undertaken the Crusado I cannot determine which but for the one reason or the other he was removed and Henry de Londres Archbishop of Dublin April 23. 1219. was made Lord Justice and continued so for five years he was nick-named Scorchvillein Holingsh 32. by the Irish because they said he burnt his Tenants Leases and other Writings which they brought to shew him but this silly Story is not to be believ'd of so Learned a Man and so good a Governour as every body allows this Archbishop to have been especially since it is not denied but that he suffered all his Tenants to enjoy their Farms even according to their Claims It was this Lord Justice that built the Castle of Dublin anno 1220. 1220. And about the same time died at London William Earl Marshal Protector of the King and his Kingdoms Some Irish Antiquary was so silly to think he was call'd Marshal quasâ Mars his Seneschal for he was indeed a very warlike Man He was succeeded by his Son William against whom the Bishop of Fernes complained to the King That his Father had disseis'd the Church of two Mannors for which reason he was excommunicated and so died The King commanded the Bishop to go to the Earls Tomb and to absolve him and promis'd that he would endeavour his Satisfaction Hanmer 176. Whereupon the Bishop accompanied with the King went to the Grave and said O William that here liest wrapped in the Bonds of Excommunication if what thou hast injuriously taken be restored by the King or thy Heir or thy Friends with competent satisfaction I absolve thee otherwise I ratifie the Sentence that being wrapped in thy Sins thou maist remain damned in Hell for ever The King was dissatisfied with the rigour of the Bishop but could not prevail with the young Earl to part with any thing of his Estate wherefore the Bishop confirm'd his Curse and it brought no small Veneration to the Clergy that this Earl and his four Brethren died without Issue which the Superstitious People thought to be the Effect of that Execration The young Earl Marshal had great Contests with Hugh de Lacy Earl of Vlster 1221. so that Meath was wonderfully harass'd between them Trim was also besieged and reduced to an ill condition but it had the good Fortune to escape this Brush Hanmer 189. and to have a strong Castle built soon after to prevent the like Calamities for the future 6 Hen. 3. About this time Davis 15. 123. the King granted to O Brian King of Thomond the Country of Thomond habendum during the Kings Minority rendring an hundred and thirty Marks per annum which is the only Grant made by the Crown of England to any meer Irishman to that time except that to the King of Connaught And before this Davis 124. viz. 3 H. 3. Richard de Burgo for one thousand pound obtained a Grant of all Connaught to him and his Heirs after the Death of the then King of that Country The Lord Justice who was also Archbishop and Legate did in his Spiritual Capacity too much encroach on the Temporal Jurisdiction and therefore upon the Complaint of the Citizens of Dublin Aug. 9. 7 H. 3. he had a notable increpatory Writ sent to him 1222. which is to be found in Prin's Animadversions on the fourth Instit 251. And at the same time the King sent another Writ to the Justice to redress a Nusance to the Harbour and Citizens of Dublin Prin 251. according to the Law of England I find some Reasons to believe that the Lord Justice Londres was sent for to England anno 1220 and his Room supplied by Geofry de Marisco till his Return Octob. 28. the same Year but however that be it is certain that after this Justice had govern'd Ireland five Years he was removed And most probably was succeeded by ãâ¦ã William Earl Marshal 1224. Lord Justice In whose Time in May 8 Hen. 3. Lacy was so effectually pursued that he was forced to submit and the same Year was pardoned About the same Time the King prohibited Appeals to be made to the Pope Lib. Z. Z. and by his Letter to the Archbishop of Armagh Lamb. 19. severely reprimanded him for sending to the Pope about Causes Ecclesiastick The King in the fifth Year of his Reign had granted to the Citizens of Dublin towards walling their City three Pence out of every Sack of Wool six Pence for every Last of Hides and two Pence out of every Barrel of Wine sold in their City 1225. and now 9 Hen. 3. he gave them fifty Marks in Mony to the same purpose On the tenth Day of June 10 Hen. 3. A Writ was sent to the Lord Justice to seize on the Country of Connaught forfeited by O Connor 1226. and to deliver it to Richard de Burgh at the Rent of three hundred Marks for the first five Years and afterwards of five hundred Pound per annum except five choice Cantreds near Athlone which I suppose were designed for the Conveniency and Support of that Garrison But on the first Day of August 10 Hen. 3. Geofry de Marisco was made Lord Justice and had a Sallary of five hundred Marks payable out of the Exchequer granted unto him It is probable That soon after his Arrival his Predecessor William Earl Marshal repaired to Court to give the King an Account of his Administration And the Irish were forward to take Advantage of his Absence and the ill Posture of the King's Affairs in Ireland and therefore to make the best Use they could of this Opportunity they made so general a Confederacy that their Army amounted to twenty thousand Men Sperantes says my Author se posse omne genus Anglorum ab Hiberniae finibus exterminare But all this Ostentation came to nothing and this numerous Rabble were without much Difficulty defeated by Hugh de Lacy and Richard de Burgh and their Followers And the Irish General O Connor King of Connaught was taken Prisoner The King Lib. GGG in the fifth Year of his Reign wrote to all the Ports of Ireland Lambeth To make some Gallies in their respective Havens for the Defence and Security of him and his Kingdom of Ireland And in the tenth Year of his Reign he prevailed with the Pope to write to the Irish Bishops to give him a Subsidy 1227. And now the eleventh Year of his Reign the Pope did write to the Clergy To give Subsidiary Aid to the King Which it seems was effectual for I find this Entry on the Roll. 11 Henric. 3. Rex habuit auxilium de Hibernia And the same Year the Lord Justice received a Writ To aid the Episcopal Excommunication with the Secular Arm as was usual in England which is to be found at large Prin's Animadversions Prin 252. 252 and bears Date the eighteenth of January And there was also a Writ or Charter enjoyning
Popes Familiar and Kinsman and both Bastards saith Bale fill'd in like sort his Fardles in Scotland These Nuncio's were so crafty that they needed no Brokers they secretly understood by Posts and Cursitors the State of the Court of Rome which quailed them full sore that the Pope was either gone or panted for Life secretly by the conduct of the Monks of Canterbury they were conveyed to Dover where they took Shipping and crost the Seas The Emperor Frederick against whom this Provision was made having intelligence thereof and secretly acquainted with the Popes state wrote to the King of England to apprehend such Prollers wherein he also reprov'd his Cowardize The Emperor when he understood that the Birds were flown away made search for the Nest yet overtook them in Italy where to be short he imprison'd them their Kindred and Favourites rifled them of their Money and sent them to Rome to sing for more He that will read the Story more at large let him repair to Matthew Paris In the Year 1242 1242. the Lord Justice built the Castle of Sligo in Connaught and plac'd in it able Warders and the next Year died Richard de Burgo and the famous Hugh de Lacy Earl of Vlster 1243. whose Daughter and Heir was married to Walter de Burgo in her Right Earl of Vlster The King sent to the Lord Justice for Aid against the Welsh 1244. which it seems was long a coming but at length it did come under the Conduct of the Lord Justice and Phelim O Connor they Landed in the Isle of Anglesey and pillaged the Island and were hastning to the Ships with their Prey but it seems the Welshmen overtook them and forced them to leave their Burdens behind However they afterwards joyn'd the Kings Army and did the Work they came for for the King discomfited the Welsh victualled his Castles and victoriously returned into England The Lord Justice being come back to Ireland 1245. found Vlster over-run by O Donel who took advantage of the Death of Lacy and the absence of the Lord Justice but by the assistance of Cormock mac Dermond maâ 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 maâ 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
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
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 âirst 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 Calixâus 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
succeed either by Descent or Election but by pure Force so that the Title of most of them is founded on the Murther of his Predecessor hereupon the Irish Procurator General P. W. is forced to confess Prospect 75. That never any Nation upon Earth anneered the Milesian Irish in the most Unnatural Bloody Everlasting Destructive Fewds that have been heard of Fewds says he so prodigiously Bloody that as they were first founded so they still increased and continued in Blood from the Foundation of the Monarchy in the Blood of Heber to the Murder of the penultimate Monarch Muirehiortah Mac Neil Fewds continued with the greatest Pride most hellish Ambition and cruellest Desires of Revenge and followed with the most horrible Injustices Oppressions Extortions Rapines Desolations Perfidiousness Treasons Rebellions Conspiracies Treacheries and Murders for almost two thousand Years He proceeds and says Ibid. 76. That we never read of any other People in the World so implacably so furiously so eternally set upon the Destruction of one another he tells you of six hundred Battles fought cruelly and unnaturally by Men of the same Country Language Lineage and Religious Rites tearing out the Lives of one another for Dominion or Revenge and that one hundred and eighteen Irish Monarchs were slaughter'd by their own Subjects whereof ninety four were murdered and of them eighty six were succeeded by the Regicides among which he finds one Brother and one Son if this be so Prosper con Collat. c. 41. Prosper had good Reason to call Ireland The Barbarous Island and the Irish have as much Reason to thank God and the English for a more Civil and Regular Government exercised over them Nor were their Laws better than their Governours it was no written Law no digested or well-compiled Rule of Right no it was only the Will of the Brehon or the Lord. They pretended to certain Traditions or Customs which they wrested and Interpreted as they do Traditions in Religion to by-Ends and to serve a turn The manner of deciding Controversies was equally ridiculous with the Law they judged by Ware de antiq 42. for the Brehon used to sit on a Sod or Turf or a Heap of Stones on the top of a Hill or rather a Mountain without Canopy or Covering and without Clerks Registers or Records or indeed any Formality of a Court of Judicature Every Lord had one of these Arbitrary Brehons who to be sure took Care not to disoblige his Patron the greatest Crimes as Murder and Rape were not punished otherwise than by Fine whereof the Brehon had the eleventh Part for his Fees and Robbery and Theft were not counted Offences at all if done to any Body but their Lords own Followers They reckoned all such Stealths to be clear Gain and built Castles on Isthmus's and other inaccessable Places purposely to secure such Prey and Plunder as they could get and he was esteemed the bravest Man that was most dextrous at this Sport of Plundering and Cow-Stealing Nor is this thievish Spirit yet banished that Nation nor perhaps never will be as long as there is a Raporee in it Among their Laws may be reckoned the Customs of Tanistry and Gavelkind Tanistry was a barbarous Custom which like Alexander's Will gave the Inheritance to the Strongest for though the Custom be pleaded to be seniori digniori puero yet 't is certain Seniority was little regarded but for the presumption that it was accompanied with Experience and Policy and therefore when it was divested of those Circumstances the younger Brother proved the better Man this Custom was the occasion of many Murders and of frequent Civil Wars in almost every Family and so keeping the Succession uncertain Davis Reports Case de Tanistry and the Possession precarious it was the greatest Hindrance of Improvement that could be and therefore was justly abolished by Judgment in the King's-Bench in Ireland in Hillary Term 3 Jacobi 1. This Custom was founded upon the Necessity of those Times when Ireland was very ill governed and every petty Lord and Power of Peace and War for if a Child or Woman should then possess a Seigniory it would certainly be exposed to the Rapine and Incursions of its circumjacent Neighbours And it was this Custom of Tanistry which made the Irish seek to be Popular and to that end were Hospitable even to Profuseness and above all things coveted an outward Appearance thereby to attract the Admiration of the Vulgar and increase the number of their Followers and Abettors Gavelkind was yet a more silly Custom than the other Davis Reports and it was That when any one died all the Possessions of the whole Family were to be put together or in Hotch-pot and to be anew divided among the Survivors by the Caunfinny or Head of the Family who admitted Bastards but excluded Daughters and Wives so that it differed from Kentish Gavelkind in five Particulars 1. The Kentish Gavelkind admitted only the next of Kin as Sons Brothers c. but the Irish admitted the whole Race or Sept. 2. The Kentish Custom excluded Bastards 3. It allowed Wives Dower 4. It suffered Daughters to inherit for want of Males 5. It divested no Man's Freehold during his Life whereas the Irish Gavelkind deprived the Party of his Freehold upon every new Division And this is the true Reason why the Irish though never so Poor will not learn Trades nor turn Mechanicks because it degrades them from their Gentility And the Caufinny would scorn to admit such a one to any share of the Estate since he had as it were abdicated his Family by doing a thing beneath a Gentleman Moreover this uncertainty of their Possession hindred Improvement encouraged to Rebellions and Felonies and therefore was also abolished by Judgment of the King's Bench 3 Jacob. 1. But it is observable as their Brehons had their Offices by Descent and Inheritance so also had their Physitians Bards Harpers Poets and Historians and therefore since ex quovis Ligno non fit Mercurius We may be sure That some of these Hereditary Judges and Doctors were but very sad Tools and perhaps all of them will justly fall under Suspicion unless their Advocates can shew some Ancient Learned Tracts in Law or Physick that might remain as Monuments on Record That at least some of them were learned in their Professions Nevertheless it must not be denied but that there was a time when many Learned Men were by Persecution driven out of their own Countries and flocked into Ireland so that Ireland seemed to be a Mart of Learning and was for a short time frequented on that account no less than Athens heretofore and if we believe our Authors there were seven thousand Students at Armagh at one time and vast Numbers besides at Ross Carbry Lismore and Clonard But as this Learning was confined to the Religious Houses so it declined with them and as the Monks encreased in Superstition and Sloth so they decreased in Learning
publickly opposed the King's Alienation or Resignation of his Dominions to the Pope 1213. He governed the Kingdom very well but at the end of two Years he went to Rome either to solicit Aid for the King against the Barons or to be present at a General Council He left Geofry de Marisco 1215. Lord Keeper of Ireland to whom nevertheless Sir Edmond Butler was Assistant or Coadjutor It was about this Time the Citizens of Dublin obtained a Licence to build a Bridge over the Liffy where they pleased And not long after they also got a Fee-Farm of the City of Dublin from the King at a certain Rent but I take that to have been anno 1217. and if so the King here meant must be Henry III. It seems these Times were very Quiet for I find no mention of any War or Rebellion except some small Stirs in Connaught which were not so Great or Considerable as that the Particulars should be transmitted to posterity In the mean Time William Earl Marshal who came to Ireland anno 1207. was employed in building his Castle of Kilkenny and the Abbey of Black-Fryers there He also incorporated that Town by the Name of Sovereign Burgesses and Communalty and granted them a Privilege to be quit of Toll Lastage and Pontage and all other Customs throughout Leinster and afterwards went to England And thus stood the Government of Ireland during the Life of King John who died at Newark the nineteenth Day of October 1216. 1216. THE REIGN OF HENRY III. King of England And LORD of IRELAND c. HENRY the Third not then Ten years old succeeded his Deceased Father in all his Titles and Estates 1216. and in the presence of the Popes Legate William Earl Marshal and others he was declared King and Crowned at Glocester by the Bishops of Winchester and Bath and at the same time he did Homage to Pope Innocent and the Church of Rome Brady 522. for the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and swore to pay yearly the Thousand Marks which his Father had promised to the Holy See William Earl Marshal who was also Earl of Pembrook was Protector of the King and Kingdom Ib. 523. and by Proclamation encouraged the Nobility Gentry and other the Kings Subjects to continue faithful to him which they were the more easily perswaded to because Lewis Prince of France and his Party began to decline and were solemnly excommunicated or rather the same Excommunication was published and denounced every Sunday and Holy-Day There likewise issued a Writ to the Kings Subjects in Ireland in haec verba REX Archiepiscopis Prin 250. Episcopis Abbatibus Comitibus Baronibus Militibus libere tenentibus omnibus fidelibus suis per Hibern constitutis Salutem Fidelitatem vestram in Domino commendantes quam Domino Patri nostro semper exhibuistis nobis estis diebus nostris exhibituri Volumus quod in signum Fidelitatis vestrae tam praeclarae tam insignis libertatibus Regno nostro Angl. Ã Patre nostro nobis concessis de gratia nostra dono in Regno nostro Hibern gaudeatis vos vestri Haeredes in perpetuum quas distincte in Scriptum redactas de communi consilio omnium fidelium nostrorum vobis mittimus signatas Sigillis Domini nostri G. Apostolicae Sedis Legati fidelis nostri Com. W. Maresc Rectoris nostri Regni nostri quia Sigillum nondum habuimus easdem processu temporis de majori Consilio proprio Sigillo signaturi Teste apud Glouc. 6 die Februar And the Entry on the Roll is Homines Hiberniae habent libertates Angliae And another Writ Brady Append. 143. under the Test of the Earl Marshal was sent to Hugh de Lacy to invite his Return in this Writ which runs in the Name of the King his Majesty condescends to expostulate with Lacy that he the King ought not to be blamed for his Fathers unkindness to Lacy and assures him that he shall have Restitution and Protection if he would come back and upon Receipt of it Lacy did readily comply with the Kings Desire Geofry de Marisco continued Lord Justice or Governor of Ireland Burlace 15. to whom on the 16th of April following Henry de Londres was added as Assistant or Co-adjutor at least in Ecclesiastical Matters 1217. and for the Reformation of the Church The King sent a Writ to the Lord Justice giving him thanks for his faithful Service to the deceased King John and desiring that he would persevere in the like to himself especially during his Monority when he stood in need of the Lord Justices assistance and advice Prin Hist H. 3. fol. 38. and requires him to take the Oath of Fealty of the Nobility of Ireland and all others that are obliged thereto and assures them they shall enjoy the same Liberties in Ireland as he hath granted to his Subjects in England There was also another Writ sent to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal to assist the Lord Justice in the Kings Service And there was yet another Writ for a thousand Bacons Lib. GGG Lambeth two Ship-load of Corn and a Ship-load of Oats Mandatum est Justiciario Hiberniae quid mittet in Angliam mille Bacones duas Navatas Frumenti unam Navatam Aveni So that England must not deny but that it has at some time been beholden to us About this time William Earl Marshal incorporated the Town of Calan and gave it the following Charter COncessi Burgensibus meis de Calan omnimodas Libertates quas decet Burgenses habere mihi licet conferre viz. quod nullus Burgensis trahatur in causam vel respondeat de ullo placito quod proveniat infra Metas Burgi in Castello Lib. in Lambeth vel alibi nisi in hundredo villae exceptis placitis quae sunt de hominibus hospitii mei Concessi etiam eisdem Burgensibus Matrimonium contrahere sibi filiis filiabus viduis sine licentia Dominorum suorum nisi forte forinseca tenementa teneant de me in capite extra Burgum Lucas de Netervil was chosen by the Chapter Archbishop of Armagh 1217. and went to the King for Confirmation but could not obtain it Ware de Fresul 17. because the Election was made without the Kings License Whereupon the Monks compounded with the King for three hundred Marks of Silver and three of Gold and so they took out a Conge de esâier and repeated the Election and then Netervil was consecrated by Langton Archbishop of Canterbury About this Time viz. 2 Hen. 3. the King wrote to Ireland for Aid to pay off a Debt due from him to Lewis Son of the King of France Soon after Henry de Londres was by Pope Honorius the Third made Legate of Ireland and held a Synod at Dublin which made many good Canons But the Lord Justice had displeased the King by his male-administration of Affairs in Ireland or perhaps had
Upstart or new-comer 1235. that sought to disinherit him Whereupon the King immediately ordered the Lord Justice To pluck up by the Root the Fruitless Plant which Hubert de Burgo whilst he was in Ruff had planted in those Parts that it might bud no more The King also wrote to the Nobility of Ireland That they should banish the said John and establish the King of Connaught in his Kingdom who returned very well satisfied with the Princely Favours he received at the Court of England It seems that in the Lord Justices Absence there was some Disorder among the Irish Doctor Hanmer says they rebelled but the speedy return of the Lord Justice probably gave a Check to their Intentions And to the End there might be a free Commerce between both Kingdoms the King sent over the following Writ REX Pryn. 253. dilecto fidelio suo Mauritio fili Giraldi Justiciario suo Hiberniae 19. Hen. 3. salutem Vestra non ignorare debet discretio quod dignum est id volumus quod Terra nostra Angliae Terra nostra Hiberniae communes sint ad invicem quod homines nostri Angliae Hiberniae hinc inde negotiari possunt ad comodum emendationem Terrarum praedictarum Et ideo vobis mandamus Quod homines de Terra Hiberniae volentes emere blada in Hibernia ducenda in Angliam in nulla impediatis vel impediri permittatis quin libere sine impedimento id facere possunt Teste Rege apud Westm 2. die Jun. Et vide ibidem de Galeis i.e. Gallies or Ships de Hibernia in Angliam mittendis to aid the King There being some Dispute in Ireland about the Law in Case of Bastardy 1236. the King sent this Writ to the Lord Justice and the Archbishop to observe the Statute of Merton in those Cases HEnricus Dei Gratia Rex Angliae Pyrn 253. c. venerabili Patri L. eadem gratia Archiepiscopo Dublin dilecto fideli suo M. fil Geraldi Justic suo Hiberniae salutem Accedens nuper ad curiam nostram Georgius de Laffidel nobis ex parte vestra supplicavit ut vobis scire faceremus quid juris sit secundum confuetudinem Angliae in casibus subscriptis viz. Cum contingat filium alicujus Nobilis natum ex matrimonio movere questionem fratri suo in fornicatione ante matrimonium de eadem matre progenito super paterna haereditate Item si contingat quod frater natus ante matrimonium defendendo dicat se esse ligitimum utrum in tali casu mittendus sit ad forum Ecclesiasticum Item fi mittendus sit in qua forma c. Item si contingit quod natus ante matrimonium fecerit homagium suum de terris suis post decessum patris sui ratione homagii sic facti vocaverit Dominum suum ad Warrantum quid juris sit de illa vocatione si warrantizare debeat aut velit sponte utrum duellum possit esse de jure inter natum ex matrimonio dominum warrantizantem cum inter ipsos fratres esse non possit Ad haec etiam vobis significamus de primo capitulo Quod si natus ante matrimonium cui movetur questio cognoscat se natum esse ante matrimonium nec petere potest haereditatem nec petitam retinere secundum Angl. consuetudinem Nec talis si dicat se natum esse post mittendus ad cur Christianitatis eo quod clerus talem habet pro legitimo Cum autem de casu illo anno preterito tractatum esset coram venerabili Patre Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi Coepiscopis suis Magnatibus nostris Angl. scilicet utrum inquisitio de tali nato deberet fieri in cur nostra vel in cur Christianitatis tandem predict Archiepiscopus Episcopi petierunt sibi dare potestatem inquirendi Postea vero processu temporis quia in forma Brevis nostri eis super hoc transmissi contentum fuit quod respondere deberent Vtrum talis natus esset ante matrimonium vel post videntes hoc esse contrarium legibus suis noluerunt ad hoc respondere sed reliquerunt nobis cur nostrae hoc inquirendum terminandum nondum provisum est in cur nostra sub qua forma hoc debeat inquiri vel per sacramentum 12 Jurat vel per probationem à partibus producendam Item de Domino si debet warrantizare tenenti contra fratrem suum vobis respondemus quod non eo quod tam natus post Matrimonium quam ante uno eodem jure utuntur Dominus in captione homagii potius circumventus fuit quam ratione astrictus Nec esse poterit duellum inter eos predicta ratione preterea quia Dominus tenetur plus warantizare petenti nato post matrimonium quam tenenti nato ante matrimonium hiis igitur intellectis secundum quod predictum est in partibus vestris faciatis Teste Rege apud Mortelac 9 die Maii. And he also sent this other Writ the same Time REX dilecto fideli suo Maur. fil Girald Justic suo Hibern salutem Monstravit nobis lator presentium quod ipse nuper in curia nostra coram Justic nostris ad hoc per vos nuper constitutis in Hibern recuperasset seisinan suam versus quendam hominem de libero tenemento suo idem adversarius suus postea de eodem tenemento iterum ipsum disseisivit ideo vobis mittimus sub sigillo nostro constitutionem nuper factam intellige Merton c. 3. coram nobis Magnatibus nostris Angl. de predicto casu similiter de aliis articulis ad emendationem Regn nostr Mandantes quatenus de Concilio venerabilis Patris L. Dublin Archiepisc constitutionem illam in curia nostra Hibern Legi de cetero firmiter observari facias secundum eadem predicto querenti plenam justiciam exhiberi faciatis Teste Rege ut supra King Henry kept his Christmas at Winchester 1239. anno 1239. where the Servants of Gilbert Earl Marshal were as they thought affronted not being suffered to enter into the King's Court with their Tip staves whereupon the Earl complained to the King but received an unexpected cross Answer whereat he was distasted to that degree that he left the Court and perhaps never afterwards came near it for the next Year he was slain by a Fall from his Horse 1240. at a Turnament at Hereford In the same Year Petrus de Supino came from Pope Gregory into Ireland with an Authentick Papal Mandate requiring under pain of Excommunication and other Censures Ecclesiastical Hanmer 196. the Twentieth part of the whole Land besides donatives and private Gratuities to the maintenance of his War against Frederick the Emperor where he extorted saith Matthew Paris a thousand and five hundred Marks and above saith Florilegus at which time also one Petrus Pubeus intitled the
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
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 Mânster 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 25âh 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
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
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
But it may be that I am some frantick Cassandra being Partner of her Spirit in telling the Truth and Partaker of her Misfortune in that I am not when I tell the Truth believed of your Lordship whom God defend from being Priamus Weigh therefore my Lord the Nobility of your Ancestors remember your Father's late Exhortation forget not your Duty to your Prince consider the Estate of this poor Country with what heaps of Curses you shall be loaden when your Souldiers shall rifle the poor Subjects and so far endamage the whole Realm as they are not yet born that shall hereafter feel the smart of this Uproar You have not gone so far but you may turn home the King is merciful your Offence as yet not over-heinous cleave to his Clemency abandon this headlong Folly which I crave in most humble wise of your Lordship for the Love of God for the Duty you ow to your Prince for the Affection you bear the Country and for the respect you have to your own Safety whom God defend from all traiterous and wicked Attempts Having ended his Oration which he set forth with such a lamentable countenance as his Cheeks were all blubber'd with Tears the Horsemen namely such as understood not English began to divine what the Lord Chancellor meant with all this long Circumstance some of them reporting that he was preaching a Sermon others said that he stood making some Heroical Poetry in the praise of the Lord Thomas And thus as every Ideot shot his foolish Bolt at the wise Chancellor's Discourse who in effect did nought else but drop precious Stones before Hogs Holingsh 91. one Bard de Nelan an Irish Rithmer and a rotten Sheep able to infect a whole Flock was chatting of Irish Verses as though his Tongue had run on Pattens in commendation of the Lord Thomas investing him with the Title of Silken Thomas because his Horsemens Jacks were gorgeously embroidered with Silk and in the end he told him That he lingred there over-long Whereat the Lord Thomas being quickned did cast his Eye towards the Lord Chancellor and said thus My Lord Chancellor I come not hither to take Advice what I should do but to give you to understand what I mind to do It is easie for the sound to counsel the sick but if the Sore had smarted you as much as it festereth me you would be percase as impatient as I am As you would wish me to honour my Prince so Duty willeth me to reverence my Father Wherefore he that will with such Tyranny execute my innocent Parent and withal threaten my destruction I may not nor will not hold him for my King And yet in truth he was never our King but our Lord as his Progenitors have been before him But if it be my hap to miscarry as you seem to prognosticate catch that catch may I will take the Market as it riseth and will chuse rather to die with Valiantness and Liberty than to live under King Henry in Bondage and Villany And yet it may be as strong as he is and as weak as I am I shall be able like a Flesh-worm to itch the Body of his Kingdom and force him to scratch deeply before he be able to pick me out of my Seam Wherefore my Lord I thank you for your good Counsel and were it not that I am too crabbed a Note in descant to be now tuned it might be that I would have warbled sweeter Harmony than at this instant I mean to sing With these Words he rendred up the Sword and flung away like a Bedlam being guarded with his bruitish Drove of Brain-sick Rebels Mr. Sullevan blames him very much for surrendring the Sword Sullevan 78. and says it was foolishly done for under pretence of Authority had he kept it he might have held what Castles and Fortifications he pleas'd and put in what Governours he would he might have seduced many of the King's Subjects and have cut the Throat of Alan and the rest of his Enemies but I suppose that Author did not duly consider the Perfidiousness and Treachery of the Action he advises The Council sent private Orders to the Mayor to apprehend the Lord Thomas but the City being depopulated by the Plague was too weak for such an Attempt and therefore Archbishop Alan and Chief Baron Finglass for their security got into the Castle under the Protection of the Constable thereof John White who was afterwards Knighted for his Service in this Uproar Now was the Sword drawn and the Scabbard flung away and no room left for an Accommodation and therefore Fitz Girald did all he could to strengthen his Party and thinking that if his Cozen the Lord Butler could be perswaded to enter into the Confederacy that all the Kingdom would either side with them or fall before them he wrote a pressing Letter stuffed with large Premises to invite the Lord Butler into the Association to which the Loyal Butler returned this unexpected Answer Taking Pen in hand to write you my resolute Answer Holingsh 9â I muse in the very first Line by what Name to call you My Lord or My Cozen seeing your notorious Treason hath distain'd your Honour and your desperate Lewdness shamed your Kindred you are so liberal in parting Stakes with me that a man would ween you had no Right to the Game so importunate in craving my company as if you would perswade me to hang with you for good Fellowship Do you think that James was so mad as to gape for Gudgeons or so ungracious as to sell his Truth for a piece of Ireland Were it so as it cannot be that the Chickens you reckon were both hatched and feathered yet be thou sure I had rather in this Quarrel die thine Enemy than live thy Partner For the Kindness you proffer me and good Love in the end of your Letter the best way I can propose to requite that is in advising you though you have fetch'd your Feaze yet to look well ere you leap Ignorance and Error with a certain Opinion of Duty have carried you unawares to this Folly not yet so rank but it may be cured The King is a Vessel of Bounty and Mercy your Words against his Majesty shall not be counted Malicious but rather belched out for Heat and Impotence except your self by heaping Offences discover a mischievous and wilful meaning Netled with this round Answer Fitz-Girald designs to invade the County of Kilkenny but first he forces an Oath of Fidelity on the Inhabitants of the Pale and those who refused he imprisoned as fast as he caught them and sends Charles Rynold Arch Deacon of Kells his Ambassador to Pope Paul the Third and Dominick Poer to the Emperor Charles the Fifth to whom he sent twelve great Hawks and fourteen fair Hobbies but these Ambassadors came too late and not till their Master was executed And so great was this Rebellion and the King's Authority so weak that even the Territory
