Popes Familiar and Kinsman and both Bastards saith Bale fill'd in like sort his Fardles in Scotland These Nuncio's were so crafty that they needed no Brokers they secretly understood by Posts and Cursitors the State of the Court of Rome which quailed them full sore that the Pope was either gone or panted for Life secretly by the conduct of the Monks of Canterbury they were conveyed to Dover where they took Shipping and crost the Seas The Emperor Frederick against whom this Provision was made having intelligence thereof and secretly acquainted with the Popes state wrote to the King of England to apprehend such Prollers wherein he also reprov'd his Cowardize The Emperor when he understood that the Birds were flown away made search for the Nest yet overtook them in Italy where to be short he imprison'd them their Kindred and Favourites rifled them of their Money and sent them to Rome to sing for more He that will read the Story more at large let him repair to Matthew Paris In the Year 1242 1242. the Lord Justice built the Castle of Sligo in Connaught and plac'd in it able Warders and the next Year died Richard de Burgo and the famous Hugh de Lacy Earl of Vlster 1243. whose Daughter and Heir was married to Walter de Burgo in her Right Earl of Vlster The King sent to the Lord Justice for Aid against the Welsh 1244. which it seems was long a coming but at length it did come under the Conduct of the Lord Justice and Phelim O Connor they Landed in the Isle of Anglesey and pillaged the Island and were hastning to the Ships with their Prey but it seems the Welshmen overtook them and forced them to leave their Burdens behind However they afterwards joyn'd the Kings Army and did the Work they came for for the King discomfited the Welsh victualled his Castles and victoriously returned into England The Lord Justice being come back to Ireland 1245. found Vlster over-run by O Donel who took advantage of the Death of Lacy and the absence of the Lord Justice but by the assistance of Cormock mac Dermond ma◠Rory the Lord Justice invaded Tirconnel routed the Irish and slew many of the chief of them on the English side was lost William But by Cambden and others call'd Sheriff of Connaught and his Brother Cambden does also mention several Expeditions but the Issue of them all was this That the Lord Justice Manned his Castle of Sligo forced O Neal to give Hostages and then gave half Tyrconnel to the said Cormock ma◠Dermond and return'd with great Booty But the King was displeased with the Lord Justice for his slowness and delay in bringing Aid to him in Wales and therefore remov'd him from the Government Novemb. 4. 1245. and appointed Sir John Fitz Geofry de Marisco I suppose Lord Justice who receiv'd a Writ that the Executors of the Bishop of Ossory should be suffered to administer and dispose of the Testators Goods and Chattels the Debts due to the King being first Levied thereout and in September 1247. Prin H. 3. 107. the King directed a Writ to the Arch-Bishops and others in Ireland That the Laws of England should be strictly observed there as his Father King John had formerly commanded QVia pro communi utilitate Terrae Hiberniae Prin 254. unitate Terrarum Regis Rex vult de communi Concilio Regis provisum est quod omnes Leges Consuetudines quae in Regno Angliae tenentur in Hibernia teneantur eadem Terra eisdem Legibus subjaceat per easdem regatur sicut Dominus Johannes Rex cum ultimo esset in Hibernia statuit fieri mandavit Quia etiam Rex vult quod omnia Brevia de communi jure quae currunt in Anglia similiter currant in Hibernia sub novo Sigillo Regis Mandatum est Archiepiscopis c. quod pro pace tranquilitate ejusdem Terrae per easdem Leges eosdem regi deduci permittant eas in omnibus sequantur in cujus c. Teste Rege apud Wodestoke nono die Septembris anno Regni 30. Which Writ is imperfectly cited 1 Inst 141 b. Theobald Butler 1247. Lord of Carrick and John Cogan Lords Justices in whose Time the Popes Agent Johannes Refus was sent into Ireland clothed with Authority to collect the Popes Money Hanmer 198. my Author says that though he was not clad in Scarlet for fear of giving Offence yet he was such a Sophistical Legate and plied his business with that diligence that he extorted Six thousand Marks out of Ireland and by help of the Clergy transported it safely to London John Fitz Geofry was again Lord Justice 1248. in his time the King sent the following Writ Lib. P. Lambeth REX Justiciario Hibern Salutem Monstravit nobis Mamorch Offerthierun Rothericus Frater ejus quod antecessores sui ipsi licet Hibernenses semper tamen firmiter fuerunt ad fidem servitium nostram Prin 255. predecessorum nostrum it should be Nostrorum Regum Angl. 1253. ad conquestum una cum Anglicis faciendum super Hibernenses ideo vobis mandamus quod si ita est tunc non permittas ipsos M. R. repelli quin possint terras vindicare in quibus jus habent sicut quilibet Anglicus quia si ipsi antecessores sui sic se habuerunt cum Anglicis quamvis Hibernenses injustum esset licet Hibernenses sint quod exceptione qua repelluntur Hibernenses à vindicatione terrarum aliis repellantur c. By which Writ it appears that the King did design that all the Irish who would live as Subjects should have the benefit of the English Laws but that such of the Irish as were Enemies or Rebels and would not be Amesnable to Law should not have any Advantage by the Law But now the King to qualifie his Son for a Marriage with the Infanta of Spain Davis 22. amongst other things gave the Kingdom of Ireland to Prince Edward and his Heirs Lib. G. Lambeth in as ample manner as himself enjoyed it except the Cities of Dublin and Limrick nevertheless with this express Condition in the Patent 1254. Ita quod non separetur à Corona Angliae Whereupon Ireland was called the Land of the Lord Edward and the Officers there were stiled the Officers of Edward Lord of Ireland and the Writs did also run in the Name of the Prince In the same Year but I suppose before the Donation to the Prince the King sent a Writ to the Nobility of Ireland Prin 255. most earnestly desiring their Assistance with Men and Ships for his Wars in Gascony But the Prince had issued a Writ of Entry out of the Chancery of Ireland against the Bishop of Lismore which was illusory to the Laws of England established by the King and King John and therefore upon Complaint the King sent
them to secure the Peace of the Nation And sent them farther private Instructions by Robert Waspail who carried those Letters to whom he commanded them to give Credit And not long after the Lord Justice was removed and David Barry the worthy Ancestor of the Noble Family of Barrymore was made Lord Justice 1267. he so managed the Giraldines that he took from them the Castle of Sligo and all their Lands in Connaught and thereby put an End to those Wars and Differences that were between them and the Burks And in his Time the Friers Preachers were setled at Ross Kilkenny and Clonmel Sir Robert de Vfford was made Lord Justice of Ireland 1268. and began to build the Castle of Roscomon In his Time Cnoghor O Brian of Thomond was slain i.e. murdered by Dermònd mac Monard and Maurice Fitz-Girald not of Desmond as the Annals say but Son of Maurice Lord Justice anno 1272 was drowned between Ireland and Wales And about this Time came over a Writ from the King to levy Aurum Reginae for Elianor the Prince's Wife as was used in England which you may read at large 4 Inst 357. On which I will make but this one Remark That if the Sovereignty of Ireland were in the Prince how comes the King to send the Writ But it will evidently appear by the following Writ That the Prince had not the Sovereignty of that Kingdom CVm Rex per Cartam suam concessit Edvardo 52 Hen. 3. primogenito suo Terram suam Hiberniae cum pertinentiis Lib. GGG c. habendum sibi haeredibus suis Lambeth ita quod non separetur a Corona Angliae idem Edvardus sine Licentia Regis alienationes quorundam terrarum tenementorum spectantium ad Terram praedictam fecerit contra tenorem feofamenti Regis quod idem rex sustinere voluit ideo nunc dedit potestatem mandatum nepoti suo filio Regis Alemani the Son of Richard Earl of Cornwal King of the Romans revocandi omnia maneria terras tenementa quae dictus Edvardus filius Regis sic alienavit post feofamentum praedict c. Richard de Excester 1269. Lord Justice In whose time Othobon the Pope's Legate made excellent Constitutions at London He made a more firm Peace and Reconciliation between the Burks and Giraldines And not long after died and Sir James Audly 1270. or de Aldethel was made Lord Justice and had a very unfortunate Government of it for the Irish were every where troublesome Fragm M. S. Quasi omnes Hiberni guerraverunt omnes munitiones Fortifications in Ophaly praeter Castrum de Lega Ley destructi sunt Anglici inde expulsi magna strages utriusque nationis facta est in Connacia The Irish burn'd spoil'd destroyed and slew as well Magistrates as others and the King of Connaught in plain Field defeated Walter Burk Hanmer 202. Earl of Vlster and killed a great number of Nobles and Knights and particularly the Lords Richard and John Verdon and a great Famine and Pestilence the natural Consequences of War spread over all Ireland and sorely afflicted the whole Kingdom The Castles of Aldleck Roscomon and Scheligah perhaps Sligo were destroyed Nevertheless the Pope without Regard to these Universal Calamities required the Tiths of all Spiritual Promotions for three Years to maintain his Wars against a Christian King viz. of Arragon and tho' the People murmured and their Poverty and Misery pleaded loudly for them yet the rapacious Nuntio would not go empty away On the 23 of June 1272. the Lord Justice was killed by a fall from his Horse in Thomond and Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald was made Lord Justice 1272. and so continued till the sixteenth Day of November at which time the King died in Peace and full of Days in his Palace at London having reigned longer than any King since the Conquest viz. six and fifty Years c. THE REIGN OF EDWARD I. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND EDWARD the First from the Talness of his Person Nicknamed Long-shanks succeeded his Deceased Father in all his Dominions on the 16th Day of November 1272 but he being at that time absent in the Holy Land the Nobility took care to keep all quiet until his Return and then on the 15th Day of August 1274. he was Crowned by Robert Archbishop of Canterbury Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald continued Lord Justice and to him Ware de pres 34. and to Hugh Bishop of Meath Lord Treasurer and to John de Sandford Escheator was a Writ sent December 7. 1272 Commissioning them to receive the Oaths of Fealty and Allegiance to the new King of all the Nobility Gentry and Commons of Ireland And the Lord Justice had another Writ of the same Date to proclaim the Kings Peace and to preserve it wherein 't is said That the King is willing and able by Gods Help to defend and do Justice to his People great and small And the Government of England being informed Prin. 256. That Avelina Countess of Vlster and Widow of Walter de Burgo had been endowed illegally both as to Quantity and Quality a Writ issued in the Kings Name to the Seneschal of Vlster to rectifie that Matter according to the Law and Usage of England In the mean time the Irish took advantage of the Kings absence from England and thought it an opportune Season to rebel 1273. they destroyed the Castle of Roscomon Aldleek Scheligath and Randon and found means to corrupt some of the Lord Justice Followers whereby he was betrayed into their hands in Ophaly and there taken and imprisoned whereupon Walter Genevil newly returned from the Holy Land was sent over Lord Justice Octob. 1273. to him a Writ was sent not to molest the Archbishop of Cashel for any Debts due from him to the King till his Majesties Return to England The Islanders and Red-shank Scots made a sudden incursion into Ireland and burnt several Towns and Villages killing Man 1274. Woman and Child most inhumanely and got away with vast Booty before the Country could get together or put themselves in a posture to prevent or resist this unexpected Torrent but not long after Richard de Burgo and Sir Eustace le Poer served them in their kind and entred the Islands and burnt their Cabbins and Cottages slew all they met with and smoakt out those that had hid themselves in Caves after the same manner that is used in smoaking a Fox out of his Earth Rosâ—omon-Castle was once again repaired 1275. or rather reedified and Mortagh a strong Tory being taken Prisoner by Sir Walter le Faunt was executed but the Lord Justice being recalled Sir Robert de Vfford was made Lord Justice 1276. in whose time Thomas de Clare Son of the Earl of Glocester came into Ireland and married Juliana Daughter of Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald though some say it was anno 1274. There is little
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
Elizabeth the Seventh Daughter of K. Edw. the First and was at the Parliament at Northampton Created Earl of Ormond And yet I have seen a Patent Dated 6 Edw. 3. Lib. G. Lambeth and exemplified 38 Edw. 3. Whereby James Butler is Created Earl of Ormond and Ten Pound per annum out of the Fee-Farm of Waterford granted to him for Creation-Money And now the Lord William Burk and Arnold Poer returned into Ireland and a Parliament was call'd at Dublin to compleat the Reconciliation between them on the one side and the Butlers Geraldines and Birminghams on the other which it seems was begun at the aforesaid Parliament at Northampton and now effected at this Parliament in Ireland Whereupon the Earl of Vlster made a great Feast in the Castle of Dublin and the next day after the Lord Maurice Fitz-Thomas did the like at St. Patricks-Church although it was in the time of Lent But a strange Accident fell out at this Parliament for the Lord Justice was forc'd to purge himself of Heresie Camb. 182. which the Bishop of Ossory laid to his Charge because he had abetted one Sir Arnold Poer whom the Bishop had condemned of certain Heretical Opinions But the Lord Justice made appear that the Bishops Proceedings were partial and unjust in favour of a Kinsman of the Bishops who began the Quarrel with Poer and that therefore he the Justice supported the Cause of the Oppressed and so after a very solemn Purgation the Lord Justice was acquitted and declared a true Son of the Church whereupon he made a great Feast for all Comers Nevertheless the unfortunate Poer who had been taken by the Kings Writ De Excommunicato capiendo grounded on the Bishops Certificate died in Prison before this Matter was fully adjusted and his Carcass was a long time kept above ground and unburied because he died unassoiled Sir John Darcy 1329. Lord Justice in whose time Macoghegan of Meath and other Irishmen of Leinster O Bryan of Thomond and his Confederates in Munster broke out into Rebellion and yet this common Calamity could not unite the English although their own Experience had taught them and frequent Instances have convinced the succeeding Ages since that the English never suffered any great Loss or Calamity in Ireland but by Civil Dissentions and Disagreement amongst themselves June 10. 1329. when the Earl of Louth and many other of the Birminghams Talbot of Malahide and an hundred and sixty Englishmen were murdered by the Treachery of their own Countreymen the Savages Davis 135. Gernons c. at Balibragan in Vrgile and when the Barryes and Roches in Munster did as much for James Fitz-Robert Keating the Lord Philip Hodnet Fragm 10. and Hugh Condon with an hundred and forty of their Followers what wonder is it if Macoghegan defeated the Lord Thomas Butler and others August 8. near Molingar to their loss of an hundred and forty of their Men Or if Sir Simon Genevil lost seventy six of his Soldiers in Carbry in the County of Kildare or if Brian O Bryan ravaged over all the Country and burnt the Towns of Athessel and Typerary However Holingsh 70. the Irish grew so Insolent and Outragious upon these small Victories that they shewed but little regard to God or Man In the Church of Freinston they found about fourscore People at their Devotions Cambden ad annum it seems the miserable Wretches well acquainted with the cruelty of these ungovernable Soldiers did not expect to escape their Fury 1331. and therefore made it their only Petition to save the Life of the Priest Lib. P. Lamb. but these Ruffians were deaf to all Supplications for Mercy the Priest was the first Man they wounded and after they had spurned the Host with their Feet they compleated their Sacrilege by burning the Church Priest People and all Nor did they regard the Ecclesiastical Censures nor the Pope's Interdict which afterwards issued against them on the contrary in all their Actions they manifested an entire contempt both of Ethicks and Christianity so that one would think the Poet prophesied of these Men when he said Nulla fides pietasve viris qui castra sequuntur But Pride will have a fall and Providence will certainly triumph over the Wickedness of Men in a proper Season and commonly Methods unexpected whereof this unruly Multitude is one Instance For the Men of Wexford by their imminent Ruine rendred desperat entertain'd a Skirmish with this formidable Rabble Cambd. 185. and had the good Luck to kill four hundred of them and the rest surprized with a pannick Fear on this unexpected Defeat ran away in such a confused and hudling manner that most of them were drowned in the River Slane and have left a just Occasion for this true Remark That huffing and insolent Men are always Cowards and if this be true any where in the World it is true in Ireland Camb. 183. Sir Philip Stanton had the ill Luck to be slain by the Irish and Sir Henry Traherne by the Means of Onolan was surprized in his own House at Kilbeg But in Revenge of it the Earl of Ormond burnt Foghird in Onolan's Country and the Lord Justice prosecuted the O Birnes so effectually that after the Slaughter of some of the best of them they were forced to submit But the Lord Justice finding himself too weak to deal with such a vast number of Rebels as were now in Arms in all parts of the Kingdom he invited Maurice afterwards Earl of Desmond to take the Field and promised him the King's Pay January 1329 Maurice came accordingly with a very considerable Army Fragment 9. and advanced against the Onolans he routed them and burnt their Country so that they were forced to submit and give Hostages He did the like to the O Morroughs and took the Castle of Ley from the O Dempsâ—es But the Lord Justice was not ablâ— to pay so great an Army being near ten thousand Men 〈◊〉 therefore he was fain to connive at their extorting Coyn anâ— Livery which now was first practised by the English But the Irish had used that barbarous Oppression long before and perhaps from the beginning as appears by the fourth Constitution of the Synod of Cashel Ante pag. 23. I have seen the Copy of a Patent Lib. CCC dated March 1. 3. Edw. 3. Lambeth constituting the Earl of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland but I find nothing more of it any where else But the same Year Typerary was made a Palatinate The Irish had again petitioned the King for a general Liberty to use the English Laws Davis 103. whereupon the King sent a Writ to the Lord Justice 22 Aug. to consult the Parliament in Ireland 2 Edw. 3. and to advise him of their Opinions in that Matter And by another Writ of the same Date the King orders the Justice and the Chancellor to supervise the Exchequer twice every
annexed to the Crown But two of the Burks seized upon most part of the Estate and divided it between them and knowing they could not hold it by the Law of England they confederated with the Irish and changed their Language Apparel Customs and Manners Nay their very Names were altered into those of Mac William Eighter and Mac William Oughter and by these means they have made a shift to keep some part of that mighty Estate for many score years The Lord Justice to revenge the Murder of the Earl of Vlster which made a great noise in Ireland call'd a Parliament by whose advice he went by Sea to Carigfergus on the first of July and by help of the Country People he destroyed the Murderers and their Abettors and thence with his Army he sailed into Scotland where he did very good Service But the Parliament sitting in England Cottons Rec. the 15th of March it was there resolved That because the Kings Affairs required him in France his Irish Voyage should be postpon'd for a year so as Aid might be sent in the mean time but it seems that the Scots so allarm'd him in the North that he performed neither the one nor the other Voyage And though both Houses apart advised the King to send Supplies of Men and Money to Ireland and gave him one Disme and one Fifteenth to that purpose yet I do not find that any considerable Recruits were sent thither but instead of that a Commission was sent to treat with the Rebels Prin 270. Whilst the Lord Justice was beyond Seas the Government was managed by Thomas de Burgh Lord Treasurer but it was not long before Darcy return'd with honour and releas'd Walter de Birmingham out of Prison in February following and soon after Sir Simon Archdeacon and others were slain by the Irish in Leinster Ibid. And the young Lord Roch prevail'd with the King to reduce to ten pounds a Fine of two hundred Marks impos'd on his Father for absenting himself from the Parliaments of 20 Edw. 2. and 2 Edw. 3. to both which he was summoned Maurice Fitz-Girald broke his Leg by a Fall from his Horse and was thereby hindred from repairing to England as he had promised and designed 1335. but now being recovered he went thither and was well received by the King and created Earl of Desmond 1336. 9 Ed. 3. On the 9th of August the English gave the Irishmen a great Defeat in Connaught Campion 88. and with the loss of one man slew ten thousand of their enemies and not long after the Lord Justice was removed and Sir John Charleton came over Lord Justice 1337. and brought with him his Brother Thomas Bishop of Hereford Lord Chancellor John Rice or ap Rees Lord Treasurer and two hundred Welsh Soldiers he called a Parliament at Dublin to which the Archbishop of Armagh designed to come Pryn. 409. and in order to it made great Preparations at S. Mary Abby but the Archbishop of Dublin would not permit him to advance his Cross in that Diocess till the King sent his Writs as well to the Archbishop as to the Corporation of Dublin not to molest the Primate Thomas Charleton 1338. Bishop of Hereford Governour of Ireland he caused Sir Eustace Poer and Sir John Poer to be imprisoned in the Castle of Dublin on the third Day of February And this Winter there was so great Frost and Snow from the second Day of December to the tenth Day of February that they Plaid Danced and roasted Fish on the Ice upon the River of Liffy And now again 1339. were all the Irish in Arms especially in Munster but the Earl of Desmond so well managed Matters there that he slew one thousand two hundred Men in Kerry and took Nicholas Fitz-Maurice Lord of Kerry Prisoner and kept him in Durance till he died Cambden 187. because he had joyned with the Irish against the King and the Earl Nor had the Earl of Kildare worse Success in Leinster for he pursued the O Dempsies so close that many of them were drowned in the River Barrow and the greatest Booty that ever was taken in that Country was brought by the Lord Justice and the English from Idrone in the County of Caterlogh about the latter end of February and in April following the Lord Justice being sent for to England resigned to Roger Outlaw 1340. Prior of Kilmainham Lord Justice he died the February following and by the Kings Patent constituted John Lord Darcy L. Justice during Life but he came not afterwards into Ireland but in May following sent over Sir John Morris 1341. Lord Deputy to whom the Inhabitants of Ireland did not pay that respect which was due to his Character for the English Irish were how grown so proud that they disdain'd to be under the authority of a Knight And therefore to mortifie them it was resolved to make a general Resumption of all Lands Liberties Signiories and Jurisdictions which this King or his Father had granted in Ireland QVia plures excessivae Donationes Terrarum Tenement 15 E. 3. m. 14 Libertatum in Terra Hibern ad minus veracem subdolem suggestionem potentium quam per Ed. 2. quam per Regem nunâ— facta sunt c. Rex delusorias hujusmodi Machinationes volens elidere de concilio peritorum sibi assistent omnes donationes Terrarum Tenement Libertat praedict duxit 〈◊〉 c. quousque de meritis personarum ac de causis conditionibus donationum praedict fuerit informat ideo Mandâ—â— est Justiâ— regni Hibern quod omnia Terras Ienementa c. praedict perdict Reges Justic aut locum tenentes suos quibuscunque personis fact seisire facias c. It cannot be expressed what Fewds Davis 138. that it was by good advice Heart-burnings and Dissatisfactions this one unadvised Act did create it was the rise and occasion of a distinction between the English of Blood and the English of Birth which had like to be fatal to the whole Kingdom Pryn. 272. all the old English were disobliged by this procedure and without their assistance the King could not keep much less enlarge his Interest in Ireland To qualifie this Matter and to allay these Heats 1342. a Parliament was summoned to meet at Dublin in October but the Earl of Desmond and other Great Men of that Faction openly refused to come and on the contrary they confederated with the Corporations and some Cities and the rest of the Male-contents and without consulting the Government they appointed a General Assembly at Kilkenny in November following and there they did accordingly meet and the Lord Justice had not Power to hinder them nor did he dare to come to them This Assembly sent Messengers to the King with their Complaints couched in these three Queries I. How a Realm of War could be governed by a Man unskilful in all war-like Service II. How an
three Estates were assembled and this sort of Parliament is intended in the Submission of Mac. Mahon 25. Hen. 6. whereby he promiseth that in time of Arch-Parliaments he will carry nothing away out of the English Pale contrary to the Statutes Thus the Annals of Ross mention Quod Magnum Parliamentum tenetur apud Dublin 1333. And Mr. Cambden ad annum 1341 calls it Commune Parliamentum But after all there were but very few Cities or Corporations that were concerned in or summoned to an Irish Parliament until of later Days The Earl of Desmond did indeed associate with the Deputies of many Towns in his Assembly at Kilkenny but that was to strengthen his Party and to enlarge his Confederacy so that whoever will look for an Irish Parliament consisting of Lords Spiritual and Temporal Knights Citizens and Burgesses summoned by the King 's Writ on forty Days Notice and sitting in several Houses as the Custom is now must search the Parliament Rolls to satisfie himself which was the first Parliament of that sort in Ireland for he will not in any History find a sufficient Information in that Particular as I suppose But let us return to the Lord Justice 1345. who summoned a Parliament to meet at Dublin the seventh of June but the Earl of Desmond still refused to come thither and had appointed another Assembly at Calan at which Place several great Men had promised to come Fryar Clun ad annum 1344. but they were prohibited by the King 's Writ and therefore excused themselves to the Earl But the Lord Justice to abate the Insolence of the Earl of Desmond advanced the King's Standard into Mâ—nster he seized on the Earls Lands and gave them in custodiam to those that would take them He also by Stratagem took the Castles of Iniskilly and Island in October following and he hanged three Knights that commanded them viz. Poer Grant and Cotterel Ware antiq 69. Quia multas graves extraneas intolerabiles leges exercuissent tenuissent invenissent viz. Coyn and Livery c. It is probable that Desmond was so mortified with this Usage that he surrendred himself to the Lord Justice and was let to bail on the Recognizance of the Earls of Vlster and Ormond Lib. P. and twenty four Knights but finding the Severity of this Governor he thought it dangerous to appear according to the Condition of the Recognisance and therefore it was estreated into the Exchequer and though the Noblemen and some of the Knights made a shift to get rid of this matter yet eighteen of the Knights lost their Estates and were utterly ruined thereby This Lord Justice did also use means to apprehend the Earl of Kildare which at last he effected and kept him in Prison where he continued till the twenty sixth of May 1346. and then he was discharged by the new Justice on the Recognisance of twenty four Lords and Gentlemen About this time viz. 18 Edw. 3. Seals were made for the Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas in Ireland And the King pardoned the Archbishop of Dublin late Treasurer of Ireland for sundry false Writs and Acquittances which he had put into his Treasurers Account in deceipt of the King But on Palm-Sunday being the ninth Day of April this severe Governor submitted to his Destiny 1346. to the great Joy of the generality of the People And it is observeable That his Lady who was received like an Empress and lived like a Queen was fain to steal away through a Postern-Gate of the Castle to shun the Curses of her Enemies and the Clamour of her Creditors Sir Roger Darcy was immediately appointed Lord Justice ex assensu ordinatione Regalium aliorum in Hibernia and sworn the 10th of April but he continued only till the 25â—h of May and then surrendred to Sir John Morris Lord Justice who met the bad News that in April before the O Mores had burnt the Castles of Ley and Kilmehide He released the Earl of Kildare out of Prison as aforesaid but continued not long in his Government so that there is little mention of what was done in his time saving that in June the Irish of Vlster slew three hundred of the English of Vrgile and immediately thereupon Sir Walter Birmingham 1346. Lord Justice landed in Ireland and was sworn the 19th of June he procured leave for the Earl of Desmond to manage his Cause in England where that Earl was kindly received and allowed by the King twenty Shillings per diem from the day he landed for his Expences his Estate being I suppose in Custodiam he was diligent in his business and followed the Law hard says my Author for satisfaction for the wrongs done him by Vfford The Lord Justice and the Earl of Kildare in November pursued the O Mores so effectually that they forced them to submit and give Hostages and thereupon the Earl of Kildare obliged by the kindness shewed to his Cozen Desmond in England went in May to serve the King at Calice 1347. where he was Knighted by the King for his good Service and the Lord Justice return'd to England leaving John Archer Prior of Kilmainham Lord Deputy in whose time Donald Oge mac Morrough call'd Prince of Leinster was murdered by his own Followers on the 5th of June and the Town of Nenagh was burnt by the Irish on St. Stephens Day Sir Walter Birmingham 1348. Lord Justice came again from England having first obtain'd for himself the Barony of Kenlis in Ossory which formerly belonged to Sir Eustace Poer one of the Knights taken by Vfford in the Earl of Desmonds Castle of Island and there executed It was about this time Cottons Rec. 66. viz. 21 Edw. 3. that the Commons in the English Parliament did petition the King that Enquiry might be made by good men why he taketh no Profit of what he hath in Ireland seeing he hath more there than any of his Ancestors had And if default be found in the Officers that then such others be put into their places as will answer the King of the reasonable Profit thereof and the King was pleased it should be so They also desire that the Estate of the Earl of Vlster which if the Kings Daughter-in-Law the Duchess of Clarence should die without issue might descend to Co-parceners some of which are the Kings Enemies might be setled otherwise And it seems that by the good usage Desmond and Kildare found in England and France and the daily expectation to have the resumed Lands and Jurisdictions restored which was done anno 1352. the Kingdom was so quiet that we find little or nothing recorded of these times except the alteration of the Governors viz. that The Lord Carew 1349. Lord Justice succeeded Birmingham and that Sir Thomas Rokeby 1349. Lord Justice came over the 20th of December and afterward he returned to England and left Maurice de Rochford 1351. Bishop of Limerick Lord
England There was also another Petition for a free intercourse of Trade between Ireland and Portugal Ibid. whereunto the King gave a Gracious Answer And it seems that the State of England was intent upon the Recovery and Improvement of Ireland for Sir Nicholas Dagworth was sent thither to survey the Possessions of the Crown Davis 201 and to call the Officers of the Irish Revenue to account and the more to humour the Irish who thiink themselves disgraced when ignoble Men are put in the highest Authority over them Edmond Mortimer Earl of March and Vlster Jan. 24. 1380. was sent over Lord Lieutenant Sometime before he came viz. in Jun. 1380. the French and Spanish Gallies which did much Mischief on the Coasts of Ireland were by the English Fleet forced to retire into the Harbour of Kinsale where they were assailed and vanquished by the English and Irish so that their Chief Captains were taken Paâ—ata Hiberniae 360. and four hundred of the Enemies slain there were also taken four of their Barges and one Ballenget and one and twenty English Prizes were recovered I cannot find but that Ireland was pretty quiet during the Government of this Lord Lieutenant which did not continue very long for he died at St. Dominicks Abby near Cork on the 26th of December 1381. and the next day John Cotton then Dean of St. Patricks Ware de Praesulibus 28. and Lord Chancellor afterwards Achbishop of Armagh was chosen and sworn Sord Justice 1381 in the Convent of Preaching Friars at Cork Pryn 309. but it seems he did not long exercise that Office for in Mr. Prins Animadversions on the 4th Institut we find a Writ Dated the 29th Day of March anno 1382. viz. 5 R. 2. Directed to Roger Mortimer Earl of March Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whereby he is directed to call a Parliament there for the good Government of that Country and the support of the Kings great Charge and Expence but it is probable that this young Lord could not manage that unruly Kingdom and therefore Philip de Courtny the Kings Cousin was sent over Lord Lieutenant 1383. he had a great Estate in Ireland and therefore was the fitter for that Government He came over on good terms for he had a Patent to hold that Office for ten years nevertheless he behaved himself so ill Lib. M. Lamb. that he was not only superseded but also was arrested whilst he was Lord Lieutenant and afterwards grievously punished for the wrongs and oppressions he had done in Ireland Davis 201. In his time hapned a great Mortality called the Fourth Pestilence and upon the removal of him the Government of Ireland was given to the great Favourite of that Age Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford afterwards Marquess of Dublin Decemb. 1384. and Duke of Ireland Lord Lieutenant The English Parliament to get rid of him gave him a Debt of thirty thousand Marks due from the French King upon condition that after Easter he should pass into Ireland to recover the Lands the King had given him there he had five hundred Men at Arms at twelve pence per diem and a thousand Archers at six pence apiece a day appointed him for two years super conquestum illius Terrae He was trusted with the whole Dominion of the Realm during his Life without paying any thing therefore or making any Account for it He had Power to pass all Writs under his own Test and to place and displace all Officers how great soever even the Chancellor Treasurer Admiral c. and to name his own Deputy and all other Ministers And it seems that he had afterwards a larger Patent 4th Instit 357 9 Rich. 2. whereby the King granted him Totam Terram Dominium Hiberniae Insulas eidem Terrae adjacentes ac omnia Castra Comitatus Burgos Villas Portus Maris c. una cum Homagiis Obedientiis Vassallis Servitiis Recognitionibus Praelatorum Comitum Baronum c. cum Regaliis Regalitatibus Libertatibus c. omnibus aliis qnae ad Regaliam Nostram pertinent cum Mero Mixto Imperio adeo plene integre perfecte sicut Nos ea tenuimus habuimus tenuerunt habuerunt Progenitorum nostrorum aliqui ullis unquam temporibus retroactis Tenendum per Homagium Ligeum tantum c. But that which is most strange is That those illegal Letters Patents should be authorized by Parliament Assensâ— Praelatorum Ducum aliorum Procerum Communitatis nostri Angliae in Parliamento but nullum violentum est perpetuum novus iste insolitus umbratilis honor cito evanuit But it is time to return to the great Minion the Earl of Oxford who came as far as Wales and the King with him but they could not be perswaded to part and therefore this Lord Lieutenant never went to Ireland but deputed Sir John Stanly 1385. Lord Deputy in whose time the Bridge of Dublin fell and at the Parliament held at Westminster Roger Mortimer Earl of March Son of Philippa Daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence Third Son of Edward the Third was established and soon after proclaimed Heir Apparent to the Crown and yet he was but Heir Presumptive but this Lord Justice was sent for and Alexander de Balscot April 26. alias Petit 1387. Bishop of Meath who had been Treasurer and Chancellor did execute the Office of Lord Justice until the return of Sir John Stanly 1389. Lord Deputy to the aforesaid Earl of Oxford Lib. D. Lambeth to him O Neal and his Sons made an humble Submission in Writing wherein they renounced the Bonaught of Vlster they also promised Allegiance and gave Oaths and Hostages for the performance thereof And it is to be noted 1390. That almost in every Parliament of this Reign held in England the King did desire Aid from them for the carrying on the War in Ireland But at length the English Parliament did so vigorously prosecute the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland that he was forced to fly beyond Seas and not long after died miserably at Brussels and thereupon James Earl of Ormond July 25. was made Lord Justice and the Archbishop of Dublin was constituted Lord Chancellor 1392. This Lord Justice beat the Mac Moyns at Tascoffin in the County of Kilkenny and slew six hundred of them And now the State of England began to think seriously of the Recovery of Ireland and finding that that Country was poor and almost depopulated by the mighty Concourse of Irish into England whereby the Kings Revenue was decayed and the Power of the Irish Rebels increased it was thought fit to revive the Law against Absentees and to issue a Proclamation requiring all those whose Habitations were in that Kingdom to repair home Also some Recruits of Men and Money were sent to Ireland and the King had by Indenture agreed with Thomas Duke of Glocester to be Lord Lieutenant of
