and on the 20th the Irish Parliament met again and Granted four entire Subsidies to the King and were on the 17th day of June prorogued to the First day of October following having first made the Twelve Acts to be found at large in the Printed Statutes 15 Car. 1. The first of these four Subsidies was Assessed at 46170 l. but the Second and Third of these Subsidies being in the absence of some Protestant Members with the Army at Caricfergus upon the Motion of Nicholas Plunket Assess'd in another manner did not together amount unto more then 23768 l. 15 s. 0 d. and the Fourth Subsidy was never Taxed at all by reason of the Rebellion that ensued And it is to be Noted that the Protestants paid more than one Third of the Commons part of the Subsidies besides 26480 l. 6 s. 0 d. Granted in Fourteen Subsidies by the Protestant Clergy only and above Three fourths of the Nobilities part of these Subsidies or more for the Nine Subsidies on the Nobility came too 52850 l. 18 s. 4 d. whereof the Confederate Lords paid but 10620 l. 18 s. 4 d. and it is very remarkable that foreknowing the Rebellion as undoubtedly they did they paid not one Penny of the Second or Third Subsidies and the Commons paid so little that of the Three Subsidies on them there was in Arrear when the Rebellion broke out 23855 l. 9 s. 7 d. And yet these Gentlemen or their Advocates have bragged in some of their Libels That they gave the King near a Million of Money But to proceed The Lord Lieutenant upon the Credit of these Subsidies and the annual Revenue which now was improv'd to above 80000 l. per Annum was enabled to raise Eight thousand Foot and One thousand Horse additional to the Veteran◠〈◊〉 they cost the Kingdom in raising clothing and paying them 204057 l. and were design'd to sudue the Rebells in Scotland and awe the Mutineers in England but being mostly Papists who were thereby Train'd to the use of Arms this Army was so offensive to all moderate and thinking Protestants that it brought great dis-repute and prejudice on the Kings Affairs and in the end cost the Lord his lieutenant his Head The Lord Lieutenant was exposed to the Hatred of the Presbyterians Husbands Collections 2 part 245. for imposing a new Oath on the People hereafter mentioned which was so much abhorr'd by many that they quitted the Kingdom rather then take it and he was open also to the Jealousies of the Protestants by bringing over with him Sir Toby Mathews a Jesuited Priest and by the Correspondence that was known to be between Paul Harris another plotting Priest and Sir George Ratcliff the Lord Lieutenant's intimate Friend and by suffering Publick Mass-houses at the Naas so near his own House and by permitting Fryars to dwell in a House of his own which he had built to other Uses But notwithstanding all this it is certain he was no Friend to Popery but only temporiz'd until he should meet with a more proper Season to go through with that Work as himself expresses it About this time Archibald Adair who had been Bishop of Killalla since the Year 1630 was deprived of his Bishoprick upon this Occasion One Corbet a Clergy-man that fled from Scotland for writing a Satyrical Book against the Covenanters called Lysimachus Nicanor was sent to this Bishop for Preferment but he being a moderate Man and perhaps too indulgent to his own Nation did not approve of Corbet that had handled the Scots so severely and therefore he gave no countenance to him but on the contrary told him That it was a bad Bird that foul'd his own Nest which was the sharper because Corby in Scotch signifies a Raven And when Corbet told him That he had hardly escaped with Life but had left his Wife to try the Humanity of the Scots the Bishop replied That he had left her to a very base Office And other things he said which the Government thought too favourable to the Govenanters and tho' they would not be much considered at another time yet now was thought a sufficient Cause of Deprivation and Doctor John Maxwell was made Bishop in his room but the next Year after the Execution of Atherton Bishop of Waterford Adair was made Bishop of that See Nor should it be omitted That this Bishop Maxwell a most excellent Preacher and a hearty Royalist was nevertheless wounded stript naked and left amongst the Dead by the Irish Rebels whose Skeins never distinguished between a Prelate and a Fanatick But the Bishop was accidentally preserved by the Earl of Twomond who travelled that way towards Dublin and afterwards went to the King to Oxford and was the first Man that convinced the King of the innate Hatred the Irish Rebels bore to all those of the Protestant Religion But let us return to the Lord Lieutenant who went again to England to give the King an Account of the good Posture of Affairs in Ireland leaving in his stead Sir CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD Master of the Rolls
and Oliver Castells 1. That the Nobility wer over-taxed in the Subsidies 2. And were kept Close Prisoners tho' not Impeach'd of any Capital Crime 3. And could not get Licence to absent unless they leave their Proxy with one of the Chief Governors naming 4. That some have Titles of Honour that have no Lands in the Kingdom 5. That the Nobility were stop from going to Petition the King 6. That Trade is decayed by Illegal Taxes as Twelve pence apiece on Hides 7. That Causes are arbitrarily decided at Council-board and in other improper Judicatories 8. That Paâ—ents are made void extrajudicially on private Opinions 9. The Monopolies of Tobacco Starch Sope Glass Tobacco-pipes c. 10. The Procedings of the High-Commission 11. The exorbitant Fees and pretended Customs exacted by the Clergy 12. The Proclamation against buying Gunpowder but out of the Store and restraining Hunting within Seven Miles of Dublin 13. That the Parliament in its Members and Actions hath not had its natural Freedom 14. That the Subject is denied the Benefit of the Act of Limitation 15. The taking excessive Fees 16. The Seizing of Linen Yarn and Cloth for not being exact according to Rule 17. The Oppressions of Officers And in this Parliament on the Fourth of March Captain Audley Mervin brought up an Impeachment of High-Treason from the Commons to the Lords against Sir Richard Bolton Lord Chancellor John Lord Bishop of Derry Sir Gerrard Lowther Lord Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas and Sir George Ratcliff and made an eloquent Speech on that Occasion The Charge consisting of Three Articles was General for subverting the Laws and introducing Arbittary Government by extrajudicial and unjust Decrees for inflicting infamous Punishments by Pillory c. on Persons of Reputation and subverting the Rights of Parliament But it seems there was a Dispute raised Whether the House of Lords in Ireland had Power of Judicature in Capital Cases Whereupon Captain Audley Mervin made a most excellent Speech in the Lords House in Parliament 24 May 1641. And afterwards he Impeached Sir George Ratcliff then in the Gate-house Westminster in the Parliament of England of the aforesaid Articles and adds That he joyned with the Earl of Strafford in taking out Eighty thousand Pounds out of the Exchequer to buy Tobacco and that he countenanced Papists to build Monasteries c. On the Sixteenth of March 1640. Secretary Vane sent the Lords Justices the following Letter by His Majesty's Command Right Honorable HIS Majesty hath commanded me to acquaint your Lordships with an Advice given him from abroad and confirm'd by His Ministers in Spain and elsewhere which in this distemper'd Time and Conjuncture of Affairs deserves to be seriously considered and an especial Care and Watchfulness to be had therein Which is That of late there have passed from Spain and the like may well have been from other Parts an unspeakable number of Irish Churchmen for England and Ireland and some good old Soldiers under pretext of asking leave to raise Men for the King of Spain whereas it is observed among the Irish Fryars * * In Spain there a Whisper runs as if they expected a Rebellion in Ireland and particularly in Connaught Wherefore His Majesty thought fit to give your Lordships this notice that in your Wisdoms you might manage the same with that dexterity and secrefie as to discover and prevent so pernicious a Design if any such there should be and to have a watchful Eye on the Proceedings and Actions of those who come thither from abroad on what pretext soever And so herewith I rest Your Lordships most humble Servant HENRY VANE In the mean time the Earl of Strafford came to his Tryal in England and it was the most Solemn that ever was in that Kingdom and at length he was Attainted by Act of Parliament and accordingly beheaded on the 12th day of May 1641. and the Earl of Leicester was the same day appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in his stead His Tryal is excellently wrote at large by Mr. Rushworth to which I must refer the curious Reader but because every Man has not that Book by him I have Cursorily extracted so much of it only as I thought pertinent to his History wherein if I have not been very exact it was because the Inquisitive may easily inform themselves as well as I by having recourse to the Original which I had not leisure to examine more carefully than I have done The Third Article which is the First relating to Ireland is that he should say That Ireland was a conquer'd Nation and that the King might do with them what he pleased and that the Charters of the Corporations were worth nothing and did bind the King no farther than he pleased To which the Earl Answers That he never spoke those words and that the Scope and Intent of what he did say was to ingratiate his Majesties Government to the People and that his words were well accepted at that time however they come to be resented now That the Charters of Dublin were Anno 1634. brought before the Council and still are in the hands of the Clerk of the Council because besides other Abuses the Papists of that City engrossed all the Trade and denied Liberty to such as came out of England to set up there which he hath so far remedied as that there are Three Englishmen now in Dublin for One that was there when he came to the Government and the Charters are not Condemned but enjoyed to this day so that he aim'd at a Reformation in favour of the English but did not design the Destruction of the Charters The Fourth Article was That the Earl of Cork having begun a Suit at Law to recover a Possession he had lost by Colour of an Order from the Lord Deputy and Council the Lord Deputy threatned to imprison him unless he would surcease his Suit saying That he would have neither Law nor Lawyers dispute or question his Orders and that he said upon another the like Occasion That he would make the Earl of Cork and all Ireland know that so long as he had the Government there any Act of State there made or to be made should be as binding to the Subjects of that Kingdom as an Act of Parliament and that he question'd that Earl in the Castle-Chamber upon Pretence of a Breach of an Order of Council-Table To this the Earl of Strafford answered That the Council-Table was a Court of Record in Ireland wherein they proceeded formally by Bill Answer Examination of Witnesses c. and therefore the Orders of it are binding and ought to be obey'd he denies he compar'd it to a Parliament and denies that the Earl of Cork was prosecuted for disobedience of an Order of Council only The Fifth Article was That in time of Peace 12th of December 1635. he did give and procure to be given Sentence of Death against the Lord Mountnorris at a Council of War for saying of an Accidental
hurt his Kinsman had given the Lord Deputies Foot Perhaps it was done in revenge of that Affront my Lord Deputy did me publickly but I have a Brother would not have taken such a Revenge and the like Sentence was given against Thomas Dennit who was executed thereupon To this the Earl Answers That he was General of the Army and had Power of Martial Law which is usual in Ireland and the Lord Mountnorris was an Officer in the standing Army and by those mutinous Words had transgressed the Thirteenth and the Twenty first Articles of War That he was not a Judge of it but the Council of War were the Judges that the Lord Mountnorris suffered nothing but a short Imprisonment and was told at that time by the Earl that he should not suffer according to the Sentence and as for Dennit he had stoln a quarter of Beef and also ran away from his Colours which is Felony in Ireland and it was at a time when a Regiment was imbarking for England The Sixth Article is That on a Paper Petition without legal Proceedings he caus'd the Lord Mountnorris to be dispossessed of Land that he had enjoy'd quietly Eighteen years To this the Earl says That that sort of Proceeding was usual in Ireland and he had a positive Order for it except in special Cases by the King's Letter 5th October 9 Car. 1. that Three of the Judges assisted him in the Tryal and that the Judgment was very just The Eight Article was That he imprison'd the Lord Chancellor Loftus for not obeying his Decree on a Paper Petition and also imprison'd him for not giving up the Great Seal and also imprison'd the Earl of Kildare for not submitting his Title to Castle-Ley to the Lord Deputies Pleasure and that contrary to the Major Vote of the Council He caused an Order of Council-board to be made against the Widow Hibbott and threatened to Fine her so high if she had disobeyed it that she was thereby forced to quit her Lands which are since conveyed to the use of the Earl but it seems the Imprisonment of the Lord Chancellor and the Earl of Kildare was by the Kings Order and so the Managers insisted only on that of Hibbotts To which the Earl Answer'd That it was a Case of Fraud and Oppression and that the Council-board in Ireland had Jurisdiction in such Cases and that the Major Vote was against her and denies the Lands were conveyed to his use The Ninth Article was That he gave Warrants to the Bishop of Down and Connor and others of their Officers to Arrest and Imprison such of the poorer sort as refuse to appear upon their Summons or disobey their Sentences until they give security to shew cause at the Council-Table for such Contempt To which he Answers That such Warrants were formerly used and even at the desire of the Papists to save the Charge of the Writ de Excommunicato capiendo that he never Granted but this one and finding it abus'd he soon call'd it in again The Tenth Article was That he procured the Customs to be Farmed to his own use and advanced the Book of Rates on Native Commodities to excessive Prizes as every Hide at 20 s. a Stone of Wooll at 13 s. 4 d. c. whereby the Custom that should be but the 20th became the Third or Fourth part of the true value of the Commodity and there is a Clause in the Grant That it should be good tho' an Act of Parliament should be made against it To this the Earl Answers That the Book of Rates was advanced before his Farm that it was so moderate that the King sent a Letter 1637. to raise it higher which he oppos'd that he was drawn into the Farm by the Kings Command and the Lord Portlands importunity and that the King had â— of the Profit of it and that Trade is exceedingly increased since his coming to the Government And the Matter of Fact prov'd to be thus the Customs of Ireland were 16 Jac. 1. demised to the Duke of Buckingham for Ten years at 6000 l. per Annum and half the clear Prohts above the Rent which half Communibus annis amounted to 3700 l. per Annum so in effect the Duke paid 9700 l. per Annum but he had allowance for several Desalcations as 1400 l. per Annum in lieu of the Customs of Wines which were Leased to the Earl of Carlisle at that Rent and the Customs of Derry Colerain Knockfergus and Strangford are reserv'd to the King On the 24th of March in the Seventh Year of King Charles I. The Customs were set to the Dutchess of Buckingham for 20000 l. Fine and 11050 l. per Annum Rent and Derry c. are included and the Lord of Carlisles Lease was surrendered to the King the 21st day of the same Month and then the new Book of Rates was made And on the 21st of April following viz. 8 Car. 1. The Dutchess of Buckingham's Lease being surrendred a new one was made to Lord Straffard and Partners for 8000 l. Fine and 15500 l. per Annum And they manag'd it so well that this branch of the Revenue yielded them as followeth viz. Anno. 1636 39936 1637 38889 1638 57380 1639 55582. The Eleventh Article was For restraining Transportation of Pipe-staves c. without Licence But that Article was waved by the Managers The Twelfth was That he Monopoliz'd the whole Trade of Tobacco by his Proclamation that none should be imported without his Licence and another Proclamation that none should be Sold by Wholesale unless it were made up in Rolls Seal'd at both ends with a Seal appointed by him and that divers were Pillory'd Whipt Fined Imprison'd c. for transgressing that Proclamation And whilst he raised the Impost on other Goods he reduced that on Tobacco from 6d to 3d. per Pound whereby he got 100000 l. per Annum And that he raised several other Monopolies on Starch Iron-Pots Glasses Tobacco-pipes c. To which he Answers That 6th June 13 Jac. 1. the King granted the Impost on Tobacco being 18 d. per Pound to William Massam and John Pit for Seven year at 10 l. per Annum and 8th February 19 Jac. 1. it was let to Mr. Lyne for Twenty one years at 20 l. per Annum that upon the Commons advice in Parliament that Lease was bought in and on 18th of July 12 Car. 1. the King Orders the Lord Deputy to assume the Pre-emption of Tobacco c. to advance the Revenue and this Letter is the ground of the first Proclamation which in this Matter followed the Example of England and the Second Proclamation is in effect but the Duplicate of the Proclamation in England of the 14th of March 13 Car. 1. mutatis mutandis that hereupon the 7th of November 1637. He contracted with Mr. Carpenter c. for the sole Importation of Tobacco for Eleven years at 5000 l. per Annum for the first Five years and 6000 l. per Annum
the last Six years over and above 3 d. per Pound Impost and that he had the Consent of the principal of the Council and the Approbation of his Majesty who consented to an Act of Parliament for the Confirmation of it that the Council Sign'd the Proclamations and if any were Pillory'd Whipt c. it was for Perjury or like Crimes and the Fines were only in terrorem little of them being Levied and concludes that he is no Gainer by that Monopoly The Thirteenth Article was That he also Monopoliz'd all the Flax of the Kingdom by his Proclamations of 31st May 12 Car. 1. and 31st January in the same year prescribing and enjoyning Rules and Methods of making Yarn and Thread which the unskilful Natives could not Practise and ordering all Linen Yarn and Thread made in any other manner to be seized which was accordingly executed with Severity whereby multitudes were undone and many Starved To which he Answers That what he did was to incourage the Linen Manufacture in Ireland and to â—â—â—ing the Irish to a more Artificial way of making Linen Yarn Thread and Cloth that the Council concurr'd in the Proclamations which are Temporary Laws in Ireland and that he was a Loser of 3000 l. by this Project for the Good of that Country that the evil Consequences if any were Collateral and Accidental and that the misdemeanors of inferior Officers could not be Charged on him That he never used more than 400 l. worth of Yarn in a Year which could not undoe much less Starve such multitudes as they pretend The Fourteenth was That he impos'd a new Oath to make true Invoyce c. on Masters of Ships c. but the Managers declin'd this Article The Fifteenth was That he Arbitrarily impos'd Illegal Taxes on the Towns of Bandonbridge Baltimore Tallow c. and Cessed Souldiers on them till they paid them and by force of Arms expell'd Richard Butler from Castlecumber and imprison'd several of the O Brenans and their Wives and Children until they surrendred and releas'd their Rights and Estates To this the Earl Answers That when the Country granted the King 120000 l. in Nature of a Subsidy it was agreed between the Lord Deputy Falkland and Them that it should not be entered upon Record but be Levied by Captains by Paper Assignments by Warrant from the Lord Deputy and so it was done and the Money levied on Bandon c. was Arrears of that Contribution and it was levied without Force and that Castlecumber was Legally evicted and what Soldiers were sent there being but twelve were sent to Guard Mr. Wandesford's House against Tories but used no Force to Mr. Butler or any quiet Subject and that it was usual in Ireland to lay Soldiers on Delinquents The Sixteenth Article That he procured his Majesties Order 17th February 1631. that no Complaint should be received in England about Irish Affairs until it were first made in Ireland to the Lord Deputy and that by Proclamation of the 17th of September 11 Car. 1. All Persons that had Estate or Office in Ireland except such as had imployment in his Majesties Service in England or attended there by his special Command should reside in Ireland and not depart without Licence whereby People are hindred from complaining against the said Earl And One Parry hath been punish'd for so doing To this he Answers That it was by him and the Council conceived fit to prevent unnecessary Clamours here but that he never denied Licence except to the Lords of Cork Mountnorris and Roch because there were Suits against them in the Castlechamber and to Sir Frederick Hamilton by the Kings Command which was taken off when he knew the Design of his Voyage was to complain against him and to Lord Esmond for a short time because he was Major General of the Army and he saith that Parry was punish'd for other Misdemeanors by the Consent of the whole Council The Nineteenth was Rushw 494. That by Proclamation of May 20. 1639. he imposed a New Oath viz. I N. do faithfully swear profess and promise That I will honor and obey my Sovereign Lord King CHARLES and will bear Faith and true Allegiance to Him and will defend and maintain His Regal Power and Authority and that I will not bear Arms nor do any Rebellious or Hostile Act against him or protest against any his Royal Commands but submit my self in all due Obedience hereunto And that I will not enter into any Covenant Oath or Bond of mutual Defence or Assistance against all sorts of Persons whatsoever or into any Oath Covenant or mutual Defence or Assistance against any Person whatsoever by force without His Majesty's Sovereign and Regal Authority And I do renounce all Covenants contrary to what I have sworn and promised So help me God in Christ Jesus And that he grievously fined those that refused to take it and particularly Henry Stewart and his Wife were fined 5000 l. apiece and their two Daughters and James Gray Three thousand Pounds apiece and imprison'd them for not paying it and explain'd the Oath to oblige in point of Allegiance to the Ceremonies and Government of the Church establish'd and to be establish'd by His Majesty's Authority and that he would prosecute to the Blood such as should disobey c. whereby many were undone and more fled the Kingdom and that he said If he return'd again he would root out Stock and Branch of the Dissenting Scots To this he answers That it was in a dangerous Time and for the Security of the Kingdom and upon their own Petition and that he had His Majesty's Orders for it dated 16 January 1638. That as to the Fine of Stewart c. it was setled before it came to his Vote so that he did but concur with the rest and that he did not speak against the Scotish Nation but against the Scotch Faction of the Covenanters The Twenty second Article was That he procured the Irish Parliament to declare their Assistance in a War against the Scots and gave Directions for Raising Eight thousand Foot and One thousand Horse which were most Papists and confederated with Sir George Ratcliff to employ that Army to Invade England and subvert the Fundamental Laws and Establish'd Government thereof To this he answers That he rais'd that Army by His Majesty's Order and denies any other Design than to assist and serve the King as they ought There was also some mention made about one Trueman who was executed for a Plot to betray Carigfergus to the Scots touching whom Sir John Clotworthy made this Deposition That Trueman was an Englishman that dwelt not far from Carigfergus and one that was sent about the Country but by whom he knows not but there were vehement Suspicions that he was employ'd to find out those that would engage in Discourse concerning the Scotch Business He spake with one Captain Giles who feigned himself a great Friend of the Scotish Nation and said That he
them called Traytors or Rebels but advised rather to use the soft Expression of DISCONTENTED GENTLEMEN But the Protestants scorning to be put upon so one of them express'd himself so briskly and so judiciously that the Irish finding they could not get a better agreed with much ado to the Protestation against the Rebels recited here Append. 12. And so having sate two days the Parliament was Prorogued to the Eleventh of January having first appointed a Committee of Both Houses to Treat with the Rebels and a Commission issued accordingly but the Traytors were so pufft up with their innumerable Victories over the naked and unresisting English that they tore the Order of Parliament and the Letter that was sent them and refused to Treat But the Lord Dillon of Costilo who since the Rebellion broke out was by His Majesty's former Orders sworn Privy Counsellor was deputed by the Popish Lords to attend the King and the Lord Taaf and Mr. Burk went with him but before he Embarked he presented the Lords Justices and Council a scandalous Letter See it Append. 3. in nature of a Remonstrance from the Rebels of the County of Longford which nevertheless was framed in the Pale wherein amongst other things they demand Freedom of Religion and a Repeal of all Laws contrary thereunto And this produced the Vote of the Eighth of December in the Parliament of England That they would never give Toleration of the Popish Religion in Ireland or any other of His Majesty's Dominions These Irish Agents hapned to be intercepted by the Parliament and imprison'd and their Papers being rifled it was found to be one of the Private Instructions to the Lord Dillon to move That no Forces might be sent over to Ireland but that it might be left to the Remonstrants to suppress the Rebellion 2 Temple 9. But afterwards they made a shift to escape out of Prison and diligently followed the King's Camp and effectually sollicited the unhappy Cessation Husbands's Collections 2 part 247. which afterwards ensued and whereof this Longford Remonstrance was the Parent and Foundation But what regard these Lords had to His Majesty's Service will appear by their vain Expressions in a Letter to the Lord Muskery Anno 1642. viz. That tho' it did not stand with the Convenience of His Majesty's Affairs to give him Publick Countenance yet that the King was well pleas'd with what he did and would in time give him Thanks for it Which being dscovered to the Parliament by Mr. Jepson a Member of that House begat strange Jealousies of His Majesty's Proceedings then tho' now it is manifest those Expressions related to the Cessation that was in Enbryo and not to the Rebellion which the King always abhorr'd In the mean time the King sent some Arms from Scotland to Sir Robert Steward and others in Vlster on the Eighteenth of November and Commissions to raise Forces Particularly the Lord Mongomery had Commission to raise 1000 Foot and 500 Horse and he did raise the Foot and three Troops of the Horse And on the Nineteenth the Lords Justices had an Account that His Majesty had left the Management of the Irish War to the English Parliament and the Order of Parliament was sent to them together with 20000 l. in Money and a Commission to the Earl of Ormond to be Lieutenant-General of the Army and also the following Order of Both Houses of Parliament viz. THE Lords and Commons in this present Parliament being advertised of the dangerous Conspiracy and Rebellion in Ireland by the treacherous and wied Instigation of Romish Priests and Jesuits for the bloody Massacre an Destruction of all Protestants living there and other His Majesty's Loyal Subjects of English Blood tho' of the Romish Religion being ancient Inhabitants within several Counties and Parts of that Realm who have always a former Rebellions given Testimony of their Fidelity to this Crown and for the utter depriving of His Royal Majesty and the Crown of England 〈◊〉 the Government of that Kingdom under pretence of setting up the Poâ—â— Religion have therefore taken into their serious Consideration how the mischievous Attempts might be most speedily and effectually prevented wherein the Honor Safety and Interest of this Kingdom are most nearly and fully concerned Wherefore they do hereby declare That they do intendâ— serve His Majesty with their Lives and Fortunes for the Suppressinâ— of this wicked Rebellion in such a way as shall be thought most effectualâ— by the Wisdom and Authority of Parliament and thereupon have ordereâ— and provided for a present Supply of Money and raising the Number of Six thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse to be sent from England being â—â—e full Proportion desired by the Lords Justices and His Majesty's Councâ— resident in that Kingdom with a Resolution to add such further Succours as the Necessity of those Affairs shall require They have also resolved of providing Arms and Munition not only for those Men but likewise for His Majesty's faithful Subjects in that Kingdom with store of Victuals and other Necessaries as there shall be occasion and that these Provisions may more conveniently be transported thither they have appointed Three several Ports of this Kingdom that is to say Bristol Westchester and one other in Cumberland where the Magazins and Storehouses shall be kept for the Supply of the several Parts of Ireland They have likewise resolved to be humble Mediators to His Most Excellent Majesty for the Incouragement of those English or Irish who shall upon their own Charges raise any Number of Horse or Foot for His Service against the Rebels that they shall be honourably rewarded with Lands of Inheritance in Ireland according to their Merits And for the better inducing the Rebels to repent of their wicked Attempts they do hereby commend it to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or in his absence to the Lord Deputy or Lords Justices there according to the Power of the Commission granted them in that behalf to bestow His Majesty's gracious Pardon to all such as within a convenient Time to be declared by the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or Lords Justices and Council of that Kingdom shall return to their due Obedience the greatest part whereof they conceive have been seduced upon false Grounds by the cunning and subtile Practices of some of the most malignant Rebels Enemies to this State and to the Reformed Religion and likewise to bestow such Rewards as shall be thought fit and published by the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or Lords Justices and Council upon all those who shall arrest the Persons or bring in the Heads of such Traytors as shall be personally named in any Proclamation published by the State there And they 〈◊〉 hereby exhort and require all His Majesty's loving Subjects both in this and in that Kingdom to remember their Duty and Conscience to God and his Religion On the Twentieth day of November the Lords Justices wrote again to the Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant for Supplies of