Rebels to enter the City and animate them more to fight within than without the Walls and they also believed That very many of Fitz-Girald's Army being Inhabitants of the Pale and forced to the Camp were in their Hearts for the City and this they were induced to believe because most part of the Arrows shot over the Walls were unheaded Upon these Considerations they resolved to sally and gave out from the Walls That new Succours were come from England and as if it had been so immediately rushed out through Fire and Flame and the Enemy believing they were new-arrived Soldiers and that the Citizens durst not adventure so briskly immediately fled leaving one hundred Gallowglasses slain and their Falcon taken Thomas Fitz-Girald himself lurked at the Grey-Fryers in Francis-street till next morning and then he got to the remainder of his shattered Army In the mean time the Earl of Kildare was committed to the Tower Holingshead 88 because he had contrary to the King 's express Command furnished his Castles out of his Majesty's Stores And though he answered That it was done to defend the Pale against the Borderers and that if he designed Treason he was not such a Fool as to fortifie his Castles and at the same time to adventure his Person into their Hands however he stuttered so much and delivered his Speech in such staggering and maffling manner that they concluded him Guilty and committed him And now hearing of his Son's Extravagancies he broke his Heart and died in the Tower in September Fitz-Girald being in great want of Artillery and Ammunition and somewhat cooled by the late defeat sent James Delahide and others to treat with the City upon these Articles I. That his Men that were Prisoners should be enlarged II. That the City should pay one thousand Pound in Mony and five hundred Pound in Wares III. To furnish him Ammunition and Artillery IV. To interceed with the King for his Pardon and his Followers Mr Fitz-Symons Recorder was appointed to answer to the I. That if he would deliver their Children they would enlarge his Men. To the II. That they were impoverished with his Wars and could not spare either Wares or Mony To the III. If he intended to submit he had no need of them if he did not they would not give him Rods to whip themselves That they expected he would request good Vellam Parchment to ingross his Pardon and not Artillery to withstand his Prince To the IV. They promised all Intercession they could by Word or Letter Whilst they were treating thus one William Bath of Dollars-Town a Lawyer stepped forward and said My Masters What need all these Circumstances Let us all drink of one Cup Which Words cost him his Life the next year It seems Fitz-Girald agreed with the Citizens on their own Terms and Hostages being given on both sides he raised his Siege and sent his Artillery to Houth but went himself to Minnooth to see that Castle fortified and furnished In the mean time the two Hamertons with one hundred and eighty Soldiers arrived out of England at Houth and on their March to Dublin were encountred near Clantarf by Thomas Fitz-Girald and two hundred Horsemen and though they fought valiantly and one of the Hamertons wounded Fitz-Girald in the Forehead yet being over-powered they were all slain or taken Prisoners and their Ships were forced from Houth and a Vessel freighted with choice English Geldings was also taken by Captain Rouks Fitz-Girald's Pirate and the Horses were sent to Fitz Girald And not long after landed both the Eglebees and Dacres with their Horsemen at the Skerries and Sir William Brereton and his Son John with two hundred and fifty Soldiers well appointed and Captain Salisbury with two hundred Archers lastly Landed at the Slip near the Bridge of Dublin Sir William Skeffington Lord Deputy he was Master of the Ordnance in England and therefore was by the Irish who put Nick-names upon every Body even of themselves as Dermond Buckagh Tiege Mauntagh c. in derision called The Gunner he was received with great Joy by the City and had the Sword delivered to him by the Lord of Trimletstone who was made Chancellor in the place of Archbishop Cromer Baron Finglass who wrote a M. S. Treatise of the Decay of Ireland was made Chief Justice of the King's Bench as Luttrel was of the Common Pleas and Girald Ailmer Chief Baron of the Exchequer and William Brabazon Vice-Treasurer This Deputy also brought with him Leonard Lord Grey designed Marshal of Ireland and Gracious Letters from the King to the City of Dublin That part of the English Fleet which sailed near Tredagh met with Brode the Pyrate and forced him a Ground so that he and nine of his Men were taken at Tredagh and sent Prisoners to Dublin whereat Fitz-Girald was so much enraged that he threatned to besiege Tredagh and it is probable he marched that way for it was averr'd at Dublin That he was actually before the Town And therefore the Lord Deputy immediatly viz. the twenty eighth of October marched out to raise the Siege of Tredagh and he staied in and about that Town till the fourth of November and then finding no Enemy near that Place he returned to Dublin having first proclaimed Fitz-Girald Traytor at the High Cross of Tredagh The Lord Deputy would have pursued Fitz-Girald and his Confederates but that the Winter was too near and himself was indisposed moreover he daily expected Supplies of Men and Mony from England and he knew that Fitz Girald had strengthned his Party by a new Confederacy with O Neal and O Connor And therefore being necessitated to postpone his Designs till the Spring some say he made a Truce with Fitz-Girald until January but that seems improbable because the Pale suffered exceedingly this Winter the Preservation of which must have been the chief Consideration for a Truce if there were any Fitz-Girald had in his Possession six principal Castles viz Minooth Portlester Rathingan Catherlagh Ley and Athy and having well manned and furnished them he took a Journey into Connaught not doubting but that his Castle of Minooth would hold out till his Return but he was very much out in his Calculation for the Lord Deputy on the fifteenth of March laid Siege to that Castle and placed his Battery on the North Side of the same towards the Park and Sir William Brereton who had slain one hundred of Fitz-Girald's Men on the sixth of March did now summon the Castle of Minooth with Offers of Pardon and Reward to which a scoffing and ludibrious Answer was returned with much boasting after the Irish manner Whereupon the Artillery began to play but made no considerable Breach in a Fortnights time and therefore though it was so closely besieged that there was neither egress or regress from or to the Castle yet being sufficiently provided of all Necessaries and particularly of a good Garrison of an hundred choice men it might have held out
the Regality of S. Peter I do Vow and Swear to Maintain Help and Assist the just Laws Liberties and Rights of the Mother Church of Rome I do likewise promise to confer defend and promote if not personally yet willingly as in Ability able either by Advice Skill Estate Mony or otherwise the Church of Rome and her Laws against all whatsoever resisting the same I further vow to oppugn all Hereticks either in making or setting forth Edicts or Commands contrary to the Mother Church of Rome and in case any such to be moved or composed to resist it to the uttermost of my Power with the first Convenience and Opportunity I can possible I count all Acts made or to be made by Heretical Powers of no force or to be practised or obeyed by my self or by any other Son of the Mother Church of Rome I do further declare him or her Father or Mother Brother or Sister Son or Daughter Husband or Wife Unkle or Ant Nephew or Neece Kinsman or Kinswoman Master or Mistriss and all others nearest or dearest Relations Friend or Acquaintance whatsoever accursed that either do or shall hold for time to come any Ecclesiastical or Civil above the Authority of the Mother Church or that do or shall obey for the time to come any of her the Mother Church's Opposers or Enemies or contrary to the same of which I have here sworn unto so God the Blessed Virgin S. Peter S. Paul and the Holy Evangelists help c. His Highness the Vice-roy of this Nation is of little or no Power with the Old Natives therefore your Lordship will expect of me no more than I am able This Nation is poor in Wealth and not sufficient now at present to oppose them It is observed That ever since his Highness ' s Ancestors had this Nation in Possession the Old Natives have been craving Foreign Powers to assist and rute them and now both English Race and Irish begin to oppose your Lordship's Orders and do lay aside their National old Quarrels which I fear will if any thing will cause a Foreigner to invade this Nation I pray God I may be a false Prophet yet your good Lordship must pardon mine Opinion for I write it to your Lordship as a warning And about Midsummer one Thady Birne a Franciscan Fryer was apprehended and was to be sent Prisoner into England to the Lord Privy Seal but the cowardly Sophister being told That he would certainly be hanged was seized with such a pannick Fear that he murdered himself in the Castle of Dublin on the twenty fourth Day of July and among other Papers the following Letter was found about him My Son O Neal THou and thy Fathers were all along faithful to the Mother Church of Rome Life of Bishop Brown 11. His Holiness Paul now Pope and the Council of the Holy Fathers there have lately found out a Prophecy there remaining of one S. Laserianus an Irish Bishop of Cashel Wherein he saith That the Mother Church of Rome falleth when in Ireland the Catholick Faith is overcome Therefore for the Glory of the Mother Church the Honour of S. Peter and your own Secureness suppress Heresie and his Holiness's Enemies for when the Roman Faith there perisheth the See of Rome falleth also Therefore the Council of Cardinals have thought fit to encourage your Country of Ireland as a Sacred Island being certified whilst the Mother Church hath a Son of Worth as your self and those that shall succour you and joyn therein that she will never fall but have more or less a holding in Britain in spite of Fate Thus having obeyed the Order of the most Sacred Council we recommend your Princely Person to the Holy Trinity of the Blessed Virgin of S. Peter S. Paul and all the Heavenly Host of Heaven Amen Episcopus Metensis And it is not to be doubted Ware 151. but the Irish had Solicitations from many others besides the Bishop of Mets for in the beginning of the following Year O Neal began to declare himself the Champion of the Papacy and having entred into a Confederacy with O Donel Macgenis Ocahane Mac William O Hanlon and others they joyntly invaded the Pale and marched to Navan burning that and Athirde and all the Country as they marched and thence they came to the Hill of Taragh where they mustered their Army with great Ostentation and so having taken a vast Prey and done abundance of Mischief they designed to return home But the Lord Deputy who foresaw this Storm 1539. had sent to England for Aid Holingsh 101. and Sir William Brereton who was newly returned to England was immediately sent back with two hundred and fifty Cheshire-Men It is reported of him That he broke his Thigh in two Places by a Fall from his Horse as he was exercising his Men and that nevertheless he was so Valiant and Zealous that he caused himself to be halled into the Ship by Pullies that the Succours might not be detained any longer In the mean time the Deputy Ibid. with the Forces of the Pale and the Mayors and Citizens of Dublin and Drogheda in May marched to Bellahoa where O Neal was encamped on the other side the River they marched all Night to surprize the Enemy and came to the River by break of Day The valiant Baron of Slane led the forlorn and having first substituted Robert Betoa his Standard-bearer instead of the cowardly Robert Halfpenny who declined the Adventure because of the Danger he rushed into the River and being well seconded by Mabe of Mabestown who was there slain though the Inconveniencies of passing the River were very great yet they at length got over routed the Gallowglasses slew Macgenis defeated O Neal and recovered all the Prey of the Pale and continued the Pursuit till Sunset The Deputy exceeded the rest as much in Courage as Authority and behaved himself exceeding bravely and after the Battle knighted Chief Justice Ailmer Talbot of Malahide Fitz-Simons Mayor of Dublin and Michael Cursy Mayor of Drogheda in the Field and well they deserved it for their good Service in obtaining so great a Victory which broke the Power of the North and quitted the Borders for some Years and yet there were not above four hundred of the Rebels slain But whilst the Deputy was in Vlster O Connor and O Toole made Incursions into the Pale and though they did much Mischief yet the Country suffered more by unseasonable Weather for the Summer was so hot that even some Rivers were almost dried up and the Autumn was very Sickly and Unwholesome and the Winter so excessive cold that multitudes of Cattle perished by reason thereof And now began the Abbots and Priors upon Assurance of Pensions Ware 152. during their respective Lives to surrender their Abbies and other Religious Houses to the King it would be too tedious to give a Catalogue of all that did so but these following should not be pretermitted because
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 Overâures 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 ãâ¦ã 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
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 Lâcale 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
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
Month. But the Lord Deputy was again allarm'd with a new Invasion of the Scotish Islanders and therefore Turlogh Lynogh being old the Baron of Dungannon was encouraged to oppose them but lest he should grow too popular by that Authority the Deputy thought it necessary to march into the North with such Forces as he had ready he left Dublin the 26th of June and passed speedily to Dungannon where most of the Irish Gentlemen of Vlster except James Carow came to him and submitted to his Lordship's command Hence the Deputy sent Captain Dawtry to the King of Scotland to pray restitution of the Irish Ships and Goods taken by his Subjects and that he would stop the Islanders from destroying Ireland to which he received a kind and favourable Answer dated at Saint Andrews the fourth of August 1585. but it came too late Four hundred Islanders arrived in Vlster and were joined by as many more under the Conduct of Con Mac Neal Oge's Son Hugh Mac Felim's Son O Kelly Mac Cartane c. and on the 28th of July were encountred by Captain Strafford and 170 Soldiers and a few Kernes who continued the Fight from Morning to four in the Afternoon still gaining Ground of the Enemy of whom 24 were slain and 40 wounded and of the English but 8 killed and 12 wounded and here my Authour truly observes that the Irish never gave the English a defeat but upon shrinking from them The Enemy passed the River Ban and went into Tyrone but were so pursued by the Baron of Dungannon and Captain Strafford that they were forced to repass the Ban and to retire toward Dunluce and finding no quiet there they went to Inisowen and designed to surprise Strabane but Hugh Duffe O Donell gave notice hereof to Captain Merriman and offered his assistance and so Merriman with 160 Soldiers and O Donell with a few of his fâllowers marcht all night to surprise the Scots But ãâã their great amazement they found the Scots in a readinesâând above 600 strong so that they were able to divide ãâã Army into three divisions so to assail the Royalists threâ several ways whilst the English being so few were forced to keep in one entire Body Alexander Mac Surly who commanded the Scots challeng'd Merriman to a Combate and a lusty Gallowglasse being by said he was the Captain and so to the Duel they go the Gallowglasse stund the Scot at the first blow but he recovering himself kill'd the Gallowglasse and thereupon Merriman stept out and fought Alexander a good while with Sword and Target and so wounded him in the Leg that he was forced to retreat and thereupon his Army being discouraged were totally routed and Alexander being hid under a Turf in Cabbin was discovered and his Head cut off and set on a Pole in Dublin But how fortunate soever the Summer Progress was yet the Deputy's Enemies complain'd against it as chargeable and unnecessary so that he was forced to return to Dublin the 16th of August where old Surlyboy came and submitted unto him The chief Articles against the Deputy were That he was severe and forc'd the People to the Oath of Allegiance and pryed into men's Patents and endeavour'd to promote Laws against Recusants and to repeal Poyning's Act and this Impeachment was abetted by the Chancellour whom being also Archbishop of Dublin the Deputy had disoblig'd by endeavouring to appropriate the Revenues of St. Patrick's Church to the new design'd University and by carrying himself too Magisterially in the Government with the Chancellour Sir Henry Bagnal Secretary Fenton and others of the Council sided so that it grew into a powerfull Faction by which the Deputy was often thwarted at Council Board and else where The Lord Treasurer of England was a fast Friend to the Arch-bishop so that by his means the appropriating of the Livings of St. Patrick's Church was stopt and other Affronts were put upon the Deputy which so enraged him that he spoke some passionate words of the Queen which were the cause of his Ruine afterwards and particularly having received some kind Letters from the Queen after some ill usage that he resented Look ye says he to the standers by now the Queen is ready to bepiss her self for fear of the Spaniard I am become her white Boy again This Deputy was supposed to be the Son of Henry the Eighth and had much of his towring Spirit in him When he was Condemn'd he ask'd the Lieutenant of the Tower whether the Queen would sacrifice her Brother to his frisking Adversaries meaning the Lord Chancellour Hatton who he said came into Court by the Galliard He was condemn'd on the Preists forged Letter and dyed suddenly in the Tower and his Son Sir Thomas Perot was restor'd to his Estate Nor did these his open Enemies only impeach him themselves but they also instigated the Lords and Gentlemen of the Pale as was believed to complain by their Letter of the 15th of July 1585. that besides the 2100 l. which they had consented should be levyed in lieu of the Cess the Lord Deputy design'd to impose a second Charge of 1500 l. per annum upon them thereby to make Her Majesty's Government intolerable to them but some of these Lords and Gentlemen being afterwards undeceiv'd generously wrote their Retractation of their former mistake to the Lords of the Council of England Nevertheless the Deputy proceeded in his duty and issued a Commission to two and twenty Gentlemen whereof Sir Richard Bingham Lib. L. 15th July 1585. White and Waterhouse were of the Quorum Authorizing them to compound between the Queen and the Subject and between the Lord and the Tenant for Cess Cuttings and other incertain Exactions and to bring the Inhabitants of Connaugh and Twomond to a composition of paying ten Shillings per annum for every quarter of Land containing 120 Acres besides a certain number of Soldiers amongst them on every rising out they proceeded by Inquisition by a Jury to find out the number of Plow-lands and the County of Mayo was found to contain 1448 quarters of Land whereof 248 might be exempted and paid 600 l. per annum and contributed 200 Foot and 40 Horse at their own charge when required and 50 Foot and 15 Horse in such manner as the Peers and English Bishops ought to do Sept. 1585. and this was done by Indenture whereby they voluntarily renounced the Irish Captainships Styles and Titles and abolish'd the Irish Gavelkind and Tanistry and agreed to hold their Lands by Patent according to Law and the like was done in the rest of Connaugh and the whole Province was found to contain 8169 quarters of Land whereof 2339 being exempted there remain'd 6836 liable to an annual Rent of 3418. 5. 8. and to contribute 1054 Foot and 224 Horse to the General Hostings in Connaugh and 332 Foot and 88 Horse at any time for Forty days any where in Ireland And Twomond for 1259 Plow'd Land agreed to pay 543 10 0
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 âââone went for England where he was in an easie manner rââtrained 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 âather 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 Conrâyes 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
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 Claâriccard 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
necessitated William Burk with his Bownaghts to follow his Brother Tyrrel into O Carol's Country and O Sullevan himself and O Connor Kerry were glad to accompany them thither but these Fugitives did not pass so luckily and scotfree as Tyrrel did for Teige Mac Owen Carty on the skirts of Muskny and John Barry near Liscarrol gave them severe rebukes and the Sheriff of Typerary fell smartly upon their rear whil'st the rest were passing the Shennin in their Nevoges and even in the County of Galway Sir Thomas Burk and Captain Malby gave them disturbance but their despair made them victorious in that encounter and they bravely forced their way with the slaughter of Malby and many of his Soldiers and got safely into O Bowrk's Country On the fifth of January Captain Taffe had the good fortune to kill the valiant Apostolick Vicar Owen mac Egan and 140 of his followers near the River of Bandon which was followed by the submission of all the Rebels in Carbry and it is observed of this zealous Vicar that he never pardon'd any Irish-man tho' a Papist that serv'd the Queen but would as soon as they came before him have them confessed absolv'd and executed These good Successes were followed by the defeat and ruine of the Lord of Lixnaw whose party was totally routed by Captain Boys and all his substance taken and 80 of his Men killed as also by the taking of the strong Castles of Kilcoe and Berengary and so all Munster being reduc'd to obedience the Lord President prepared for his Voyage to England and left Sir Charles Wilmot and Sir George Thornton joynt Governors of that Province And thus ended this mighty Rebellion which from a small beginning grew to be the most general and dangerous defection that ever was in Ireland to that time which could never have happened but for the gripple-handedness as Cambden phrases it and slighting of England nor was this the first time that the Queen had been a Penny wise and a Pound otherwise in managing the Affairs of Ireland and had paid dear for her frugality as she did in this War which might have been prevented at first with the twentieth part of what it cost afterward for the Charge of this one Year from the first of April 1601 to the first of April 1602 amounted to no less than 322502 l. 1 s. 0d The Rebels in the course of this War were exceedingly troubled that some of the Papists continued Loyal to the Queen and they bitterly exclaim'd against the Popish Priests of English extraction that justified the Opinion they might lawfully do so and to convince them of their error the Rebels did not only procure a Bull from Pope Clement the Eighth dated the 8th of April 1600. giving such plenary remission of sins to those that fight against the Hereticks in Ireland as to those that fight against the Turks and his Holines's Letter of the 20th of January 1601. directed to Tyrone to animate him and his followers to persevere in their Rebellion but also procured the Censures of the Universities of Salamanca and Valladolid that it was mortal sin for a Papist to fight against Prince O Neal the Champion of the Church who militates for the Catholick Faith and that they cannot be forgiven till they desert the Hereticks Service and Mr. Sullevan thinks he has nickt it when he calls the contrary Opinion Insanam vene nosam doctrinam It seems that the Earl of Twomond remembring the severe Government of Fitton President of Connaugh whil'st he was in England made his humble Suit to the Queen that the County of Clare might be re-annexed to Munster whereof it was formerly a part whereupon the Queen the 29th of July 1602. wrote to the Lord Deputy and Council on that Subject and on the 4th of October she wrote positively to renew the Earl's Commission to use Martial Law in that County and to put him into all Commissions of Oyer and Terminor Goal-delivery c. next to the President and Chief Justice and to continue his Band of 200 Men and his Entertainment of 10 s. a Day and to reunite Twomond to Munster unless they found great reason to the contrary they debated the matter and 't was alledg'd for the reunion 1. The Name Thomond i. e. North Munster which proves it was originally part of Munster and so has continued 1300 Years 2. It was inhabited by Munster-men the O Bryans being setled on both sides the River Shenin their Language and Pronunciation is the same and since there is an Alliance between them they ought not to be seperated 3. Twomond was formerly part of the County of Lymerick and the Inhabitants have been often tryed for Life and Estate by Judges and Commissioners at Lymerick but of late the County being too large part of it was made a separate County by name of the County of Clare but nevertheless was subject to the Governours of Munster 4. It was first united to Connaugh at the importunity of Fitâon because Roscomon Sligo and Mayo were not amesnable to Law this brought great inconveniency to Thomond till it was reunited and Sir Nicholas Malby procured it again to be seperated and so it continued till the Earl got the Martial Government of it and his Company is of the List of Munster 6. It is necessary the President of Munster who governs Lymerick should have command on both sides the River Shenin to prevent the design of foreign Enemies 7. Part of Twomond is within the Liberties of Lymerick and must not de dispunishable till remedy can be had from Conaugh 8. Lymerick is the Sanctuary and Bulwark of Twomond and the fittest place to keep it in order and therefore the Citizens have purchased good Estates in Twomond and it would be very inconvenient to have them and their Estates under several Governments 9. Twomond is in the Province of Cashel the Arch-bishoprick of Munster and these Reasons prevailing the County of Clare was again made part of Munster But my Friends at Ballyvorny would never forgive me if I should omit the Indulgence granted by Pope Clement the Eighth to such as in devotion go unto Gobonet's-Church in Muskry in the County of Cork which follows in these words UNiversis Christi fidelibus praesentes literas inspecturis salutem Apostolicam benedictionem Lib. N. N. N. 77. ad augendum fidelium Religionem animarum salutem coelestibus ecclesiae thesauris pia charitate intenti Omnibus utriusque sextus Christi fidelibus vere penitentibus confessis ac sacra communione reflectis qui ecclesiam parochialem Sanctae Gobonetae loci Ballyvorni Clunensi dioc ' die Festo ejusdem Sanctae Goboneuae à primis vesperis usque ad Occasum solis praedicti festi singulis annis devote visitaverint ibi pro Christianorum principum concordia Heresum extirpatione ac Sanctae Matris ecclesiae exaltatione pias ad deum preces effuderint decem annos totidem quadragenas de
injunctis eis seu alias quomodolibet debitis paenitentiis in forma ecclesiae consueta relaxamus Praesentibus ad decimum duntaxat valituris volumus autem quod si alias Câristi fidelibus dictam ecclesiam visitantibus aliam indulgentiam perpetuo vel ad certum tempus nondum elapsum duraturam concesserimus presentes nullae sint Dat. Rom. apud St. Marcum sub anulo piscatoris die 12 Julii 1601. Pontificat nostri Anno decimo And so I conclude this First Part of the History of Ireland with the Death of the most renowned and victorious Queen Elizabeth which happened at Richmond on the 24th day of March 1602. in the Seventieth Year of her Age and the Five and fortieth Year of her happy Reign FINIS An Explanatory INDEX OF SOME Quotations and Terms Necessary for the Understanding this and other Histories of Ireland A. A Trium dei Athird or Ardee in Com' Louth Alla Barony of Duhallow in Com' Cork Auriterra the Barony of Orry in Com' Armagh Alladensis episcopus Bishop of Killalla Arachta Fraghty O Cahan ' s Estate in Com' Londonderry Aurilia Vriel or Monaghan and part of the County of Cavan Arachta O Connor Iraghticonnor in Kerry Armachanus Archbish of Armagh Atharla Harlow Wood. Agerlentis Gortnapishy Aunliffy Liffy the River of Dublin B. Bea insula the Dursyes in Com' Cork Bettagh or Buddagh a Clown or Villain Berva the River Barrow Ballybetagh contains 16 Ballyboes Ballybo contains 16 acres and in some places 60 100 and 120. Bonagium Bonnaught and is either Bonnaughtbeg viz. a certain proportion of Meat Drink and Money for the maintenance of the Souldier or Bonnaught bur is free quarter at discretion or rather this is free quarter in specie and the other is a comutation for it in money Bally similida Trimletstown Banacha the Territory of Mac Swiny bane in Com' Donegall Brethina Brenny in Com' Leitrim Bentragia Bantry in Com' Cork C. Cronoge is sevenscore Sheaves of Corn. Clyn's Annals a Manuscript written by Fryar John Clin of Kilkenny in the time of Edward III. Corbâ Chorepiscopus is a sort of a Lay-coadjutor to the Bishop or one that takes care of the Temporalities of the See Clera Cape Cleer an Island in Com' Cork Cartron contains 60 acres Cothlia Colly O Driscoll's Territory in Com' Cork Clenglasia Clenlis a Territory in Com' Limerick Cella Canici Kilkenny Coyne Livery is free quarter for Horse and Man and Money besides Cheifry is a Rent in half-faced Money which was better than Sterling rather worse than Sterling by a third part Cuddy or Quid-âhy is a Supper or Entertainment for a Night or an equivalent for it in Honey Aquavitae or Money Coshering is living upon the Party or quartering with him for a time Cess is Horse-meat and Mans-meat at the King's price Cutting is a Tax on extraordinary occasion vide verbum South Campion a History of Ireland written anno 1571. by Edmund Campion the famous Jesuit he counterfeited himself a Protestant and was a Deacon in the Church of England and Fellow of St. John's Colledge in Oxford D. Dondygon a River South of Dundalk Damliaga Duleck Danguina Dingle-i-cush in Kerry Dowgello or black Rent is a Contribution towards the keeping of Dogs and Hunts-men Duacensis Episcopus Bishop of Kilmacough Dunensis Episcopus Bishop of Downe Derensis Episcopus Bishop of Londonderry Darensis Episcopus Bishop of Kildare Dalra Delvin in Westmeath E. Ergalia is the County of Monaghan Eyrus the River Nore that runs by Kilkenny Elia Carolina Ely O Caroll or O Caroll's Country being the West part of the King's County F. Fardarough Maââew Fercallia O Mâlloy ' s Country Fuida insula Whiddy Island in Com' Cork Feurus laâus Lâghfâyle near Londondârây Fanida the Territory of Mac Swiny Fanagh in Donegall Fenaborensis Episcopus Bishop of Kilfenora Baron Finglas a Manuscript of the Decay of Ireland wrote 1535. by Patrick Finglas one of the Barons of the Exchequer G. Gort a Field of about 6 acres more or less Gallown of Land is 25 acres Goron Jeofry Gillycree a Stud-keeper Gillycon a Dog-keeper or Huntsman Gormleghan Barony of Barimore in Com' Cork Glinns a Territory in the County of Antrim Galvia Gallway H. Herenache is a sort of an Archdeacon or Oeconomus Holingsh. Ralph Holingshead's Chronicle wrote about the year 1575. Hooker a Supplement to the Irish History wrote anno 1586. by Johu Hooker alias Vowell and bound up with Holingshead Hanmer Dr. Hanmer's Chronicle of Ireland preserv'd by Bishop Vsher it was wrote anno 1604. I. Iveleghan the Barony of Barrymore in Com' Cork Imanya O Kellyes Territory in the Counties of Galway and Roscomon perhaps the Barony of Boyle Inisonia Inisowen the Island wherein Londonderry is scituate Ibacha Evagh Mac genis his Territory in Com' Down Imelacencis Episcopus Bishop of Emly K. Kenlisa Kenanisa Kells in Com' Meath Kilmuchaloga Kilmallock in Com' Limrick Kernety is a Tax of 3 s. 4 d. or 4s per Plow-land to maintain the Lords Kerne call'd Kern-tee L. Lovidia Louth Logh tee Demeasn or Mensal Lands for House-keeping Lucus Derry Leffria Liffer Laonia Killaloo in Com' Clare Laonenis Episcopus Bishop of Killaloo Lib. A. Lib. B. c. are Manuscripts in the Library of Lambeth to the number of fifty or more marked Alphabetically M. Mart a yearly Rent in Beef Menapia Waterford Musterown a Charge of Money and Victuals for Workmen that build for the Lord of the Soil Midensis Episcopus Bishop of Meath N. Nevoge a Boat or Cot covered with Hides O. Ochella Yonghal Oriria Barria Orrery formerly belonging to the Barries Onachta Owny O Donough Ogigia the History of Ireland written in Latin by Mr. Flagherty P. Pontana Drogheda Pottle of Land is twelve Acres Polle of Land is fifty Acres Portucastellum Castlehaven in Com' Cork The Pale That part of Ireland near Dublin which was answerable to Law and where the King's Writ was obey'd it once extended from Dundalk to Carlow and Kilkenny but was much streightned in Queen Elizabeth's time but now is quite abolish'd because the whole Kingdom is reduc'd Polychronicon a fabulous History written by Ranulphus Higgeden Propect a History of Ireland by Peter Walsh Q. Quirren of Butter a Pottle or four pound price 4 d. R. Roseglass Monasterevan Routs a Territory in the County of Antrim Rapotensis Episcopus the Bishop of Rapho Refection is a priviledge the Lord has of claiming Entertainment for one Meal and no more Raporees the Rabble of the Irish who are armed with a Half-pike which they call a Rapery and have plundered the English in all parts of the Kingdom Regan a Manuscript by Maurice Regan Servant to Dermond mac Morough wrote about the Year 1175. Rupesfergusia Carrigfergus S. Securigeri or Scotici Gallow-glasses Irish Foot-Soldiers arm'd with a Battle-Axe Surius the River Shure Silanchia the Barony of Longford in the County of Galway Srone of Oat-meal is three Pottles price 4 d. Shraugh a yearly Rent in Money Soroheen a
Congregation at James-town Excommunicated the Lord Lieutenant and Declared against his Authority and they and the Assembly at Loghreah forced him out of the Kingdom Galway treated with the Duke of Lorrain and received his Ambassadour and that Town and Limerick and several Lords and Gentlemen did joyn in a Commission to treat with foreign Princes as appears Appendix 47. All the Kingdom did at length submit to the Kings Enemies and most of the Confederates took the Engagement to that Government which certainly dissolv'd the Articles of Peace and all Covenants with his Majesty with which that Engagement was inconsistent I should not insist upon it that the Peace was null and void from the beginning and impossible to be performed because the King could not repeal Acts of Parliament much less give away those Estates which were sold to the Adventurers for valuable Consideration by Act of Parliament but that the Confederates had by a previous Engagemen there recited p. 205. which P. W. stifly denies and my Lord of Oââery probably had not seen pre-ingaged themselves to return to their first Confederacy if the Articles of the Peace were not fully performed to them Lastly Those Articles were not to be binding unless they should be confirmed by the next Parliament and since they missed of that Ratification they are totally vanished and dissolved and have no manner of Obligation upon any Body Another Question may be made The Tenth Question Whether the Quarrels of the Confederates against the Marquiss of Ormond were founded upon a prejudice to his Person a hatred to his Religion or an aversion to his Authority To which I Answer That their Dissatisfaction with that Lord was not at all in respect of his Person or any Qualifications he had except that of a Protestant Vice-Roy but their hatred to him was partly upon the Account of his Religion but chiefly upon the Score of his Authority for altho' they load his Memory with innumerable false and scandalous Aspersions yet those of Heretick and Idolater of Majesty are not the lâast spiteful nor as they thought the least infamous But after all they can forge or say They confess It would be the same thing if any other of the same Religion should have the Government out aliquis alius ejusdem professâonis invidiae in Catholicos says the Bishop of Fernes pag. 34. Noâ in ullam aliam pacem cum Ormonio aut ullo alio Heretico prorege Nuncius conveniret says Father Ponce pag. â79 and he fairly gives the Reason of it for a Heretick will never be fond of Popery says he Summe timendum est quemâunque adversae Religionis non satis prospecturum Catholicae And tho' the Vice-Roy were a Roman Catholicks yet as long as the Prince that Authorizes him is a Pretestant or King of England they will not be satisfied and the Reason of this is plain viz. That such a Vice-Roy must obey the Commands of his Heretick Master P. W. Letters pag 12. and must preserve Ireland in Subordination to England whereas their main drift was to make it Independent or to alienate it to a Foreigner yet this Assertion would hardly be believed but that we can back it with an instance in the Case of the Marquiss of Clanrickand whom they affronted and traduced as bad as they did the Marquiss of Ormond and Father ponce his Book is written to vilifie that Noble Lord who had no fault in him except his Religion nevertheless they treated him with that degree of Insolence as to threaten his Lieutenant General P. W. Remonstrance 585. to rent the Army from him if he did not dismiss his Confessor immediately they also gave up the Towns and particularly Galway without consulting him tho' he was at hand and they treated with foreign Princes contrary to his Express prohibition and others that he did Authorize had the Confidence to vary from his Instructions and to decline his Name and Authority And what better can you expect from a People which as P. W. observes are wholly given up to be instructed by Anti-remonstrant Priests P. W. Letter to the Earl of Essex pag. 19. known maintainers of the most Anti-Christian Maxims of Disloyalty even to the unsheathing of Swords and cutting of Throats And Lastly It may be demanded Whether all and every of the Irish be guilty of those Crimes and Qualities that in this History may seem attributed to them under the indefinite Appellation of Irish To which I Answer That they are not all Guilty but on the contrary there are undoubtedly very many Lords and Gentlemen of worth and virtue in that Kingdom who abhor and detest those Cruelties and Treacheries which the Generality of their Country men have exercised upon the English nor had I the least design to condemn the Innocent with the Guilty or to asperse any Man of Honour or Worth and therefore tho' I have good Warrant even from Scripture Phrase and Example to use the indefinite Expression when nevertheless many particulars are not comprehended in it yet to avoid all Ambiguity or Mistake in this matter I do here once for all advertise the Reader That where ever he finds the word Irish he understand it only of the Irish Rebels or of the Commonalty or Generality of that Nation as the Sense will best direct him THE REIGN OF JAMES I. KING OF England Scotland France AND IRELAND HITHERTO the Irish Historians have represented their Countrey-men Analecta Hiberniae Sparâim as if they were influenced by the most abstracted Considerations of Religion and Honour Ogigia in Preface pag. 4. and as if they were agitated by a generous desire of their Native and Original Liberty and excited by an unparallell'd Loyalty to their Ancient Monarchy to resist and endeavour to shake off the Violences and Usurpations of England whilest one Generation following another in Imitation of their Godly and Worthy Ancestors have gallantly endeavoured to deliver their enthralled Nation from Oppression as Pope Urban VIII words it in his Bull and therefore their Historians do boast of the multiplied Rebellions of the Irish as so many brave Efforts to rescue their Nation from the Bondage of those English Collectors of Peter-pence whom they would hardly vouchsafe to style their Kings But now that the Royal Family of the Stuarts hath ascended the Throne to whose Sacred Blood the Irish Nation hath contributed whose Pedigree is founded on the Famous Irish Milesian Princes Prospect Epist Dedic now that the Irish have got their own Countrey-man for their King a King whose Ancestors and first Predecessors were of their own Blood Propositions at Oxford 1642. a Prince not only of Irish Extraction but such a one as is of the Royal Line and even by the Irish Law ought to be King of that Island and was as they say the One hundred twenty first King of Ireland in a direct Line from Adam Ogigia in epist whereof Eleven were before the Flood