York Second Son of Edward the Fourth to whom the Crown did really belong if he were living and this Perkin did personate him so well that there remains some doubt to this day whether he were an Impostor or not but supposing he was it was cunningly contrived to let him first appear in Portugal as a Child that had in a skulking manner fled from the Cruelty of his usurping Unkle besides Portugal was a Place with which the Duchess of Burgundy had not much Correspondence and therefore it could not be suspected that she had a hand in the Cheat but however that be young Perkin set Sail from Lisbon and arrived safely at Cork where he was kindly received by the Citizens and particularly by John Walters an eminent Merchant of Cork who probably was then Mayor and whose Apprentice Perkin had been as they say he wrote Letters to the Earls of Kildare and Desmond for their Assistance against King Henry but before he received their Answers he received Letters from the French King inviting him thither and so to France he went and was royally received and entertained until that King made Peace with King Henry and then Perkin made a seasonable Retreat into Flanders where he was exceeding welcome to his supposed Aunt the Duchess of Burgundy and there we will leave him for a while and return to our â—ord Deputy He held a Parliament at Dublin 1493. on Friday after Midsummer which it seems vacated some Indictments and Inquisitions that had formerly been made to the prejudice of this Lord Deputy by the Means of the Lord Portlester and now the Tables being turn'd and the Votaries of the House of Lancaster at Helm the Lord Portlester himself was questioned in the Exchequer for the miss-management of his Office of Treasurer This Parliament did also repeal a former Act made against the City of Waterford and restored that City to all its ancient Liberties and Priviledges and it is probable that there was also an Act of Parliament now made for the general Resumption of all the Crown Lands that were alienated or granted away since the first year of King Henry the Sixth but none of the Acts of this Parliament are Printed except one for the cleansing of the Water-Course in St. Patrick-street in Dublin and so this Parliament being dissolved in August the Lord Deputy on the sixth of September following resigned to Robert Preston Viscount Gormanstown Lord Deputy to the Duke of Bedford who it seems had not Commission to call a Parliament nevertheless he did call one which met at Drogheda and made several Statutes which were absolutely void for the Defect aforesaid however they were expresly repeal'd by 10 Hen. 7. cap. 23. And these farther Reasons were given for it 1. That the Lord Lieutenant had surrendred his Patent before the Summons And 2. Because the Parliamentary Summons did not issue to all the Shires but to four Shires only On the Twelfth of September this Lord Deputy called several of the Nobility to Trim where they subscribed Articles for the Peace of the Kingdom viz. That no man should make War without the Deputies Consent and that several Extortions and Tributes that were used and demanded should be abrogated and suppressed and that Murderers Thieves and Vagabonds should be punished c. There were present at this Assembly Alexander Plunket L. Chancellor Girald Earl of Kildare the Bishops of Meath Kildare the Lords of Slane Delvin Killeen Houth Trimletston and Dunsany c. And they gave Recognizanse and Hostages for the observation of those Articles and after this he called the Parliament aforesaid In October the late Lord Deputy Fitz-Symons went into England to give the King a full Account as well of his own Government as of the present State of the Kingdom of Ireland and not long after viz. in November following the Earl of Kildare hearing he was impeach'd in England went also thither to justifie himself before the King but the L. Deputy leaving the Government in the Hands of his Son followed the Earl to England and by the Assistance of Sir James Ormond Lord Treasurer of Ireland he so far prevailed that Kildare's Justification was rejected and himself sent over Prisoner to Ireland to the end the Matter might be more fully examined upon the place 1494. by Sir Edward Poynings Knight of the Garter Lord Deputy whose chief Errand was to suppress the Abettors of Perkin Warbeck he came over the thirteenth of September and immediately made great Alterations amongst the Ministers of State Henry Dean Bishop of Bangor he constituted Lord Chancellor Sir Hugh Conway was appointed Treasurer Thomas Bouring was made Chief Justice of the Kings Bench as John Topcliff was of the Common Pleas and Walter Ever was made Chief Baron of the Exchequer all which were Englishmen born and good Lawyers and were sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland This Deputy brought over with him about one thousand Souldiers and resolved to invade Vlster to pursue some of Perkins's Friends that fled thither it is strange he should use the Earl of Kildare's assistance in this Expedition however together they went accompanied with Sir James Ormond who had resigned the Office of High Treasurer they did great Execution on the Irish and harass'd the Territories of O Hanlon and Mac Genis and others It was suggested That Kildare did secretly treat and conspire with O Hanlon to destroy the Lord Deputy for which he was Attainted as shall be shewn hereafter but it seems he was innocent of that Matter not only because O Hanlon cleared him upon Oath two years after but also because he was acquitted in England upon full hearing before the King Nevertheless Kildare's Brother did at this time seize on the Castle of Caterlogh whereupon the Lord Deputy was necessitated to clap up a sort of a Peace with O Hanlon and Macgenis and so having taken their Oaths and Hostages he immediately marched to Caterlogh which after ten days Siege 1494. was surrendred unto him And so in November on Monday before the Feast of St. Andrew sate that famous Parliament at Drogheda which Enacted I. That the Treasurer might appoint his under-Officers here as is used in England and shall account once a year here before the Barons of the Exchequer and such of the Council as the Lord Deputy shall appoint and the same Accounts to be certified into England and finally determined and setled there II. That no Minister of Justice viz. The Chancellor Treasurer Judges Clerk or Master of the Rolls nor any Officer Accomptant shall have their Places but during the King's Pleasure III. An Act adnulling a Prescription which Traytors and Rebels claimed in Ireland The Reason of this Act was because Richard Duke of York at his last being in Ireland did Cause an Act to be made That Ireland should be a Sanctuary for Refugees and that it should be Treason to disturb any body there by any Writ Privy Seal or other Matter from England and
to her Brother Owen O Moriarta al 's Droghbearla and made such piteous Complaint that he resolved to get her her Cattle again if possible wherefore he addressed himself to the English Governor of Castlemange so effectually that he obtain'd 7. Musketteers and 12. Kearne and with them he followed the Tract of the Cattle that night they came to the Wood of Clawniginky four Miles from Traley where they resolved to lodg but about Midnight seeing a Fire they drew towards it and so came to a Cabbin where they found an old Man alone sitting by the Fire the Servants having ran away on their Approach Kolly who led the Soldiers Cambd. Eliz. 290. and was bred by the English altho a Native Irishman struck the old Man with his Sword and almost cut off his Arm whereupon the old Man cried out that he was Earl of Desmond and Kolly would have spared him but finding that he bled so fast that he could not live he immediately cut off the Earls Head which was sent afterwards into England and placed on a Pole on Londonbridge and for this exploit the Family of the Moriarta's are in disgrace amongst the Irish to this Day Sullivan 100. and Mr. Sullivan says the place where his Blood was Spilt doth still continue red Nor had John Burk better Success for he being in Protection did nevertheless make an Attempt upon Adare and endeavoured to Prey and Plunder the Country thereabout but as he passed by a Boy from the Castle discharged his Gun and shot him Dead And thus ended the Rebellion of Desmond Cambden says The Eleventh in the Ruin of Girald the fifteenth Earl of that Family after whose Death the common People did manifest such Desires of living in Peace that the Forces of Munster were reduced to 200. And not long after a Commission issued to Sir Henry Wallop Sir Valentine Brown and others to take a Survey of all such Lands as had been forfeited within the four years last past And in Vlster Lib. C. Sir Nicholas Bagnall Sir Lucas Dillon and James Dowdall Commissioners of Vlster on the 22d day of October 1583 in the presence of the Baron of Dungannon and the Agents of Turlogh Lynogh and O Donell and by their Consent made these Orders between them 1. That the Truce between them be continued till the 17th of March next 2. That on the 2d day of December each of them shall put in Pledges at Dundalk to keep the Peace towards the Queen and each other 3. That the Controversies between the said Parties shall then be determined 4. That if either Injure the other during the Truce the Queen shall assist the Sufferer and Punish the Delinquent 5. That they shall chuse indifferent Arbitrators to examine Witnesses and determine the Differences between them if they can and if not then to Report the State of the Case to the Commissioners And in Leinster things were so quiet that two of the O Conners determined a Controversy in a form of Justice which being a matter extraordinary shall be related at large Teig Mac Gilpatrick O Connor was accused by Connor Mac Cormâ—ck O Connor Septemb. 1583. before the Lord Deputy and Council for Killing and Murdering his Men being under Protection Teig answered That they had since the Protection confederated with the Rebel Cahill O Connor and therefore were also Rebels and that he was ready to justify his Assertion by Combal Connor accepted the Motion and the Weapons which were Sword and Target being chosen by the Defendant the next day was appointed for the Battle and Patrons were assigned to each of them to introduce them into the Lists the Day being come and the Court sat the Combatants were likewise seated on two Stools one at each end of the Inner Court of the Castle of Dublin most of the Military Officers were present to render this Action the more Solemn and then the Pleadings being read the Combatants were stript to their Shirts and searched by Secretary Fenton and then each of them took a corporal Oath that his Quarrel was true and that he would justify the same with his Blood and then at the Sound of the Trumpets they began the Fight with great Resolution but at length Conner was twice wounded in his Leg and once in his Eye and thereupon design'd to close with his Adversary but Teige being too strong for him pummell'd him till he loosned his Murriâ—n and then he easily Stunn'd him and with Conner's own Sword cut off his Head and brought it to the Lords Justices But Mr. Sullevan Sullevan 108. who exclaims against this barbarous way of Tryal commits three Mistakes in this one Story First he says That this happened in Sir John Perot's time And 2dly That he forced the Parties to the Combat and that they were asham'd to refuse it And 3dly That it was in a Controversy about Lands in Ophaly But to proceed The Viscount Ballinglass that great Incendiary of Leinster was so totally dismayed at the News of the Death of the Earl of Desmond that he also privately Embarked for Spain where not long afterwards he died for grief So that the Kingdom being thus quieted the publick Revenue for the year 1583. Lib. M. amounted unto 23565 l. 12 s. Sir John Perrot Lord Deputy was Sworn the 26th of June 1584. his Commission was as usual during Pleasure 〈◊〉 make War and Peace Caballa of Letters 336. and to punish Offences or 〈◊〉 them Treason against the Queen's Person or Counterfeiting Money only excepted to make Orders and Proclamations to Impose Fines and Dispose of Rebels Estates to exercise Martial Law and to Assemble the Parliament with her Majesties Privity to confer all Offices except Chancellor Treasurer three Chief Judges and Master of the Rolls and to collate and confer all Spiritual Promotions except arch-Arch-Bishops and Bishops to do all things relating to Justice and Government that the Queen could do if present The Lord Deputies Instructions were as followeth I. To Assemble and Consult the Council how the Government may be managed that Justice may take place the Charge lessened the Revenue increas'd and the Subject not oppressed II. To reduce the Army and the Pay as formerly especially in the Countries not wasted and to prevail with the Country to contribute as Carbury heretofore hath done III. To keep the Army in Discipline that they do not oppress the Subject and that the Companies be kept Compleat and Full. IV. To consider how Munster may be Repeopled and how the forfeited Lands in Ireland may be disposed of to the Advantage of Queen and Subject but first they must be Surveyed by Commissioners now sent over to that purpose and for the Encouragemennt of the Undertakers and to avoid Fraudulent Conveyances by the Rebels let there be a Parliament in a proper Season to pass Acts of Attaindure of fraudulent Conveyances and of Qualifying Uses V. That where Leases have been made without usual Reservation of
Portcorn that matter be likewise amended next Parliament VI. To Report to the Queen the Quality and Merit of those that have acted or suffered for her and the Quantity of the Reward fit to be given them out of the forfeited Lands and under what Covenants and Reservations and She thinks it better to give it to their younger Sons than themsevles to increase the number of Freeholders VII To the same Effect VIII To lessen or dissolve the Pensions and gratify the Parties with Portions of forfeited Lands certifying the Value and Condition of the same IX To grant no more Land to any Man than he shall be able to People X. To renew and observe the Directions to former Deputies in all things that are not contradicted hereby XI Because the Tenants of the Crown are disabled by the Rebellions of James Fitz-Morris and Desmond to pay their Arrears to let them have new Leases for the Remainder of the Terms at the old Rent the fourth Part of which shall be paid in Beeves at 9 s. a piece or Corn at the rate of Port-Corn and for the Arrearages to give Instalments or to remit part or all as you shall find requisite XII To resume by Act of Parliament or on Composition with the Parties the Demeasnes and Conveniences of Her Houses and Castles of Dublin Killmamham Athloan Caterlagh Leighlin Monasterevan c. and to annex them inseperably to the respective Castles or Houses by Act of Parliament reserving the Ancient Rent XIII To do the like by any of the forfeited Lands that lie convenient for those Castles c. XIV To preserve the Woods on any forfeited Lands near any Navigable River for her use XV. That no Man Ecclesiastical or Civil that has any Function or Office be suffer'd to be absent from his Charge above two Months without special License on pain of Forfeiture XVI To enquire with the Council what Outrages have been done since March the 25th 1583. and how redressed who of Quality are Loyal Disloyal or Suspected and to send Her an Account of the true Estate of every Province in that Realm XVII To inquire into all the Jurisdictions and Irish-Chieferies Exactions Cuttings and Spendings which the Attainted Rebels enjoyed that She may retain them or by relinquishing them manifest to Her Subjects the easiness of Her Government and their Happiness under it XVIII That Commissions do not issue for every trivial Concern and that the Allowance to Commissioners be not as great and burdensome as formerly XIX That the Establishment for Conaugh be lessened and that Richard Bingham be Chief Commissioner of Conaugh XX. To place John Norris Esquire President of Munster with the same Allowance your self had when President there XXI To make Thomas Jones Bishop of Meath Norris Bingham and Thomas L'Estrange Esquire of the Privy Council XXII To place such an Arch-Bishop at Armagh now void as you and the Council think fit XXIII To certify Quarterly the whole Expence in Ireland and what is sent hence and what is received there to defray it And afterwards additional Instructions were sent to him as followeth I. To endeavour to ease Her Majesties Charge in Victualling the Army Lib. C. by getting Victuals in Ireland and to save the charge and hazard of Transportation II. To consider how a College may be Erected and St. Patrick's Church and the Revenue thereof may be appropriated thereunto and every Diocess by Act of Parliament be made Contributary out of the Leases of Impropriations III. To Name some that may be made Lord Barons IV. In the next Parliament to revive the Impost which has been expir'd these two years V. To endeavour the getting in of the Debts due to Her Majesty VI. To Discharge such of the Pensioners or to Reward them in forfeited Lands as you shall think fit VII To Prefer the Ancient Officers and Soldiers before new Comers VIII To take off the Wards and Garison from Fernes and Iniscorthy and other unnecessary places IX To repair the Forts of Leix and Offaly at as small Charge as may be and to prevail with the Inhabitants of the Country for whose Defence they are made to provide Carriage and Labourers and to render an Account of the Condition of those Countries and the Causes of it X. To recompence Edward Waterhouse for the voluntary Surrender of his Patent for maintenance of Boats over the Sheuin such Entertainment as you and the Council shall think fit XI To suffer no Man that was in the late Rebellions of what Quality soever to keep any other Arms than Sword and Dagger XII To encourage the Loyal and protect the pardon'd People of Munster and send your best Advice how Munster may be Repeopled The Lord Deputy spent 18 days in close Consultation with the Privy Council who were the Arch-Bishop of Dublin Chancellor Earl of Ormond Treasurer the Bishops of Armagh Meath and Killmore Sir John Norris Lord President of Munster Sir Henry Wallop Treasurer of Wars Sir Nicholas Bagnall Knight Marshal Robert Gardener Chief Justice Sir Robert Dillon Chief Justice of Common Banc Sir Lucas Dillon Chief Baron Sir Nicholas White Master of the Rolls Sir Richard Bingham Chief Commissioner of Connaugh Sir Henry Cowley Sir Edward Waterhouse Sir Thomas L'Estrange Sir Edward Brabazon Jeffery Fenton Secretary of State Warham Saint Leger and Sir Valentine Brown And as soon as he understood the true State of the Kingdom and had laid down the Measures of his Government he issued a Proclamation of Oblivion and Indemnity and then he sent the Earl of Desmond's Son James into England On the 15th of July The Lord Deputy began his Progress and came to Molingar the 16th and thence sent a Cypher to the Lord Chancellor and Sir Henry Wallop to Dublin whereby they might easily Decipher and understand his Letters which would be unintelligible to the Rebels if they should happen to intercept them thence he proceeded to Connaugh where he endeavoured to reconcile all the great Men of that Country and put to Death Donogh beg O Bryan a bloody Murtherer in this Journey he converted Fryer Malachias a Malone Brother to Mac William Eughter and from Gallway he came to Limerick where he received the News that the Scots to the number of 1000. in favour of Surleboy had invaded Vlster and he also intercepted O Neals Fosterer returning out of Munster from exciting the Irish Lords and Gentlemen there to a new Rebellion but tho this Messenger upon Examination confessed his Errand yet he assured the Deputy that all those he had gone to refused to Rise as long as Sir John Perrot and the Earl of Ormond whom they deemed just Men continued in the Kingdom Hereupon the Deputy took Pledges from those he most suspected and leaving the County of Cork to the Justices Walsh and Miagh the Sheriff Sir William Stanley and the Lords Barry and Roch Limerick to the Provost Marshal Desmond to the Earl of Clancar 1584. Sir Owen O Sullevan and O Sullevan more
and Oliver Castells 1. That the Nobility wer over-taxed in the Subsidies 2. And were kept Close Prisoners tho' not Impeach'd of any Capital Crime 3. And could not get Licence to absent unless they leave their Proxy with one of the Chief Governors naming 4. That some have Titles of Honour that have no Lands in the Kingdom 5. That the Nobility were stop from going to Petition the King 6. That Trade is decayed by Illegal Taxes as Twelve pence apiece on Hides 7. That Causes are arbitrarily decided at Council-board and in other improper Judicatories 8. That Paâ—ents are made void extrajudicially on private Opinions 9. The Monopolies of Tobacco Starch Sope Glass Tobacco-pipes c. 10. The Procedings of the High-Commission 11. The exorbitant Fees and pretended Customs exacted by the Clergy 12. The Proclamation against buying Gunpowder but out of the Store and restraining Hunting within Seven Miles of Dublin 13. That the Parliament in its Members and Actions hath not had its natural Freedom 14. That the Subject is denied the Benefit of the Act of Limitation 15. The taking excessive Fees 16. The Seizing of Linen Yarn and Cloth for not being exact according to Rule 17. The Oppressions of Officers And in this Parliament on the Fourth of March Captain Audley Mervin brought up an Impeachment of High-Treason from the Commons to the Lords against Sir Richard Bolton Lord Chancellor John Lord Bishop of Derry Sir Gerrard Lowther Lord Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas and Sir George Ratcliff and made an eloquent Speech on that Occasion The Charge consisting of Three Articles was General for subverting the Laws and introducing Arbittary Government by extrajudicial and unjust Decrees for inflicting infamous Punishments by Pillory c. on Persons of Reputation and subverting the Rights of Parliament But it seems there was a Dispute raised Whether the House of Lords in Ireland had Power of Judicature in Capital Cases Whereupon Captain Audley Mervin made a most excellent Speech in the Lords House in Parliament 24 May 1641. And afterwards he Impeached Sir George Ratcliff then in the Gate-house Westminster in the Parliament of England of the aforesaid Articles and adds That he joyned with the Earl of Strafford in taking out Eighty thousand Pounds out of the Exchequer to buy Tobacco and that he countenanced Papists to build Monasteries c. On the Sixteenth of March 1640. Secretary Vane sent the Lords Justices the following Letter by His Majesty's Command Right Honorable HIS Majesty hath commanded me to acquaint your Lordships with an Advice given him from abroad and confirm'd by His Ministers in Spain and elsewhere which in this distemper'd Time and Conjuncture of Affairs deserves to be seriously considered and an especial Care and Watchfulness to be had therein Which is That of late there have passed from Spain and the like may well have been from other Parts an unspeakable number of Irish Churchmen for England and Ireland and some good old Soldiers under pretext of asking leave to raise Men for the King of Spain whereas it is observed among the Irish Fryars * * In Spain there a Whisper runs as if they expected a Rebellion in Ireland and particularly in Connaught Wherefore His Majesty thought fit to give your Lordships this notice that in your Wisdoms you might manage the same with that dexterity and secrefie as to discover and prevent so pernicious a Design if any such there should be and to have a watchful Eye on the Proceedings and Actions of those who come thither from abroad on what pretext soever And so herewith I rest Your Lordships most humble Servant HENRY VANE In the mean time the Earl of Strafford came to his Tryal in England and it was the most Solemn that ever was in that Kingdom and at length he was Attainted by Act of Parliament and accordingly beheaded on the 12th day of May 1641. and the Earl of Leicester was the same day appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in his stead His Tryal is excellently wrote at large by Mr. Rushworth to which I must refer the curious Reader but because every Man has not that Book by him I have Cursorily extracted so much of it only as I thought pertinent to his History wherein if I have not been very exact it was because the Inquisitive may easily inform themselves as well as I by having recourse to the Original which I had not leisure to examine more carefully than I have done The Third Article which is the First relating to Ireland is that he should say That Ireland was a conquer'd Nation and that the King might do with them what he pleased and that the Charters of the Corporations were worth nothing and did bind the King no farther than he pleased To which the Earl Answers That he never spoke those words and that the Scope and Intent of what he did say was to ingratiate his Majesties Government to the People and that his words were well accepted at that time however they come to be resented now That the Charters of Dublin were Anno 1634. brought before the Council and still are in the hands of the Clerk of the Council because besides other Abuses the Papists of that City engrossed all the Trade and denied Liberty to such as came out of England to set up there which he hath so far remedied as that there are Three Englishmen now in Dublin for One that was there when he came to the Government and the Charters are not Condemned but enjoyed to this day so that he aim'd at a Reformation in favour of the English but did not design the Destruction of the Charters The Fourth Article was That the Earl of Cork having begun a Suit at Law to recover a Possession he had lost by Colour of an Order from the Lord Deputy and Council the Lord Deputy threatned to imprison him unless he would surcease his Suit saying That he would have neither Law nor Lawyers dispute or question his Orders and that he said upon another the like Occasion That he would make the Earl of Cork and all Ireland know that so long as he had the Government there any Act of State there made or to be made should be as binding to the Subjects of that Kingdom as an Act of Parliament and that he question'd that Earl in the Castle-Chamber upon Pretence of a Breach of an Order of Council-Table To this the Earl of Strafford answered That the Council-Table was a Court of Record in Ireland wherein they proceeded formally by Bill Answer Examination of Witnesses c. and therefore the Orders of it are binding and ought to be obey'd he denies he compar'd it to a Parliament and denies that the Earl of Cork was prosecuted for disobedience of an Order of Council only The Fifth Article was That in time of Peace 12th of December 1635. he did give and procure to be given Sentence of Death against the Lord Mountnorris at a Council of War for saying of an Accidental
Earl of Cornwal and Odo Bishop of Bayeux half Brothers to the Conquerour Robert had Issue William Earl of Cornwall who had Issue Adelm and John Adelm had Issue this William Fitz-Adelm and John had Issue Hubert de Burgo that was Chief Justice of England and Earl of Kent and one of the greatest Men of his Time And this William Fitz-Adelm though he be represented as an ill Man by the Historians of that Age yet he founded one of the Best and Noblest Families in Ireland viz. that of the Burks which has yielded many Brave and Worthy Men that have proved eminently serviceable to their King and Country whereby their Name Estate and Family are preserved in great Honour and Reputation to this Day John de Courcy who marryed the Daughter of Gothred King of the Isle of Man had contracted an intimate and entire Friendship with Sir Armoricus Tristerum alias de Sancto Laurentio who afterwards married his Sister My Author says they were sworn Brothers in the Church of Roan but certainly there was such Kindness between them that Courcy was resolved to share his Conquests in Vlster with him And being troubled at the sordid Humour of Fzadelme and simpathizing with the Wants and Grievances of the Souldiery in February 1177 1177. he led forth twenty Knights and three hundred Foot-Soldiers besides Servants and marching through Vriel in four Days or rather early the fifth he came to the City of Down which without Resistance he took and rifled for the Citizens were not in any Posture of Defence because they had not the least Fear or so much as a Thought of an Enemy The Lord or Governour Dunlenns or O Donel perceiving the Amazement and Irresolution of his People was necessitated to withdraw leaving the Legate Vivianus to negotiate in his behalf with Courcy and to offer him a Tribute if he would peaceably retire but Courcy was transported with some blind Phrophecies of Merlin and Columbus which he interpreted of himself and fancied nothing less than the entire Conquest of Vlster and therefore rejected all Overtures of Accomodation Whereupon O Donel This Battle at large Hanmer 150. with the Assistance of Rotherick and the rest of his Neighbours who made it a common Cause soon raised an Army of ten thousand Men and with them designed to besiege the City of Down But Courcy chose rather to fight a Battle in the Field than stand a Siege in the Town and the Success justified his Choice for he routed the Enemy with great Slaughter and took the Bishop of Down Prisoner but at the Intercession of the Legate he was released About Midsummer following the Ulster Men to the number of fifteen thousand fought another Battle with Courcy near Down and though it was very Bloody on both sides yet the Honour of the Day is by my Author given to Courcy His third Battle was in the Ferny against eleven thousand Irish the English not being above the tenth part of their number The Occasion of it was thus Sir John de Courcy had built many Castles in Vlster especially in that part of it called Ferny where Mac Mahon dwelt he was very observant of Courcy and made him his Gossip and had sworn Fidelity to him and had so far insinuated himself into Courcy's Favour that the Britain gave him two Castles with the Lands belonging to them but within a Month Mac Mahon demolished both the Castles And being asked the Reason why he did so he answered That he did not promise to hold Stones but Land and that it was contrary to his Nature to live within cold Walls whilst the Woods were so nigh Courcy was netled with this slight Answer and to revenge the Affront entred the Ferny and took so large a Prey of Cows that he was obliged to divide them into three Droves for convenience of Driving the Ways were boggy and also so narrow that the Prey filled the Road for three miles together The Irish observing these Circumstances set upon the English with such Briskness Noise and Clamour that forced the Cows back and made them run like Devils upon their Drivers so that they overthrew both Horse and Man and trod more underfoot than were slain by the Sword In a Word the English were routed and although they had slain nineteen score of the Irish and their General Mac Mahon himself yet they were forced to run for their Lives and much ado they had to recover an old Fort of Courcy's where they made a shift to secure themselves although the Irish were encamped vey near them About Midnight Sir Amorick went to view the Posture of the Irish who not in the least mistrusting that a baffled handful of Men would dare to attempt them were in a loose and negligent Condition most of them asleep even their very Guards and Centinels This being reported to Courcy they easily agreed to make use of this Advantage and immediately with all their Force fell upon the Irish and surprized them to that degree that they could make no Resistance so that they were all slain except two hundred who made their escape and of the English there were but two killed in this Encounter and four hundred the Day before About this Time the Legate Vivianus held a Synod at Dublin in which he published the King's Title to Ireland and denounced Excommunication against all that should oppose it He also gave Leave to the English to take out of the Churches and Monasteries such Corn and other Provision as they should at any time need paying the true Value thereof for the same He gave the People Indulgences and they gave him Money and so they parted very well pleased on both Sides Miles Cogan and young Fitz-Stephens invaded Connaugh as far as Tuam but could not make any Stay there for want of Victuals for the Inhabitants had removed or destroyed all their Provision and fled away upon the News of the Approach of the English And here let me observe once for all That want of Provision hath frustrated more great Designs and well-contrived Expeditions in Ireland than any other Defect or Accident whatsoever But Rotherick King of Connaugh having Notice of this March and knowing the English would be forced to return in a little Time for want of Victuals he placed an Ambush in a covenient Station which according to their Orders fell upon the English in their Retreat but did no greater Mischief than the killing of three English Men and that with the Loss of many of themselves This Governour Fitz-Adelm was very unkind to Reymond and all the Geraldines and indeed to most of the first Adventurers He forced the Sons of Maurice Fitz-Gerald to exchange their Castle of Wicklow for the decayed Castle of Fernes and when they had repaired that Castle of Fernes he found some Pretence or other to have it demolished He took from Reymond all his Land near Dublin and Wexford He delayed the Restitution of Fitz-Stephens to his Lands in