Commission to the Earl of Ormond and him to Govern the County of Kilkenny of the same Tenor as Appendix 8. they thought to colour their Proceedings thereby and therefore invited him to be their General And it seems his Lordship was ready to embrace the Offer for in the latter end of January he came with Fifteen Companies to Cashell and being assisted by Purcell Titular Baron of Loghmore to whom likewise the Lords Justices had sent Arms and by the Lords of Ikerin Dunboyn Cahir and Castleconell they took Ballyowen and blockt up Gowlin and Knockordan and then marched to Kilmallock and so towards Mallow but near the Mountain above Donerayl the Lord president faced the Rebels He had with him the Lords Barymore Dungarvan and Broghill Sir Hardress Waller Sir Edward Denny Sir John Brown Major Searle and Captain Kingsmill and about Six hundred Foot and Three hundred Horse Whilst he staid there the Rebels did not dare to advance but his Presence being necessary at Cork he was after eight days stay thereabouts obliged to retire to that City whereupon the Irish advanc'd to Mallow and took the short Castle there upon Articles which they did not perform At Mallow there arose a Difference amongst the Irish about the Supreme Command of the Army The Lord Roch and others of Munster thought they ought to have a General of their own Province and to avoid Competition amongst the Lords they pitch'd upon Garret Barry and appointed the Lord Muskery and other Great Men to be the Council of War Hereupon the Lord Mountgarret return'd to Typerary where he met the News That the Men which were in Gowlin Castle had escaped into the Mountains where most of them were murdered by James Butler of Ruskagh for which Fact he was tried before Colonel Sanky Anno 1653. and afterwards hang'd and that the Women and Children left in the Castle were likewise inhumanly butcher'd by the Irish for which Barbarity Peirce Butler and his Son Thomas James Butler of Boyton-Rath and Thomas Kent were likewise tried condemned and executed Anno 1653. As for the County of Cork which by the noble Plantations made by the Earl of that Name became the best inhabited with English of any County in that Kingdom it was in a great measure preserv'd by the Generosity and Diligence of that Earl who was then newly return'd out of England he rais'd Two Troops of Horse under his Sons the Lords of Kinalmeky and Broghil and Four hundred Foot all which he maintained for some Months as his own Charge and sent a hundred of them to Asketon a hundred to Lismore and kept Two hundred with himself at Youghall Nevertheless that County was not without its share of Disturbance tho' it was the last County wherein the Rebellion broke out and they began it as elsewhere by robbing and plundring bare-fac'd and at Noon-day and in Multitudes and afterwards committed some Murders but not so many as in other Places because the English were powerful in this County and therefore the Rebels were in more fear to be called to account for their Exorbitances However at Glandore they gagg'd several English to death and in another place they ty'd an Englishman's Guts to the Post and made him dance round it till he died they broil'd a piece of a Scotch Minister's Breech and made him eat it they hang'd Robert Scot of Newcestown and his two Daughters in Muskery tho' he went voluntarily there to a Friend for Protection and in like manner John Burrows was serv'd at Ballynorohur by his Landlord Mac-ni-crimin who was tried and executed for it afterwards at Bandon They hang'd Andrew a Servant of Mr. Hazell's and which was worse than all he rest Mr. Linscomb Sovereign of Cloghnikilty having much Intimacy with the Irish staid behind his Neighbors in confidence of Protection but contrary to his Expectation and their Promises they first made him drunk till he vomited and then made him eat it up and immediately hang'd him at his own Door and having by Promises of sending her safe to Kinsale persuaded his Wife to discover 120 l. in Money she had hid at Muckrus as soon as they got it they threw her and her Sister into a deep Pit and there they left them till they were starved And altho' there were not many downright Murthers committed in this County yet by reason of the universal Robbing and Plundring and the great Want and Hardships this Insurrection exposed the miserable English to many thousands of them perished and particularly in the Town of Bandon there died above a Thousand in the first Year of this Rebellion and great Numbers likewise met with the same Fate at Cork Kinsale and Youghall To stop this Torrent the Lord President raised a Regiment of Foot and Two Troops of Horse and did what he could to prepare for his Defence And it was but needful to do so for the Rebels being extraordinary numerous thought themselves able to besiege Cork Kinsale and Bandon at the same time In order to this Mr. Long High Sheriff of the County of Cork form'd a Camp at Belgooly about Two Miles from Kinsale and to him came Mac-Finin's Brother called Captain Sugane and march'd from Kerry through Muskery and Carbery to the Camp and Dermond ni Glack of Littergorman with another Party march'd down to Kilgoban-Castle on the River of Bandon and surprized it This Camp at Belgooly continued the rest of this Winter and was supplied with Ammunition and other Necessaries even from some of the Popish Inhabitants of Kinsale but at length half the Lord Baltinglass his Company being Forty five Men arrived by Sea at Kinsale on the Fifth of April and brought with them Eight Barrels of Powder whereof Six were the next day sent to Bandon guarded by the Bandon Troop which fell into an Ambuscade but the Kinsale Troop just then parted from them return'd seasonably to their Succour and between them they kill'd Eighty of the Rebels and then each Troop return'd safe to their respective Garisons and the next day the Camp at Belgooly was dissolv'd and most of the Soldiers went to reinforce the Blockade at Cork And about the same time viz. in February Mac Carthy Riagh who had dissembled the Matter and pretended Loyalty and that he would side with the English until he got some Arms from the Lord Viscount Kinalmeky and then declared the very next day with about Three thousand raw Men and ill armed came to besiege the Town of Bandon But the valiant Bandonians scorned to be pent up by such a pitiful Rabble and therefore having form'd themselves into Four Companies under the Captains Watkins Woodhouse Jefford and Hooper and One Troop Battel of Knockagarane under their Governor the Lord Kinalmeky they sallied out and whilst the Foot marched up the direct Road to Cloghnakilty the Horse went round by Castlemahon so to fall on the Rear but the Foot came up first and one Company led by Captain Watkins within-side the Ditch
came undiscovered very near the Enemy who were gazing at the rest that march'd in the High-way and at the first Volley kill'd Sixteen Men whereupon all the Irish fled and being light of Foot and the Horse not come up no farther Execution was done at this famous Battel of Knockagarane As for Cork it was blocked up on the South-side by General Barry and the Lord Muskery who expected the Lord Roch and others to do the like on the North-side but to prevent that the Lord President sent the Lord Insiquin and Colonel Jepson with the Two English Troops newly arrived from England into Roch's Country and Orrery where they had the good Fortune to relieve Rathgogan and to take Ballyha and to kill Two hundred Rebels on the Twenty seventh of February And the Lord President being reinforced by Sir Charles Vavasor's Regiment likewise newly arrived from England did on the second of March draw out a Party with which he burnt Tallow visited Lismore and took Dungarvan by Surrender and left Lieutenant Rossington and Forty Men in it from whom the Irish afterwards surpriz'd it and so having kill'd Three hundred Rebels in this Journy he returned safely to Cork But on the Thirteenth of April the Irish beat the English Scouts into the Suburbs of Cork whereupon the Lord Insiquin and Colonel Vavasor issued out with Three hundred Musquetiers and Two Troops of Horse and not only beat that Party but also routed the whole Army and took the Lord Muskery's Armor Tent and Baggage and killed Captain Sugane and above Two hundred of the Rebels without the Loss of a Man And as to Youghall the Irish did plant Three Pieces of Ordnance on the other side of the River to block up the Harbor but that did not hinder the safe Arrival of Sir Charles Vavasor and his Regiment in that Port on the Twenty fifth day of February 1641. as aforesaid As to Connaught the Lord Ranelagh was Lord President of that Province and being at Dublin when the Rebellion broke out he went to his Government the beginning of November and found the Counties of Mayo Letrim Roscomon and Sleigo in open Rebellion At first he thought to reclaim them by Mildness and the Acquaintance he had amongst them but he was quickly baffled in that Expectation as every body else will be that thinks an Irish Rebel will prefer the Interests or Solicitations of a Protestant Friend before those of a Popish Priest On the contrary to manifest their Sincerity to their Religion per aliquod facinus dignum they are most severe to their Protestant Friends and the Lord Ranelagh fared as bad as others being besieged in the Castle of Athlone all this Winter and many Towns in his Province and particularly Roscomon and Elphin were burned by the Rebels and some Castles of the Earl of Clanrickard's in the County of Galway were by them likewise surprized tho' generally that County was by the Conduct and Loyalty of the Earl of Clanrickard kept in pretty good order And it is to be noted That Commissions of Government and Martial Law were likewise sent to the Roman Catholicks of this Province viz. to the Lord of Mayo c. that nothing might be omitted to keep them quiet if they were so inclin'd but they despising the weak Forces of this Province were more forward than others to plunge themselves into this Common and Universal Rebellion and kept the Lord President besieged in the Castle of Athlone all this Winter In January the Irish to the number of Twelve hundred besieged young Sir Charles-Coot in Castle-Coot but he valiantly raised the Siege within a Week and not long after defeated Hugh O Connor and his Forces and on the Second of March encountred Con O Rourk and his Followers who came to fetch the Prey of Roscomon and took himself Prisoner and killed most of his Party Afterwards the Rebels under the Conduct of Colonel Walsh formed a Camp at Kregs but young Sir Charles Coot and the Garison of Castle-Coot sallied out upon them and gave them a total Defeat and took all their Baggage and Provisions and not long after he got a considerable Prey from about Ballynislow and in Easter-week relieved Athloane with some Provisions and other Necessaries Nor did the Governors and Garisons of Roscoman Tulsk Elphin Knockvicar Abbyboyle Carrigdrumrusk and Bealanfad behave themselves less bravely tho' at length this latter Place was lost for want of Water As to Ulster because the Rebellion began there I have already mentioned several passages in that Province so that I have only to add that on the Twenty third of October Cormock O Hagan surpriz'd the strong Castle of Monymore belonging to the Company of Drapers in London Whereupon a Rumour was immediately noised about the Country that the Irish were in Rebellion which coming to the Ears of Mr. William Rowly who had been an active Man against the Irish he presently posted to Colerain where he brought the first notice of the Insurrection about Eight a Clock on Sunday Morning which was soon after confirmed by multitudes of pillaged People that flockt into the Town that day It was wonderful to see the Scots so deluded with the wheedling of the Irish that they sate still as Newters till the English were destroy'd and particularly There was one Mr. William Stewart of the Irry who had Married the Earl of Tyrones Grand-Daughter he had Six hundred Scots together and might have preserved that Country but being assur'd by some of his Irish Relations that no harm was design'd to his Country-men he dismist his Followers to their respective Dwellings and that very Night most of them were murdered and this was the first Action that Alarm'd the Scots amongst whom the Irish from that time forward made a sad Slaughter and the Scots in due time did not fail to Pay them in their own Coyn and particularly at the 〈◊〉 of Magee within few Weeks after At Colerain Colonel Edward Rowly rased a Regiment of Foot and a Troop of Horse and Colonel Cozens raised a Regiment of Foot but the former marched into the Country and for some time kept in an open Village called Garvaghy but at length the Irish to a very great number whereof many were his own Tenants fell upon him and kill'd all his Men but Eight and barbarously murdered himself after they had given him Quarter and then burnt and plundered to the Gates of Colerain Mr. Hugh Rowly who is still living assures me he saw them burn Desertmartin Maghara Vintners Town Drapers Town and Maghrafelt and he saw them take a Poor Scotchman and knock him in the Head with stones and he also saw them take Mr. Matchet a Minister out of Lieutenant Thurbye's House and murder him and he also likewise saw the Lord of Antrim and Sir Philemy O Neal meet at the same place But in March Archibald Steward marched out of Colerain with Six hundred Scots and Three hundred English and had the misfortune to meet with
sometimes tore and burnt them and that they were inhumanly Cruel in several instances of Men Women and Children and much more of the same sort for which I refer to the Remonstrance it self which is already in Print with the Examinations annexed thereunto But because there is great noise made about the Kings sworn Servant Sir John Read and the Questions demanded of him upon the Rack It is fit I should give a brief Account of that Matter and it happened to be thus Lieutenant Colonel Read was in the latter end of December intrusted with a Message to the King from Three Lords and four Chief Gentlemen of the Pale but they finding that Succours come out of England but slowly and being in great hopes to take Tredagh kept Road with them to attend the Success of that Siege which not hapning according to their Expectation they were forced to raise it in the beginning of March and then and not till then did Read surrender himself as a Prisoner to the English Army which was at that time abroad under the Marquess of Ormond and he was immediately sent to Dublin with a Guard of Twenty Horse and having with many Oaths Curses and Imprecations denied any knowledge of the Irish Rebellion he was together with Captain Mac Mahown put upon the Rack where they were asked these Three Questions 1. Who were the chief Complotters in this Rebellion 2. The Time when it was Plotted 3. The Place where and how to be Acted To which they answered That Sir Philemy O Neal Macguire and Philip O Rely were the chief Conspirators and that the Plot was laid presently after the Dissolution of the Army in the North and that it was to be Acted in all parts of the Kingdom and to kill Man Woman and Child of the Protestants utterly to root them out and that all the Papists in the Pale had Consented to it and promised their Assistance to their utmost Power But on Saturday the 2d of April the Lieutenant General Ormond marched out with Five hundred Horse Three thousand Foot and Five Field Pieces and encamped that Night at Rathcoole and tho he received an Express there that his Lady and Children whom he had not seen in Six Months before were arrived at Dublin yet preferring the Publick before his Private Concern he marched without seeing them to Naas and burnt the Country as he went and having lost a Trumpeter and Four Soldiers by the Garison of Tipper he caused that Castle and all that were in it to be blown up and sent his wounded Men on Carrs to Dublin with a Guard of Twelve Horse but they were set upon by the Rebels and tho' the Horse escaped yet the wounded Men and Carr-men were taken and Murdered and by this Accident all intercourse was stopt between the State and the Army But when the Army came near Killcullen the Lords of Castlehaven and Antrim and the Dutchess of Buckingham came in a Coach to Visit the Lieutenant General and were kindly received by him and the whole Army passing by saluted them which I note to shew the Reader that the Lord of Castlehaven was not under any necessity of joyning in the Irish Rebellion but might have lived quietly at home if he had pleased On the 5th at Night the Army came to Athy and relieved that Town and the next day Sir Patrick Weams was sent with a Detachment of four Troops to relieve the Castle of Catherlogh but upon their approach the Rebels being Seven hundred strong burned the Town and fled however the Irish lost Fifty Men in the pursuit and so Weams having relieved that Castle and therein Five hundred English almost starved and also the Castle of Cloghgrenan and taken good store of Cattel returned the same Night to the Army and the Castle of Ballilivan was relieved the same day by another Party under Sir Charles Coot and the Castle of Rheban by another Detachment which also took the Castle of Bert and in it Eight Rebels who were hanged On the 7th the Lieutenant General leaving Colonel Crawford at Athy marched to Stradbally and on the 8th came to Maryburogh and the next day fell Sick of a Fever which lasted till Tuesday after however on the 10th being Easter day Sir Charles Coot Sir Thomas Lucas and Six Troops of Horse were sent to relieve Bi r and some other places they were to pass a Cawseway which the Rebels broke and had cast up a Ditch at the end of it but Coot made Thirty of his Dragoons alight and in Person lead them on and beat off the Irish with the Slaughter of Forty Rebels and their Captain and then relieved the Castles of Bi r Burrous and Knocknemease and having sate almost Forty eight hours on Horseback and lost and spoiled a Hundred Horse in this Expedition they returned to the Camp on Munday Night without the loss of one Man and this was the prodigious Passage through Montrath Woods which indeed is wonderful in many Respects and therefore justly gave occasions for the Title of Earl of Montrath to be entail'd upon the Posterity of Sir Charles Coot who was the chief Commander in this Expedition On the same 10th day of April about Seven thousand Irish Men under the Lord Mountgarrett appeared on the other side the River Barrow within two miles of Athy whereof Colonel Crawford sent Notice to the Lieutenant General whereupon he marched to Athy on the 13th and rested there the 14th and finding the Enemy had more than double his number and that he had done the work he come out for by relieving the aforesaid Garisons he thought it imprudent to Fight at such disadvantage or upon such odds to hazard his Army and consequently the Kingdom and therefore intended to march towards Dublin without seeking the Enemy and yet resolved not to shun them if they came in his way but the Rebels had by some means or other got notice of his Design and therefore passed the Barrow by the Bridge of Moygan with intentions to disturb the march of the English Nevertheless Bettel of Kilrâ—sh on Friday Morning about Seven a Clock 15th of April Ormond rose from Athy and kept on the direct Rode to Dublin the Rebels kept another way on the Right hand divided from the former by a Bog about a mile broad and four mile long both Armies marched in view of each other with Drums beating Colours flying and kept equal pace until both Rodes met whereupon the Lieutenant General fearing they might fall upon his Reer in that narrow Pass gave Orders to draw up the Army in Battalia Saying That he was resolved to fight the Enemy tho' all the Rebels in Ireland were there together the Irish did the like and not being incumbred with Garriages as the English were their Army was soonest in Order which might have been of advantage to them but they made none of it chusing rather to Receive than Give the Charge in short the English came up to their Ground
thousand did again besiege it and tho' Captain Vaughan with One hundred Foot and Fifty Horse did kill Forty of the Enemy and raise the Siege yet the Place being so remote could not at all times be relieved and therefore by Order of Council was demolished But the Parliament of England were desirous to manage the War of Ireland by a Committee at least till the Lord Lieutenant should go over but the King opposed that as needless because the Lord Lieutenant was just then ready for the Voyage But whether it was thought that he would not be propitious to the Cessation and Peace with the Irish which were then in design or for what other Reasons he was delay'd it is hard to determine but this is certain That tho' he was always going yet he never went And indeed the Differences between the King and the Parliament were grown to that heighth that each Side prepared for War and at length it came to a Battel at Edge-hill that very day Twelve-month on which the Irish Rebellion broke out viz. 23 October 1642. And in this Fight the Loss seem'd equal and each Party boasted of the Victory whilst both of them were thereby hindred from sending necessary Relief to Ireland and so the unfortunate English suffered every where and were destroy'd by one another in the Civil War in England and by the Common Enemy in that of Ireland However the Parliament did not totally neglect Ireland but on the Fourteenth of October sent over Mr. Robert Godwin and Mr. Robert Reynolds Husbands's Collections 2 part 249. Two Parliament-men and one Captain Tucker from the City of London to inquire into the Condition of the Army and the State of the Kingdom and to see how their Money was disposed of They brought with them Twenty thousand Pounds in Money and some Ammunition and arrived safe on the Twenty ninth of October and on the Second of November presented themselves to the State and being received with Respect were placed on a Form behind the Council and sate covered They did good Service in Ireland and particularly gave great satisfaction to the Army that Care was taken for Pay and Supplies They also made a Book which contained a Subscription of most of the Officers in the Army to take Debentures on the Forfeited Lands for a certain Proportion of their Pay as believing they would fight the better and end the War the sooner if they were interested in the Fruits of the Victory as well as in the Quarrel But the King disliked that Course because it might take up so much of the Rebels Lands that would hinder all Hopes of a peace with them which His Majesty began to have some Hopes of and therefore several Officers well enough inclined to the Proposal omitted to subscribe and some that had subscribed desired to retract So that at length these Commissioners were so sharply threatned that they delivered up the Book to be cancelled Nevertheless they promoted the March of the Army to enlarge their Quarters which afterwards produced the Battel of Ross but some of the Cavalier-party looking upon these Commissioners as Spies procured a Reprimand to the Lords Justices for suffering them to sit covered in the Council-chamber and the King 's positive Orders for their Return which was performed the Twenty seventh of February to the very great prejudice of the Affairs of Ireland and to the great disgust of the Parliament of England In the mean time the Irish under their General Preston had besieged Ballynakill and Colonel Monk with Six hundred Foot and Two Troops of Horse was sent to relieve it He marched out of Dublin the Fifth day of December and upon his approach the Enemy withdrew from the Siege and politickly marched to a Place of Advantage between the English Army and Dublin Battel of Tymachoo to intercept them in their Return But the Rebels had not so much Courage as Cunning for tho' they were Fourteen hundred Foot and Three hundred Horse yet upon the loss of about Threescore that were slain upon the first Volley they basely ran away and left the Road open for Monk to march to Dublin In like manner Sir Richard Greenvill with Two hundred Horse and One thousand Foot on the Twentieth of January marched to raise the Siege of Athloan and carry Supplies to that Garison both which he effected but in his Return he was encountred by Three thousand four hundred Foot Battel of Raconell and Six Troops of Horse at Raconell in a place of great disadvantage to him Nevertheless he had the good fortune to defeat the Rebels with the slaughter of Two hundred and fifty of their Men and to take the General Preston's eldest Son and some other Prisoners But that which rendred this Victory the more valuable was an ancient Prophecy That whoever won the Battel of Raconell should gain all Ireland therefore this Victory troubled and discouraged the Superstitious Irish exceedingly But we must return to the Lords Justices who in November 1642. transmitted to His Majesty a Petition from the Confederates by the Name of The Roman Catholicks of Ireland desiring His Majesty to appoint Commissioners to hear their Grievances And accordingly a Commission was brought over by Thomas Burk one of the first Rebels and by him confidently delivered at the Council-Board to the admiration of the State It impowered the Marquis of Ormond the Earls of Clanrickard and Roscomon Sir Maurice Eustace and others to hear and report their Complaints and in order to it the Three last went to Trim where the Lord Gormanstown Sir Lucas Dillon Sir Robert Talbot and John Walsh the Confederates Agents on the Seventeenth of March 1642. presented a Remonstrance of Grievances which one truly calls an Infamous Pamphlet and contains so much false Reasoning and Arguments ex post facto and downright Untruths as clearly manifests That the Irish first resolved to rebel and then set their Lawyers and Divines on work to fish for Arguments to justifie or at least excuse it But there was an Answer printed 1644. entitled An Answer to the false and scandalous Remonstrance of the inhuman and bloody Rebels of Ireland which sufficiently confuted all their vain Pretences and both of them being essentially necessary to this History are in substance added Appendix 5 6. But this Remonstrance met with better Fortune in the Irish Parliament which sat the Ninth of April for the English were then unluckily dividing into the Factions of Protestant and Puritan and some of the former very unwisely to back their Arguments against that Remonstrance compared it with the Scots Covenant which engendred such Heats in the House that the Parliament was prorogued to the Sixth of May 1643. However the Protestant Army did not neglect to sollicit their Affairs in England but by their Agents Sir James Mongomery Sir Hardress Waller Colonel Hill and Colonel Mervin they Addressed first to the Parliament to whom the King had committed the Care of Ireland and afterwards
they presented a handsom Address to His Majesty at Oxford quod vide Burlace 112. and on the First of December they received the following Gracious Answer from the King THat His Majesty hath since the beginning of that monstrous Rebellion had no greater Sorrow than for the Bleeding Condition of that His Kingdom and as He hath by all Means laboured that timely Relief might be afforded to the same and consented to all Propositions how disadvantagious soever to Himself that have been offered Him for that purpose and at first recommended their Condition to Both Houses of Parliament and immediately of His own mere Motion sent over several Commissions and caused some Proportion of Arms and Ammunition which the Petitioners well know to have been a great Support to the Northern Parts of that Kingdom to be conveyed to them out of Scotland and offered to find Ten thousand Voluntiers to undertake that War but hath often since prest by many several Messages that sufficient Succours might be hastned thither and other Matters of smaller Importance laid by which did divert it and offered and most really intended in His own Royal Person to have undergone the Danger of that War for the Defence of His Good Subjects and the Chastisement of those perfidious and barbarous Rebels and in His several Expressions of His Desires of Treaty and Peace hath declared the miserable present Condition and certain future Loss of Ireland to be one of His principal Motives most earnestly to desire that the present Distraction of this Kingdom might be compos'd and that others would concur with Him to the same End So His Majesty is well pleased that His Offers Concurrence Actions and Expressions are so rightly understood by the Petitioners and those who have imployed them notwithstanding the groundless and horrid Aspersions which have been cast upon Him but wishes That instead of a mere General Complaint to which His Majesty can make no Return but of Compassion they could have digested and offered to Him any such Desires by consenting to which He might convey at least in some degree Comfort and Life to that gasping Kingdom preserve His Distressed and Loyal Subjects of the same from inevitable perishing and the True Protestant Religion from being scorn'd and trampled on by those Merciless and Idolatrous Rebels And if the Petitioners can yet think on any such and propose to his Majesty He assures them That by his readiness to Consent and his Thanks to them for the Proposal he will make it appear to them that their most pressing personal Sufferings cannot make them more desirous of relief than his Care of the true Religion and of his faithful Subjects and of that Duty which obliges him to his Power to protect both renders him desirous to afford it to them But whatever good words the Irish Protestant Committee met with it is certain they got but very little Assistance so that the Lords Justices were reduced to the last Extremity whereupon they ordered the Citizens of Dublin to bring in half their Plate to be Coyned promising that they should be satisfied for it out of the next Supply and upon this Proclamation Twelve hundred Pounds worth of Plate was brought in Tho there were but three Papists that sent in any But it is time to return to the Army which was in great straits in Dublin and exceedingly oppressive to the Inhabitants it was therefore ordered they should enlarge their Quarters and the Lords Justices and some others having Coyned their own Plate to enable it to march It did accordingly issue out of Dublin to the number of Two thousand five hundred Foot and Five hundred Horse under the Marquess of Ormond on the Second of March and on the Third took Castlemartin and Tully and on the Fourth took Tymolin with the Slaughter of One hundred Rebels and on the Twelfth they came before the Town of Ross and having made a Breach in the Walls they assaulted it but without effect whereupon the Irish Army under General Preston consisting of Six thousand Foot and Six hundred and fifty Horse drew so near that they sent a considerable Supply into the Town and put a necessity upon the English Army not only to draw off from the Siege but also to give them Battel whereupon some of the Horse really suspected that Ormond had betrayed them and tho' most of them were Men of known Courage yet they fled very early and before the Battel was well begun however Ormond maintained the fight with his Infantry and the Horse that staid with him and at the same time gave Demonstration both of his Integrity Battel of Ross 18th of March 1642. and of that Presence of mind which was natural to him and never left him in the greatest Adversity and the issue was a compleat and entire Victory over the Irish Army whereof Lieutenant General Cullen and the rest of the Prisoners and the Baggage that was taken were undeniable Evidences nevertheless there were not above Three hundred of the Rebels slain in this Battel but many of them were principal Commanders and Persons of Note In Munster 1642. Affairs were managed this Year with alternate Success the English prospered well enough in the County of Cork but suffered in most other parts of the Province in April the valiant Bandonians took the Castle of Downdaniel and killed One hundred Rebels near Powlalong and got considerable Booty in both places and afterwards being assisted by the English at Kinsale they did on the Fourth of May take the strong Castle of Carriginass and the next day the Castle of Powlalong was surrendred to them and the Castle of Kilgoban was deserted by the Ward And about the same time Captain Scurlock with about Seven hundred Rebels of the County of Waterford made a brisk Attempt on Capoquin but the valiant Governour Captain Crocker with One hundred Men encountred him in the Town and killed Scurlock and routed his Forces On the Eighteenth of May the Lord of Insiquin defeated a Party of Irish in the Barony of Fermoy and killed above One hundred of them and on the Nineteenth Colonel Brocket Landed at Kinsale with Four hundred and sixty Men of Sir John Pawlett's Regiment of Foot whereupon Mountlong was deserted by the Irish on the Twenty fifth and the same day the Castle of Ballincolly was taken by the Lord President and on the Twenty ninth the Castles of Coolmain and Kilbrittain were taken by the Bandonians as the Castle of Cloleigh was on the Twenty third of July by the Earl of Barrymore But in the midst of these small Victories the Lord President Saintleger died at Cork on the Second of July whereupon the Government of that Province in civil Matters was committed to the Earl of Barymore and Lord of Insiquin but the Military Affairs were subjected to the Lord of Insiquin's sole Command And on the Fourth of July the Lord Broghill on his return from the relief of Knockmone met a Party of Rebels strongly
posted near Capoquin with a small Wood at their Backs and tho' he had but Sixty Horse and One hundred and forty Foot yet he boldly Charged them and killed two of their best Captains and Two hundred of their Soldiers with the loss of onely one English Man On the Ninth of August the Castle of Glin was taken by the Lord Forbes who came with his Fleet from before Gallway and Sailed up the River of Shanon and on the Twenty first the Lords Dungarvan and Broghill took the Castle of Ardmore with the Saughter of One hundred and forty of the Rebels But Provisions beginning to grow scant the Lord Insiquin drew out One thousand eight hundred Foot and Three hundred and sixty Horse and near Liscaroll met with the Irish Army under the Lord Mountgarret who was accompanied by the Lords Muskery Roch Ikerin Dunboin Castleconnel and Brittas and it came 〈◊〉 a smart Battel on the Third of September wherein the English were Victorious and killed Seven hundred of the Rebels and took Fifty â—sisoners and one piece of Cannon and two Field Pieces without any loss on the English side except that of the valiant Lord Viscount Kinalmeaky who was slain in the beginning of the Fight by a shot in his Neck and Sixteen private Soldiers In this Battel the noble Earl of Cork who never begrudged what he ventured for the Service of his King and Country had no less than four Sons viz. the Lords of Dungarvan Kinalmeky and Broghill and Mr. Francis Boyle since Viscount Shanon About the same time the Lord Forbes with his Regiment Landed at Kinsale and marched to Bandon and being joyned with Three Bandon Companies of Foot and some Horse they went to Rathbarry to relieve Captain Freak who had been besieged there since the Fourteenth of February but when they came to Cloghnikilty on the Eighteenth of October they thought fit to leave Two Scotch Companies and one Bandon Company there to secure that Town till their Return but it was not long after their Departure before a numerous Rabble of the Irish rushed upon them from all sides whereupon Groves who Commanded the Bandon Company advised to retreat towards their main Body which was not above four Miles from them but the Scots thought that dishonourable and refused and the Consequence was That the two Companies of Scots were cut in pieces but Groves valiantly made good his retreat a full Mile to an Old Danes Fort in the way to Ross which he justified manfully till the rest of the Forces came up to him and then they fell upon the Irish and forced them into the Island of 〈◊〉 and the Tide being in above Six hundred of them were killed and drowned whereupon the English marched to Cloghnikilty and relieved a great number of Men Women and Children which were imprison'd in the Market-house purposely to be burnt together â—ith the House to make a Bonâ—iâ—e for joy of the easie Victory they promised themselves over the rest of the Lord Forbes his Party After the Death of the Lord of Kinalmeaky Colonel Râ—â—land Saintleger was made Governour of Bandon in whose time it happened that the Troops of Bandon and Kingsale had appointed to meet at a day prefixed and to take a Prey but the Rebels who were at Kilcrea had notice of it and believing that the Troop had marched abroad according to the Appointment they boldly came to Bandon and took away the Cattel belonging to the Town but the Troop being by some Accident delayed in Town longer than they designed were just ready mounted when this Adventure happened so that they immediately issued out and recovered the Prey at Brinny Bridge and slew Fifty of the Tories in Killmore Bog without the loss of one Man But these small Victories were balanced by some considerable Successes of the Irish for the strong Castle of Limerick which had been besieged since the Fifteenth of January was surrendred to them on the Twenty third of June and the Castle of Askeaton submitted to the same Fate on the Fourteenth of August after nine Months Siege as Castlematrix likewise did not long after Neither was it a small Misfortune to the English that about this time both Dean Gray and Archdeacon Byss who were Commissioners to enquire into the English Losses in Munster met with their Destiny the former dying at Bandon and Byss the Survivor who had all the Papers and Examinations was murdered by the Rebels on the Way to Youghall ☜ and this is the true Reason why there is no particular full Account extant of the Murders and Losses in Munster And it is very observable that the Rebels took very few places by force but either want of Necessaries or Promise of good Conditions prevail'd with the English to surrender and it is no less wonder that the English would trust to any Articles from a perfidious People that had so often violated their Faith Nevertheless every day afforded Instances of their sâ—â—essful Treachery and besides what is already mentioned Gloghleigâ— and Cool are additional Examples in the former was a considerable Garison to whom Richard Condon promised Quarter and Convoy to Castlelyons whereupon they surrendred and for their Folly were every one murdered wounded or kept Prisoners And in Cool were 36 Troopers of the Earl of Barrimores to whom the same Condon promised the like Quarter Upon the Faith of a Soldier and a Christian but nevertheless murdered them all except one who had 36 Wounds and was left for dead And in Connaught the Town of Gallway did in the later end of April submit unto the Earl of Clanrickard who was Governor of that County and was by him taken into Protection until the Pleasure of his Majesty then expected over should be known but the Lords Justices did not approve of that Protection unless the Town would admit of an English Garison However Clanrickard made use of that Opportunity to relieve the Fort of Galway wherein the Archbishop of Tuam and 36 Ministers and many more English were in very great distress And about the middle of July the Lord President drew out his small Forces into the County of Mâ—yo Battle of Ballintobber where not far from Ballintobber they met with the Irish Army which was more than double their Number Nevertheless the English obtained an easie Victory over them and killed near 2000 of the Enemy and on the First day of the same Month Sir Frederick Hamilton took the Town of Sligo and slew 300 of the Rebels and afterwards routed Owen O Rourk who in his Absence had with 1000 Men besieged his Castle of Mannor Hamilton And about August the Lord Forbes came into the Bay of Gaâ—â—ay and landed some Guns and seized on the Abby and being joyn'd by the Lord President and the Earl of Clanrickard they pretended to besiege the Town but they wanted Necessaries and therefore the Lord Forbes compounded with the Town for a Sum of Money which was never paid and drew off from