Rebellion than ever had been in Ireland to that time For the Lord Deputy having sent Proclamations of the King's Succession to all Cities and Burroughs not doubting but that they would be chearfully published in every place to his great amazement received this Account from Cork That Captain Morgan came thither with the Proclamation on the Eleventh of April and immediately Sir George Thornton one of the Commissioners of Munster went with it to Thomas Sarsfeild then Mayor who answered That by their Charter they might take time to consider it Sir George replied That since they knew the King's Right and that he was proclaimed in Dublin it would be taken ill if they delayed it The Mayor answered That Perkin Warbeck was also proclaimed in Dublin and that nevereheless much Damage hapned to the Country by their precipitation therein Whereupon Saxy Chief-Justice of Munster said That they ought to be committed if they refused But William Mead the Recorder told him That no body there had Authority to commit them Hereupon the Mayor and his Brethren c. went to the Court-house to consider of so important a Matter Sir George Thornton in the mean time staying in the Walk to expect their Resolution After an hours stay there he sent to know their Mind they put him off for an hour more and when that was expired they plainly told him They could not give their Answer till the next day Whereupon he said He would proclaim the King without them But they let him understand That he had no Authority within their Liberties to do so neither would they permit him to do it And so they put it off till the Thirteenth of April and then Sir George Thornton and the Lord Roch and about 800 Soldiers and others proclaimed the King in the North Suburbs near Shandon-Castle but the Mayor and Citizens deferr'd it till the Sixteenth and then wrote a sawcy Letter to the Lord Deputy importing That they had receiv'd the Proclamation on the Eleventh of April but had delayed publishing it till the Sixteenth for the greater Solemnity and they desired that Halbowling Fort not being in the Hands of a sufficient Commander to secure it might be put into the Hands of the Mayor and Citizens for whose Defence it was made But the Citizens not expecting an Answer to their minds from the Lord Deputy designed to set up their Religion by force and to that end they kept strong Guards on their Ports and Gates and stopt the King's Boats going with Victuals to Halbowling so that the Commissioners were forced to relieve that Fort with Ammunition and Victuals from Kinsale they also carried the Cross in Procession about the City and forced People to reverence it they also defaced Sentences of Scripture that were written on the Church-walls and painted the places with Pictures they re-consecrated the Churches and went daily in Procession they also took the Sacrament to spend their Lives in defence of the Roman Catholick Religion they disarm'd such Protestants as were in their Power and rejected the mixt Moneys and refus'd to suffer the King's Provisions to be taken out of the Store until they should be assured that the Soldiers should be sent out of the Liberties of the City they also endeavoured to get the South Fort into their Hands so that Sir George Thornton was forced to shelter himself in Shandon Castle Upon notice of these Proceedings Sir Charles Willmot who was besieging Mac-Morris in Ballingary Castle immediately repair'd to Cork and finding that no good was to be done by Treaty he sent 600 Men over the Ford by Gillabby into the South Fort and thô two of them were kill'd in their Passage by Shot from the Walls yet the rest got in safe and secur'd the Fort However the Citizens mounted some Guns and shot at the Bishop's Palace and Shandon Castle thô the Lord President Carew his Wife was in the one and the Commissioners of Munster in the other Nevertheless on the 28th of April the Lord Deputy wrote a kind Letter to the City of Cork and required them to suffer the King's Stores to be issued out to the Army but they excus'd themselves and answered That they did not know but those Stores if delivered out might be made use of against the Town Whereupon the Lord Deputy wrote a smart Letter to them on the First day of May but before it came to their Hands the Citizens under the Conduct of Christopher Murrough had removed the King's Stores into their own Cellars Morison 291. and being taught by a Seditious Priest That he could not be a Lawful King who was not approved by the Pope nor sworn to maintain the Catholick Religion they took a Resolution in Publick Council to excite the other Cities and Towns to Confederate with them for the Preservation of the Catholick Faith and resolved to defend themselves by Force It hapned that some few were slain on either Side and particularly a Minister was kill'd by a Shot from the Town and one of the Bishop's Servants was wounded and taken Prisoner and was told by them That the Traytor his Master should not escape Death if they could get him within their Power But their Insolence will best appear by their own Letter to the Lord Deputy the Substance of which is to be found here Appendix 1. In the mean time the Commissioners of Munster finding that they wanted Artillery sent for some to Halbowling but the Citizens having notice of that Design Mann'd out some Boats under William Terry to intercept them Nevertheless they arrived safely and thereupon the Citizens being frightned with the noise of the Great Guns agreed to a Cessation until the Lord Deputy should come But the City of Cork was not the only Place that was Rebellious at this Junctuâe Waterford was altogether as ill inclined tho' it had not an Opportunity of doing so much Mischief However they did their Share and first they pulled down Sir Nicholas Welsh their Recorder from the Cross where he was reading the Proclamation of the King's Succession They also broke the Doors of the Hospital and admitted Dr. White to preach a Seditious Sermon in St. Patrick's Church wherein amongst other inveterate things he said That Jezebel meaning Queen Elizabeth was dead They also took the Keys of the Cathedral from the Sexton and caused a Priest to celebrate Mass there Nor were the Towns of Clonmell and Wexford free from the like Insolencies but they being the weaker and the less populous Places were sooner sensible of their Faults than were other Towns where Tumult and Noise gave less opportunity of Thinking and Number and Fortification encourag'd to Obstinacy and therefore these Corporations restored the Churches and submitted to the Lord Deputy's Commands before the Army approached their Walls whilst on the contrary Limerick which has seldom been backward in an Irish Rebellion was one of the forwardest in this and gave their Priests the Possession of all their Churches where they erected Altars
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 âad 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 ãâã 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 Attaindâre 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 ãâã 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 Thomâââ and Clanrickââdâ and Viscounts of Buttevant Formââ Gormanstoââââ Mountgarrets and Tullagh and the Barons of Athenry Kingsale Kerry Slane Killeen Delvin Dunboyn Houth Triââetsowne Poer Cahir Dunsany Louth Uppâr Ossery Castle Connel and ãâã Besides Twenty five of Protestantâ Archbishops and Bishops that were present and the
even to intimate some Menaces of Rebellion and in a manner delineated and discrib'd how it would be Imanaged And the same day the Papists of the House of Commons did likewise write to the Lords of the Council in England about the new Corporations and the wrong done their Speaker Everard and they exaggerated their Complaints to that degree as if their Extremities and Sufferings were so strange and so intolerable that they wanted Words to express or Patience to bear them and they laid all the blame on the Principal Officers and Counsellors of State And on the twentieth of May the same Men petition'd the Lord Deputy to dispence with their Attendance in the House of Commons because they were afraid of their Lives and they desir'd he would shew them by what Authority those sat in the House that were now in possession of it and they demanded to have a sight of the King's Letters the Grants and Charters of the New Corporations and of the Returns of Elections And the next day being the 21th of May they petition'd the Lord Deputy again importing That if they might be secure of their Lives and have the Benefit of the Law and that the Returns may be rectified that then they would repair to the House and present the Speaker All which the Lord Deputy granted and promis'd and thinking that they sincerely meant as they spoke his Excellency went to the Upper House in expectation that they would joyn with the rest of the Lower House and attend him with the Speaker But in stead of that on the same day they petition'd again That the new Burgesses might be first excluded and not admitted into the House till their Case was debated and determin'd altho they well enough knew that what they propos'd was unpracticable until first a Speaker was setled But their Business was to baffle and avoid this Parliament if possible to effect which they little matter'd what vain Pretences they made use of And therefore tho the Lords had nothing to do with the Lower House yet to make a Clamour as if they had been wonderfully abus'd they also petition'd the Lord Deputy the same 21th of May to the effect aforesaid and in their Petition asserted That the Lord Deputy's Commission did not authorize him to make New Corporations and concluded with a Request to be excused from attending the Parliament and to have leave to wait on the King in England The Deputy told them That the Affairs of the Lower House did not concern them and therefore commanded them to attend their own House and to proceed in a Parliamentary way to the Business of the King and Kingdom But they persisted in their Obstinacy and on the 23th of May they sent him a Writing in the Form of a Petition whereby they positively refus'd to come to Parliament until the King should take some better order to settle Matters as to the Lower House for tho the Houses were distinct yet they made but One Body and were but One Parliament and they protested against all Laws that should be made in their absence and that if any be made the Subjects will reject them as disorderly and unjustly enactedâ And this was followed with a Petition of the Commons on the 25th of May wherein in a very sawcy and undutiful manner they pressed the Lord Deputy for a sight of the King's Letters about the New Corporations and for their Charters and the Returns of all the Elections and for a Copy of his Commission to hold that Parliament and for License to send Agents to England to acquaint the King with their Complaints Nevertheless the Lord Deputy by Proclamation commanded them to their respective Parliament houses to pass the Act of Recognition of his Majesty's Title assuring them that no other Bill should be read that Session And he also sent a Messenger to every Lord particularly to Summon him to attend the House But the Commons were so far from complying that on the same day viz. the 26th of May. they presented him with a Petition Recognizing the King's Title but utterly refusing to sit in the House unless their Speaker Everard might be approved and the new Burgesses rejected And the next day the Lords did in like manner by Letter Recognize the King's Title but refus'd to come to their House until the Affairs of the Lower House were rectified and setled Nevertheless both the Popish Lords and Commons had such a great Attendance and there was so great a Concourse at Dublin from all parts of the Kingdom which probably did wait but for some Pretence to be in Action that the Government did not think fit to imprison any of the Mutineers but took a wiser Course by adjourning the Parliament that so his Majesty's Pleasure might be farther known The Recusants lost no time but sent over Agents to the King and levied a Tax upon the People to bear their Charges altho' the Deputy publish'd a Proclamation to prohibit any body to contribute to the Charge of the Agents or to levy any Tax for that purpose and assur'd the People that the Agents went over for their own private Business or Caprichio and not for the Publick Good Nevertheless it appears by the Examination of John O Drea and Donough O Drea Lib. T. T. 175. taken upon Oath before Sir Lawrence Parsons that the Tax levied by the Priests and Jesuits for these Agents was Two shillings of a Yeoman and Five shillings of a Gentleman and that the Lords Barry Roch and others carried Priests and other Firebrands of Sedition with them to the Parliament at Dublin to instruct them how to behave themselves there and that there was a Dispensation brought over from the Pope by Fryar Thomas Fitzgirald unto the whole Kingdom of Ireland or rather all the Papists in it authorizing them to forswear themselves in all Matters moved unto them by the Protestants provided they do it equivocally Ita quod interna mentâ secus opinentur and that the Deponent saw and read it It seems that the King who was of a peaceable temper and to save Charges had improvidently reduced the Irish Army to Seventeen hundred thirty five Foot and Two hundred and twelve Horse was willing to end this Matter in the mildest manner he could and received the Irish Agents kindly and the better to inform himself in this Affair he sent for the Lord Deputy into England and order'd him to substitute Lords Justices Doctor THOMAS JONES Lord Chancellor Sir RICHARD WINGFIELD Marshal who were sworn the Fourth of March 1613. 1613. They had little to do in Ireland because by the Presence of the Lord Deputy and the Irish Agents in England that Kingdom was become the Scene of Irish Affairs which were so well managed by the Lord Deputy that the King was fully convinc'd of the Seditious Designs of the Irish and therefore on the 21th day of April at the Council-Tale at Whitehall he made the following Speech before the Irish
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 600000â 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 ãâã 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
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 âââder 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 âale 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
Name of THE CASE OF TENURES and was excellently reported in Print by Baron Barry afterwards Lord Chief Justice of Ireland and Baron of Sautry This Grand Inquisition was counted so great a Master-piece of the Lord Deputies and so beneficial to the King and advantagious to the English Interest That some Persons who went to England to complain of it were there not only discountenanced but imprison'd and afterwards sent back to be dealt by as the Lord Deputy should think fit which it seems produced their Submission And not long after the Lord Deputy having first received Orders to Grant the Impropriations belonging to the King to the use of the Clergy and to Grant to Trinity Colledge near Dublin Lands equal in value to the Pension they had from the Crown of 388 l. 15 s. per Annum went to England to give his Majesty a Triumphant Account of his glorious Successes in Ireland which he performed to Admiration First to the King in a private Audience and afterwards publickly at the Council-board He there told the King and Council That he had found the Irish Exchequer of Paper but he had made it of Treasure and that he had not only improv'd the Patrimony of the Church of Ireland but had also brought it to be Conformable to that of England both in Doctrine and Government by the Acceptance of the Thirty Nine Articles there That before his going to Ireland the Lord Justices wrote That the Expence exceeded the Income 24000 l. per Annum and they had no ways to raise it but by the Levying Nine pence a Sunday on Papists for not coming to Church but that now it was far otherwise without that Persecution And he advis'd That the Army should rather be encreased than diminshed it being an excellent Minister and Assistant in Execution of the Kings Writs and the great Peace-maker between the British and the Natives and the best security of past and future Plantations That by the Statutes of Wills and Uses there will more advantage arise to the Crown of England than by the six Subsidies because thereby the insant Heirs of all great Families in the Kingdom will unavoidably come under the Guardianship of the King whereby they will be bred Protestants and of what Consequence this Superintendency is doth in part appear in the Person of the Earl of Ormond formerly the Kings Ward who if bred under the Wing of his own Parents had been of the same Affections and Religion with his other Brothers and Sisters whereas he is now a firm Protestant and like to prove a great and able Servant to the Crown and a great Assistant as well in inviting others to be of his Religion as in the Civil Government it being certain That no People are more apt to be of the Religion of their great Lords than the Irish are That by the Statute of fraudulent Conveyances the Irish are prevented in their cunning Disigns by secret and sleeping Conveyancies so that the King will have his Forfeitures and Wardships and the English be encouraged to purchase of them That before his time the Pirates infested the very Harbours and a Ship was fired by them in the Port of Dublin in sight of his Majesties Castle and the Pirates were robbing the Ship two days together without opposition the Reason was because our Sea-guard for want of Money did not come till August before which time the mischief was done but now they are well Paid and come in March and that now the Exportation is double to what is imported into the Kingdom That he discourag'd Woollen and encourag'd the Linen Manufacture and had sow'd 1000 l. worth of Holland-Flax Seed and set up six or seven Looms and doubts not Success because the Irish can under-sell France or Holland Twenty per Cent. And then he laments That the English of Ireland are treated as Aliens First In the Imposition of 4 s. per Tun on Coal Secondly In the Prohibition to transport Horses or Mares hence without excessive Custom Thirdly In the Imposition of 3 s. and 4 d. per Head for every live Beast exported thence and afterwards he procur'd a Privy Seal to supersede these pro tempore Lastly That tho' he was represented more like a Basha of Buda than the Minister of a Pious Christian King yet severity was not natural to him but assumed because it was necessary for the Restoration of a Despoyled Crown Church and People from the Claws of those that had been used to the Paths of an uncontroled Liberty and Oppression But to proceed ADAM LOFTUS Viscount ELY 1636. Sir CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD Master of the Rolls were Sworn Lords Justices on the 3d. day of July 1636. and immediately some Fryars notwithstanding the former Proclamation had a publick Meeting and passed unpunish'd for the Lord Deputy wrote over That he held it not convenient to rub upon that Sore till they were provided for a thorough Cure These Lords Justices had Orders to call upon Corporations for a return of their pretended Priviledges to issue Money to finish the Fort of Galway to suspend the Lord Courcyes Pension to quicken the Admeasurement in Conaught and not to let any Soldiers be Transported But on the 23d of November THOMAS Viscount WENTWORTH returned Lord Deputy and then the aforesaid Case of Tenures was argued but the Judgment That the Letters Patent were void Husbands Collections 2 Part 245. did so Alarm the whole Nation that it was found necessary to delay the Execution for a time and afterwards Anno 1640. on private Conference with the Irish Committee then in England for it was not made an Article amongst the Grievances publickly complain'd of the King quitted the benefit and advantage thereof and so the vast Expence of this Grand Office and Inquisition which amounted to at least 10000 l. was in effect lost and this terrifying Bug-bear did not add one Acre to the Possessions of the Crown nor one English Plantation to the Kingdom as was at first design'd In the Year 1636 1636. John Atherton was preferred to the Bishoprick of Waterford and Lismore by a Symoniacal Contrivance as was believed says the Writer of Bishop Bedells Life pag. 144. but that is not probable because that Bishoprick was then so Poor that it was too small a Temptation to so great a Sin it is more likely that being a bustling Man of active Parts and a bold Spirit he was thought a fit Instrument of State to promote some Designs that were then on Foot and as proper for the Recovery of the ancient Possessions of his See as any Body that could be pitcht upon and accordingly we find him a fierce Adversary to the Earl of Cork and a severe Prosecutor of the Bishop of Killalla which last nevertheless lived to be his Successor And tho' Atherton did answer the Expectation of his Benefactors for a time yet his Tragical end by the hands of the Common Executioner on the 5th of December 1640. for a Crime
had scarce a fair Pretence for that Cavil yet to satisfie them those words were by a Second Proclamation of the 29th of October explain'd to extend to none but such as were in Rebellion Their Second Attempt was at the Session of Parliament on the Sixteenth of November where they endeavoured to Palliate the Rebellion and smooth and soften their Protestation against it and complain'd at the Shortness of the Session whereby they were hindred as they said of means to suppress the Insurrection But finding neither of these sufficient they had afterwards Recourse to other as ill grounded Complaints hereafter mentioned and in the mean time they excused themselves to the State that they were not able to raise Men according to their Commissions of Government by which Answer and some other Passages the Lord Justices perceived That even those of the Pale were Tainted with the infection and therefore they recalled the Arms they had delivered out to them and by a great deal of industry they recovered about Nine hundred of them and the rest were treacherously made use of against the State that had too credulously trusted the Roman Catholicks with them at so critical a Juncture In this extremity and want of all things especially Money Application was made to the Corporation of Dublin but that famous City the Metropolis of the Kingdom would not advance more than Fifty Pounds tho' upon so great an Emergency whereby the State was convinc'd that the Rebellion was Universal and that even those the Citizens that did not dare to appear openly in it were yet secretly Well-wishers to the Cause and in their Hearts devoted to the Persons and Designs of the Rebels And this was the more manifest because the Popish Citizens did rarely if at all administer any the least Comfort to the poor and plunder'd English insomuch that the Protestants perished in such Multitudes at Dublin that the Church-yards being full of Graves the Lords Justices were fain to provide two large Pieces of Ground for new Burying-places for them The Lords Justices by their Proclamation of the Twenty seventh of October caused Michaelmas Term to be adjourned and sent Four hundred Musquets by Sea to the Lords Viscounts of Clandeboys and Ardes and also sent Commissions to them to raise the Scots and to receive Submitting Rebels to Mercy and they also wrote to the Lords President of Munster and Connaught to be on their Defence And because of the great Concourse to Dublin and the danger that City was in upon the Complaint of the Magistrates thereof all Strangers were commanded by Proclamation to depart the City upon pain of Death but no body was punished for disobeying that Order altho' there was a second Proclamation against the Harbourers of such Strangers But how general soever this Rebellion was and how cruel soever the Authors of it were Vid. Appendix 10. altho' the very Women and Children were active in stripping and murdering the distressed English yet the Execution could not be so great nor with so little Loss to the Irish but that the English were wheedled to put a Confidence in their Irish Landlords Tenants Servants and Neighbors with whom they had lived kindly and to whom they had given no manner of Provocation and so neglecting the proper Means of defending themselves they were miserably betrayed and perfidiously destroyed by those they trusted it being esteemed a Mortal Sin amongst most of the Rebels to relieve or protect a Heretick But in some places the English to considerable Numbers were embodied together and being in a condition to make some Resistance were promised Quarter and good Articles upon Oath But as soon as they submitted they were also treacherously murdered And thus they were served at Loughell Temple 41. Armagh Belturbet Longford Tullogh New-Town Burlace 71. Sligo and many other Places At first the Rebels did pretend to spare the Scots and to make a Difference between them whom they professed a Kindness for because they were Strangers and their Religion likewise persecuted by the parliament and the English against whom they expressed a most bitter and inveterate Hatred and to disguise their Designs they did actually Forbear them for about ten days till the English were destroyed and then they fell upon the Scots also and made no farther distinction between British Protestants By the First of November the Protestants had very little left in Ulster except Londonderry Colerain and Iniskilling and half the County of Down and part of the County of Antrim which the Government was in an ill Condition to provide for or relieve and had no hopes of retrieving that part of Ulster which was lost and so deeply drench'd in innocent Blood otherwise than by Force of Arms but as to the Counties of Meath West-Meath Longford and Louth which were not yet so deeply plung'd in Robberies and Murthers the Lords Justices had hopes of their Submission and therefore did issue their Proclamation of Pardon to all that would submit within Ten days Freeholders and Murderers only excepted But whilst these things were doing viz. on the First of November the Parliament of England voted a Supply of Fifty thousand Pounds for the Relief of Ireland and that all the Papists of Quality in England be secured and that none except Merchants shall pass to Ireland without a Certificate and that a Pardon be offered to the Irish Rebels and that Owen O Conally the Discoverer of the Plot should have Five hundred Pounds in Money and Lands worth Two hundred Pounds per Annum setled upon him And this Order was 12 November printed in Dublin and dispersed all over the Kingdom but without any Effect For now the Rebels were elevated and had formed a Design against Tredagh whereof Doctor Jones afterwards Bishop of Meath gave timely notice so that it was prevented for tho' the Lord Moor had made a seasonable Entry into that Town nevertheless the Inclination of the Townsmen and of Sir John Nettervill who had a Foot Company there in the King's Pay being manifestly favourable to the Rebels the Place was not safe without a stronger Garison and therefore Sir Henry Tichbourn with a Regiment of Foot and two Troops of Horse was sent from Dublin the third day of November and came safe to Tredagh the next day On the Fourth of November Sir Phelim O Neale and Rory Macguire from their Camp at Newry published That they had a Commission from the King under the Great Seal of England for this Insurrection And one Harison having taken the Seal from an old Patent of the Lord Cawfeild's at Charlemont and fixed it to a forged Commission they sent attested Copies of it in Letters to their Confederates thereby blacking their Insurrection with the worst of Circumstances viz. by laying it to the Charge of His Majesty who upon all Occasions expressed his Detestation of it and by this means they raised more Enemies to the King and created more Jealousies in the Minds of His Protestant Subjects
and gave more Colour and Umbrage for the Suspicions that were then entertained of Him than any other Action of that Time could do And indeed this single Act of theirs did His Majesty more mischief than all the pretended Loyalty of that Party since that time can atone for However to obviate the dismal Effects of that impudent Forgery as much as they could the Lords Justices did Burlace Append 3. by their Proclamation of the Thirtieth of October 1642. publish that Sham to be false and scandalous And it is very observable That this Contrivance of theirs from whence they hoped to derive so much Advantage was the Occasion of their Ruin for the King to vindicate himself from this gross Aspersion was necessitated to devolve the Management of the War upon the Parliament and to consent to the Act of Adventurers which dispos'd of most part of the Rebels Estates and indeed to humour them in every thing relating to Ireland and particularly in giving up Carrigfergus to the Scots And on the same Fourth of November Temple 50. the Parliament of England voted 1. That Twenty thousand Pounds be forthwith supplied for the present Occasions of Ireland 2. That a convenient Number of Ships shall be provided for the Guarding of the Sea-coasts of that Kingdom 3. That this House holds fit that Six thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse shall be raised with all convenient speed for the present Expedition into Ireland 4. That the Lord Lieutenant shall present to both Houses of Parliament such Officers as he shall think fit to send into Ireland to Command any Forces to be transported thither 5. That Magazins of Victuals shall be forthwith provided at Westchester to be sent over to Dublin as the Occasions of that Kingdom shall require 6. That the Magazins of Arms Ammunition and Powder now in Carlisle shall be forthwith sent over to Knockfergus in Ireland 7. That it be referred to the King's Council to consider of some fit Way and to present it to the House for a Publication to be made of Rewards to be given to such as shall do Service in this Expedition into Ireland and for a Pardon of such of the Rebels in Ireland as shall come in by a Time limited and of a Sum of Money to be appointed for a Reward to such as shall bring in the Heads of such Principal Rebels as shall be nominated 8. That Letters shall be forthwith sent to the Justices in Ireland to acquaint them how sensible this House is of the Affairs in Ireland 9. That the Committee of Irish Affairs shall consider how and in what manner this Kingdom shall make use of the Friendship and Assistance of Scotland in the Business of Ireland 10. That Directions shall be given for the drawing of a Bill for the Pressing of Men for this particular Service for Ireland In the mean time the Lords Justices and Council did all that was possible for the Preservation of the Kingdom They on the Fifth of November dispatched a second Express to the King and another to the Lords of the Council and then and not before wrote to both Houses of Parliament and sent a Duplicate of it to the King and they formed a thousand of the stripped English into a Regiment under Sir Charles Coot and soon after they raised two Regiments more under the Lord Lambert and Colonel Crawford They also took care to Victual the Castle of Dublin and to clear an old Well that was in it and to do all things necessary to fit it for a Siege And to prevent any Surprize that might happen by the great Concourse of People to the Castle they removed the Council to Cork-house and often sat there in Council which was a great Oversight and might have been Fatal to them if the Lords of the Pale who soon after went out into open Rebellion had had the Courage to seise upon them there as they easily might have done On Saturday the Sixth of November Philip O Rely Knight of the Shire and the Irish of the County of Cavan sent an insolent Remonstrance to the Lord Justices by Doctor Jones whose Wife and Children they had at their Mercy and impowered him to assure their Lordships That there should be a Cessation of all things till the return of his Answer But tho' the Lords Justices gave a Civil Answer to it and sent the Remonstrance to the Lord Lieutenant to whom the King had ordered them to apply themselves about the Affairs of Ireland yet the very next Munday being the Eigth of November and before any Answer could come these Remonstrants Rendezvoufedâ at Virginia a Town in the County of Cavan and proved the fiercest Rebels of all and by the Eleventh of December had taken the whole County of Cavan except the Castles of Keighlah and Croghan which were also surrendred to them the Fourth of July 1642. and Thirteen hundred and forty English Persons were thence according to Articles conveyed to Tredagh On the Eleventh of November the Lords Justices published another Proclamation prohibiting all unnecessary Persons from repairing to Dublin which the Irish took very ill and made a great noise about it tho' no Person of Quality or Business was in the least restrained by that Proclamation But their Design was to pick Quarrels and to manage all Accidents to that purpose On the Twelfth of November the County of Wickloe appeared in its proper Colours they murdered or robbed all the English Inhabitants within that County and burnt the principal Houses and laid Siege to Fort-Carew which the Lords Justices had not Means to relieve The Counties of Letrim Longford West-Meath and Louth were already infected and Wexford and Caterlogh followed the bloody Examples of their Neighbours and even the County of Kildare it self began to put on a terrible Countenance and the Irish of the Pale having gotten Arms from their English Neighbors under pretence of opposing the Rebels were the better able to do Execution on those stupid Protestants that so foolishly parted with them to their National and Hereditary Enemies The Lords Justices had by Proclamation Prorogued the Parliament to the Twenty fourth of February but at the Importunity of some Irish Lawyers who pretended great Affection to the King and earnest Desires to quench the Rebellion the Parliament which was a very thin one was permitted to meet on the Sixteenth of November and then it was visible that more were tainted with the Infection than appeared openly in Rebellion for the Popish Members did with great Cunning and Artifice endeavour to varnish or excuse all the Actions and Cruelties of the Rebels and those who seemed most to discountenance the Insurrection did nevertheless cover it over with such a Veil treat of it so nicely and handle it with so much tenderness as if themselves most of them being of the Conspiracy were immediately to participate of the Punishment as well as they were clandestinely involved in the Plot They would by do means have
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 ãâã the Government of that Kingdom under pretence of setting up the Poââ 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 ââe 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 ãâã 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