and believed Camden's Annals he was crowned on Ascension-Day by the said Archbishop 1199. at Westminster with great Solemnity and not long after he was girt with the Ducal Sword of Normandy by William Archbishop of Roan Hanno de Valois Lord Justice continued so the first Year of King John but then he fell into such Disgrace that he was not only remov'd from his Government Libb GGG but also was obliged to give the King a thousand Marks Lamberh for his Favour and for a Discharge of his Accounts about Ireland And Meyler Fitz-Henry 1200. Natural Son of King Henry I by Nesta Mother of Maurice Fitz-Gerald 1202. was made Lord Justice in whose Time May 4. 1202. King John granted that is confirmed the Archbishoprick of Armagh to Humphry de Tickhul but Ralph le Petit Archdeacon of Meath pretended that the Election fell on him and resolved to contest it with Tickhul 1203. In the mean Time the Pope appointed one Owen mac Gillevider but the King was so angry with him that he prohibited all the Clergy from owning him as Archbishop And to prevent him the King on the Death of Tickhul Ware de Presul 17. anno 1203. confirmed Ralph le Petit in the Archbishoprick Nevertheless Owen so managed the Matter that he enjoyed the Archbishoprick and was restored to the King's Favour He had the Character of an Honest and Worthy Prelate and was present at the Lateran Council in Quality of Primate of all Ireland The King had given to William de Braos and his Heirs the Honour of Limerick with the Appurtenances as Henry II gave it to Philip Unkle of William except the City of Limerick and the Donation of Abbies and Bishopricks the Cantred of the Oastmens and the Holy Island and the Services of William de Burgo which the King retained to be held by sixty Knights Fees But I do not find that William de Braosa had any great Benefit of this Grant for being a bold and a generous Man and abhorring the Murder of Duke Arthur the King's Nephew which he verily believed was done by the King's Command as did likewise John de Courcy they both spoke more than came to their Share And thereupon Braosa fled into Ireland with his Wife and Children from whence he afterwards removed to the Isle of Man and thence to France where he dyed but she and her Son were taken in a Castle in Meath Speed 508. and tho' she sent the Queen a strange Present of four hundred Cows and a Bull all White but their Ears which were Red yet that could not make her Peace but that she and her Son were sent Prisoners to Windsor where they were starv'd to Death as was said And as for Courcy the King to mortifie him appointed his Inveterate Enemy and Competitor Hugh de Lacy 1203. Lord Justice of Ireland and gave him Order to arrest Courcy and send him Prisoner to England But Courcy had some Intelligence or at least Jealousie of the Design and therefore kept upon his Guard so cautiously that Lacy could not surprize him Wherefore he levied an Army and invaded Vlster at Down both Parties met and the Valiant Courcy sent Lacy back with Blows and Shame enough After this Bloody Victory Courcy offered the Combat which the Lord Justice in his Politick Capacity refused to undergo against a Subject and a Traytor wherefore he took a wiser Course and by his Proclamation offered a large Reward to him that should bring in Courcy alive or dead But this not taking effect he dealt with some of Courcy's Servants to seize their Master on Good-Friday whilst unarmed he should be doing Penance and walking Bare-foot about the Church-Yard of Down as he was wont to do every Year They undertook the Matter and effected it with the Slaughter of two of the S. Lawrences who attended their Unkle Courcy that Day But the Traytors paid dear for their Perfidiousness for Courcy with a Wooden Cross which he got in the Church-Yard killed thirteen of them and the rest were sent by the Lord Justice into England with this Pasport which they were obliged not to open till they were in Necessity of it I Hugh de Lacy Lord Justice of Ireland Servant to my dread Sovereign Lord King John To all them that shall read these few Lines greet Know ye That these Men whose Names are underwritten sometimes served Sir John de Courcy late Earl of Ulster but now in Durance in the Tower of London and for a Sum of Mony betraied their own Master into my Hands I deem them no better than Judas the Traytor How hardly soever I have conceived of Courcy I hold them to be a thousand times more damnable Traytors Wherefore let no Subject in the King's Dominions give them any Entertainment but spit in their Faces and suffer them to rogue and wander about as Jews The Lord Justice provided a Barque and Victuals for them but denyed them Pilots or Seamen so that being sufficiently tossed at Sea they were driven into Cork and were there taken and afterward hanged by Order of Lacy who shewed himself Generous in this one thing That though he loved the Treason he hated the Traytor And thus was the Valiant Courcy condemned to perpetual Imprisonment in the Tower of London and that Lacy might personally solicit a Reward for this great Service he had leave to come to Court And Myler Fitz-Henry was again made Lord Justice April 3. 1205. The Historians of that Age make honourable Mention of him He died Anno 1220. and was buried in the Abby of Conal which himself had founded and on his Tomb was this bald Epitaph Conduntur Tumulo Meyleri Nobilis ossa Indomitus Domitor totius Gentis Hibernae But Hugh de Lacy's Services were so well accepted in England May 2. 1205. that the King gave him the Earldom of Vlster as fully as Courcy held it the day he was taken except the Donation of Bishopricks and Abbies and because the King had occasion of Lacy's personal Attendance in England therefore he gave Charge to the Lord Justice to defend and preserve Lacy's Lands as he would the Demesnes of the Crown On the 30th of August Lib. GGG 6. A Writ was sent to the Lord Justice commanding him to build a strong Castle at Dublin to defend that City and to preserve the King's Treasure and the Second of November following the King by Writ commanded Walter de Lacy to put Limerick into the Lord Justice's hands because without it he could neither keep the Peace in Cork nor Connaught The same Year the King of Connaught releas'd two Parts of that Country 1206. retaining the Third at the yearly Rent of an hundred Marks and the next Year offered to continue Tenant to the same Third part at the aforesaid Rent of one hundred Marks per Annum to be held per Baroniam and to pay a yearly Tribute of three hundred Marks per
the first and third Year of his Reign he did confirm them and in the eleventh Year he sent the following Writ which I recite at large because I find it curtail'd both in Calvin's Case and my Lord Cooks first Institutes 141. b. And what else King Henry did in this Matter shall be mentioned in the Account of his Reign REX Lib. GGG c. Baronibus militibus aliis libere tenentibus Lageniae salutem c. Satis ut credimus vestra audivit discretio quod cum bonae Memoriae Johannes quondam Rex Angliae pater noster venit in Hiberniam ipse duxit secum viros discretos legis peritos quorum communi consilio ad instantiam Hibernensium statuit praecepit Leges Anglicanas teneri in Hibernia ita quod leges easdem in scriptis redactas reliquit sub Sigillo suo ad Scaccar Dublin Cum igitur Consuetudo Lex Angliae fuerit quod si aliquis desponsaverit aliquam mulierem sive viduam sive aliam haereditatem habentem ipse postmodum ex ea prolem suscitaverit cujus clamor auditus fuerit infra quatuor parietes idem vir si supervixerit ipsam Vxorem suam habebit tota vita sua custodiam Haereditatis Vxoris suae licet ea forte habuerit Haeredem de primo viro suo qui fuerit plenae aetatis vobis mandamus injungentes quatenus in loquela quae est in Cur. Wilm Com. Maresc inter Mauritium Fitz-Gerrald petent Galfridum de Marisco Justiciarium nostrum Hiberniae tenentem vel in alia loquela quae fuerit in casu praedicto nullo modo justitiam in contrar facere presumatis Teste Rege apud W. decim Decemb. And thus King John having exceeding well acquitted himself in Ireland and thereby in a great measure attoned for Miscarriages of his former Voyage he departed thence on the thirtieth Day of August 1210. having first appointed John Gray Bishop of Norwich Lord Justice who kept the Kingdom in so good Order that he was able to spare three hundred Foot besides Horse 1211. to aid the King in France where they did good Service and yet most of them safely returned to Ireland About this Time happened the famous Story of John de Courcy 1212. which I will give you in the very Words of Hanmer because he expresses it much better than it is in Cambden's Annals Not long after Hanmer 184. there fell some Difference between John King of England and Philip King of France for the Right of some Fort in Normandy who to avoid the shedding of Christian Blood agreed of each Side to put it to a Combat Of King Philip's part there was a French-man in Readiness King John upon the sudden wist not what to do for a Champion to encounter with him at length one attending upon his Person enformed him That there was one Courcy in the Tower of London the only Man in his Dominions if he would undertake it to answer the Challenge King John joyful of this sent the first yea the second and third Time promising large Rewards and rich Gifts and that it stood him upon as far as the Honour of his Crown and Kingdom did reach to make good the Combat Courcy answered very frowardly the which was taken in good Part in regard of the urgent Necessity That he would never fight for him neither for any such as he was That he was not worthy to have one Drop of Blood spilt for him That he was not able to requite him the Wrongs he had done him neither to restore him the Hearts-Ease he had bereav'd him of Yet notwithstanding all the Premises he was willing and would with all Expedition be ready to venture his Life in Defence of the Crown and his Country Whereupon it was agreed He should be dyeted apparelled and armed to his Content and that his own Sword should be brought him out of Ireland The Day came the Place appointed the Lists provided the Scaffolds set up the Princes with their Nobility of each Side with thousands in Expectation forth comes the French Champion gave a turn and rests him in his Tent They sent for Courcy who all this while was trussing of himself about with strong Points and answered the Messengers That if any of their Company were to go to such a Banquet he would make no great haste However forth he comes gave a Turn and went into his Tent. When the Trumpets sounded to Battle forth came the Combitants and viewed each other Courcy beheld him with a wonderful stern Countenance and passed by The French-man not liking his grim Look the strong Proportion and Feature of his Person stalked still along and when the Trumpets sounded the last Charge Courcy drew out his Sword and the French-man ran away and conveyed himself to Spain Whereupon they sounded Victory the People clapt their Hands and cast up their Caps King Philip desired King John That Courcy might be called before them to shew some Part of his Strength and Manhood by a Blow upon a Helmet it was agreed a Stake was set in the Ground and a Shirt of Male and a Helmet thereon Courcy drew his Sword looked wonderful sternly upon the Princes cleft the Helmet Shirt of Mail and the Stake so far in that none could pull it out but himself Then the Princes demanded of him What he meant to look so sowerly upon them His answer was If he had missed his Blow upon the Block he would have cut off both the Kings Heads All that he said was taken in good Part and King John discharged him of all his Troubles gave him great Gifts and restored him to his former Possessions in Ireland It is written further That hereupon he sailed into England came to Westchester offered himself to the Sea and was put back again fifteen times by contrary Winds which rose upon a sudden to the English Shore And in the Book of Houth it is delivered That upon every Repulse the Night following he was admonished in a Vision Not to attempt the Seas for to sail into Ireland and that he should never set Foot upon any Land there and withal that the Reason was yielded thus Courcy thou hast done very ill for thou hast pulled down the Master and set up the Servant for he had translated the Cathedral Church and the Prebendaries of the Blessed Trinity in Dune into an Abbey of Black Monks brought thither from Chester and consecrated the same to the Honour of S. Patrick Whereupon remembring himself That he had done very ill in taking the Name from God and giving it to a Creature he gave Sentence upon himself That he was worthily punished and immediately he altered his Course went into France and there died But 't is Time to return to our Lord Justice who was sent for into England and ordered to leave the Government in the Hands of Henry de Londres Archbishop of Dublin Lord Justice July 23. he had
Justice was so vigilant that before the end of August the Rebels were dispersed and their Captain William mac Balthar was taken and hanged In the midst of these Disturbances John Decer Mayor of Dublin who had some time before built the Bridge over the Liffy Ibid. 166. near S. Wolstons and the Chappel of our Lady at the Friers Minors and had also repaired the Church of the Friers Preachers and every Friday feasted the Friars at his own Cost did now build the high Pipe in Dublin But the Lord Justice being sent for into England to give an Account there of the miserable State of Ireland substituted William Burk August 1308. Custos Warden or Deputy of Ireland He was Ancestor of many Noble Families and particularly of the Lords Castleconel and Leitrim In his time the Irish burnt Athy and Richard Talon was murthered by Maurice de Condon Cambden 166. and Candon was served in the same kind by the Roches and Odo mac Cathol O Connor slew Odo King of Conaught But in March following Peirce de Gaveston an insolent Frenchman was by the Nobility of England in Parliament banished that Kingdom whereupon the King to make this Exile of his Favorite as easie as he could gave him the Government of Ireland and assigned to him the Revenue and Royal Profits of that Realm so that thither he came with a great Retinue and he behaved himself so well that he broke and subdued the Rebels in the Mountains near Dublin He slew Dermond O Dempsy a great Irish Captain at Tully he marched into Munster and subdued O Brian in Thomond he rebuilt the new Castle of Mackingham in the Kevins Country and repaired the Castle of Kevin and cut and cleansed the Paces between that and Glendelough he was exceedingly beloved of the Soldiers both for his Liberality and Valour and might have done much Good there if he had staid longer Nevertheless he could not brook Richard Earl of Vlster who was the greatest Lord in Ireland This Earl as it were to nose Gaveston did at Whitsontide keep a great Feast at Trim Camb. 166. and dub'd two of the Lacies Knights and marched as far as Tredagh to encounter the Lord Lieutenant but on better Advertisement he returnd But the King impatient of Gaveston's longer Absence recalled him on the twenty third of June and sent in his Room Sir John Wogan 1309. Lord Justice M. S. Fragm and in October following the Noble Lord 4. says 1308 Roger Mortimer came over with his Wife Heiress of Meath and had quiet Possession of that Country the Grand-father Sir Geofry Genevil entring into a Monastery On the second of February Sir Arnold Poer slew Sir John Bonevil at Arstol but it was found to be in his own Defence Cambded 167. And in the same February there was a Parliament held at Kilkenny before the Earl of Ulster and the Lord Justice according to the Custom and Usage of those times which appeased many Civil Discords and enacted many good Laws which Mr. Pryn says Pryn 259. were printed in Bolton's Edition of the Irish Statutes 1621. And he reckons this to be the first Parliament that was held in Ireland except that of Henry II aforesaid but without question he is mistaken And it seems Pryn 259. That in the beginning of the next Year or the latter end of this there was another Parliament or Assembly of the great Men at Kildare where Poer was acquitted of the Death of Bonevil About this time Wheat was sold for twenty Shillings the Erane Cambded 167. and the Bakers were drawn on Hurdles through the Streets of Dublin for their Knavery In the Year 1310. Richard de Havering who under Pretence of the Popes Provision 1310. had assumed the Title of Arch bishop of Dublin and enjoyed all the Profits of that See without Consecration for four Years and upward was so terrified by a Dream that he resigned his Bishoprick to the Pope that gave it him Ware de praesul 111. And though Alexander Bricknor had the better in the Election the seventeenth of March 1610. yet John Lech by the Power and Favour of the King enjoyed the Bishoprick and begun the Controversie with Rowland Jorse Archbishop of Armagh about elevating his Crosier in the Province of Leinster and managed it so dextrously or rather so violently Hook 65. that he forced the Primate to fly by Night in his Pontificals from Howth to the Priory of Grace Dieu and thence chased him out of the Diocess or rather Province of Dublin and in the same year the Judges of the Court of Kings Bench were reduced to the number of Three The Year 1311 was troublesome enough 1311. for Frag. 4. in May Richard Earl of Vlster invaded Thomond Davis 134. and marched up to Bunratty where Richard de Clare met and defeated him and took him the Lord William Burk and others of his Kindred Prisoners and slew John de Lacy and many more of the Earls Followers and in November following the same Richad de Clare defeated the Irish and slew Six hundred Galloglasses Nor were the Civil Discords less amongst the Irish for Donough O Bryan was murdered by his own Men in Thomond and John Mac O Hedan was slain by O Molmoy and William Roch was murdered by a Tory However the Birnes and Tools were numerous enough to invade Taslagard and Rathcanle and to terrifie Dublin by lurking up and down the Woods of Glendelory Nor could the State suppress them because Robert Verdon began a Riot in Vrgile and was so powerful that he defeated the Lord Justice and his small Army 1312. July 7. 1312. but afterwards upon better consideration he voluntarily submitted himself to the Kings Mercy whereupon the Lord Justice went for England and left in his stead Sir Edmond Butler 1312. Lord Deputy who being now at leisure to deal with the Birnes and Tools he manag'd that Affair so well that he soon forc'd them to submit and then sent his Father-in-Law the Lord John Fitz Thomas afterwards Earl of Kildare General into Munster who at Adare Knighted Nicholas Fitz Maurice afterwards Lord of Kerry and others This Year was famous for two mighty Marriages of Maurice afterwards Earl of Desmond and Thomas Fitz John afterwards Second Earl of Kildare to the two Daughters of the Earl of Vlster But these Rejoycings were soon over 1313. and the Misfortunes of the English in Scotland drew on a Scotch Invasion of Ireland At first the Scots only sent some Boats to prey the Costs of Vlster which were well resisted but before the year was out Edward Bruce came in Person he forc'd and rob'd the Castle of Man and took the Lord O Donel Prisoner it seems he retir'd again to collect a greater Army and the Deputy after he had on Michaelmas day made one and thirty Knights in the Castle of Dublin 1314. and had taken the best care he could
to defend the Realm against the Scots was sent for to England and Sir Theobald de Verdon was made Lord Constable or Justice of Ireland Prin 259. 31 Dec. 1314. In whose time the King sent John de Hothum Clerk into Ireland to treat with the great Men there about the Kings Affairs and by him sent Writs in the Nature of Letters of Credence to Richard Earl of Vlster and all the rest of the Nobility by Name and a general Writ or Letter to the Lord Justice and the great Officers of State to the same effect Ibid. 260. and another Writ to assist him and to summon the Nobility to a general Meeting that Hothum might communicate the Kings Pleasure unto them He also sent Writs to the Lord Justice the Earl of Vlster and several other great Men to attend his Parliament in England and to appoint a sufficient Deputy or Keeper of Ireland till their Return Prin 261. And because the Words Vestrumque Concilium impensuri are omitted Mr. Prin observes rightly that these Irish Lords went as Commissioners or Agents from Ireland to inform the King and Parliament of the state of Affairs there and did not go to serve in Parliament as my Lord Cooke would have it 4 Inst 350. I do not find whether the Lord Justice went or not nor if he did what Deputy or Keeper of Ireland was appointed in his room but whoever had it did not keep the Office long for on the 27th of Febr. Sir Edmond Butler Frag. 5. 1315. Lord Justice returned and soon after viz. on the 25th of May 1315 Edward Bruce and six thousand Scots Landed near Carigfergus in Vlster with them joyned several of the Irish and together they marcht to Dundalk which they took and burnt on the 29th of June they also spoil'd Vrgile and drove most of the English out of Vlster To oppose them an Army was rais'd which rendezvouz'd at Dundalk July 22. But whether it were that the Scots were retired or that the English Commanders could not agree the Lord Justice return'd to Dublin and left the Earl of Vlster to pursue the Scots with whom that Earl had a Battel near Colrain Camb. 169. on the 10th of September and was defeated and many of the English slain and William Burk John Stanton and others were taken Prisoners This great Loss could not be recompensed with the slaughter of forty Scots which was performed by some English Mariners and therefore Bruce to follow his Blow caused his Army to besiege Carigfergus Septem 15. and sends his Brother William Bruce into Scotland for a Supply 1315. In the mean time the Irish every where insult over the unfortunate English and generally rebel throughout Vlster and Connaught they burnt Athloan October and Randan and Cathol Roe O Connor razed three Castles of the Earl of Vlster's in Connaught In November following the English under Roger Mortimer 1315. had another Battel with the Scots at Kenlis in Meath and were routed with great Slaughter by the Treachery of the Lacies Hereupon Bruce burnt Kenlis Granard Finagh and Newcastle and came to Loghsendy where he kept his Christmas and afterwards also burnt it thence he marched through the County of Kildare unto Rathingan Kildare Castle-Dermond Athy Raban and Sketheris where the Lord Justice accompanied by the Lord John Fitz-Thomas and many others encountred him on the 26th of January and was defeated by reason of some unhappy Fewds and Misunderstandings in the English Army Hereupon the Irish of Munster and Leinster rose in Rebellion and the Birns Tools and Moors burnt the Countrey from Arclow to Leix but the Lord Justice gave them a Rebuke and brought fourscore of their Heads to the Castle of Dublin Ireland being in so tottering a condition the King sent Sir John Hotham over again to take the Oaths and Hostages of the Nobility and Gentry that still remained loyal which was accordingly performed by the Lord John Fitz-Thomas afterwards Earl of Kildare Cambd. 171. Richard de Clare Maurice afterwards Earl of Desmond Thomas Fitz-John Poer Arnold le Poer Febr. 4. Maurice Rochford David and Miles de la Roch and many others 1315. And now both Armies were early abroad The Scots having burnt the Castle and Church of Ley did on the 14th of February rendezvouz at Geashil as the English did the same day at Kildare But the Scots for want of Provision were forced to return to Vlster nevertheless in their way they took Northburgh Castle and then sate down in their Quarters to that degree of quietness that Bruce kept Court and held Pleas there as if it were in times of the most profound Peace For the English Army had work enough nearer home and therefore the Lord Justice on the Scots retreat did likewise return to Dublin and there summoned a Parliament or general Assembly which reconciled some great Men then at odds cleared Walter Lacy of the Treachery imputed to him and established the Measures of carrying on the War And it was wisely done to begin with the Moroughs Tools and other Mountaineers of the County of Wicklow because they daily infested the City of Dublin and had destroyed both the Town and Country of Wicklow and because the Army was not strong enough to secure the City and at the same time to pursue the Scots 1316. the Success justified their Conduct for in April the Tories were defeated However the Scots were not so much neglected but that the Lord Thomas Mandevil was appointed to have an eye to them but he could but skirmish with them which he did valiantly Camb. 172. and kill'd Thirty Scots in one Encounter and was himself slain in another But Bruce came over with fresh Supplies from Scotland and so despised the small force of the English that in May he caused himself to be Crowned King at Dundalk 1316. and thereupon grew so insolent that he spared neither Churches nor Abbeys Women or Children found no Mercy at his hands but on the contrary he destroyed all that opposed him or that belonged to the English and he burnt great part of the Countrey as the Irish did the Church of Athird It was high time to encourage the English to their defence and the defence of the Kingdom and therefore as well to reward for Services past 1316. as to engage them for the time to come Selden 838. says Kildare's Patent is the ancientest Form of Creation he had seen the Lord Justice was made Earl of Carrick and John Fitz-Thomas was made Earl of Kildare May 14. 9 Ed. 2. and others received other Favours from the King The Burks and Geraldines were reconciled and every one in his station set himself manfully to the preservation of the Kingdom Richard de Clare and Bremingham had the better of the Irish in Connaught and slew many of them and about Whitsontide made a Sally into Munster and kill'd three hundred Irish there and the
Whitsontide Prin 263. that Earl first taking an Oath on the Sacrament neither by himself his Friends or Followers to grieve those of Dublin for his Apprehension To all these Misfortunes was added that of a prodigious Dearth Wheat was sold for three and twenty Shillings the Cronoge Lib. P. Lambeth Oats six Shillings and Wine eighteen pence a Quart and other things proportionably so that many died for want The Lord Justice 1317. about Whitsontide marched to Tredagh and thence to Trim and sent for the Lacies who not only refused to come but murdered the worthy Messenger Sir Hugh Crofts but the Lord Justice soon revenged that Affront for he wasted the Lands and seized on the Goods of the Lacies slew many of their Men and drove themselves into Connaught and proclaim'd them Traytors and so return'd to Dublin by the way of Tredagh The Lord Justice had now leisure to assail O Fervil Cambd. whom he soon forced to submit as did also soon after O Birne tho' not till there was â—irst a Battle between the Lord Justice and the Irish of Omayle wherein the Irish were worsted In October the Archbales or Aspoles submitted to the Earl of Kildare and gave Hostages of their good Behaviour and in February Sir Hugh Canon Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas was murdered by Andrew Brimingham between the Naas and Castlemartin The Pope by his Bulls commanded a two years Truce betwixt the English and Scots but Bruce whose Quarters probably were so destroyed that they could not afford him subsistance refused to consent thereunto For about this time the Irish of Vlster were reduced to so great want that they took dead Folk out of their Graves Cambden and boyl'd their Flesh in their Skulls so that by reason of Famine and Sickness there escaped but three hundred of ten thousand men which were in Arms which my Author says was a Judgment on them for eating Flesh in Lent and other Wickednesses Not were the Men of Connaught in a mnch better condition for there happened a Feud between two of the Irish Princes there which occasioned the Slaughter of four thousand of their Followers On Shrove-Sunday the Lord Justice kept a great Feast in the Castle of Dublin and dubbed John Mortimer and four others Knights After Easter the Lord Justice received Command to repair to the King but before he went he had the bad News that the Lord Richard de Clare Sir Henry Capel Sir Thomas de Naas 1318. and two of the Cantons and fourscore others were slain by O Bryan and Macarthy on the 5th of May. This Lord Justice caused John de Lacy to be press'd to Death at Trim because he would not plead to the Indictment against him and then a Month after Easter he went for England being a thousand pound in debt to the Citizens of Dublin and he left in his room William Fitz-John 1318. Archbishop of Cashel Governor of Ireland in whose time great Plenty was again in that Kingdom and which was very strange new Bread was to be had on St. James's Day which was made of New Wheat of the same years growth Alexander Bicknor who was confirm'd Archbishop of Dublin was also sent over Lord Justice He landed at Youghal the 7th of October and soon after Bruce with about three thousand Men came to the Fagher within two Miles of Dundalk The Lord John Brimingham whom the Justice made General with many brave Captains and one thousand three hundred and twenty four good Souldiers marcht from Dublin to encounter him Cambd. 178. and they managed the Conflict so valiantly that they slew Bruce and two thousand of his Men On Calixâ—us Day and the General carried his Head to the King and was therefore made Earl of Louth and had twenty pound per annum Selden Titles of Honour Creation-Money and the Mannor of Athird granted to him Et sic per dextram Dei manus communis Populi liberatur populus Dei à servitute machinata praecogitata Lib. rub Scac. Dub. and so ended the Scotch Government in Ireland It is observable that the Primate of Armagb was at this Battel and came purposely to absolve bless and encourage the Royalists and it ought not to be forgot that a valiant Captain John Maupas was so resolute to destroy the usurping Prince that he rushed into the Battel with that Design and was after the Fight found dead stretcht on the dead Body of Bruce Roger Mortimer 1319. Lord Justice return'd from England and about Allhallontide the Pope sent over Bulls to excommunicate Bruce at every Mass The Towns of Atheisel and Plebs were burnt by John Fitz-Thomas Nappagh and the Bridges of Leighlin and Kilcullen were in this or the following year built by Maurice Jake Cannon of Kildare but it was not long before the Lord Justice made another Voyage to England and left in his room Thomas Fitz-John Fitz-Girald 1320. Earl of Kildare in whose time Bicknor Archbishop of Dublin obtained Bulls from Pope John 22th to erect an University at Dublin and St. Patrick's Church was appointed to be the publick place of their Exercise and it is observable that the King granted to this Earl of Kildare Lib. GGG Quod possit recipere ad Legem Angliae omnes homines Hibernos Tenentes suos qui ad eandem venire voluerunt Nor must it be forgotten 1319. That Pope John the 22th did by his Bull 12 Ed. 2. acquit and discharge the Crown of England from the Tribute or Peterâ— pence Lib. ZZ Lameth claim'd by the Holy See out of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland On the Ninth Day of May 1321. the People of Leinster and Meath gave a great Overthrow to the O Connors at Balibogan Frag. 7. and the Earl of Carrick died about the same time at London and was buried at Gauran not far from Kilkenny and not long after John Bermingham 1321. Earl of Louth was made Lord Justice Rex concessit Johanni Comiti Louth Officium Justiciarii Regis Hibern cum Castris aliis Pertinentiis 14 Ed. 2 par 2. Pat. in Tur. Lond. durante beneplacito Percipiendum per annum ad Scaccarium Regis Dublin 500 Marcas pro quibus Officium illud Terram custodiet erit ipse unus de viginti hominibus ad Arma cum tot equis coopertis continue durante custodio supradict The King on the Third of April 1322. in the 15th Year of his Reign wrote to the Lord Justice to meet him at Carlisle in Octab. Trin. following with three hundred Men at Arms a thousand Hoblers and six thousand Footmen armed with a Keton Lib. Lambeth a Sallet and Gloves of Mayl to serve against the Scots besides three hundred Men at Arms which Richard de Burgo Earl of Vlster had for his own share undertaken to conduct and though the English suffered a Defeat by O Nolan so that