suffer the Right of the Crown to be destroyed by any way but shall Lett it to your power and if you cannot Lett the same you shall certifie His Majesty clearly and expresly thereof you shall give your true and faithful Council for the King's Majesty's Profit and his Highness's Council you shall conceal and keep All other things for the Preservation of His Majesty's Realm of Ireland the Peace amongst His People and Execution of His Justice according to His Majesty's Laws Usages and Customs of His Highness's Realm you shall perform and do to your power So God you help and by the Contents of this Book The Lord Lieutenant did immediately set himself to reform the Army and reduced his own Troop to 40 and Lucas and Armstrong's Troops to 30 each and the other two Troops to 25 each so that he had in all but 150 Horse and 2000 Foot and to maintain these he was forced to revive the Excise and to lay a Tax of 3d. per Acre throughout that part of the Pale under his power and to seize on some Debts and Tobacco belonging to the Londoners and on the 16th of March he issued a Proclamation to prohibit Outrages and Robberies on pain of Death And thus Matters stood in Ireland at the end of the Year 1643. Nor can we open the following Year with a better Scene than a Session of Parliament 1644. which was held at Dublin on the 17th of April and the very next day the Speakers of both Houses issued Letters to the Officers of the Army strictly prohibiting them from taking the Solemn League and Covenant and in those Letters they took notice of the Lords Justices and Councils Proclamations of the 18th of December 1643 to the same effect And on the 20th of May the Government issued a Proclamation to free from Customs and Impositions for 6 Months all Goods and Commodities that shall be imported for the Relief of the Army into Dublin Drogheda Carlingford Dundalk Cork Youghall or Kinsale But we must leave Ireland for a while and adjourn to Oxford which was the Theater on which the Affairs of that Kingdom were for the present transacted and therefore the Negotiations there shall be handled together and they happened in this manner The Cessation being made as hath been already related the Confederates chose the Lord Viscount Muskery Sir Robert Talbot Dermond mac Teig O Brian c. As their Agents to sollicite the King in England about the Terms of a Peace and the Lords Justices did likewise as from the Council-Board send Sir William Stuart Sir Gerard Lowther Sir Philip Percival 1643. and Justice Donelan to whom Sir George Ratcliff and Sir William Sambach being then at London were added But the Protestants not knowing of this last or not thinking that these Agents would effectually insist upon Their Sense of Affairs or were prepared to prove their Grievances Did on the Sixth of October meet at the Earl of Kildare's House and agreed upon a Petition which they preferred to the Lords Justices and Coâ—ncil desiring leave for their Agents to repair to the King and that the Irish Agents might not be heard till they should arrive and that Care might be taken to continue the present Parliament which by Change of one of the Lord Justices was in Danger of being dissolved To which on the Twelfth of October they received a favourable Answer That they the Lords Justices had taken care to send Protestant Agents to the King to assist in the Treaty and that nevertheless they would transmit a Copy of the Petitioners request to His Majesty and if His Majesty would License their Departure they would not hinder it But the Protestants knowing that even of late time Agents had gone to the King without such special License from His Majesty they did on the Fourthteenth of October proceed to the Choice of Four Persons fit to be employed and prepared a Petition to the King and then Petitioned the Lords Justices and Council To transmit that Address to His Majesty and to License their Agents to repair unto him to England and on the 19th the Lords Justices answered That they had signified their former Petition to his Majesty and had importuned Secretary Nicholas for a speedy Answer which the Petitioners ought to expect and that in the mean time they would not hinder the Agents from going when they pleased but could not recommend them to the King until His Majesties Pleasure were known The Lord Chancellor Bolton took an Exception to the Copy of the Petition that it was not signed as the Original was which Nicety was soon answered by transcribing the Names of the Subscribers but the Earl of Roscomon Sir James Ware and one other who had signed the first Petition went farther and entered the following Protestation concerning it The Sense of divers of his Majesties Protestants Subjects who have Signed to the late Petition directed to His Majesty SUffering under the Mis-construction of Our Petition We hold it fit to declare that We exhibited not the same through want of Assurance of His Majesties Care of the Protestant Religion and of his Subjects nor yet to divert any Supplies that may be drawn from hence against such as in his Kingdom of England have taken up Arms against him but meerly in Right to Gods Cause and in Our Right humbly to inform His Majesty when the Irish Agents repair unto him if the said Agents shall endeavour to surprise or prejudice Us in either this is the Commission We give and if any Person or Persons imployed by Us shall go further or otherwise busie themselves to the disturbance of His Majesties Service against such We do and shall protest as being in Our Intentions no Parties thereunto which as it may serve to vindicate our Faith to His most sacred Majesty so it may shew how Causeless the Jealousies are of this Address to him And thus it stood till January when His Majesties Letter of the Sixth of November arrived and thereby License was granted to the Petitioners to send their Four Agents whereupon the Petitioners chose Sir Charles Coot and Captain William Parsons to be added to the Four they had pitched upon before and presented their Names to the Lord Lieutenant and on the Seventeenth day of February following the Commons of the Irish Parliament approved of what the Petitioners had done and declared their Concurrence therewith whereupon the Petitioners moved the Lord Lieutenant and Council for a recommendation to His Majesty both of their Cause and Agents and being demanded they produced their Instructions which were rectified as is mentioned Appendix 22. and then they were informed that it would gain them favour with the King if they carried over their Companies with them except Sir Charles Coot's which was in Conaught but Captain Parsons his Troop chose rather to be disbanded then to go over to Fight against their Countrey-men but Captain Ridgway's and Sir Francis Hamiltons Companies were Transported under their
came thither and watched three days yet none of the Irish Commissioners appeared except only Hugh O Conner who had no Power to Act singly and tho' the Lord Lieutenant had ordered the Irish to send some Beeves to the Garisons of Conaught towards their Subsistence yet did they likewise make such unreasonable Delays in delivering those Beeves being but 200 in all that many of the Soldiers were Starved to Death for want of them and when mere necessity occasioned by the Delay aâ—d Non-performance on the Irish side compelled any of the English to take a Sheep or a Cow presently Complaints were made to the Lord Lieutenant as if the Cessation were broken or as if the whole Country were up in Arms whereupon Orders were issued bearing date the Eighteenth of March and Twenty ninth of March to examine the Irish Complaints against the Garisons of Conaught and particularly against that of Castlecoot and more especially about their Combination with Captain Cambell an Irish Scot and their casting of Ordnance which the Confederates objected against them and accordingly the English Commissioners repaired to the place appointed but the Irish came not the First day and the Second day when they did come they pretended they were not prepared not had a sufficient Commission to proceed then but desired to adjourn to Thursday in Easter week at Roscomon which was agreed to but when that day came the Irish Commissioners did not appear but sent a Letter That Roscomon was not a fit Place and desired to meet at Balmtober near which place their Army lay but the English Commissioners resenting this Third disappointment scorned to make any more Assignations with them well knowing that there was no ground for their Complaint but that it was all Contrivance and Clamour But on the Twenty seventh of April 1641. a Warrant issued to make Henry Viscount Willmot and Thomas Viscount Dillon and the Survivor of them Lords President of the Province of Conaught except the County and Town of Gâ—â—way the Government whereof with Ten Shillings per diem was Granted to the Lord of Clanrickard But it happened not long after 1644. that Major Ormsby being Garisoned in Tulsk which place belonged to Mr. Lane afterwards Lord Lanesburough the Proprietor demanded the House which could not be justly refused him tho' his Right was unseasonable insisted upon at that time because Ormsby had done good Service and was very troublesome to the Irish But the Major perceiving that he must turn out and having no other Convenient place to carry his Soldiers unto he cunningly declared against the Cessation and kept Correspondence with those of that Faction in Ulster and hereupon he preyed upon the Irish to that Degree that his Garison lived whilst most of the rest of the English were Starving insomuch that as many as could did flock to him whereby the other Garisons were left almost empty and so he continued until the Earl of Castlehaven forced him to submit to the Cessation as that Lord wries in his Memoirs but I believe he continued so until his Castle was taken by the Lord Taaf Anno 1645. And as to Ulster 1643. the Scots and all those that had taken the Covenant or were inclined to take it were very much dissatisfied with the Cessation Monroe complained to the Lords Justices That the Scots who were by the Agreement to be paid every Three Months were now Eighteen Months in Arrear and therefore it was hard to put them off with a Cessation however he Promises to avoid Hostility until the Earl of Leven his General be consulted but the Supream Council were so netled at Monroes aversion to the Cessation That they on the Fifteenth of October wrote to the Lords Justices That seeing the Scots continued their Outrages and would admit of the Cessation no farther than stood with their own advantage whereby the Confederates were diverted from assisting the King they who could not accuse themselves of any one hollow thought and detested all subtil Practices and cannot think of serving two Masters or of standing Neuter where their King is Party do desire that none may reside in the Kingdom but good Subjects and that by the joynt Power of such the Opposers or Breakers of the Cessation may be chastised and that till that can be done their Proceedings in Prosecution of them may not be interpreted a Violation of the Truce But in the beginning of the Year 1644. 1644. Monroe published that he had a Commission from the Parliament of England and the Council of Scotland to govern the Province of Ulster whereupon the Lords Mongomery and Blany Sir James Mongomery Sir Robert Stewart Colonel Hill and the Majors Rawden Jones and Gore came to Colonel Chichester at Belfast to consult what was fit to be done but the next Morning being the Fourteenth of May Monroe surprized the Town because Colonel Chichester had made Proclamation against the Covenant which was a little before this time imposed by Order of Parlament and had refused to admit any Scots into the Garison and had sent a Convoy with Colonel Steward and Colonel Seaton Agents to the King and had discountenanced all that were affected to the Covenant or to Monroes Party However Monroe distributed Victuals out of the Magazine to Colonel Chichesters Regiment and quartered them in the adjacent Villages until a little after they went to Dublin and he also wrote very civilly to the Lord Lieutenant but would not restore Belfast according to his Order In the mean time Owen Roe being weakned by the defeat already mentioned and the opposition he still met with from the British in the beginning of Winter left his Troops and Creaghts to shift themselves and came to the General Assembly at Waterford to desire assistance affirming that otherwise he must be forced to retire into the other Provinces Hereupon the Assembly appointed Six thousand Foot and One thousand Horse and Dragoons under the Command of the Earl of Castlehaven to joyn with Four thousand Foot and Four hundred Horse which Owen Roe had promised from Ulster And that nimble General having some time to spare did by the Commands of the Supream Council march part of his Forces to Conaught Memoirs 45. and compelled Burk of Castle Carrow and the Lord Mayo at Castlebar to submit to the Cessation and having done the like to the Ormsbey's in the County of Roscomon he went to his Rendezvouz at Granard about Midsummer 1644. Owen Roe being at the same time near Portlester but hearing that the Enemy approached he was glad to retreat towards Portlester and having left 600 Foot and One hundred Horse to Guard the Bridge of Feynagh over the Jany which had a Castle on his side he thought himself pretty secure but the Scots marched on and the ignorant or as this Earl of Castlehaven styles him the unfortunate Colonel whose business it was to Guard the Pass sends out his Horse to Skirmish having learned from his General That
they explain this not to Import any thing inconsistent with the Peace nor to breed an Interruption or Impediment of it but to farther its Performance And tho' this Declaration notwithstanding any Explanation they could make of it was diametrically opposite to the Nature and Design of a Peace because this would reduce them to the Obedience and Condition of Subjects and that would still keep them up in the Condition of a Separate State yet there was a deeper Intrigue in this Matter viz. That if they would not part with their Association it necessarily followed that they could not part with their Army which was the Ligament and Support of it And therefore notwithstanding Glamorgan's Concessions yet that Earl must have Patience and wait for the expected Succors until the King should publickly ratifie what his Lordship had privately done and they did not doubt but the same Necessities continuing or rather encreasing would compel His Majesty to comply with their Expectations And in order to bring about their Designs they continued the Treaty with Ormond until the 21th of November and to cloak their Intrigues the whole Assembly on the Ninth of September did Vote That they would send Ten thousand Men to aid the King and would refer to His Majesty's Pleasure such things about Religion as Ormond either had not Power or not Inclination to grant But on the Fifteenth of November following they did in effect invalidate that Vote by alledging That they never undertook the Transportation of the Ten thousand Men to help the King but intended only their Assistance therein Nevertheless I must not conceal that the Anti-Nunciotists do aver That they design'd sincerely to send Succours to the King and to conclude a Peace with the Marquis of Ormond on the Terms afterwards agreed on and to refer the Secret Articles about Religion to His Majesty's Pleasure wherein they doubted not of as much Condescension as His Majesty could safely give because it had been so promis'd to them by the Earl of Glamorgan But the Nuncio arriving in Ireland in the nick of this Business quite altered their Measures and confounded their Affairs And whether it be so or not is scarce worth our Inquiry since we are sure of these few Truths That the Confederates sent no Succors at all to the King nor made the Peace till it was too late and did most perfidiously break it almost as soon as it was made But we must make room for a very extraordinary Man John Baptista Rinuccini Archbishop and Prince of Firmo the Pope's Nuncio who arrived in the River of Kilmair on the 22th day of October He sent before and brought with him 2000 Swords 500 Petronels 20000 Pound of Powder and Five or Six small Trunks of Spanish Gold and had in his Train 22 Italians besides several Clergy-men His Frigat which carried but 21 Guns was closely pursued by Captain Plunket in a Parliament Ship and had certainly been taken or sunk if the Cook-room of the English Ship had not accidentally taken Fire Never were People more troubled at a Disappointment than were the Seamen at this and yet scarce any Disappointment was ever more lucky For this Nuncio afterwards renew'd the fatal Distinction between Old Irish and Old English and split the Irish into * * Clerum ac populum primum diviserit mox inter se comiserit ac siâ— utriusque ruinae viam patefecerit Beling in Preface Factions which very much contributed as well to their Infamy as their Ruin He was receiv'd at Killkenny by the Supreme Council with extraordinary Joy and Respect and in a solemn manner was conducted to the Castle and in the great Hall he made an Oration in Latin to the Lord Viscount Mountgarret President of the Council Sancte jurat nâ—hil se contra 〈◊〉 regis commoda moliturum Beling 15. and amongst other things he did religiously swear to attempt nothing prejudicial to the King Nevertheless he was so little mindful of that Oath and had so small regard to the Peace and true Interest even of the Papists of Ireland that tho' he knew that the King in hopes of Succors from that Kingdom did so earnestly desire a Peace that the Fanaticks revil'd him with being an Humble Suitor to the Rebels for good Terms yet he made advantage of the King's Necessities and refus'd any Agreement that should not restore the Ecclesiastical Revenues and the Splendor of Popery and accordingly he positively wrote to his intimate Friend the Bishop of Killalla That if the Supreme Council should agree with Ormond he would take all the Bishops with him and leave the Kingdom But the Reader must take notice that all this while Ormond and the English were totally ignorant of the secret Negotiations of the Earl of Glamorgan until after the Defeat at Sligo which hapned on the 17th of October at which time the Titular Archbishop of Tuam was slain and in his Trunks was sound amongst other Papers a Copy of the Articles made with the Earl of Glamorgan which discovered such an Ocean of Contrivance and Intrigue as amazed the whole Protestant Party The Articles of this Peace and the Commission it was sounded upon and the Oath taken subsequent to it are all mentioned Appendix 27. which were so destructive to the Protestant Religion that Ormond and the Cavaliers could not believe that the King ever intended them in which Opinion they were confirm'd by the Asseverations of the Lord Digby That the Earl of Glamorgan had no such Commission or if he had it was surreptitiously obtain'd But however that were it was necessary to vindicate His Majesty's Reputation in an Affair so disobliging and scandalous and therefore the Lord Digby did on the 26th of December Impeach that Earl of Suspicion of Treason at the Council-board whereupon he was committed to Pâ—ison and a * * Earl of Roscomâ—n Lord Lambart Sir Jam. Ware Committee was appointed to take his Examination and an Account of this whole Proceeding was on the Fifth of January sent to the King whose excellent Answer thereunto is here recited verbaâ—im Appendix 28. But the Earl of Glamorgan upon his Examination confessed That he made those Concessions but that it was done under mutual Oaths of Secresie and That he conceived he had Warrant for what he did and That he did it with design to serve His Majesty and not to hurt the Protestant Religion Circumstances considered and That he conceives those Articles are not Obligatory to His Majesty and That he did not engage His Majesty's Faith or Honor further than by shewing his Authority and leaving it with them And then he gave the Committee Counterparts of all the Writings between him and the Irish And tho' the King was exceeding angry at the first News of this Affair as what he foresaw would be made use of by the Parliament to justifie all the Aspersions they had laid upon him in point of Popery yet when he had calmly considered that the Earl's
and happy Peace that was designed them But though in deference to the Nuncio the business was delayed a day or two and debated again yet every body perceiving that a Peace made at Rome could be of little use to them in Ireland since it would infallibly disoblige all the Protestants with whom they were to unite it was after many Expostulations at length resolved by the Assembly to conclude the Peace and it being likewise resolved rather to trust Ecclesiastical Matters Beling 25. to the secret Concessions they expected from the King than to mention them at all in the Articles with the Limitations agreed on Consentientibus etiam Catholicis qui omnes peâ—e aderant regni â—raelatis Ib. 26. lest the positive Stipulation might exclude farther hopes the Vote for the Peace passed unanimously even amongst the Prelates themselves Hereupon the Nuncio finding it in vain to oppose the Peace directly he endeavoured by â—â—veral artifices and indirect means to elude it and first he put in * * They are at large Beâ— 27. Propositions in writing containing Reasons why they should defer the publishing or ratification of the Peace though in effect they amounted to no more than he had formerly offered viz. That a more advantageous Agreement was making for them at Rome and therefore they ought to delay the Publication of this Peace in expectation of that And although every body perceived the vanity and fallacy of these Propositions Pontificis etiam umbrae â—atenus cultores Beling 31. yet the Irish have so great a Veneration even for the Shadow of the Pope that they could not deny Respect to his Nuncio especially when his Request was only for a little time and so upon this impertinent motion the Peace was delayed till the 28th day of March and in the mean time Chester was taken from the King for want of the Succors promised from Ireland But whilst these things were doing the King on December 2. wrote to the Marquis of Ormond to stop the Peace with the Irish because he was in hopes of an Accommodation with the Parliament but that Expectation failing he did on the 19th of January send new Orders to the Lord Lieutenant to proceed in the Treaty but adds That he would rather have a Cessation than a Peace unless he can be sure that 10000 Irish should be sent to his Assistance in England to which Ormond answers That he deals with such People that he can be sure of nothing from them but believes that they are able to send 6000 Men and that it is their interest to do it and that he will not make Peace with them but upon that Condition But on the 8th of February the Earl of Glamorgan wrote to the Lord Lieutenant That it is impossible to make the Irish Nation do any notable Service for the King against the hair and contrary to the Nuncio ' s Satisfaction Nevertheless that Earl was busie in hastening the Irish Forces designed for the Relief of Chester and in order to it he hired Ships and was frequently at Waterford where we leave him and that Affair until we come to treat of the year 1646. In Munster we left the Lord of Insiquin in daily expectation of Supplies from England which came so slowly that he was not able to draw out more than 1000 Horse and 1500 Foot into the Field however he ventured with the Foot to besiege Ballymartyr and to put Imokilly and Barrymore under Contribution whilst the Lord of Broghill with the Horse posted near Castle-Lions and covered his Camp from the Enemy which under the Command of the Earl of Castlehaven was then entered into the County of Cork to the number of 5000 Foot and 1000 Horse and upwards Castlehaven had rendevouzed near Clonmell and on the 5th of April marched to Cappoquin which he took as also Drumanna and Knockmone and it is observable that Sir Richard Osborne who owned this last Castle and was in it when it was taken had all along obeyed the Cesstâ—on and did not joyn with Insiquin nevertheless Castlehaven denyed him the benefit of the Cessation but took his Castle by force and therefore the Lord Lieutenant did by his Letters of the 25th of April write to the Lord Muskry and the rest of the Supreme Council for its Restitution But to proceed This General of the Confederate Army having received a Repulse at Lismore marched to Mitchelstown which he burnt and then it was that Lieut. Gen. Purcell with the Irish Horse advanced beyond Formoy towards Castle-Lions and it happened luckily that the Lord Broghill who went the night before to suppress a Mutiny at Yoghall returned that morning before the Fight It will be easily believed That he was amazed to find the Lieutenant Colonels Ridgway and Banister whom he knew to be sober men so drunk that they were not able to give a pertinent Answer to any Question he asked them nevertheless it so happened to them by the Knavery of an Irish Sutler who purposely brought to the Camp a Cask of Drink made of Rilea which has that intoxicating Quality However the Lord Broghill as his fashion was encouraged his Men and assured them That by the help of God he would beat the Enemy and bid them not to be discouraged at the Flight of any of their Fellows because what would happen of that kind would be done by his order upon Design and accordingly he did command Major Peisley to keep the Road and after his Squadron of 80 Horse had fired their Carbines to fly and rally again in the Rear of him and so he drew up a quarter of a mile farther from the Enemy and according to his expectation the Irish came boldly up to Peisly and upon his flight they pursued with great violence and disorder and 800 Foot followed them to the expected Execution Battel of Castle-Lions May 10. 1645. This was some advantage to the English who were drawn up in Battalia nevertheless the Irish with the help of their Foot maintained the Fight with great bravery so that one Troop of the English Horse ran away to Ballymaâ—tir with the news of the supposed Defeat but those that stayed behind bestirred themselves so effectually that they gained a noble Victory and if they had had 1000 Foot they might have destroyed Castlehaven's Army and would have attempted it as it was but for a stout Sergeant and 40 Musquetiers who kept in a Wood through which they were to pass and shot so often that the Lord Broghill suspected the whole Irish Army was posted there The consequence of this Victory was the taking of Ballymartir and Rostilion and then this small Army returned to Cork and because Rostilion was not tenable Colonel Henry O Bryan the Lord Inâ—iquin's Brother and Colonel Courtny were sent to demolish it but the Earl of Castlehaven having taken Mallow Doneraile Liscarroll and Milltown marched to Rostilion and took it and in it the aforesaid two Colonels whom he made
agreed against the Common Enemy and in their Abhorrence and Mistrust of the Irish so that the Privy Council represented to his Excellency That they had deserved as well of the King as Subjects possibly could either by Doing or Suffering and therefore they hoped he would not expose them to the Mercy of their cruel and hereditary Enemies ☞ who by their late Perfidiousness had made themselves incapable of Trust and therefore they desired him again to Treat with the Parliaments Commissioners who would at least perform the Conditions they promise which could not be relied on from the Irish And it is said That his Excellency did rather incline to this Advice because he knew that the Design of many in this Irish Rebellion was intirely to alienate the Kingdom of Ireland from the Crown of England P. W. Remonstrance 583. and to extirpate not only the Protestants but also all the English tho' Catholicks That the Nuncio-Party design'd to separate it from England and to put Ireland under the Protection of some Foreign Prince unless they could advance one of the Old Irish Families to the Throne And accordingly Mr. Anthony Martin in the last General Assembly did propose to call in some Foreign Prince for Protection And so the Lord Lieutenant and Council being reduced to so great straits that they had but Seventeen Barrels of Powder leâ—t and no Magazins either of Stores or Victuals nor any Money either to buy more or to pay the Army did agree to resign the Kingdom to the Parliament for these Reasons 1. It was observed ☜ That no Exercise of the Protestant Religion was so much as tolerated where the Confederates had the Command and that if all the Churches in His Majesty's Quarters should be given or suffered to be taken to the Use of the Romish Religion it would too much countenance the Reproaches of His Majesty's Inclinations to Popery and might be dangerously applied by those who had His Majesty's Life in their Power 2. That it could not be for His Majesty's Honor to have those Subjects and Servants who had stuck to His Cause after all besides was lost in His Three Kingdoms to be at last subjected to the Tyranny of those who then ruled among the Irish whose Persidy was so manifest and their Malice so great as to give Rest to the Parliament Forces and to unite all their Power against those only who had carried Peace to their very Doors Lastly It was known how many Agents the Irish had employed abroad and what Publick Ministers had Reception with them as from the Pope the Kings of France and Spain That if the Garisons now held were put into the Hands of the Two Houses of Parliament they would revert by Treaty or otherwise whenever His Majesty should in England recover His Rights but if either given or left to these Confederates there was little hopes of Restitution while any Foreign Prince should think his Affairs secured or advanced by consuming the Blood and Treasure of England in this Dispute And so on the Fifth of February they made an Act of Council which recites their sad Condition and impowers the Lord Lieutenant to renew the Treaty with the Parliament for the Surrender of Dublin and quitting the Government And accordingly his Excellency did the next day write to Wharton and Salway two of the Parliament Commissioners That he was now satisfied in the Point he scrupled at viz. the King's Orders and therefore was willing to surrender the Government on the Terms formerly propos'd and desir'd that Succors might be sent immediately Hereupon the Parliament did order 3 March That if Ormond would give one of his Sons Hostage for Performance together with the Earl of Roscomon Colonel Chichester and Sir James Ware that then Coot's Regiment of Horse and Monroe's and Fenwick's Regiments of Foot at that time in Ulster should march to his Assistance and that the Lords of Insiquin and Ardes should give the Enemy Diversion And accordingly the Lord Richard Butler afterwards Earl of Arran was sent Hostage to Chester and the aforesaid Three Regiments were received in Ormond's Garisons and the Lord Insiquin sent his Excellency Twenty Barrels of Powder and half a Tun of Match and on the Seventeenth of March the Earl of Roscomon Colonel Arthur Chichester and Sir James Ware were sent to the Committee at Derby-house to be Hostages for Performance of the Agreement with the Parliament and to solicit That Papists always adhering to the King and Papists that got out of the Rebels Quarters as soon as they could and Papists remaining in the Rebels Quarters that have shewed constant good Affections c. may be indemnified That Ormond may have leave to wait on the King and that the other Lords and Gentlemen may have Posses to go through England That Ormond may have leave to transport as many Papists to foreign Service as will go with him for which Liberty he will remit Ten thousand Pound That no Oaths other than those of Fidelity may be imposed on any Protestant and that the Common Prayer and their respective Imployments may be continued to them But they were told by the English Committee That they were Hostages and not Commissioners And on the same 17th day of March the Parliament of Ireland which had before made an Address to the Parliament of England for Protection quod vide Burlace 178 did remonstrate their Gratitude to the Marquiss of Ormond in the following Address signed by the Speakers of both Houses The Remonstrance of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled declaring the Acknowledgment of their hearty Thankfulness to the most Honourable James Marquiss of Ormond Lord Lieutenant General of Ireland His Excellency VVE the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament in Our whole Body do present Our selves before your Lordship acknowledging with great Sense and feeling your Lordships singular Goodness to Us the PROTESTANT PARTY and those who have faithfully and constantly adhered unto them who have been preserved to this day under God by your Excellencies Providence and Pious Care which has not been without a vast Expence out of your own Estate as also to the hazarding of your Person in great and dangerous Difficulties And when your Lordship found your Self with the Strength remaining with you to be too weak to resist an insolent and upon all Advantages perfidious and bloody Enemy rather than we should Perish You have in your Care transferred Us into their hands that are both able and willing to preserve Us and that not by a bare casting Us off but by complying so far with Us that you have not denied our Desires of Hostages and amongst them of one of your most dear Sons All which being such a free Earnest of your Excellencies Love to our Religion Nation and both Houses do incite Us here to come unto you with Hearts filled with your Love and Tongues declaring how much We are obliged to your Excellency