Men and desired that he would hasten thither in Person And ââon after by their Proclamation they ordered that Dublin be fortified But it is time to return to Sir Philemy O Neal who having taken Dundalk and in it a Foot Company which surrendred upon the first Summons and all their Arms as also the Town of Ardee marched his Victorious Rabble of Four thousand Men to Lisnegarvy and on the Twenty second day of November attempted the Town but the Garison being Four hundred Foot and One hundred and eighty Horse under Sir Arthur Tyringham repulsed him with the loss of many Irish and Six Colours Another Party of the Rebels sat down before Melifont Novemb. 24. and found a brisk Defence from the Garison being Fifteen Horse and Twenty four Musquetiers but their Powder being spent the Horsemen forced their Way through the Irish Camp to Tredagh and the Foot surrendred upon Articles which the Rebels perfidiously broke and butchered several of them in cold Blood because they had kiââed 140 Irishmen in defence of the Place By this Remora the intended Siege of Tredagh wâs delayââ and therefore on the Twenty seventh day of November the Lords Justices sent Six hundred new-rais'd Foot and a Troop of Horse to reinforce the Garison there but the Lord Gormanston's Groom by his Masters privity gave notice of their March to the Irish who being three time their Number 2 Temple 16. fell upon them at Gellingstown-Bridge on the Twenty ninth of November and by the Folly or Treachery of a Captain that commanded a Countermarch and the Unexperience of the Men they were disordered and above Five hundred of them slain at which the Popish Inhabitants of Dublin did very much rejoyce and the Lords of the Pale did thereupon take off their Vizard But much better Success had Sir Charles Coot who marched from Dublin the same 27th of November to relieve the Castle of Wicklow and to quel the insolence of those Rebels that had come in Hostile manner within two miles of the City for on the 29th of the same Month he beat Luke Toole and One thousand Rebels and put them to a shameful Flight and thereby became so terrible to the Irish that they seldom afterwards made any resistance where he was Nevertheless the Irish were so elevated by the Victory at Gellingstown-bridge and the delay of Succours from England that the Lords of the Pale who were really the first Contrivers of this Rebellion and whose Tenants and Servants were openly or secretly concern'd in it from the beginning and they themselves had hitherto looked on whilst the English were robbed and had given no help or Assistance to the State having now drawn the Rebels into the Pale 2 Temple 18. believing it impossible to dissemble the Matter much longer began to unmask themselves and appear Bare-faced insomuch that the Lord Gormanston on the Second of December Mr. Dââdal's Examination Burlace 39. issued a Warrant to the Sheriff of Meath to Summon the Popish Lords and Gentry of that Country to meet at the Hill of Crofty and above One thousand of them met and Colonel Mac Mahon Philip O Rely Roger Moor c. came to them with a Guard of Musketeers whereupon the Lords of the Pale rode towards them and as formally as the Lord Mayor expostulates with the Privy Council at Temple-Bar demanded of them why they came Armed into the Pale They reply'd That they took up Arms for Liberty of Conscience and maintaining of his Majesties Prerogative in which they understood he was abridged and to make the Subjects of this Kingdom as Free as Those of England were But says the Lord Gormanstown Are not these Pretences and not indeed the true Grounds of your taking Arms and have you not some private ends of your own To which they answered That they had no private ends but did it upon the aforesaid Reasons and professed great Sincerity to his Lordship whereupon he told them That seeing those were the true ends of their Insurrection he and all the rest would joyn with them and immediately it was proclaimed that whosever denied to joyn with them or refused to assist them therein they would Account him an Enemy and to the utmost of their Power labour his Destruction and thus Valence and Brabant were joyned as Sir Philemy O Neal phrased it and the Lords of the Pale Confederated with their ancient and hereditary Enemies and became so barbarously Cruel that they bragged afterwards That they had killed more Protestants in Fingall only than were Slain in some other whole Counties But on the Third of December the Lords Justices and Council dissembling their knowledge of these Transactions wrote to the Lords of the Pale to come to Dublin and consult for the safety of the Kingdom whereupon the Lords of Kildare-Merion and Hoath came but the other Lords had another meeting at the Hill of Taragh on the Seventh of December and by Advice of their Lawyers sent the following Answer to the Lords Justices May it Please your Lordships WE have received your Letters of the Third instant intimating that you had present Occasions to confer with us concerning the present State of the Kingdom and the safety thereof in these Times of Danger and requiring us to be with you there on the Eighth of this instant We give your Lordships to understand That we have heretofore presented our selves before your Lordships and freely offered our Advice and Furtherance towards the Particulars aforesaid which was by you neglected which gave us cause to conceive that our Loyalty was suspected by you We give your Lordships further to understand That we have received certain Advertisement That Sir Charles Coot Knight at the Council-board hath offered some Speeches tending to a Purpose and Resolution to execute upon those of our Religion a general Massacre by which we are all deterr'd to ãâã on your Lordships not having any Security for our Safety from those threatned Evils or the Safety of our Lives but do rather think it fit to stand upon our best Guard until we hear from your Lordships how we shall be secur'd from those Perils Nevertheless we all protest That we are and will continue faithful Advisers and resolute Furtherers of His Majesty's Service concerning the present State of this Kingdom and the Safety thereof to our best Abilities And so with the said Tender of our humble Service we remain Your Lorship humble Servants Fingall Gormanstown Slane Dunsany Nettervill Oliver Louth Trimletstowne In like manner Luke Nettervill in the beginning of December upon three days Summons assembled Twelve hundred armed Men at Swords within Six Miles of Dublin and arrayed them under the Captains Golding Russell Travers Holywood c. which would have been impossible to have done on so short warning if they had not been privy to the Conspiracy long before and had not made Preparations for it The Lords Justices sent a Message to them ro disperse but they return'd for Answer
That they were constrain'd to assemble together for the safety of their Lives that they were so terrified by the Excursions of some Horse and Foot from Dublin that murder'd Foor Catholicks merely for being so that they durst not stay at home and therefore resolved to continue together for their mutual Preservation until they should be assured by their Lordship of the safety of their Lives But these were but Pretences to palliate their Insurrection and to insinuate a Necessity of the Rebellion they had entred into and therefore the Lords Justices did endeavor in vain by two Proclamations of the Thirteenth of December to remove these Jealousies and satisfie or answer the Objections altho' in one of them they assured Nettervill and his Comragues of free egress and regress 2 Temple 29. and that the Four that were killed were in actual Hostility and one of them was a Protestant and in the other they declar'd That neither Sir Charles Coot nor any other did ever utter at the Council-board or elsewhere any Speeches tending to a Purpose or Resolution to exeecute on the Papists or any other a general Massacre nor was it ever in their thoughts to dishonor His Majesty or the State by so odious impious and detestable a thing and gave the Lords of the Pale assurance of their Safety if they would repair to Dublin the Seventeenth of that Month. But all these Condescensions had no good effect on the contrary these Favours were interpreted to proceed from the weakness of the State and consequently tended to heighten the Insolencies of the Rebels For that very day after the Proclamations were published some of Netervill's Party seised a Boat in the Harbor of Dublin 2 Temple 27. and robbed it and put the Pillage into Mr. King's House at Clontarfe and threatned to encamp at Clontarfe which is but two small Miles from Dublin Whereupon the next day being the Fourteenth of December the Lieutenant-General was ordered to send out a Party to Clontarfe to remove them which Sir Charles Coot on the Fifteenth of December performed effectually without any Opposition and burned the village and Mr. King's House In like manner the Lords of the Pale slighted the aforesaid Proclamations and on the Sixteenth day of December proceeded to appoint General Officers and declared the Lord Gormanstown General of the Pale Hugh Birne Lieutenant-General the Earl of Fingall General of the Horse and gave such Order about raising Men and Provisions as they thought convenient Nettervill and his Party being reinforced from Kildare and Wicklow continued at Finglas and Santry from the Fifteenth of December to the Twenty second at which time Colonel Crawford drove them from Finglas with much ado and the very Name and Approach of Sir Charles Coot frightned them from Santry in such haste that they left a great deal of their Equipage and Provisions behind them And yet at the same time Three hundred Rebels appear'd again at Clantarf and had the day before robb'd two English Barks in the Harbor and carried the Booty to Barnwall's House at Brimore and the Prisoners to the Lord Gormanstown's House whence they were sent to Balruthery And thus Dublin was in a manner blockt up Naas Kildare Trim and Ashboy were in the Rebels Hands and the City was almost surrounded with Irish Soldiers Nettervill lying at Swords with Two thousand Men took the Castle of Artain within two Miles of Dublin and Colonel Roger Moor lay at Rathcool with Two thousand more and Four thousand of the County of Wicklow came within four Miles of Dublin on that side so that the Government could give no Relief to the Distressed Protestants who were coopt up in several Castles and made piteous Complaints And therefore the State was necessitated to suffer the English of the Inland Counties to be destroy'd and all the Walled Towns in the Kingdom Tredagh and Carigfergus and the Walled Towns of the Counties of London-derry and Cork only excepted to be reduced under the Power of the Rebels who in imitation of the Holy League in France styled themselves THE CATHOLICK ARMY and took the following Oath of Association framed by the Clergy so that all the Government could do was to write a mournful Letter to the Lord Lieutenant which is to be found 2 Temple 39. and is very well worth perusal but too long to be here inserted The Oath taken by the Irish I A. B. do in the Presence of Almighty God and all the Saints and Angels in Heaven promise vow swear and protest to maintain and defend as far as I may with my Life Power and Estate the Publick and Free Exercise of the True and Roman Catholick Religion against all Persons that shall oppose the same I further swear That I will bear Faith and true Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King CHARLES His Hiers and Successors and that I will defend Him and Them as far as I may with my Life Power and Estate against all such Persons as shall attempt any thing against their Royal Persons Honors Estates and Dignities and against all such as shall directly or indirectly endeavour to suppress their Royal Prerogatives or do any Act or Acts contrary to Regal Government as also the Power and Privileges of Parliament the Lawful Rights and Privileges of the Subjects and every Person that makes this Vow Oath and Protestation in whatsoever he shall do in the lawful pursuance of the same And to my power as far as I may I will oppose and by all means and ways endeavor to bring to condign Punishment even to the loss of Life Liberty and Estate all such as shall either by Force Practice Counsels Plots Conspiracies or otherwise do or attempt any thing to the contrary of any Article Clause or any thing in this present Vow Oath or Protestation contained So God me help In the mean time a Foot Company of the Standing Army commanded by White of Lexlip a Papist revolted entirely to the Rebels and so many disguised Papists revolted from the Army which was full of them that in some Companies there were not above seven or eight Men left which manifests the Conspiracy was general when Men so circumstanced should betray their Trust and leaves a necessary Caution to Posterity not to trust any more of that Kidney in such Stations However the Garison of Tredagh was not discouraged by this Accident but on the third of October made a successful Sally to the slaughter of Two hundred Rebels But on the first of January the King declared the Irish to be Rebels by Proclamation Appendix 13. and signed Forty of them being the Number desir'd by the Lords Justices and Council with his own Hand and affixed his Privy Signet unto them and they were brought to Dublin on the twentieth of January and published without any effect In the mean time the Lords Justices on the twenty eighth of December issued a Proclamation to prohibit Strangers from flocking to Dublin without License and another
English Pikes were longer than the Rebels Pikes they charged home and the Lord Moor coming in seasonably with 15 Horse only they put the Rebels to flight and beat them quite out of the Town with the Slaughter of above 200 of them and some of their best Officers nor must it be forgotten that the Popish Houses in the Town were marked with Chalk that so the Rebels if they had prevailed might distinguish them from those they intended to murder Neither will I pretermit a Stratagem used by the Garison in placing some Pipers upon the Walls to play and others to toss up their Caps and cry The Town is our own make hast in and the like by which means many of the Rebels that still waited to have a Gate opened for them ran hastily into the Town and were made Prisoners The Pinnace that came with the first Relief hapned unfortunately to run aground and was briskly attackt by the Rebels who desperately came with Pickaxes and Iron Barrs even to her very Stern but Captain Stutfield threw some Granadoes amongst them and by that means got rid of them with much ado and killed above Threescore of the Irish But after a while Necessities and Diseases began to return upon the Garison so that many dyed daily in the Town and therefore a diligent Search was made for Provisions and the Fryers contrary to their Vow of Poverty were found to have great Quantities of Money Plate and other Treasure which they not owning most of it probably belonging to the Rebels it was divided amongst the Soldiers but that was no Relief to a hungry Belly when Victuals could not be had for Money and therefore the Governor made a hard shift to send a Boat to Dublin to hasten Supplies And tho' the Governor did by frequent Sallies incommode the Enemy and sometimes recover a little Provisions yet that did not so recruit the Garison but that they were reduced to the greatest Extremities even to the eating of Horses Dogs and Cats when on the Thirteenth of February they Sallied and took from the Rebels a considerable Booty of 80 Cows and 200 Sheep and the Twentieth day being Sunday at four a Clock in the Morning Sir Philemy O Neal with all his Strength made so bold an Attempt as to apply Scaling Ladders to the Wall and the Sentinel's Gun missing Fire they made good Progress before the Garison took the Alarm but as soon as the Soldiers came to the Walls they did such Execution upon the Irish that their Officers could by no means oblige the Soldiers to return to the Assault And the same day two Pinnaces and several other Vessels notwithstanding the Boom at Tredagh which broke the day before came up to the Town with a plentiful Supply of all Necessaries Encouraged by this Recruit and these Successes the Governor of Tredagh with 220 Foot and 120 Horse Sallied to Beaubeck on the Twenty sixth of February and secured some Corn and Hay for the Garison and then advanced to Smiths Town where they defeated a Party of Rebels and slew 300 And about the same time Major Fortescue had good Success near Gellingston against Colonel Preston in the same Field the English had formerly suffered a Defeat and to follow the Blow the Lord Moor with 600 Foot and 120 Horse and two Field-Pieces Sallied out the Twenty eighth of February and assailed Stainime but finding it fortified they took some Corn at Colp and returned On the First of March the Lord Moor and Sir John Burlace made another Sally and took the Castle of Colp and killed many of the Rebels And on the Second of March Colonel Wainman made another Sally as far as Marlengton burned Mr. Draicot's House and some other considerable places and return'd home with good store of Corn and on the Fourth the brave Lord Moor made another Sally towards Tullagh-hallon amongst his traiterous and ungrateful Tenants and routed the Rebels killing seven Captains and 400 Soldiers and took Capt. Mac Mahon and Barnwell of Rahasket Prisoners and got good store of Arms whereby the Siege of Tredagh was raised and the Garison was at leisure to visit the Enemies Quarters and soon forced Darcy of Platten his Servants to surrender his House and obliged some of the Lord of the Pale to write Letters of Excuse to the State and to desire to know upon what Terms they might come in but the Lords Justices despis'd that Insolence and the case being alter'd did not think fit without new Orders to prostitute His Majesties Mercy to such as had no other sense of their Duty than that was taught them by necessity But whilst some of them desired to be pardoned others of them committed barbarous Crimes that were unpardonable and murdered all the Protestants at Atherdee to be revenged for their Losses before Tredagh and it ought never to be forgotten as an especial Providence of God that during this long Siege and in all these Sallies there were but Twelve Protestants that fell by the Sword or were slain which nevertheless is very believable because the like hath lately hapned in proportion at the famous Siege of Londonderry On Munday the Seventh of March the Earl of Ormond with Three thousand Foot and Five hundred Horse marched out of Dublin to relieve Tredagh not knowing the Siege was rais'd and having burned Feildstown Kilsalan and Ratooth and several Houses in the County of Meath he came to Tredagh on the Eleventh and having recruited the Governor and the Lord Moor with Four hundred Foot and Two Troops of Horse and burnt and pillaged great part of the Pale he return'd to Dublin on Business of Importance by the special Order of the Lords Justices Nevertheless the Lord Moor and Sir Henry Tichburne on the Twenty first of the same Month marched out with One thousand Foot and Two hundred Horse and having burnt the Country about Slane on the Twenty third advanced to Atherdee and having discovered the Enemy to the number of near Fifteen hundred they sent out their Forlorn which stumbled on an Irish Ambuscade and drove them to the Main Body of whom they killed about Four hundred At the Foot of the Bridge the Irish did again make some Resistance but some of the English found a Passage over the River and galled them in the ãâã and forced them to abandon that Post and then forced their way into the Town In this Skirmish one Irish Lieutenant-Colonel and five Captains were slain besides what fell of the Common Soldiers The English encourag'd with this Success advanc'd to Dundalk on the Twenty sixth of March and tho' the Town was fortified with a double Wall and a double Ditch and had a Bog on the one side and the Sea on the other yet a Party of the English led by Lieutenant-Colonel Wainmââ forced the Gate with Pickaxes and entred the Town with their Horse and pursued the Enemy on a full Gallop but at the turn of a Street were warmly received by Five hundred
Croning desired him to meet a certain Lord the next day which Muschamp did and being first obliged to Secrecy saving liberty to communicate his mind to an Ecclesiastical Friend that Lord told him plainly That if he would surrender the Fort of Cork into his hand he should have the Lord Marquis of Ormond ' s warrant for it and for his Reward great Promotion Muschamp said he was willing to observe the Marquis his Command provided he saw an Authentick Warrant whereupon the aforesaid Lord pulled forth a Warrant written with the Marquis his own hand as he pretended importing That whereas he the Marquis was disabled to put necessary Provisions of Victuals and Ammunition into the Fort of Cork for the present Defence thereof that therefore he Muschamp was required to deliver up the same into the hands of the aforesaid Lord assuring him That whatever Conditions that Lord should condescend unto his Excellency would confirm them Hereat Muschamp being astonished did nevertheless promise to perform the Contents if his Lordship would give him the Warrant but his Lordship told him He must perform the Work first but Muschamp thought that preposterous his Lordship replyed That then he might write to his Excellency for farther satisfaction and so they parted and Muschamp discovered all to the Lord Insiquin as he was pre-engaged to do and though by Insiquin's advice Muschamp sent twice to the aforesaid Lord for a Copy of the Warrant yet he could get no other answer but That it was sent back to the Marquis of Ormond and all this Major Muschamp declared upon Oath before a Council of War At the Discovery of this Contrivance the poor English were amazed and enraged they thought it equally improbable that Ormond should give such an Order or any body else should pretend it if it were not so But as soon as the Noise of this Affair reached the Lord Lieutenant's ears he did not fail to do Justice to his own Reputation by a severe Expostulation with that Lord which produced this following Letter May it please Your Excellency I Have received Your Letter of the 25th of the last wherein you are pleased to Command me to deliver my Knowledge in a Report given out by one Major Muschampe wherein your Excellency as you are pleased to take notice finds your Self highly concerned My Lord before I shall proceed to deliver my Knowledge of that Business in the first place I shall crave your Excellency's Pardon if for compassing my own Ends it shall appear that I have made use of your Excellency's Name without warrant through which there may arise any Blame or Blemish to your Lordship this being granted me all that I can remember is as followeth It is very true my Lord Muschamp employed one of his Friends unto me signifying his dislike of my Lord of Inchequin whom he found to be entirely in his Actions and Resolutions for the Parliament and therefore thought fit to seek my Advice to put him in a present way whereby he may secure the Fort for His Majesty's Service Truly my Lord I was loth to lose such an Opportunity to do my Country Service and immediately returned him an Answer to meet me the next day after at a Castle of mine which he performed that day or the next day after as near as I can remember and upon our meeting he being sworn to Secrecy in all things I moved unto him concerning the Fort to which he seemed to incline making great Expressions and Fervency in all respects to preserve his Loyalty and to observe upon the least inclination or notice any Commands that should come unto him from your Excellency Then upon further Discourse he fell to wish I had the Fort in my Possession so he were sure that the Party whereof I was and my Self were for the King to which I answered That by the good Countenance and Usage the rest of the Commissioners and my Self had in England and our coming without Rub or Interruption from thence might in some sort assure him thereof which proving not altogether satisfactory unto him he replyed That if he had seen any Directions from your Excellency for him to dispose of the Place he would obey it to the loss of his Life and deliver it either unto me or any body else your Lordship would appoint which I apprehended a Business much conducing to His Majesty ' s Service and the Preservation of this Province against the Rebels in England into whose hands I was assured the same should be put as now it is and presuming that it would not have been prejudicial to His Majesty or your Lordship for me to use any Slight or Means to get it out of their hands I presumed to frame a Warrant in your Lordship's Name authorizing him to Surrender me that Hold to His Majesty's Use and that your Lordship had received sufficient Assurance from me to redeliver it upon Demand which I read unto him he would have it into his own hands as he alledged for his Justification but I insisted that I would not part with the Instrument until the Work were accomplished according to the Directions whereupon he took time to prepare and consider of the Business for two days as near as I can remember and then he was to send his farther Resolution unto me or to appoint another Meeting and since I have not heard any thing from him but within six days after I could hear that he discovered it unto my Lord of Insiquin and some others at a Council of War My Lord he thought to catch me and I was hopeful to catch him and if in the Progress or Carriage of the Matter I have said or done any thing that gives your Lordship cause of Offence I crave your Forgiveness and Pardon Your Lordship may be the more Indulgent unto me in this Particular for that upon my Salvation I had a full Resolution if I had compassed the Place upon those Terms to preserve all the English without any prejudice either in their Lives Religion or Goods and to Surrender it unto your Lordship or such as you would Appoint whensoever your Lordship would call for it My Lord This is the Truth of what passed between Muschamp and me in that place I have no more to add unto it but that I desire if in this I have forfeited any thing of your Lordship's Opinion I may be restored and accounted by your Excellency Your most humble Servant And as to Conaught 1643. after the Cessation was concluded Commissioners were appointed to settle the Quarters of which Major Ormsby was one and Sir Robert Newcomen and Sir George Saint-George were in February made Commissioners or Governours of that Province but the Irish who knew well enough that by the Cessation the Garisons in Conaught were left in a starving Condition did delay the Settlement of the Quarters all that they could so that tho' a meeting was appointed at Roscomon about the middle of February and Major Ormsby accordingly
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 aâd 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 Gââway 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
their Parties had commonly the Better tho' their Armies had commonly the worse in all Encounters Review 84. but there is no General rule without Exception so this Party of Horse was lost and the Foot thereupon quitted the Castle and Bridge and ran to find out their General who was securely posted amongst the Rivers and Bogs in Westmeath where the Scots faced and braved him but for want of Provisions could not stay long enough to do any great Prejudice nevertheless they hanged Nugent of Carlestown and burnt his House Upon the retreat of the Scots Castlehaven says that he followed them to Dromore and tells some fine Stories to his own Credit but the issue is that with much ado he got home again Owen Roe having failed of his promised Assistance In the mean time In July the Marquess of Antrim âound means to send Two thousand five hundred Irish to Scotland to joyn with Montross that so by giving the Scots Employment in their own Country he might divert them from sending Recruits into Ireland And it is to be noted that the Confederates did both send and receive Ambassadors to and from foreign Princes viz. They sent to France at several times Mr. Rochfort âather Mathew Hartegan Colonel Fitz Williams and Mr. Geofry Baron and received from France Mr La. Monarie Mr. Du Moulin and Mr. Talloon they sent to Spain Father James Talbot and had from thence Mr. Fuysot the Count of Beerhaven i.e. O Sullevan Beer and Don Diego de la Torres they sent to the Pope Mr. Richard Beling and afterwadrs the Bishop of Fernes and Mr. Nicholas Plunket and the Pope sent them first Peter Franciscus Scarampo and afterwards his Nuncio the Bishop of Firmo And therefore it is fit I give the Reader some Account of their Negotiation which I shall as I have information and opportunity and for the present shall feast him with some Extracts out of Father Hartegan's intercepted Letters who in November 1644. wrote to the Supream Council to the Effect following viz. That my Lord Abbot Mountague said to him in his Ear that he should write to your Lordships not to trust most of the English even the very Catholicks who have more National then Religious Thoughts That the Queen talking of Ormond said it was hard to Trust Believe or Rely upon any Irish-man that is a Protestant for every such Irish-man that goes to Church does it against his Conscience and knows he betrayes God That Clanrickard had something of Essex his Brother-in-Law otherwise he should be for the Catholicks which are known to be faithful to the King whereof no Man doubts now That he should know all little Passages Resolutions and Things that pass daily in Dublin Ulster and Cork and you should write the words uttered by Ormond Clanrickard and Insiquin even when they are at Table and in Conversation That you shall have Succours to prevent your inglorious falling to Peace and Rome and France will dispute who shall contribute most to you so that you may see Father Wadding and I do not sleep in your Affairs That Clanrickard Robs more from the Catholick Party than the Villanous Scots That the King is easie and not to be trusted That the Confederates are backward in declining the Old English That if they had Gallantry they might expect a Temporal Crown in reward That Castlehaven is more Nationally then Religiously inclined That Ormond is a Viper and an Idolater of Majesty That the Queen will be cast upon the Irish and therefore advises them to Play the cunning Workmen to take measure of her But we need say no more of this Embassador than what the Queen observes of him in her Letter to the Lord Digby Husbands 2 part 833. viz. That many things he hath written are Lies In England the Lord Macguire and Macmahon were brought to their Trial and found Guilty Condemn'd and Executed at Tyburn but because Macguire was a Peer of Ireland it was made a Question Whether he could be Tried in England for Treason committed in Ireland since thereby he lost the Benefit of his Peerage And tho' it seems to me that the Point had been formerly determin'd in the Case of the Lord Leonard Grey who was Viscount Grany yet it held a long Debate and there being many Curiosities in that Trial I design to add it by way of Appendix unless this Book grow too Voluminous for such an Addition And in January began the Treaty of Uxbridge where the King's Power to make the Cessation was denied both because of His Delegating the Management of the War to the Parliament and because of the Interest of the Adventurers To which it was answered That the King by authorizing the Parliament did not exclude Himself There were also reciprocal Accusations and Recriminations from each Party to the other which are too tedious to be here recited and therefore I refer the Reader for them to Dugdale's View of the late Troubles where he may find them at large Nor is it to be omitted that even whilst this Treaty was in agitation and in order to it the Treaty with the Irish was in effect superseded a certain Irish Lord was no less unseasonably than importunately pressing His Majesty to be made a Privy-Counsellor and to have a Custodium granted him of Sir Robert King's Estate tho' either of these being granted and divulg'd would have dash'd in pieces all Hopes of Reconciliation between the King and Parliament So little did they consider the King's Interest when it stood in competition with their own And when I have added That the Confederates did publish a Declaration of the Terms upon which Protestants might live within their Quarters which is to be found Appendix 11. and that the Citizens of Dublin being numbred on the Eighth of August were found to be 2565 Men and 2986 Women Protestants and 1202 Men and 1406 Women Papists I have inserted all that I think material for the Year 1644. The Year 1645. could not begin better than in reviving the Treaty of Peace which was then reassumed if the Confederates had proceeded candidly and sincerely therein but they perceiving that Ormond would never be prevailed upon to grant them the Terms they desir'd did keep this Treaty on foot to cover their other Designs and in the mean time by their Agent Colonel Fitz-Williams they propos'd to the Queen That if Her Majesty would prevail with the King to condescend to the Just Demands of the Irish at least in private that then they would assist His Majesty with Ten thousand Men. Whereupon the Queen either through Her Indulgence to Popery or to purchase so considerable Aids for the King did promise Her utmost Endeavors to effect their Desires and accordingly She sent Sir Kenelme Digby to Rome where he made the Articles recited at large Appendix 26. which nevertheless had no effect because the * * Vindiciae eversae 48. King could not by any means be brought to confirm them And She
also procured the Earl of Glamorgan to be sent into Ireland who made a Peace secretly with the Irish on the 25th day of August as we shall see anon and which also met with the same Fate and for the same Reason And this unfolds the Secret of some Mysteries which at that time were unintelligible for it was a Paradox to Ormond and those Cavaliers who were so zealous for the King that they passionately coveted a Peace with the Irish as that which they thought the only probable Means left to preserve His Majesty I say it amaz'd these Men to find the Irish delay and indeed reject the Peace which themselves at first had courted and which was their Interest to hasten even upon worse Terms than were offered them Nevertheless the Confederates continued to quibble upon Niceties and to reassume Debates that were determined before and particularly the Words in one of the Articles That Officers of Both Religions be equally preferr'd being upon an Objection of the Lord Digby explain'd by themselves to intend only Indifferency were now so strained that they would admit no other Interpretation of the Word Equally but that it must extend to Number whereat His Majesty was exceedingly disgusted But in May there was a General Assembly of the Irish which pursuant to a Decision of their Clergy Appendix 29 did on the Ninth of June Vote That as to the Demand of Restoring the Protestant Churches the Commissioners shall give a positive Denial And the Truth of it is that they thought themselves so sure of what Conditions they pleas'd from the Earl of Glamorgan that they little minded what Answer they gave to the Marquis of Ormond or his Commissioners And on the other side the King thought himself so sure of the Ten thousand Men from them that Sir Marmaduke Langdale was in July sent with Seven hundred Horse to Carnarvan to receive and conduct them as there should be occasion But when their Expectation in England began to tire and no News came either of a Peace or of Succors the Lord Digby Secretary of State wrote the following Letter to the Lord of Muskery and the rest that had been Agents for the Confederates at Oxford My Lords and Gentlemen HIS Majsty having long expected a Conclusion of a happy Peace within your Kingdom and His Affairs having highly suffered by the failing of His Expectations from thence cannot chuse but wonder what the Cause is of it calling to mind those fair Professions and Promises which you made unto Him when you were imployed here as Agents And knowing well what Power and Instructions He hath long since given to my Lord Lieutenant to comply with you for your Satisfaction as far forth as with Reason or Honor His Majesty could in Civil Things or with Prudence or Conscience in Matters of Religion and in the latter as to the utmost of what for any worldly Consideration He will ever be induced to So did He conceive nothing less than what you declared unto Him you were persuaded the Catholicks would be satisfied withal nay ought not in their own Interest to seek more in the present Condition His Majesty is in lest further Concessions might by confirming former Scandals cast upon His Majesty in Matters of Religion so alienate the Hearts of His faithful and loyal Adherents as to make them abandon Him Which as it would draw inevitable Ruin on Him so were you rightly apprehensive that when the Parliament should by that means have prevailed here that must soon after bring a certain Destruction upon your selves What the change of Princples or Resolutions are His Majesty knows not but He finds by the not concluding of a Peace there that your Party it seems is not satisfied with the utmost that His Majesty can grant in Matters of Religion that is the taking away of the Penal Laws against Roman Catholicks within that Kingdom And His Majesty here hears that you insist upon the Demands of Churches for the Publick Exercise of Religion which is the Occasion that His Majesty hath commanded me to write thus frankly unto you and to tell you That He cannot believe it possible that Rational and Prudent Men had there been no Propositions made to the contrary can insist upon that which must needs be so destructive to His Majesty at present and to your selves in the Consequences of His Ruin that is inevitably to be made a Prey to the Rebels of these Kingdoms or to a Foreign Nation Wherefore my Lords and Gentlemen to disabuse you I am commanded by His Majesty to declare unto you That were the Condition of His Affairs much more desperate than they are He would never redeem them by any Concession of so much wrong both to His Honor and Conscience It is for the Defence of His Religion principally that he hath undergone the Extremities of War here and He would never redeem his Crown by destroying It there So that to deal clearly with you as you may be happy your selves and be happy Instruments of His Majesty's Restoring if you would be contented with Reason and give Him that speedy Assistance which you well may so if nothing will content you but what must wound His Honor and Conscience you must expect howsoever His Condition is and how detestable soever the Rebels of this Kingdom are to Him He will in that Point joyn with them the Scots or with any of the Protestant Religion rather than do the least Act that may hazard that Religion in which and for which He will live and die Having said thus much by His Majesty's Command I have no more to add but that I shall think my self very happy if this take any such effect as may tend to the Peace of that Kingdom and make me Your Affectionate humble Servant GEO. DIGBIE Cardiff 1 August 1645. But the Confederates little regarded this Importunity they had other Designs of their own to mind and were busie managing the Two Treaties with Ormond and Glamorgan and whilst they proceeded diligently with the Earl they dealt sophistically with the Marquis still raising new Scruples and Difficulties varying and inhancing upon the King as His Condition grew worse so that on the Second of August they demanded to be exempt from the Excommunication of a Protestant Bishop because they could not in Conscience seek Absolution from those of another Religân And thus Matters continued until the 25th of August at which time the secret Peace with Glamorgan was concluded and then to let him know that they design'd no more effectual Compliance with him than they had perform'd with others they did on the 28th of August make the following Order â viz. The General Assembly Order and Declare ãâ¦ã Union and Oath of Association shall remain firm and inviâlable and in full strength in all Points and to all Purposes until the Articles of the intended Peace shall be ratifiâd in Parliament Notwithstanding any Proclamation of the Peace c. And on the First of September