Quod Justic nec aliquis alius Minister de caetero det alicui custodiam vel maritagium alicujus haeredis ad regem pertinentis nec pardonet debita Regis seu fines amerciamenta vel catalla forisfacta sed quod Justiciarii alii Ministri hujusmodi custodias maritagia vendant aliud comodum Regis inde fac juxta discretiones suas Item Quod Vic. Coronatores de caetero eligantur per Communitates Comit. non alio modo quod catalla forisfacta remaneant in custodia Villar Item Quod Justic seu aliquis alius Minister non recipiet aliquem magnatem in pleg vel manucaptor versus Dominum regem nisi quatenus pro commodo Regis viderint faciendum Item Quod Justic obsides pro conservatione pacis sive liberatos in carceris Domini Regis fac salvo custodire ad sumptus suos proprios quod si ipsi qui posuerunt hujusmodi obsides conditiones conventiones quas fecerunt non observent Justic faciant Judicium de hujusmodi obsidibus Item Quod Justic seu aliquis Magnus Hibern non concedat protectiones alicui contra pacem Regis existent Item Quod nullus Minister Regis de caetero recipiatur in pleg vel manucaptorem versus Dominum Regem Item Quod fines de vaccis de caetero pro redemptione non capiantur sed denarii Item Quod Treuga capta capienda inter Anglicos Hibernicos de caetero observetur quod neutra pars damnum alteri durante hujusmodi Treuga inferat si fecerit pro felone habeatur Item Quod nullus ut lagatus in Gildabili receptetur infra libertates nec e converso inde fiat Ordinatio per Justic alios Ministros Dominos libertatum Item Quod Vic. alii Ministri computent quolibet anno semel ad minus si comode fieri poterit Item Quod Seneschallus alicujus Domini in Hibern non ponatur in aliquo Officio Regis Item Quod Thes vel aliquis alius Minister Regis ubi ipse intendere non potest supervideat quolibet anno castra Regis statum eorundem quod emendare fac defectus eorundem Item Quod vic in Turnis quae faciunt de Brevibus Domini Regis ponant nomina sua ita quod quilibet Vic. de exitibus forisfacturis aliis proficuis quae requiruntur sub nomine Vic. oneretur ad Scac. pro tempore suo proprio Item Quod extranei non assignentur Collectores Custumorum Regis sed Burgenses Villarum ubi tales Custumae colligi debent assignentur ad eas colligendas hoc fiat de potentioribus discretiorbus Item Quod Justic fac inquirere quolibet anno de Ministris Domini Regis eorum factis quod puniat delinquentes pert concilium avisamentum Canc. Thes aliorum de concilio Regis amoveat insufficientes Item Quod nullus manuteneat neo ducat Kernes nec Gentes vocat Idle men nisi in Marchis suis propriis ad custus eorundem nec faciat prizas Item Quod omnes Ministri Regis qui tenentur ad computandum non habent Terras seu Tenementa sufficientia in Hibernia invenient manucaptionem in Hibern ad respondendum Regi de compotis suis ibidem Item Quod habentes Terras Tenementa in Hibernia tam religiosi quam alii praemuniantur quod resideant in iisdem si sint in Marchis vel alibi vel ponent sufficientem Custodiam pro conservatione pacis in iisdem citra Fest S. Petri ad vincula prox futur si non fecerint quod Rex in eorum defectum Terras Tenementa illa in manum suam capiet de sufficiente custodia eorundem ordinabit Item Quod nullus cujuscunque status seu conditionis manuteneaâ— foveat nec defendat Hibernicos seu alium quemcunque contra pacem Domini Regis insurgentem si aliquis sic fecerit inde convictus fuerit pro Felone habebitur c. And at the same time the King sent another Writ Prin 269. commanding them to observe the Law of England in case of wardships without regard to the Custom or Usage of Ireland In July the Irish razed the Castle of Bunratty to the ground but in lieu of that 1332. the English on the 8th of August took the Castle of Arcklow and re-edified it They had also the good fortune to defeat the O Bryans Mac Carthyes and other Irish in Munster and to kill a great many of their Men and they also took the Castle of Coolmore The Irish Hostages that were kept at Limerick and Nenagh made notable Attempts to surprize and seize both those Castles and they pursued the Project so far as to get both of them into their possession but the English were resolved to regain them which they perform'd in a very short time and the Hostages at Limerick were put to death for their Treachery and those at Nenagh were still kept in durance But the O Tools of Leinster made a more successful Attempt on the Town of Newcastle in the County of Wicklow for they not only took it but also burnt it In the mean time Cottons Rec. 9. at the English Parliament holden in September principally for the Affairs of Ireland and the Kings Expedition thither it was fully agreed that the King should pass to Ireland in person Ibid. 10. and that in the mean time a Power should be sent to that Country and Commandment was given that all such as have Lands there should repair thither for defence of that Kingdom and that all such Learned in the Law as shall be sent as Justices or otherwise to serve in Ireland shall have no Excuse and that Search be made amongst all the Kings Records to see what hath been done for the Amendment of the Irish Lib. Z Z. And soon after a Writ was sent to William de Burgo and others to attend the King to consult of his Voyage to Ireland but because the time of year did not serve for the Kings Voyage nothing more was done than that the Lord Justice was recalled in November and in February after came over Sir John Darcy Lord Justice to whom the King gave the Mannors of Louth and Ballyogany which Simon Earl of Eu had forfeited by adhering to the French King Soon after his coming the Birminghams took a Prey of two thousand Cows from the O Connors in the County of Sligo But this small Success was quickly over-ballanced by a great Misfortue 1333. for William Burk Earl of Vlster was on the 6th of June basely murdered by his own perfidious Servants at Carigfergus whereupon his Wife and only Daughter sailed to England the Daughter was afterwards Married to the Duke of Clarence and had one only Daughter who was Wife to Roger Mortimer Earl of March and Lord of Trim And from her the Earldom of Vlster and Lordship of Connaught came by descent to be
Deputy who held that Place and discharg'd it worthily until Sir Thomas Rokeby 1353. Lord Justice returned he brought with him ten men at Arms and twenty Archers which were allowed him by the King over and above the ordinary Retinue of twenty Men. About this time lived Sir Robert Savage a very considerable Gentleman in Vlster who began to fortifie his dwelling House with strong Walls and Bulwarks but his Son derided the Fathers Providence and Caution affirming that a Castle of Bones was better than a Castle of Stones and thereupon the old Gentleman put a stop to his Building It hapned that this brave Man with his Neighbors and Followers were to set out against a numerous Rabble of Irish that had made Incursions into their Territories And he gave Orders to provide plenty of good Cheer against his return but one of the Company reprov'd him for doing so alledging that he could not tell but the Enemy might eat what he should provide to whom the valiant old Gentleman replied That he hoped better from their Courage Camb. 193. but that if it should happen that his very Enemies should come to his House he should be asham'd if they should find it void of good Cheer The Event was suitable to the Bravery of the Undertaking Old Savage had the killing of three thousand of the Irish near Antrim and return'd joyfully home to Supper But let us return to the Lord Justice of whom it is recorded that he us'd to say That he would rather eat his Meat in wooden Dishes and pay Gold and Silver for it than to eat in Golden Dishes and make wooden Payment However on the 20th day of July 1355. he did resign to Maurice Fitz-Girald 1355. Earl of Desmond Lord Justice he obtained so much favour in England Lib. M. that he had this Office granted to him for Life which expired the 25th day of January he was so just a man that he spared not his very Relations when they were criminal And about this time the Barons of the Exchequer were reduced to Three Lib. CCC 10. 29 Ed. 3. and John de Pembrook Chancellor of the Exchequer was made the third Baron Sir Thomas Rokeby 1356. Lord Justice returned again to Ireland and held a Parliament at Kilkenny at which many good Laws were enacted In his time a Memorable Writ was sent to the Lord Justice and Chancellor reciting That whereas the Subject found great difficulty to get Restitution according to Law of such Lands as were at any time seized into the Kings Hands Prin. 286. 29 Ed. 3. And whereas they refused in Parliaments here to take cognizance of erronious Proceedings in the Kings Courts but put the Subject to the trouble and charge of prosecuting a Writ of Error in England the King orders amendment and Reformation in both those Cases And not long after this worthy Lord Justice died at the Castle of Kilkea and was succeeded by Almaricus de Sancto Amando 1337. Lord Justice in whose time a great Controversie happened between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Regulars but at length by the favour of the Pope the Friers got the better of the Bishop To this Lord Justice the King sent a Writ or Commission Prin 294. authorizing him with the Advice of the Chancellor and Treasurer to give a special Pardon to as many English or Irish as he shall think fit for all Crimes except Treason Moreover for the better instruction of the People and because of the Non-residence of their Pastors Ibid. the King by his Sovereign Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Authoriz'd and Licenc'd the Archbishop of Dublin to constitute perpetual Vicars in all Benefices and Prebendaries belonging to his Archbishoprick and of the Kings Patronage with certain proportions of greater and lesser Tithes and other Profits to those who should reside upon them But which was more than all this the King by advice of his Council made most excellent Ordinances in England for the better Government of the Church and State of Ireland and the maintenance of the good Laws and Statutes of England there established they are to be found at large in Prins Animadversions on the 4th Instit pag. 287. and therefore are omitted here being very long though also very good only this must be observed that the Clause formerly quoted ad annum 1344 out of the 4th Instit is by my Lord Cooke mistaken both as to Time and Form as to the Time it was not 17 Edw. 3. as he says but it was 31 Edw. 3. And as to the Form it is thus VOlumus praecipimus quod Nostra ipsius terrae Negotiâ—a praesertim majora ardua in Conciliis per peritos Conciliarios nostros ac Praelatos Magnates quosdam de discretioribus probioribus hominibus de partibus vicinis ubi ipsa Concilia teneri contigerit propter hoc evocandos In Parliamentis vero per ipsos Conciliarios nostros ac Praelatos Proceres aliosque de Terra praedict prout Mos exigit secundum Justitiam Legem Consuetudinem Rationem tractentur c. But to return James 1359. Earl of Ormond Lord Justice was commonly stiled The Noble Earl because he was of the Royal Blood being great Grand-son to King Edward the first In his time 34 Edw. 3. the King ordered Proclamation to be made in Ireland That no Meer Irishman should be Mayor Bayliff or Officer of any Town within the English Dominion i.e. the Pale nor be advanced to any Ecclesiasâ—â—cal Benefice or Promotion 35 Edw. 3. but the next Year the King by his Writ explains the former Proclamation Pryn 296. and orders that it shall not extend to any Irish Clerks who have done him Service or are Loyal to him But it seems that the Lord Justice was sent for into England and until his Return Maurice Fitz-Girald March 30. Earl of Kildare was constituted Lord Justice 1360. by Patent under the Great Seal of Ireland he was to have the usual Sallary of five hundred pound per annum maintaining thereout Ninteen Horsemen besides himself but he did not continue long in this Station before James Earl of Ormond March 15. Lord Justice return'd and the King intending to send his Son to Ireland 1357. with a good Force summoned the Duchess of Norfolk and all other Noble and Gentle Men and Women that held Lands in Ireland to appear in Person or by Proxy 4 Instit. Pryn 296. before him and his Council to advise concerning the Defence of Ireland and to repair to that Kingdom in Person with all the Forces they could raise by a certain Day or to send their sufficient Deputies to assist the Kings Son in Defence of the Country And the same Day issued a Writ or Proclamation prohibiting the transporting of any Corn or Victuals out of Ireland on pain of Forfeiture and another Proclamation or Writ to seize all the Lands or Tenements purchased
Pound six Shillings and eight Pence per annum Lib. G. and obtained an Order from the King and Council That all those who had Lands in Ireland should repair thither or send sufficient Men in their Room to defend the Country on Pain of forfeiting their Estates Nevertheless this Lord Justice was so far from subduing the Irish that he confessed he could never get access to know their Countries or Habitations and yet he had spent more time in the Service of Ireland than any Englishman then living So finding he could do no good he resigned to James Earl of Ormond July 24. 1376 Lord Justice In whose time the Counties Cities and Burroughs of Ireland sent Commissioners to the King to Treat and Advise about the Affairs of that Kingdom and not to the English Parliament as some have mistaken it Pryn. 305. And the King did Issue a Writ to the Lord Justice and the Chancellor requiring them to levy the reasonable Expences of these Commissioners from the respective Places that chose them by Writ under the great Seal of Ireland And accordingly John Draper who served for Cork had a particular Mandate to the Mayor and Bayliffs of that City to pay him his reasonable Expences as aforesaid It will not be unuseful to recite this Lord Justice his Commission because the Reader will thereby perceive what Authority he had and will also note the Difference between this brief Commission and the prolix Forms that are now used REX omnibus ad quos Ibid. c. Salutem Sciatis quod commisimus dilecto consanguineo nostro Jacobo le Bottiler Comiti de Ormond officium Justic nostr Hibern Terram nostram Hibern cum Castris aliis pertinentiis suis custodiend quamdiu nobis placuerit percipiend per ann ad Scac. nostrum Hibern quamdiu in Officio illo sic steterit quingent libras pro quibus Officium illud terram custodiet erit se vicessimus de hominibus ad arma cum tot equis coopertis continue durante commissione supradicta c. But by a subsequent Patent the sixth of August he had Power to Pardon all Offences generally or to particular Persons and by consent of the Council to remove or displace any Officer those made by Patent under the great Seal only excepted Ibid. 307. And by another Writ of the same date the former Commission was explained not to extend to the Pardon of any Prelate or Earl for any Offence punishable by loss of Life Member Lands or Goods And the same time Alexander Bishop of Ossory was made Treasurer of Ireland and a Guard of six Men at Arms and twelve Archers at the King's Pay allowed him I have seen a Copy of a Commission to Maurice Fitz-Thomas Lib. G. 13. Earl of Kildare to govern Ireland till Sir William Windsor's return it bore date the sixteenth of February 50 Edw. 3. and Stephen Bishop of Meath was appointed to oversee Munster but because I find no other mention of his being in the Government about this time I have therefore omitted to name him as Lord Justice And so we are come to the twenty first Day of June 1377. 1377. on which Day this victorious King died at Shene in Surry in the sixty fourth Year of his Age and of his Reign the one and fiftieth Lib. M. His Revenue in Ireland did not exceed ten thousand Pound per annum though the Medium be taken from the best seven Years of his Reign THE REIGN OF RICARD II. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND RICHARD the Second only Son of Edward commonly called the Black Prince Eldest Son of King Edward the Third was by his Grandfather declared to be his Heir and lawful Successor and accordingly succeeded him in the Throne on the 21st of June and was Crowned at Westminster the 16th of July following 1377. His tender Age being but eleven years old required a Protector and because it seemed dangerous to commit that great Authority and Power to a single Person it was given to the Kings Unkles the Duke of Lancaster and the Earl of Cambridge and others who thought fit to continue in the Government of Ireland James Earl of Ormond Lord Justice he kept the Kingdom in as good order as those dangerous and troublesom Times would admit of Baker 141. for both the French and the Scots took advantage of the Kings Infancy to disquiet his Dominions but especially the Realm of England This Lord Justice according to the Usage in those days held Pleas of the Crown Lib. G. Lambeth and Gaol-delivery at the Naas on Monday after Valentines Day 1378. and not long after surrendred to Alexander Balscot Bishop of Ossory Lord Justice who continued in the Government until November following Lib. G. and then gave place to John de Bromwick 1379. Lord Justice in whose time Beauchamp Earl of Warwick was by the Parliament of England made sole Protector of the King and Kingdom And then was made that first Act or Ordinance against Absentees Lib. M. Lambeth 138. by the Assent and Advice of the Lords and Nobles of England Davis 38. 199 being in Parliament Whereby it is Ordained That all that have Lands 4th Instit. 356 360. Rents or Offices in Ireland shall return thither but if they have reasonable cause to absent that then they shall send sufficient Deputies to defend their Castles and Estates or contribute two Thirds of the yearly value towards the defence thereof but that Students and those in the Kings Service and those absent for reasonable Cause by Licence under the Great Seal of England shall be excused for one Third of the yearly Profit of their Estates This Act was confirmed afterwards Lib. F. 19 Edw. 4. and by vertue hereof the Mannor of Ballymaclo in Meath was seiz'd into the Kings Hands for the absence of William de Carew but was the next year restor'd to him on his Petition Prin 308. Septemb. 27. 1380. And it is to be remembred That this Act was occasioned by a Petition from Ireland and that it is mentioned in the Body of the Act that the Loss of Ireland would be a Disinherison to the King and his Crown of England Ibid. At the same Parliament at Westminster there was another Irish Petition for Mine and Coigne which I take to be a Liberty to dig Mines and a Mint to coyn Money For the Kings Answer is That for six years to come every one may dig in his own Grounds for any Mineral whatsoever even Gold and Silver paying the Ninth part thereof to the King and sending the rest to the Kings Mint at Divelin for the Coynage of which they shall pay the usual Rates but must transport none to any place except England on pain of forseiting it if it be seized or the Value if he be convict of it unless the Party had special Licence under the Great Seal of
those in Authority there was so great scarcity of Victuals that a halfpeny Loaf was worth a Shilling And within four or five days the strong Castle of Carrigonel was lost by treachery but it was presently retaken with the Slaughter of sixty Rebels however the Wants of the Army occasioned a Mutiny so that the Soldiers refused to march for want of Pay and the Garrison of Loghguir deserted and a thousand other Inconveniences hapned On the twenty third of April 1537. the Lord Deputy began his Expedition into Offaly against O Connor to revenge the Insolencies of the last year but he was hindred by the abundance of Rain that fell at that time from doing the Execution he design'd Ware 147. so that he was fain to end this Quarrel by a dishonourable sort of Arbitration for although the Damages which O Connor had done were estimated at five thousand Marks yet the Lord Deputy compounded for eight hundred Beeves or six shillings and eight pence apiece in lieu of them but not long after he attack'd the Cavenaghs and O Carol with better Success and forced them to submit and give Hostages It seems that the Lord Deputy had new Instructions to oblige all the Irish by Indenture to own the King's Supremacy and to renounce the Popes Usurpations and to contribute something towards the support of the Government and to send a Quota of Men to every Hosting and to effect this the Lord Deputy marched to Offaly the seventeenth of June and on the eighteenth encamped in O Mulmoyes Country and took the Castle of Eglis on the nineteenth he took Bi r and Modrimye in O Carols Country on the twenty fourth O Kenedy submitted to him in Ormond and the twenty fifth Mac Brian Arra likewise submitted On the twenty sixth the Lord Deputy came to Abby Owny where O Mulrian Vlick Burk of Clanrickard and Tybot Burk Mac William made their Submissions and so on the twenty eighth he came to Limerick where the Mayor and Aldermen took the Oath of Supremacy and swore to renounce the Bishop of Rome's usurped Authority and the Bishop of Limerick did the like without scruple or hesitation and Order was left for the Clergy and Commonalty of that City to follow that Example and that Certificates of their performance be returned into Chancery And it is observable that here one of the O Bryans made Peace for a year and promised to do Service against his Brother Mortagh On the fourth of July the Army came to Bryans-Bridge and had a Skirmish with the Rebels without any Loss and on the sixth demolished the Castles and Bridge and on the eighth the Lord Deputy marched into Thomond and took the Castles of Clare and Ballycolome and on the ninth he came into Clanrickard and took the Castle of Ballyclare and delivered it to Vlick Burk and on the eleventh he came to Galway where the Corporation treated the Lord Deputy and all the English Soldiers gratis for seven days and Vlick Burk did the like to the Irish and the Mayor and Aldermen followed the example of Limerick and took the Oath of the King's Supremacy and renounced the Pope's usurped Authority And here O Flaherty O Maddin and Mac Yoris made their Submissions On the twenty first the Lord Deputy removed to O Kelly's Country where O Connor Mac Henry submitted and thence he went to Mac Coughlan's Country where he took a Castle because Mac Coughlan had not kept his Word with him and so on the twenty fifth he returned to Minooth And it is to be noted That all those that submitted were bound by Indenture as well as Oath to own the King's Supremacy and to renounce the Popes Usurpations but when the King had an Account of what was done be answered by his Letter to the Lord Deputy That their Oaths Submissions and Indentures were not worth a Farthing since they did not give Hostages and so it afterward proved The Earl of Desmond mollified by the Misfortunes of the last Year Ware 147. and fearing the Power of the Lord Deputy who was in the Field with his Army as I have already related sent Letters to the Deputy with Offers of Submission upon Terms but the Expostulations about it were so tedious that the Army for want of Provisions was forced to return however Commissioners were employed to continue the Treaty and conclude an Agreement if they could and in order to it they went to Clonmel but the Earl of Desmond refused to come into a walled Town insisting upon a Fantastical Priviledge which he claimed and thereupon the Commissioners forgetting the Dignity of their Character and the Royal Person they represented dishonourably condescended to go to Desmond's Camp and there they took his Oath of Fidelity and received his Bastard Son Thomas Roe as a Hostage for his performanoe But now the Jealousies between the Lord Deputy and the Earl of Ossory broke out into open Hostility and the Deputy was so extravagantly transported that he sent part of the Army to spoil the Territories of the Butlers he also quarrelled with Archbishop Brown and Allen Master of the Rolls and although Lib. D. by the King's Order their Complaints were heard before the Council of Ireland and the new Commissioners hereafter named and a Reconciliation made between them at least in appearance yet some of them stuck so close to him that at length they procured his Ruine But it should have been remembred that on the first of May Fylemy Roe submitted and on the twelfth of May Cavenagh alias Mac Murrough did the like but O Neal was so far from it that despising the Agreement he had not long before made with the Lord Deputy he undertook to reduce Arglass and in order to it sent an Army under his Son to attack that Town and Castle but assoon as he understood the Lord Deputy was ready to take the Field he immediately proposed a Treaty and on the fifteenth of June he made an Agreement with the Lord Chancellor the Bishop of Meath and Chief Justice Ailmer Commissioners appointed for that purpose and he swore to fight for the King contra omnes homines Mundi Ibid. and not long after died Sir Hugh O Donel Lord of Tyrconnel and was succeeded by his Son Manus who was according to Custom inaugurated on the Rock near Kilmacronan Church But in September there came over four Commissioners viz. Sir Anthony Saintleger Sir George Pawlet Sir Thomas Moyle and Sir William Barnes their business was to enquire into the Abettors of the late Rebellion and afterwards to give a General Pardon And though they were very moderate yet it fell heavy on many of the Pale who were compelled to joyn with the Rebels they had also Authority to assist the Lord Deputy and Council in setling the Revenue and to set the Crown Lands for one and twenty Years for a yearly Rent It was to these Commissioners that Bernard Fitz Patrick made his Submission October 8. and they
they procur'd as good a Bed-fellow for the Ambassador though she was of meaner Quality this Liquorish Harlot unfortunately met with a small Bottle of choice Balm valued at two thousand Crowns which was given to the Bishop by Solyman the Magnificent when he was Ambassador in Turky she was invited by its Odour to try its Relish and it seems liked it so well that she licked it all out whereat the Bishop grew so outragious and loud that he discovered his Debauchery frightned the Woman away and made sport for the Irishmen and his own Servants After this the Bishop met with O Neal and the Titular Primate Robert Wachop in a secret place and heard the Overâ—ures of them and their Confederates and it is not to be doubted but they came to an Agreement because the Bishop soon after went to Rome but being unable to separate the Pope from the Interests of the Emperor this Negotiation had no effect In the mean time two of the Cavenaghs viz. Cahir Mac Art of Polmonty and Girald Mac Cahir of Garochil had fierce Contests about their Territory at length it came to a Battel as it were by consent and about an hundred on each side were slain but Cahir Mac Art had the better of it and finally obtain'd that Signiory But the Exchequer being empty the Lord Deputy designed to levy a Tax upon the People but the Earl of Ormond would by no means suffer that 〈…〉 whereupon the difference grew so high between him and the Lord Deputy that at last it came to mutual Impeachments whereupon both of them were sent for to England and by the King's Mediation were reconciled whilst the ambodexter Allen was imprison'd in the Fleet and deprived of the Great Seal and Sir Thomas Cusack was made Lord Keeper and not long after viz. about the twenty eighth day of October the Earl of Ormond and thirty five of his Servants were poyson'd at a Feast at Ely-House in Holborn so that he and sixteen of them died but whether this hapned by Accident or Mistake or were done designedly could not be discovered Sir William Brabazon was sworn Lord Justice on the first of April 1546. although his Patent bore Date the sixteenth of February Ware 174. In his time hapned a strange and unnatural Action for Bryan Lord of Upper Ossory sent his own Son Teige Prisoner to Dublin where he was executed and in July Patrick O More and Bryan O Connor with joint Forces invaded the County of Kildare and burnt Athy but the Lord Justice immediately pursued them and leaving a Garrison at Athy he marched into Offaly and made a Fort at Dingen now Philipstown and forced O Connor to fly into Connaught But the Necessities of the State obliged the King to Coyn Brass or mixt Moneys and to make it currant in Ireland by Proclamation to the great dissatisfaction of all the People especially the Soldiers and about the same time Edward Basnet Dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin and the Chapter after some Reluctancy surrendred their Possessions to the King Three Things are observable in the Letters during this King's Reign 1. None of them do mention either the Year of our Lord or the Year of the King's Reign though all of them do take notice of the Day of the Month whereby this Part of the History was so perplex'd and confus'd that I will not promise that I have always guess'd the time aright though I have used my utmost diligence and endeavours to do so 2. All the Letters of this Reign conclude thus So knoweth God to whom we pray for your Graccs Prosperity or to that effect but these Words So knoweth God are always in although in the subsequent Words there is some Variation according to the Fancy of the Writer 3. Most of the Letters from the great Irish Lords even some of English Extraction are subscribed with a Mark very few of thembeing able to write their Names Sir Anthony Saintleger Lord Deputy returned on the sixteenth day of December with Sir Richard Read who was made Lord Chancellor in the room of Cusack and Cusack was made Master of the Rolls And thus stood the Government of Ireland during the Reign of King Henry the Eighth who Died on the twenty eighth day of January in the thirty eighth Year of his Reign and of his Age the fifty sixth THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI. KING OF England France AND IRELAND EDWARD 1546. the Sixth of that Name since the Norman Conquest was born at Hampton Court on the twelfth Day of October 1537. and succeeded his Father in the tenth Year of his Age on the twenty eighth Day of January 1546. and on the first of February Edward Seymour who was the King's Unkle by the Mother was made Protector of the King and Kingdoms and was afterwards created Duke of Somerset and on the twentieth Day of February the King was crowned at Westminster with great Solemnity Sir Anthony Saintleger continued in the Government of Ireland Ware 177. at first by the name of Lord Justice and afterwards by the Title of Lord Deputy and he proclaimed the new King on the twenty sixth Day of February 1547. and not long after Sir Richard Read was made first Lord Keeper and afterwards Lord Chancellor and the Earl of Desmond was constituted Lord Treasurer of Ireland on the twenty ninth Day of March and on the seventh Day of April the Privy Council was sworn viz. Sir Richard Read Chancellor George Archbishop of Dublin Edward Bishop of Meath Sir William Brabazon Vice-Treasurer Sir Girald Ailmer Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench Sir Thomas Luttrel Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas James Bath Esq Lord chief Baron of the Exchequer Sir Thomas Cusack Master of the Rolls and Thomas Houth Esq one of the Judges of the King's Bench to whom afterwards others were added But the O Birnes took advantage of the Change of the Government and hoping that the Infancy of the King would occasion Disturbances in the State they began to be very unruly and troublesome insomuch that the Lord Deputy was necessitated to invade their Country he pursued them so close that he slew their Captain and drove themselves into the Woods and Fastnesses He also took two of the Fitz-Giralds who had formerly been Proscribed and now joyned with O Toole and he brought them and other Prisoners to Dublin where they were executed Nor were Patrick O More and Brian O Connor less forward than the rest but briskly invaded the County of Kildare and loaded themselves with Prey and Plunder but the Lord Deputy came seasonably to intercept them and having killed two hundred of the Rebels upon the Place the rest of them with their light-footed Captains fairly ran away But the Government of England wisely considering the fickle Inclinations of the Irish and the danger of a general Defection of that Nation from a Protestant King seasonably provided for that Kingdom so that Edward Bellingham with the
is made in England and so the English Statute of 35 Hen. 8. was in effect a Repeal of the Irish Statute of 28 Hen. 8. cap. 2. as it was actually a Repeal of the English Statute of the same tenor and effect But to proceed Sir Thomas Cusak Lord Chancellor and Girald Aylmer Lord Chief Justice continued Lords Justices and to them the Council of England on the twentieth Day of July sent an account of the Succession of Queen Mary together with a Proclamation wherein she was stiled Supreme Head of the Church 1553. which was read in Dublin and other Cities and Towns of Ireland as is usual and Orders were soon after sent to continue all Officers in their Places and another Proclamation To give Liberty of the Mass to all that would was likewise sent over and afterwards the Queen was crowned by Gardiner Bishop of Winchester Ware 204. on the first day of October and she gave a General Pardon to both her Kingdoms of England and Ireland In the mean time O Connor and his Complices were busie about the Invasion of Offaly but by the Prudence of the Lords Justices they were easily suppressed September Nor had O Neal better Success in the County of Lowth for though he did abundance of Mischief there yet the Lords Justices with the Militia of Dublin and such others as they could on a suddain scrape together gave him a great Defeat near Dundalk where he lost many of his Men. And on the eleventh of November Sir Anthony Saintleger Lord Deputy arrived at Dalkye and on the nineteenth he took the usual Oath and received the Sword in Christ Church Dublin and the Lord Chancellor Cusack's Patent was also renewed Cormack Mac Coghlan with the Aid of the Baron of Delvin made War against Mac Coghlan and invaded his Territory and though little more was done at first than the burning of some few Villages yet this was the beginning of a Contest so fierce and so tedious that at length the Territory of Delvin was entirely ruined Owen Macgenis was by the Lord Deputy admitted to be Chief of his Sept and Captain of his Country on the sixth of December upon his Oath of Fidelity to the Queen and her Successors and upon these Conditions following viz. 1. That he should not admit any Provisions from Rome Lib. D. but oppose them all he could 2. To serve the Queen with all his Power when Occasion required 3. To maintain twenty four Horse and sixty Foot and a Company integr prelium of Gallowglasses at every Northern Expedition of the Deputy for three Days going and three Days returning at his own Charge 4. To have no Correspondence with the Scots 5. To give the Wife and Daughter of Donel Macgenis their due 6. That he should not oppress the Queen's Subjects but assist them and the Queen would assist him against any of his Followers that should rebel 7. That he should pay one hundred Cows but this last was remitted him by the Deputy George Dowdal Archbishop of Armagh who fled beyond Seas in the Reign of King Edward was now recalled and restored to the Title of Primate of all Ireland and had the Priory of Athird given him for Life He held a Provincial Synod at Tredagh where they made some Progress towards restoring Popery 1554. and depriving the married Clergy but in April it went farther and the Primate and Dr. Walsh elect Bishop of Meath received a Commission to deprive them and accordingly Staples Bishop of Meath was for that reason deprived on the twenty ninth Day of June and in the latter end of the same Year the like was done to Brown Archbishop of Dublin Lancaster Bishop of Kildare and Traverse Bishop of Leighlin and the two other Protestant Bishops viz. Bale Bishop of Ossory and Casy Bishop of Limerick fled beyond the Seas In the room of these Protestant Bishops Popish Prelates were substituted Doctor Walsh was made Bishop of Meath and afterwards died in Exile in Queen Elizabeth's Reign Hugh Curvin succeeded in the See of Dublin as Thomas Levereuse did in that of Kildare Thomas O Fihely was by the Pope made Bishop of Leighlin Hugh Lacy was constituted Bishop of Limerick and John Thonory got the Bishoprick of Ossory but his Leases were afterwards avoided because Bale was never deprived and therefore he being alive at the time the Lease was made 2 Cro. 553. continued Bishop in Law and so Thonory had no power to dispose of any thing belonging to that See and in that case it was likewise adjudged that the King of England may nominate and appoint Bishops in Ireland without the Formality of a Conge de Eslâ—â—â— and that the Statute of 2 Elizabethae is for so much in Affirmance of the Common Law The Popish Bishops did take an Oath to the Queen in these Words Ware de Praesulibus 188. Ego A. B. Episcopus D. electus Consecratus profiteor me habere tenere ownes temporales Possessiones dicti Episcopatus de manibus vestris Successoribus vestris Angliae Regibus ut in jure Coronae Regni vestri Hiberniae vobisque Successoribus vestris Angliae Regibus fidelis ero ita me Deus adjuvet sancta Dei Evangelia But how well they kept that Oath I need not relate because it is notorious In November came over Girald Earl of Kildare who was restored the thirteenth of May before and Thomas Duff Earl of Ormond and Brian Fitz-Patrick Lord of Upper Ossory all which had behaved themselves exceeding well against Sir Thomas Wiat This Fitz-Patrick is famous for extraordinarily loving and being beloved of King Edward the Sixth and on the ninth of February Charles Mac Art Cavenagh was created Baron of Balian for Life and after his Death his Brother Dermond had the same Title The Queen ordered that the Army should be reduced to five hundred but that was not thought reasonable in Ireland However to comply as far as they could with her Majesties Orders they did reduce the Army to six hundred Foot and four hundred and sixty Horse and a few Kerns but were forced in a short time afterward to raise more and to send for fresh Supplies out of England In the mean time Lib. D. Daniel O Bryan claiming by Tanistry had great Contests with the Earl of Thomond about that Estate he had before this murdered the Earl's Father and though for the present they were reconciled by the Mediation of the Lord Deputy and Council about Michaelmas yet it was not long before their Dissentions broke out again But the Irish Historian Mr. Sullevan gives a very different Account of this Matter and tells us That the Lord President Fitton got Daniel O Bryan into Limerick upon his Oath that he would give him free and safe egress out of the Gates but the Sophistical Englishman turn'd him out of the wrong Gate so that there was the River of Shenin between him and his Army which was