Professing our Resolutions are with all real Service to the utmost of our Power to manifest the sincerity of our Acknowledgment and Affections unto you and to perpetuate to Posterity the Memory of your Excellencies Merits and our Thankfulness We have appointed this Instrument to be entred into both Houses and under the Hands of both Speakers to be Presented to your Lordship 17th die Martii 1676. Intr. per Vaâ— Savage Dep. Cler. Parl. Rich. Bolton Canc. Maurice Eustace Speaker Int. 17th die Martii 1676. per Philip Fernely Cler. Dom. Com. To which his Excellency returned the following Answer My Lords and Gentlemen VVHAT you have now Read and Deliver'd hath much surprized me and contains matter of higher Obligation laid upon me by you than thus suddenly to be answered yet I may not suffer you to depart hence without saying somewhat to you And first I assure you that this Acknowledgment of yours is unto me a Jewel of very great Value which I shall lay up amongst my choicest Treasures it being not only a full Confutation of those Calumnies that have been cast upon my Actions during the time I have had the Honour to serve His Majesty here but likewise an Antidote against the Virulency and Poison of those Tongues and Pens that I am well assur'd will be busily set on Work to traduce and blast the Integrity of my present Proceedings for your Preservation And now my Lords and Gentlemen since this may perhaps be the last time that I shall have the Honour to speak to you from this Place and since that next to the words of a dying Man those of one ready to banish himself from his Country for the good of it Challenge Credit give me leave before God and you here to protest that in all the time I had the Honour to serve the King my Master I never received any Command from him but such as spake him a Wise Pious Protestant Prince zealous of the Religion he professeth the Welfare of his Subjects and industrious to promote and settle Peace and Tranquillity in all his Kingdoms and I shall beseech you to look no otherwise upon me than upon a ready Instrument set on Work by the Kings Wisdom and Goodness for your Preservation wherein if I have discharged my Self to his Approbation and yours it will be the greatest Satisfaction and Comfort I shall take with me where-ever it shall please God to direct my Steps And now that I may dismiss you I beseech God long to preserve my Gracious Master and to restore Peace and Rest to this aifflcted Church and Kingdom But it is necessary to cast an Eye upon the rest of the Provinces and first on Munster where we shall find that the Castle of Bunratty was surpriz'd by the English in the close of the last Year and that the Earl of Glamorgan with Three thousand of the Men design'd for England was gone to recover that place he possed himself at Six-mile-bridge and made that his Camp and his Magazine but in the beginning of April the Garison sallyed and killed Captain Magrah and many of the Thomond Men aud beat their Party and not only burned Six-mile-bridge but scowred the whole Country to within Three mile of Limerick Hereupon Glamorgan appointed a Rendezvouz at Clonmel designing to make a Second Attempt but whilst he was contriving to impeach and imprison the Lord Muskery that Lord by his Interest and Diligence was too hard for him and obtained the Command of the Army which he presently conducted to the Siege of Bunratty nevertheless that place held out Six weeks after he came before it and at last surrendered upon honourable Articles The Supream Council removed to Limerick to Countenance this Siege and Insiquin to divert it ravag'd over all the Country to the very Gates of Limerick until the Earl of Castlehaven in pity to the Confederates gathered 1000 Horse whereby Insiquin being hindred from farther Preying the Country was oblig'd to return to his Garisons and in the mean time the Lord Broghill took the Lord Muskrye's strong Castle of Blarny which was more than a Counterpoise for his Success at Bunratty And what was done the rest of the Summer in Munster I do not any where find saving that the Lord of Insiquin took the Castle of Piltown but that on the Twentieth of February the Lord Lisle the Parliaments Lord Lieutenant arrived at Cork with 30000 l. in Money seven Pieces of Battery 1000 Muskets and 100 Barrels of Powder He did his utmost to amend whatever he found in disorder and in March visited Tallow Lismore Formoy and Youghall and had Knockmone delivered unto him but when he returned to Cork he began to be jealous of Insiquin and spent some of his time in fruitless Endeavours to displace him And in Ulster I find nothing more done than what hath been already related of the Battel of Bemburb saving that the Commissioners in the later end of October whilst Owen Roe was at the Siege of Dublin and to divert him from it sent out Seven hundred Horse and Dragoons from Lisnegarvy and they ravag'd over the Counties of Cavan Monaghan Louth and Westmeath and destroyed Owen Roe's Quarters and burnt many of his Villages and abundance of Corn and demolished Carickmacross and after a Fortnights stay abroad they brought home as many Cattle and as much other Plunder as they could drive or carry As also That the Lagan and Eniskilling Forces being joyned met Owen Roe near Clownish and gave him a small Defeat And as for Conaught it seems that General Preston took Roscomon about Midsummer and reduced most part of that Province for on the Tenth of December Mr. Annesly Sir Adam Loftus Sir John Temple and Sir Hardress Waller being then in England made a Report of the State of Ireland to the Parliament as followeth viz. That all Leinster opposes the Parliament and so doth Conaught except Sligo and five or six Castles wherein the Parliament hath Six Hundred Horse and Fourteen Hundred Foot but that in Munster the Parliament hath Cork Kinsale Youghall and Bandon and in them Four Thousand Foot and Three Hundred Horse and that all Ulster is theirs except Charlemont Dunganon and Montjoy which the Irish have and Newry and Greencastle which Ormond hath and in that Province the Parliament have Eight Thousand Foot in seventeen Regiments whereof Three Thousand Five Hundred Scots and Five Thousand old British and Eight Hundred and Fifty Horse in seventeen Troops and that the Irish are well supplied with Horse Arms Ammunition and Men and have Twenty Thousand Foot and Two Thousand Five Hundred Horse in Arms. But since we have related what the Confederates did at home it is fit that we should also enquire what they did abroad which we may give a shrewd Guess at by the following Papers the first being an Extract of a Letter sent to the Queen by the Bishops of Dublin Cashel and Elphin in the name of the Congregation on the Fifteenth of August 1646.
not obtain license for their Transportation from the Parment tho it seemed to be their Interest to get so easily rid of so many Enemies But it is time to attend the new Governors and see how they handle the Irish and manage their Affairs One of the first things they did was to reduce the eleven old broken Regiments to seven under the Earl of Kildare the Lord Moor and the Colonels Titchburn Borlace Willoughby Bayly and Flower and then they made Colonel Michael Jones Governor of Dublin and Commander in chief of the Province of Leinster and on the 20th of June they did by their Proclamation strictly prohibit the Exactions and Free Quarter of the Army whereupon the Soldiers grew so mutinous that Mr. Annesley and Sir Robert King were obliged to quit the Kingdom for a time for fear of Violence and by another Proclamation of the same date they prohibited the use of the Common Prayer which occasioned an excellent Petition or Declarat on from the Episcopal Clergy to be found at large Burlace Appendix 94. And it is fit we should also enquire how the valiant Confederates who did insult so sawcily on the Necessities of an Imprisoned King did behave themselves against the more powerful Parliament and indeed they began pretty well at first though they paid dear for it afterwards for General Jones having marched some Men out of Dublin was met by General Preston within 12 miles of the City and beaten back again whereupon Preston whose Army was 10000 strong possessed himself of most of the Out-Garisons even to within 8 miles of Dublin and then went to besiege Trim wherein lay a Regiment of Foot and some Horse under Colonel Fenwick To relieve this place by diversion Jones on the 17th of July marched out of Dublin with 1000 Foot and 400 Horse and burned Castlemartin and took good Prey from Castlebawne but the Irish fell upon his Rear near Johnstown and killed Captain Meredith a Gentleman of clear Valour and great Hopes and several others and had destroyed them all if this Retreat had not been managed with excellent Conduct and extraordinary Courage And though some Men's Courage like a Fever proceeds rather from Distemper than Constitution and acts distractedly whilst it is in ferment but is soon allayed and suppressed yet true Valour is like Fire the more Oyl is cast upon it the more it flames and true Fortitude is so far from being daunted by Adversity that it is rather thereby stimulated to new Encounters And thus it was with Jones who disdained these Baffles he had received from the Irish and was resolved to regain his Reputation and retrieve the Glory of his Nation or dye and accordingly on the first day of August he drew out two Regiments of Horse and 3800 Foot half starved Soldiers that were ready to mutiny for want he had also some Artillery and what else he thought requisite to relieve Trim. But Preston having notice of this March raised the Siege and designed to get between the English and Dublin and so to have surprized that City whilst the other relieved Trim but Jones being reinforced by Sir Henry Tichbourn from Tredagh and Colonel Moor from Dundalk Colonel Conway and some Scots and others from Newry Carling ford c. amounting in all to 700 Horse and 1200 Foot followed Preston who besides what the Lord Dillon of Costilogh and the two Nugents brought him had effectually 7300 Foot and 1047 Horse and overtook him at Dungan Hill Battel of Dungan Hill where it came to a fair Battel on the 8th of August and Jones by plain Valour and downright Blows obtained the greatest and most entire Victory that had been gained during the War for there were slain on the place 5470 Men besides many that were gleaned up afterwards amounting in all to 6000 and there were 5 Colonels and 4 Lieutenant Colonels 6 Majors 32 Captains 23 Lieutenants 27 Ensigns 2 Cornets 22 Sergeants 2 Quartermasters 2 Gunners the Clerk of the Store 13 Troopers and 228 Common Soldiers taken Prisoners the Cannon and Carriages and 64 fair Oxen for the Train were also taken and which is most strange there were not above 20 English men slain in this fierce Encounter which happened that very day Twelve-month the Nuncio and Clergy at Waterford had broken the Peace of 1646 and therefore Mr. Beling reckons this Defeat as a Judgment on the Irish for their perfidious breach of that Peace The reason of so great a Slaughter was because the Irish Foot fled to a Bog and the English surrounded it and so had the killing of them all and indeed the extraordinary Valour of Major James Clotworthy ought not to be forgotten for he not only killed the Cannonier just as he was ready to fire but also tought so desperately that his Horse received 17 wounds and was killed and himself had two Shot in his Armour Upon this Defeat the Irish quitted and burnt Naas Sigginstown Collanstown Castlewarding and Moyglare and had been forced to quit more but that Pay and Provision grew so scant that the Army was fain to return to Dublin where 1500 l. was newly arrived and not long after greater Supplies were sent over together with 1000 l. for a Present to General Jones for his extraordinary good Service But that which is prodigiously Strange and almost Incredible is That the Nuncio the Clergy and the old Irish did rather rejoyce than grieve at this Misfortune of Preston's for his Army were old English of the Pale and but half-pac'd Nuncioâ—ists so that they could hardly be trusted And now the Clergy were rid of them by this Defeat and Owen Roe who was their Darling became General of the three Provinces and under him Sir Thomas Esmond commanded the Foot and Colonel Peirce Butler the Horse in Leinster Lieutenant General Farrel and Henry O Neal in Conaught and Major General O Neal and Sir Philem O Neal in Ulster And though Preston did pretend to recruit his Forces yet it was so faintly and slowly that small regard was had of him Owen Roe being thus qualified marched to visit his Province of Leinster and Jones being recruited at Dublin and afterwards joyned with Monk at Trim In October marched forward to face him but the Irish General was more cunning than to fight and lose all his Army at once as Preston had done and for which Owen Roe often laughed at him and therefore suffered the English to take Ashboy and Portlester and some other small places even whilst he looked on and so being loaden with Prey and Pillage Jones and Monk returned the one to Dublin any the other to Ulster And not long after Jones marched with Borlace's and Willoughby's Regiments into the County of Wicklow November 24. to settle them in Wicklow and Newcastle but in his absence Owen Roe burnt the Country from Castleknock to Drogheda and so near to Dublin that 200 Fires were discerned from St. Ann's Steeple in that City But it is time
the want of Provisions in the Navy his Highness did also raise some Forces which he sent to the Relief of Scilly and he also sent a Bill of 5000 Pistols to the new King Hereupon the Parliament sent their Sea-Generals Blake and Dean to block up this Fleet in Kinsale-Harbour which they did effectually all the Summer and took the Guinny-Frigot that was abroad and tho' the Prince did in person sollicite Waterford Cork and other Sea-ports for Assistance to sit out some Fire-ships yet at length it was resolved rather to let the Winter Storms remove the Enemy than to encounter them at so great disadvantage especially since the Prince could not be sure of his Men of whom so many deserted daily that it was found necessary to hang up ten of those Straglers for a terrour to the rest In the mean time Owen Roe sent a Message to his Highness That since he and Ormond had drawn and tasted of each others bloud he would never joyn with the Marquess but if his Highness would take the Command of the Kingdom he and all his would readily submit to One of the Bloud Royal. But this was counted a Complement which the Proposer knew the Prince could not accept of however it occasion'd that Capt. Leg was sent to hasten the King into Ireland but his Ship being taken he was for a long time imprison'd at Plimouth and by a Court-Martial condemn'd to die In the mean time the Prince was in great straits for all Necessaries and tho' he contracted his charge to the well Manning of four Frigats only besides his Flag-Ships yet there being no Supply from abroad Want over-took him even in this narrow Model and Reducement so that he was forc'd to rely on what his own personal Interest or Love to his Majesty's Cause could in so tottering a Conjuncture perswade People to lend And it was at this time that the Generous Loyalty of a private a Robert Southwell Esq Gentleman of Kinsale did signalize itself in furnishing the Prince with a considerable quantity of Provisions without which his Highness could not have gone to Sea and altho' at this time when Munster was meditating a Revolt to Cromwell which it soon after accomplished this action was of dangerous consequence to the Gentleman that did it yet he survived that danger and lived to be well considered for this Service by the Act of Settlement and as Marks of his Majesty's favour to be made one of the Council of Munster and Vice-Admiral of that Province and the Prince being enabled thereunto by these Supplies put to Sea and got safe to Lisbon But it is time to return to the Second Accident which I mentioned and that was The Departure of the Nuntio which happened in this manner The General Assembly of the Irish having approved of the Cessation with Insiquin and being exceedingly troubled at the Excommunication which the Nuntio had fulminated against all the Adherents thereunto and consequently against themselves they did not only imploy an Agent to prosecute their Appeal to the Pope but did also on the 19th of October write a Letter to the Nuntio then at Galway which Letter was signed by their Speaker and ordered him to withdraw out of the Kingdom at his peril and in it was enclosed a Schedule of Greivances occasioned by him and whereof they intended to impeach him to the Pope Tanquam qui huic parricidio occasionem dedissâ—t Beling 173. and it was also accompanied with a severe Declaration against all those that should correspond with his Reverence Whereupon finding that he had been one unhappy Cause of the King's Murder says Mr. Beling he took Ship at Galway on the 23d of February and returned to Rome where he was blamed by the Pope for acting so b Lemerarie se gesisti rashly Nevertheless the Irish could not be absolved from his unjust Excommunication for making a Truce with Insiquin P. W. Remonstrance 592. until they had done Penance in Forma Ecclesiae Consueta which imports an acknowledgement of the Crime But tho' the Nuntio was gone yet he had left Own Roe and his Army behind to support his Faction who together with the Marquess of Antrim did oppose the Peace because the six escheated Counties in Ulster were not restor'd to the old Irish Beling 165. and with these sided a Multitude of Fryers who railed against the late Peace and the scandalous Expulsion of the Nuntio and threatned inevitable Damnation to all those that should take part with the Lord-Lieutenant whereby the Peace became of little use to the King or advantage to his Affairs even whilst the Bishops and Secular Clergy adhered to it which was not long But on the 9th of March the King by his Letter from the Hague confirm'd the late Peace and ordered a new Great Seal to be made and to be disposed of to whom the Lord-Lieutenant should think fit and appointed the Lord of Insiquin to be Lord-President of Munster and the Marquess of Clanrickard to be Lord-President of Connaught if the Lord-Lieutenant find it convenient And thus ended the Year 1648. The Year 1649 opened with a Vote in the Parliament of England 1649. of the 28th of March That Oliver Cromwell should be General of all their Forces then in Ireland or that should be sent thither and accordingly he prepared dilligently for that Expedition But because besides his there were four other distinct Interests and Armies in that Kingdom viz. the King 's the Presbyterians the Supreme Council's and Owen Roe's it is necessary to treat of them separately to prevent confusion and that the Reader may the more clearly penetrate into the Intreigues of this Campaign And we will begin with the King 's both because it was his and because it was the most numerous and most considerable that of the Supreme Council being united unto it by vertue of the late Peace and many of the Presbyterians under the Lord of Ards falling into it afterwards it consisted of 3700 Horse and 14500 Foot under the Command of the Marquess of Ormond the Lord of Insiquin was Lieutenant-General of it and the Earl of Castlehaven was Lieutenant-General of the Foot and the Lord Taaf was Master of the Ordnance and thus composed part of this Army rendezvouz'd at Cashell on the 3d of May from whence Castlehaven was detach'd with a Party which took Rheban Maryburgh and Althy from Owen Roe's Souldiers with considerable slaughter and that being done it met at Cloghgrenan on the 26th of May and marching forward took Castle-Talbot Kildare Castlesalagh and Castlecarbry and on the 14th of June encamped at Naas And having rested two or three days they marched to Finglass and encamped there on the 18th of June and on the 19th a detached Party drew nearer Dublin and with some loss skirmished with the Enemies Horse and then return'd to Finglass and there Ormond received and dispos'd into convenient Quarters a great number of Papists whom Collonel Jones to
Lord-Lieutenant and consequently of the King's Authority placed in him was done by the * Vnanimi universi cleri consensu vindiciae versae 25. Universal Consent of the Clergy Nor is this Affront to be wondered at being done with some sort of Order and Formality but it would amaze one to see the Captain of the Guard of young Men at Galway with the Rabble at his heels searching in every Corner for the Lord-Lieutenant as a Criminal or a Thief not but that they knew he was not in the Town but they did it at the instigation of the Clergy meerly to bring contempt on his Person and Authority and for the same reason that we hang fugitive Traytors in Effigie And which is yet more strange when Mr. Beling to lessen the Guilt of the Irish would palliate the matter by saying they did not force the Lord-Lieutenant out of the Kingdom Constat enim eum tum discessisse quia Prelati omnes unanimiter sub censuris vetuerant ne ullus illius pareret mandatis aut partes Sequeretur Vindiciae Eversae 173. The Reverend Father Ponce flies in his face and being loath to lose the merit of such a glorious Action he affirms That they did expel the Lord-Lieutenant and that they did force him away as much as a Man is forced to leave a sinking Ship 'T is true says he Ormond might have staid but no body would have obeyed him after our Excommunication and therefore we may truly say We compelled him to go And thus do these bigotted Zealots glory in their Shame and after all this have the confidence to claim the benefit of the Articles of 1648 which they had thus so publickly and so peremptorily not only violated but dissolved Non discessit ergo lubens nisi ut lubens voluntarit projicit quis metu naufragii merces in mare ne navis ipsemet una peâ—eat sic autem lubentem discessisse non arguit quin potestate Prelatorum factum sit ut discesserit Ibidem Sufficiebat ad expulsionem Ormonii Prelatos cavisse sub Excomunicatione ne quis partes ejus sequeretur ne quis obtemperet mandatis quamvis esset prorâ—â— Ibid. 174. But as these Prelates were exceeding rash in denouncing this Excommunication so they were altogether as light and inconstant in the publication of it for it was not promulged until the 15th day September and the very next day they suspended it again as appears by the following Letters to the Officers of the Army SIRS YEsterday we have received an Express from the rest of our Congregation at Galway bearing their sence to suspend the effects of the Excommunication proclaimed by their Orders till the Service of Athlone he performed fearing on the one side the Dispersion of the Army and on the other having received most certain intelligence of the Enemies approach unto that place with their full force and number of fighting Men and thereupon would have us concur with them in suspending the said Excommunication As for our part we do judge that Suspension unnecessary and full of Inconveniencies which we apprehend may ensue because the Excommunication may be obeyed and the Service not neglected if People were pleased to undertake the Service in the Clergy's Name without relation to the Lord of Ormond or any that may take his part Yet fearing the Censure of Singularity in Matters of so high a strain against us or to be deemed more forward in Excommunicating than others also fearing the weakness of some which we believe the Congregation feared we are pleased to follow the Major Vote and against our own Opinion concur with them and do hereby suspend the said Censure as above Provided always that after that Service performed or the Service be thought unnecessary by the Clergy or when the said Clergy will renew it it shall be presently incurred as if the said Suspension had never been interposed And so we remain Corbeg Sept. 16 1650. Your Affectionate Loving Friends In Christ Jesus Walter B. Clonfert Charles Kelly Nor is the following Letter less remarkable Our very good Lords and Sirs THe Colonels Mr. Alexander mac Donnel Bryen O Neil and Randal mac Donnel like Obedient Children of Holy Church have offered themselves to put up for the Clergy and that before publication of the Declaration and Excommunication God will bless their good intentions They go now to joyn with you on this side the Shannon and by making one Body to put forward our Cause This is the best way we can think of to encourage the Well-affected and curb the Malignant and Obstinate The Lord Bishop of Killaloe being taken Prisoner by the Lord-Lieutenant the Cavaliers would have had him forthwith hanged if his Excellency had given way thereunto His Excellency is giving Patents to as many Catholicks as are Excommunication-proof Ireland is an accursed Country that hath so many rotten Members Though things go hard with us God will bring the Work to a good end When you meet with those Colonels confer of what Service to take in hand Est periculum in Mora Praying to God to protect you in your Ways we remain To our very good Lords the Earl of Westmeath the Lords Bishops of Leighlin Cloanmacnois and Dromore Sir James Preston Colonel Bryan mac Pheilim and the rest of the Commanders of the Leinster Forces Galway Sept. 21st 1650. Your very Loving Friends Joan. Rapotensis Fr. Aladensis Nich. Fernensis But the folly of this Congregation was yet more manifest in that they set the People loose from all Government Civil and Military at a time when a potent Enemy was in the Field without directing them whom to obey any otherwise than by resorting to their Association until a General Assembly And if the Forces with Ormond and Clanrickard had obeyed this wild Declaration or thereby taken occasion to disperse the English would have passed the Shenin at both ends and would have spoiled both the Assembly and Congregation as they afterwards did And it is the more strange that the Popish Clergy should presume to dispose of the Supreme Authority and make themselves Judges of the Administration of Government because if the Articles of Peace had been violated the Commissioners of Trust were the proper Judges of that matter However those Prelates were resolved not to submit to any Government but in such manner and by such Persons as they should like which plainly shews how much it doth import the Temporal Magistrate not to trust them nor their Abettors with power enough to bring those matters in dispute In the mean time the Scots having already declared against the Peace with the Irish and having the Ascendant over the King to the degree of imposing the Covenant upon him did also prevail with him much against his will to publish a Declaration against the Peace made with the Confederates which was proclaimed at Dumferling on the 16th of August 1650 By which * Et plane Tiranicam Vindic Eversae 49. Tyranical Declaration
and Justice Cook Assistants and it sat in the same place where the Supream Council us'd to sit Anno 1642. Afterwards the like Court was held at Dublin before the Lord Chief Justice Lowther and others and there Sir Phelim O Neal was tryed condemned and executed and it is observable that being urged both at his Tryal and Execution to discover the Commission he had from the King for the Rebellion of 1641 and that he should be pardoned both for Life and Estate he confess'd in both places That he had no such Commission but that he took the Seal from a Patent he found at Charlemont and fixed it to a Commission he had caused to be written in the King's Name and that Michael Harrison then present in Court and confessing the same was the person that sticht the Cord or Label of the Seal with Silk of the same colour These Commissions issued in the Name of the Commissioners of the Commonwealth of England for the Affairs in Ireland and that for Conaught bore date the 17th day of December 1652 and was signed by Fleetwood Ludlow and Jones and was directed to Sir Charles Coot Peter Stubbers Humphry Hurd Francis Gore John Desborough Thomas Davis Robert Ormsby Robert Clerk Charles Holeroft John Eyre Alexder Staples and others but I mention these because they sat upon the Tryal of the Lord of Mayo which began the 30th of December and ended the 12th of January at which time he was condemned by the Vote of seven of the Commissioners Gore Davis Clerk and Holcroft dissenting and accordingly he was shot to Death on the 15th But his Case being variously reported it will be convenient to give a faithful account of it as it appeared upon the Tryal which was thus Upon the Surrender of Castlebar which was besieged by the old Lord of Mayo and the Prisoner then Sir Tibâ—â—t Burk it was agreed by Articles that the English should march away with their Arms and be safely convoyed to Galway and though they were deprived of their Arms contrary to the Articles yet the Lord of Mayo and his Son the Prisoner with their Followers conveyed them safely to Ballynecarrow and the next day to Ballinroab and the third day to The Neal where they left Sir Henry Bingham on pretence of his being sick but as was suspected to preserve him from the subsequent Massacre the fourth day they came to Kinlagh and the next day to Shrule which it seems was two Mile out of the Road to Galway there they lodged that night and the next morning on the 13th of February 1641 an Ambush was laid on the other side of the Bridge which as soon as the English got over the Bridge fell upon them and by the help of the Convoy murdered about fourscore of the English the Protestant Bishop of Kiâ—lalla and a few others only escaping This matter of fact was thus proved Four Witnesses swore that the Prisoner was present at this Massacre and did not oppose it and that the Convoy were the Murtherers and that the Lord Mayo's Fosterers Servants and Followers were of that number and it was proved that the Lord Mayo the Father engaged by Capitulation to Convey the English safe to Galway and that they were disarmed by his Command and some of them were Plundered and Stript by the way by the Convoy and could get no redress from the Prisoner or his Father that the Convoy pricked forward the English over the Bridge towards the Murderers and the old Lord Mayo went to a little Hill hard by to look on that the Prisoner was seen to come over the Bridge from the Murtherers after several English-men had been killed and had been actually amongst them with his Sword drawn that the Father refused to Convoy them any farther than Shrule and that the Prisoner was the first Man that entered Castlebar after the Capitulation And the substance of the Prisoner's Defence was That he had no Command of the Party but with two Servants only came to attend his Father that on the Outcry he went over the Bridge and drew his Sword with design to preserve the English but being shot at by one of the Murderers he got a Horse having lent his own to the Bishop of Killalla to make his escape and rode away before the Murther was commited and if he had not fled he had been killed himself and that he was kind to the English and preserved many of them both before and after and that the Protestant Bishop of Killalla had declared That he believed this Action was done in spight to the Prisoner and by Letter acknowleged his Civility to himself But to proceed the like High Courts of Justice were held at Cork Waterford c. but so many of the Murtherers had been destroyed by the Sword and the Pestilence that not above two hundred suffered by the hands of the common Executioner In the mean time on the 12th of August they passed in England an Act for the settling of Ireland wherein the Marquess of Ormond the Protestant Bishop of Derry the Earl of Roscomon and the Lord Insiquin were by name excepted from Pardon for Life or Estate equally with many others therein named that were guilty of the first Rebellion And so we are come to the Year 1653 wherein I cannot find any thing that looks like War and yet it was the 26th day of September before it was declared That the Rebels were subdued and the Rebellion appeased and ended Whereupon they immediately proceeded to the Distribution of Lands to the Souldiers for their Arrears and to the Adventurers for their Money And thus ended a REBELLION which began with TREACHERY and CRUELTY and continued with OBSTINACY against all the Tenders of MERCY and the utmost CONCESSIONS a Gracious King could make and was supported by an OATH of ASSOCIATION and Propositions annexed thereunto wherein there is not a word but breaths HIGHTREASON except a few of the first Lines which sets up the KING's NAME and AUTHORITY in PAGEANTRY and MOCKERY to be Crucified and Contradicted by all that follows FINIS A LETTER To the AUTHOR of the History of Ireland CONTAINING A Brief Account of the Transactions in that Kingdom since 1653. SIR I Do very well approve of your resolution to close the Second Part of your History of Ireland with the end of the Irish Rebellion for besides that it is impossible for you at this distance from the Records and Council-Books in Ireland to give so full and satisfactory an Account of that Kingdom from 1653 forwards as you have given of the time before it is certain that the Intrigues of the Acts of Settlement and Court of Claims the Transactions in the late Reign and the present stupendious Revolution will afford matter more than enough for another Volume nor indeed can your History be so compleat as I expect it will be if it were closed with any thing less than the Glorious Issue of the present War However I do not offer this