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 peâe aderant regni âraelatis 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 ââveral 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 âatenus 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 Cesstâon 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 Ballymaâtir 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 Inâiquin'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
Prisoners but he had not so good luck in his next attempt for a Party of his going to plunder the great Island were by Major Power who had not at first above 30 Horse but afterwards was reinforced by two Companies of Foot so handled that they left five hundred of their Companions dead upon the place however he afterwards took Castle-Lions Cony-Castle and Lismore which last place was bravely defended by the same Major Power and 100 of the Earl of Cork's Tenants to the Slaughter of 500 of the Besiegers until their Powder being spent they surrendred upon honourable Conditions After this Castleâaven went to besiege Youghall a weak and untenable place and lay before it many weeks and having received several considerable Baffles by the handful of Men that were within the Town he was at last forced to raise the Siege and close the Campagne with that misfortune And thus Matters stood in Munster till the latter end of the year at which time Inâiquin sent 500 Foot and 100 Troopers to seize upon the Castle of Bunratty which they performed and there found Horses enough to mount their Cavalry And as for Conaught it was under a Triumvirate of Presidents the Lord Dillon of Câstilo was the King's President and Sir Charles Coot was the Parliaments and the Titular Archbishop of Tuam was commissioned by the Confederates But Coot was too hard for both his Rivals and being united with the Lagan Forces under Sir Robert ãâã Colonel Awdly Mervin c. they made up in all ãâã Regiments with which they marched through Conaught and burnt the Country to within 6 miles of Galloway without meeting an Enemy in the Field they also took Sligo with the loss of Twenty of their own Men and the Slaughter of One hundred and twenty of the Rebels and Colonel Mervin being chosen by a Council of War to be Governour of Sligo as he well deserved was nevertheless by means of the Scots put by that Command which was given to Sir Robert Stewart whereupon Colonel Mervin came away discontented and notified to the Lord Lieutenant his Design of adhering to the King Hereupon the Confederates gave the Lord Taaf the Command of an Army to relieve Conaught and he issued forth a terrible Declaration That whoever did not submit to his Majesties Commission conferred on him within two days after Notice should be treated as an Enemy and on the 4th of August he summoned Castlecoot which returned this Answer That they neither broke the Cessation noâ used Hostility at any time but when the Irish began That their misbehaviour forced them to correspond with the Scots whom they did not know or believe to be declared Enemies of the King That they would always submit to the Kings Pleasure but may not in any sort confide in such breach of Faith at they always find from the Irish Nation to their Party and instanced the burning of their Hay even then in the time of the Treaty and they desire a Copy of his Commission which his Lordship pretended was from the Lord Lieutenant And so his Lordship finding no good to be done upon Castlecoot at that time marched to Tulak which he took by Assault the 17th of August and having besieged Abby Boyle in vain after the Garison for their better defence were forced to burn the Town he agreed that upon an Oath of Fidelity and to observe the Cessation they should be no farther molested and the like Agreements were made with the Castles of Cambo and Lissidarne and it seems that afterwards the Irish Army returned to the Siege of Castlecoot and forced it to surrender about the 10th day of September In the mean time 1645. on the 16th of August the Bishop of Elphin and his Son Captain Tilson by Letter submitted to the Lord Dillon President of Conaught and on the 19th the Lord President at the Head of the Army came thither accompanied with the Lord Taaf and told the Bishop that Captain Tilson and his Foot Company must quit the Castle of Elphin within two hours and tho' they offered to take any Oath of Fidelity to His Majesties Service and the Bishop offered to stand obliged for the performance of what they should Promise or Swear yet all would not do but the Lord President and Lord Taaf having at length condescended to Sign some Articles for their Security they marcht out of the Castle into the Village and the Lord President and his Guard lodged in the Castle that Night and afterwards left it under the Command of Captain John Brown who admitted Boetius Egan the Titular Bishop of Elphin into the Castle on the 7th of September being accompanied with Sir Lucas Dillon and they made a Guard for the Bishop on the Knee from the Gate to the Church where the Bishop Rung one Bell and one of the Six Fryars accompanying him Rung another I suppose by way of Livery and Seizin they also burnt Incense and sprinkled Holy water and the next day being the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin they said several Masses in the Cathedral Church and the Bishop preached there and he was so vain and confident in his present Possession that he sent word to the Protestant Inhabitants That if they would continue his Tenants he would use them no worse than the former Bishop had done But that which the poor Bishop Tilson complained of in his Letter the 29th of December to the Lord Taaf is That none of the Conditions made with him and his Son were observed but that the Titular Bishop kept his Books and some of his Goods and turned out his Servant so that he was damnified to the value of Four hundred Pounds and it appears by another Letter of the Bishops that when the Titular Bishop was urged with the aforesaid Agreements and Articles He reply'd That that was past and out of date Upon complaint of these Matters to the Lord Lieutenant and that the Irish refused to permit the Clergy of the Diocess of Elphin to Levy any of their Dues alledging that the Bishop was outed by His Majesties Commission his Excellency did send positive Orders to restore the Bishop to the Castle of Elphin but in vain for the Lord President writes back That he had used his utmost indeavours with the Lord Taaf but could not prevail because of some Dangers he pretended from Sir Charles Coot and the Scots In the mean time the Titular Archbishop of Tuam was not idle but with Two thousand Foot and Three hundred Horse he surrounded and endeavoured to retake the Town of Sligo but there being about Two hundred Horse got into the Town under Captain Richard Coot and Captain Cole they Sallied out on the 17th of October and being well Seconded by Colonel Sanderson and a good Party of Foot they got a considerable Victory and by the help of Sir Francis Hamiltons Troop which came in the nick of time they did great Execution the Archbishop himself was slain and all the Baggage was taken
and One hundred and fifty Horse and many Colours and some Prisoners of Note and it was at this time that the Articles of Glamorgans Peace were found in this Prelates Trunk or Pocket as hath been already mentioned And soon after this small Party being reinforced with part of the Legan Army took in Thirteen Castles in the Barony of Tyreragh with much Corn and other Provisions therein which exceedingly enlarged their Quarters and plentifully supplied them with some Accommodations which else they would have sensibly wanted in the following Winter And as to Ulster the Military Transactions were inconsiderable this Year for Owen Roe had so small a Force that he Acted defensively and the Lagan Army was employed in Conaught and the Scots were for the most part called home to quench the Flames in their own Country so that I find nothing worth mentioning except a defeat given to Five hundred of Owen Roe's Men by a far less Party of Sir William Cole's which hapned near Lowtherston on the 20th of November But in October Mr. Annesly Sir Robert King and Colonel Beale who had in May before been by the Parliament appointed Commissioners for Ulster arrived in Ireland and brought with them Provisions and Ammunition and Twenty thousand Pound in Money but for want of a Quorum of Scotch Commissioners to joyn with them little or nothing was methodically done However their Arrival yielded an opportunity to the Lord Lieutenant to begin a Treaty with them wherein he proposed to himself one of three things viz. Either that he might be able to perswade them to unite against the common Enemy or during that Negotiation might convert some part of the British Army to his Majesties interests or by the fear and apprehension of these things quicken the Irish to a speedy and reasonable Peace And Mr. Galbreth who was entrusted with this important Secret did so well execute his Commission that he mist his design very narrowly and these Commissioners were amused to that Degree that they wrote the following Letter to the Speaker but in two or three days after they found out the Secret of this Affair and so the design vanished Honourable Sir THere are some Passages which we omitted in our Letters to the Committee because we judge it expedient to express them in Cipher the Rebels grew higher in their Demands since the Kings Affairs have been in a declining Condition which with abusing the Kings Name and Authority in the taking our Garison in Conaught and turning the English out of some of them hath so incensed the Marquis of Ormond that he desires but Power and Opportunity to break off all Treaty and fall upon them and in Order thereunto we have had an Overture by one that came from him to us for the British and Scots Forces to joyn with him against the Rebels upon these Conditions First That the Treaty between England and Scotland should be observed Secondly That the Covenant should not be prest upon the Forces under his Lordships Command and that it should be left free for those of them that would to use the Common Prayer Book and the established Government till the King and Parliament settle some other Thirdly That the British Army be left to the chief Governour for the time being he appointing them a Governour of their own chusing Fourthly That every Party out of his Estate or Charge be restored Fifthly That none be sent out of the Kingdom without Consent on both Parts Sixthly That some Ammunition be lent to them of Dublin Seventhly For our Security Drogheda should be given into our hands We giving Assurance that use should not be made of it against his Lordship Eightly Both Parties to swear to perform We suppose some good effect might be produced from these beginnings but without the Scots Commissioners we have no Power and therefore expect your Directions therein and desire that in the mean while they may be kept Secret for if any Notice of a Transaction in this kind come to the Rebels it would hazard the putting Dublin and those Parts into their hands the Proposition is the more considerable because your Armies here will much want a Port in Leinster for a Magazine but we shall do nothing in it till we hear from you but what may keep you on Expectation Having nothing more to advertise of them at Present We remain Your most humble Servants Arthur Annessey Robert King William Beale Belfast this 19th of Novemb. 1645. If you think fit to proceed we doubt not but to bring the Business into far better Conditions then proposed But on the Sixteenth of February these Commissioners did by their Letter from Belfast offer to treat with the Lord Lieutenant but he foresaw they would not submit to His Majesty's Authority without which he could not incorporate with them Besides he was too far advanced in the Treaty with the Irish to stop it upon such slender Expectations and therefore he was reserv'd in his Answer to this Address And they finding by his Coldness to them that he had closed with the Irish or at least design'd it they broke off this Negotiation the very same day whereon the Irish Peace was concluded 28 March 1646. The Year 1646. 1646. opened with the Conclusion of the Peace the Articles of which being drawn by Mr. Darcy and Mr. Browne were perfected on the 28th of March and deposited as an Escrol in the Hands of the Marquis of Clanriccard until some Conditions promised by the Irish in a separate Instrument which were to be fulfill'd by the First of April should be performed which were never done and if they had been honestly performed yet those Succors would have come too late for thus the Secretary of State writes from Oxford 26 March That for want of Supplies from Ireland the Army in the West of England is disbanded so that now Supplies will do no good Nevertheless the Irish knew nothing of this and therefore pretended to be very diligent in getting their Men together and Ships were prepar'd and the Lords of Antrim and Glamorgan were at Waterford to forward the Business and on the Third of April the Supreme Council wrote to the Lord Lieutenant That they had Six thousand Men ready and desired they may be Mustered But notwithstanding all this it is believed that they never really intended to send any Succors to the King for the Lord Muskery the very same day viz. the Third of April and by their Command signified to the Lord Lieutenant the Difficulties of their Enterprize in England and desired that they might be imployed against the King's Enemies in Ireland And being resolv'd to imploy those Forces as they pleas'd whatever Directions Ormond should give to the contrary they did on the same Third of April discharge the Ships at Waterford from Demurrage and without expecting an Answer to their Message they did within a day or two after without the Lord Lieutenant's privity imploy most part of those Forces
stupendious Revolution was That General Preston and his Army being mostly of the Pale and in whom English Blood and Honor should have had more prevalence than to suffer them to be guilty of so manifest and perfidious Violation of a Peace so lately made with their own King should be persuaded to joyn with Owen Roe and the Ulster Irish in so ill a Cause and even against his Interest and yet it is certain that they were tainted so early that tho' Owen Roe march'd through their Quarters to intercept Ormond yet none of them sent him the least notice and when the Marquis sent to Preston to come to him to consult about those Affairs Preston excused it with a Pretence of Sickness Nevertheless the Nuncio would not trust him until he had tied him by an Engagement to oblige his Honor and an Oath to bind his Conscience both which are recited Appendix 32. And upon the noise of Preston's Defection the Lord Lieutenant sent him an Expostulatory Letter to which he return'd the following Canting Answer May it please your Excellency IN Answer to Yours of the Eighth of this Instant I return That finding the Peace that was Concluded and Published destructive to my Religion and Liberty of the Nation to the Maintenance of which together with His Majesty's Just Prerogatives I had formerly sworn and associated my self I called together my Regiments and issued new Commissions for reinforcing of my Army my Intention being therein no other thaâ complying with my former Resolution and Engagement which I desire may be accorded with Assurance whereby we may be the better enabled to comply with His Majesty's Necessities in serving Him Which is the only Ambition of My Lord Your Lordships most humble Servant T. PRESTON Kilka 10 October 1646. But let us return to the Nuncio who by the Artifice and Industry of the Popish Clergy was become the Generalissimo of Two Armies which being united made up 16000 Foot and 1600 Horse with which he marched towards Dublin and was so confident to take it by a General Assault at his first Approach and express'd it with such Arguments of Probability that it was generally believ'd in his Camp so that Colonel Fitz-Williams pretending Kindness to Ormond did by his Letter of the 22th of September give him notice of the Danger and advis'd him to prevent it by confirming Glamorgan's Concessions and concludes That then Preston will live and die for His Majesty And to this Advertisement the Marquis on the 26th of September return'd the following Answer SIR IF I could have assured the Clergy my Lord of Glamorgan's Conditions I had not retired hither they are Things I have nothing to do with nor will have If they be valid in themselves they need no Corroboration if invalid I have no Power to give them Strength I cannot believe General Preston so regardless of his Honor as to appear in a way of Hostility before Dublin which were in the highest degree to violate the Loyalty he professeth the many Assurances given me by himself and in his behalf by others and above all the Honor of his Profession But if all that can be called Faith between King and Subject and betwixt Man and Man shall be so infamously laid aside together with all hope of Reconciliation Nature will teach us to make the best Resistance we can and God the sure Punisher of Treachery and Disloyalty at last will bless our Endeavors with Success or our Sufferings with Patience and Honor. Your Servant ORMOND But we must leave this mighty Army on their March and visit the Marquis of Ormond who was so enraged at this unexcusable Perfidy of the Confederates that he resolved to think no more of Treating with them but on the contrary prepared for the utmost Resistance And he was likewise very much confirmed in those Resolutions by the Opinion of the Lord Digby whom he had left Resident at Kilkenny and who in his Letter of the 24th of September hath this Passage My Lord there is no dealing with this People but by Force You see by the short Letter how they forge large Offers and improve others for their Ends. Hereupon Resolutions were unanimously taken in Council to Address to the Parliamet for Succors as shall be hereafter related at large in its proper place And the Lord Lieutenant and Council did write to the King â That the Irish having perfidiously violated the Peace had begun a new War to wrest the Kingdom from His Majesty and transfer it to the King of Spain or the Pope to avoid which they were forced to apply themselves to the Parliament And the same day they wrote to the Lord Mayor and City of London for Assistance and assur'd them that the City Debts seiz'd in the beginning of the War were but borrow'd in extremity and that an exact Account are kept of them and they will be justly repaid by the King in due time And hereupon the Captain of the Parliaments Ship that carried the Commissioners over furnish'd the Lord Lieutenant with Thirty Barrels of Powder There was nothing more could be done for the Preservation of Dublin but to invite the Parliament Forces of Ulster to its Assistance which was not neglected and many of them were passionately inclin'd to the Service as knowing that the whole Kingdom would suffer very much in the Loss of that City But the Chief Commanders and the Parliament Commissioners would not consent unless Tredagh might be put into their Hands To which Ormond replied That he was in Treaty with the Parliament and therefore could not part with Tredagh till that were finished but desires them to reinforce his Garisons or divert the Common Enemy by taking the Field However the Irish were afraid of this Conjunction and therefore Owen Roe from Athy on the Ninth of October invited the Lord Lieutenant thither to treat with the Nuncio but Ormond knew there was no good Musick to be made upon that String and therefore the next day from Trim he return'd an Expostulation Why they were in Arms and desired them to restore Athlone and Athy To which Owen Roe replied the same day from Kilka That those Garisons are in surer Hands for the King now than they were in before whilst they were kept by Men inclined to the Parliament But tho this Irish General was so high being the Favorite of the Nuncio and his Party yet General Preston was not so but foreseeing the Fate and Scandal of the perfidious Breach of the Peace both he and his Army were somewhat cold in the Affair Besides this there was a National Emulation between the Two Armies O Neal's being Old Irish as the others was of the Old English and this was increas'd by the Insolence of the former and the Envy of the latter For Owen Roe and his Party who had been lately Victorious at Bemburb and had never submitted to the Peace because the Nuucio did reject it thought themselves justly entitled to the Reputation of
being the better Soldiers and the better Catholicks Whilst the other being the Civiliz'd Inhabitants of the Pale look'd upon the Northern Army as a sort of Barbarians And therefore the Lord Digby writes thus to the Lord Lieutenant from Grangemelan 13 October All here of the Nuncio and O Neal ' s Parties is the height of Insolency and Villanies O Neal ' s and Preston ' s Armies hate one another more than the English hates either of them O Neal has Eight thousand Foot whereof Five thousand well Armed and Eight hundred Horse the worst in the World he designs on Naas Matters standing thus General Preston On the Nineteenth of October made some Proposals to the Lord Digby to which he return'd this Answer by Sir Nicholas White That if Preston would submit to the Peace the Lord Lieutenant would break off the other Treaty but cannot do it after the Provisions and Country are destroy'd because then he will be tied by the Teeth to the Parliament on whom he must depend for Bread That he shall have reasonable Security of Religion but must decline the extravagant Expectations of the Nuncio That they shall have the Penal Laws repeal'd and not be disturb'd in the Possession of the Churches they now have until His Majesty's Pleasure cut of Restraint be known And for security hereof they shall have the Engagement of the Queen the Prince of Wales of the Crown of France and of the Marquis of Clanrickard and that Preston shall have a considerable Command and so shall as many of Owen Roe's Officers as will comply But an Answer must be sent before the Lord Lieutenant be necessitated to destroy his own Quarters And this General Preston did also send Sir James Dillon to offer the Command of his Army to the Lord of Clanrickard and that they would submit to the Peace if they might be secur'd in their Religion But as Clanrickard would not meddle without Ormond's Consent so Ormond began to be shie of Preston and not to regard what he said because he had promis'd him not to shoot a Gun at any English Garison and yet he did now assault and take Castlejordan which breach of his private Promise more sullied his Reputation with Ormond than did his Contravention of the General Peace Moreover whilst they pretended fairly and talk'd of Peace they nevertheless march'd on and destroy'd the English Quarters and therefore when the Lord Tââf on the 23th of October sent a healing Message to the Lord Lieutenant in behalf of Preston and in order to revive the Peace he smartly answered That now they had destroyed his Quarters and taken several of His Majesty's Castles and murdered His Subjects without any cause of Complaint they begin to talk and but to talk of Accommodation And when Preston replied That the Peace was disadvantagious to the Catholicks and was therefore rejected the Marquis answered That Oaths are not necessary to bind one to his Benefit and therefore are useful only when they oblige to Disadvantage and if they may for that Reason be violated all Faith amongst Men is destroy'd Whereupon on the Thirtieth of October Preston writes That he will send the Lord Lieutenant Propositions in two or three days which accordinly were sent on the Second day of November and were signed by both the Generals together with a Letter as followeth viz. May it please your Excellency BY the Command of the Confederate Catholicks of this Kingdom who offer the inclosed Propositions we have under our Leading Two Armies Our Thoughts are best to our Religion King and Country our Ends to establish the First and make the Two following secure and happy It is the great part of our Care and Desires to purchase your Excellency to the effecting of so blessed a Work We do not desire the effusion of Blood and to that purpose the inclosed Propositions are sent from us We pray to God your Consideration of them may prove fruitful We are commanded to pray your Excellency to render an Answer to them by Two of the Clock in the Afternoon on Thursday next be it War or Peace We shall endeavor in our Ways to exercise Faith and Honor and upon this Thought we rest Your Excellencies most humble Servants T. PRESTON OWEN O NEILE 1. That the Exercise of the Romish Religion be in Dublin Tredagh and all the Kingdoms of Ireland as free and as publick as it is now in Paris in France or Bruxels in the Low-Countries 2. That the Council of State called ordinarily the Council-Table be of Members true and faithful to His Majesty and such of which there may be no fear or suspicion of going to the Parliament Party 3. That Dublin Tredagh Trim Newry Carlingford and all Garisons within the Protestant Quarters â be Garison'd by Confederate Catholicks to maintain and keep the said Cities and Places for the use of our Sovereign Lord King Charles and his Lawful Successors for the Defence of this Kingdom of Ireland 4. That the present Council of the Confederates shall Swear truly and faithfully to keep and maintain for the use of His Majesty and His Lawful Successors and for the Defence of the said Kingdom of Ireland the above Cities of Dublin and Tredagh and all other Forts Places and Castles as above 5. That the said Council and all General Officers and Soldiers whatsoever do Swear and Protest to fight by Sea and Land against the Parliamentarians and all the Kings Enemies And that they will never come to any Convention Agreement or Article with the said Parliamentarians or any the Kings Enemies to the prejudice of His Majesties Rights or of this Kingdom of Ireland 6. That according to Our Oath of Association We will to the best of Our Power and Cunning defend the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom the Kings Rights the Lives and Fortunes of the Subjects His Excellency is prayed to make Answer to the above Propositions at furthest by Two of the Clock in the Afternoon on Thursday next But it seems that these Proposals were thought so insolent and unreasonable that it was not fit to Countenance them with an Answer In the mean time the Lord Lieutenant had sent to the Lord Clanrickard to come to him with what Assistance he could and this Lord who was always Loyal and abhorred the violation of the Peace did his Endeavour to bring a considerable Party with him but as he words it in his Letter of the Second of November The sharp Sword of Excommunication had so cut his Power and means that he could bring with him but one Troop of Horse to Tecroghan however his Presence was very considerable and as it gave great Comfort to the Lord Lieutenant so it gave mighty hopes to Preston who believed that Clanrickard who for his exemplary Loyalty would be confided in by one side and for his Religion might be trusted by the other was a fit Mediator to reconcile both Parties and accordingly he applyed himself to that Lord and by the
Assistance of the Lord Digby they brought the matter so far to bear that on the 12th of November the Lord Digby writes thus to the Lord Lieutenant Yesterday the Lord Clanrickard and I finished our Negotiations to which Preston and his Army and Sir Philem O Neal and part of Owen Roes Army will submit You may depend on this Engagement of Preston and his Army since it cannot be violated without such a Perâidy â as certainly the Profession of Soldiers and Gentlemen hath never been guilty of The most that will be expected from you is a Declaration to this effect That whereas it is well known even by His Majesties Printed Letters that His gracious Intentions were to secure His Catholick Subjects of this Kingdom in the free Exercise of their Religion by repeal of the Penalties of the Law against them which in the last Articles was left out by the Subtilty of some of their own Party who intended to found this late mischief upon it that it was far from His Majesties intention or Yours to take advantage of that Omission but that they may rest as secure of His Majesties Favour in the repeal of the said Penalties as if it had been positively exprest in the Articles and that for matter of their Churches and Ecclesiastical Possessions it being referred to the King it was far from Your intentions to molest them therein till you knew His Majesties Pleasure in that particular As for your Engagement to obey His Majesties free Commands the Queen and Prince of Wales and my Significations to the advantage of the Catholicks during His Majesties want of Freedom and that you will not obey such Commands to the prejudice of what is undertaken as shall be procured by advantage of His Majesties want of Freedom Your Letter to the Marquis of Clanrickard will suffice you must proceed frankly c. And this was the Posture of Affairs when on the 14th of November Commissioners arrived from the Parliament with Fourteen hundred Foot and other Necessaries for the Preservation of Dublin which they expected to be given up to them upon the Terms proposed In what Condition was the Marquiss of Ormond now he had two inconsistent Treaties upon his hands and both well nigh concluded and he was in Danger least his own Army who abhorred any farther Correspondence with the Irish would with the Assistance of the Fourteen hundred Men newly come Deliver up both Dublin and him to the Parliament of England It is certain he had need of all that Dexterity and Presence of mind that he was Master of to extricate himself out of these Difficulties as he afterwards did It was never a Doubt with him whether he should preserve the Kingdom for his Majesty or submit it to the Parliament but the Question was whether an Union with the Irish would do the former since their Levity was such as that there could be no dependance upon them I have seen all the dispatches between Ormond and Digby upon this occasion and can assure the Reader that the Lord Lieutenant was prevailed upon against his own Judgment by the Lord Digby's importunity and when he did Consent he foretold the issue of that Reconciliation But we will first give an Account of the Treaty with the Parliament Commissioners and then discover the farther Proceedings with the Irish The Lord Lieutenant and Council being pressed by Enemies without and Necessities and intolerable Wants in the City did on the 26th day of September by Letters to the King and to the Lord Mayor of London represent the miserable Condition they were in and did also send over the Lord Chief Justice Lowther Sir Francis Willoughby and Sir Paul Davis in one of the Parliaments ships to the Parliament of England with Instructions from himself and the Council and other Instructions from the Council only The Instructions from the Lord Lieutenant and Council were 1. That a Difference ought to be made the between those that were Contrivers and first Actors of the Rebellion and those that by the Torrent of that Rebellion were afterwards accidently engaged therein and that the Confiscatitions of the former were sufficient to satisfie the Adventurers 2. That they demonstrate the necessity of making the late Peace for the Preservation of the Protestants for tho' the Protestants do survive the breach of the Peace the Reason is because the Irish are now divided and their Frame of Government dissolved 3. That before the Peace they the Lord Lieutenant and Council did enter into a Treaty with the Parliament Commissioners in Ulster to prevent it but by the Departure of the Marquis of Argile into Scotland and of Sir Robert King into England that Treaty fell for want of a sufficient number of the Commissioners and that misfortune was followed by the defeat of Monroe and the Scots at Bemburb 4. That England has receiv'd advantage by the Peace First by their experience of the perfidiousness and Treachery of the Irish â And Secondly by obtaining just cause to use them severely 5. That the Covenant may not be impos'd until it be done by Act of Parliament that nothing of it may be now imposed lest it divide the Protestants and hinder them from a joynt prosecution of the War and for the same Reason the Book of Common Prayer be not suppressed but let those use the Directory that will 6. To âustifie the Goverment and Conduct of His Majesties Servants and to wipe off all Scandals 7. To preserve the Estates Persons and Imployments of all those that went hence to serve His Majesty in England and did not joyn with the Rebels at least to get them Liberty to compound or to transport themselves and their Goods 8. That it be immediately published we have free Commerce and Traffick with the Parliaments Towns and Allies and that three or four Ships be sent to Guard our Coasts from the Rebels 9. That Magazines of all sorts be speedily prepared at Liverpool Chester c. 10. To advise them that if Succours be not immediately sent all will be lost and the recovery of it will cost ten times as much Blood and Treasure as it will to keep it now 11. That if the Soldier be not constantly Paid he will revolt to the better Pay-master and that the Revenue here does not keep the publick Persons and Clergy from want 11. That Directions be sent to the Parliaments Forces in Ulster Munster and Conaught to correspond and joyn with Us. 12. That if they send Forces under their own Officers Care be taken to Pay ours equally with theirs to prevent Difference and Mutiny 13. That Sir Francis Butler Colonel Richard Gibson Colonel Henry Warren Colonel Monk and Lieutenant Colonel Gibs now Prisoners with the Parliament Being Men that know the Country and are experienced in the Service may be rather sent than Novices and Strangers or any others Lastly Men without Money and Victuals will do us more harm than good And if as soon as you are