proved disadvantagious to the State and that lenity to the Irish Rebels has produced no other Effects than that it has encouraged them to relapse and others to follow their Example And of this Shane O Neal affords us one Instance for notwithstanding this Submission it was not long before he rebelled again and Rory O Connor and Donough O Connor followed the same Copy for though they submitted at Dingen and put in Hostages for their Loyalty yet they rebelled once more and therefore were on the twenty fifth Day of February proclaimed Traytors and at length were slain and their Country wasted 1557. In like manner William Odare O Carol was made Governour of Ely O Carol under certain Conditions one of which was To send a certain number of Soldiers to every Hosting but this Condescention and Kindness could not oblige him but that the ungrateful Traytor rebelled next Year and was routed and Thady O Carol was put in his Place And so we are come to the Parliament which began the nineteenth day of June and on the second day of July was adjourned to the tenth day of November to Limerick and then was adjourned to the first day of March to Drogheda but the Lord Deputy who by the Death of his Father was Earl of Sussex went to England on the fourth day of December and not returning before the first day of March the Parliament by his Absence became dissolved It seems that besides the Statutes that are in Print this Parliament enacted 1. That the Queen was Legitimate 2. That the Royal Power was vested in her 3. That her Issue should inherit the Crown and Kingdoms of England and Ireland 4. That Heresies should be punished and three Statutes to that effect were revived 5. That all Acts against the Pope made since 20 Hen. 8. be repealed 6. That the Grants made by Archbishop Brown be void and cap. 12. that First-Fruits be released But afterwards by the Act of the second of Elizabeth cap. 1. the Act of Repeal was repealed and the revived Statutes against Heresie were suppressed the Jurisdiction of the Pope was abolished and cap. 3. the First-Fruits and twentieth Part were restored to the Crown There was also an Act to give the Queen a Subsidy of thirteen Shillings and four Pence out of every Plow-land for ten Years And another to make it Treason to introduce or receive armed Scots into Ireland or to marry with a Scot without Licence under the great Seal The printed Acts of this Parliament are I. For the Disposition of Leix and Offaly II. For making the King's County and Queens County Shire-Ground and entituling their Majesties thereunto III. For making other Counties into Shire-Ground IV. To explain Poynings Act that new Bills whilst the Irish Parliament sits may be transmitted into England for Approbation as well as if they had been sent before the Parliament met V. That Labourers or Cottiers shall not buy Horses more than is absolutely necessary VI. That the Owners of stolen Goods using their best Endeavours to prosecute the Felon shall be reprized out of the Felons Goods if they cannot get their own again VII That no Body shall make Aquavitae without Licence under the great Seal except Noblemen Gentlemen and Freemen of Towns that send Members to Parliament And it is to be noted That this Act which was designed to spare Corn and prevent a Dearth was necessary at that time Yet now the Kingdom is better improved and consequently abounds in Corn this Act though not repealed is become obsolete and a quite contrary Act viz. To encourage the Making and Exportation of Aquavitae would tend very much to the Advantage of Ireland In July the Lord Deputy made an Expedition against the O Maddens whose Country called Silanchia now the Barony of Longford in the County of Galway was last Year on the Murder of John O Madden divided between Malachy Modhar and the Murderer Brasil Duff the Deputy sent a Summons to the Castle of Melik but the valiant Warders not only boasted how stoutly they would defend it but also believing that every Summons was an Affront and as it were a Suspicion of their Courage they assured the Herald That it should not be safe for him to come with any more such Messages to them It is hardly credible That after all this Ostentation these Men of War should desert the Castle the very next Night however they certainly did so and the Lord Deputy placed a Garrison in it and returned On the tenth of August the Lord Deputy advanced into Vlster Ware 220. being accompanied by the Lords of Kildare Ormond Baltinglass Delvin Dnnboyne and Dunsany his Design was against the Scots but they sheltered themselves in the Woods and Bogs so that he did them no other Mischief than that he took some Preys however some of them were thereby perswaded to submit and Daniel Mac Conel and Richard Mac Guilliam received the Honour of Knighthood On the twenty second Day of October the Lord Deputy made another Journey into Vlster And on the twenty fourth day he came to Dundalk and on the twenty fifth he took a Prey and came to Armagh the Rebels still flying before him on the twenty seventh he burnt Armagh except the Church and marched to Newry and so on the thirtieth day of the same Month returned to Dublin And being ordered to attend the Queen in England he first obliged O Carol O Molloy Macgehogan O Doyne Mac Coughlan the two O Maddens and Fylemy Duff to gives Hostages of their Good Behaviour And then on the fourth of December he set sail for England leaving Hugh Curvin 1557. Lord Chancellor and Sir Henry Sydny Treasurer at Wars Lords Justices by Patent dated at Westminster the twelfth of November after they were censed and sprinkled with Holy Water and Mass was celebrated they were sworn at Christ-Church on Sunday the fifth of December and received the Sword from Sir John Stanly the Marshal with whom it was left to that Purpose and they continued in their Office until Sir Henry Sydny Ware 222. Lord Justice was sworn on the sixth of February by the Queen's Command and by virtue of a Commission bearing date the eighteenth day of January he attacked Arthur O Molloy Chief of Fercalia who was brewing new Treasons and favoured and cherished those that were in Rebellion But the Lord Deputy did soon over-run his Country and made Theobald O Molloy Governour thereof and took his Son for a Hostage of the Father's Fidelity and then by Cess in the Pale the Deputy furnished the Forts of Maryburgh and Philipsburgh with Victuals and returned to Dublin where he made Proclamation That no Corn should be carried out of the Pale In the mean time Shane O Neal invaded Tyrconnel designing to reduce it to the former Tribute and Dependance it paid to his House Calvagh O Donel being too weak to resist by Force betook himself to his Politicks and made an Essay by Night on the
their Bond men wherein we are to desire you to take part with us according at you are bound by Conscience and by Nature to defend your Country And if you be afraid we should shrink from you after you should enter this Cause you shall understand that we took this Matter in hand with great Authority both from the Popes Holiness and from King Philip who do undertake to further us in our Affairs as we shall need Wherefore you shall not need to fear to take one part of it and be assured we will never agree with none of your Adversaries without your Consent and this our Letter shall be a sufficient Warrant for the same Newcastle Novemb. 29. 1579. Besides the Nonsence and Illiterature appearing in this Letter is it not prodigious that Fitz-Girald an English Man should rail against his own Nation and think that to be the worst of Faults which was most inseparable from him the Foundation of his greatness viz. his extraction or that he who held his Estate by English Laws and Patents should so insist upon his Possession as to forget his Title and by a stupid Contradiction look upon the English as Usurpers whilst he himself had no other Right But he who could fancy that any Authority in Ireland could be derived from King Philip might swallow impossibilities and without fear or wit run into destruction as he did In the mean time the Lord General Ormond invaded Connilogh December to which Place Desmond was again returned but did not at all expect that Attack so that most of the Inhabitants were surprized and either killed or taken Prisoners and the Villages were either plundered or burnt the Earl was like to be surprized at Newcastle and very narrowly escaped And not long after Ormond had a Brush with the Seneschal of Connilogh and though Ormond got the better yet he lost many of his Soldiers and therefore in revenge he burnt all the Country about Lefinnen and then marched to Cork and in the way he took a Prey of fifteen hundred Cows and brought them thither At Cork Ormond disposed of his Army into Garrisons and then went to Cashel having by the way taken the Mayor of Youghal who had formerly refused a Garrison and undertook to defend the Town against the Rebels and yet when Desmond attacked it the Mayor delivered it up almost without Blows and therefore to appease the Queen who was mightily troubled at the scandalous Loss of Youghal the Mayor was deservedly executed before his own Door and it is observable that Youghal was wholly deserted so that there was not one Soul left in it except one Fryar who was spared for the Humanity he had shewed to the Corps of Henry Davels which he carefully buried but the old Inhabitants were by Proclamation of the first day of February invited to return and to encourage them thereunto a Garrison of three hundred Foot was left in the Town under the Command of the Captains Morgan and Pierce In the mean time Ibid. Ormond made great Preparations to recover the Castle of Sangically from the Spaniards from whom he expected stout and obstinate Resistance but on the contrary they deserted the Castle upon view of the Army and fled over the Water but were so hotly pursued that most of them were slain and a Garrison was put into the Castle Ormond's Head Quarters were at Adare and it being usual for the Soldiers to range abroad for Forage or Plunder Desmond placed an Ambush so luckily that it once intercepted them but being stout and well disciplin'd Men they made good their Retreat without any Disadvantage In the mean time the Lord Justice whom we left at Limerick marched into Thomond where the Earl and his Son and two Servants very ill mounted met his Lordship and waited on him to Galway and there the Lord Justice confirm'd the Priviledges of that Town 1579. and thence marched through Athenry Ballinislow and Athlone to Dublin and there he found William Norris and an hundred and fifty brave Horse all in a Livery of Red Coats and Yellow Lace newly arrived from England which were immediately sent to Quarter at the Newry where Norris died on Christmas Day Captain Casy's Company that was left in Galway was forced to hire a House for the Soldiers and the Queen paid the Rent of it and on the twenty eighth of November a Custodiam of the Bishoprick of Ross was granted to Robert Drury for three Years and on the 3d. of Dec. the L. Justice kept Sessions at Trim and caused 16 Malefactors to be executed and on the 10th of Dec. Sir Hugh O Reily made his Submission at Drogheda and the same day 5000 l. in Money arrived out of England On the eighteenth of January the Lord Justice left Dublin and came by the Sea-coast to Wexford where he kept Sessions and sate personally in the Court thence by Tintern he came to Waterford where he was nobly received and the Mayor carried the Sword before him The Earl of Ormond met him at Waterford and upon Advertisement that the Rebels drew near Dungarvan and Youghal Captain Zouch was sent with four hundred Foot and an hundred Horse to oppose them On the Eleventh of February a Commission of Martial Law was sent to Sir Warham Saint-Leger Hooker 166. and then the Lord Justice having stayed three Weeks at Waterford removed to Clonmel where Ormond met him again and thence he marched to Limerick and had his Baggage carried a great part of the way on Mens Shoulders for want of Carriage-Horses or because of the badness of the Way or both at Limerick the Chancellor of that Diocess was found guilty of Treason for corresponding with Desmond but he made Shift to get a Pardon whilst the Bishop of Limerick who was shrewdly suspected was confined to his House On the Tenth of March the Lord Justice and Ormond met at Rakele and the next day they passed over the Bridge of Adare and returned at Night and then they divided their Forces and invaded Conniloe burning and spoiling the Country and incamped within one Mile of Kilcolman where they had News that Lieutenant Parker five Horse and three Foot coming from Limerick were set upon by an hundred Rebels near Rakele but they so behaved themselves that they slew the Commander and five or six more of the Enemy and came off with small Loss the same day a Soldier of the Marshal's encountred two lusty Kerns and having slain one he compell'd the other to carry his Fellow's Head to the Camp where he was likewise slain On the twelfth of March the Army being divided Preyed and burnt the Country to Slevelogher as they did likewise the next day and slew above four hundred Men whereupon the Lord Lixnaw was humbled and made his Submission The Lord Justice having marched as far as Slewemiss beyond Traley and not being able to pass farther resolved to besiege Carrigifoyl which was Desmond's chief strength and it was Garrisoned
in many other high Regards 't is Expedition alone that can answer the Anxieties which England must be in for Your Majesty's Absence And seeing Your Majesty will leave behind that Great Pledge Your Royal Consort and our most Gracious Queen Your Majesty will not want Your own Anxieties also for a speedy Return But that it may be with such Laurels as may bring Terror to France with Triumph to Your own Kingdoms and a happy Restitution of Your poor Protestant Subjects of Ireland to their Native Homes is the most fervent Prayer of GREAT SIR Your Majesty's most Dutiful most Loyal and most Devoted Subject and Servant R. COX TO THE READER YOU have here a History of great Variety and much Intrigue It takes in a large Space of Time of above Fifty Years and begins at the End of one War and ends with the Close of another The long Interval between these Two Periods being almost Forty years was spent in a profound Peace the short Commotion of O Dogharty only excepted and in promoting all those Blessings of Plenty and Good Laws which the Industry of the English could accomplish But the subsequent Part of the Time was according to Bishop Usher's Prophetical Sermon Preach'd Anno 1601. turn'd into a Scene of Blood Treachery and Desolation which overturned all The Roots of that so great Cruelty and Universal Defection are already hinted at in the Preface of my Former Part by those Differences there set forth of Nation Interest and Religion Upon King James his Accession to the Crown the Irish were surfeited with War so that all things in that Kingdom had a tendency to Peace And tho' a Rumor spread abroad and believ'd by the Irish That the King was of their Religion put some of the principal Towns into a Commotion yet the Diligence and Expedition of the Lord Deputy did soon appease that Storm and reduce the Disobedient to their Duty And tho' the natural Inclination of that King to Peace was a great Temptation to the Irish to try their Fortune with him in a War and accordingly the Lords Tyrone and Tyrconell and Sir Cahir O Dogharty attempted it yet the Rebels were always baffled in their Undertakings by the Diligence Wisdom and Courage of those to whom the King entrusted his Irish Affairs And indeed both King James the First and King Charles the First did take a particular Care to put the Government of Ireland into such Hands as were worthy of it and underwent the Administration thereof with Advantage to that Kingdom and Honor to themselves The First was the Lord Montjoy whom King James found Deputy and soon after made Lord Lieutenant This Lord was thought in England to be a better Courtier than a Soldier but when he came to Ireland he proved the best Soldier that Kingdom had seen in many Years It was he that found out the true Way of making War with the Irish For being well supplied with Necessaries from England he plainly saw that if he could attack them at a time when they wanted all Conveniences to keep the Field he could meet with very little or no Resistance and therefore he supplied his Frontier Garisons with Men and Provisions and they by their frequent Excursions did such Execution on the Persons and Estates of the Irish that by One Winters War he reduc'd them to the Necessity of eating one another and forced their Ringleader the Earl of Tyrone to submit to his Mercy and so made an end of that Rebellion His Successor or rather Deputy Sir George Cary was Treasurer at Wars and a worthy Gentleman but nothing of extraordinary moment hapned during his Government The next was Sir Arthur Chichester afterwards Lord of Belfast one well experienc'd in the Affairs of Ireland whereof he held the Chief Government for Eleven Years He was a good Soldier and a true Englishman and did Three great Things towards a Reformation The First was his Management of the most stubborn Parliament that ever was in that Kingdom which nevertheless he prevail'd with to Attaint the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconell Sir Cahir O Dogharty and others and to make an Act of Recognition and to give the King a Subsidy And the Second was the Plantation of the Forfeitâ—d Estates in Ulster which he very much influenc'd and promoted And the Third was the Reviving and Restoring the Circuits for Judges of Assize in both the Provinces of Conaught and Munster The Lords Justices Doctor Jones Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor and Sir Richard Wingfield were Men Famous in their respective Faculties and are Founders of the Noble Families of the Earl of Ranelagh and Viscount Powerscourt And Sir John Denham Lord Chief Justice was not less Renowned than either of Them by reason of his great Learning in his Profession to which the Crown owes the first Advancement of that Considerable Branch of the Revenue arising by the Customs in Ireland The next Lord Deputy was Sir Oliver Saint John afterwards Viscount Grandison a Person Nobly descended and of a generous Temper He had given great Proof of his Courage and Conduct at the Battel of Kinsale and was not inferior to any of his Predecessors in a sincere Concern for the Protestant Religion and the Good of the Kingdom but he hapned in an ill time as did also his Successor the Worthy Lord Falkland whilst the Spanish Match was in agitation So that both these brave Men by the Clamour of the Irish and the prevailing Power of their Popish Enemies came away in Disgrace But their Innocence being afterwards vindicated as it was this Affront was in some measure atton'd for by the subsequent Favour of the King The Lords Justices that received the Sword from the Lord Falkland were the Viscount Loftus of Ely Lord Chancellor one of great Parts and Merit and the Noble Earl of Cork Lord High Treasurer who was one of the most extraordinary Persons either That or any other Age hath produced with respect to the great and just Acquisitions of Estate that he made and the Publick Works that he began and finished for the advancement of the English Interest and the Protestant Religion in Ireland as Churches Alms-Houses Free-Schools Bridges Castles and * Lismore Tallow Cloghnakilty Iniâ—keen Castletown Bandon which last Place cost him 14000 l. Townsâ— Insomuch that when Cromwel saw these prodigious Improvements which he little expected to find in Ireland he declared That if there had been an Earl of Cork in every Province it would have been impossible for the Irish to have rais'd a Rebellion And whilst he was carrying on these solid Works he lived in his Family at a Rate of Plenty that exceeded those who consumed great Estates in the lavish ways of ill-ordered Excess His †God's Providence is my Inheritance Motto shews from whence he derived all his Blessings the greatest of which was the Numerous and Noble * Earl of Burlington and Cork Viscount Kinalmeky Earl of Orrery Viscount Shannon Robert
went into England to give his Majesty a full account of his happy and successful Administration of the Government for I find he was created Lord Baron of Belfast on the 23th of February 1615 and perhaps then made Lord High Treasurer THOMAS JONES Archbishop of Dublin Lord Chancellor Sir JOHN DENHAM Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench were Sworn Lords Justices on the 11th of February 1615. The Archbishop was the worthy Ancestor of the Lords of Ranelagh And Sir John Denham was the first that raised any Profit to the Crown from the Customs in Ireland which were Lett for Five hundred Pounds the first Year and before his Death which happened the 6th of January 1638 they were improved to that degree that they were farmed at Fifty Four thousand Pounds per Annum But the Papists beginning again to grow very insolent it was necessary to hasten the new Lord-Deputy thither and therefore on the 30th of August 1616. Sir OLIVER SAINT JOHN afterwards Viscount Grandison 1616. was sworn Lord-Deputy he behaved himself briskly against the Papists who were at that time very high in Ireland Mr. Sullivan says He was a Bloody Man and that he swore he would in two Years banish all the Priests and that he levied 600000◠from the Papists for Fines and Forfeitures for not going to Church and that in Dublin only he imprisoned Ninety Citizens for denying the King's Supremacy all which is notoriously 〈◊〉 And about the same time a most Scandalous lying Book was published Entituled Annalecta Hiberniae written by David Rooth Vicar Apostolick at the Instigation and Charge of the Lord M And stuffed with innumerable Lyes and malicious Accusations of the King's Government in Ireland and yet dedicated to the Prince of Wales which is a high strain of Impudence and Folly to dedicate to the Son Reflections and Scandals upon the Father and as if that Author intended to mock the Son as well as to abuse the Father and that his Dedication to him should pass for nothing he has added another Dedication by way of Appeal to all Foreign Emperors Kings and Princes wherein he avers That the Irish look for nothing but that the King would use them like a King i. e. not like a Tyrant and when I have added that he compares the King to Julian the Apostate and Cajus Caligula and the English-men to Dogs and Wild-Beasts I have said enough of the Spirit and design of that malicious Author The Exorbitances of the Papists did indeed at this time oblige the Government to keep a stricter hand over them than hitherto they had done and two things were resolved on to humble them one was to banish all their Regulars which did in great numbers swarm almost every where in that Kingdom And the other was to suffer no Magistrates or Officers but what should take the Oath of Supremacy according to Law and in order thereunto there did issue a Proclamation against the Popish Clergy on the 13th of October 1617. Anno Dom. 1617. And afterwards on the 5th of March 1617 Donogh Earl of Twomond Lord President of Munster and Sir William Jones Lord Chief Justice of Ireland did by Virtue of a Commission under the Great Seal bearing date the 23d of January 1617 seize on the Liberties of Waterford and all their Rent Rolls Ensigns of Authority and their publick Revenues which amounted to Three Hundred and Four Pounds Ten Shillings per Annum and kept Assizes in the City for the County of Waterford The cause of this Seizure was because Nicholas White who from Michalmas 1615. to the 20th of October then next following did exercise the Office of Mayor of Waterford did on the 20th day of October 1615. refuse the Oath of Supremacy being then tendered to him by the Lord President by Virtue of a special Commission to that purpose and that upon his refusal the City Elected John Skiddy who Acted as Mayor till the 1st of May 1616. and then refused the same Oath being tendred to him by the Lord President whereupon the City chose Alexander Cuffe and swore him Mayor on the 27th of May who likewise on the 8th of July refused the aforesaid Oath of Supremacy before the Lords Justices whereupon he forbore to Act any farther in the Mayoralty and so it stood till the 1st of April 1617. at which time Walter Cleer was sworn Mayor and so continued Moreover the City had no Recorder since the Death of Nicholas Walsh Anno 1615 and yet in January 1616 there was a Goal Delivery held before the said John Skiddy without any Recorder and one William Person was then Condemned before him and afterwards by his Order executed for Felony And it appeared that the Statute of Elizabeth of Uniformity had not been given in Charge in their Sessions at Waterford for Two years past and all this was found by Inquisition taken the 5th day of September 1617. In the mean time there were sharp Contests between several great Families in Ireland about their Inheritance Lib. F. F. F. 199. the one was between Katherine Lady Power who was Heir General to the Deceased Lord Barry and the then Lord Barry Viscount Buttivant and that was happily Compos'd by the Kings Mediation and the Marriage of the Lord Barry with the Lady Power 's Daughter and the other was between Walter Earl of Ormond and the Lady Dingwell Heir General of Thomas Duff Earl of Ormond who died Anno 1614. Their Case is to be found the very last Case in my Lord Hobert's Reports and was refer'd to the King who Anno 1618. made his Award and divided the Estate between the contending Parties but the Earl of Ormond thought that Distribution so unequal that he refused to submit to it and therefore endured a long Imprisonment and many other Hardships from the Court but after his Death that Controversie was also happily Compos'd by the Marriage of his Grandson the young Earl of Ormond with the sole Daughter and Heir of the Lady Dingwell and that happy Couple improved that divided and shattered Estate to be the greatest and best belonging to any Subject in the Kings Dominions and are well known to the World by the Names of the first Duke and Dutchess of Ormond In the Year 1620. 1620. The famous Doctor Usher was made Bishop of Meath and not long after there arose a Dispute between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Bishop Elect of Clogher about the Exercise of Jurisdiction before Consecration but after some Expostulations the Controversie was peaceably Compos'd The Year 1621. 1621. was famous for the Congregation de Propaganda fide then Erected at Rome the influence whereof the Subjects of Great Britain and Ireland have felt to the purpose and in the same Year Thomas Viscount Thurles Father of the first Duke of Ormond was drowned It was in this Year that the King to mortifie some of the most active Members of the House of Commons that had fallen under his
of March 1625 having in his Life-time created the Irish Nobility hereafter mentioned viz. February 23d 1603. Rory O Donell Earl of Tyrconnel February 23d 1615. Sir Arthur Chichester Baron of Belfast since Earl of Donegal July 14th 1616. Brabazon Baron of Ardee since Earl of Meath September 29th 1616. Sir Richard Boyle Baron of Yough-hall afterwards Earl of Corke May 25th 1617. Ridgeway Baron of Galenridgeway since Earl of London-Derry July 20th 1617. Moor Baron of Melefont since Earl of Drogheda Septemâ—er 6th 1617. Touchet Earl of Castlehaven and Baron Orior February 17th 1617. Lambert Baron of Cavan since Earl of Cavan Ibid. Bourk Baron of Brittas May 8th 1618. Hamilton Baron of Strabane January 31st 1618. Blunt Baron Mountjoy Ex. June 29th 1619. Mac Donald Viscount Dunlucâ— since Earl and Marquess of Antrim February 19th 1619. Sir Richard Wingfeild Viscount Powerscourt July 1620. Preston Earl of Desmond Viscount Dunmore Ex. May 1621. Dockwray Baron of Culmore Ex. Ibid. Blany Baron of Monaghan March 1st 1621. Henry Power Viscount Valentia Ex. Theo. Butler Viscount Tullagh THE REIGN OF CHARLES I. KING OF England Scotland France AND IRELAND CHARLES the only surviving Son of the Deceased King James 1625. by undoubted Right succeeded his Father in all his Dominions on the 27th day of March 1625 and was accordingly Proclaimed the same day and on the 23d day of June following he was Crowned at the Abby of Westminster with great Solemnity and as to Ireland HENRY Viscount FALKLAND was continued Lord Deputy and other inferior Officers likewise were confirmed in their respective Places but the Affairs of England being not a little out of Order the Irish took advantage thereof to be very high and insolent at home to which they were much encouraged by the Bull of Urban the 8th of the 30th of May 1626. to the English Catholicks exhorting them rather to loose their Lives then to take Noxium illud illicitum Anglicanae fidelitatis Juramentum 1626. quo non Solum id agitur ut fides Regi servetur P. W. Remonstrance 11. sed ut sacrum Universae Ecclesiae sceptrum eripatur Vicariis Dei Omnipotentis that pernicious and uâ—lawful Oath of Allegiance of England which his Predecessor of happy Memory Paul 5th had condemned as such Hereupon it was found necessary to increase the Army to the number of Five thousand Foot and Five hundred Horse the Charge whereof amounted unto 64240 l. 1 s. 2 d. which was more then the Kings Revenue out of which the Civil List was nevertheless to be paid so that it was necessary to find out some other Bund for the support of the Army and until that could be done the Lord Deputy and Council on the 14th of September by their Letters did recommend several Troops and Companies of the Army to the Counties and Towns of the Kingdom to be maintained for three Months and so from three Months to three Months until the last day of March 1628 and this whole Charge or Incumbrance on the Countrey was estimated at 36951 l. 6 s. 7 d. ½ and in the King's Letter of the 22d of September 1626. to raise this Army and that the Countrey should maintain it with Money Cloaths and Victuals his Majesty promises in lieu thereof to Grant certain Graces to the Countrey and particularly to suspend the Composition But the Gentlemen that were Agents from Ireland did to ease the Kingdom from that oppression offer to pay 40000 l. a Year for three Years in the nature of three Subsidies and to pay it quarterly from the first of April 1628. which was accepted of and the same was Paid accordingly until the first day of October 1629. On the 16th of May 1626. 1626. The King reciting a Complaint of Sir Samuel Smith's against the Lord Chancellor and that there was difference between the Lord Deputy and Chancellor 1. Because the Chancellor refused to Seal some Patents offered to him 2. Because he denied to appoint Judges for Circuits when thereunto required by the Deputy 3. Because he refused to appoint Justices of Peace at the Lord Deputies Nomination and made one Justice of the Peace against his Express prohibition to which the Lord Chancellor made Answer That in the first Case there was matter of Equity Convenience of State and Question in Law unresolved and that in the sesond Case he had directions in the time of King James and that in the third Case it was the Priviledge and Jurisdiction of his place Therefore the King orders That the Chancellor bear fitting respect to the Lord Deputy who is his Majesties Representative and as to the Matters in Debate if the Chancellor refuse to Seal any Patent in question for Reasons of State that the Cause be debated in Council and if then they think it fit and the Chancellor still refuses till he has appeal'd to his Majesty as he may it shall be at his Peril if the State suffer by his delay if the Question be in Law that the Judges decide it and if the Chancellor be not satisfied therewith he ought to appeal to the King for farther Directions and particularly about the Patent for Tanning Leather As to the Second if the Chancellor will not appoint Judges as the Lord Deputy desires that then it be refer'd to the Council-board and their Sentence be definitive as to that And as to the Third the Chancellor will not refuse to make any Man a Justice of the Peace recommended by the Lord Deputy if he does that then the Order of the Council-Table shall govern that Matter and in all these Cases it becomes the Chancellor to repair to the Deputy and acquaint him with his Reasons whenever he refuses And as for Sir Samuel Smith's Complaint his Case was that he had the sole Nomination of those that should be Licensed to Sell Aquavitae and did set that Priviledge to one Miagh for the County of Cork the King appoints the Chief Justice Chief Baron and Sir John King to Arbitrate that Matter and to make Reparation to Miagh whose Patent must be called in because he is an infamous Person and unfit for that Trust and a new Patent for that County must be Granted to whom Sir Samuel Smith shall name In the same Month of May the King sent an Order to the Lord Deputy to make a Lord High Steward c. for the Tryal of the Lord of Dunboyn by his Peers upon an Indictment found against him in the County of Typerary for killing a Man and in January after the Earl of Marleburgh Duke of Buckingham and the Lords of Pembrook Dorset Grandison Conway and Carlton and Sir Richard Weston were made Commissioners or rather a Committee for Irish Affairs And on the Eighth of February Edward Brabazon Baron of Ardee was ordered to be Earl of Catherlogh but for what Reasons I know not he had not that Title but was afterwards made Earl of Meath And on the Second of March his Majesty sent an Order