Orrery Charles Earl of Montrath were appointed Lords Justices And the Lord Chancellor and Earl of Montrath were sworn on the 31 st day of December 1660. as the Earl of Orrery also was on the 17 th of January following Their Instructions were very short and to this effect 1. To read their Commission and Swear those Named for Privy-Councellors 2. To appoint Sheriffs and Justices of Peace by Advice of the Council and to Open the Courts of Justice 3. To promote Peace and Quietness as well in the Army as elsewhere and to hinder any Prejudice to His Majesty 4. To do what they could to encrease the Revenue and advance the Publick Service 5. To prepare such Bills as shall be thought by them and the Council to be for the good of the People and to transmit them to England pursuant to Poyning's Law in order to a Parliament 6. To reduce the King's Concessions to the Commissioners of the General Convention of Ireland into Bills to Pass next Parliament 7. To send over Names of fit Commissioners to Execute His Majesties Declaration for the Settlement of that Kingdom Lastly To cause the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy to be taken by all His Majesties Leige-Subjects of that Kingdom and to proceed according to Law against those that refuse And on the 27 th of January 1660. Dr. Michael Boyle now Lord Primate of all Ireland and Eleven others were Consecrated Bishops in St. Patrick's Church in Dublin with great Ceremony and Formality which I the rather mention because so numerous an Ordination of Bishops in one Day hath rarely if ever been heard of either before or since On the 8 th of May a Parliament was Summoned and Dr. Bramhall Arch-Bishop of Armagh was Speaker of the House of Lords as Sir Audley Mervin was of the House of Commons This Parliament as a Testimony of their Gratitude and Affection to the Duke of Ormond did present his Grace with a Gift of 30000 l. and when the Lords-Justices and Council understood that His Majesty on the 4 th of October 1661. had appointed the Duke of Ormond to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland they ordered all publick Expressions of Joy to be made in Dublin upon that happy Occasion On January the 14 th 1661. the Lord Chancellor and Earl of Orrery were Sworn Lords Justices on the Death of the Earl of Montrath which happened the 18 th of October And on the 30 th of April 1662 they Published an Indulgence to Dissenters and continued in the Government until the 28 th of July 1662. at which time James Duke of Ormond was sworn Lord Lieutenant But the Session of Parliament begun the 17 th of April and on the 15 th of September the Bill of Settlement passed into an Act in the Parliament of Ireland by which Act and the rest of the Statutes passed that Parliament the King received more profit than all his Predecessors ever got out of that Kingdom This Bill had been exposed to the View and Scrutiny of the Irish and their Council for six Months together and altho they do so very confidently Clamour that they were never heard yet all that they could say was heard and debated even with Favour to them they had Agents there to whom they allowed three Pence per Acre for that purpose and every word in the Bill was Expung'd to which they had any just Exceptionl and at length the matter was determined by the King and Council and the following Order was made At the COURT at WHITE-HALL The 14th of March 1661. Present The Kings Most Excellent Majesty His R. H. the Duke of York Lord Chancellor Lord Privy-Seal Lord Duke of Ormond Lord Marquiss of Dorchester Lord Chamberlin Earl of Northumberland Earl of Norwich Earl of St. Alban Earl of Anglesey Earl of Carlisle Lord Seymore Lord Hatton Lord Holles Lord Ashley Mr. Trear Mr. Comptroller Mr. Vice-Chamberlain Mr. Secretary Nicholas Mr. Secretary Morrice THis day Mr. Sollicitor General making Report to His Majesty in Council from the Committee of this Board for the Affairs of Ireland upon Consideration of several Papers presented to the Board by Sir Nicholas Pluncket in the behalf of some of the Roman Catholicks of Ireland concerned in His Majesties Declaration according to an Order of the 12 th of this Instant That after the Committee had debated the said Papers the Commissioners from the Council and the Parliament of Ireland were called in and heard and presented to the Committee several Papers See them Appendix 40. viz. Instructions given by the Supreme Council and others of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons of the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland to be observed by the Bp. of Fearnes and Nicholas Plunket Esq in the Court of Rome bearing date the 18 th of January 1647. and a Draught of Instructions to France and Spain and a Copy of the Excommunication Published at James-Town and that all the said Papers being read and the said Commissioners being withdrawn and the Committee then calling in the said Sir Nicholas Plunket and asking him whether the Signature of the Instructions to Rome by Command of the General Assembly were his Hand-writing and whether the Draught of the Instructions to France and Spain were his Writing also He acknowledged in the Presence of the Committee that they were and that hereupon it was the humble Opinion of the Committe that the Bill for the Common Settlement of that Kingdom should not be retarded but proceeded upon with all possible Expedition It was upon consideration of the said Report Ordered that in regard the said Romish Catholicks have been already several times fully heard at this Board as to the said Bill of Settlement no more Petitions or further Addresses be required or admitted from them for obstructing the same but the engrossing thereof be proceeded upon without any further delay according as the same is already prepà red and also that Mr. Sollicitor General do send all the Provisoes already allowed of by the said Committee to be likewise Engrossed And it is further Ordered That the Clerk of the Council attending do not only signify His Majesties Pleasure unto the said Sir Nicholas Pluncket that he do for bear coming into or appearing in His Majesties Presence or Court but also give Notice of this Order to the Committees imployed from the said Council and Parliament to be by them transmitted into Ireland Copia Vera Edw. Walker The Act of Settlement thus past there was a Court of Claims erected to adjudge Qualifications of Innocency and Nocency The Period for this Purpose was in Favour of the Nominees who were to attend till Innocents were first restored and by consent of the Irish Agents appointed by the Kings Declaration to be the 2 d of May 1661. but the Irish Parliament enlarged the time to the first of August 1662. and afterwards prolong'd it father to the 22 d of July 1663. And so the Commissioners viz. Sir Richard Rainsford Sir Thomas Beverly
Sir Edward Deering Sir Edward Smith William Coventry Esq in whose stead came Sir Allen Brodrick Sir Winston Churchill and Collonel Cook Sat at the Kings Inus â—â—â—ral times but did not hear Causes till the 13 th of February because the Irish would not venture a Tryal until they had prepar'd Deeds Witnesses and other Conveniences and then in that Month the Commissioners declared thirty-eight Innocent and seven Nocent and in March adjudged fifty-three Innocent and seven Nocent and in April Voted Seventy-seven Innocent and five Nocent and in the remaining Months they decided Six hundred and thirty Claims to the great Loss and Disatisfaction of the Protestants In the Year 1663. Alexander Jepson Mr. Blood Collonel Abbot Major Warren and several others had formed a Plot to seize on the Castle of Dublin on the 21 th of May but the Lord Lieutenant had notice of it from the Earl of Orrery and others and so it was prevented and a Proclamation issued against the Conspirators in General on the 21 st of May and against several of them by Name on the 23 d of May and on the same day the Lord Lieutenant and Council gave an account of it to the Secretary of State and his Excellency Prorogued the Irish Parliament till the 21 st of July and so from time to time until the 26 th of October 1665. and then they Sat and by publick Declaration manifested their Abhorrence of that Plot. Hereupon all the People both Protestants and Papists were disarmed throughout the Kingdom some few only excepted in whom the Government could confide Nevertheless because several Dissenters refused to joyn in the late Plot the Lord Lieutenant on the 29 th of June continued the Indulgence to them until Christmas following And on the 31 st of July 1663. the Lord-Lieutenant and Council upon receipt of His Majesty's Letter in favour of the Lord of Antrim did by their Letter of that date signifie to His Majesty That the Marquess of Antrim did oppose both Peaces of 46 and 48 and did say in open Assembly That not a Man should go out of Vlster when the King expected 10000 out of Ireland And if this Letter takes place in so extraordinary manner it will infringe the Act of Settlement which is the fundamental Security and will hinder Reprisals for such as by Declaration the King is obliged to provide for And in April following His Excellency went for England and left his Son the Earl of Ossory Lord Deputy And about this time the Irish taking advantage of the mad Plot of Jepson 1664. c. aspers'd the English with disloyalty and cry'd up themselves for the only Loyal Subjects and they proceeded so far as to impeach Capt. Knight and Lieut. Salisbury of words which amounted to Treason in Judge Stockden's Opinion but upon strict Examination of the matter the Witnesses were found to faulter and afterwards confessed they were Suborn'd and begg'd Pardon In the beginning of September the Lord Lieutenant returned to Ireland 1665. He landed at Waterford and brought over with him the new Bill of Settlement afterwards called The Act of Explanation which passed into a Statute on the 15th of December and soon after his coming over he raised a Protestant Militia in Ireland and distributed 20000 Arms amongst them And it was this year that Pope Alexander VII issued his Bull to absolve the Irish from the Excommunication of the Nuntio in forma Ecclesiae consueta P. W. Epist to his Remonst xxxii that is as P. W. explains it upon their doing publick Penance for having returned but only so nigh their Obedience to their King as a bare Cessation of Arms in order to preserve His Majesty's Interest when their own could not subsist without it did amount unto On the 16th of December the Lord-Lieutenant did acquaint the Parliament with the great Preparations in France and Holland for War both by Sea and Land so that there was great danger of an Invasion whereupon the Commons voted Thanks to His Grace for the Advertisement and that they would stand by His Majesty with their Lives and Estates and would be assistant to His Grace against all the King's Enemies and to help bear the Expence of the War gave eight entire Subsidies and on the 30th of March they gave four more And indeed it was time to prepare for Defence P. W. Remonst 570. for P. W. assures us the Irish were tampering with France to back their Insurrection by an Invasion In May 1666. 1666. some Corporals and Soldiers of five Companies at Carrickfergus to the number of 200 seized on the King's Money in the hands of his Receiver and possessed themselves of the Gates and capitulated with the Earl of Donegall the Governour and refused to obey him but chose Corporal Dillon to be their Chief and Mann'd the Walls May 25th The Earl of Arran with four Companies of Guards went by Sea in the Dartmouth Frigat to Carrickfergus and arrived there the Sunday after The Mutineers desired time till afternoon to consider designing in the mean time to get Provisions into the Castle but Arran admitting no delay charged one way as Sir William Flower did another and forced the Mutineers into the Castle with the slaughter of Dillon and two of his Companions and the loss of two of the Earl of Arran's Soldiers and the next day in the afternoon the Lord-Lieutenant arrived with the Horse-Guards and then they surrendred at Mercy And this being a time when there was open War with France and Holland and an Invasion expected from France the Mutineers were try'd by Martial Law and ten of them condemned to die and the rest to be transported but upon their submission these last were all pardon'd On the 11th of June the Popish Clergy met in a sort of Convocation or National Synod in Dublin by connivance of the Lord-Lieutenant pursuant to His Majesty's Order and it was expected from them that they would have asked Pardon for the Rebellion in 1641. and have given the King new assurance of their Allegiance by taking an Oath to that purpose framed by their own Procurator Peter Welsh and called P. W. 10. The Loyal Formulary or The Irish Remonstrance But they were so far from doing so that one of their Bishops said They knew no Crime they were guilty of and therefore needed no Pardon and they not only refused to take the aforesaid Oath but prevailed with many that had subscribed that Remonstrance to withdraw their Subscriptions and to renounce that Oath But this matter as it is the greatest Demonstration of what sort of Allegiance the Popish Clergy of Ireland would pay to a Protestant King so it is well worthy of a Treatise by it self something more concise than that prolix else incomparable History which P. W. has afforded it But the Secret of this Affair was deeper than P. W. imagined for the Irish were then ready for a Rebellion and every day expected an Invasion from
Bishops Vicars-General Abbots and all others exercising Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction by the Popes Authority and in particular Peter Talbot pretended Archbishop of Dublin for his notorious Disloyalty to Your Majesty and Disobedience and Contempt of Your Laws may be commanded by Proclamation forthwith to depart out of Ireland and all other Your Majesties Dominons or otherwise to be prosecuted according to Law And that all Convents Seminaries and publick Popish Schools may be dissolved and suppressed and the Secular Priests Commanded to depart under the like Penalty 4. That no Irish Papist be admitted to inhabit in any part of that Kingdom unless duly Licensed according to the aforesaid Acts of Settlement And that Your Majesty would be pleased to recal Your Letters of the 26 th of February 1671. and the Proclamation thereupon whereby general license is given to such Papists as Inhabit in Corporations there 5. That Your Majesties Letters of the 28 th of September 1672. and the Order of Council thereupon whereby Your Subjects are required not to prosecute any Actions against the Irish for any Wrongs or Injuries committed during the late Rebellion may likewise be recalled 6. That Collonel Talbot who hath notoriously assumed to himself the Title of Agent of the Roman Catholiks in Ireland be immediatedly dismissed out of all Command Military and Civil and forbidden Access to Your Majesties Court. 7. That Your Majesty would be pleased from time to time out of Your Princely Wisdom to give such further Order and Directions to the Lord Lieutenant or other Governor of Ireland for the time being as may best conduce to the Encouragement of the English Planters and Protestants Interest there and the Suppression of the Insolencies and Disorders of the Irish Papists there These our humble Desires we present to Your Majesety as the best means to preserve the Peace and Safety of that Your Kingdom which hath been so much of late in Danger by the Practices of the said Irish Papists particularly Richard and Peter Talbot and we doubt not but Your Majesty will find the happy Effects thereof to the great Satisfaction and Security of Your Majesties Person and Goverment which of all earthly Things is most dear to Your Majesties most Loyal Subjects But on the 5 th day of August 1672. 1672. Arthur Earl of Essex was Sworn Lord Lieutenant and in September his Excellency and the Council made Rules and Orders for Regulating of Corporations pursuant to a Clause in the Act of Explanation to that purpose And during his Government the Kingdom was very quiet in publick Appearance 1674. for whatever Designs were form'd in favour of Popery were private 1675. and in England and were so dexterously countermined by this Lord Lieutenant that there was but small effect of them perceived in Ireland but his Excellency went for England the day of 1675. leaving the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Granard 1676. Lords Justices who continued so until the return of the Earl of Essex who resumed the Goverment on the day of 1675. But in the beginning of the year 1675. Peter Fox and five more pretending to be Passengers in a very rich Ship in Holland called the St. Peter of Hamburgh bound for France did Murder the Master and three of his Crew and brought the Ship into Ireland but by the Wisdom and Diligence of Robert Southwell Esq Vice-Admiral of Munster five of the Malefactors were taken and executed and a great part of the Cargo preserv'd and secur'd for the right Owners But the Earl of Essex being recalled 1677. James Duke of Ormond was Sworn Lord Lieutenant on the day of August 1677. and that year there was a Popish Regiment raised in Ireland in pretence of Foreign Service but the Duke would give them no Arms so that they were forced to Exercise with Sticks But I should have mentioned That the St. David and forty East-India-Ships and forty Merchant-men arrived at Kingsale in July 1673. where they found a secure Sanctuary until they had Convoy sent them from England and this perhaps might be one motive to the Duke of Ormond the next time he took the Sword to consider the Importance of that Place which is the best Chamber for Shipping in His Majesty's Dominions There it was that the Spaniards landed in the year 1601. and there Sir Jeremy Smith and his Fleet sound a safe retreat Anno 1667. and therefore His Grace founded that Royal Structure of the New Fort of Rincorran which he visited in August 1678. and named Charles Fort and it seems that King James and the French had no less value for this important Place since they chose to land there in March 1688. In September the News of the Popish Plot arrived in Ireland 1678. and thereupon Peter Talbot Titular Archbishop of Dublin was apprehended and made close Prisoner in the Castle of Dublin and on the 11th of October the Lord-Lieutenant Ormond came to Dublin and on the 14th of October His Grace and the Council issued a Proclamation for all Officers and Soldiers to repair to their respective Garisons and Quarters and not to depart from thence without license And on the 16th of October there came out another Proclamation requiring all Titular Archbishops Bishops Vicars-General Abbots and other Dignâ—aries of the Church of Rome and all other exercising Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction by Authority from the Pope as also all Jesuits and other Regular Priests to depart the Kingdom by the 20 th of November and that all Popish Societies Convents Seminaries and Popish Schools should dissolve and separate themselves c. And that they may have convenience of Transportation all Ships outward-bound were by Proclamation of the 6th of November commanded to give timely notice of their departure and to take on board such of the Popish Clergy as desired to go with them And on the 2d of November the Papists were by Proclamation required to bring in their Arms by a certain day which being expired that the Justices c. should search for them And that all Papists that had above one Pound of Powder should send in an Account of their Store On the 20 th of November a Proclamation issued forbidding the Papists from coming into the Castle of Dublin or any other Fort or Cittadel and ordering the Markets of Droghedagh Wexford Cork Limerick Waterford Youghall and Galloway to be kept without the Walls and that no Papists should be suffered to reside or dwell in any Garison except such as had been Inhabitants there by the space of twelve months before and that the Papists should not meet in unusual Numbers or at unreasonable times And the same day issued another Proclamation for a reward of 10 l. for every Commission'd Officer 5 l. for every Trooper and 4 s. for every Foot-Soldier that can be discovered to have gone to Mass since he took the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance And here it will be but Justice to the memory of the Duke of Ormond to
furious in this matter and so inhumane that he kept one Henry Rice in close Prison six weeks in a Dungeon and kept him waking a very long time in hopes that Severity and Distraction might induce him to accuse the rest of his Acquaintance and when he found they were all acquitted even by a Jury whereof the Foreman was a Papist he was enrag'd and troubl'd to the last degree and died within a week afterwards But on the last of March 1685. the Duke of Ormond came to London leaving the Sword with the Lord Primate and the Earl of Granard who were nominally Lords Justices but the Power was in effect in the Earl of Tyrconnell who was Lieutenant-General of the Army and by his means the English Militia were not only deprived of their Arms and by Proclamation ordered to send them into the Stores but the English in the Army began also to be turned out under the pretence of being Oliverians or the Issue of such But 1678. not long after the Protestants were revived by the arrival of the Earl of Clarendon Lord Lieutenant and Sir Charles Porter Lord Chancellor for tho the Irish did every-where give out That they were both Papists yet they soon became sensible of their error and to their great trouble found that those Lords wanted no other Qualifications but that of Power to make the Protestant Religion and the English Interest flourish in Ireland In short they did all that wise and honest Men could do and were too great a Blessing for that unfortunate Countrey to enjoy long and therefore they were removed in February 1686. to make room for the Earl of Tyrconnell who was then sworn Lord Deputy For tho this Lord being Lieutenant-General did even in the Lord Clarendon's time so model the Army that most part of the English were disbanded yet he met with so many rubs in That and Other of his Designs that he despaired to accomplish his Project or to satisfie his Ambition unless he were Supreme in the Government Tyrconnel having thus gotten the Sword of State into his hands quickly turned the Edge of it upon the poor Protestants who were amaz'd to see him act so openly in such a Despotical and Arbitrary manner for some of his Agents not only disbanded most part of the remaining English but insulted on their Misery by doing it reproachfully and added to their affliction by turning them out far from their Friends and their Habitations and took away the Cloaths of some and the Horses and Arms of others without giving them any proportionable recompence And he also changed the Irish Soldiers so often that tho the Army did not consist of more than seven or eight thousand Men yet five times that number by these frequent Changes were taught the use of their Arms and by this means he had a considerable Militia ready upon all occasions Moreover he issued Quo Waranto's against all the Charters at once and altho that procedure did manifest to the World that it was not the Fault of any one or more Corporations that was endeavour'd to be punish'd or reform'd but that it was a fixed design to Subvert the Corporations and consequently to Model the Parliament and the Laws to the Interest and Humour of the Papists yet being Masters of standing Armies both in England and Ireland they thought themselves sure of their Game and that it would be the more Generous and Brave if they acted publickly and as it were in defiance And therefore they dissembled the Matter no longer but appointed two Popish Judges in every Court that they might be sure of a Majority upon all Occasions they also appointed Popish High-Sheriffs throughout the Kingdom and they put so many Papists into the Commission of Peace the Privy-Council and all Places of Authority that they were able to Rule all where-ever they came And as soon as the Charters were Condemn'd there were new Ones granted for the most part to such inconsiderable and beggarly Fellows as were unable to pay for them so that many were left with the Attorney General in Pawn for his Fees however in all these Charters they put in near one third English most of which were Quakers or other Dissenters but at the same time took care to limit the Power and especially that of chusing Parliament Men so that the English if unanimous should not be able to give them any Impediment But the English being the principal Traders and the most Wealthy Men in Ireland It must necessarily follow that the removal of their Plate and other Effects into England and the general Decay of Trade that ensued upon the Apprehensions they had of these Violent and Irregular Proceedings did diminish the Publick Revenue to a degree of rendring it unable to support the Necessary Expences of the Government this indeed was a sensible Stroak and would have changed all their Measures if any thing less had been in the Bottom than a fixt Resolution to subvert the Established Religion and to introduce Popery and to make Ireland a secure Retreat for those whose designs might perhaps miscarry in England However these rapid Motions of Tyrconnel made such a noise in England as occasion'd that Lord to be sent for over to meet the King at Chester the poor Protestants flattered themselves with hopes of some intervals of Moderation from this Interview but they soon found the fatal Effects of this Conference not only in the Continuation but in the encrease of their Grievances And thus the Irish having to their Advantage in Number gained also the whole Power Military and Civil into their Hands thought themselves in a Condition not only to secure Ireland but also to send over considerable Assistance to carry on THE CAUSE in England and accordingly Tyrconel did send thither about 3000 of his choicest Men. This was the single Action that conduced most to the Preservation of these Kingdoms all other things were but subservient thereunto or at most but concurrent with it for whilst other Grievances did but disoblige a certain Number or a Party the bringing in of the Irish alarm'd every Body and especially the Army so that his Present Majesty Landing not long after met with such easy and speedy Success as amazed the present and will be the Wonder of future Ages Moreover to compleat the aforesaid Number of 3000 Men Tyrconel did very improvidently withdraw the Garison of Londonderry without sending another in its stead as not suspecting the sudden Revolution which afterwards happened nor thinking that Derry would dare to refuse a Garison whenever he should think fit to send them one But it was not long before he saw his Error and having Recruited his Forces he sent a new-rais'd Regiment under the Earl of Antrim to possess themselves of the City of Derry This Regiment Quartering in and about Newton on the 6th of December Collonel George Philips sent one James Boyle to give notice thereof to Londonderry and to advise them to shut their
even this was sent to the Lord Lieutenant and His Majesties Directions were prayed therein and the like was done by a Paper of Grievances sent by the Lord Mountgarret to the Earl of Ormand at the same time and in August 1642. the Remonstrants sent to the Earl of Ormond a Petition directed to His Majesty which accordingly the Lords Justices transmitted to him That the Lords Justices did endeavour to stop the spreading of the Rebellion and to reduce the Rebels to Obedience by fair means Viz. by their Proclamations of 23 d. of October and 1 st of November promising Mercy to all that should desist from force by imploying a Committee of Parliament to treat with them but they scornfully rejected the Message and contemptuously tore the Committees Letter and the Order of Parliament and by imploying Doctor Cale and some of their own Clergy to treat with them whom they likewise abused and by authorizing the Lord Moor and afterwards Sir Richard Barnwall and Patrick Barnwall to perswade them to Submission and by giving Commissions to the Lord Gormanstown and other of the Remonstrants but whilst they found Success they were deaf to all Perswasions and now that they are baffled they forge Causes of Complaint so that His Majesty is not misinformed nor the Remonstrants unjustly traduced nor misrepresented to the King To the first Article they say that it is too general and generally untrue that Popery is a New Religion midwived into the World by the Council of Trent which ended 1563 and therefore could not be professed by the Remonstrants nor their Ancestors for 1300 Years that the Irish were at first Protestants as Bishop Vsher hath proved at large and in Henry the Eight's Reign were averse to the Papal Usurpations and consented to Laws to suppress them and generally came to Church until 13 Eliz. some of them flew off upon the Bull of Piut V. and 30 Eliz. upon the Arrival of some Spaniards shipwrackt on the Coast of Ireland the Apostasie became more common however the Recâ—sancy of coming to Church was not general until about the middle of King James his Reign But however that be this is certain that the Papists were so far from being persecuted that all Laws against them were suspended and they enjoyed a Connivance little differing from a Toleration so that even their Ecclesiastical Heirarchy publickly executed their Functions and the Clergy swarmed to that Degree that Paul Harris wrote to Pope Vrban 8ht That it was as difficult to number the Friers in Dublin as to reckon the Frogs in the second Plague of Egypt That notwithstanding the Statute of 2 Eliz. there have been ten chief Judges successively and all the inferior Judges of Irish Birth and Education that the first English Judge that came over after that Statute was Sir Robert Gardiner 29 Eliz. That several Irish Papists had commands in the Queen's Army and were Governors of Counties as the Earl of Thomond Clanrickard c. And even now at the Time of the Insurrection Papists were admitted to be High Sheriffs of Counties Justices of Peace Magistrates of Corporations Marshals upon Occasion Councellors at Law Doctors of Physick Clerks Attornies and Sollicitors c. so that none go abroad but for their Improvement as the Gentry of all Countries do or to Seminaries to become Clergymen And these Popish Natives have had their share of His Majesties Favour in dispensing of Honour several of them having been made Lords Baronets and Knights and such as were capable of it by Conformity and Education were preferred in the Church and even those that were unfit for it and were Papists were nevertheless upon an external and partial Conformity only continued in their Spiritual Dignities by Queen Elizabeth notwithstanding the Statute of 2 Eliz. Their Nobility had all the respect and priviledge which good manners and the Law gives to their Quality and by the industry and improvements of their English Tenants lived more Regularly Plentifully and Gentilely than any of their Ancestors ever did or could and that the Popish Youth were never denied admittance into any Free-School nor into the University nor any Question made about their Religion only when they come to be Graduates they must then conform to the Laws of the Land and the Statutes of the Colledge and the Answerers think that the Remonstrants have small reason to complain whilst they enjoy those Liberties and Favours which are denied to the Popish Natives of England who though less in number are much superior to the Remonstrants in Quality Loyalty and Riches But if the Laws of the Land do exclude Recusants from Offices of Trust and Honour they ought to have patience till his Majesty shall think fit to consent to a Repeal of them nay if their Oppressions were without Law their proper Remedy were by Supplication and Petition to the King and not by Murther Rebellion and Depredation To the Second they say it is an aspersion on the King for the ill choice of his Officers and is so undutiful that no Person of Honour will appear in it it was devised by the Popish Clergy and the Jesuited Lawyers who are the Firebrands of these horrible Flames which have almost consumed the Kingdom and it is notoriously false for the chief Government hath been placed either in Men of Nobility or great Estate or in Men of great Merit and in a high Station none of which ever built their Fortune on the Ruine of the Kings Subjects but some of them have been undone by the unjust clamour of the Irish who never endure long any English Governor that endeavours their legal obedience to the Crown So that of One and Twenty chief Governours successively Thirty Privy Councellors Twelve chief Judges and several inferior Judges sent out of England since the Statute of 2 Eliz. not one of them left any Estate there nor were enriched by that Service and even the Earl of Strafford paid great Sums of Mony for what he bought there whereas such of the Natives of that Kingdom as were Judges have left great and visible estates whereby it will appear who built most upon the Ruines of the Natives That the Natives became suspected and odious in England not by any scandals cast upon them but by their degeneracy and frequent Rebellions whereby Ireland whilst managed by them was always in disorder and so poor that it was a continual charge to England whereas since the management of it by English the dependancy of the People is placed in the Crown Legal Properties are secured the Irish pernicious Customs abolished Civility introduced the Kingdom improved so that it was better able to give Ten Subsidies now than one in former times Trade and Commerce increased the Revenue advanced from 8000 to 85000 l. per Annum the Laws duly administred Religion propagated the Army maintained without oppressing the Subject and a Navy kept to guard the Coasts the People are grown Rich and Numerous the breed of Cattle bettered and