at London you do not advertise us that Succours are coming our Necessities can admit of no delay but will oblige us to think of some other Course The Instructions from the Council were 1. To demonstrate that the Lord Lieutenant and Officers now employ'd being experienced will be more Serviceable to the Preservation and Reduction of Ireland than any others 2. That we prefer the interest of the Crown of England before our particular advantage and therefore rather than our continuance shall hinder Supplies we will surrender but because Patentees cannot leave their Places without His Majesties allowance and are sworn to that effect you must declare that they will resign So as His Majesties Direction be therein obtained and all of them preserved in Persons and Estates and indemnified from publick Engagements and repaid their Disbursements for the publick and be protected for Six Months from private Debts and have Liberty to transport themselves and their Apurtenances where they please And Pursuant hereunto there were two Sets of Proportions delivered to the Agents the first from the Lord Lieutenant only was 1. That he would prosecute the War against the Irish Rebels as vigorously as he shall be thereunto enabled by the Parliament and will faithfully serve the Crown of England therein 2. That neither the Forces he has nor the Forces or Supplies that shall be sent him shall be otherwise employed than according to the Directions of the Parliament of England 3. That he will neither make Cessation or Peace with the Rebels without Consent of King and Parliament of England 4. That he will be oblig'd hereunto by Oath or otherwayes Competent for a Man of Honor and Conscience The other Proposals were from the Lord Lieutenant and Council demanding 1. Three thousand Foot and Five hundred Horse which will make up those here to be Seven thousand fifteen hundred Foot besides Officers and One thousand Horse besides Officers which at three days Pay in a Week amounts to 8258 l. 12 s. od per Month of Twenty eight days and that three Months Pay for them be sent and 1000 l. for Contingencies and Ammunition c. convenient and some spare Arms and Swords 2. That all that have constantly and faithfully served in this War may be preserved in Persons Estates and Employments and the like by those that were for some time forcibly kept by the Rebels but left them as soon as they could and the same of those that went to serve the King in England and the like of so many of the Irish as are accepted of as Adherents to His Majesties Protestant Subjects in this Cause They also wrote to the Speaker of the House of Lords That they were necessitated to make the Peace and the Irish broke it because the British Plantations in Ulster were not subverted And Secondly because Popery was not established in its fulness of Jurisdiction and Practice That Athlone was surpriz'd That they were reduced to Extremity and refer'd themselves to the farther report of their Agents and prayed immediate Assistance Upon the Receipt of these Letters the Parliament of England resolved to send Succours as fast as they could but well knowing that Ormond and his Party were unmoveably fixed in their Loyalty they resolved not to continue him in the Government but to proceed upon the other Overture and to send Commissioners over to receive the Sword and Garisons from him and that being done to settle such a Chief Governour as they should think fit And accordingly they did send over Sir Thomas Wharton Sir Robert King Sir John Clotworthy Sir Robert Meredith and Richard Salway Esquire Who on the 13th day of November arrived in the Bay of Dublin they immediately sent to the Lord Lieutenant that they had matters of importance for the Preservation of the Protestants of Ireland to Communicate to his Excellency and desired his safe Conduct which was accordingly sent them and the next day they Landed and on the 15th they delivered his Excellency a Copy of their Commission and of the Ordinance of Parliament and of their Instructions which were to this Effect To assure the Marquis of Ormond and Earl of Roscomon c. that the Parliament would take the Protestants of Ireland into their Protection and if he would surrender up the Sword and Garisons in four days that then Ormond should enjoy his Estate and have Indemnity from Debts contracted on the publick Accoâââs and shall be protected against all Debts for a Twelvemonth that he and his followers may have Passes to go where they please that Ormond should have Two thousand Pound per annum for five years and longer if he cannot receive so much out of his own Estate and that Ormond may live in England if he will submit to all Ordinances of Parliament and that for a Twelvemonth he may live in England and shall not be pressed to any Oath he engaging his Honour not to do any thing disserviceable to the Parliament during that time Then the Lord Lieutenant demanded if by the word Protection it was intended that the Protestants should enjoy their Lives Liberties Estates and Employments without Molestation of the Parliament he also desired to know when the abovesaid four days were to begin and to what Persons and to whose use the Sword and Garisons were to be delivered The Commissioners answer'd They could not explain the word Protection but doubted not but a fair Interpretation would be made thereof That the four days commenc'd 15 November at Nine in the Morning and the Sword and Garisons were to be surrendred to them the Commissioners to the use of the Parliament of England in order to the Preservation of the Protestants of Ireland Ormond repli'd That he could not remit the Safety of the Protestants to the incertainty of a future Interpretation The Commissioners then produc'd an additional Instruction to give such Protestants as they condition withal except such as have been in the Irish Rebellion Assurance of Security to their Persons Estates and Goods in Ireland and that they may live quietly under the Protection of the Parliament submitting to the Ordinances of Parliament and compounding for their English Estates at two years Purchase On the Sixteenth of November the Commissioners offered Assistances of Men and Ammunition for the present Defence of Dublin or Caution they be employ'd to no other use and be restored if the Treaty break off Then Ormond demanded Whether the Protestants that concluded the Cessation or Peace should be interpreted to be in the Irish Rebellion To which the Commissioners answered in the Negative And being farther demanded Whether they expected every protestant should treat for himself or that Ormond's Treaty should suffice for all they answer'd It should serve for all that submitted to the Parliament within twenty days after notice Then Ormond ask'd Whether it was expected they should submit to all Ordinances of Parliament that were or should be made The Commissioners answer'd He saw the Words and they had no
necessities of his Army forced him to withdraw thither where he stayed to expect his Lordships farther Commands And the same day Ormond replyed That he would certainly meet him at Castledermond that day sevenight with 600 Horse and 600 Musquetiers and that he will cause Commissions to be prepared with blanks for the Names of Preston's Officers to whom he will give proof of his full confidence in them and value of their Merit and loyal Affections and for Preston himself that he should have all the Power with the Lord Lieutenant that he could desire And thus Matters stood in a fair Correspondence between his Excellency and General Preston when on the 9th of December the Marquis of Ormond accompanied with the Marquis of Clanrickard marched out of Dublin with his small Party in the nature of Guards towards the place of Rendezvous and I doubt not but the Reader is full of Expectation to find General Preston there also but alas the Scene was changed and the Case was altered for the Council and Congregation at Kilkenny had on the 24th of November declared against this new Reconciliation as Appendix 35 and the Nuncio did so influence General Preston and his Officers by alledging That the former Treaty and Engagement were not binding being concluded without the Consent of a General Assembly which only had the Cognisance of Matters of so great Importance that he prevailed with them to Apostatize from their Solemn Engagement so lately entered into and to write this bald Excuse to the Marquis of Clanrickard That his Officers were not Excommunication-Proof And on the 15th of December the Council and Congregation of the Confederates not taking any notice of any Peace or Agreement that had intervened 1646. published the following Declaration By the Council and Congregation WHEREAS the Cessation of Arms between us and the adverse Party is long since determined and for that the Enemy in Dublin is now advanced into the Field committing daily acts of * * * Though really they committed none but paid for whatever they had Hostility We therefore Declare Order and Appoint That all Generals Captains and other Officers and Soldiers whatsoever of all and every the Armies of the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland and all and every Party and Parties of them either now together in Body or in their Winter Quarters shall and may KILL and Endamage the most they or any of them may of the Enemy aforesaid and against them or any of them use and exercise all manner of acts of Hostility But General Preston by his Letter of the 19th of December from Waterford endeavoured to excuse this Apostacy and laid the fault upon his Officers and yet on the 22th of the same Month he published a Declaration in Print against the lately renewed Peace â to this effect That since the Engagement made by the Marquis of Clanrickard doth not yield sufficient Security for the Free Exercise of Religion c. as by the Congregations * * Appendix 35. Annotations thereon doth appear and since a Resolution was taken not to receive any of his Forces into the Garison of Dublin according to Agreement unless these Objections may be satisfied by the Enlargement of farther Grants that may satisfy the Council and Congregation he thinks himself obliged by the Oath of Association to obey the Council Congregation and General Assembly Whereupon the Lord Lieutenant by his Letter of the 5th of January acquaints him That however things have not sorted to his Expectation or to what he understood to be Preston's Obligation yet he was far from believing that Preston had any design so unbecoming a Man of Honour as to make use of the Credit given by Ormond to his Invitation to the Lord Lieutenants Prejudice or for the Improvement of Preston's Conditions with another Party which makes him confident that a Printed Paper Entituled Preston's Declaration c. and dated but three days after the former Letter of the 19th of December being so contrary to the Expressions therein must be a Forgery at also the Reports that some of Preston's Forces are gathering together at Castledermond to interrupt his Return or destroy the remainder of his Quarters yet he desires Satisfaction from Preston's own hand in those Particulars And accordingly General Preston did by his Letter of the 15th of January own his Declaration for which he writes he had good Reasons to be imparted at a more convenient time but disowned that he had any hand in disturbing his Excellency's Quarters or interrupting his Return But that the Reader may perceive that this Perfidiousness was not unexpected I must insert a short Passage in a Letter of the Lord Lieutenants to Colonel John Humilton dated at Lucan before he knew of Preston ' s Relapse and it was thus That I may leave no means unattempted to prevent the Ruin of His Majesty's Affairs whilst I have a hand in them I have undertaken an Expedition whereunto I was invited by a considerable Party of the Irish but I confess I go rather to leave them for ever unexcusable if they should fail me than that I have any assured Confidence of Performance such are the Impressions their former Failures have left in me But because it may be thought hard that the Confederates should be judged by the Sentiments of Protestants it is therefore necessary to shew what Opinion such of the Roman Catholicks as were loyal had of their Proceedings and the Reader may find it at large in the Marquis of Clanrickard's Letter Appendix 37. But Ormond either because he considered the Poverty of the City of Dublin or that being thus a second time deceived by the Confederates he was ashamed to return hither did march his small Army into Westmeath being the Enemies Quarters and there he kept a melancholy Christmas and though he used no Hostility but paid for every thing so that the Country seemed pleased with them yet the Captain and Lieutenant of his Excellency's Guards staâing behind the rest were murdered upon the Highway by some of the Irish and on Christmas Day the Lord Lieutenant wrote to the Lord Digby then intended for France as followeth I Shall beseech you to be careful of one thing which is to take Order that the Commands that shall be directed to me touching this People if any be thwart not the Grounds I have laid to my self in point of Religion for in that and in that only I shall resort to the liberty left to a Subject to Obey by Suffering and particularly that there be no Concession to the Papists to perpetuate Churches or Church-livings to them or to take Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction from us And as for other Freedoms from Penalties for thâ Quiet Exercise of their Religion I am clear of Opinion it not only may but ought to be given them if his Majesty shall find cause to own them for any thing but Rebels However whilst Ormond continued at Trim the Lord Muskry and some others that
abhorred the breach of the Peace gave him hopes That in the General Assembly which was to meet the 10th of January Matters would be better ordered and desired him patiently to expect that and proposed a short Cessation which was afterwards at Dublin agreed unto To this Assembly the Lord Lieutenant sent the Lord Taaf and Colonel John Barry with a most excellent Letter expostulating the Violation of the Peace and telling them That they were irrecoverably betrayed to Infamy if they neglect this opportunity offered to vindicate themselves and exhorting them to a speedy and effectual Confirmation of the Peace but the Assembly had determined the Point the day before they came and so the Letter was never delivered For this extraordinary Juncto or General Assembly which was totally governed by the Nuncio did on the very first day of their Meeting receive a Paper of Unreasonable Proposals from the Congregation of their Clergy viz. To have all manner of Jurisdictions Privileges and Immunities as amply as they had in the Time of Hen. VII and to have all the Church-Livings c. conferred upon them And on the Fifteenth day of January they wrote to the Lord Lieutenant to keep his Forces within his own Quarters and on the Second of February they published a frantick Mixture of a Declaration containing Two very contradictory things Vide the Declaration Appendix 36. viz. First That the Commissioners had acted honestly and pursuant to their Instructions in making the Peace and Secondly That the Nuncio and Clergy had done well in breaking it And they farther declar'd That they might not accept of that Peace but did protest against it and declare the same invalid and of no force to all intents and purposes As also That the Nation would not accept of any Peace not containing a sufficient and satisfactory Security for the Religion Lives Estates and Liberties of the Confederate Catholicks And what they understood to be sufficient appears by the Propositions published by the Congregation at Waterford which they had caused the People to swear they would insist upon And the Reason they gave for this Procedure was as strange as the Act viz. That Glamorgan ' s Articles gave them better Conditions Whereas those Articles were disavowed and rejected by the King and even by the Earl himself acknowledg'd not to be binding both because of the Defezance and the Failure in sending Succors according to Promise And the Confederates likewise had admitted that Agreement void by embracing a subsequent Peace on other Terms Nevertheless this Assembly was so violent against the Peace that some of them attempted to Disband General Preston because he was more moderate and better inclin'd to it than they And to that end the Bishop of Fornes brought in an Impeachment against him but Preston's Friends were so loud upon that Point that the Bishop was fain to withdraw his Accusation Ad gladios pugiles in ipso Senatu ventum fuisset Beling 39. or else they had gone to Cuffs even in the very Assembly Nevertheless when they had talk'd themselves out of breath they began to find the Necessity of putting a better Gloss upon what they had done and therefore they resolv'd to propose Terms of Accommodation that at least they might have it to say that Peace was refus'd them And so on the last of February they sent Dr. Fennell and another with sufficient Credentials to Treat with the Lord Lieutenant and to make Proposals unto him but it was plain that their Design was to amuse the World and to asperse his Excellency with the Noise of this Treaty and the Pretence that they offered Reasonable Conditions and that therefore he was not necessitated to surrender to the Parliament but should rather have complied with them for they not only refus'd to reduce those Proposals into Writing but also denied to sign the Substance or Extract of them when written altho' they could not deny but that it was truly taken as they had dictated But it is fit that the World should know the Unreasonableness of these very Proposals which were to this effect 1. That each Party should continue Independent 2. That they should joyn in a War against the Common Enemy meaning the English Protestants that adhered to the Parliament and that neither Party should make Peace or Cessation or use Traffick or Commerce with them without the others Consent 3. That Dublin and other Garisons might be secur'd by their Soldiers against the Common Enemy 4. That all Papists in English Quarters have free Exercise of their Religion that is as they afterwards explain'd it the Churches and Church-livings and Exemption from the Jurisdiction of the Protestant Clergy in all Places except Dublin where the greater number of the Inhabitants are Catholicks 5. That no body be permitted to live within English Quarters but such as will swear to this Accommodation And 6. That if both Armies joyn in any Expedition nevertheless they are to be Commanded by their own respective Commanders c. But these Proposals being made known to the Privy-Council they did unanimously and with scorn reject them and the Lord Lieutenant did on the 22th of March 1646. write to the Supreme Council That he could not comply with their Propositions in the manner they were propos'd And so the Assembly was on the Third of April adjourn'd to the Twentieth day of November following And now what could be more amazing than to see a People and especially the Nobility and Gentry of a whole Kingdom many of which had good Breeding and good Fortunes give up the Conduct of their Reason as well as their Consciences to the wild Ambition and Covetousness of the Clergy Men who ventur'd nothing by their preposterous Attempts to set up their Religion for in all Events they were to find Welcome abroad and to be reverenc'd even for being vanquish'd But for those Gentlemen who had no certainty of Subsistence elsewhere how imprudent was it towards their lawful and indulgent King whose Pardon they so much needed to require from Him such Conditions in Matters of Religion as by the Advantage it gave to His other Enemies in whose Hands he was must take from Him more than their Assistance could afford and by this foolish Stratagem weaken and diminish that Power by which only they could be saved Nevertheless they did in this manner trample upon the Peace not only in a Heat but in Cold Blood and thereby rendred all future Expectations vain and their own Condition irreparable But let us return to the Marquis of Ormond who was astonish'd at this foolish Procedure of the Irish He had already received Orders from His Majesty That if he could not keep Dublin he should rather surrender it to the Parliament than to the Irish and he very well understood the Sentiments of the Protestants of Ireland For altho' some of them were very fearful of the Covenant and many of them had great Jealousies and Suspicions of each other yet all
Parliament take Advantage to incense the English against the King Queen and Prince if we should shut all our Doors against them That the Pope has sent the Irish Forty Thousand Pistols and Mazarine will send Six Thousand more c. These Letters being read Mr. Baron said his Embassy was on two Points First To excuse the not sending Three Thousand Men to the King of France according to Promise which he had done to Content and the second was to sollicit Aids from the Queen which at first she promised sufficient to bring the War to the wished Period but at the second Audience she was quite off from it being so persuaded by her Protestant Councillors And that Cardinal Mazarine sent them Twelve Thousand Livres which is all he could procure The year 1647. 1647. began with the * * March 30. Arrival of Colonel Castle 's Regiment which was sent by the Parliament to the Marquis of Ormond's Assistance and was followed by Colonel Hungerford's * * April 30. Regiment and Colonel Long 's and by the Commissioners themselves who landed the 7th of June and brought with them 1400 Foot and 600 Horse and immediately they proceeded to the Treaty which was on the 18th of June concluded on the Articles mentioned Appendix 39. And the same day the Marquis of Ormond Extrema necessitate compulsus says Mr. Beling page 47 surrendered Dublin Tredagh and his other Garisons unto them but kept the Regalia until the 25th of July and then delivered up them also and went to England This Action of the Marquis of Ormond's hath some Resemblance to that of King Henry the 7th in marrying his eldest Daughter to the King of Scotland they were both Actions of great Foresight and Prudence and as the later hath united Scotland to the rest of Great Britain so the former hath preserved Ireland in obedience to the Crown of England and therefore the Confederates especially the Nuncio Party whose Designs were diametrically opposite to that which happened do hate the Name of Ormond above all others and have written * * Deserter of Loyal Friends by Bishop of Fernes and Vindiciae eversae by John Ponse and the bleeding Iphigenia c. Volumes of Scandals and unjust Reproaches against him for preferring the English before the Irish whom they call his own Country-men But we must look back and see what the Confederates did to prevent this Agreement with the Parliament and in truth they did but little of themselves for their Talent was greater in breaking Articles of their own making then those that were made by others I cannot find they did any thing more than send a Letter of the 28th of March to Invite the Lord of Dunsany and Sir Nicholas White to a Conjunction with them and with part of their Army besiege the Castle of Carlow on the 18th of April of which last Ormond immediately sent notice both to the Lord Lisle in Manster and to Monroe in Ulster in hopes that they would make some Excursions to save the place by Diversion which they could not and so it was surrendered upon Articles But there happened a lucky opportunity if they would have embraced it of making a Peace with the King notwithstanding that some of the Parliament Succors were arrived for the Parliament Commissioners when they came over brought Bills of Exchange that were not authentick and in the mean time Winter Grant a Papist and a subtile Man was sent over to Ireland by the Queen to hasten a Peace if possible and his Instructions in order to it were to be varied used or rejected as the Lord Lieutenant upon the place should think fit and to deliver or suppress the Letters he had to the Nuncio and to the Confederates as Ormond should advise by whom he was to be governed in all things and he brought with him 14 Blanks to be filled up as the Lord Lieutenant should please and he was to know Ormond's Opinion whether the Prince should come to Ireland or not Hereupon Winter Grant on the 15th of April went to the Supreme Council with Directions to promise the Confederates That if they agree to a Cessation the Lord Lieutenant will not receive any more of the Parliament Forces in three weeks from the 18th Instant but they would not consent to so short a Truce but on the 10th of May they did write That they must insist on the Propositions of the Congregation at Waterford but are willing to make good the Propositions made by Dr. Fennel and will readily assist to preserve Dublin for the King against the Parliament And it seems they had wrought upon Winter Grant for he by his Letter of the 13th of May presses the Conclusion of the Peace and offers that the Irish Armies shall drive back the Parliamentarians But to these Instances Ormond returned this Answer to Mr. Grant on the 15th of May That the two first of Dr. Fennell's * * See them ante Page 185. Propositions are fit between Neighbouring Princes in a League Offensive and Defensive but not between Subjects and their King and that there is no possibility of a Peace whilst they insist on the Propositions of the Congregation at Waterford and that these feigned Offers are for vile Ends either to Calumniate if we dont or Deceive us if we do Accept them However he wrote more moderately to the Confederates but they never vouchasafed to send him a Reply And it ought to be noted That the Lord Lieutenant carried himself so well in this matter that even the Queen and Prince did approve of what he had done and in evidence thereof afterwards sent him over to the Government of Ireland anno 1648. and Sir Robert Talbot Mr. Oliver Darcy Mr. Beling and Mr. Thomas Dungan did confess to the Lord Digby That Ormond could not avoid doing as he did which I should not have mentioned Vindiciae eversae 48. but that some of the Confederates in word and in writing with the greatest Malice and Bitterness imaginable without considering the King's Directions in the Case or the insuperable Necessity of that Action have accused the Marquis of Disloyalty in delivering up the King's City and Sword to His Majesty's Enemies and for saying Si alterutris ex perduclibus necessario tradenda essent se Anglis potius quam hibernis consignaturum Vindiciae eversae 63. That if he must surrender it to any of the Rebels he would rather do it to the English than the Irish But perhaps a curious Reader may be inquisitive to know the Mystery of Ormond's keeping the Regalia almost five weeks longer than he did the City and it was this There were many Anti-Nunciotists amongst the Confederates who were willing to leave the Kingdom and be transported into France under the Command of the Marquis of Ormond and Monsieur Talon was every day expected with French Ships to that purpose but he did not come within the time and after it was expired Ormond could
their first Legate to the Pope and Secretary to the Supream Council But to proceed the Supream Council could not deal with the Nuncio and his Party without the Assistance of Insiquin for Owen Roe stood firm to the Nuncio so that on the 11th of June he proclaimed War against the Supream Council altho' he had sworn Fidelity to them but 't is probable the Nuncio absolved him of that Oath Beling 118. and therefore they did not only borrow Five hundred Horse from Insiquin under the Command of Major Doily but did also on the Twenty seventh of May publish a Declaration exhorting the People to their Duty and Defence and did likewise renew their Oath of Association on the 20th of June and the same day declared War against Owen Roe and his Adherents In the mean time the Nuncio the very next day after he had Excommunicated the Supream Council sent them word that he design'd to Indict a National Synod at Athlone but they were so far from approving of that that they ordered the Marquiss of Clanrickard who sided with them ever since this last Cessation with Insiquin and whereof he was a great Instrument and General Preston to besiege Athlone which they accordingly perform'd and took it before Owen Roe could march up to its relief Upon the taking of Athlone the Nuncio went to Gallaway which Town had agreed to the Cessation and therefore all Divine Offices were interdicted and the Churches were shut and the very Ensigns of Authority were forced from the Mayors own House but that Insolence occasioned such a Tumult that if those Badges of Office had not been immediately returned to the Mayor by the same hand that took them it had certainly come to Blows and Blood in the very Streets and as it was two or three Men were slain in the Scuffle when the Archbishop of Tuam caused the Church Doors to be opened by force Review 132. But what is yet more horrible and monstrous is that the Fryars every where Preached unavoidable Damnation to all those that should adhere to the Cessation which Doctrine confounded the silly People to the utmost Degree of Distraction and Madness and yet as if this were not enough when those who had some Sense and Moderation yet left made a Scruple to fight against their near Relations and those of their own Religion for so small a matter the Nuncio for removing those Scruples published the following Declaration IN the Name of God Amen Whereas about Our last Decision concerning the Publication of the Cessation it was objected by some that altho' for the avoiding of some Loss of Temporal Goods they could not with a safe Conscience publish that Cessation yet it is doubted by them whether the same âe not Lawful for the avoiding of such Blood-shed and Slaughter as might follow upon the opposition made against it We by these Presents declare that it is a Mortal sin against God and his Church and a breach of the Oath of Association either to procure or suffer the Publication of that Truce and that Catholicks ought and are bound to undergo the Loss of all their Temporal Goods their Liberty all that is dear to them and even their Life it self rather than publish or obey it This also was the Sense of these Our Words in Our former Decree Nullo modo licet c. And indeed We well know that Men cannot lose their Goods in this Dissension without the Slaughter of some or perhaps of many In Witness whereof We have Signed these Presents with Our own Hands the 13th day August 1648. Jo. Bap. Rin. Jo. Rapoten But before this the Nuncio had on the 13th of July summoned a National Synod to sit at Gallaway on the 15th of August whereupon the Supream Council sent him a Letter of the 26th of July shewing the Inconveniencies of that Congress but it had no effect on him for as he was used to do he persisted obstinately in his own Sentiments Whereupon the Council summoned a General Assembly to meet the 4th of September and about that time Antrim Muskery and Brown returned from their Ambassy to France but when they reported to the Assembly that the Queen and Prince intended to send over the Marquiss of Ormond the Popish Clergy who hated him above all others were dissatisfied to the highest Degree and did all that was possible to betray Killkenny and the Supream Council to Owen Roe and if some * Appendix 41. Letters from Fryar Paul King to the Titular Bishop of Clogher had not been intercepted they had in all probability effected it For that Owen Roe might be at leisure to ruin the Supream Council he did make a Truce with Jones Beling 126. and was so hearty in it that he wrote to the Protestant Bishop of Clogher the following Letter which was intercepted To the most Reverend the Bishop of Clogher MAKE haste to Ballysonan and thence to Catherlogh and I will endeavour to defend you Costologh is joyned with Preston and so ââââpart of the Lord Insiquin's Army all which I will so keep imployed that they shall not be able to hurt you Owen O Neal. But whilst these two Factions were Bandying one against another Insiquin's Army in Munster for want of Supplies which they could not have from England whilst they Acted in opposition to the Parliament was in some Distress whereupon the Colonels Townsend and Doyly by Insiquin's Orders as they averr'd but he denied wrote to the Committee at Derby House That if the Parliament would pay their Arrears and pardon their Defection they would return to their Obedience Hereupon Colonel Edmond Temple was sent over to treat with Insiquin about it but Sir Richard Fanshaw the Princes Secretary got there before him and established Insiquin in His Majesties Service so that Townsend and Doyly were for some time imprisoned and so were Sir William Fenton and Colonel Phair but those last were afterwards Exchang'd for Insiquin's Son then Prisoner in the Tower of London being the Hostage for his Fathers Fidelity and not long after JAMES Marquiss of ORMOND Lord Lieutenant Landed at Cork on the Twenty ninth day of September where he was respectfully received by the Lord Insiquin and his Officers and on the Fourth of October he wrote to the Supream Council that His Majesty had sent him Pursuant to their Requests and that he desired they would send Commissioners to Carrick to treat of a Peace which they readily obeyed and on the Sixth of October his Excellency published a Declaration mentioned Appendix 42. But it may be enquired how it came to pass that when the Confederates desired a Roman Catholick Vice-Roy so passionately and above all other Protestants ahorr'd Ormond as for many other Acts prejudicial to Popery so especially for surrendring Dublin to the Parliament that yet he should be the very Man that should be sent unto them to which it might be answer'd in General and from good Vouchers That Ormond was the Person in the
would send it we being fleshed in Blood one against the other But whilst the Treaty between Ormond and the Irish was in agitation a Letter of his to the Supreme Council was intercepted and brought to the Parliament and by them shewed to the King who was then in the Isle of Wight whereupon they obliged His Majesty to write to the Lord Lieutenant not to proceed any farther in the Treaty with the Irish but that Letter was interpreted to come from one in Duress and being contrary to express Orders given his Excellency Not to obey any Commands inconsistent with those then received unless they were manifestly for His Majesty's Advantage until His Majesty were at liberty to declare his Sentiments freely That Letter was not much regarded and so after twenty days spent in the Treaty at Carrick the Lord Lieutenant about the middle of November removed to his Castle at Kilkenny upon the Invitation of the Commissioners and to be nearer the General Assembly which was then Sitting in that City he was received with such profound Respect as is usually paid to the Sovereign Authority and had his own Guards with him However it was the middle of January before the Matters relating to the Peace could be adjusted and then they passed unanimously even by the Votes of the Popish Bishops and were on the 17th of January mutually Ratified and afterwards Proclaimed with great Joy and followed by the * * Appendix 44 Declarations of the Popish Clergy expressing their great Satisfaction at this Peace which consisted of the Articles mentioned Appendix 43 which King Charles the second in the Preamble of the Act of Settlement had good reason to call Difficult Conditions Upon this Peace Ormond proposed to get together so good an Army as might by Force or Treaty prevent the Impending Fate of his Royal Master for the undertaken Quota's were as followeth  Foot Horse Munster Irish 4000 800 Leinster 4000 800 Insiquin 3000 600 Conaught 4000 800 Owen Roe if he would come in had 5000 500  20000 3500 But he depended upon a broken Reed for besides that the Irish had delayed the conclusion of the Peace too long to render it serviceable to the King and had exacted such Conditions as would rather hasten than prevent His Majesty's Ruine the Lord Lieutenant was exceedingly disappointed in his Calculation for Owen Roe did not at all come in till it was too late and most of the rest were deficient in their promised Proportions of Men or Money so that he was forced to borrow 800 l. upon his own Credit to enable the Army to march But it must not be forgotten that the Confederates still lay upon the lurch and in order to keep up their Dominion and Power notwithstanding the Peace they did on the 12th of January 1648 make the following Order By the General Assembly WHEREAS the Declaration of the General Assembly of the Confederate Catholicks Ante pag. 152. ãâã bearing date the 28th day of August 1645 and the Explanation of the ãâã General Assembly thereupon dated the First of September 1645 did relate to a Settlement of a Peace to be grounded on any Authority from his Majesty as by the said Declaration and Explanation thereupon more at large may appear It is this day ordered and declared by this Assembly â That the said Declaration and Explanation shall CONTINUE and REMAIN in full force and be renewed as of this time and have relation to all Articles for a Settlement agreed on as well by Authority from His Majesty as from his Highness the Prince of Wales or both as if the said Declaration and Explanation had been NOW MADE to all Intents Constructions and Purposes But the Peace being concluded the Irish became very troublesom by their Importunities for Offices and Places of Trust and Honour Sir Richard Blake the very next week after the Peace wrote to Secretary Lane to mind the Lord Lieutenant to make him a Baron and others were as careful of their own Advancement but above all others the Insolence of a Son of Hugh O Connour is remarkable for he on the 9th of March wrote to the Lord Lieutenant to give him a Troop and his Brother a Foot Company or else they would shift for themselves To whom the Lord Lieutenant made answer That whatever he did with great Rebels he would not capitulate with small ones And now how gladly would I draw a Curtain over that Dismal and Unhappy Thirtieth of January wherein the Royal Father of our Country suffered Martyrdom Oh! that I could say They were Irish Men that did that Abominable Fact or that I could justly lay it at the Door of the Papists But how much soever they might obliquely or designedly Contribute to it 't is certain it was actually done by others who ought to say with the Poet Pudet haec opprobria nobis Et dici potuisse non potuisse refelli THE REIGN OF Charles the Second KING OF England Scotland France and Ireland CHARLES Prince of WALES 1648. eldest Son of the deceased King succeeded his Father in the Right of All and in the Possession of some of his Dominions and was by the Lord-Lieutenant first at Youghall where he then hapned to be in his return from visiting Prince Rupert and afterwards at Carrick proclaimed King by the Name of Charles the Second And altho' the new King did soon after by his Letters confirm the Marquess of Ormond in the Government of Ireland and acquainted him That the Kirk of Scotland had caused his Majesty to be proclaimed King on the 16th of February yet he also sent him the bad News of that Kirk's Declaration of the 13th of February against the Peace his Excellency had made with the Irish But the Lord-Lieutenant was encouraged to struggle with that Misfortune by two Accidents that happened in his favour viz. the Arrival of Prince Rupert and the Departure of the Nuncio The Prince being by the mistake of his Pilot put into Crook-Haven did not come into Kinsale till the 10th of February tho' his Brother Prince Maurice arrived above a Fortnight before he brought with him sixteen Frigats and his design was to make way for the Prince of Wales and he thought it a happy Omen that the first News he met with was that of the Peace Wherefore upon Conference with the Lord-Lieutenant at Corke it was resolved to send Capt. Ulbert to the Prince to hasten him for Ireland which was accordingly done and then the News of the King's Martyrdom arrving Prince Rupert proclaimed the new King at Kinsale with all the Solemnity that place was capable of and put himself and all his Officers in Mourning and even the Ensigns Jacks and Streamers of all the Fleet were altered to a colour suitable to the black and dismal Occasion Whilest Prince Rupert staid at Kinsale his Frigats cruis'd abroad and brought in several considerable Prizes and particularly three Corn-Ships which were of great consequence because of