other Stewards of the British Farmers and Inhabitants of the City and County of London-Derry ☞ by means whereof the worthy Plantation of that Country is almost destroyed and the Inhabitants are reduced to great Poverty and many of them forced to forsake the Country the same being the first and most useful Plantation in the large Province of Ulster to the great weakning of the Kingdom in this Time of Danger the said Plantation being the principal Strength of those Parts IX The late Erection of the Court of High-Commission for Causes Ecclesiastical in these necessitous Times the Proceedings of the said Court ' in many Causes without Legal Warrant and yet so supported as Prohibitions have not been obtained though legally sought for And the excessive Fees exacted by the Ministers thereof and the Encroaching of the some upon the Jurisdiction of other Ecclesiastical Courts of this Kingdom X. The exorbitant Fees and pretended Customs exacted by the Clergy against the Law some of which have been formerly represented to your Lordship XI The Petitioners do most heartily bemoan that His Majesty's Service and Profit are much more impaired than advanced by the Grievances aforesaid and the Subsidies granted in the last Parliament having much increased His Majesty's Revenue by the buying of Grants and otherwise And that all His Majesty's Debts then due in this Kingdom were satisfied out of the said Subsidies and yet His Majesty is of late as the Petitoners have been informed in the House of Commons become indebted in this Kingdom in great Sums And they do therefore humbly beseech That an exact Account may be sent to His Majesty how and in what manner his Treasure is issued XII The Petitioners do humbly conceive just and great Fears at a Proclamation published in this Kingdom in Anno Domini 1635. prohibiting Men of Quality or Estates to depart this Kingdom into England without the Lord Deputy's Licence whereby the Subjects of this Kingdom are hindred and interrupted from free Access to Address to His Sacred Majesty and Privy-Council of England so declare their just Grievances or to obtain Remedies for them in such sort as their Ancestors have done in all Ages since the Reign of King Henry the Second and great Fees exacted for every of the said Licences XIII That of late His Majesty's Attorney-General hath exhibited Informations against many ancient Burroughs of this Kingdom into His Majesty's Court of Exchequer ☜ to shew cause by what Warrant the said Burroughs who heretofore sent Burgesses to Parliament should send Burgesses to the Parliament And thereupon for want of an Answer the said Privileges of sending Burgesses were seised by the said Court Which Proceedings were altogether coram non Judice and contrary to the Laws and Privileges of the House of Parliament and if way should be given thereunto would tend to the Subversion of Parliaments and by consequence to the Ruin and Destruction of the Commonwealth And that the House of Commons hath hitherto in this present Parliament been deprived of the Advice and Counsel of many profitable and good Members by means thereof XIV By the Powerfulness of some Ministers of State in this Kingdom the Parliament in its Members and Actions hath not its natural Freedom XV. And lastly That the Gentry and Merchants and other His Majesty's Subjects of this Kingdom are of late by the Grievances and Pressures before said and other the like brought very near to Ruin and Destruction And the Farmers of Customs Customers Waiters Searchers Clerks of Unwarrantable Proceedings Pursuivants and Gaolers and sundry others very much enriched whereby and by the slow Redress of the Petitioners Grievances His Majesty's most faithful and dutiful People of this Kingdom do conceive great Fears that their Readiness approved upon all Occasions hath not been of late rightly represented to His Sacred Majesty For remedy whereof the said Petitioners do humbly and of right beseach your Lordship That the said Grievances and Pressures may be speedily redressed and if your Lordship shall not think fit to afford present Relief that your Lordship might admit a select Committee of this House of Persons uninteressed in the Benefit arising of the aforesaid Grievances to be licensed by your Lordship to repair to his Sacred Majesty in England for to pursue the same and to obtain fitting Remedy for their aforesaid and other just Grievances and Oppressions And upon all just and honourable Occasions they will without respect of particular Interest or Profit to be raised thereby most humbly and readily in Parliament extend their utmost Endeavors to serve His Majesty and comply with His Royal and Princely Occasions And shall pray c. As soon as the Lord Deputy had notice of this Remonstrance and perceived the Fury of the Irish Parliament he took occasion to Prorogue it on the Twelfth day of November but whatever he could do was ineffectual to stem the Tide which now ran too violent against him And therefore being heart-broken with his own and the Earl of Strafford's Misfortunes he died suddenly on the Third day of December 1640. Whereupon ROBERT Lord DILLON of Killkenny-West afterwards Earl of Roscomon Sir WILLIAM PARSONS Knight and Baronet Master of the Court of Wards were on the Thirtieth of December sworn Lords Justices 1640. But the Lord Dillon beings for his Intimacy and Alliance with the Earl of Strafford obnoxious to the aforesaid Irish Committee he was at their Instance removed and Sir WILLIAM PARSONS Master of the Court of Wards Sir JOHN BORLACE Master of the Ordnance were sworn Lords Justices on the Tenth of February to whom the King by his Letters of the Fourth of January before sent Orders at the Request of the Irish Committee That the Irish Subsidies which heretofore were Forty thousand Pounds should be reduced to a less Sum than formerly and that all Letter 's sent to the Chief Governor or other Publick Officers touching Publick Affairs or the Subjects Private Interests should be entred in the Signer-Office in England to the end the Subjects upon occasion might take Copies thereof and that all Dispatches from Ireland should be safely kept apart for the easier and readier recourse thereto and that His Majesty approves of the Repair of His Subjects to appeal to Him notwithstanding any Prohibition in Ireland to the contrary and orders That no body be prosecuted or molested on that score and that the Irish Committee shall have Copies of all Records Certificates Orders of Council Publick Letters or other Entries that are necessary to manifest or prove their Grievances And this Letter was on the Tenth of February 1640. by the Irish Parliament then sitting ordered to be entred amongst the Records and Ordinances of that House And soon after Rushw 15. the Irish Parliament did vote the following Grievances to be transmitted to their Committee in England which it seems were couched in Two Petitions one to the King and the other to the Parliament and both carried over by John Bellew
and Justice Cook Assistants and it sat in the same place where the Supream Council us'd to sit Anno 1642. Afterwards the like Court was held at Dublin before the Lord Chief Justice Lowther and others and there Sir Phelim O Neal was tryed condemned and executed and it is observable that being urged both at his Tryal and Execution to discover the Commission he had from the King for the Rebellion of 1641 and that he should be pardoned both for Life and Estate he confess'd in both places That he had no such Commission but that he took the Seal from a Patent he found at Charlemont and fixed it to a Commission he had caused to be written in the King's Name and that Michael Harrison then present in Court and confessing the same was the person that sticht the Cord or Label of the Seal with Silk of the same colour These Commissions issued in the Name of the Commissioners of the Commonwealth of England for the Affairs in Ireland and that for Conaught bore date the 17th day of December 1652 and was signed by Fleetwood Ludlow and Jones and was directed to Sir Charles Coot Peter Stubbers Humphry Hurd Francis Gore John Desborough Thomas Davis Robert Ormsby Robert Clerk Charles Holeroft John Eyre Alexder Staples and others but I mention these because they sat upon the Tryal of the Lord of Mayo which began the 30th of December and ended the 12th of January at which time he was condemned by the Vote of seven of the Commissioners Gore Davis Clerk and Holcroft dissenting and accordingly he was shot to Death on the 15th But his Case being variously reported it will be convenient to give a faithful account of it as it appeared upon the Tryal which was thus Upon the Surrender of Castlebar which was besieged by the old Lord of Mayo and the Prisoner then Sir Tibâ—â—t Burk it was agreed by Articles that the English should march away with their Arms and be safely convoyed to Galway and though they were deprived of their Arms contrary to the Articles yet the Lord of Mayo and his Son the Prisoner with their Followers conveyed them safely to Ballynecarrow and the next day to Ballinroab and the third day to The Neal where they left Sir Henry Bingham on pretence of his being sick but as was suspected to preserve him from the subsequent Massacre the fourth day they came to Kinlagh and the next day to Shrule which it seems was two Mile out of the Road to Galway there they lodged that night and the next morning on the 13th of February 1641 an Ambush was laid on the other side of the Bridge which as soon as the English got over the Bridge fell upon them and by the help of the Convoy murdered about fourscore of the English the Protestant Bishop of Kiâ—lalla and a few others only escaping This matter of fact was thus proved Four Witnesses swore that the Prisoner was present at this Massacre and did not oppose it and that the Convoy were the Murtherers and that the Lord Mayo's Fosterers Servants and Followers were of that number and it was proved that the Lord Mayo the Father engaged by Capitulation to Convey the English safe to Galway and that they were disarmed by his Command and some of them were Plundered and Stript by the way by the Convoy and could get no redress from the Prisoner or his Father that the Convoy pricked forward the English over the Bridge towards the Murderers and the old Lord Mayo went to a little Hill hard by to look on that the Prisoner was seen to come over the Bridge from the Murtherers after several English-men had been killed and had been actually amongst them with his Sword drawn that the Father refused to Convoy them any farther than Shrule and that the Prisoner was the first Man that entered Castlebar after the Capitulation And the substance of the Prisoner's Defence was That he had no Command of the Party but with two Servants only came to attend his Father that on the Outcry he went over the Bridge and drew his Sword with design to preserve the English but being shot at by one of the Murderers he got a Horse having lent his own to the Bishop of Killalla to make his escape and rode away before the Murther was commited and if he had not fled he had been killed himself and that he was kind to the English and preserved many of them both before and after and that the Protestant Bishop of Killalla had declared That he believed this Action was done in spight to the Prisoner and by Letter acknowleged his Civility to himself But to proceed the like High Courts of Justice were held at Cork Waterford c. but so many of the Murtherers had been destroyed by the Sword and the Pestilence that not above two hundred suffered by the hands of the common Executioner In the mean time on the 12th of August they passed in England an Act for the settling of Ireland wherein the Marquess of Ormond the Protestant Bishop of Derry the Earl of Roscomon and the Lord Insiquin were by name excepted from Pardon for Life or Estate equally with many others therein named that were guilty of the first Rebellion And so we are come to the Year 1653 wherein I cannot find any thing that looks like War and yet it was the 26th day of September before it was declared That the Rebels were subdued and the Rebellion appeased and ended Whereupon they immediately proceeded to the Distribution of Lands to the Souldiers for their Arrears and to the Adventurers for their Money And thus ended a REBELLION which began with TREACHERY and CRUELTY and continued with OBSTINACY against all the Tenders of MERCY and the utmost CONCESSIONS a Gracious King could make and was supported by an OATH of ASSOCIATION and Propositions annexed thereunto wherein there is not a word but breaths HIGHTREASON except a few of the first Lines which sets up the KING's NAME and AUTHORITY in PAGEANTRY and MOCKERY to be Crucified and Contradicted by all that follows FINIS A LETTER To the AUTHOR of the History of Ireland CONTAINING A Brief Account of the Transactions in that Kingdom since 1653. SIR I Do very well approve of your resolution to close the Second Part of your History of Ireland with the end of the Irish Rebellion for besides that it is impossible for you at this distance from the Records and Council-Books in Ireland to give so full and satisfactory an Account of that Kingdom from 1653 forwards as you have given of the time before it is certain that the Intrigues of the Acts of Settlement and Court of Claims the Transactions in the late Reign and the present stupendious Revolution will afford matter more than enough for another Volume nor indeed can your History be so compleat as I expect it will be if it were closed with any thing less than the Glorious Issue of the present War However I do not offer this
rid of some of His Majesties English Judges and Officers whom they cannot endure to bear rule over them though they saw the Kingdom prospered above any former Times under their Labour and Travel And it is untrue that the Protestants did envy the good Union of both Houses on the contrary they laboured to cherish and confirm it but if any Protestant opposed the Remonstrants upon any point how reasonable soever they presently clamour that it is done out of Malice against them and the Nation which is an unjust Obloquy and though the Pupists made daily Cabals yet the Protestant Members never had but one private Meeting and that without the Lords Justices knowledge and at that Meeting there were some Papists and the Design of it was to prevent an Impeachment intended by some of the Irish against those that were concerned in the Grand Inquisition of the Kings Title to Conaugth the Plantation of which Province with English the Natives abhorred as that which would have frustrated all their Evil Designs And as to the Session of the 11 th of May 1641 it continued very long viz. to the 7 th of August and was unprofitably spent in Protestations Declarations Votes upon Queries the Stay of Soldiers from going over Seas and private Petitions and it is untrue that there was any Certainty of the Committees being at the Water-side at the Time of Adjornment so on the 14 th of July the Lords Justices sent to both Houses to consider of a Time of Adjornment because the Harvest was approaching and the House was thin and on the 30 th of July the Commons desired the Adjornment might be delayed till the 7 th of August and on the 2 d. of August the Lords licensed the Judges to go their Circuits and the same Day the Commons desired the Adjornment might be from the 7 th of August to the 9 th of November to which the Lords agreed and on the 5 th of August a Committee of both Houses attended the Lords Justices with notice thereof and they consented thereunto by Order to be entred in the Houses as by their consent On the 6 th of August there arrived the Earl of Roscomon with a Letter from the Committee importing that they were busie about their Dispatch at London whereupon the Lords sent to the Commons that they continued their Opinion for the Adjornment and accordingly they did adjourn the next Day so that there is no Ground for the Calumny on the Lords Justices that they threatned to prorogue them or purposed to prevent the passing the Graces not then arrived into Acts. But those Remonstrants having broken Faith with His Majesty and all his faithful Subjects do take liberty to asperse his Governors and well affected Officers whom they desire for ill Ends to make odious to the People Lastly They close this Article with an Untruth for the Lords Justices did immediatly after the Arrival of the Committee write to all the Ports of the Kingdom with Briefs of the Graces concerning matters of Customs commanding the Officers to obey those Directions they also published Proclamations for transporting Wool and what Customs were payable for the same They sent Warrants for free Entries of Tobacco and what Customs were payable for it they gave Order for a Bill to be drawn for a Repeal of the preamble of the Act of Subsidies they also desired Sir James Mongomery and Sir William Cole to give notice to the Undertakers of Vlster of the Graces intended to them and they had formerly sent over the Bill for a General pardon and most of the rest of the Graces were to be executed in Dublin and respected the Regulation of the Courts there for which the Approaching Term was the proper Season But the Remonstrants had not patience to expect that but resolved to be their own Carvers and dispose of the King's Revenue and the Protestants Estates as they thought fit As to the Eighth Article the prodigious Tale of the Petition is untrue And but that these Remonstrants care not what Detractions how untrue and improbable soever they print or publish against those they hate they would not have averred this Story without producing a Copy of a Petition signed by so many Thousands but the Truth is the four Persous named had no hand in any Petition but there was indeed a Petition which reflected more upon the Protestant than the Popish Clergy but as soon as the Lords Justices had notice of it they got the Original into the Clerk of the Councils Office where it still lies What Sir John Clotworthy did or said in the Parliament of England was not known to the Protestants of Ireland nor is it material nor do they believe that any thing was then moved plotted or contrived against the Remonstrants or that the English Parliament resolved any destructive Course against them till after the Rebellion begun though the Remonstrants by confounding Times would use it as a Cover for their inhuman Perpetrations As for the Statute of 2 Eliz. the Remonstrants find fault with it because by repealing by Queen Mary's Act of Repeal it revives the necessary Statutes made by Henry 8 th against Papal Incroachments and Usurpations without which the Papists being dissolved from their dependence on the King's Auchority in matters Ecclesiastical would transfer that half of his Sovereignty to the Pope who might discharge their Allegiance in civil Causes as he hath often done here and elsewhere for as to the Penal part that Statute mitigates the Crime of Advancing foreign Jurisdiction which being Treason before is by that Act not made Treason till the third Offence after two Convictions and as to that part of the Statute about Officers and suers of Livery to take the Oath of Supremacy they have found so many Instances of His Majesties indulgence to them in that particular that it is ingratitude in them to complain And if they mean the second Chapter of secundo Eliz. it is answered that what Noise soever that Statute hath made yet it hath done very little Execution but the Complaint as if those Statutes were forged or had lain dormant till most of the Members of that Parliament were dead is of all other the most shameless for those Statutes were published in print with the rest Anno 16 Eliz. and were soon after too sparingly indeed put in Execution as appears by the Records but 't is true the second Chapter could not be executed because the Papists universally came to Church till of later Days and the Name of Recusant was not then known But afterwards when Popery became more bold and dangerous that Act was sometimes put in Execution but without danger to any Man's Life or Estate for the Penalty was but Nine Pence a Sunday and the Laws in England against Popery are very much more severe and yet upon this slender Ground and the vile Fiction of sending 10000 Scots which was never thought of till long after the Rebellion broke out do these
many and pernicious to Ireland that this Parliament should betray the trust reposed in them if they did not declare against this Cessation and use all means in time to make it abortive and therefore they desire that it may be observed and taken notice of First From whence the Counsel and Design of this Cessation ariseth even from the Rebels and Papists themselves for their own Preservation for soon after they had missed of their intent to make themselves absolute Masters of that Kingdom of Ireland by their treacherous Surprises and seeing that this Kingdom did with most Christian and Generous Resolutions undertake the Charges of the War for the Relief and Recovery of Ireland Propositions were brought over from the Rebels by the Lords Dillon and Tafe at which time they were intercepted and restrained by the Order of the House of Commons after that they had the boldness even while their Hands were still imbrued in the Protestants Blood to petition his Majesty that their demands might be heard And for this purpose they obtained a Commission to be sent over into Ireland to divers Persons of Qality whereof some were Papists to Hear Receive and Transmit to his Majesty their Demands which was done accordingly and one Master Burk a Notorious Pragmatick Irish Papist was the chief Sollicitor in this business After this the Just Revenging God giving daily success to handfuls of the Protestant Forces against their great numbers so that by a wonderful Blessing from Heaven they were in most parts put to the worst Then did they begin to set on Foot an Overture for a Cessation of Arms concerning which what going and coming hath been between the Court and the Rebels is very well known and what Meetings and Treatties have been held about it in Ireland by Warrant of his Majesties Ample Commission sent to that effect and what Reception and Countenance most Pragmatical Papists negotiating the business have found at Court and that those of the State in Dublin who had so much Religion and Honesty as to disswade the Cessation were first discountenanced and at last put out of their Places and restrained to Prison as Sir William Parsons One of the Lords Justices there Sir John Temple Master of the Rolls Sir Adam Loftus Vice-Treasurer of Ireland and Treasurer at Wars and Sir Robert Meredith one also of the Council Table Secondly The Lords and Commons desire it may be observed that during all these Passages and Negotiations the Houses of Parliament were never acquainted by the State of Ireland with the Treaty of a Cessation much less was their Advice or Counsel demanded notwithstanding that the care and managing of the War was devolved on them both by Act of Parliament and by his Majesties Commission under the Great Seal to Advise Order and Dispose of all things concerning the Government and Defence of that Kingdom But the wants of the Army were often represented and complained of whereby with much craft a ground was preparing for the Pretext wherewith now they would cover the Counsels of this Cessation as if nothing had drawn it on but the extream Wants of their Armies whereas it is evident that the Reports of such a Treaty have been in a great part the cause of their wants for thereby the Adventurers were disheartened Contributions were stopped and by the admittance to Court of the Negotiators of this Cessation their wicked Councels have had that influence as to procure the Intercepting of much Provisions which were sent for Ireland so that Ships going for Ireland with Victuals and others coming from thence with Commodities to exchange for Victuals have been taken not only by Dunkirkers having his Majesties Warrant but also by English Ships commanded by Sir John Pennington under his Majesty And moreover the Parliament Messengers sent into several Counties with the Ordinance of January last for Loans and Contributions have been taken and imprisoned their Money taken from them and not one Peny either Loan or Contribution hath been suffered to be sent for for Ireland from these Counties which were under the power of the Kings Army while in the mean time the Houses of Parliament by their Ordinances Declarations and Solicitations to the City of London and the Counties free from the terror of the Kings Forces were still procuring not contemptible Aid and Relief for the distresses of Ireland Thirdly As the Lords and Commons have reason to declare against this Plot and Design of a Cessation of Arms as being treated and carryed on without their Advice so also because of the great prejudice which will thereby redound to the Protestant Religion and the encouragement and advancement which it will give to the practice of Popery when these Rebellious Papists shall by this agreement continue and set up with more freedom their Idolatrous Worship their Popish Superstitions and Romish Abominations in all the places of their Command to the dishonouring of God the grieving of all true Protestant Hearts the disposing of the Laws of the Crown of England and to the provoking of the wrath of a Jealous God as if both Kingdoms not smarted enough already for this sin of too much conniving at and tolerating of Antichristian Idolatry under pretext of Civil Contracts and Politick Agreements Fourthly In the Fourth place they desire it may be observed that this Cessation will prove dishonourable to the Publick Faith of this Kingdom it will elude and make null the Acts and Ordinances of Parliament made for the forfeiting of the Rebels Lands at the passing of which Acts it was represented that such a course would drive the Rebels to Despair and it proves so but otherways than was meant for despairing of their Force and Courage they go about to overcome us with their Craft Fifthly and Lastly What shall become of the many Poor Exiled Protestants turned out of their Estates by this Rebellion who must now continue begging their Bread while the Rebels shall enjoy their Lands and Houses And who shall secure the rest of the Protestants that either by their own Courage Industry and great Charges have kept their Possessions or by the success of our Armies have been restored Can there be any assurance gotten from a Perfidious Enemy of a Cossation from Treachery and breach of Agreement when they shall see a fit time and opportunity These and many other considerations being well weighed it will appear evidently that this Design of a Cessacion is a deep Plot laid by the Rebels and really invented for their own Safety and falsly pretended to be for the benefit of the Armies And whereas the Lords and Commons have no certain Information that the Treaty is concluded but are informed by several Letters that all the Protestants as well Inhabitants as Soldiers in that Kingdom are resolved to withstand that proceeding and to adventure on the greatest extremities rather than have any sort of peace with that generation who have so cruelly in time of Peace Murdered many Thousands of our Countreymen
to raise a Monarchy for himself Whereupon he was recalled and the Government committed unto John Constable of Cheshire May 1181. Baron of Halton-Castle and Richard de Peach Lord Bishop of Coventry Lords Justices of Ireland But they continued in that Dignity but three Months for Lacy behaved himself with that Discretion and Modesty and gave the King such Satisfaction in all Matters objected against him That Hugh de Lacy August 1181. Lord Justice was again sent over with Robert of Shrewsbury a Clergy-man his Assistant and about the same time the famous Courcy also returned being Dignified with the Titles of Lord of Connaught and Earl of Vlster and accompanied with his Brother S. Laurence There were some who reported That these two fought a successful Battle with the Irish Brady 367. at the Bridge of Ivora near the Hill of Hoath where the Valour of S. Laurence was so conspicuous that it got him both the Land and Title of Hoath which last continues to this Day in his Name and Family We left Cogan and Fitz-Stephens in the peaceable Enjoyment of their Kingdom of Cork but we shall not find them so for Cogan and young Fitz-Stephens at the Persuasion and Invitation of one Mac Tirid made a Journey to Lismore to treat with the Men of Waterford about some Controversies that were between them they were to lodge at Mac Tirid's House but he perfidiously took his Opportunity and unexpectedly fell upon them and murdered them and five of their Company Immediately the whole Country was up in Arms and conspired a general Rebellion Donald More in Curraugh Mac Carthy whom the Irish still called King of Cork got his Forces together and laid Siege to the City not doubting but that he had now a favourable Opportunity to expel the English thence The Poor Old Fitz-Stephens was in a sad Condition distressed by Enemies without and Suspicions of Traytors within he had no Hopes of Relief or Assistance saving only from Reymond le Gross who lay at Wexford to him a Messenger was sent and without Delay put to Sea with twenty Gentlemen and one hundred Archers and entred the River of Cork whereupon the Enemy dispersed and all was set at Rights again Nevertheless as soon as the King heard of the aforesaid Treachery he sent Richard Cogan Philip Barry Giraldus Cambrensis and a Good Party of Horse and Foot to help Fitz-Stephens by their Assistance the City and Kingdom of Cork were kept in Quiet for some Time but the Old Fitz-Stephens had but little Benefit of it for being much broken with Age and Misfortunes he first lost his Senses and not long afterwards his Life But Lacy the Lord Justice was again become suspected for as he grew Great his Enemies grew Envious and the King Jealous so that he was once more sent for and Philip of Worcester September 1184. Lord Justice or Governour of Ireland came over with a smart Party of Horse and Foot he also brought with him Hugh Tirrel a Man of ill Report He was not long in the Government before he seized on the Lands of O Cathesie to the King's Use though Lacy had formerly sold them He also went a Circuit to visit the Garisons and in March came to Armagh where he exacted from the Clergy a great Sum of Mony thence he went to Down and so to Dublin loaden both with Curses and Extortions Tirrel took a Brewing-Pan from the poor Priests at Armagh and carried it to Down but the House where he lay was burnt and so were also the Horses in the Stable so that he was fain to leave the Pan for want of Carriage and Philip had a severe fit of the Gripes like to cost him his Life both which Punishments they say were miraculously inflicted upon them for their Sacrilege In July came over John Comin Archbishop of Dublin to prepare for the King 's youngest Son John Earl of Moreton to whom the Kingdom of Ireland was assigned towards his Portion Brady 369. Some say that he was made King of Ireland at the Parliament held at Oxford 4 Inst 360. anno 1177. his Father having obtained Licence from the Pope to make which of his Sons he pleased King thereof saving to the See of Rome the Peter-pence and the rest of its Rights And it seems Pope Vrban the Third sent Cardinal Octavianus and Hugo de Nunant his Legates to crown John King of Ireland and by them sent him a Crown of Peacocks Feathers But King Henry better considered of that matter and either because he would not seem to derive his Son's Title from the Pope or because he was loath to trust his Son with that Royal Stile having already suffered by the like Indulgence to his eldest Son or because he saw it Inconvenient and Illegal to separate Ireland from the Crown of England It is certain he found means to carry the Legates with him into Normandy and thereby prevented that once designed Coronation So that the Impression of the Great Seal of Ireland was no more than this Johannes Filius Regis Angliae Speed 478. Domini Hiberniae Earl John was then about twelve Years old when on Wednesday in Easter-week 1185. anno 1185 with about four hundred Gentlemen most Normans some Clerks and particularly Giraldus Cambrensis and a great Company of others he took Shipping at Milford-Haven being accompanied to the very Ship by Randulph Glanvile principal Counseller of the King and Kingdom and Justiciary of England The Irish Potentates flock'd to their new Prince but their Trouses and Mantles their Glibbs and Behaviour were derided by the Normans who used them scurrilously one pats the Irish Prince on the Pate another pulls him by the Mantle a third pricks him in the Breech with a Pin a fourth shuts the Door upon his Heels every Body abuses them Wherefore away they get as fast as they can and every-where publish'd the Ill Usage they received at Court Rotherick O Conner Mac Carthy and O Bryan were then preparing for their Journey but upon this News they better considered it and confederated to raise a general Rebellion There were many Reasons why Earl John's Voyage to Ireland was not successful The Superstitious People observ'd That he had not pay'd his Devotions at S. Davids before he imbarqued and attributed it to that Others blamed him and his Followers more for their Rude and Ungenteel Abuse of the Irish Lords and Gentlemen Others imputed all to the Debauchery of the Soldiers who by the example of their Captains were grown Idle and Insolent Wherein they were the more indulged because they were ill paid To these may be added the Litigiousness of the Natives in Towns and Cities who were perpetually wrangling with and suing such new Inhabitants as came to settle among them But there was a greater Cause than all these which arose from the different Interests then in Ireland which inâ—luenced the Normans English Welch and the Natives The Normans were most in
the following Order to stop any farther Proceedings upon the aforesaid illegal Writ which I do the rather recite at large because it justifies my Assertion that Ireland is inseparable from the Crown of England since we find the King effectually interpose to rectifie Miscarriages there notwithstanding the aforesaid Donation to the Prince which was as full as it could be worded REX Thesaurario Baronibus de Scaccario Dublin Ibid. 255. Salutem Quia de assensu voluntate Praelatorum Magnatum Terrae Hiberniae dudum fuit provisum concessum quod eisdem Legibus tenerentur in Terra illa quibus homines Regni nostri utuntur in Regno nostro Angliae quod eadem Brevia quoad terras tenementa recuperanda teneant in terra illa quae tenentur in regno praedicto sicut justa Et dicta provisio concessio omnibus retroactis temporibus fuerunt obtenta approbata miramur quamplurimum quod sicut ex insinuatione venerabilis patris Thomae Lismorensis Episcopi accepimus emanare permisistis ex Cancellaria Edwardi filii nostri in Hibernia contra consuetudinem obtentam formam Brevium in regno nostro usitatam Breve infra-scriptum contra praefatum Episcopum in haec verba EDwardus Illustris Regis Angliae primogenitus ad Vic. Waterford Salutem Praecipe Thomae Lismorensi Episcopo quod juste sine dilatione reddat Waltero Episcopo Waterford Maneria de Archmurdeglan Kilmurdri Motha cum pertinentiis quae clamat esse jus Ecclesiae suae in quae idem Episcopus non habet ingressum nisi per Alanum quondam Lismorensem Episcopum cui Griffinus quondam Lismorensis Episcopus qui inde injuste sine judicio disseisivit Robertum quondam Waterford Episcopum predecessorem Episcopi post ultimum reditum c. QUia vero dictum Breve tam dissonum est Stat. Marlbridge cap. 30. contra Leges Consuetudines in regno nostro tentas formas Brevium nostrorum ibidem approbatas praesertim cum Breve ingressus non transeat tertiam personam nec ratione intrationis in terram aliquam post mortem alicujus comperat actio alicui de terra illa nisi illi cui per mortem illam jus debetur in eadem Nec enim dicitur intrusio qui jure haereditario vel ratione Ecclesiae suae succedit Predecessori suo in hiis de quibus idem Predeces fuit seisitus in Dominico suo ut de feodo die quo obiit Vobis mandamus quod si dictum Breve a Cancellaria praedicta in forma praedicta emanaverit executionem ejusdem Brevis supersedeatis revocantes sine dilatione quicquid per idem Breve actum fuerit in Curia praedicti Filii nostri Teste apud Windsor 27 die Januar. Et eodem modo scribitur Adamo le Sole Justiciario Hiberniae intellige de Banco Regis Waleranno de Willesby Sociis suis Itinerantibus ut supra Alan de la Zouch 1255. who had been Chief Justice of the Kings Bench in England Hanmer 199. 34. Hen. 3. was now made Lord Justice of Ireland he had the Misfortune to be slain in Westminster-Hall by John Earl of Warren and Surrey half Brother to the King In his time some Rebel Irishmen were coming to aid the Earl of Chester against the King but Prince Edward with the English Navy had the good Fortune to meet with the Irish Fleet and to sink most of their Ships so that few of the Men were left alive to return Now flourished that famous Mathematician Johannes de Sacrobosco who was born at Holywood in Fingal not far from Dublin and thence had his Name de sacrobosco i.e. Holy wood It seems that the Prince 1258. by Virtue of the aforesaid Grant would have removed the Lord Justice and put another in his Room But the King by the Advice of the Barons of England wrote to the Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors Barons Brady 674. Knights c. That he heard his Son designed to make a new Justice in Ireland and to put his Castles into such Hands as it might be great Damage and not without fear of their disinheriting and therefore commands them not to obey such Justice Constables or Keepers of Castles made or appointed without his Letters Patents by Advice and Assent of his Council After the same manner he wrote to all the Mayors and Communities of Cities and Towns in Ireland and to the Constables of Castles and also commanded Alan de la Zouch his Justiciary not to obey or give up his Authority to any new Justiciary or Constable that should come without his Letters Patents But it seems this Matter was setled for the next Year we find Stephen de long Espee 1259. Lord Justice some call him Earl of Salisbury and Burlace stiles him Earl of Vlster but I think there is no Ground for either of the Titles he encountred O Neale and slew him and three hundred fifty two Irishmen in the Streets of Down 1260. but not long after the Lord Justice was betrayed and murdered by his own People And thereupon William Den was chosen Lord Justice In whose Time the Mac Carthyes plaid the Devil in Desmond they are the Words of my Author and by Ambuscade surprized and slew Thomas Fitz-Girald and John his Son 1261. at Calan in Desmond together with many Knights and Gentlemen of that Family whereupon the Carthyes grew so high that for the space of twelve Years the Giraldines durst not put a Plow in the Ground in Desmond Hanmer 201. until some Fewds arose between the Irish of Carby and Muskry and between the Carthyes Driscols Donovans Mahonyes and Swinyes so that they also weakned and destroyed one another and the Giraldines began to recover their Power and Authority again But the Lord Justice died this Year and Richard de Capella or Capel was made Lord Justice In his Time arose a great Contention between the Prior and Convent of Christ-Church and the Corporation of Dublin about the Tith-Fish of the River Liffy The Burks and the Geraldines quarrelled about some Lands in Connaught to that degree that they filled the whole Kingdom with War and Tumult and Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald not the Earl of Desmond but the same that afterwards anno 1272 was Lord Justice and John Fitz-Thomas afterwards Earl of Kildare at a Meeting at Castle-Dermond seized upon the Lord Justice and Richard Burk Heir apparent of Vlster afterwards called the Red Earl Theobald Butler 1264. Miles Cogan c. and imprisoned them in the Castle of Ley. But soon after a Parliament met at Kilkenny and ordered them all to be released which was done accordingly In the mean Time the King wrote to the Arcbishop of Dublin the Bishop of Meath his Treasurer Walter de Burg or Burk 1265. Maurice Fitz-Maurice Fitz-Girald That he heard there was like to be great Dissention between the great Men of Ireland and therefore ordered