rid of some of His Majesties English Judges and Officers whom they cannot endure to bear rule over them though they saw the Kingdom prospered above any former Times under their Labour and Travel And it is untrue that the Protestants did envy the good Union of both Houses on the contrary they laboured to cherish and confirm it but if any Protestant opposed the Remonstrants upon any point how reasonable soever they presently clamour that it is done out of Malice against them and the Nation which is an unjust Obloquy and though the Pupists made daily Cabals yet the Protestant Members never had but one private Meeting and that without the Lords Justices knowledge and at that Meeting there were some Papists and the Design of it was to prevent an Impeachment intended by some of the Irish against those that were concerned in the Grand Inquisition of the Kings Title to Conaugth the Plantation of which Province with English the Natives abhorred as that which would have frustrated all their Evil Designs And as to the Session of the 11 th of May 1641 it continued very long viz. to the 7 th of August and was unprofitably spent in Protestations Declarations Votes upon Queries the Stay of Soldiers from going over Seas and private Petitions and it is untrue that there was any Certainty of the Committees being at the Water-side at the Time of Adjornment so on the 14 th of July the Lords Justices sent to both Houses to consider of a Time of Adjornment because the Harvest was approaching and the House was thin and on the 30 th of July the Commons desired the Adjornment might be delayed till the 7 th of August and on the 2 d. of August the Lords licensed the Judges to go their Circuits and the same Day the Commons desired the Adjornment might be from the 7 th of August to the 9 th of November to which the Lords agreed and on the 5 th of August a Committee of both Houses attended the Lords Justices with notice thereof and they consented thereunto by Order to be entred in the Houses as by their consent On the 6 th of August there arrived the Earl of Roscomon with a Letter from the Committee importing that they were busie about their Dispatch at London whereupon the Lords sent to the Commons that they continued their Opinion for the Adjornment and accordingly they did adjourn the next Day so that there is no Ground for the Calumny on the Lords Justices that they threatned to prorogue them or purposed to prevent the passing the Graces not then arrived into Acts. But those Remonstrants having broken Faith with His Majesty and all his faithful Subjects do take liberty to asperse his Governors and well affected Officers whom they desire for ill Ends to make odious to the People Lastly They close this Article with an Untruth for the Lords Justices did immediatly after the Arrival of the Committee write to all the Ports of the Kingdom with Briefs of the Graces concerning matters of Customs commanding the Officers to obey those Directions they also published Proclamations for transporting Wool and what Customs were payable for the same They sent Warrants for free Entries of Tobacco and what Customs were payable for it they gave Order for a Bill to be drawn for a Repeal of the preamble of the Act of Subsidies they also desired Sir James Mongomery and Sir William Cole to give notice to the Undertakers of Vlster of the Graces intended to them and they had formerly sent over the Bill for a General pardon and most of the rest of the Graces were to be executed in Dublin and respected the Regulation of the Courts there for which the Approaching Term was the proper Season But the Remonstrants had not patience to expect that but resolved to be their own Carvers and dispose of the King's Revenue and the Protestants Estates as they thought fit As to the Eighth Article the prodigious Tale of the Petition is untrue And but that these Remonstrants care not what Detractions how untrue and improbable soever they print or publish against those they hate they would not have averred this Story without producing a Copy of a Petition signed by so many Thousands but the Truth is the four Persous named had no hand in any Petition but there was indeed a Petition which reflected more upon the Protestant than the Popish Clergy but as soon as the Lords Justices had notice of it they got the Original into the Clerk of the Councils Office where it still lies What Sir John Clotworthy did or said in the Parliament of England was not known to the Protestants of Ireland nor is it material nor do they believe that any thing was then moved plotted or contrived against the Remonstrants or that the English Parliament resolved any destructive Course against them till after the Rebellion begun though the Remonstrants by confounding Times would use it as a Cover for their inhuman Perpetrations As for the Statute of 2 Eliz. the Remonstrants find fault with it because by repealing by Queen Mary's Act of Repeal it revives the necessary Statutes made by Henry 8 th against Papal Incroachments and Usurpations without which the Papists being dissolved from their dependence on the King's Auchority in matters Ecclesiastical would transfer that half of his Sovereignty to the Pope who might discharge their Allegiance in civil Causes as he hath often done here and elsewhere for as to the Penal part that Statute mitigates the Crime of Advancing foreign Jurisdiction which being Treason before is by that Act not made Treason till the third Offence after two Convictions and as to that part of the Statute about Officers and suers of Livery to take the Oath of Supremacy they have found so many Instances of His Majesties indulgence to them in that particular that it is ingratitude in them to complain And if they mean the second Chapter of secundo Eliz. it is answered that what Noise soever that Statute hath made yet it hath done very little Execution but the Complaint as if those Statutes were forged or had lain dormant till most of the Members of that Parliament were dead is of all other the most shameless for those Statutes were published in print with the rest Anno 16 Eliz. and were soon after too sparingly indeed put in Execution as appears by the Records but 't is true the second Chapter could not be executed because the Papists universally came to Church till of later Days and the Name of Recusant was not then known But afterwards when Popery became more bold and dangerous that Act was sometimes put in Execution but without danger to any Man's Life or Estate for the Penalty was but Nine Pence a Sunday and the Laws in England against Popery are very much more severe and yet upon this slender Ground and the vile Fiction of sending 10000 Scots which was never thought of till long after the Rebellion broke out do these
Remonstrants pretend to justify their Insurrection which nevertheless themselves in their Declaration in Parliament the 16 th of November 1641. have confessed to be traiterous and rebellions and at the same time pretended an Abhorrence of the abominable Murthers and Outrages of the Rebels which now they palliate as a forced taking up of Arms in their own own Defence by discontented Gentlemen Neither was that Declaration forced from them but passed in due course and order and at their own request tho' some of them would have couch'd it in softer terms for fear the Rebels might recriminate but they were outvoted without either violence or threatnings as is most falsly suggested Neither is it true that the Northern Rebels ever sent any Address to the State except the presumptuous Proposition from those of Cavan which was favourably received as hath been already related but it is wisely done of the Remonstrants to pass slightly over the Massacre in Vlster since it is not possible to justifie that barbarous Cruelty In the Proclamation of the 23 of October there is no mention of the Proroguing the Parliament and because some of the Pale did quarrel at the words Irish Papists as if themselves were included therein the Lords Justices issued a Second Proclamation to satisfie them in that Point and tho' there was a necessity of Proroguing the Parliament to avoid concourse to Dublin in that dangerous time yet it was not done without the Kings special Warrant for it who design'd that the Lord Lieutenant should be present at the Session and tho' the Kings Order was to Prorogue it to the latter end of February yet to comply with the Importunity of some of the Remonstrants who were then thought Faithful to the Government the Members were permitted to meet the 9 th of November and Adjorn'd to the 16 th and then Sat two days and shortned the Prorogation to the 11 th of January and tho' in that short Session and that troublesome time it was impossible to pass any of the Graces into Acts yet the Lords Justices did then acquaint the Houses That His Majesty would not depart from any of his former favours promised to them for setling their Estates to such as should remain faithful and Loyal That as to Armed men it was no other than hath been in all Parliaments there before and since viz. the Garrison of the Castle of Dublin in which the Parliament sits always makes a Guard for the Chief Governor and Members of Parliament but neither used Threats committed Violence or presented their Musquets as is unsincerly and untruly suggested nor could the Remonstrants apprehend any danger from this mark of respect shewn them by the Guard if their own inward Guilt had not begat Jealousies in them of what others never thought of for if the Lords Justices would have seiz'd the Persons of some of the Remonstrants upon just Suspitions and violent Presumptions what hindred them certainly nothing but a hopes by mildness and good usage to settle and fix their staggering Loyalty And it is strange that the Remonstrants pretend that any part of the Kingdom was quiet when it appears by Mac Mahon's Examination that the Conspiracy was universal and that the great Towns and Cities would revolt as soon after they did except where the Protestant Inhabitants or his Majesties Soldiers were too strong for them and Collonel Plunket aver'd That all the Catholick Lords had contracted under their hands to joyn in this Insurrection which indefinite expression must be understood to intend all those that did afterwards unite with the Rebels which were indeed all but a very few and he wrote to the Lord Abbot of Melifont that he had been a means to incite the Lords and Gentlemen of the Pale to appear in the blessed Cause then in hand and would use his endeavours night and day ad majorem Dei gloriam And it is to be observ'd that the Collonels John Barry Taaf Garret Barry and Porter who had Warrants to transport four Regiments and were therein Assisted by the Lords Justices did upon several pretences defer it till the 23 d. of October and soon after Garret Barret and his whole Regiment and most of the rest of the Soldiers went into Rebellion and if we add the general discourse amongst the Rebels in Vlster on the 23 d. and 24 th of October exfressing to the plunder'd English an assurance that Dublin was taken and the like mutterings in Munster and Conaught and the antecedent Threats of a general Rebellion and their Consultations at Multifernam mentioned in Doctor Jones his Examination it will be manifest that the Conspiracy was general and premeditated But the Remonstrants suggest that the Lords Justices applied themselves to such powerful Members of Parliament as opposed his Majesty which is like the rest for at that time the King was in Scotland and there was no difference between his Majesty and the Parliament except in relation to the Earl of Strafford whom the Remonstrants most violently prosecuted besides the Lords Justices did not sent to the Parliament at first but on the 25 th of October sent one Express to the King and another to the Lord Lieutenant according to his Majesties former Orders and seeing themselves by the generality of the Rebellion necessitated to invoke all Powers that could Assist them they did on the 5 th of November and not before write to the Privy Council and to the Speakers of both Houses and they sent Duplicates of those dispatches to his Majesty the very same day And tho' it was the highest reason that could be that the Lords Justices should first Arm the Protestant Subjects whom they might confidein for the defence of their own Lives and the Government yet they did also issue Arms to such Papists as they had any hope of and particularly 1700 Arms to those of the Pale some of which were recovered again but most of them were perfidiously made use of against the State neither were the Catholick Inhabitants of Dublin Disarm'd until those of the Pale had declared themselves in Rebellion and then their Alliance and Correspondence with the others made that Action necessary Arms were likewise sent to Wexford Waterford and Trim and Letters of Encouragement to those places and to Gallway The Order of Parliament to Pardon the Irish was publish'd in Print the 12 th of November and dispersed into all parts of the Kingdom but without any more effect than the Lords Justices Proclamation of Pardon of the 30 th of October met with and the Lords Justices Proclamation of the First of November to Pardon those of the Counties of Louth Westmeath Meath and Longford except Freeholders and Murderers was drawn by Mr. Nicholas Plunket and other Members of Parliament and thereupon some few submitted but never restor'd what they had plunder'd from the Protestants but soon after Apostatiz'd into Rebellion again neither did they shew any more respect to his Majesties own Proclamation under his Royal Signet nor
released and the informer dismissed with ten pounds and a Suit of Cloaths or some such Reward 5. Hereunto may be further added another not so plain as the former that about the same time the Lord Baron of Dunsany did ride in disguise throughout all the parts of Munster pretending to satisie his curiosity in the knowledge of Places and Persons he not being discovered until his return at the Birr where having offered himself to be bound for one of his Company he writ himself in his own stile being loath to leave under his Hand a testimony of his disguised Person and assumed Name Hereunto may be added a Motion made by the Recusant Party in the Parliament of Ireland for hindring the sending away of certain Colonels with their Forces raised in the Kingdom and pretended to be for Service of Foreign parts many wondring it should proceed from them but therein considering these their former Practices their intentions may be discovered to be far different from what others conceived thereof who assented thereunto the imploying so many Thousands abroad being a great weakening of the Forces they purposed for this their soon after following Rebellion To descend now from the Antecedents of this Treason to the falling in thereupon and lastly to the consequents and what thereby hath been intended supposing it to succeed and that it attained the desired effect which by them was not doubted of And first for the entrance thereinto howsoever that the ground-work were long since laid yet would they not have it so to seem But new occasion must be found as the sole Cause of their breaking Out this being intended for the satisfying the minds of such of their own as have not hitherto been acquainted with the depth and mystery of this iniquity that they might not stand amazed at the suddenness of the undertaking or stand off from joyning with them in the worst part of their designs it being an apparent Rebellion The fittest means for this must have been by casting aspersions on the present Government which if long tolerated would prove extreamly dangerous not only to their Religion but their Lives and Posterity For effecting hereof reports were cast out that in the Parliament of England the cutting off of all the Papists in Ireland of what degree soever was concluded upon the Execution of that resolution being committed to the Counsel in Ireland The Lords Justices said they had laid down a day for this work being the 23 d. of November then next following and now last past or thereabouts for the better more secure and more secret managing of this pretended Plot such of the Popish Nobility and Gentry of both Houses as appeared in Parliament at Dublin should be secured And for the drawing together of the rest amongst other pretences this alledged to be one That his Majesties Rents were purposely omitted and not called upon in Easter Term with that earnestness as formerly and that such as made default should be Summoned to appear in Michadmas Term at Dublin and there surprised such of them as were in the Country wanting the Heads being easily cut off They say that this pretended Plot was I know not how discovered to them so that for the safety of their Lives and Profession they were inforced to stand upon their Guard and to Counter-work that day of the 23 d. of November laid for their Destruction by their declaring themselves in Arms on the 23 d. of October a Month before The serious part of this discourse was related to me by a Fryar intimate in their Counsel and by a Priest a Popish Vicar General thereby to give me satisfaction and to justifie their proceedings whose Names I do for the present forbear In respect of his Majesties Service By others also it was informed that this Plot was mainly intended in that Session of Parliament next after the Earl of Straffords beheading and the manner concluded upon In the Popish private meetings which were then observed to be frequent and by some suspected might prove dangerous and that for discovery of what provision of Arms and Ammunition our store of Dublin afforded it being by some suspected that most was sent before to Carrickfergus one of the Popish Faction in the House of Commons put one of the Protestant Members to move ☜ that some of the Earl of Straffords men had cast out some threatning Words against the Parliament in revenge of his Lord which could not be conceived to end in less than a Blowing up of the whole Houses of Parliament the Store lying under them whereupon a Committee of both Houses many of them prime Papists were appointed to make search in all the corners of the Store amongst these the Lord Mac Guire was one who was observed without ocasion to be liberal in disposing of Mony to some of the Officers of the Store in a way more than was ordinary with him The last Sessions of Parliament being Prorogued and the time drawing nigh for putting their design in Execution there was a great meeting appointed of the Heads of the Romish Clergy and other Laymen of their Faction said to be at the Abby of Mullifarnam in the County of Westmeath where is a Convent of Franciscans thereof openly and peaceably possessed for many years last past the day of their meeting being also on their Saint Francis day about the beginning of October last but the time and place I cannot considently affirm yet howsoever the several opinions and discussions are as follow like as I have received it from the said Fryar a Franciscan and present there being a Grardian of that Order where among many other things there debated the question was what course should be taken with the English and all others that were found in the whole Kingdom to be Protestants The Council was therein divided 1. Some were for their Banishment without attempting on their lives for this was given the Instance of the King of Spains expelling out of Granado and other parts of his Dominions the Moors to the number of many Hundred thousands all of them beirg dismissed with their Lives Wives and Children with some part of their Goods if not the most part that this his way of proceeding redounded much to the Honour of Spain whereas the slaughter of many Innocents wouls have laid an everlasting blemish of Cruelty on that State that the like usage of the English their Neighbors and to whom many there present owed if no more yet their education would gain much to the cause both in England and other parts That their Goods and Estates Seized upon would be sufficient without medling with their Persons that if the contrary course were taken and their Blood spilt besides the Curse it would draw from Heaven upon their cause it might withal incense and provoke the Neighbor Kingdom of England and that justly to take a more severe revenge on them and theirs even to extirpation if it had the upper hand 2. On the other
Irish Rebels and finding how they are in all likelihood in danger to be overborn by the power and potency of their said Adversaries do in all humility beseech your Lordships first to call to mind that his Majesty hath by his Royal assent unto an Act of Parliament obliged himself not to grant any Pardon or terms of Peace to the aforesaid Rebels without the consent of his Parliament of England and accordingly that your Lordships would not suffer any part of his Majesties Honour to be betrayed to calumny in assenting to such packed terms of Peace as they have already contrived to draw your Lordships unto without the consent of the said Parliament of England and without admitting your Petitioners to a free and full debate of the cause whereby they may vindicate his Majesty and themselves from that unnatural aspersion which the Irish would maliciously fasten on them by making the one the fauter and the other the occasion of their Rebellion And that the matter may not be carryed with such indulgency towards them as that to extenuate their real enormities your Petitioners must be made guilty of imaginary crimes and undergo a heavier censure for demanding Justice than they for perpetrating all their Treasons and that their Lives Fortunes and Posterities and which is dearest their Religion may not be sold or sacrificed to the malice of the Irish Papists or if this lawful favour shall be denied them that they may have leave to protest against any such fatal and destructive conclusions as are in hand to be made with the aforesaid Irish Rebels without consent of the King and Parliament or your Petitioners privity and that their fictious pretences of assisting his Majesty wherewith they have too long already abused himself and his Ministers on purpose to protract the War in England may not be a sufficient wile to delude your Lordships any longer but that your Petitioners and not Persons disaffected to their Religion and Nation now to be preserved or ruined may be heard to plead in this cause before any Judgment be given therein and that the Examples of their former and frequent breaches of the Cessation yet unrepaired may be accounted a reasonable caution to your Lordships to expect little better observation of any Peace that shall abridge them of their devilish designs And your Petioners shall ever Pray for your Lordships increase of Honour and Happiness Signed by the Lord Broghill the Magistrates of Cork Kinsale Youghall and Bandonbridge and above Three Hundred other Persons Append. XXVI The Articles between Sir Knelme Digby and the Pope Articles to be sent to the Lord Rimucini to be put in Execution in Ireland with Power to add to and take from them according to the present State of Affairs and as need shall be which will be better understood there upon the place 1. THAT the King of Great Britain do effectually grant in the Kingdom of Ireland the free and publick Use of the Roman Catholick Religion allowing the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy to be restored to the Catholicks with all the Churches and Revenues according to the Custom of the said Religion And as to the Monasteries pretended to have been released to the Possessors by Cardinal Pool Legate in the Time of Queen Mary that it be debated in a free Parliament in Ireland what may or can be done in that Point as likewise touching the three Bishopricks that of Dublin and the other two which are in the Hands of the Heretick Protestants under the Obedience of the King 2. That he annul and repeal all the Penal Laws and others whatsoever made aginst the said Catholicks on the Account of their Religion from the beginning of the Defection of Henry the Eighth to this Day 3. That for the better establishing the free and publick Exercise of the Catholick Religion and to add more Force and Security to the Repeal of the said Laws the King do call a Parliament in Ireland independent on that of England 4. That the Government of the Kingdom of Ireland and the principal Offices there be put into the Hands of the Catholicks and that Catholicks be made capable and promoted to Offices Honours and Degrees in that Kingdom in like manner as the Protestants have been till this Time 5. That the King do put into the Hands of the Irish Catholicks or at least such English Catholicks as the Supream Council of Ireland shall approve of the Town of Dublin and the other two which are held in his Name in Ireland 6. That he join his Forces with those of the Irish to drive the Scots and Parliamentarians out of Ireland 7. This being performed by the King and what else may in Ireland be added or altered in these Articles by the Lord Rimucini His Holiness is willing to pay to the Queen of Great Britain a Hundred Thousand Crowns of Roman Money 8. That the said King do repeal all the Laws made against the Catholicks of England and particularly the two Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance so as they may enjoy their Revenues Honours Liberties and Priviledges as other the Gentlemen of that Kingdom do so that their being Catholicks shall be no manner of prejudice to them and that in the first Parliament or other Settlement of the Affairs of England His Majesty do approve and confirm the aforesaid Repeal and in the mean Time that they do actually enjoy all manner of Equality with the Protestants 9. That an Agreement be made between the King and the Supream Council of Ireland to transport into England a Body of an Army of Twelve Thousand Foot under Irish Commanders and Officers to whom shall be joyned Three Thousand or at least Two Thousand Five Hundred English Horse under Catholick Commanders upon such Conditions to be adjusted between them concerning the Government of the Army the Ports of their Landing and Places of Security as shall be adjudged just and convenient 10. When the said Forces shall be entred into England and joyned together in any Place His Holiness will pay the first Year a Hundred Thousand Crowns of Roman Money by a Monthly Proportion the same to be continued the second and third Year as â—â—is Forces shall stand and according to the Advantage that shall â—e made by the said Army 11. And lastly because the first six Articles may speedily be put in Execution His Holiness will expect the performance of them in six Months from the Date of these Presents and as to the Eighth and Ninth that require perhaps longer Time he will stay four Months more besides the Six beyond which he will not be tyed to this present Promise At Rome the 30 th Day of November 1645. Append. XXVII The Articles made by the Earl of Glamorgan WHereas much time hath been spent in meetings and debates betwixt His Excellency James Lord Marquess of Ormond Lord Lieutenant and General Governour of His Majesties Kingdom of Ireland Commissioner to His most Excellent Majesty Charles by the Grace of God King of
Great Britain France and Ireland c. for the Treating and Concluding of a Peace in the said Kingdom with His Majesties Humble and Loyal Subjects the Confederate and Roman Catholicks of the said Kingdom of Ireland of the one part and the Right Honourable Donnogh Lord Viscount Muskerry and others Commissioners Deputed and Authorized by the said Confederate Roman Catholick Subjects of the other part and thereupon many Difficulties did arise by occasion whereof sundry matters of great weight and consequence necessarily requisite to be condescended unto by His Majesties said Commissioners for the safety of the said Confederate Roman Catholicks were not hitherto agreed upon which retarded and doth as yet retard the Conclusion of a firm Peace and Settlement in the said Kingdom And whereas the Right Honourable Edward Earl of Glamorgan is intrusted and authorized by His most Excellent Majesty to grant and assure to the said Confederate Catholick Subjects further Grace and Favours which the said Lord Lieutenant did not as yet in that Latitude as they expected grant unto them and the said Earl having seriously considered of all matters and due Cirouâ—istances of the great Affairs now in agitation which is the peace and quiet of the said Kingdom and the importance thereof in order to His Majesties Service and in relation to a Peace and Settlement in His other Kingdoms and here upon the place having seen the Ardent desire of the said Catholicks to assist His Majesty against all that do or shall oppress His Royal Right or Monarchick Government and having discerned the Alacrity and Cheerfulness of the said Catholicks to embrace Honourable conditions of Peace which may preserve their Religion and other just Interests In pursuance therefore of His Majesties Authority under His Highness Signature Royal and Signes bearing Date at Oxon the Twelfth Day of March in the twentieth Year of His Reign Granted unto the said Earl of Glamorgan the Tenure whereof is as followeth Viz. Charles Rex Charles by the Grace of God King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. To our trusty and right welbeloved Cosen Edward Earl of Glamorgan greeting We reposing great and especial Trust and Confidence in your approved wisdom and fidelity Do by these as firmly as under Our Great Seal to all intents and purposes Authorise and give you Power to treat and conclude with the Confederate Roman Catholicks in Our Kingdom of Ireland if upon necessity any thing be to be condescended unto wherein our Lieutenant cannot so well be seen in as not fit for Vs at the present publickly to own Therefore We charge you to proceed according to this our Warrant with all possible secrecy and for whatsoever you shall engage your self upon such valuable considerations as you in your judgment shall deem fit We promise on the word of a King and a Christian to ratifie and perform the same that shall be granted by you and under your Hand and Seal the said Confederate Catholicks having by their Supplies testified their Zeal to Our Service and this shall be in each particular to you a sufficient Warrant Given at Our Court at Oxford under Our Signet and Royal Signature the 12 th day of March in the 20 th year of Our Reign 1644. To our right trusty and right well-beloved Cosen Edward Earl of Glamorgan It is therefore granted accorded and agreed by and between the said Earl of Glamorgan for and on the behalf of His most Excellent Majesty His Heirs and Successors on the one part and the Right Honourable Richard Lord Viscount Mountgarret Lord President of the Supream Council of the said Confederate Catholicks the said Donogh Lord Viscount Muskerry Alexander mac Donnel and Nicholas Plunket Esquires Sir Robert Talbot Baronet Dermot O Brien John Dillon Patrick Darcy and Geffery Brown Esquires Commissioners in that behalf appointed by the said Confederate Roman Catholick Subject of Ireland for and on the behalf of the said Confederate Roman Catholick Subjects of the other part in manner and form following that is to say 1. IT is granted accorded and agreed by the said Earl for and in the behalf of His most Excellent Majesty His Heirs and Successors That all and every the Professors of the Roman Catholick Religion in the Kingdom of Ireland of whatever estate degree or quality soever he or they be or shall be shall for ever more hereafter have and enjoy within the said Kingdom the free and publick use and exercise of the said Roman Catholick Religion and of their respectives function therein 2. It is granted accorded and agreed by the said Earl for and on the behalf of His Majesty His Heirs and Successors That the said Professors of the Roman Catholick Religion shall hold and enjoy all and every the Churches by them enjoyed within this Kingdom or by them possessed at any time since the Twenty Third of October 1641 and all other Churches in the said Kingdom other than such as are now actually enjoyed by His Majesties Protestant Subjects 3. It is granted accorded and agreed by the said Earl for and in the behalf of His most Excellent Majesty His Heirs and Successors That all and every the Roman Catholick Subjects of Ireland of what estate condition degree or quality soever shall be free and exempted from the Jurisdiction of the Protestant Clergy and every of them and that the Roman Catholick Clergy of this Kingdom shall not be punished troubled or molested for the exercise of their Jurisdiction over their respective Catholick Flocks in matters Spiritual and Ecclesiastical 4. It is further granted accorded and agreed by the said Earl for and on the behalf of His most Excellent Majesty His Heirs and Successors that an Act shall be passed in the next Parliament to be holden in this Kingdom the tenour and purport whereof shall be as followeth Viz. An Act for the Relief of His Majesties Catholick Subjects of His Highnesses Kingdom of Ireland Whereas by an Act made in Parliament held in Dublin the Second Year of the Reign of the late Queen Elizabeth Intituled An Act restoring to the Crown the ancient Jurisdiction over the State Ecclesiastical and Spiritual and abolishing all Foreign Power repugnant to the same And by one other Statue made in the said last mentioned Parliament Intituled An Act for the Vniformity of Common-Prayer and Service in the Church and the Administration of the Sacrament Sundry Mulcts Penalties Restraints and Incapacities are and have been laid upon the Professors of the Roman Catholick Religion in this Kingdom in for and concerning the use profession and exercise of their Religion and their Function therein to the great prejudice trouble and disquiet of the Roman Catholicks in their Liberties and Estates and a general disturbance of the whole Kingdom For remedy whereof and for the better setling increase and continuance of the Peace Unity and Tranquility of this Kingdom of Ireland His Majesty at the humble suit and request of the Lords and Commons