Cromwell's Army was much harassed and but very small perhaps not exceeding 5000 Foot 2000 Horse and 500 Dragoons when he came before Waterford yet the fame of this General had so frightned the Irish that the Mayor and Governour of Waterford hearing of his approach did on the 28th of October send a Letter to the Marquess of Ormond to consult about the Terms to be insisted on at the Rendition of the City But Ormond the next day by his Letter chid them for their forwardness to Parly with the Enemy before any Battery was begun and assured them that if they did their Duty Cromwell should be baffled before that place as indeed it happened for he lost a 1000 Men with Sickness before it and went away without it And it was about this time in the Month of October that Mr. Seymour arrived in Ireland and brought with him the Garter to the Marquess of Ormond And it was by him that Ormond gave the following Account to his Majesty 30 Octob from Clonmell viz. That Ireland cannot be preserved without Succours that no People in the World are more easily drawn by Reward or forced by Fear than the Irish That he could not draw into the Field above 5000 Foot and 1300 Horse nor keep them long together for want of Necessaries That nevertheless there is no want of Men but of Maintenance for them that the Plague is in Conaught that the Irish and English in his Army cannot agree That no Trust can be put in Owen Roe's Army longer than their own Interest obliges them And therefore if his Majesty comes he ought to bring Ammunition and Money with him and land them at Galway And soon after from Waterford on the 15th of November his Lordship wrote again to his Majesty That the Irish are so fickle that for Trade's sake they will correspond with the Towns in the Rebels possession That the Irish Clergy are mutinous and by means of the Lord of Antrim will probably do some foolish and fatal thing From Waterford Cromwell marched to Dungarvan which he took and there on the 18th of November died Michael Jones Lieutenant-General of the Army a Man of clear Valour and excellent as well as fortunate Conduct and not inferiour to any body in a sincere passion for the good of his Country In the mean time the Towns of the Country of Cork being inhabited and garrison'd with English-men could not endure the thoughts of joyning with the Irish against their own Country-men they considered how the Lord-Lieutenant was not only limited in his Authority by the Commissioners of Trust and was but partially and precatiously obeyed by the Irish They knew the Irish aim'd at their Destruction in the end and continued the War to that purpose Finally they remembred the reasons of surrendring Dublin to the Parliament two Years before and they thought they had the same motive to submit now and therefore by the means of the Lord Broghill Collonel Countny Sir Percy Smith and the Collonels Townsend Jeffor'd and Warden they revolted all at once and about 2500 Men were drawn out of those Garrisons and they met Cromwell at Whitechurch not far from Dungarvan This Revolution dissolved all confidence between the English and Irish and as well for that reason as in other respects proved advantagious to Cromwell for otherwise he must have been forced to endure a long and dangerous March to Dublin or to have embark'd his Men on board the Fleet that coasted all along as he marched to attend him but by this Revolt he got excellent Winter-quarters in Cork Bandon Kinsale and Youghall which last place was made his Head-quarters and there we will leave him and enquire into the Motions of the Marquess of Ormond For although the Motions of that Lord could not be very considerable as well because of the Season of the Year and his want of Money and all other Necessaries as also because his Men did daily desert him in such numbers as that of all the Conaught Horse he had but nine and thirty left with him yet he so struggled with all these Difficulties that he still kept some Forces together hovering between Clonmell and Waterford And it hapned one day that he ferried over to Waterford with about fifty Horse in hopes to perswade that City to all that was necessary for its own preservation and the common good but when he came there he found that the Governor Lieutenant-General Farrel and Collonel Wogan from Duncannon had formed a design upon Passage-Fort and though Ormond much doubted the success yet it was not fit for him at that time to disswade the Attempt And so Farrell marched out but he was not long gone before a Party of the Enemies Horse was discovered to march towards Passage whereupon Ormond desired the Mayor to permit a Regiment or two of his Horse which were on the other side of the River to be wafted over and to march through the City but all his Commands and Intreaties were in vain although the Citizens saw the danger their Souldiers were in and the necessity of the proposed Relief However the Marquess marched out with his fifty Horse such as they were and met Farrell's Foot flying towards Waterford and Collonel Zankey's Horse in pursuit of them hereupon he drew up in a place of advantage and the Enemy thinking he had a greater Body of Horse with him than in truth he had lessened their pace till by advanced Parties they should discover the truth but Ormond pickeer'd so long with them that the remainder of the Foot being about one half had time to escape which else had been cut in pieces or taken Prisoners as their Companions were This very Accident shewed the necessity of the retaking Passage-Fort which else would be a continual Nusance to the City of Waterford and therefore the Lord-Lieutenant propos'd that he would transport his Forces over the River to accomplish that Undertaking if the City would permit his Army to Quarter in Huts under their Walls where they should be no ways burdensom but should have Pay and Provisions from the Country But the Citizens were so far from consenting to this that it was moved by one in the City-Council That they should seize on Ormond ' s person and fall on those that belonged to him as Enemies So that it was time for the Marquess to depart and because the principal Towns like so many petty Republicks stood so stifly upon their pretended Priviledges that they paid no farther Obedience to the Lord-Lieutenant than they thought fit and refused to receive his Army into Garrisons he was forced to disperse his Forces to provide for themselves as they could Luke Taaf went to Conaught and Insiquin into the County of Clare and the Lord Dillon into Westmeath only Major-General Hugh O Neil and 1600 Ulster-men were admitted into Clonmell and his Excellency return'd to Kilkenny And it was from hence that by his Letter of the 24th of December he acquainted his
Name of ourselves and the rest of our Brethren the Archbishops and Bishops of this Kingdom whereby we avow testify declare and protest before GOD and the World That since our General Meeting at Clanmacnoise or here we have omitted nothing that did occur unto us tending to the advancement of his Majesty's Interest and the Good of the Kingdom generally but have there and then ordered and decreed all to us appertaining or which was in our power necessarily conducing to the publick Conservation of his Majesty and his Subjects Interest And also do and have endeavoured to root out of Mens hearts all Jealousies and sinister Opinions conceived either against your Excellency or the present Governmen as by our Acts there conceived maâ appear And aster our parting from thence in pursuance of our unanimous Resolution taken in that place we have accordingly declared to our respective Flocks our happy Agreement amongst ourselves and our earnest desire to labour with them to those ends and made use of our best perswasions for the purchasing of their Alacrity and chearful Concurrence to the Advantage of that Service So that if any thing was wanting of due Correspondence sought by your Ezcellency we conceive it cannot be attributed to any want of care or diligence in us And for further intimation of our hearty desires on all occasions to serve our King and Country we declare That we are not yet deterred for want of good Success in the Affairs of the Kingdom but rather animated to give further Onsets and try all other possible Ways Wherefore we most humbly entreat your Excellency to give us some particular Instructions and to prescribe some Remedies for and touching the Grievances presented by us to your Excellency for pacifying of Discontented Minds and put us in a way how to labour further in so good a Cause And we do faithfully promife that no Industry or Care shall be wanting in us to receive and execute your Conditions And in conclusion We leave to all impartial judicious Persons sad and serious Considerations to think how incredible it is that we should fail to oppose to the uttermost of our power the fearful and inceasing Potency of a Rebellious and Malignant Murderer of our late Soveraign King Charles to which Enemy also nothing seemeth more odious than the Names of Kings and Bishops and who aims at nothing so much as the Dethroning of our now Gracious King Charles the Second and the final Extirpation of our Natives in case as God forbid Events and Successes would fall suitable to his most wicked Designs So far we thought necessary to declare to your Excellency from ourselves as the sence likewise and true meaning of the rest of our Brethren other Bishops of this Kingdom Dated at Loghreogh the 28th of March Anno Domini 1650. Jo. Archiepiscopus Tuamensis Wa. Episcopus Confert Fran. Aladensis Rob. Corcagen Cluanensis Fr. Hugo Episcopus Duacensis But notwithstanding the specious pretences and fair promises in this Declaration they verified Cromwell's observation of them That they prefer'd their own Interest before the King 's and that their professions in favour of Protestants were hypocritical For although they desired Instructions so earnestly as if they meant to observe them yet having received Instruction to bring the City of Limerick to a better temper they did nothing effectually in it though they did colourably send Sir Richard Everard and Doctor Fennell to treat with that City and they carried with them Letters from the Commissioners of Trust to the Mayor and from the Bishops to the Archbishop of Cashell and Bishop of Limerick which if sincerely wrote could not in reason fail of producing some effect But the cause of suspecting their sincerity did not proceed barely from the unsuccessfulness of their Endeavours but also from a discovery of the dishonest manner of their proceedings with the Lords of Ormond and Insiquin whilst they were at Limerick for whilst some of the Prelates and leading Men of that City came to his Excellency under shew of Friendship and Respect and informed him That the Waywardness and Dissatisfaction of the People proceeded from their Aversion to Insiquin who had always prosecuted the War against them with Rigour and Animosity and had defiled himself with the Blood of the Religious at Cashel and of whom they could have no Assurance since his Principal Confidents betrayed the Towns of Munster but if his Excellency would dismiss that Lord and disband his Troops that then the whole Nation as one Man would be at his disposal Another party of Popish Bishops and other leading Men addressed themselves to Insiquin and assured him That they expected no Success under the Conduct of Ormond because he was not of their Nation and was so indulgent to English Interest and English-men that he little regarded them or theirs But if his Lordship who was of the most Ancient and Noble Extraction of Ireland had the Supreme Command then all would be well But these two Lords compared Notes and thereby discovered the bottom of the Contrivance which was to create a Quarrel between them that so they might the easier get rid of them both And indeed from that time forward Ormond had so small hopes of the Irish that he employed the Bishop of Derry to treat with some forreign Prince about transporting 5 or 6000 Men into their Service at usual Rates and he designed to go with them himself and having no means to support Insiquin's Army he did at the importunity of the Commissioners of Trust who were as weary of the Engling as the English were of them disband Insiquin's Forces except Collonel Buller's Regiment which was designed to be sent to the King from Galway And on the first of May Dean Boyle now Lord Primate was employed by Ormond and Insiquin to treat with Cromwell Upon what Terms the Protestants of their Party might be received into Protection In the mean time the King by his Letter of the 11th of March from Beauvois informs the Lord-Lieutenant That one Rochfort from Lieutenant-General Farrell and one Daly disguised under the Name of Dominico de Rosario were with his Majesty and represented Ormond as backward in granting Graces and Favours to the Irish But the King advises him to persevere and if need be rather to exceed in Concessions about Civil Matters than in Matters of Religion and that if there must be farther Concessions in Religion that thân they should be made in general Terms with reference to a future Parliament and gives him full power to do as he sees fit and desires to know whether if he fail with the Scots he may conveniently come for Ireland And indeed this had been the proper time for his Majesty to have come thither and the Marquess of Ormond did invite him to do so and the Queen Mother on the 10th of March 1649 sent the Lord Byron on purpose to press him to the Voyage and to get the Scotch Commissioners consent thereunto And it
declared That this is not meant or intended by any thing herein contained that this Nation will not insist upon the performance of the Articles of Peace and by all just means provide against the Violation of the same And inasmuch as his Majesty is at present as we are informed in the power of a Presbiterian party of the Scots who declared themselves Enemies to this Nation and vowed the Extirpation of our Religion â we declare That it is not hereby intended to oblige ourselves to obey or observe any Governour that shall come unduely nominated or procured from his Majesty by reason of or during his being in an unfree Condition that may raise Disturbance of the present Government established by his Majesty's Authority or redound to the Violation of the Articles of Peace By the General Assembly c. Logreogh 24th of Decemb. 1650. IT is declared That by the word OUGHT expressed in the said Declaration this Day voted in this Assembly it is not meant or intended to look back or have a retrospect into any former Proceedings of the Clergy However they would not consent the following Clause should be added viz. Or set free or discharge the People upon any pretence whatsoever from yeilding Obedience to the Power and Authority intrusted by his Majesty in any Governour of this Kingdom during the Continuance of his Commission or the Powers and Authorities from thence derived although the Lord-Deputy did very importunately desire it But now that the Confederates have gotten a Governour to their mind one of their own Religion and in truth a brave Man it is but reason to expect that the Assembly should take valiant and unanimous Resolutions for a suitable Defence but Experience hath convinced the World that they who are most quarrelsom are not always most stout and therefore it is not to be wondered that it should within very few Days and before any new Misfortune happened be proposed in the Assembly That they might send to Treat with the Enemy for the Surrender of all that was left However the major part of the Assembly rejected the Motion with Scorn whereupon the Bishop of Fernes proposed â To resort to their first Confederacy and so proceed in their Preservation without any respect to the King's Authority And this disloyal Motion found so many Abettors especially of the Clergy that those who were zealous in opposing it were fain to reproach the Assembly by telling them That they now manifested that it was not their prejudice to the Marquess of Ormond nor their zeal to Religion that had transported them but their dislike of the King's Authority and their resolution to withdraw themselves from it That they themselves would constantly submit to it and defend it with their utmost hazard as long as they should be able and when they should be reduced to extremity that Treating with the Enemy could no longer be deferred they would in that Treaty make no provision for them but be contented that they should be excluded from any benefit thereof who were so forward to exclude the King's Authority â But as some of the Irish that pretended Obedience and professed Loyalty were nevertheless daily undermining the Government in favour of the Nuntio and by b P. W. Remonstrance 583. mixing Truth and Lies indifferently and by clamour on the common Topick of ill Success did raise Sedition and foment Jealousies hoping to get rid of the Lord-Lieutenant and to get the Kingdom in their own power to dispose of it to the Pope or some other Forreign Prince as hath already been shewn So there were others that did actually correspond with the Cromwelists and poorly truckled to the prevailing Party for fear of whom they pretended at first to have rais'd their Rebellion insomuch that in a Letter of the Seventh of May the Earl of Castlehaven complains of the Marquess of Antrim's Defection and says That the Irish are so false that No-body is to be trusted for either the Husband or the Wife are still Treating with the Enemy and in their Camp And a greater Man than he in his Letter of June 26. to the King acquaints His Majesty That His Affairs are confounded by the ever-Disloyal Party of the Irish Clergy to whom Lying is as natural as Rebellion But that which is more wonderful is that the Popish Archbishop of Armagh and others should issue Precepts to pray for the Success of Cromwell's Forces P. W. Remonstrance 706 707. whilst Dominick Dempsy a Franciscan Fryer and Mr. Long the Jesuit asserted That the King being out of the Catholick Church it was not lawful to pray for him in particular or in general publickly except on Good-Friday as comprehended amongst the Infidels Jews Mahometans Pagans and Hereticks and even then it is lawful to pray but for the welfare of his Soul onely and not for his Temporal Prosperity But this will be the less admired P. W. Remonstrance when it is known that the same Archbishop of Armagh pleaded for favour from the Parliament to the Ulster Irish because says he They never had Affection to the King nor his Family And as for me says he I was never a Friend or Well wisher to any of the Four meaning the King the Dukes of York and Gloucester and the Marquess of Ormond And indeed the Irish began this Correspondence very early for in September 1649. Coll. Dungan writes to the Lord-Lieutenant That Kelly the Lord of Antrim ' s Priest was in Dublin with Cromwell And to manifest that it was not the Popish Clergy alone that entertained Disloyal Sentiments but that even some of their Nobility and greatest Men and such as had received both Honour and Estate from the King did ungratefully plunge themselves into the same Crimes I will add the substance of a Letter from Thomas Talbot to the Marquess of Ormond which I have faithfully extracted from the Original dated October 22. 1650 wherein he writes That General Preston being at the Lord Glanmalira ' s discoursing about the Clergy's Excommunication of all that should obey his Excellency's Orders wished The Plague had taken the Clergy that did not first seize on Ormond's Person and then they might go through with their Design c. That the General and Sir James Preston his Son after long and private Discourse with the Bishop of Dromore imployed Father Taylor to Ireton with many Instructions signed by Preston but written by the Bishop That Sir James Preston at Banchur expressed much bitterness against the King saying That he took the Covenant and Signed a Declaration against the late Peace with the Irish and wished The Devil would take all those that would Serve His Majesty after doing so base a thing and that for his part he would Treat with Ireton and was sure the Parliament would give the Irish advantagious Conditions That the said Sir James after long Discourse with Terence Coughlan told Mr. Talbot That Coughlan thought it Folly not to submit and take
into my hands they have violated the Trust reposed in them by having cast off and declined the Commission and Instructions they had from me in the King my Master's behalf and all other Powers that cou'd by any other means be derived from him and pretend to make an Agreement with your Highness in the Name of the Kingdom and People of Ireland for which they had not nor could have any warrantable Authority and have abused your Highness by a counterfeit shew of a private Instrument fraudulently procured and signed as I am informed by some inconsiderable and factious Persons ill-affected to His Majesty's Authority without any knowledge or consent of the generality of the Nation or Persons of greatest Quality or Interest therein and who under a seeming zeal and pretence of Service to your Highness labour more to satisfie their private Ambition then the advantage of Religion or the Nation or the prosperous Success of your Highness's generous Undertakings and to manifest the clearness of mine own Proceedings and make such deceitful Practices more apparent I send your Highness herewith an Authentick Copy of my Instructions which accompanied their Commission when I imployed them to your Highness as a sufficient evidence to convince them And having thus fully manifested their breach of Publick Trust I am obliged in the King my Master's Name to protest against their unwarrantable proceedings and to declare all the Agreements and Acts whatsoever concluded by those Commissioners to be void and illegal being not derived from or consonant to His Majesty's Authority being in Duty bound thus far to vindicate the King my Master's Honour and Authority and to preserve his just and undoubted Rights from such deceitful and rebellious Practices as likewise with an humble and respective Care to prevent those prejudices that might befal your Highness in being deluded by counterfeit shews in doing you greater Honour where it is apparent that any Undertaking laid upon such false and ill-grounded Principles as have been smoothly digested and fixed upon that Nation as their desire and request must overthrow all those Heroick and Prince like Acts your Highness hath proposed to your self for God's Glory and Service the Restauration of oppressed Majesty and the Relief of his distressed Kingdom which would at length fall into intestine Broils and Divisions if not forcibly driven into desperation I shall now with a hopeful and cheerful importunity upon a clear score free from those Deceits propose to your Highness that for advancement of all those great Ends you aim at and in the King my Master's behalf and in the Name of all the Loyal Catholick Subjects in this Nation and for the preservation of those important cautionary Places that are Security for your Highness's past and present Disbursements you will be pleased to quicken and hasten those Aids and Assistances you intended for the Relief of Ireland and I have with my whole Power and through the greatest Hazards striven to defend them for you and to preserve all other Ports that may be at all times of Advantage and Safe-guard to your Fleets and Men of War having yet many good Harbours left and also engage in the King my Master's Name for whatsoever may prove to your Satisfaction that is any way consistent with his Honour and Authority and have made my Applications to the Queen's Majesty and my Lord-Lieutenant the King being in Scotland further to agree confirm and secure whatsoever may be of advantage to your Highness and if the last Galliot had but brought 10000 l. for this instant time â it would have contributed more to the Recovery of this Kingdom than far greater Sums delayed by enabling our Forces to meet together for the Relief of Limerick which cannot but be in great distress after so long a Siege and which if lost although I shall endeavour to prevent it will cost much Treasure to be regained And if your Highness will be pleased to go on chearfully freely and seasonably with this great Work I make no question but God will give so great a blessing thereto as that myself and all the Loyal Subjects of this Kingdom may soon and justly proclaim and leave recorded to Posterity that your Highness was the grâât and glorious Restorer of our Religion Monarch and Nation and that your Highness may not be discouraged or diverted from this generous Enterprize by the Malice or Invectives of any ill-affected it is a necessary Duty in me to represent unto your Highness that the Bishop of Ferns who as I am informed hath gained some Interest in your favour is a Person that hath ever been violent against â and malitious to His Majesty's Authority and Government and a fatal Instrument in contriving and fomenting all these Divisions and Differences that have rent asunder this Kingdom the Introduction to our present Miseries and weak Condition And that your Highness may clearly know his Disposition I send herewithal a Copy of part of a Letter written by him directed to the Lord Taaf Sir Nicholas Plunket and Jeffery Brown and humbly submitted to your Judgment whether those expressions be agreeable to the Temper of the Apostolical Spirit and considering whose Person and Authority I represent what ought to be the Reward of such a Crime I must therefore desire your Highness in the King my Master's behalf that he may not be countenanc'd or intrusted in any Affairs that have relation to His Majesty's Interest in this Kingdom where I have constantly endeavoured by all possible Service to deserve your Highness's good Opinion and obtaining that Favour to be a most faithful Acknowledger of it in the Capacity and under the Title of Your Highness's Most Humble and Obliged Servant CLANRICKARD Athenree 20th Octob. 1651. These Letters were as pat to the Duk 's purpose as could be for it justified him in not sending Succours until there should be a New and more Authentick * Null is suppetias missurus antequam alius tractatus concluderetur Vindiciae Eversae 139. Treaty and it also justified his Answer not to Treat any farther with the Agents without his Majesty's â Progredi in tractatu noluit donec de regis voluntate constaret Ibid. Approbation Which being made known to his Majesty he sent the Lord Goring with Letters of the 6th of February from Paris to thank his Highness for refusing farther Treaty with the Irish Agents and to propose to enter into a new Treaty with him about the Relief of Ireland but the Duke by this time had finished his Intrigue at Rome and therefore gave a very short answer That his Majesty had nothing in Ireland to treat for The Year 1651 1651. could not well be otherwise than successful for on the one side the Irish were distracted and divided and on the other side the English Army was rendered Immortal by those constant and seasonable Supplies both of Men and Necessaries that were sent them from England so that notwithstanding their frequent Expeditions
Peck full of Charms some of which had it thus written upon them This is the print of our Lady's Foot and whoever wears it and says twenty Ave Maries shall be free from Gun-shot And the like Charms were to free them from Pike or Sword as the party desired it And lastly that a bold Horse of the Lord Broghill's being ' twice wounded in this Battle became afterwards so cowardly that he was fit for nothing but the Coach But 't is time to return to Ireton who signified his Joy at this Victory by three Vollies of Shot throughout his Camp Nevertheless he found no likelihood of taking the City but on the contrary received many brisk Sallies from them in one of which they slew three hundred of his Men so that probably he had gone without it for that Year if the Town 's Men who had been always mutinous had not continued in the same humour still and pressed for a Parly Whereupon the Clergy threatned to Excommunicate them if they offered to Treat with the Enemy which in effect was they said To give up the Prelates to be slaughtered And they did actually fix a perpetual Interdict upon the Church-doors and other publique places but alass those Fulminations had been too loosely and impertinently used to retain any vertue now in time of need So that without any regard to them Colonel Fennell seized on St. John's Gate and the Mayor supplied him with Powder and countenanced him in the resolution to give up that Post to the Enemy unless the Garrison would consent to Capitulate In fine they did on the 29th day of October surrender that strong and important City upon severe Articles wherein the Governour the Bishop of Limerick and twelve more were excepted by Name as to Life and some of them particularly the Bishop of Emly and Alderman Dominick Fanning were executed it was computed that they lost 5000 People in the City during the Siege mostly by the Plague and other Sickness nevertheless after the surrender there marched out 1300 Souldiers and there still remained in the City 4000 Irish-men able to bear Arms. Limerick being thus taken and Sir Hardress Waller being made Governour of the City Ireton on the Fourth of November march'd towards Galway and being joyn'd with Sir Charles Coot they took Clare from whence Ireton sent a Message to the Town of Galway offering them good Conditions if they submit without putting him to farther trouble and severely threatning them if they refused the proffered Articles and it is probable these Comminations might have made impressions upon them if Ireton's Death which hapned at Limerick on the Twenty-sixth of November had not given them respite But it must not be forgotten that during the Siege of Limerick Sir Charles Coot encountered a Party of Fitz-Patrick's and O Dwir's Forces that had retaken Meleke Island and tho' they behav'd themselves so well that they bafled his Foot two or three times yet by the bravery of his Horse he worsted them at last and killed and drowned 300 of them and made the same Number accept of Quarter for Life But Ireton being dead the Parliament Commissioners at Dublin appointed Lieutenant-General Ludlow Commander in Chief of the Army until further Order should be taken in England in that matter And in the mean time Sir Charles Coot blockt up Galway at a distance and when Ludlow came to him they drew so near that the Assembly which sat there did in February importune the Lord Deputy to permit them to Treat with the Enemy about Conditions for the Settlement of the Nation protesting That they would insist upon advantagious and profitable Terms but the Lord-Deputy knowing it was more proper for him than for them to Treat for the Nation did on the Fourteenth of February write to the Commander in Chief of the Parliament's Forces upon that subject but he had no grateful Reply the English being resolv'd not to admit any Treaty for the Nation in general but those that would Capitulate should do it onely for themselves or the Towns and Places they respectively belong'd unto The Year 1652 began with the Surrender of Galway to Sir Charles Coot which happened on the Twelfth of May before any Storm or Assault was attempted and without consulting the Lord-Deputy tho' he was within half a days Journey of the place but indeed they had better Conditions than they could have had if the Parliaments Commissioners had been made acquainted with the matter and perhaps there was reason for it because the Town was exceeding strong and the loss thereof carried with it the Fate of Ireland and the determination of the Rebellion for what little Contests happened from henceforward do hardly deserve the Name of A Tory War Roscomon and James-Town were Surrendered to Col. Reynolds on the 27th of April and in Munster there was not a Garrison left them but Ross in the County of Kerry which being a Castle in an Island was thought impregnable but Ludlow caused a small Ship to be made and had it carried over the Mountains and set a float in the Lough at the sight of which the Irish were so astonish'd that they yielded up the place on the 27th of June and Inchylough was also surrendered to Col. Zanky on the first of August and about the same time the Lords of Westmeath and Muskry O Connor Roe Sir William Dungan Sir Francis Talbot and others submitted upon these Conditions â That they should abide a Tryal for the Murders committed in the beginning of the Rebellion and those that onely assisted in the War were to forfeit two Thirds of their Estates and be Banished And tho' the Lord-Deputy did on the 16th of May take Ballishannon and the Castle of Donegal yet both those places together with Sligo and Ballymote were soon regain'd by Coot and Venables and the Lord-Deputy forc'd to shelter himself in the Isle of Carrick and having no part to friend nor any Party he could trust he also submitted upon very honourable Conditions Of not having any Oath imposed upon him and of having liberty to transport 3000 Men into the Service of any Prince in Amity with England And so on the 16th of March he was transported to England in a Parliament Ship and not long after died in London In the mean time Col. Charles Fleetwood who had married Ireton's Widdow was made Commander in chief of the Forces in Ireland he landed in the latter end of August and found the Military Service of the Kingdom in a manner finish'd so that what remain'd to manage were the Civil Affairs which were committed to him and the rest of the Commissioners of Parliament And they began their Administration of those Matters by Erecting a High Court of Justice to try those that were accus'd of the barbarous Murders committed in this Rebellion The first Court of this sort that was held in Ireland was upon the 4th of October at Kilkenny before Justice Donelan President and Commissary-General Reynolds
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 exerââed 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