recorded of the Battel of Glandelory or Glinbury as to the Captains Numbers or other Circumstances save that the English suffered a great Defeat there and that William Fitz Roger Prior of the Kings Hospitallers and many others were taken Prisoners Hanmer 203. and a great number slain which ill Success was somewhat ballanced by a sore Battel which Ralph Peppard and O Hanlon gave to the great O Neal. Thomas de Clare and O Bryan Roe King of Thomond were likewise at odds 1277. and the Briton had tho' the better of it at first so that he took O Bryan and beheaded him yet afterward the Irish drove Thomas and his Father-in-Law into the Mountains of Slevebloom M. S. Fragment 2. and kept them there till for want of better Victuals they fed upon Horse-flesh and thereupon they yielded themselves Prisoners and to obtain their Liberty were forced to give Hostages that they would make satisfaction for O Bryan's Death and surrender the Castle of Roscomon And as if some malignant Star had influenced all the Inhabitants of Ireland to contention the Irish also quarrelled with one another and Mac Diarmund of Mylurg encounter'd the King of Connaught and slew him and two thousand of his Men. Wherefore the Lord Justice was sent for over to give account of this Bustle and why he permitted it as also to answer why he did not in person assist Thomas de Clare against the O Bryans To the first he answered that it was no damage to the King that one Rebel destroy'd another and to the second he gave such an Answer as was satisfactory Stephen de Fulborne 1279. Bishop of Waterford was left Lord Justice till his Return In his time were coyned in England several round Pieces of Money viz. the Penny the Half-penny and the Farthing which by Proclamation were made current in England and Ireland and yet the old Money was not cried down About this time the Irish Petitioned the King that they might have the Benefit of the Laws of England extended to them which produced the following Writ REX Archiepisc Prin 257. Abbatib Comitib Baronib Militib omnibus Anglicis de terra Hiberniae Salutem Ex parte Hibernicorum de terra praedicta nobis extitit humiliter supplicatum quod sibi de gratia nostra concedere dignaremur ut eisdem Legibus Consuetudinibus communibus uti gaudere possint in terra quibus Anglici ibidem utuntur gaudent secundum easdem Leges Consuetudines deduci valeant in futurum Nos autem quia hujusmodi concessionem absque Conscientia vestra eis ad praesens non duximus faciendam Vobis mandamus quod ad certos dies quos ad hoc provideritis viz. citra Festum Nativitatis Beatae Mariae Virginis in aliquibus locis oportunis conveniatis inde diligentem tractatum inter vos habeatis Vtrum sine prejudicio vestri Libertatum Consuetudinum vestrarum etiam sine damno vestro dictam concessionem facere possumus eisdem necne de omnibus aliis circumstantiis hujusmodi concessionem contingentibus de hoc quod inde feceritis nobis citra proximum Parliamentum nostrum quod erit apud Westminster à die Sancti Michaelis in unum Mensem sub Sigillo Justic nostri Hiberniae vel ejus locum tenentis Sigillo dilecti fidelis nostri Roberti Baggot distincte aperte una cum concilio vestro constare faciatis hoc propter absentiam quorundam de paribus vestris quos ibidem interesse non contigerit vel illorum qui sunt infra atatem in custodia nullatenus omittatis ut nos ex tunc habita super hoc deliberatione pleniori inde provideri faciamus quod nobis concilio nostro magis videbitur expedire c. It is certain the Answer to this Writ was in the Negative and I suppose the Reason was That since the Irish generally were not amensnable to the Law but still used and would use their own Brehon-Law and Tanistry it was not fit they should have a general Benefit of the Laws of England but rather that every Person Family or Sept who would give some Assurance or at least Promise of Allegiance and Submission to the English Laws should by Special Writ be admitted to the Benefit of them and therefore we find a Multitude of such Writs and Licences from this time forward and many of them are in this Form viz. Quod ipse liberi sui de corpore suo legitime procreati hanc habeant libertatem And sometimes it is to Them and Their Heirs and sometimes to Them and Their Heirs of such a Sirname But the most memorable Writ of this Sort is that which follows REx omnibus ad quos Prin 258. 6. Rich. 2. c. Salutem sciatis quod de assensu concilii nostri concessimus pro nobis haeredibus nostr ad supplicationem Cornelii de Clone de Hibernia dicto of Fynatha militis Hibernici pro suo bono gestu erga nos pro bono servitio quod nobis impendit tempore praeterito tam praedicto Cornelio qui est de Natione Hibernica quam omnibus aliis de praedicta Natione qui sunt erunt ad obedientiam nostram de sanguine ipsius Cornelii existunt gerunt illud cognomen de Fynatha quod ipsi tempore quo ipsi sic obedientes nobis vel haeredibus nostris existunt uti gaudere possint omnimodis haereditatibus beneficiis libertatibus in Terra nostra Hiberniae predicta prout ligei nostri Anglicani obedientes nostri ibidem gaudent utuntur aliquo statuto vel ordinatione in contrarium edito non obstante c. Robert de Vfsord 1280. Lord Justice returned from England and kept all things in such good Order that nothing is recorded of the two following Years but the unfortunate burning the City of Waterford But he being removed Stephen Fulborn 1282. Bishop of Waterford afterwards Archbishop of Tuam was Lord Justice it seems he had been also Lord Treasurer And then the Irish made great Stirs in Connaught Arlow and Vpper Ossory which cost many Lives but the Loss fell heaviest upon the principal Rebels Mortagh and Art mac Morough were slain by Penquir◠at Arclow and Mac Gilpatrick also met with an untimely Death in Connaught And these Publick Contests were accompanied with Private Quarrels so that Adam Cusack slew William Barret and his Brethren about some Lands they contended for in Connaught It is to be remembred That the Oastmen or Easterlings had generally the benefit of the English Laws by Charters from King Henry to each City That of Waterford is to be seen in Sir John Davis his excellent Discourse pag. 94. And it was this Year confirmed by King Edward Great part of the City of Dublin was this Year burnt 1283. and the Steeple and Chapter-House of Christ Church did not escape 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
spending of their Blood in their Sovereigns Quarrel aspired to this Type of Honour in which at this Day God and my King be thanked I stand So your Lordship taking the nigher Way to the Wood by charging me with Treason would gladly trip so roundly on my Top that by shedding of my Blood and by catching my Lands into your Clutches that butt so near upon your Mannors of Kildare and Rathimghan as I dare say they are an Eye-sore unto you you might make my Master your Son a proper Gentleman A Gentleman quoth the Lord Justice thou bald Baron I tell thee the Vescies were Gentlemen before the Giraldins were Barons of Ophaly yea and before that Welsh Bankrupt thine Ancestor he meant Sir Maurice Fitz-Girald feathered his Nest in Leinster And whereas thou takest the Matter so far in Snuff I will teach thee thy Lyripups after another Fashion than to be thus malapartly cocking and billing with me that am thy Governour Wherefore albeit thy Taunts are such as might force the patientest Philosopher that is to be choakt with Choler Yet I would have thee ponder my Speech as though I delivered it in my most sober and quiet mood I say to the Face of thee and I will avow what I say unto thee That thou art a Supporter of Thieves a bolsterer of the King's Enemies an Upholder of Traytors a Murderer of Subjects a Firebrand of Dissention a rank Thief an arrant Traytor and before I eat these Words I will make thee eat a piece of my Blade The Baron bridling with might and main his Choler bare himself as cold in Countenance as the Lord Justice was hot in Words and replied in this wise My Lord I Am very glad that at length you unwrapt your self out of that Net wherein all this while you masked As for mine Ancestor whom you term a Bankrupt how Rich or how Poor he was upon his repair to Ireland I purpose not at this time to debate yet thus much I may boldly say That he came hither as a Buyer not as a Beggar he bought the Enemies Land by spending his Blood But you lurking like a Spider in his Cobweb to intrap Flies endeavour to beg Subject's Livings wrongfully by despoiling them of their Innocent Lives And whereas you charge me with malapertness in that I presume to chop Logick with you being Governour by answering your snappish Quid with a knappish Quo. I would wish you to understand now that you put me in mind of the Distinction that I as a Subject honour your Royal Authority but as a Nobleman despise your Dunghil Gentility Lastly Whereas you charge me with the odious Terms of Traitor Murtherer and the like and therewithal you wish me to resolve my self that you rest upon Reason not upon Rage if these Words proceed from your Lordship as from a Magistrate I am a Subject to be tried by order of Law and am sorry that the Governor who ought by vertue of his publick Authority to be my Judge is by reason of private Malice become mine Accuser But if you utter these Speeches as a private Person then I John Fitz-Girald Baron of Ophalie do tell thee William Vescie a singe-Sole Gentleman that I am no Traytor no Felon and that thou art the only Buttress by which the Kings Enemies are supported the mean and Instrument by which his Majesties Subjects are daily spoiled Therefore I as a Loyal Subject say Traytor to thy Teeth and that shalt thou well understand when we both shall be brought to the Rehearsal of these Matters before our Betters Howbeit during the time you bear Office I am resolv'd to give you the Mastery in Words and to suffer you like a brawling Cur to bark but when I see my time I will be sure to bite These biting Speeches passing to and fro great Factions on both sides were raised with high and mighty words and deep Oaths till in time either part appeas'd his own The Baron of Ophaly not sleeping nor slacking his Matter scudded with all haste into England where he was no sooner inshoared than Vescie after he had substituted William Hay in his room was imbarked making as hot foot after the Baron as he could The King and his Council understanding the occasion of their sudden Arrivals to the end the Truth should be brought to light appointed a set Day for the deciding of their Controversie and that each of them should speak for himself what he could Whereuon Vescie being commanded to begin spake to this effect My Dread Sovereign AS I must acknowledge my self somewhat aggrieved to be entangled in so intricate a Matter so I am glad as heart can think that so weighty a controversie is brought to the deciding of so upright an Umpire And whereas it stood with your Majesties Pleasure with the Advice of this your Honourable Council That I as unworthy should have the Government of your Realm of Ireland and during my Time your Majesties Subjects have been I may not deny it diversly annoyed for my Discharge as I said in Ireland So I avow here in England that he kneeleth here before your Highness pointing to the Baron of Ophaelie that is the Root and Crop of all these Enormities for it is well known that he beareth that stroke with the Irish as if he once but frown at them they dare not be so hardy as once to peak out of their Cabbins And whereas his Force doth greatly amaze them think you but his Countenance doth wonderfully encourage them To the furtherance of which it is apparently known and it shall be proved that he hath not only in hucker mucker by sundry Messages imboldned your Majesties Enemies to spoil your Subjects but also by his personal Presence in secret Meetings he gave them such Courage as neither the Royalty of your Highness nor the Authority of your Deputy neither the force of your Laws nor the strength of your puissant Army was able to quench the Flame of these Hurly-burlies that through his traiterous drifts were enkindled These and the like Enormities through his privy packing with Rebels being daily committed to bring me your Majesties Governour in the hatred of the People his Adherents both secretly muttered and openly exclaimed against me and my Government as though the Redress of all these Harms had wholly lain in mine hands Whereupon being in conference with such as were the Chieftains of your Realm of Ireland albeit I took it to be expedient to point with my Finger to the very Sink or Head-spring of all the Treasons that by secret Conspiracies were pretended and practised against your Majesty and your Subjects yet notwithstanding having more regard to Modesty than to the Deserts of the Baron of Ophalie I did but glance at his packing in such secret sort as none or very few of the Company could guess whom with my misty Speeches I did touch And as commonly the galled Horse doth soonest kick so this Gentleman being prickt as it should seem
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
Lord Justice was not less active in Leinster for he defeated O Morrough at Bally lethan and made a great Slaughter of the Rebels at Tristle Dermond and slew about four hundred of the Irish of Omayle There is a Writ in Mr. Prin's Animadversions on the 4th Institute Prin 261. too long to be here recited whereby it appears That an Englishman was punishable by Death for Killing Burning Theft or Robbery committed against an Englishman but an Irishman was only punishable at the discretion of the Brehon for Theft or Robbery of an Englishman but that in time the chief Governors did commute the punishment of any Felony even Murder of an Englishman for Money and thereby Witnesses were discouraged to testifie the Truth lest the surviving Felon might revenge it Therefore the Writ requires to assemble the Lords and COMMONS to advise c. In the same Writ is mentioned that the Irish petitioned for an Annual Parliament and because it is certain there were not Parliaments every year even in this Kings Reign Prin 263. Mr. Prin conceives that my Lord Cooke mistook that Petition for an Order for an Irish Annual Parliament which he says was at this time made but the Manuscripts M. and GGG at Lambeth 4 Insl 350. do agree with my Lord Cooke that there was such an Order But let us return to Bruce who on Midsummer-Day summoned Carigfergus and though eight Ships were sent thither from Tredagh yet the Garrison were reduced to the extremity of eating Leather and of feeding on eight Scots who were their Prisoners and so were at length forced by Famine to surrender in the latter end of August Nor did better News come from Connaught where O Connor defeated a Party of the English and slew the Lord Stephen of Exester Miles Cogan and eighty of the Barryes and Lawleys But this Misfortune was not long unrevenged Frag. 6. for on the fourth Day of August William de Burgo and Richard de Bremingham encountred Fylemy O Connor King of Connaught and a numerous Army of Irish near Athenry with prodigious Success for they slew the King of Connaught and eight thousand of his Men Aug. 1316. The Valour of Hussy a Butcher of Athenry was very remarkable on this Occasion for he fought with O Kelly and his Squire together and slew them both for which he was knighted and is Ancestor of the reputed Barons of Galtrim They say Athenry was walled with the Plunder of this Battle Cambd. 172. and that the brave Brimingham was made Baron of Athenry for this noble Service and his Heir is now the first Baron in Ireland About the same time viz. in August 1316. O Hanlon came for Contribution to Dundalk but the Townsmen under Robert Verdon who lost his Life in the Service entertained them so valiantly that O Hanlon was forced to leave two hundred of his Followers behind him About the end of August died the Noble Earl of Kildare Ibid. 173. and was succeeded by his Son Thomas On the fourteenth of September Ibid. Burk and Briminghan got another Victory in Conaught and slew five hundred Irish and their Captains Connor and the Mac Kelly and in the latter end of October John Loggan and Hugh Bisset routed the Scots in Vlster and slew one hundred with double Armour and two hundred with single Armour besides many of their naked Followers and sent Prisoners to Dublin Sir Alen Stewart Sir John Sandale Ibid. and other Scotchmen In December the Lacies procured themselves to be Indicted and Acquitted of introducing the Scots into Ireland and then had the King's Charter of Pardon Ibid. whereupon they renewed their Oath of Fealty and took the Sacrament to corroborate the same The Scots being joyned with the Irish of Vlster gathered a numerous Army computed to be near twenty thousand Men and in Lent they marched as far as Slane destroying the Country as they went The Earl of Vlster was then at S. Mary Abbey near Dublin but some Misunderstanding hapning between him and the Citizens 1316. Robert Notingham then Mayor of Dublin caused the Earl to be imprisoned in the Castle of Dublin and in the Fray seven of the Earl's Servants were slain and the Abby was spoiled and some of it burnt Hereupon Bruce marched toward Dublin Febr. 24. and took the Castle of Knock and the Lord Hugh Tyrrel in it who with his Wife were afterwards ransomed for a piece of Mony The Dublinians burnt the Suburbs to secure the City some Churches were destroyed in this Hurry and the Cathedral of S. Patricks did not escape But Bruce understanding the City was well walled and that the Citizens resolved to defend it he turned aside to the Naas being conducted and advised by Lacy notwithstanding his aforesaid Oath At the Naas they staid two Days spoiled the Churches opened the Tombs to search for Treasure and at last burnt the Town and thence marched to Castledermot Gauran and Callan destroying the Country as they went And what better could be expected when the King's Authority was so little regarded in Ireland that his Writ to bail the Earl of Vlster was disobeyed by the Mayor of Dublin Some of the Vlster-Men pretended an Aversion against the Scots Camb. 174. and desired Aid and Commission from the King they had the Commission at last and the King's Standard was delivered to them but they did more harm with it than the Scots had done they so behaved themselves if you believe my Author that they purchased the Curse of God and Man Bruce marched near Limerick to Kenlis in Ossory and about Palmsunday he came to Cashel and thence marched to Nenagh wasting all the Lord Justice's Estate in the Counties of Kilkenny and Typerary In the mean time the English Lords were Assembled at Kilkenny Davis 169. says Desmond was General and had gathered a numerous Army consisting of all sorts of thirty thousand Men and under the Conduct of the Lord Justice and Earl of Kildare designed to pursue the Scots 1317. when on Thursday in Easter-week there arrived at Youghal Roger Mortimer Lord Justice cum triginta octo Militibus who immediately sent word to the English Generals not to fight till he came but Bruce upon notice of his Arrival marcht toward Kildare and so to Naas and tho' he lurkt almost a week in the Woods near Trim to refresh his Men yet afterwards he made such haste that in the beginning of May he got into Vlster The Lord Justice seeing Bruce had retreated suffered his voluntary Army which the Irish call a rising out to return to their own homes the better to refresh themselves till a new Summons and went himself to Dublin and with the Lord Wogan Sir Fulk Warren and thirty Knights more he held a Parliament at Kilmainham where the deliverance of the Earl of Vlster was the chief thing treated of and it was at last effected at a second Meeting of the Parliament about
Officer under the King that entred very poor could in one Year heap up more Wealth than Men of great Estates in many Years And III. How it chanced since they were all called Lords of their own that the Sovereign Lord of them all was never the richer for them The King who knew what they aimed at was very unwilling to restore the Lands and Jurisdictions he had resumed and therefore tryed all other ways to reform the Kingdom and please the People He turned out many of his Judges and Officers that were most obnoxious particularly Elias de Ashbourn whose Estate he caused to be seized Thomas de Montepessulano and Henry Baggott Judges of the Common Pleas He sent a Writ to the Lord Deputy to certifie the Qualities Services Fees Number and Behaviour of his Officers in Ireland He ordered that all Pardons or Suspensions of the King's Debts that were by green Wax or otherwise except Pardons or Releases under the great Seal should be vacated and the Debts levyed He also commanded the Lord Justice Darcy or his Deputy to employ no others in any considerable Office than such Englishmen as had Estates in England and to turn out all that were not so qualified And also enjoyned him not to alien or grant any of the King's Lands until he be fully informed of the Circumstances by Inquisition And whereas the Treasurer of the Exchequer did claim a Privilege to dispose of any Sum under one hundred Shillings toties quoties as he pleased without Voucher or Account the King supersedes that evil Custom and orders him to account for what is past since the beginning of his Reign and to issue no more Mony without the Presence or Consent of the Lord Justice Lord Chancellor and Council And whereas the Treasurer used to name Sheriffs that Nomination is conferred on the Chief Governour and Chancellor and Council who are enjoyned to put in Persons fit for the Office And whereas the Treasurer for Rewards used to forbear the King's Debts so that many of them were lost that Practice is also prohibited for the future And the Treasurer is ordered Not to receive the King's Mony in his Chamber or elsewhere privately but only in the publick Office The King also sent a Writ to be certified of the Particulars which were seized by virtue of the aforesaid Writ of Resumption And John Darcy Senior had an Order to have his Part of those Lands restored The Lord Justice the Deputy and the Chancellor or any two of them were authorized to supervise and regulate the Exchequer And yet all this and whatever else the King could do did not quiet the Kingdom until there was a general Restitution of these resumed Estates which was done 26 Edw. 3. And it must not be forgot that Walter Archbishop of Ardmagh Pryn 277. being in the time of Edw. 2. advanced to that See by the Popes Provision wherein were some Clauses prejudicial to the Crown the King refused to restore the Temporalities unto him until he had renounced all Clauses in the Pope's Bulls prejudicial to the King or his Kingdoms and engaged to pay a Fine of one thousand Crowns for that Misdemeanour but the Archbishop died before the Fine was paid And about this time Process issued to levy the same on the Temporalities of his Successor but it was irregular and illegal and therefore the King superseded that Process and directed that it should be levyed of the Heirs or Executors of the said Walter And about this time John Larch Prior of the Hospital of S. John of Jerusalem in Ireland and Mr. Thomas Wogan were sent to the King by the Prelates Earls Barons and Commons of Ireland with a long Catalogue of the Grievances of those Times to be seen at large together with the King's Answer in Mr. Pryns Animadversions 279. But Whether these Agents were sent from the Parliament at Dublin or the discontented Assembly at Kilkenny non constatâ— But 't is certain that not long after the Lord Justice was removed and Sir Ralph Vfford came over Lord Justice 1334. he married the Countess Dowager of Vlster and was a grave severe Man and the likeliest Person of that Age to reduce the Seditious to their Duty however the Irish and the old English speak very hardly of him and after they had given him the worst Character imaginable they add That there was a continual Tempest in Ireland from the time of his landing to the Day of his Death Camb. 189. 'T is certain they hated him so that in Sight of the People and at noon-day he was robbed of his Cloaths Mony Plate and Horses by Mac Cartane at Emerdullin no Body endeavouring to help or rescue him nevertheless he afterwards raised the Men of Vrgile and gained the Pass and entred Vlster On the twenty fourth of November the King and Parliament at Notingham made Ordinances for the Reformation of Ireland which are the same mentioned already 17 Edw. 2. ante pag. 112. which is there mistaken for 17 Edw. 3. as I suppose for though both my Lord Cook and Mr. Pryn quote 17 Edw. 2. yet I rather believe both their Books are misprinted than that the same Ordinances should be repeated at the same Place and in the same Year of both Kings But however that be my Lord Cook adds this Clause Volumus praecipimus quod Nostra Terrae nostrae negotia praesertim majora ardua per Peritos Conciliarios ac Praelatos 4 Inst 350 351. Magnates quosdam de discretioribus Hominibus i.e. the Commons in Parliamentis tractentur disâ—utiantur terminentur Vide postea ad annum 1357. And this he says does regulate the Parliaments of Ireland according to the Institution of England for before this time the great Meetings in Ireland were rather general Assemblies of the Great Men than properly Parliaments I find it asserted in the Argument of a Case about the Precedency of the Lord of Kerry before the Lord of Slane 12 Jac. 1. that the first regular Parliament in Ireland was held anno 12 Edw. 3. but I do not find any other Authority that there was any Parliament held that Year at all Certainly the greatest Assembly that was at any time in either of these King's Reigns at Parliament was anno 1302. being 30 Edw. 〈◊〉 the Number upon the Parliament Roll amounting to no less than one hundred fifty six The Parliament 8 Edw. 2. was nevertheless more considerable because of the Quality of the Persons for there were the four Archbishops ten Bishops the Abbot of S. Thomas the Prior of Kilmainham and the Dean and Chapter of Dublin There were also many Irish Lords as O Hanlon Duke i.e. Dux Captain or Chief of Orry O Donel Duke of Tyrconnel O Neal Duke of Tyrone c. and almost all the English Nobility in Ireland Others make a distinction between Grand and Petit Parliaments Lib. M. Lambetâ— the former were properly Parliaments and in them the
England and Gerard Fitz Maurice Earl of Desmond was made Lord Justice 1367. he procured a Parly between the Birminghams and some Commissioners he sent but they treacherously seized on Thomas Burly Prior of Kilmaynam and Chancellor the Sheriff of Meath 1368. and Sir Robert Tyrrel c. whereupon James Birmingham who was a Prisoner in Irons at Trim was exchanged for the Chancellor and the others were fain to pay their Ransoms 1369. But on the twelfth of July came over Sir William de Winsor Lord Lieuten who called a Parliament at Kilkenny which gave three thousand Pound Subsidy And soon after another at Ballydoil which gave two thousand Pound Subsidy Pryn 304. towards the Maintenance of the King's Wars Both which Sums were for some time forborn by the King's Order Prin 300 301 but were afterwards levied and paid to the Lord Lieutenant And the King would also have had a Law made against Absentees and sent Orders to that Purpose but it seems that he did not prevail in that Matter This Lord Lieutenant vigorously prosecuted the War against the O Tools and the Rebels of Leinster but was interrupted by a fatal Accident for on the sixth of July near the Monastery of Mayo in the Country of Limerick O Connor and O Bryan got the better of the English and slew the Earl of Desmond and took John Fitz Nicholas Lord of Kerry and the Lord Thomas Fitz-John and many others Prisoners Whereupon the Lord Lieutenant was obliged to march to the Defence of Munster where he behaved himself so well that John Macnamarra a great Man in Thomond was forced to submit Lib. D. and give Hostages for Performance of Covenants one of which was To keep the Peace especially towards the Bishops of Limerick and Killalow Another was Not to annoy the City or Castle of Limerick nor hinder that City in their Fishing or in cutting down Woods in Thomond to build or repair their Houses And a third was That he should restore the Books Ornaments and Chalices he had taken from the Church of Limerick From whence may be observed That Sacriledge was well known and practised in Ireland before the Reformation But to proceed The Lord Lieutenant was sent for to England and therefore on the twenty first of March he deputed Maurice 1371. Earl of Kildare Custos of Ireland and he was sworn the next Day and continued in that Office until Sir Robert de Ashton 1372. Lord Justice arrived In his time there were great Fewds between O Farrel and the English of Meath so that many were killed on each Side and particularly Hussy 1373. Baron of Galtrim the Sheriff of Meath and William Dalton were in May slain by the Irish in Kinaleagh And whereas the Court of Exchequer had issued Process to levy Escuage as well for the Lands seised by the Rebels as for those which the English kept in Possession the King on the twenty second of May sent a Writ to the Exchequer to order that Matter according to Reason and Equity And whereas he was informed That Customs and Impositions were laid upon them which the major Part of the Parliament had not consented to he sent the Lord Justice a strange sort of Writ Pryn 303. which shall therefore be recited REX dilecto sâ—ideli suo Roberto de Ashton Justic suo Hibern Salutem Ex gravi conquestione ligeorum nostrorum Terrae nostrae Hibern accepimus quod cum Willielmus de Winsore nuper locum nostrum tenens in Terra praedicta ad primum Parliamentum post adventum suum in Hibern tent apud Dublin diversa Custumas onera quae antea aliquo tempore concessa non fuerunt ab ipsis Ligeis nostris petiâ—isse viz. de quolibet lasto halecis tres solidos de qualibet centena grossi piscis duodecem denarios de qualibet Centena minoris piscis sex denarios de quolibet dolio Salmonis quatuor solidos de qualibet pipa Salmonis duos solidos de quolibet dolio Vini sex solidos octo denar de qualibet pipa vini tres solidos quatuor denar de qualibet libra â—arnium boum porcorum ovium sex denarios de qualibet weia frumenti sex solidos octo denarios de qualibet weia Brasei fabarum pisar hordei siliginis hastinel quinque solidos de qualibet weia salis sex solidos octo denaer de qualibet libra pellium equorum cervorum Aphrorum pillfell pannor laniar lineorum fuldingoram aliarum merchandizarum sex denarios licet Praelati Magnates alii ligei nostri pro majori parte in dicto Parliamento nostro existentes concessioni levationi solutioni custum onerum praedictorum expresse contradixerunt quidam Praelati de concilio assensu praefat Willielmi existentes aliae singulares personae pro minori parte ejusâ—em Parliamenti in quadam camera congregati custumam onera superdicta absque assensu majoris partis dicti Paliamenti per tres annos tantum non ultra concesserunt praefatus tamen Willielmus alii de concilio suo in rotulis Canc. nosâ—ri ejusdem irrotulari registrari fecerunt quod dicta custumae onera per omnes in dicto Parliamento presentes perpetuis temporibus percipienda concessa fuerunt in ipsorum ligeorum nostrorum Terrae nostrae praedictae destructionem depaâ—perationem manifestam unde nobis supplicarunt sibi per nos de remedio provideri nos nolentes ipsos ligeos nostros injuste onerari vobis mandamus quod premissa omnia eorum singula eisdem modo forma quibus gesta acta fuerunt in proximo Parliamento nostro in Terra praedicta tenendo coram Praelatis Magnatibus Communitate dicti Parliamenti recitari declarari si per expositionnem examinationem eorundem vobis constare poterit premissa veritatem continere tunc irrotulamentum ac record concessionis custumae onerum praedict de assenfu dicti Parliamenti sine dilatione cancellari damnari levationi exactioni custumae onerum praedict ratione concessionis antedict post dictum trientum faciend supersederi faciatis omnino Teste Rege apud Westm 28. die Maii. And now happened the famous Case of Sir Richard Pembridge who was the King's Servant and Warden of the Cinque Ports 2. Inst 47. and being ordered to go over Lord Deputy to Ireland he refused and it was adjudged he might because it was but an honourable Exile and no man can by Law be compelled Perdere Patriam except in the case of Abjuration for Felony or by Act of Parliament And therefore another was sent viz. Sir William Windsor 1374. Lord Lieutenant who arived at Waterford on the eighteenth Day of April 1374. and was sworn at Kilkenny the fourth of May He undertook the Custody or Government of Ireland for eleven thousand two hundred and thirteen