in this present Parliament assembled is graciously pleased that it may be Enacted And be it Enacted by the King 's most Excellent Majesty the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by Authority of the same That from and after the First day of this Session of Parliament it shall and may be lawful to and for all the Professors of the Roman Catholick Religion of what degree condition or quality to have use and enjoy the free and publick exercise and profession of the said Roman Catholick Religion and of their several and respective functions therein without incurring any Mulct or Penalty whatsoever or being subject to any restraint or incapacity concerning the same any Article or Clause Sentence or Provision in the said last mentioned Acts of Parliament or in any other Act or Acts of Parliament Ordinances Law or usage to the contrary or in any wise notwithstanding And be it also further Enacted That neither the said Statutes or any other Statute Acts or Ordinances hereafter made in Your Majesties Reign or in the Reign of any of Your Highnesses most Noble Progenitors or Ancestors and now of Force in this Kingdom nor all nor any Branch Article Clause and Sentence in them or any of them contained or specified shall be of force or validity in this Realm to extend to be construed or adjudged to extend in any wise to inquiet prejudice vex or molest the Professors of the said Roman Catholick Religion in their Persons Lands Hereditaments or Goods or any thing matter or cause whatsoever touching and concerning the free and publick use exercise and enjoyings of their said Religion function and profession And be it also further Enacted and Declared by the Authority aforesaid That Your Majesties Roman Catholick Subjects in the said Realm of Ireland from the first day of this Session of Parliament shall be and be taken deemed and adjudged capable of all Offices of Trust and Advancement Places Degrees and Dignities and perferment whatsoever within your said Realm of Ireland Any Acts Statutes Vsage or Law to the contrary notwithstanding And that other Acts shall be passed in the said Parliament according to the tenour of such Agreement or Concessions as herein are expressed and that in the mean time the said Roman Catholick Subjects and every of them shall enjoy the full benefit freedom and advantage of the said Agreement and Concessions and of every of them 5. It is Accorded Granted and Agreed by the said Earl for and in the bâ—â—â—lf of His Majesty His Heirs and Successors That his Excellency the Lord Marques of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or any other or others Authorized or to be Authorized by His Majesty shall not disturb the professors of the Roman Catholick Religion in their present possession and continuance of the profession of their said Churches Jurisdiction or any other the matters aforesaid in these Articles agreed and condescended unto by the said Earl until His Majesties pleasure be signified for confirming and publishing the Grants and Agreements hereby Articled for and Condescended unto by the said Earl 6. And the said Earl of Glamorgan doth hereby engage His Majesty's Royal Word and Publick Faith unto all and singular the professors of the said Roman Catholick Religion within the said Kingdom of Ireland for the due observance and performance of all and every the Articles Grants and Clauses therein contained and the Concessions herein mentioned to be performed to them 7. It is Accorded and Argeed That the said publick Faith of the Kingdom shall be ingaged unto the said Earl by the said Commissioners of the said Confederate Catholicks for sending Ten thousand men to serve His Majesty by order and publick Declaration of the General Assembly now sitting And that the Supream Council of the said Confederate Catholicks shall engage themselves to bring the said number of Men Armed the one half with Musquets and the other half with Pikes unto any Port within this Realm at the Election of the said Earl and at such time as he shall appoint to be by him Shipped and Transported to serve His Majesty in England Wales or Scotland under the Command of the said Earl of Glamorgan as the Lord General of the said Army which Army is to be kept together in one intire Body and all other the Officers and Commanders of the said Army are to be named by the Supream Council of the said Confederate Catholicks or by such others as the General Assembly of the said Confederate Catholicks of this Kingdom shall intrust therewith In witness whereof the Parties to these Presents have hereunto interchangeably put their Hands and Seals the 25 th day of August 1645. Glamorgan Signed Sealed and Delivered in the Presence of John Somerset Jeffery Barron Robert Barry Articles of Agreement made and concluded upon by and between the Right Honourable Edward Earl of Glamorgan and in pursuance and by vertue of His Majesty's Authority under His Signet and Royal Signature bearing Date at Oxford the Twelfth day of March in the Twentieth Year of His Reign for and on the behalf of His Most Excellent Majesty of the one part and the Right Honourable Richard Lord Viscount Mountgarret Lord President of the Supream Council of the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland Donnogh Lord Viscount Muskerry Alex. M. Donnell and Nicholas Plunket Esquires Sir Robert Talbot Baronet Dermot O Brien John Dillon Patrick Darcy and Jeffery Browne Esquires for and on the behalf of His Majesty's Roman Catholick Subjects and the Catholick Clergy of Ireland of the other part 1. THE said Earl doth Grant Conclude and Agree on the behalf of His Majesty His Heirs and Successors to and with the said Richard Lord Viscount Mountgarret Donnogh Lord Viscount Muskerry Alex. Mac Donnell and Nicholas Plunket Esquires Sir Robert Talbot Baronet Dermot O Brien John Dillon Patrick Darcy and Jeffery Browne Esquires That the Roman Catholick Clergy of the said Kingdom shall and may from henceforth for ever hold and enjoy all such Lands Tenements Tyths and Hereâ—itaments whatsoever by them respectively enjoyed within this Kingdom or by them possessed at any time since the Three and twentieth of October 1641. And all other such Lands Tenements Tyths and Hereditaments belonging to the Clergy within this Kingdom other than such as are actually enjoyed by His Majesty's Protestant Clergy 2. It is Granted Concluded and Agreed on by the said Richard Lord Viscount Mountgarret c. on the behalf of the Confederate Roman Catholicks of Ireland that Two parts in Three parts to be divided of all the said Lands Tyths and Hereditaments whatsoever mentioned in the precedent Articles shall for Three Years next ensuing the Feast of Easter which shall be in the Year of our Lord God 1646. be disposed of and converted for and to the Use of His Majesty's Forces employed or to be employed in His Service and the other Third part to the Use of the said Clergy resepectively and so the like
disposition to be renewed from Three Years to Three Years by the said Clergy during the Wars 3. It is Accorded and Agreed by the said Earl of Galmorgan for and in the behalf of His Majesty His Heirs and Successors that his Excellency the Lord Marquess of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or any other or others Authorized or to be Authorized by His Majsty shall not disturb the Professors of the Roman Catholick Religion in their present Possession of their Churches Lands Tenements Tyths Hereditaments Jurisdiction or any other the matters aforesaid in these Articles agreed and condescended to by the said Earl until His Majesty's pleasure be signified for confirming and publishing the Grants herein Articled for and condescended unto by the said Earl 4. It is Accorded Granted and Agreed by the said Earl for and in the behalf of His Majesty His Heirs and Successors that an Act shall be Passed in the next Parliament to be held in this Kingdom acccording to the Tenour of such Agreements or Concessions as herein are expressed and that in the mean time the said Clergy shall enjoy the full benefit freedom and advantage of the said Agreements and Concessions and every of them And the said Earl of Galmorgan doth hereby engage His Majesty's Royal Word and Publick Faith unto the said Lord Viscount Mountgarret and the rest of the said Commissioners for the due Observance and Performance of all and every the Articles Agreements and Concessions herein contained and mentioned to be performed to the said Roman Catholick Clergy and every of them In Witness whereof the Parties to these Presents have hereunto interchageably put their Hands and Seals the 25 th day of August Anno Dom. 1645. Glamorgan Signed Sealed and Dilivered in the presence of Glamorgan John Summerset Jeffery Barron Robert Barry Whereas in these Articles touching the Clergy Livings the Right Honourable the Earl of Glamorgan is obliged in His Majesty's behalf to secure the Concessions in these Articles by Act of Parliament We holding that manner of securing those Grants as to the Clergy Livings to prove more difficult and prejudicial to His Majesty than by doing thereof and securing those Concessions otherwise as to the said Livings the said Earl undertaking and promising in the behalf of His Majesty His Heirs and Successors as hereby he doth undertake to settle the said Concessions and secure them to the Clergy and their respective Successors in another secure way other than by Parliament at present till a fit opportunity be offered for securing the same do agree and condescend thereunto And this Instrument by his Lordship Signed was before the perfecting thereof intended to that purpose as to the said Livings to which purpose We have mutually Signed this Endorsement And it is further intended that the Catholick Clergy shall not be interrupted by Parliament or otherwise as to the said Livings Contrary to the meaning of these Articles Glamorgan I Edward Earl of Glamorgan do Protest and Swear Faithfully to acquaint the Kings most Excellent Majesty with the proceedings of this Kingdom in Order to His Service and to the indearment of this Nation and punctual performance of what I have as Authoriseed by His Majesty obliged my self to see performed and in default not to permit the Army intrusted into my Charge to adventure it self or any considerable part thereof until Conditions from His Majesty and by His Majesty be performed Glamorgan The Defezance to the Earl of Glamorgan KNOW all Men by these Presents That whereas We the Right Honourable Richard Lord Viscount Mountgarret Donnogh Lord viscount Muskerry Alexander Mac Donnel Nicholas Plunket Esquires Sir Robert Talbot Baronet Dermot O Brien John Dillon Patrick Darcy and Jeffery Brown Esquires appointed by the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland to treat and conclude with the Right Honourable Edward Earl of Glamorgan for and in behalf of His most Excellent Majesty our dread Sovereign King Charles And having treated and concluded with the said Earl of Glamorgan as by the Articles of Agreement to which we have interchangealy set our Hands and Seals more at lage appeareth Yet it is to be understood that by the said Agreement the Right Honourable Edward Earl of Glamorgan doth no way intend to oblige His Excellent Majesty other than he himself shall please after he hath received these Ten thousand Men being a Pledge and Testimony of our Loyalty and Fidelity to His Majesty yet the said Earl of Glamorgan doth Faithfully promise upon his Word and Honour not to acquaint His most Excellent Majesty with this Defesance until his Lordship hath endeavour'd as far as in him lies to induce His Majesty to the granting of the particulars in the said Articles of Agreement but that done according to the Trust we repose in our very good Lord the Earl of Glamorgan We the said Richard Lord Viscount Mountgarret c. and every of Us for and in the behalf of the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland who have intrusted Us do discharge the said Earl of Glamorgan both in Honour and Conscience of any further ingagement to Us herein though His Majesty be not pleased to grant the said Particulars in the Articles of Agreement mentioned and this we are induced to do by the particular Trust and Confidence the said Earl of Glamorgan hath reposed in Us for the draught of the Act of Parliament inserted within the Articles of our Agreement We assuring upon our Words and Honours that it is the most moderate of Three which we brought up for the Assent of the Right Honourable the Lord Marquess of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland his Excellency and without which we cannot be satisfied and we are also induced hereunto in regard the said Earl of Glamorgan hath given us Assurance upon his Word and Honour and upon a voluntary Oath of his that he would never to any Person whatsoever discover the Defezance in the interim without our consents And in confidence thereof We have hereunto set our Hands and Seals the 26 th day of August Anno Dom. 1645. Glamorgan Signed Sealed and Delivered in the Presence of the Lord John Somerset who knew nothing of the Contents thereof F. Oliver Darcy Peter Bath Appen XXVIII His Majesties Letter about the Earl of Glamorgan's Peace Right Trusty c. We greet you well WE have seen and considered the dispatch directed from you and our Council there to our Trusty and Well-beloved Counsellor Sir Edward Nicholas one of our Privy Council of State concerning the Earl of Glamorgan's Accusation and your Proceedings thereupon and as we could not receive the one without extraordinary amazement that any mans folly and presumption could carry him to such a degree of abusing our trust how little soever so we could not but be very sensible of the great affection and zeal to our service which you have expressed in putting our honour so highly traduced into so speedy and effectual way of Vindication by the proceeding against the said Earl of Glamorgan and though we
signing this Declaration were actually there consenting to the Peace and all the Congregation either at or after the conclusion of the Peace subscribed to it So that by the general Consent of the Congregation first or last Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon Donogh Lord Viscount Muskery c. were to look to the performance of the Articles of Peace and thereby had greater pretence to be proper Judges of the Violation of the said Articles than this Congregation Yet without consulting them they publish this Declaration and fulminate their Excommunication against any that should adhere to Us among other things for pretended Violation of the Peace and would not by the said Commissioners be perswaded to retract it Where they say We neither did nor could demonstrate unto them any way of preserving the Remainder of the Kingdom under Our Government it was a Question never asked of Us either by the Bishop of Dromore and Dr. Charles Kelly who brought Us the Message or by the Bishops of Cork and Clonfert that were sent to Us for Our Answer or indeed by any other If such a Question had been moved to Us We should doubtless have answered That the most probable way of preserving the Remainder of the Kingdom was by the chearful Submission of the Cities Towns and People to the rightful Authority placed over them And if the Congregation or as many of them as are now there should be put to shew a more probable way or to quit the Kingdom it is possible it might be fit for them to think of their Voyage as it might in such case be reasonably hoped the Kingdom might be preserved Thus have We gone through and answered all that we could ever see or hear objected against us by the Congregation and acquainted you by what Steps they have proceeded to their Declaration and Excommunication wherein we have recited their own Words and related their own Actions so truly that they cannot if they would deny any part of what we have set down as theirs and therein also we have been the more particular because it is doubtful whether ever we shall have another Opportunity of vindicating our Self from false Aspersions cast upon our Person and Actions Appendix XLIX The Information of the Marquess of Antrim MY Lord of Antrim by Letters earnestly pressing to a Conference with us whose Names are underwritten being then at the Camp of Killahan in the County of Meath there was a Meeting with his Lordship assented unto and accordingly we this Day being the 9th of May 1650 met him at Miltown between Killahan and Killehan in the said County where and when amongst other Discourses and particularly concerning a Commission supposed to have been by the late King given to the Irish for their rising and acting as they have done in Ireland on the 23d Day of October 1641 and after he the said Lord of Antrim said that he knew nothing of any such Commission but that the late King before the said rising of the Irish in Ireland sent one Thomas Bourk Kinsman to the Earl of Clanrickard to the Lord of Ormond and to him the Lord of Antrim with a Message That it was the King's Pleasure and Command that those eight thousand Men raised by the Earl of Strafford in Ireland should be continued without disbanding and that they should be made up twenty Thousand and that they should be armed out of the Store of Dublin and imployed against the Parliament and particularly that the Castle of Dublin should be surprized and secured which the said Lord of Antrim's Discourse in Substance aforesaid was delivered at the Time and Place before mentioned in the Presence of us Signed John Reynolds Henry Clogher The 11th of May 1650 another Meeting was given by us undernamed to the Lord of Antrim at the aforesaid Place when and where amongst other Discourses and in pursuance of that formerly by his Lordship delivered of the King's Instructions concerning the rising of the Irish in Ireland the Lord of Antrim further added That the Letters of Credence by the late King to Thomas Bourke before mentioned were in Substance as followeth Thomas Bourk you are to repair to Ormond and Antrim in Ireland who are to give Credit to what you are to say to them from Us. C. R. Which Letter of Credit being by the said Bourk shewed to Ormond and to him the Lord of Antrim he the said Bourk declared the King's Pleasure concerning the said eight thousand Men and what is before particularly mentioned in his Lordship's Discourse on the 9th Instant which we the Subscribers have read the same in Substance being repeated to us by the Lord of Antrim The said Lord of Antrim further said in our Presence That after the Declaration to the Lord of Ormond and to him the Lord of Antrim made by the said Bourk of the King's Pleasure as aforesaid they the Lords of Ormond and Antrim endeavoured a Meeting with each other for ordering Affairs accordingly but there being as they supposed jealous Eyes over them they could not for a time compass it conveniently he said that in the Parliament then sitting at Dublin they would often take occasion to retire into the withdrawing Room belonging to the Lords House of Parliament in the Castle of Dublin but being followed by others they had not their Conveniency for Discourse which they desired That having appointed a Meeting at the Bowling-Ally in the Colledg-green in Dublin they would there sometimes exchange some Words but having at length gained a fit Opportunity for a Meeting after some Debates it was by them concluded That present Dispatch should be made and sent to the King of that resolved on for his Service Ormond asking Antrim Whom he would employ in that Business to the King he answered that he would send the Lord Macgnire And I said Ormond will send over my Lord of Muskery and a time being appointed for preparing the said Dispatches they then parted but after some Days Ormond again meeting with him the Lord of Antrim told him that Dublin was no convenient Place for their Business that therefore the Lord of Ormond would retire into the Country for preparing of the said Dispatches desiring him the Lord of Antrim to meet him at a time appointed at Kilka in the County of Kildare belonging to the late Countess-Dowager of Kildare whither Ormond said he would come on Pretence of a hawking Recreation and that there they might discourse of all things freely That the time of meeting drawing nigh and the Lord of Antrim prepared for it he was therein prevented by a Message from Ormond wherewithal Colonel John Barry was sent intimating that the Lord of Ormond having considered of the Business he conceived it convenient that one of them two should repair to the King immediately rather than so great an Affair should be trusted by any other That for himself he said that being a Stranger at Court his going thither could not be without Suspicion but that he the
Lord of Antrim might pass freely earnestly desiring him to undertake the Work but he the Lord of Antrim refused saying He would not go if Ormond would not go also yet was the Lord of Antrim by the pressing Solicitation of Colonel Barry aforesaid perswaded to send some one from himself to the King for intimating what was resolved for his Service and signifying the already disbanding those 8000 Men raised in Ireland by the Earl of Strafford This Dispatch was sent by Captain Digby Constable of the Castle of Dunluce in the North of Ireland belonging to the Lord of Antrim with those Dispatches the said Digby did overtake the King at York he being then on his way to Scotland and from York was Digby returned back to him the Lord of Antrim by the King signifying his Pleasure That all possible Endeavours should be used for getting again together those 8000 Men so disbanded and that an Army should immediately be raised in Ireland that should declare for him against the Parliament of England and to do what was therein necessary and convenient for his Service Upon receiving this the King's Pleasure by Captain Digby he the Lord of Antrim imparted the Design to the Lord of Gormonstown and to the Lord of Slane and after to many others in Lienster and after going into Vlster he communicated the same to many there but the Fools such was his Lordship's Expression to us well liking the Business would not expect our time or manner for ordering the Work but fell upon it without us and sooner and otherwise than we should have done taking to themselves and in their own way the managing of the Work and so spoiled it It being by us demanded of his Lordship how he intended it should be managed He answered That the Castle of Dublin being then to be surprized if the Lords Justices should oppose the Design the Parliament then sitting should declare for the King against the Parliament of England and that the whole Kingdom should be raised for the King's Service and that if the Lords Justices would not join in the Work they should be secured and all others who would or might oppose them should be also secured Which Discourse was freely made by his Lordship without any Caution given us therein of Secrecy yet was it demanded by us Whether his Lordship would give us leave to have the same signified to his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and to the Lord President of Munster His Lordship answered That he gave us free liberty so to do which his Lordship's Discourse we have for our better Remembrance reduced to Writing and testified the same under our Hands to be as aforesaid Signed Henry Clogher Henry Owen Having seen and read this Paper containing the Particulars of a Conference between Me and the Lord of Clogher and Colonel Reynolds and between me and the said Lord of Clogher and Mr. Henry Owen I do hereby acknowledg it to be the same in Substance with what passed excepting where it is said that Captain Digby was by the late King returned with a Dispatch to Me whereas the Dispatch was sent to me from the King by one William Hamerstone and whereas it is said that the said late King appointed that the Army with us to be continued and raised in Ireland should be employed against the Parliament it is to be intended if occasion should be for so doing And I do hereby aver the Truth of all so delivered with the other Corrections and Qualifications thereunto added Witness my Hand this August the 22d 1650. ANTRIM Observations on the Marquess of Antrim's Information FIrst it expresly clears the King from giving any Commission for the Irish Rebellion nor is there any thing in it that can charge his Majesty with the least Thought or Intention that his Protestant Subjects in Ireland should be either plundered or murdered nevertheless when an unthinking Reader finds that the Castle of Dublin was to be surpriz'd he runs away with the Notion that the Irish Conspiracy was pursuant to that Order and the King was in the bottom of that barbarous Rebellion and this perhaps was one design of this Information but the chief end of it was to abuse the World with a Belief that the King was not necessitated to a War with the Parliament by any thing then newly happened in 1642. but that he had projected it long before and had made this Preparation to put it in Execution Secondly This Information cannot be true but either Antrim deceived the World or Burk imposed upon him for besides that Ormond and Antrim was unfit to be joyned in a Commission as well because there were never any good Understanding between them as also because they were of different Religions and Interests how much more obvious and easy less scandalous and more effectual would it have been for the King to have made Ormond Lord-Deputy than to order him to surprize the Castle and the Lords Justices Moreover these 12000 additional Men could not have been raised without Noise and Time nor kept without Money nor Armed at all for there were not 12000 Arms in the Store 23 Octob. and yet 8000 of them were the Arms of the disbanded Men which they were to keep on Foot But it is yet more strange that before any Breach with the Parliament and whilst Matters tended to an Accommodation more hopefully than in some Months before the King should by such a rash and imprudent Action administer such cause of Jealousy to the Parliament at so unseasonable a time whilst he was absent in Scotland as would certainly put the Kingdom of England in a Flame and lose his Majesty the Hearts and Hands of more English Cavaliers than he could gain of Irish-Men But to put this matter out of doubt the King long before he went to York which was in the middle of August knew the Irish Army would be disbanded and therefore consented to license four Regiments to be levied out of them for the Service of the King of Spain as appears by the following Letter copied from the Original ORMOND I Have taken this Occasion by the recommending the Son of one of my faithful Servants to assure you that I very much esteem You and that I do but seek an Occasion to shew it you by more than Words as I commanded the Vice-Treasurer to tell you more fully and in particular concerning the blew Riband of which you may be confident only I desire you not to take notice of it until I shall think it fit The Particular for this Bearer George Porter is to permit him to make up a Regiment of the disbanded Army if he can do it by Perswasion to carry them out of the Country for the King of Spain's Service this is all So I rest Whitehall the 19th of June 1641. Your assured Friend CHARLES R. Moreover how much the King was surprized with the Irish Rebellion will also appear in his Letter to the Marquess of Ormond whom
Andrew Birmingham Nicholas de London and many others were slain and though the Lord Justice lost his Son Richard Lord of Athenry who died about this time yet all this did not hinder him from attending the King but he left in his place Ralph de Gorges Lord Deputy or Governor who continued so until the Second Day of February 1323. and then he was superseded by Sir John Darcy 1323. Lord Justice in whose time Philip Talon and his Son Fragm 7. and eight and twenty others were kill'd by Edmond Butler Rector of Tillagh and amongst the Records in the Tower of London Anno 15. E. 2. This notable Memorandum is to be found viz. In Abbathia Melifontis talis inolevit Error Lib. GGG quod nullus ibi admittatur in domum praedictam nisi primitus facta fide quod Non sit de genere Anglorum About this time Sir Henry Traherne took Mac Morough and kill'd O Nolan and four and twenty of his Followers It seems the King was muâ—h in the Favour of Pope John the twenty second for besides the aforesaid Release of the Peter-Pence the Pope did this Year 16 Edw. 2. impose a Disme on the Irish Clergy for two Years Lib. GGG payable to the King and commanded the Dean and Chapter of Dublin to levy it but the Prelates and Clergy refused to pay it to them unless they would shew the Original Bull. But on the the twenty fourth of November Vide postea ad annum 1344. at Notingham the King by assent of his Council made and published most excellent Ordinances for the Reformation of Ireland Pryn. 264. which are to be found at large in Mr. Pryns Animadversions on the fourth Institutes and are to this effect I. That no Officer of the Kings in Ireland whilst in Office shall purchase Lands or Tenements within their Jurisdiction on Pain of forfeiting the same II. That no Man by colour of his Office take Victuals or any other thing without the consent of the Party unless in case of Necessity for the Publick and then he must have the Advice of the greatest of the Council and a Writ out of the Chancery or unless he have the King's Letters or an Order from the Chancery of England III. That the Exportation of Corn to England or Wales be not hindered the Party paying the usual Customs be he Native or Stranger and giving Security not to carry it to our Enemies IV. That the Lord Justice take but four Pence for the Seal and two Pence for the writing of a Bill of Grace and that the Marshal take but four Pence for a Commitment V. No Protections or Pardons to be granted to Felons without special Order under one of the Seals of England VI. No Writs to be obeyed except such as are under the great Seal or the Seal of the Exchequer if the matter concerns that Court Lastly That the Lord Justice shall not adjourn Assizes before him unless he be present in the same County nor for any longer time than he continues there And at the same time a Writ issued to the Chancellor of Ireland Ibid. 26â— to Publish Enrol and Observe the aforesaid Ordinances and to send the Exemplifications of them to the rest of the Courts By reason of the fourteen Years Truce the King had made with the Scots 1325. there was not much other Disturbance in Ireland than what was occasioned by private Murders Walter de Valle and his Son were slain near Nenagh and the Lord John Barry of Hely a very stout Man was murthered by the O Kerals and therefore to fill up this Space I will insert the Famous or rather foolish Story of Alice Kettle in the Words of my Author In those Days lived in the Diocess of Ossory Holingshead 69. the Lady Alice Kettle whom the Bishop ascited to purge her self of the Fame of Inchantments and Witchcraft imposed unto her and to one Petronil and Basil her Complices She was charged to have nightly Conference with a Spirit called Robin Artisson to whom she sacrificed in the High-way nine red Cocks and nine Peacocks Eyes Also that she swept the Streets of Kilkenny between Complin and Twilight raking all the Filth towards the Doors of her Son William Outlaw murmuring and muttering secretly with her self these Words To the House of William my Son Hie all the Wealth of Kilkenny Town At the first Conviction they abjured and did Penance but shortly after they were found in Relapse and then was Petronil burnt at Kilkenny the other twain might not be heard of she at the Hour of her Death accused the said William as privy to their Sorceries whom the Bishop held in Durance nine Weeks forbidding his Keepers to eat or drink with him or to speak to him more than once in the Day but at length through the Suit and Instance of Arnold le Powre then Seneschal of Kilkenny he was delivered and afterwards he corrupted with Bribes the Seneschal to persecute the Bishop so that he thrust him into Prison for three Months In rifling the Closet of the Lady they found a Wafer of Sacramental Bread having the Devil's Name stamped thereon And a Pipe of Oyntment wherewith she greased a Staff upon which she ambled and galloped through thick and thin when and in what manner she listed This Business about these Witches troubled all the State of Ireland the more for that the Lady was supported by certain of the Nobility and lastly conveyed into England since which Time it could never be understood what became of her At Whitsontide 1326. the Parliament met at Kilkenny and thither the Earl of Vlster and most of the Nobility came what they did does not appear Lib. GGG saving that five thousand Quarters of Corn were sent out of Ireland to Aquitain for the King's use about this time and it is probable they raised Mony to pay for it Cambden tells us That the Earl of Vlster made a great Feast at this Parliament and that not long after he died But we must make a step to England before we can come to an end of this Unfortunate Reign and there we shall find the King for his Male administration in Disgrace with his People and which was worse reduced under the Power and Scorn of an Adulterous Wife the consequence of these things was That he was first imprisoned and afterwards murthered in Berkly Castle In this King's Reign flourished the famous Irish Philopher Johannes Dunus Scotus commonly stiled Doctor subtilis And it was in the same Reign that the Lord Mortimer Owner to Proprietor of Leix now Queens County being obliged by his Inclination or Business to reside in England did entrust one of the Omores with the management of his Estate but in process of time the Irishman sets up for himself and for a long time enjoyed that Country and still pretends a Right to it although his Claim is built on this perfidious and ungrateful Foundation Davis 198