Bryan mac William Farral John mac Edmond Farral John Farral Roger mac Bryne Farral Barnaby Farral James mac Teig Faral his Mark. Morgan mac Carbry Farral Donough mac Carbry Farral Richard mac Conel Farral William mac James Farral James Farral Taghna mac Rory Farral Cormack mac Rory Farral Conock mac Bryne Farral Readagh mac Lisagh Farral Connor oge mac Connor Farral Edmond mac Connor Farral Cahel mac Bryne Farral Appendix IV. A Letter from the Lords Justices and Council to King Charles the First to prevent a Peace with the Irish May it please your Most Excellent Majesty WE your Majesties Justices on the 30 th of January last Receiv'd your Majesties Letter of the 11 th of the same We being then in Council at this Board which Letters we then immediately communicated to the Council as we always do in all matters of Importance concerning your Majesties Affairs here By those Letters your Majesty declared that you had sent a Commission to our very good Lord the Lord Marquess of Ormond and others Authorizing them to receive in Writing what the Petitioners Catholicks of Ireland mentioned in those Letters would say or propound and to return the same to your Majesty And by the same Letters your Majesty Commanded us your Justices to give those Commissioners our best assistance and furtherance as there shall be occasion wherein as in all things else we have always done and shall ever do we shall most readily obey your Majesties Royal Commands with all humble Duty and Submission having nothing more in our Care and Endeavours in these perplexed times than to advance your Service and to preserve your Soveraign Rights and Interests here where so dangerous Attempts have of late been made against them by so Aniversal a Conspiracy of the Papists of this Kingdom We do with much Joy of heart Comfort our selves to see your Majesties gracious inclination to hear your Subjects whatsoever they be in themselves and as therein we behold your goodness so we to whose Care and Circumspection your Majesty hath committed the great Trust of this your Kingdom cannot but esteem it a great breach of Duty and Faith in us to be silent in such things as may give light in this important business and which cannot come to your Majesties knowledge but by your Ministers These Petitioners do affirm That they had recourse to Arms for Preservation of your Royal Rights and Prerogatives which if it were true we should be subject to the full Tax of Treachery if we should not with all Zeal and hearty Affection have joined with them And if that had been the true ground of their entring into quarrel with us it should cost little Mony or Blood to the Kingdom of England to reconcile us They well know that before this Rebellion in the Parliament held here and formerly we opposed them several times where we found them vehemently labour to abridge those Prerogatives and antient Rights of the Crown here and to derogate from your Royal Authority in many Parts thereof as by particulars will appear But we must upon full observation of their Courses and Actions since the First breaking out of this unnatural Rebellion unfeignedly affirm That they do but take up this for an excuse of their most odious breach of Faith and Duty to your Most Sacred Majesty their inward intent being as since hath appeared to deprive your Majesty of all those Prerogatives they spake of and even of your Crown and Kingdom resolving also to destroy and extirpate out of this Island as well the true Protestant Religion as also your Majesties most Loyal Brittish Subjects whom they hate chiefly because they Religiously love your Majesty and your Children and in that love were such leaders of them in all their late seeming Acts of Bounty and Duty towards your Majesty as without shameful bewraying their evil hearts they could not shun the same whereat they often shewed much reluctancy as appeared in reducing the subsidies and other things In Vlster where the Rebellion first broke forth it is testified upon Oath by a Gentleman that was a Prisoner amongst the Rebels that he heard one of the Rebels a man of Note amongst them say That if he had your Majesty where he than spake that he would flea you quick but they would have the Kingdom and their will of you Others there said that they had a King of their own in Ireland Others said that they would have an Irish King and regarded not King Charles the King of England Others that they had a new King and had Commission from him for what they did Others that Sir Phelim O Neal should be their King and that they would give a great sum of Mony to have King Charles his Head these Speeches were uttered in several Counties in that Province and by several Parties also those in Vlster devis'd false Prophesies and dispers'd and publish'd them and amongst others things so devis'd by them one Prophesie is said to be that Tyrone or Sir Phelim O Neal should drive your Majesty with your whole Posterity out of England and that You and your Posterity shall be hereafter Profugi in terra aliena in aeternum to which Phelim O Neal Regal Attributes have been given by some of the Rebels and he hath written in a Regal Stile and did Seal Letters with a Seal whereon there was a Regal Crown which we have seen When the Rebellious Lords and Gentry of the Pale and Leinster and after them those of Munster and Conaugh and the Irish in Leinster rose in Rebellion who appeared not in Arms until those in the Pale brake out those in the Pale declared to Assault your Majesties Castle and City of Dublin where reside your Officers of State and where are the Ensigns and Ornaments of your Royal Authority and Soveraignty here and all the Records of your Revenues and Interest which they purposed to Seize and by holding that Place to take away the means for arrival of English here other than by main force to which intent they Assembled in great numbers near this City within two or three Miles round about it having then also strongly Besieg'd your Majesties Port Town of Droghe da as a step to the gaining of this City presuming all this while that no succour should come out of England and all this done not only by the barbarous Rebels of Vlster but also by the degenerate ungrateful Lords and Gentry of the Pale and when by Gods blessing and your Majesties tender care of the remanant of your poor People left yet undestroyed in sending Forces hither we were enabled by your Majesties Forces to beat off those Multitudes and to raise the Siege of Drogheda then as well the Old English as the Irish all Papists and now Rebels which drew themselves farther off and finding that they had not so ready a way to rent the Kingdom out of your Majesties hands as they at first supposed they then found it necessary to fall
contribution was worth And the Subsidies were not only First proposed by the Protestants but would never have been consented to by the Papists if they had not found the number of the Protestant Members sufficient to out-vote them and therefore when several of the Protestants were absent with the new Army near Carrigfergus and upon several pretences excluded and Popish Members chosen in their Room so that the Popish Party was most numerous Then the Subsidies which before were One and Forty Thousand Pound apiece were by them reduced to Twelve Thousand Two Hundred Pound apiece whereby the forwardness they boast of sufficiently appears to be untrue And as to Proportion the Protestants besides what the Clergy contributed paid above a Third part of the whole and how it was disposed of appears by the Accounts of the Officers and very much contrary to what the Remonstrants have scandalously suggested And if they were as well devoted to the Crown as the Protestants are his Majesty would soon reap considerable profit out of so fruitful and Flourishing a Kingdom to be disposed of as he should think fit To the 6 th that there was an absolute necessity of Disbanding the new Army there being neither Victuals nor Mony left for them and the charge being too great upon the Kingdom as the Remonstrants declared in Parliament when they were moved to contribute towards it however the Lords Justices did not Disband them without his Majesties Warrant for it and they had also the Kings approbation when it was done And now the Reason is manifest why some of the Remonstrants who were engaged in the Conspiracy were so loath to have that Army disbanded viz. because they saw themselves disappointed of such a help and those Arms with a more full hand to execute their Bloody Design upon the Protestants wherein many of that Army concurred and for the same reason they opposed the Transportation of any of those Forces to Spain and the Priests disswaded the Soldiers from going else certainly they would not be backward to rid the Country of those loose Idle Men nor to assist a Catholick Prince of whom soon after they implored Aid against his Majesty But they had another use of those Soldiers in prospect and which is since executed on the Protestants to the full and their fiction that one of the Earl of Strafford's Servants had threatned to blow them up whereupon a Committee was appointed to search under the Parliament House for Powder was only a Trick to discover the Stores for when they found none there they continued their importunity to see where the Magazine was and were discontented at the denial As for the Chimera of bringing Ten Thousand Scots to force the Papists to change Religion and the Speech that Ireland would never be well without a Rebellion to the end the Natives might be Extirpated it is no wonder the Remonstrants whose thoughts were full of Extirpations which they have too fully effected should think the like designed by others but that it is incredible that the Persons named whose Estates are in Ireland and Families are setled there should disturb that Peace they have so long endeavoured to Establish or should desire a Rebellion which would be doubtfull in Success but certain in Desolation And in like manner ridiculous is the Story of Wagers the truth of which is that at the Sheriffs Table at Wexford Assizes a Protestant proposed to a Papist that he would give him Five Pounds and the other should give him Fifty Pounds for it if he did not come to Church within a Twelve Month whereat the Papist not understanding the Joke seemed surprized and protested he would not come to Church within that time why then says a Third Person you will lose the Fifty Pound for it is to be paid if you dont whereat the Jest was understood and it became matter of laughter there though it be one of the Grievances here pickt up to stuff this Remonstrance and one of the Grounds to justifie their bloody Rebellion The Position that Ireland if named is obliged by an English Parliament affects the Protestants as much as the Papists of that Kingdom however it ought to be decided by Arguments and not by Arms Nor should the Resolution of that Point be written in the Blood of so many murthered Innocents but how the Remonstrants should before their Rebellion have notice of any Intention or Protestation of the Parliament of England to introduce a Law for extirpation of Popery is very unaccountable because the Vote that did pass was subsequent to the Insurrections of the Irish and in Detestation of their inhuman Cruelties Nor in truth were the Irish afraid of any Hardships from the English who lived amongst them even with such kindness and confidence as hath proved fatal to the whole party And though now they pretend that the Priviledges of Parliament are violated by sending for a Sitting Member to answer an Impeachment in England yet when that Point was debated in the Case of Sir George Ratcliff who craved the Aid and Protection of the House then one of these Remonstrants could advise the House to take no notice of it lest any variance should arise between the two Parliaments but when the Protestant was sent over then indeed they instructed their Committee to sollice and settle that Point for the future To the seventh the readiness in His Majesty to hear their Grievances which they confess should have obliged them to Loyalty and Obedience to him and at least Neighbourlike Demeanour to his Subjects and not to scandalize His Majesty through his Ministers by false Accusations against them for the Lords Justices did neither hinder the going of the Irish Committee to England nor send any after them to cross or impede their Design nor in any Case misinform His Majesty But on the contrary when they received a Commission dated the 4 th of January 1640 to continue ptorogue or determine the Parliament as they thought fit they believing that the Parliament designed the general good of the Kingdom not only continued it but also gave it all the Countenance they could So that a Noble Peer moved in the Lord's House That it might be recorded to remain to Posterity That the Lords Justices had always ohearfully received their Requests and Messages and wers ready to comply with them and since the Remonstrants by His Majesties Order had view of all the Private Letters if they could have found any such misinformation as they complained of they would have instanced it to His Majesty and not give him Suppositions for Gertainties And as to the Power of Judicature of the House of Lords in Cases Capital His Majesty wrote to know whether there were any Presidents of it and the Lords Justices having consulted the Upper House returned a true Answer that none were to be found nor do the Remonstrants regard that Power but at that Juncture their party being prevalent they thought they had an Opportunity to get
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
was taken at such a day and hour with all the circumstances at large and Letters to that purpose dated from Drogheda by the Rebels that that besieged it That Dublin was taken and being infinitely Ambitious of gaining the Earl of Ormond to their Part for the greater countenance to their Cause giving out that he was their own which was so long believed by the said followers until that Noble Earl giving daily those Honorable Testimonies to the contrary and they finding it to their cost tho' with the hazard of his own Person further than his place might well allow they are now otherwise satisfied and place him in the rank of their mortal Enemies together with that terror to them Sir Charles Coot and others And thus have I laid down all that I have heard to me related omitting what I find others more largely to insist upon All which their Treacherous vain and Airy projects God disappoint As for my own private sufferings by the present Rebellion I refer them to another Schedule this being so far taken up Hen. Jones Deposed before us March 3d. 1641. Roger Puttock John Stern John Watson William Aldrich William Hitchcock Appendix X. An Abstract of the Examination of Doctor Robert Maxwell afterwards Bishop of Kilmore THAT he observed Sir Phelim O Neal and other Irish overjoy'd at the Scots Invasion of England and as much dejected at the Pacification calling the English base degenerate Cowards and the Scots dishonorable Bragodochios that merchandiz'd their Honor for Mony and being asked the reason of their joy at bad news and their sorrow at good answered That if the Fewd had continued they hoped the Earl of Strafford would have perished in the Combustion That the Irish had frequent meetings Two or Three thousand in a company before the Rebellion and borrowed great Sums of Mony of the English without any apparent necessity but paid little or none that one Mac Case a Priest being disoblig'd by Sir Phelim inform'd the Lord Deputy Wandesford of a Plot but either he was not believ'd or said nothing to the purpose That Phelim O Neal brought home two Hogsheads of Powder under colour of Wine a little before the Rebellion and the Powder was bought by small parcels Ten or Twelve pound at a time in the Names of several Gentlemen and he brag'd that his Servants James Warren and Paul O Neal were in the Plot and apprehended but contrary to his expectation were dismiss'd at Council Table and that some Lord or other spoke for them there That Sir Phelim O Neal said that the Plot was in his Head Five or Six years before he could bring it to maturity and dissembled himself as a Fool to bring it about but since it was concluded on by the Catholick Members of the Parliament he was one of the last it was communicated to That Tirlogh O Neal Sir Phelim's Brother said that the business was communicated by the Irish Committee to the Papists in England who promis'd their Assistance and that by their advice some things formerly resolved on were alter'd and that it was a good Omen and Sign of Divine Approbation that the major part of the Irish Committee were Papists and that whilst the Protestants retir'd to a separate meeting at Chichester-Hall the remaining Papists sign'd a Combinatory writing of this Rebellion in the Tolsel which that Session drew on sooner than was at first intended That Sir Phelim said That if the Lords and Gentlemen of the other Provinces then not in Arms would not rise but leave them in the Lurch for all he would produce their Warrant Signed with their Hands and Written in their own Blood that should bring them to the Gallows and that they Sate every day at Council Board and whispered the Lords Justices in the Ear who were as deep in that business as himself That the Earl of Antrims Sister said Her Brother had taken Dublin Castle being removed thither to that purpose and her Brother Alexander had taken Carigfergus and that all Ireland was in the same Case with Vlster That the British should be preserv'd as long as it was consistent with publick safety and when not ' t is better an Enemy perish than ones self That Alexander Hovenden half Brother to Sir Phelim told him that the Fryers of Drogheda by Father Thomas Brother to the Lord of Slane had the Second time invited Sir Phelim and offered to betray the Town to him and Sir Phelim said of the same Fryer that he said Mass at Finglass on Sunday morning and in the afternoon did beat Sir Charles Coot at Swords and the Fryar being by answered that he hoped to say Mass at Christchurch Dublin within eight Weeks That several of the Irish Officers and Fryers said Why may not we as well fight for Religion which is the Substance as the Scots fight for Ceremonies which are but Shadows and that Straffords Government was intollerable and being answered that it lay no heavier on them than on the British they replied the British were no considerable part of the Kingdom and besides they were certainly inform'd that the Parliament of England had a Plot to bring the Papists to Church or cut them off viz. in England by English and in Ireland by the Scots that they were sure of aid next Spring from the Pope France and Spain and that the Clergy of Spain had already contributed Five thousand Arms and Powder for a whole Year then in readiness That the Priests and Fryers were their best Agents especially Paul O Neal upon whose arrival with advice from Spain the War broke out and since that he had gone to Spain with Letters and return'd back again with instructions in a Month. That being asked why they pretended a Commission from the King and at other times from the Queen they answer'd That it was Lawful for them to pretend what they could in advancement of their Cause and that in all Wars Rumours and Lies served to as good purpose as Arms. That Sir Phelim at first pretended only to Liberty of Conscience but as his Success so his Demands increased viz. To have all Offices of State and Justice in Irish hands and no Army Tithes and Church-Lands be restor'd to the Papists all Plantations since 1 Jacobi Dissanul'd no payment of Debts nor restitution of Goods to the Protestants all Fortiffcations in Popish hands British to be restrain'd from coming over Poynings Act and all Statues against Papists repealed and the Irish Parliament made Independent and even all this would not reduce Sir Phelim without a grant of the Earldom of Tyrone and the Priviledges of O Neal. That Sir Phelim pretended to a Prophesie that he should drive King Charles and his whole Posterity out of England to be profugi in terta aliena in aeternum and that several great Men drank a Health on the Knee to Sir Phelim O Neal Lord General of the Catholick Army in Vlster Earl of Tyrone and King of Ireland That he was informed That
Fitz Girald at Kilkenny Noble Sir I Am now advanced thus far on my way home after my accustomed long fruitlessâattendance upon the publick affairs being hopeful that in all this time some good effects would have been produced out of the forward and chearful Resolutions and Endeavours observed in you and many other Noble Persons upon your departure from hence and the good concurrence that was expected from many others well affected to a happy and speedy settlement but after Nine Weeks expectation there hath nothing occurred to my knowledge but the following particulars which I shall distinctly set down both to prevent mistakes in you and clear the aspersions that may be cast upon others 1. By Vote of the Assembly the total rejection of the Peace and of all other both publick and private overtures and undertakings that had relation thereto destroying the only possible means that could have united the Kingdom unto any hopeful way of preservation as affairs now stand in the Kings Dominions 2. A new Union Sworn grounded upon impossible undertakings if not in the Propositions themselves at least in the most material circumstances of securing them thereby excluding all hopes of Peace and setling and confirming a lasting divided Government 3. That being compassed for some seeming satisfaction to those that were drawn into it a plausible shew of some other accommodation was contrived but that being brought up to Dublin by Mr. Doctor Fennel and Mr. Geffery Barron with much assurance given by divers of all the satisfaction that such a change of resolutions could produce there appeared but a Verbal Message of some few general Heads they refusing to give it in Writing or to testify under their Hands what they acknowledgd my Lord Lieutenant took Verbatim from them neither would they assume any Power to make any particular explanations and yet earnestly demanded Resolutions with expedition This unexpected delay and continued uncertainty in such a nick of time after so many former breaches on your parts and so many warnings and true intelligence given you by others of the King 's being delivered up to the Parliament the vast Preparations by them made for Reducing this Kingdom and even those most faithful to his Majesties Service in England as forward as any to joyn therein finding themselves destroyed by the failing of the Peace here and the promised Assistance thereupon Your not long since invading and destroying the only remaining Party Obedient to the Kings Authority the small regard had by you of the approaching dangers and the divisions fomented and still encreasing amongst your selves did by an unavoidable necessity as I conceive beget a resolution in my Lord Lieutenant and those of his Party about Dublin to try some other expedient for their preservation and redemption out of the languishing starving condition they have these many Years with much patience endured and for my own part having long observed the high Affronts and Disrespects put upon my Lord Lieutenant and many other of His Majesty's Ministers and Servants and the largest proportion of Malice cast upon them when they were most industrious in the preservation of the Kingdom hath produced the like resolutions in me to try my Fortune in some other Climate since my Three Years constant expence of time health and fortune for the advantage of the publick hath gained no other recompence than to be Printed against by Declarations Books and several other Papers the Forces of other Provinces poured down upon me to destroy my whole Estate those Forces under my Command thereby inforced to Disband the Officers and all other of my Servants and Followers prosecuted and nothing of means or quarter left me to maintain a Guard of Horse for my own Person my Wife and Family readily permitted to repair to Dublin but no allowance to return all which particulars put together I leave it freely to you to judge whether it be not high time for me to depart when the voice of the Kingdom represented in the Assembly have by a clear implication in their safe conduct declared their desires therein Since my coming hither I have seen some Letters and find much confidence in many that the whole Assembly and Clergy are now united to put a full power into my Lord Lieutenants hands and to make provision for his Lordship and his Party both for subsistence and maintenance of a War to which I may not presume to frame any Judgment at so late an hour of the day but this I conceive is most certain that if it doth not appear suddenly unanimously and clearly with a full power and trust and apparent provision to make it good it will hardly be relied upon and that failing there remains nothing for me to do but in another Country to labour the perfection of Praying as well for my Persecutors as Benefactors amongst the last of which you shall be still acknowledged and remembred by Tecrogham the 15th of March 1646. Your Affectionate Friend to Serve you Clanrickard Appen XXXVIII Articles of Agreement made concluded and agreed on at Dublin the Eighteenth day of June 1647. By and between the most Honourable James Lord Marquess of Ormond of the one part and Arthur Annesley Esquire Sir Robert King Knight Sir Robert Meredith Knight Collonel John Moore and Collonel Michael Jones Commissioners from the Parliament of England on the other part Not signed till the 19th FIrst it is agreed and concluded and the said Lord Marquess of Ormond doth conclude agree and undertake to and with the said Arthur Annesley c. That upon the nineteenth day of this month of June he will leave or cause to be left in the possession of the said Arthur Annesley c. the City of Dublin and all the rest of the places and Garrisons in his power and under his Command and the Ordnance Artillery Amunition Magazines and Stores there and likewise it is further agreed and concluded and the said Lord Marquess of Ormond doth conclude agree and undertake that upon the 28. of July next he will leave or cause to be left in the possession of the said Arthur Annesley c. Or any four of them the Sword and all other Ensignes of Royalty with all other things belonging to the Lord Lievtenant or Leivtenancy of the Kingdom of Ireland that shall be demanded before the said twenty eighth day of July and that in the mean time he will not intermeddle or take upon him to Command in any of the said Garrisons or places 2. Item It is agreed and concluded and the said Arthur Annesley c. do for and in behalf of the Parliament of England conclude agree and undertake to and with the said Lord Marquess of Ormond in the behalf of himself and others his Majesties Subjects that all Protestants whatsoever of the Kingdom of Ireland not having been in the Irish Rebellion though they have of late consented or submitted either to the Cessation of Arms or the Peace concluded with the Irish Rebels shall be
Forfeitures which shall happen before you you shall cause to be entred without any concealment or imbezling and send to the Court of Exchequer or to such other place as his Majesties Lord Lieutenant or other chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom shall appoint until there may be access unto the said Court of Exchequer You shall not let for gift or other cause but well and truly you shall do your office of Justice of the Peace Oyer and Terminer Assizes and Goal delivery in that behalf and that you take nothing for your office of Justice of the Peace Oyer and Terminer Assizes and Goal delivery to be done but of the King and Fees accustomed and you shall not direct or cause to be directed any Warrant by you to be made to the parties but you shall direct them to the Sheriffs and Bayliffs of the said Counties respectively or other the Kings Officers or Ministers or other indifferent persons to do execution thereof so help me God c. And that as well in the said Commission as in all other Commissions and Authorities to be issued in pursuance of the present Articles this clause shall be incerted viz. That all Officers Civil and Martial shall be required to be aiding and assisting and obedient unto the said Commissioners and other persons to be authorised as abovesaid in the execution of their respective powers 29. Item It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said parties and his Majesty is further graciously pleased that his Majesties Roman Catholick Subjects do continue the possession of such of his Majesties Cities Garrisons Towns Forts and Castles which are within their now Quarters until settlement by Parliament and to be commanded ruled and governed in cheif upon occasion of necessity as to the Martial and Military affairs lindx by such as his Majesty or his cheif Governour or Governors of this Kingdom for the time being shall appoint and the said appointment to be by and with the advice and consent of the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them and his Majesties cheif Governor or Governors is to issue Commissions accordingly to such persons as shall be so named and appointed as aforesaid for the executing of such Command Rule or Government to continue until all the particulars in these present Articles agreed on to pass in Parliament shall be accordingly passed only in case of death or misbehaviour such other person or persons to be appointed for the said Command Rule and Government to be named and appointed in the place or places of him or them who shall so dye or misbehave themselves as the cheif Governor or Governors for the time being by the advice and consent of the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall think fit and to be continued until a settlement in Parliament as aforesaid 30. Item It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said parties and his Majesty is further graciously pleased that all Customs and Tenths of Prizes belonging to his Majesty which from the perfection of these Articles shall fall due within this Kingdom shall he paid unto his Majesties Receipt or until recourse may be had thereunto in the ordinary legal way unto such person or persons and in such place or places and under such Controuls as the Lord Lieutenant shall appoint to be disposed of in order to the defence and safety of the Kingdom and the defraying of other the necessary publick charges thereof for the ease of the Subjects in other their Levies Charges and Applotments And that all and every person or persons who are at present intrusted and employed by the said Roman Catholicks in the Entries Receipts Collections or otherwise concerning the said Customs and Tenths of Prizes do continue their respective employments in the same until full settlement in Parliament accountable to his Majesties Receipts or until recourse may be had thereunto as the said Lord Lieutenant shall appoint as aforesaid other than to such and so many of them as to the chief Governor or Governors for the time being by and with the advice and consent of the said Tho. Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them shall be thought fit to be altered and then and in such case or in case of death fraud or mis-behaviour or other alteration of any such person or persons than such other person or persons to be employed therein as shall be thought fit by the chief Governor or Governors for the time being by and with the advice and consent of the said Tho. Lord Visc Dillon c. or any seven or more of them And when it shall appear that any person or persons who shall be found faithful to his Majesty hath right to any of the Offices or Places about the said Customs whereunto he or they may not be admitted until settlement in Parliament as aforesaid that a reasonable compensation shall be afforded to such person or persons for the same 31. Item As for and concerning his Majesties Rents payable at Easter next and from thenceforth to grow due until a settlement in Parliament it is concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said parties and his Majesty is graciously pleased that the said Rents be not written for or levied until a full settlement in Parliament and in due time upon application to be made to the said Lord Lieutenant or other chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom by the said Tho. Lord Viscount Dillon c. or any seven or more of them for remittal of those Rents the said Lord Lieutenant or any other chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom for the time being shall intimate their desires and the reason thereof to his Majesty who upon consideration of the present condition of this Kingdom will declare his gracious pleasure therein as shall be just and honourable and satisfactory to the reasonable desires of his Subjects 32. Item It is concluded accorded and agreed by and between the said parties and his Majesty is graciously pleased that the Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol delivery to be named as aforesaid shall have power to hear and determine all Murders Man-slaughters Rapes Stealths Burning of Houses and Corn in Rick or Stack Robberies Burglaries Forcible Entries Detainers of Possessions and other Offences committed or done and to be committed and done since the first day of May last past until the first day of the next Parliament these present Articles or any thing therein contained to the contrary notwithstanding Provided that the Authority of the said Commissioners shall not extend to question any person or persons for doing or committing any Act whatsoever before the conclusion of this Treaty by vertue or colour of any warrant or direction from those in publick Authority among the confederate Roman Catholick nor unto any Act which shall be done after the
during the want of Judicatures every Man's Power would have been his Judg in his own Cause What the Presidency or President have done irregularly or contrary to the Articles of Peace they shall be brought to answer when they or he shall be particularly charged That Inns of Court have not been erected according to the Articles of Peace Posterity may tell us as loud as they please but if they have Schools to learn English enough to read the Articles of Peace they will find that his Majesty was only to enable the Natives of this Kingdom to erect one or more Inns of Court in or near the City of Dublin or elsewhere as should be thought fit by his Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant or other chief Governour or Governours for the time being Whereby by the scope of the Article which is for removing of Incapacities it is plain the said Inns of Court were not to be erected at his Majesty's Charge And sure no Man will have the impudence to say that We who had the honour to govern under his Majesty did give the least interruption to the erecting of them or that it was ever proposed to Us to give way to the erection of the said Inns. Whereof We confess there was never more need if their Property be to instruct the People in their Duty of Obedience and Government with this addition That to charge Us with want of doing Justice without instancing the particular Cases wherein We failed thereby taking from Us the means to vindicate our Self from so high a Crime is suitable to the Justice and Practices of these Declarers In the Fifth Article The Answer to the 5th Article We are again charged in general with disheartning Adventurers Undertakers and Owners and no Man named but Capt. Antonio nor the particular wherein he was disheartned set down We are further charged with reversing of Judgments legally given and definitively concluded before Our coming to Authority but no particular Judgment so reversed is or indeed can be instanced So that all We can answer to this part is That it is not true And for what remains We say That We placed the Power of the Admiralty in this Kingdom according to the Assemblies Instance and from time to time gave Commissions to such Persons as the Commissioners desired in several Parts to hear and determine Maritime Causes And as to the Sixth Article The Answer to the 6th Article is the same with the Answer to the first of the Grievances We must refer you to our Answer to the First Article of the pretended Grievances which was as followeth First We deny that they if thereby be meant the Roman-Catholick Clergy were not suffered to enjoy the Churches and Church-Livings which at the time of perfecting the Articles of Peace they possessed or that by the Articles of Peace they ought to possess And as to the Instances made in the Margent the Composers of this Article do very well know that their Possession of those Churches and Church-Livings were statly denied by the Protestant-Clergy And it is very well known to the Commissioners who followed that Business with diligence and earnestness enough that We never refused nor delayed to afford them any just means of bringing that Controversy to a final End till at length by Treachery and the Rebels Power the things controverted were lost to both Parties Nor was there any Complaint made unto Us since the conclusion of the Peace till now that the Romish Prelates or Pastors or any of them have been hindred from exercising their respective Jurisdictions and Functions amongst their Flocks except one Complaint made of the Governour of Dungarvan wherein we were ready to have given Redress upon hearing all Parties as should have been found fit if the said Complaint had been prosecuted We know of no Grant made by his Majesty of any Bishoprick whatsoever since the conclusion of the Peace nor can we find any Article of the Peace that restrains his Majesty from making such Grants so the Roman-Catholick Bishops be not thereby dispossessed of what they were possessed of upon conclusion of the Peace until his Majesty declare his Pleasure in a Free Parliament in this Kingdom And whatever his Majesty might intend to declare the making of Protestant Bishops could be no anticipation thereof to the Prejudice of the Roman-Catholicks since Bishops are held essentially necessary to the Exercise of the Religion of the Church of England And as to the Seventh Article We Answer The Answer to the 7th Article That it was conceived by the Ministers herein mentioned that where they had possession of the Church-Livings the Obventions here mentioned were also due to them But whether it were or not sure we are there was never any Complaint made to Us in this Particular till our coming to Tecroghan after the loss of Drogheda and that within a very little time after before the Truth of the Allegation could be examined the Towns of Munster revolted and the Business was so decided at least if any Difference of this kind continued in the County of Kerry which was longer held We never after Our being at Tecroghan heard of it that We remember To the 8th Article The Answer to the 8th Article we answer That no Complaint of any such Slavery imposed by the Lord President or Presidency was made to Us but on the contrary upon his Lordship's instance We directed our Letters to him to swear and admit of the Council of that Province the Lord Viscount Roch of Fermoy the Lord Viscount Muskery Major General Patrick Purcel Lieut. Col. Gerard Fitz-Morrice and others all which were written unto by the Lord President to come to him to be sworn accordingly whereof the Lord Muskry Major General Partick Pureell and Lieut. Col. Fitz-Morrice were sworn but the rest not coming according to the Letters could not be sworn For the improvidence of the Conduct of the Army The Answer to the 9th Article We shall only answer That it was as provident as We had means and skill to conduct it and for the Misfortune We ascribe that to the good Pleasure and Justice of God But how far forth the Disaster at Rathmines was shameful beyond any thing that ever hapned in Christianity as they express themselves We refer you to the Relation of what We have said upon that Subject in our Answer thereunto in what concerns the same in the pretended Grievances and to the Testimony of divers now there that were upon the place with us Concerning the Defeat at Rathmines This was in answer to the Grievances it is as with all Misfortunes of that Nature in War every Man at his pleasure making himself Judg of the Causes of them and many times without looking into or having knowledg of the true Condition of the beaten Party deliver their Judgments upon mistaken Grounds and for the most part are guided by their Passions either of Envy or Self-conceit of their own Abilities to judg
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