that Land and to go personally thither and an Army was design'd for him and he was created Duke of Ireland in order to that Expedition and notwithstanding all this on the twenty third of July 1393. the King sent him a Letter to stop his Voyage because his Majesty intended to go to that Kingdom in person For the King was netled with an Answer his Ambassadors received in Germany when they were solliciting for the Imperial Crown that they did not think him fit to be their Emperor who could not keep what his Ancestors had gain'd in France nor rule his insolent Subjects in England nor tame his rebellious Vassals in Ireland and therefore partly to vindicate his Reputation and partly to divert the Melancholy which had seiz'd him on the Death of his Wife he undertook a Royal Voyage to Ireland with four thousand Men at Arms and thirty thousand Archers under S. Edwards Banner It seems that Sir Thomas Scroop was sent before him to prepare for the Kings Reception for I find him named Lord Justice on the 26th of April 1394. 1394. But however that be it is certain that on the Second Day of October Richard the Second King of England Landed at Waterford with a mighty Army whereof he made but small use for the Irish betook themselves to their old Stratagems of feigned and crafty Submissions wherewith they had deluded and abused King Henry the Second and King John in former times However Mowbray Earl of Notingham and Marshal of England had a special Commission to receive the Homage and Oaths of Fidelity of all the Irish of Leinster by vertue whereof Girald O Birne Donald O Nolan Malachias O Morough Rory oge O More Arthur Mac Morough Morough O Connor and others made their humble submission by an Interpreter in the open Field at Baligory near Carlow on the 16th of February They did Homage in solemn manner and made their Oaths of Fidelity to the Earl Marshal laying aside their Girdles Skeins and Caps and falling down at his Feet upon their Knees which being performed the Marshal gave each of them Osculum Pacis Moreover they were bound by several Indentures upon great Penalties to be paid to the Apostolick Chamber viz. O Birne twenty thousand Marks O Nolan ten thousand pounds c. not only to continue Loyal Subjects but that by a certain day prefix'd they and all their Sword-men should clearly relinquish and give up unto the King and his Successors all the Lands and possessions which they held in Leinster and taking with them only their moveable Goods should serve him in his Wars against his other Rebels In consideration whereof the King was to give them Pay and Pensions during their Lives and to bestow the inheritance of all such Lands upon them as they should recover from the Rebels in any other part of the Realm And thereupon a Pension of eighty Marks per annum was granted to Art Mac Murrough Chief of the Cavenaghs which was continued to his Posterity till the time of Henry the Eighth although they did nothing for it But the King having received Letters from O Neal wherein he stiles himself Prince of the Irishry in Vlster and yet acknowledgeth the King to be his Sovereign Lord and Dominus perpetuus Hiberniae removed to Drogheda to take the Submissions of the Irish of Vlster Thither came to him O Neal O Hanlon O Donel Mac Mahon and others who with the like humility and ceremony as aforesaid performed their Homage and Fealty to the Kings own Person in these or the like Words mutatis mutandis Ego Nelanus O Neal Senior tam pro meipso quam pro filiis meis tota Natione mea Parentelis meis pro omnibus Subditis meis devenio Ligeus Homo vester c. And in the Indenture between O Neal and the King he is bound not only to remain faithful to the Crown of England but also to restore the Bonaught of Vlster to the Earl of Vlster as of right belonging to that Earldom and amongst other things usurped by the O Neals These Indentures and Submissions with many more of the same kind for there was not a Chieftain or Head of an Irish Sept but submitted himself in one Form or other the King himself caused to be enrolled and testified by a Notary Publick and with his own hands delivered the Enrolments to the Bishop of Salisbury who on the 25th of June delivered to the Court of Exchequer two Hanapers one containing thirty nine and the other thirty six Instruments which were all there recorded or enrolled so that they have been carefully preserved and are now to be found in the Remembrancers Office and the Copies of them all are to be seen at Lambeth Libro D. In the mean time Lib. G. Lambeth on the first of February the King wrote a Letter to his Unkle the Duke of York who it seems was his Deputy in England signifying that there were three sorts of People in Ireland viz. Irish Savages or Enemies Irish Rebels and English Subjects and that perhaps the Rebels had cause and provocation to do as they have done and that therefore he has given them Truce till Easter and designs to pardon them generally and concludes with a Desire of his Advice in this Particular The Duke and the Council on the 19th of March return an Answer Lib. M. That they had formerly given their Opinion to prosecute the Rebels but that his Majesty being on the Place best knew what was fit to be done and that they did not mislike his Intention provided the Rebels did pay some considerable Fines towards the Charge of the Kings Voyage and also took out their particular Pardons within a limited Time Lib. G. and not long after finding that the King had accepted the Irish Submissions and valued himself upon the Atchievement they send him a congratulatory Letter and humbly pray his Majesty to return to England Several of the Irish Historians one of them misleading another say that the King did call a Parliament at Christmas and about Shrovetide return'd to England but as I am sure he did not return in many Weeks after Shrovetide so I believe he held no other Parliament in Ireland at this time than that there being a great Concourse of the Chief Men of the Land to Dublin to attend the King it is probable the King consulted with them about the publick Affairs and that they complained to his Majesty of such Grievances as needed to be redress'd Lib. G. and particularly That whereas the Chancery us'd to pay into the Exchequer two thousand Marks per annum for the Great Seal besides defraying the Charge of that Court it now hardly pays its own Officers their Salaries because Grants for which the Parties formerly paid an hundred pound are now made for ten shillings and Secondly That James Cotenham Deputy Admiral of Ireland to the Earl of Rutland committed great Abuses and exacted a Tribute of
until Fitz Girald could come to relieve it But the perfidious Governor Christopher Parese Fitz-Girald's Foster-Brother a white-Liver'd Traytor resolved to purchase his own security with his Lord's Ruine and to that end got Letters conveyed to the Lord Deputy importing that he would surrender the Castle upon certain Articles by him propos'd all which concerned only his own Profit without mention of his Safety The Lord Deputy readily accepted of the Offer and agreed to the Conditions required Whereupon Parese after some small Advantage they had got in a Sally caus'd the Garrison to rejoyce and carouse to that degree that they were all dead drunk and then upon a Signal given the English scaled the Walls and entred the Castle Captain Holland being one of the first hapned to leap down into a Pipe of Feathers and there stuck and Sir William Brereton being got in cried out S. George S. George whereat one of the Garrison awakened and shot at Captain Holland but he being rescued out of the Feathers by his Companions killed the Souldier After that there was little or no resistance and Sir William Brereton soon advanced his Standard on the Top of the Turret The Spoil and Plunder of this Castle was exceeding great and rich this being accounted the best furnished House belonging to any Subject in the Kings Dominions The Lord Deputy entred in the Afternoon before whom two Varlets James de la Hide and Hayward both Choristers prostrated themselves warbling a sweet Sonnet call'd Dulcis Amica their Melody sav'd their Lives which at the request of Chief Justice Ailmer the Deputy pardoned Parese expecting some great Reward with abundance of Confidence and Familiarity presented himself before the Deputy who told him That he was to thank him on the King's behalf for his Service which saved much Charge and many Lives and doubted not when the King was acquainted therewith he would provide for him during his Life and the better to advise the King how to reward him he desired to know what Fitz-Girald had done for him Parese set agog with this Discourse recounted the most minute instances of Fitz Girald's Liberality to him upon which the Deputy reply'd And how Parese couldst thou find in thy heart to betray the Castle of so kind a Lord And turning to his Officers he bids them pay him the Mony and then to chop off his Head Had I known this quoth Parese your Lordship should not have had the Castle so easily Whereupon one Mr. Boyse being by cried out Auntraugh i. e. too late which occasion'd the Saying often us'd in Ireland Too late quoth Boyse In the mean time Fitz-Girald by the aid of O Connor and others had got an Army of seven thousand Men with which he design'd to raise the Siege of Minooth but upon News of its Surrender his Army deserted him daily and mouldred away almost to nothing Reputation as I observed before much governing the Irish and perhaps all the World beside with the few that were left he marched to Clane and the Deputy leaving Brereton Governor of Dublin marched to Naas where he took sevenscore of the Rebel Gallowglasses whom upon notice of Fitz-Girald's Approach the Deputy commanded to be slain only Edmond Oleme escaped stark naked to his Master Fitz-Girald There was a Bog between both Armies so that the Horse could not skirmish but the Deputy with his Artillery easily broke and scattered Fitz-Girald's inconsiderable Troops put them to flight slew many and took some Prisoners After this Defeat 1535. Fitz-Girald never appeared at the Head of any considerable Army but by small Parties would now and then make some slight Excursions and particularly after the Surrender of Rathingan which hapned in the beginning of the Year he caused a Drove of Cattel to appear near the Town early in the Morning and the English believing that the Cattel strayed that way and might easily be made Booty most of the Garrison sallied to that intent and were intercepted by an Ambush and slain Another time he burnt a Village near Trim and sent two or three of his Men clad like the English Soldiers to Trim and pretending that they were Captain Salisbury's Men they told the Garrison that the Rebel Fitz-Girald was burning the Village Whereupon most part of the Soldiers sallied out and were killed On the 11th of May the Lord Butler was created Viscount Thurles and Admiral of Ireland and on the twenty first his Father the Earl of Ossory and he were made Governors of the Counties of Kilkenny Waterford and Typerary and the Territories of Ossory and Ormond and they promised to do their utmost endeavour to recover the Castle of Dungarvan and to resist the Vsurpations of the Bishop of ROME Lib. H. Lambeth which is the first Engagement I have met with of that kind It seems that the Lord Grey had been sent to England for Supplies and that he now returned with Horsemen and Archers under Sir William Senlo Sir Rice Mansel and Sir Edward Griffith who were conveniently garrisoned in the Pale for I find by a Letter of the twenty first of August to the Lord Cromwel from Chief Justice Ailmer and Allen Master of the Rolls that the Lord Grey Landed the twenty ninth of July and that they came on shoar the first of August and were exceedingly surpriz'd at the alteration they found in the Country for that six of eight Baronies in the County of Kildare were burnt and depopulated and so likewise was part of Meath and that Sir William Brabazon at the Naas was the Man that prevented the total Ruine and Desolation of the Country That Powerscourt which cost five thousand Marks was ruin'd by the Birns and Tools That Fitz-Girald had regain'd Rathingan by the Treachery of the Ward but that he quitted it upon approach of the Army and the Lord Deputy might have surpriz'd him in it if he would or had been as diligent as he ought That O More who joyn'd with the English had so posted his own Men and the Kings that the Rebels were surrounded and Fitz-Girald could not have escaped if a Brigade of the English had not quitted their Station however Burnel of Balligriffin was taken and was afterwards hang'd at Tyburn That the Pestilence raged at Dublin and that the Lord Deputy designed to quarter a thousand Kerns for three Months on the Pale which would ruine it but their Arrival with Money alter'd that to a Cess for this Expedition only whereunto the People chearfully consented That they had engaged Cahir O Connor against his Brother by allowing him twelve Horse and one hundred and sixty Kerns in his Majesties Pay That the Deputy is sick and not able to defend Minooth where he lodges but suffers his own Cattle to be taken from the very Gates That there is no hope of O Neal's Loyalty since he gave no Hostages and finally this Letter highly extols Sir William Brabazon the worthy Ancestor of the Earl of Meath as the Saviour of the
Kerry to the Sheriff and the Lord of Lixnaw with the Lord President of Munster he returned to Dublin the 9th of August 1584. In his way he took Pledges from Pheagh Mac Hugh and appointed Sir Henry Harrington to take the like from O Birne O Toole and the Septs of O More and O Connor and committed the Kings County to the care of Sir George Bourcher and of the Queens County to Sir Warham Saint Leger he also appointed Commissioners to take Hostages of the Cavenaghs and when he came to Dublin he decided a Controversy between Philip and Sir John O Reyley to both their Satisfaction About this time the Lord Deputy published Orders to be observed by Justices of the Peace one whereof was lodged with every Custos Rotulor Lib. C. the most material of them were to keep Sessions Quarterly to enquire into Penalties of Statutes forfeited Recognizances Contempts Breach of Peace winking at Malefactors Confederacies and Parlies with Tâ—â—ytors or notorious known Theives that all Men and Women from Sixteen to Seventy be Booked and Sworn to Allegiance else committed to Goal to have General Musters every year and see the People are Armed according to Law to have Buts and common Pounds to make two High-Constables Substantial Gentlemen in every Barony and printed Books of their Duty to be sent them and also two petty Constables in each Barony to send to Goal all Spies Carrows Bards and Idlers c. To appoint two Searchers for every Parish to Search the Houses and Persons not Gentlemen for Beef Pork or Mutton and if any such be found and no notice was given to the Searcher of the Killing thereof the Party shall be punished by Fine and to cause all Cattle to be marked with Pitch or Ear-mark on pain of Forfeiture On the 25th of August The Deputy with One thousand Foot some Kearns and the Risings out of the Pale and some Lords of Munster and well accompanied with Officers and Persons of Quality set out from Dublin and came the 29th to Newry where Turlogh Lynogh submitted and put in Pledges as did also soon after Macgenis Mac Mahon Turlogh Brasilogh and others The Lord Deputy having thus secured the Country ordered some Ships to Loghfoyle to attack the Scots that way which they got notice of and immediately retired and went off to Scotland almost in sight of the English Ships and their escape was imputed to the negligence of the Sea-Commanders However the Deputy proceeded to the Ban himself Ormond and the Nobility kept Clandeboy side and General Norris and the Baron Dungannon kept Tyrone side The Deputy spoiled Brian Carrows Country and forced him and Surleboy to fly to Glancomkeane with their Creights and Cows Norris took a prey of 200 Cows from Ochane which gave great relief to the Army but 100 of his stragling Boys and Servants were cut off by Brian Carrows men and some that came to their Rescue were wounded and soon after Mr. Thomas Norris was wounded in the Knee with an Arrow and Oliver Lambert was taken Prisoner in Ochanes Country nevertheless the Rebels fled from the English and were worsted in most encounters so that Captain Meriman brought a good Prey from their fastness and Norris scour'd Glancomkene-wood preyed Brian Carrows Country and slew them that were put to defend it Hereupon Ochane submitted and put in Hostages and was the first Rebel in Arms that was pardoned since the Deputy came over then went the Deputy to besiege Dunluce and sent Artillery by Sea to Skerries portrush and thence by men it was drawn two miles it soon brought the Ward to parley and to surrender this impregnable place and the fame of this Exploit made the Warders desert Donfert and these losses forced Surleboy to submit and put in Hostages and to beg Pardon which was granted him Whilst the Deputy abode in Vlster O Donell and O Toole submitted themselves unto him and there happening some Controversies between Turlogh Lynogh and others of the O-Neals he caus'd them to implead one another by Bill and Answer that so those Contests might be regularly decided he also gave them an Oath of Allegiance and drew the Grandees of Vlster to a Composition for the maintenance of 1100 Soldiers at their own charge the Queen allowing every 100 men 250 Pounds Lib. M. per annum also they agreed to surrender their Estates and take new Patents and in like manner the Lady Camphell and Donell Gorme made their Submismissions at the Camp near Dunluce on the 18th of September and obtain'd a Grant of that part of the Glinns formerly Massets paying 50 Bieves yearly and supplying 80 Soldiers to serve the Crown when required And so the Deputy left 200 Foot and 50 Horse at Colrain and came to Newry on the 28th of September to which place Turlogh Lynogh brought Henry Son of Shan O Neal and delivered him prisoner to his Lordship Con mac Neal Oge was forc'd to content himself with the upper Clandeboy and the Lieutenancy or Government of Vlster was divided between Turlogh Lynogh the Baron of Dungannon and Sir Henry Bagnall and this great Service being thus effected the Deputy return'd to Dublin the 11 of October Hence the Deputy gave an account to the Lords of the Council in England of his great Success and proposed that for 50000 per annum added to the Revenue for three years he would wall seaven Towns Athloan Dingle Colrain Liffer Sligo Newry and Mayo and build seaven Castles at Black-water and Ballishannon Bellick Broad-water in Munster Castlemartine in the Routs Galin in the Queens County and Kilcomane and erect seaven Bridges at Colrain Liffer Ballishannon Dundalk Fermoy Veale near Slevelogher and Kells in Clande-boy and with the help of the Vlster Composition he would likewise maintain 2000 Foot and 400 Horse during that time he desired 600 Soldiers and a Chief Justice might be sent over that Tamistry might be abolished and the Irish Lands pass'd in Patent to the Proprietors on English Tenures to all which he received a smooth but dilatory Answer and therefore wrote again to the Parliament of England the 17 of January 1584. to the same effect and with like success Nevertheless this active Governour proceeded to doe what he could to repair the broken and miserable Estate of Ireland he encouraged the Bishops to the Repair of Churches and wrote to England that no more Bishopricks might be granted in Comendam and he also divided Vlster into Counties and placed Sheriffs Justices of Peace Constables and other Officers in them And then he summoned a Parliament to meet the 26th of April 1585. at Dublin and caused the Irish to conform to the English Habit to which they have a great aversion because they esteem it a mark of Subjection The Irish Lords were obliged to wear Robes and the better to induce them to it the Deputie bestowed Robes on Turlogh Lynogh and other principal men of the Irish which they embraced like fetters so that one of
to excuse my self from communicating to you such Observations as I have made On the contrary I have herewith sent you what I have already collected and will as often as you desire impart to you whatever shall fall under my Notice or Observation that is pertinent to your purpose The Interval between the end of the War and Cromwell's Death affords but little matter for an Historian for it was a time of profound Peace and spent in setting out of Lands setling of Titles in Building and Improvements and in transplanting the Irish into Connaught and imposing the Engagement The Government was managed by Commissioners of Parliament viz. Charles Fleetwood Lieutenant-General of the Army Edmond Ludlow Lieutenant-General of the Horse Miles Corbet John Jones and John Weaver Esquires but the Army was under the sole Conduct of Fleetwood In November 1653. the Commissioners of Delinquency sate at Athlone to determine the Qualifications of the Irish for Transplantation into Connaught and they continued eight Months but did not dispatch Business as was expected and therefore Judg Cook was fain to supply their Defect and some of the other Commissioners removed to Loghreogh to set out Lands to the Irish pursuant to Cook 's Decrees But in Anno 1654. Fleetwood was made Lord Deputy and so continued until August 1655. and then Henry Cromwell was made Commander in Chief of the Army and in the Civil Government Matthew Thomlinson Miles Corbet and Robert Goodwin were in Commission with him and to them Mr. Steel the Chancellor was afterwards added And it was in the year 1655. that the Civil Authority which had been discontinued in Cork since the year 1644. was revived and Sir William 〈◊〉 Maurice Roch Christopher Oliver John Morly John Hodder and other ancient Freemen of the City met and elected John Hodder Mayor and William Hodder and Philip Matthews Sheriffs And in the same year the City and County of Londonderry were restored to the Society of the Governour and Assistants of London of the new Plantation in Ulster within the Realm of Ireland this County being the forfeited Estate of O Cahan and other Irish Septs was by King James granted to this Society under certain Covenants of Improvement whereupon they laid out vast Sums of Money in the Management of that Plantation by building Derry Colerain and twelve Mannor-houses c. But Anno 1636. they were prosecuted in the Star-Chamber on pretence of breach of Articles and their Estates sequestred and Anno 1637. Sir Thomas Fotherly and Sir Ralph Whitfield were Commissioned by the King to make new Leases thereof And tho there did pass a Vote of Parliament Anno 1640. to null the Decree of the Star-Chamber yet by reason of the Irish Rebellion following so soon after they were not restored until this year but Anno 1662. King Charles II. gave a new Charter to this Society under which it flourished till of late But to proceed After Oliver's Death the new Protector made his Brother Henry Cromwell Lord Lieutenant and so he continued until the 7th of May 1659. and then the Parliament sent over Ludlow Jones Thomlinson Corbet and Berry to Govern that Kingdom but Ludlow returned in September so that he was not in Ireland when the following Revolution happened For the People being weary of so many Alterations and Changes and despising the Unsteadiness of the Government were generally inclined to the King's Restauration And this humour being fomented and discreetly managed centred in what they desired The Lords of Montgomery and Broghall Sir Charles Coot Captain Robert Fitz-Gerald Sir Theophilus Jones Sir Oliver Saint-George Sir Awdly Mervin Collonel Mark Trevor Collonel Warren and several others were concerned in this Affair January 1659. They surpriz'd the Castle of Dublin and Jones in it and they seized on Corbet and Thomlinson at a Conventicle in St. Warbert-street and they forced or persuaded Major-General Sir Hardress Waller to comply and so they declared for a Free Parliament The Government being thus in the hands of the Army was managed by a Committee or Council of Officers who upon the Petition of the a Alderman Dee Mayor and Aldermen of Dublin did as they had before design'd summon a Convention By this time the Lord Broghill and Sir Charles Coot were come to Dublin and they projected to suspend the Convention until they had modell'd the Army to their mind and got rid of Sir Hardress Waller But he suspecting their Design seized upon the Castle of Dublin so that they were fain to besiege him and in five days forced him to surrender and then they sent Him Jones Thomlinson and Corbet Prisoners to England But the Victorious Confederates were like to Clash amongst themselves one Party being for Articling with the King for the Confirmation of the Estates of Adventurers and Soldiers and the other Party being for His Majesties Restoration without any previous Condition but at length they agreed in this latter Sentiment and the Convention met on the 7 th of February Sir James Barry being their Chair-man Their first Act was to order a Fast and Humiliation for their Sins amongst which the Murder of the King was Enumerated and all their Actions were suitable to this beginning so that they seemed to contend with England which should be most forward in Restoring the King On the 16 th of February The Council of Officers published their Memorable Declaration for a full and free Parliament and the Re-admission of the Secluded Members in the Parliament of England And pursuant to it the Convention published a Declaration on the 12 th of March to the same purpose and afterwards viz. the 14 th of May they accepted of His Majesties Declaration of the 14 th of April from Breda and cheerfully concurr'd to His Restoration And as soon as this was done the Irish Papists who had fat still all this while and contributed nothing to this great Revolution thought to reap all the Benefit of other Mens Merits insomuch that several of them took Possession of their former Estates and this Grievance was so general that the Convention was necessitated on the 20 th day of May 1660. to issue a Declaration for preserving the Peace and quieting Possessions and on the first of June His Majesty in England issued a Proclamation to the same purpose This Convention gave His Majesty 20000 l. the Duke of York 4000 l. the Duke of Glocester 2000 l. and then leaving a standing Committee to Govern the Nation Adjourn'd till the first day of November following On the 18 th of October His Majesty be Letter approv'd of this Convention and so on the 22 d of January it met again Sir William Dumvill being Chairman and so continued until its Dissolution in May 1661. In the mean time the Government was in the Hands of Sir Charles Coot and Major William Bury who were sided Commissioners of Government and Management of Affairs in Ireland but not long after Sir Maurice Eustace Lord Chancellor Roger Earl of
the Pale from appearing at Dublin and forc'd them to defend themselves however they sent his Majesties sworn Servant Lieutenant Collonel Read to represent their Case to his Majesty but he was not only stopped but also Racked at Dublin 10. That the Lord President of Munster by direction of the Lords Justices that Province being quiet put to death Men Women and Children without distinction and mistrusted and threatned the Catholick Nobles and Gentry and Arm'd inferior fellows and the Province of Conaught was used in like manner so that in these Provinces the Catholicks were forc'd on their defence still waiting his Majesties Pleasure and ready to obey his Commands whilst the Lords Justices c. were busie by Addresses to the Malignant Party in England to deprive the Irish of all hopes of his Majesties Justice and Mercy and to plant a perpetual enmity between the Enemy and them 11. That whereas Ireland since the Reign of Hen 2. hath had its own Parliament with equal Power Priviledges c. to that of England and only dependant on the Crown in all which time there is no President that a Statute made in England had any force in Ireland until Enacted there Now by false suggestions an Act of Adventurers 17 Car. hath past in England whereby the Irish unsummon'd and unhear'd are declared Rebels and two Millions and a half of Acres of their Land dispos'd of which Act tho' forc'd on his Majesty and in it self unjust and void yet continues of evil consequence and extream prejudice to his Majesty and totally destructive to the Irish Nation for tho' the scope seems to aim at Rebels only yet the words include all the Irish and takes away many of his Majesties Tenures and much of his Revenue and therefore they protest against it as an Act without President and against the Kings Prerogative and the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom and by colour whereof the Protestant Army disavow his Majesties Authority and depend on the Parliament 12. That strangers in Dublin being banish'd thence by Proclamation were by direction of the Lords Justices pillaged as soon as they got without the Town and what they left in the Town was confiscated and their desire to return under Protection was denyed that Catholicks quiet and under Protection were by the Lords Justices Order sooner destroy'd plundered or killed than those in Action and Quarter daily violated and others that came to Dublin for retreat and shelter were Imprisoned and Tryed for their Lives and Dublin Cork Youghall Kinsale and Tredagh that opened their Gates to his Majesties Forces are worse us'd than the Israelites in Egypt so that it will be made appear that more murthers breaches of publick Faith and Quarter more destruction and desolation and more cruelty not fit to be nam'd were committed in less than Eighteen Months by the direction and advice of the Lords Justices and their Party of the Council than can be parallel'd to have been done by any Christian people 13. That the Lords Justices have against the fundamental Laws procured several Sessions of Parliament tho' Nine parts of Ten of the genuine Members are absent it being inconsistent with their safety to come under the Power of the Lords Justices and in their room are Clerks Soldiers and Serving-men introduc'd into the House of Commons not at all Elected or not Legally Chosen and not having Estates however they have made Orders and releas'd Traytors Impeach'd in full Parliament and passed or might have passed some Acts against Law and prejudicial to his Majesty and the Nation and have also kept Terms only by false and illegal Judgments and Outlaries to Attaint many thousand good Subjects without Summons or Notice and obscure Men are made Sheriffs and Servants and Mechanicks are made Jurors to pass upon the Lives and Estates of those who came in upon Protection and publick Faith Wherefore and to settle the Revenue and prevent desolation and effusion of Blood and to procure the satisfaction of his Subjects who were willing to imploy 10000 men in defence of his Royal Rights they pray his Majesty to give gracious Answers to these Just complaints and to call a Free Parliament in an indifferent place before some Person of Honor and Fortune of approved Faith to his Majesty and acceptable to the People of Ireland who may be speedily Invested with the Government and that in such Parliament their grievances may be redress'd and Poynings Act suspended pro hac vice and either continued or Repeal'd as shall be thought fit and that no matter whereof complaint is made in this Remonstance may debar Catholicks from Sitting and Voting in such Parliament c. Delivered by the Lord Gormanstown Sir Lucas Dillon Sir Robert Talbot John Welsh Authorized by the Confederates 17 March 1642. to his Majesties Commissioners at Trim to be presented to the King Appendix VI. The Substance of the Answer of the Protestant Committee to the false and scandalous Remonstrance of the inhumane and bloody Rebels of Ireland given unto His Majesty at Oxford in May 1644. THAT the Remonstrants were not necessitated to take up Arms for their Religion for they were not troubled or so much as questioned about it for a long time before the Rebellion nor for His Majesties Prerogative for there were no Opponents of it in Ireland except the Remonstrants who have usurped all the King's Prerogatives as well as the Subjects Estates and have printed an Order of their general Assembly to exclude all Temporal Government and Jurisdiction but what is approved or instituted by that Assembly or the supream Council nor for their Lives Liberties and Estates because they had the Protection of the Law and His Majesties Government and not one Instance can be produced that a Papist quatenus a Papist ever suffered unpunished Violence from a Protestant either in Person or Estate except in open Rebellion And as to the just Liberties of Subjects wherein the Protestants are as much concerned as the Remonstrants they were never so fully and freely enjoyed in Ireland as at the Time of the Insurrection so that there was no Necessity to murther and rob the Protestants for the Preservation of the Confederates Nor have any of their Addresses since the Rebellion been slighted or suppressed Their first was from Cavan of the Sixth of November and received a mild and favourable Answer and was forthwith certified to the Lord Lieutenant The second was from seven Lords of the Pale then in Rebellion who refused upon safe Conduct to come to the State but desired Commissioners might be appointed to confer with them and though such a Condescention was thought dishonorable since it was the others duty to come to the Government yet both the Request and Answer were transmitted to the Lord Lieutenant Their third Address was from the united Lords by the Mediation of the Earl of Castlehaven 23 d. of March when His Majesties Army had raised the Siege of Tredagh and were Masters of the Field however