twenty pence or two shillings from every one that passed the Seas On the twenty fifth Day of March the King knighted four Irish Kings 1395. Selden tit hon 842. and some other great Lords whereof Mr Selden out of Froisart gives the following Account Four Kings of several Provinces in Ireland that submitted themselves to Richard II were put under the Care of Henry Castile an English Gentleman who spake Irish well in order to prepare them for Knighthood by the Kings Command he informed them of the English Manners in Diet Apparel and the like He asked them If they were willing to take the Order which the King of England would give them according to the Customs of England France and other Countries They answered They were Knights already and that the Order they had taken was enough for them and that they were made Knights in Ireland when they were seven Years Old and that every King makes his Son Knight and if the Father be dead the next of Kin does it and that the manner is thus The new Knight at his making runs with slender Lances against a Shield set upon a Stake in a Meadow and the more Lances he thus breaks the more Honour continues with his Dignity But Mr. Castile told them They should receive a Knighthood with more State in the Church and afterwards being perswaded and instructed especially by the Earl of Ormond they did receive Knighthood at Christ-Church Dublin after their Vigils performed in the same Church and a Mass heard and some others were knighted with them but the four Kings in Robes agreeable to their State sate that Day with King Richard at the Table And so Davit 202. when the King had supplied the Courts of Justice with able Men particularly with Sir William Hankford Chief Justice who was afterwards Chief Justice of England and done his Endeavor to establish a Civil Plantation in the Mountains of Wicklow he returned to England about Midsummer 1394. as I suppose for on the fourth of July 1394 Roger Mortimer Earl of March was sworn Lord Lieutenant Pryn. 294. And not long after the aforesaid excellent Ordinances of 31 Edw. 3. were ratified revived and exemplified and sent into Ireland to be more duly observed than hitherto they had been But the Scene was changed and the Irish despising the weak Forces the King had left behind him began to lay aside their Mask of Humility and to make Incursions into the Borders of the Pale Nevertheless the English were not daunted their Valour supplyed what was wanting in their Number Cambd. particularly Sir Thomas de Burgh and Walter de Birmingham with their Forces slew six hundred of the Irish and their Captain Mac Con and the Lord Lieutenant and the Earl of Ormond wasted the County of Wicklow and took O Birnes House whereupon the Lord Lieutenant made seven Knights But this Victory was much overballanced by the Loss of forty principal Englishmen slain by the O Tools on Ascension-day and not long after by the Death of the Lord Lieutenant himself who was slain at Kenlis in Ossory by the O Birnes on the twentieth of July 1398. And thereupon Roger Gray was chosen Lord Justice 1398. pro tempore until the King sent over his half Brother Thomas Holland Duke of Surry Lord Lieutenant 1398. who landed at Dublin the seventh of October 1398. but did not long continue in that Office before the King pretending a Resolution to revenge the Death of his Cousin and Heir the Earl of March who was slain by the Irish as aforesaid He left the Government of England in the Hands of his Vnkle the Duke of York And on the first Day of June Richard 1399. King of England landed at Waterford with a good Army which he marched to Dublin through the wast Countries of Murroughs Kinshelaghs Cavenaghs Birns and Tooles but the Army was much distressed for want of Victuals and Carriages in those Deserts so that he performed no memorable Exploit save that he cut and cleared the Paces in the Cavenaghs Country and knighted Henry the Duke of Lancaster's Son afterwards Henry V for his briskness against the Irish On the sixth of June being the Friday after the King's arrival Jenico de Artois his faithful Gascoign slew two hundred Irish at Ford in Kenlis in the County of Kildare And the next Day the Citizens of Dublin made Incursions into Wicklow and killed thirty three Irishmen and took eighty Prisoners And on the twenty sixth of June the King came to Dublin and received the Submission of many Irish Lords But whilst he was consulting how to proceed he received the unwelcome News of the Duke of Lancaster's Progress in England whereupon he imprisoned his and the Duke of Glocester's Sons in the Castle of Trym and though he sent the Earl of Salisbury before him to gather an Army in Wales yet the King followed after so slowly that the Army was disperst before he arrived in England with which Misfortune his Courage fell so that on Michaelmass day he tamely surrendred the Crown and gave a just occasion for this true Remark Baker 152. That never any Man who had used a Kingdom with such Violence gave it over with such Patience He was afterwards deposed by Parliament and several Articles exhibited against him one of which was That he forced divers Religious Persons in England to give Horses Arms and Carts towards the Irish Expedition And another was That he carryed into Ireland the Treasure Reliques and other Jewels of the Crown which were used to be kept in the King's Coffers from all Hazard The King created Edward Plantagenet Earl of Cork in the twentieth Year of his Reign And the same Year gave a Licence under the Privy Seal to William Lord Courcy to buy a Ship to pass and repass to and from England And in this Reign happened this famous Case One Thomas a Clerk in England obtained a Judgment at Westminster against Robert Wickford afterwards Archbishop of Dublin and upon Affidavit That the Defendant lived in Ireland and had Goods and Lands there and the Sheriffs Return That he had no Lands nor Goods in England the Plaintiff had a Writ against the said Archbishop in haec verba IDeo vobis mandamus quod de terris catallis ejusdem Roberti Lib. M. jam Archiepiscopi in Terra nostra Hiberniae fieri facias praedict decem libras illas habeatis coram c. This Archbishop died anno 1390 so that this Writ must issue before that time THE REIGN OF HENRY IV. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND HENRY Duke of Lancaster eldest Son of the famous John of Gaunt fourth Son of King Edward the Third upon the Resignation of King Richard procured him to be deposed in Parliament and himself to be elected King and the Crown to be entailed on him and the Heirs of his Body His Claim was as Heir to Henry III but finding that
to and from England Fifthly That a certain Fund be appointed for their Pay Sixthly That at the King's Charge he might have a Family or two out of every Parish in England to inhabit Ireland Seventhly To have Power of granting Benefices and of making a Deputy And Lastly That the Demesnes of the Crown may be resumed and the Acts of Absentees may be executed The Lord Lieutenant within a Week after he came to Dublin caused the Earl of Kildare and three of his Family to be arrested and suffered the Earls Goods to be rifled and spoiled by the Duke's Servants and kept the Earl himself in Prison in Dublin Castle until he paid three hundred Marks It is recorded that the Lord Lieutenant was desperately wounded in an Encounter at Kilmainham and hardly escaped with Life but it is not mentioned how nor by whom but it seems he design'd to revenge it and to make a general Hosting for he made Proclamation that all such as ought by their Tenures to serve the King should assemble together at Ross He also held a Parliament at Kilkenny for a Tallage to be granted but what Success he had in these Assemblies is not so manifest as it is that he went to England on the 13th of March leaving Thomas Butler 1409. Prior of Kilmainham his Deputy in whose time the King gave the Sword to the City of Dublin and changed their PROVOST into a MAYOR and not long after the Barbarous Mac Gilmore being routed and pursued by the Savages fled to the Church of the Friers Minors at Carigfergus which he had formerly defaced but they got into the Windows whence this Tory had formerly taken the Iron Bars and there they put an end to his Villany and his Life In Vlster Jenico de Artois the famous Gascoigne behaved himself briskly and slew eighty of the Rebels in a Skirmish he had with them But on the twenty first of May or rather the thirteenth of June the Parliament began at Dublin 1410. and made it Treason to take Coyn and Livery Lib. D. and on the tenth of July the Lord Justice took the Castles of Mibraclide in Offerol and De-la-mare It seems he proceeded to invade O Birns Country with fifteen hundred Kerns or Irish Souldiers and the Consequence was that they betrayed him and half of them went over to the Enemy so that it had gone hard with the Lord Justice if the Power of Dublin had not been there and yet he escaped not without loss for John Derpatrick was there slain The next Year was probably more quiet 1411. for there is nothing recorded of it except some considerable Marriages amongst the Grandees On the tenth of April 1412. O Connor did much Mischief in Meath and took an hundred and forty English and O Tool and Thomas Fitz-Maurice Sheriss of Limerick kill'd each other in a Duel About this time the King granted the Town and Ferry of Inishonan Lib. G. to Philip de Barry and it is to be noted that almost in every Parliament holden in England during this Reign the danger of Ireland is remembred although very little was done for it because of the frequent Troubles in England and so we come to the 20th day of March on which the King died at the Abbot of Westminster's House in the fourteenâ—h Year of his Reign and of his Age the forty seventh He died so very poor that his Executors refused to administer and therefore the Archbishop of Canterbury who is Ordinary to the Court where-ever it is exposed the Kings Goods to Sale and King Henry the Fifth bought them for the value to be paid the Executors to be disposed of according to his Fathers Will Rolls Abr. 906. but it seems he never paid the Money for it was afterwards ordained in Parliament 4 Inst 335 that the Executors should not be sued by the Creditors The Bishop of Meath is said to have been Lord Justice about the Year 1402. But because I do find him omitted by others and do not find that he did any thing worth mention I have therefore not inserted him as Lord Justice in Order THE REIGN OF HENRY V. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND HENRY the Fifth succeeded his Father without any opposition and all the Nobility taking it then for a Law that the Crown belonged to the Heir of him that died last seized swore Homage and Allegiance to him before Coronation 1412. which was not usual in those days but this Magnanimous Prince was so taken up with Designs against France that Ireland was but little regarded in his Reign For the present He continued in the Government Thomas 1413. Prior of Kilmainham who did not long remain therein before he surrendred unto Sir John Stanly Lord Lieutenant he Landed at Clantarf the 7th of October and on the 6th of January after died at Ardee whereupon on the 11th of February the Nobility elected Thomas Crawly Lord Justice He was twice Chancellor and then Archbishop of Dublin and was a Man of fingular Piety and Learning and it is to be noted That the Parliament sate at Dublin the 26th of February so that it could not have above fifteen days of Summons though the Day of the Lord Justice his Admittance to the Government and the Day of the Session be included the Irish burnt the Pale during this Parliament as they used to do and therefore a Tax or Tallage was demanded but not granted and so that Parliament was dissolved after it had sate fifteen Days However 1414. the valiant Jenico de Artois invaded the Territory of Macgenis but was so unfortunate to lose many of his Men at Inor whereupon the Irish grew so insolent that the Lord Justice was necessitated to go out in person However he went no farther than Castledermond and there entrusting the Army with the Military men he remained with his Clergy in Procession and at Prayers for the Success of his small Army and the Event answered his expectation for the English slew an hundred of the Irish near Kilkea but that small Victory was soon over-ballanced by a Defeat which the English of Meath received from O Connor on the 10th of May to the Loss of Tho. Maureverar Baron of Shrine and many others and to the imprisonment of Christopher Fleming and John Dardis This Loss discovered the necessity of sending a Martial Man to the Government of Ireland and therefore on the 10th day of September Sir John Talbot Lord Furnival Lord Lieutenant Landed at Dalkye and immediately made a Circular Progress round the Pale in warlike manner He began with the Birns Tools and Cavenaghs on the South and so passing to the O Moors O Connors and O Ferrals in the West and ending with the O Relyes Mac Mahons O Neals and O Hanlons in the North he brought them all to the Kings Peace but he brought no Forces with him out of England and therefore though he had Strength enough to
List of all that did pay this scandalous Contribution Lib. P. 174. and yet I am not willing to conceal from him the Account I have met with which is as follows lib. The Barony of Lecale to O Neal of Clandeboy per annum 20 The County of Vriel to O Neal 40 The County of Meath to O Connor 60 The County of Kildare to O Connor 20 The King's Exchequer to Mac Morough 80 Marks The County of Wexford to Mac Morough 40 The Counties of Kilkenny and Typerary to O Carol 40 The County of Limerick to O Bâ—â—an 40 The County of Cork to Mac Carty of Muskry 40 And whilst the English were engaged in England the Irish advantaged themselves of the Opportunity and without Colour of Right usurped many considerable Estates as they had done before in the time of Richard II and these two Seasons set them so afloat that they could never since be cast out of their forceable Possessions holding by plain Wrong the most part of Vlster and upon very frivolous Pretences great Portions of Laâ—d in Munster and Connaugh And so we are come to the end of this unfortunate Reign which determined some Years before the King's Life for he did not dye until the twenty first Day of May 1472. And it must not be forgot That one of the Articles against this King was That by the Instigation of divers Lords about him he had wrote Letters to some of the Irish Enemy whereby they were encouraged to attempt the Conquest of the said Land of Ireland THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND EDWARD Earl of March 1460. Son and Heir of Richard Duke of York immediately after his Fathers Death at the Battle of Wakefield betook himself with all Diligence to gather an Army near Shrewsbury and having got twenty three thousand Men together on the second of February he defeated the Earls of Ormond and Pembrook near Mortimers-Cross and killed three thousand eight hundred of their Soldiers and although the Queen not long afterward defeated the Earl of Warwick at Bernard-Heath near S. Albans yet he wisely made slight of that Misfortune and without any Regard to it marched directly to London where on the fourth Day of March by vertue of the aforementioned Act of Parliament he was proclaimed King by the Name of Edward the Fourth He was as to his Person the goodliest Man of his Time and he was not less Valiant than beautiful On the twelfth of March he advanced against his Enemies and on Palm-Sunday with an Army of forty thousand and six hundred Men he encountred with sixty thousand and obtained so great a Victory that thirty six thousand seven hundred and seventy two of his Adversaries were slain And so being safe in his Throne 1461. he thought it time to put the Crown upon his Head which was solemnly performed on the twenty eighth Day of June In the mean time Thomas Earl of Kildare was on the thirtieth of April chosen Lord Justice by the Council of Ireland and continued so until Sir Rowland Fitz-Eusâ—ace 1462. Lord of Portlester and Treasurer was appointed Deputy to the Duke of Clarence He held a Parliament at Dublin Friday before S. Luke's Day which enacted That ten Pound per annum Davis 96. be received out of the Profits of the Courts to repair the Castle hall It seems that one William O Bolgir was made Denizen about this time Lib. G. and that on the fourth of May 1463. Robert Barnwal was made Baron of Trimlets-Town and it must not be forgot That the Earl of Ormond was beheaded at Newcastle and attainted by Parliament in Englaâ—d ◠〈◊〉 4. and that that noble Family was in Disgrace all this â—eâ—gn for their firm adhesion to the House of Lancaster This Lord Justice was long after this in a very old Age made Viscount Baltinglass by King Henry VIII and now was forced to resign to George Duke of Clarence the King's Brother who was made Lord Lieutenant for Life and deputed his Godfather Thomas Earl of Desmond Lib. M. Lord Deputy in whose time Mints were established at Dublin Trim Drogheda Waterford and Galway to coyn Groats two Penny pieces Pence Halfpence and Farthings And not long after it was ordered That English Mony should advance a fourth Part in Ireland viz. That an English Nine Pence should pass for a Shilling in Ireland and a Shilling for sixteen Pence and so proportionably And it seems the Gold Noble coyned in the time of Edward III. was inhanced higher than the rest for it was ordered to pass for ten Shillings And this was the first time any difference was made in the value of Mony between England and Ireland This Lord Justice held a Parliament at Weys Friday before S. Martin's Day 1463. which the Thursday after was adjourned to Waterford to be held the Monday following It was again on Saturday before the Feast of Edward the Confessor adjourned to Naas Irish Statutes 19. to be held Monday before S. Matthias Day and thence on the Friday after it met there it was adjourned to Dublin to be held Monday before S. David's Day and there on the Saturday after it was dissolved having first enacted I. That all Parliament Men should have Priviledge forty Days before and forty Days after every Sessions And II. That the Attorneys Fees be regulated And III. That clipped Mony should not be currant He held another Parliament at Trim 1465. on Wednesday after S. Lawrence his Day at which it was enacted I. That the like Challenge may be had against the Feofee as against cestuy que use II. That any Body may kill Thieves or Robbers Repealed 11 Car. 1 c. 6. or any Person going to rob or steal having no faithful Men of Good Name in English Apparel in their Company III. That the Irish within Pale shall wear English Habit take English Names and swear Allegiance upon pain of forfeiture of Goods IV. That English and Irish speaking English and living with the English shall have an English Bow and Arrows on pain of two Pence V. That there be a Constable and Butts in every Town And Lastly That no Foreign Vessels fish on the Rebels Coast on pain of Forfeiture And every one that fisheth on the Coast of the Pale to pay a Duty But this Lord Justice who was the greatest Man that ever was of his Family began now to decline in the King's Favour and was obliged to give place to John Lord Tiptoft 1467. Earl of Worcester Treasurer of England and Constable of England for Life Lord Deputy of Ireland he was one of the most learned and eloquent Men in Christendom and held a Parliament at Drogheda At which it was enacted I. That the Governour for the time being may pass into Islands II. That none shall purchase Bulls for Benefices from Rome under great Penalty III. That the King's Pardon to Provisors be void IV. That the
Resumption of all the Grants made by the Crown since the last day of the Reign of King Edward the Second Lib. G. except some Particulars mentioned in the Act and another Act Rot. Parl. c. 41. attaints the Earl of Kildare and his Brother James for High Treason for corresponding with O Hanlon and seizing the Castle of Caterlogh for extorting Coyn and Livery and for treating with the King of Scotland however he was afterward acquitted in England and received into favour and perhaps there was another Act to dissolve the Fraternity of S. George for it is certain that about this time that Brotherhood fell and so I have done with this Famous Parliament when I have told you that it is a Mistake in the Printed Statute-Book to place it anno 1495 because it is manifest That November 1494 was in the tenth Year of this King's Reign It is scarce worth mentioning Ware 43. That during this Parliament the Lord Deputy made another Expedition into Vlster because the Irish fled into their Fastnesses so that he reaped but small Fruit for his Journey In his Absence he left a Commission with the Chanchellor to continue adjourn prorogue or dissolve the Parliament as he saw cause About this time Cormock mac Teige mac Carthy of Muskry 1495. was basely murdered by his Brother Owen Ancestor of the Mac Carthyes of Cloghroe and was buried in the Abby of Kilcrea which he himself had founded But let us return to Perkin Werbeck who set sail from Flanders with about six hundred Men and arrived on the Coast of Kent but he found ill treatment there for one hundred and sixty of his Men were taken Prisoners and afterwards executed Thence he sailed to Ireland where he staid some time in Munster probably at Cork but finding the Irish unable to give him any considerable Assistance and fearing the Forces of the Lord Deputy he went thence into Scotland and by that King's Consent married the Earl of Huntly's Daughter who was nearly related to the Crown of Scotland The King of Scots did invade England in favour of Perkin but finding that none of the English came to assist the Impostor he wasted Northumberland and returned And thus Sir Edward Poynings drove Perkin out of Ireland and suppressed his Abettors and established many good Laws which though for the present they extended no further than the Pale yet their Effect and Influence increased and inlarged as fast as the King's Authority did so that those Statutes are at this day in full force over all the Kingdom And the King finding Ireland in so quiet a condition recalled the Lord Deputy and for his good Service made him Knight of the Garter And in his place appointed Henry Dean 1495. Bishop of Bangor Chancellor of Ireland and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury 1496. to be Lord Justice and on the twenty sixth of April William Ratcliff was made Vice-Treasurer and John Pimp Treasurer at War and on the twenty fifth of June the Lord Delvin was made General for defence of the Pale and in July Octavianus Archbishop of Armagh held a Synod at Droghedah the Acts whereof are not to be found and in August Hugh O Donel being returned out of Scotland encountred and defeated O Connor near Sligo Whereupon he besieged the Castle of Sligo but without Success for being frightned with the News of the Approach of the Burks of Clanrickard he raised the Siege and retired in hast towards Tyrconnel But Burk was not so satisfied but burnt and destroyed all the adjacent Territories that belonged to O Donel's Partisans But the Earl of Kildare was still kept in Prison in England for Grief whereof his Countess died The Earl was accused of burning the Church of Cashel and many Witnesses were ready to prove it when contrary to all their Expectations he readily confessed the Fact and swore by Jesus That he would never have done it but that he thought the Archbishop was in it Which being uttered with a bluntless peculiar to this Lord did exceedingly work upon the King for whilst the Earl did so earnestly urge that for his Excuse which was the greatest Aggravation of his Crime the King easily perceived That a Person of that Natural Simplicity and Plainness could not be guilty of those Finesses and Intrigues that were objected against him It is reported of this Earl That he desired the King to permit him to have Council to manage his Cause since he was altogether unqualified to deal with such cunning Knaves as his Adversaries The King told him He should have what Counsel he would choose and that it concerned him to get Counsel that were very good for that he doubted his Cause was very bad The Earl replied That he would pitch upon the best Counsel in England Who is that said the King Marry even your Majesty quoth the Earl Whereat the King laughed But nevertheless he so requited Kildare for his Complement that when the Adversary concluded his Oration That all Ireland could not govern this Man the King took that occasion to make reply That therefore he was the fittest Man to govern Ireland Ware 49. And so for his Jest-sake made him Lord Lieutenant of that Kingdom by his Letters Patent of the sixth of August and restored him to his Honour and Estate Nevertheless the King kept the Earls eldest Son Girald as Hostage of the Father's Fidelity which proved to be a matter of Caution rather than of Necessity for no body could behave himself with more Loyalty to his Prince nor more Vigor against the Irish than the Earl of Kildare did from henceforward But to proceed Girald Earl of Kildare 1496. being made Lord Lieutenant in a short time after he had received the Sword marched towards Thomond against O Brian he went through the City of Limerick and took the Castle of Feyback from Finin Mac nâ—marra and afterwards took and rased the Castle of Ballyniti or Ballynice and so returned to Dublin and was reconciled to the Archbishop of Armagh to their mutual Ease and Quiet and to the great Advantage of Publick Affairs which often suffer especially in Ireland by the private Animosities of the Grandees But the Bishop of Bangor was recalled into England and Walter Archbishop of Dublin was made Lord Chancellor in his stead This good Archbishop in a Synod at Dublin anno 1492 procured a Pension for a Divinity-Reader there to be paid by him and his Suffragans and their Successors for ever And it is reported of him That being present when a famous Orator made a most eloquent Speech to the King his Majesty asked the Archbishop How he liked the Oration The good old Man replied That he saw no other Fault in it but Flattery As God shall love me quoth the King That is the very Fault I my self espied The King by advice of the Lord Lieutenant resolved to pardon those great Men that had been concerned with Perkin Warbeck lest Despair might induce
secret and of great forecast very staid in Speech dangerous of every Trifle that touched his Reputation Kildare was open and plain hardly able to rule himself when he was moved to Anger not so sharp as short being easily displeased and sooner appeased being in a Rage with certain of his Servants for Faults they committed one of his Horsemen offered Master Boice a Gentleman that retained to him an Irish Hobby on condition That he would pluck an Hair from the Earl his Beard Boice taking the Profer at rebound stept to the Earl with whose good Nature he was throughly acquainted parching in the Heat of his Choler and said So it is and if it like your good Lordship one of your Horsemen promised me a choice Horse if I snip one Hair from your Beard Well quoth the Earl I agree thereto but if thou pluck any more than one I promise thee to bring my Fist from thine Ear. But after all this simple Story is founded on a Mistake for the Earl of Ormond whose Name was Thomas lived in England in great Repute all the Reign of Henry the Seventh and afterwards until his Death anno 1515 and therefore the Person intended by the Story must by Sir James Ormond formerly Lord High Treasurer whom I have often mentioned in the Reign of the last King But this digression has been too long 1513. let us therefore return to the Lord Deputy whom we shall find animated with the last Years Success and resolved to invade Ely O Carol early in the Summer but his Preparations being great took up more time than he thought they would require but at last they were got ready and he began his March in August but at Athy he fell sick and from thence was removed to Kildare where on the third Day of September he died and was buried in Christ Church in Dublin to which he had been a liberal Benefactor And thus were the great Designs of this mighty Lord defeated even in the midst of his Career and at the very time when he promised himself most Glory and Success Gerald Earl of Kildare Son of the deceased Earl and Lord Treasurer was by virtue of the Act of Parliament formerly mentioned anno 10 Hen. 7. and by reason of his Place of Treasurer Spelm. Glos 334. made Lord Justice by assent of the Council But it seems that afterwards viz. 32 Hen. 8. there was a Statute made intituled An Act for the electing of the Lord Justice which restrained the Council from electing any body but an Englishman born and not in Orders The Lord of Slane was made Lord High Treasurer and Sir William Crompton Lord Chancellor and all other publick Matters were ordered as well and expeditiously as they could nevertheless so much time was taken up in these Alterations and in the Formalities of State that the Season was too far spent for any military Action this Year so that Daniel Mac william met with little Interruption in taking the Castle of Dunluce nor did the rest of the Irish find any Opposition this Winter but ravaged over the Country as they pleased However they paid dearly for it the next Spring For the valiant Earl of Kildare 1514. who was Heir to his Fathers Courage as well as to his Honour grew impatient at the Insolencies of O More and O Reyly and therefore resolved to attack them successively He began with O More and invaded the county of Leix and beat that Rebel and his Party into the Woods which being done he turned aside into the Brenny and took the Castle of Cavan and having slain Hugh O Reyly and many of his Followers he chased the rest into their inaccessible Fastnesses and then burnt and destroyed the Country and returned loaden with Booty William Viscount Gormanstown was the thirteenth of June made Lord Justice 1515. probably in the Absence of the Earl of Kildare who might then go to England to confer with the King about the Parliament designed to be holden in the Spring But however that be it is certain That Girald Earl of Kildare was by the King made Lord Deputy and on the twenty fifth Day of February held a Parliament at Dublin which by several Prorogations continued until the Thursday after Michaelmas 1517. Ware 92. This Parliament gave the King a Subsidy and made one good Act for those times viz. That no Man shall be compelled by Privy Seal to answer any Complaint in England until the Accuser enters into Recognizance in the Chancery of Ireland to pay the Defendant his Costs and Damages if he be acquit which very much abated that vexatious Course of Proceeding so that it is now obsolete and quite out of use On the third Day of August Ware 93. died Thomas Earl of Ormond at London he had been Embassador into France Privy-Counsellor in England and had Place in the English Parliament above all the Barons He was the richest Subject the King had and left forty thousand Pound in Money besides Jewels and as much Land to his two Daughters in England as at this Day would yield thirty thousand Pound per annum but he left no Issue Male to enjoy his Irish Estate which therefore descended to his Kinsman Sir Pierce Butler Earl of Ormond The Lord Deputy to repress the Incursions of the bordering Irish 1516. and to shew himself as fit for War as Peace invaded Imaly and slew Shane O Toole in Battle and sent his Head to the Mayor of Dublin Thence he marched into Ely O Carol where he was joyned by several Noblemen of Munster and Leinster of English Extraction and particularly by Pierce Earl of Ormond and James eldest Son of the Earl of Desmond and being strengthned with this Supply he undertook the Seige of Lemevan-Castle which the Garrison defended for a Week and then by Night deserted and left it to be demolished as it was by the Lord Deputy With this good Success he was encouraged to attempt the Town of Clonmel which he did with so much celerity that the Townsmen being surprized immediately surrendred upon Conditions And so the Deputy ended this Campeign and returned loaden with Hostages Prey and Glory It is worthy observation That the Irish had great Expectations of Advantage this Year by reason of a blind Prophecy generally believed among them Ware 95. That the poorest and weakest Sept in Ireland should this Year prove the most Powerful and Warlike It is probable that they were encouraged thereby to provoke the Lord Deputy to the aforesaid Expedition But however that be this is certain That Superstition hath been often fatal to the Irish Nation But Kildare finding it necessary to advance his Victorious Arms in Vlster 1517. reinforced his Troops and marched into Lecale where he took the Castle of Dundrum which had been very offensive to the neighbouring English thence he marched against Fylemy Macgenis whom he easily conquered and took Prisoner with the Slaughter of many of his Followers
agrorum spoliatores per viam and Rape shall be punished with Death without Mercy 16. That no Man shall meddle with any Ecclesiastical Officer or Benefice but pay all their Tithe punctually and half Tithe of the Fish taken by Foreigners on the Coast 17. That Noblemen shall have but twenty Cubits or Bandles of Linnen in their Shirts Horsemen eighteen Footmen sixteen Garsons twelve Clowns ten and that none of their Shirts shall be dyed with Saffron on pain of twenty Shillings 18. That the Lord or Gentleman into whose Country a Theft is traced must trace it thence or make restitution 19. No Histriones Mummers or Players at Christmas or Easter Lastly The Earl of Ormond in the Counties of Waterford Typerary and Kilkenny and the Earl of Desmond in the rest of Munster are made Custodes Executores of these Ordinances with the Assistance of the Bishop of Cashel But we must not leave the Year 1541 Sullevan 79. until we have informed the Reader That Robert Wachop titular Archbishop of Armagh who is famous for riding Post the best of any Body in Christendom although he was blind from his Cradle did this Year introduce the Jesuites into Ireland by the Favour and Countenance of Pope Paul the third John Codur was the first of the Society that went thither and was followed by Alphonsus Salmeron Paschasius Broet and Francis Zapata and the observing Reader will easily perceive the dismal and horrible Effects of that Mission which hath ever since imbroiled Ireland even to this Day But the King to obviate the Designs of the Papacy and to assert his own Supremacy which was his Right by Common Law and was also declared and established by Act of Parliament caused all the Irish that submitted to him to renounce the Pope's Usurpations and to own the King's Supremacy by Indenture O Connor and O Dwyn or Dyn were two of the first that complied with this Form and their Example was followed by O Donel who by his Indenture of the sixth of August Lib. D. 33 Hen. 8 Covenants Quod renunciabit relinquet adnihilabit proposse suo usurpatam Authoritatem Primaciam Romani Pontiâ—icis sibi adherentes nullo modo acceptabit proteget aut defendet nec in patria sua illos aut aliquem illorum permittet sed omni industria diligentia illos quemlibet illorum expellet ejiciet eradicabit aut ad subjectionem dicti Domini Regis successorum suorum coercebit constringet Brian mac Mahon did the like the fourteenth of August And in January O Neal came to Minooth and did the same the thirteenth of May O More perfected his Indenture And on the twenty fourth of May 1542. 34 H. 8. Hugh O Kelly Abbot of Knockmoy surrendred that Abby and made his submission by Indenture in the Form aforesaid Moreover he covenanted to furnish the King with sixty Horse and a Battle of Galloglasses and sixty Kern when the Lord Deputy comes to Connaught and with twelve Horse and twenty four Kerne anywhere out of Connaught and so that Abby was granted to him during Pleasure O Rourk submitted the first of September and Mac Donel and Mac William did the like the eighteenth of May 1543. But because all these Indentures are to be found registred in the Red Book of the Privy Council of Ireland I will trouble the Reader only with the Substance of one of these Indentures by which he may easily guess at the rest HAec Indent Lib. D. fact 26. die Septembris 34 Hen. 8. inter prenobil Vir. Ant. Saintleger Jacobum Comit. Desmoniae Will. Brabazon Arm thesaur ad Guerras Subthesaur Reg. Hiberniae Johannem Travers Armig. magistr ordinatium Osborn Echingham milit mariscallum c. ex una parte Dom. Barry alias Great Barry Mac Cartymore Dom. de Rupe alias Lord Roch Mac Carthy Reagh Thadeum Mac Cormock Dom. de Musâ—ry Barry Oge alias the young Barry O Sullevan Bear suae Nation Capit. Donald O Sullevan suae Nation Primum Barry zoe alias the Red Barry Mac Donough de Allow suae Nation Capit. Donaldum O Callaghane Nationis suae primum Geraldum filium Johannis milit ex altera parte Testatur Quod predict Dominus Barry c. conveniunt concedunt consentiunt pangunt pro seipsis conjunctim divisim haered successor assignat Tenent sequacibus suis ad cum dicto Deputat c. quod tenebunt perimplebunt omnes singul Articulos conventiones pacta condiciones quae in hiis Indentur continentur ex parte eorum c. Imprimis Ipsi quilibet eor recognoscit Regiam Majestat predict haeredes successores suos Reges esse Naturalem ligeum Dom. suum illumque illos secundos post Deum honorabunt illisque obedient servient contra omnes creaturas mundi Ac suam Majestatem haeredes successores Reges acceptabunt tenebunt immediate sub Christo in terris Ecclesiae Anglicanae Hibernicanae supremum Caput illius illor locum tenent Deput vicem gerent in hoc Regno Hiberniae obedient inservient in omnibus servitium suae Majestatis haered successor Regum concernentibus Et quantum in illis conjunctim divisim aut assignat illor est vel fuit usurpator primaciam authoritatem Romani Episcopi adnihillabunt omnesque suos Fautores Adjutores Suffragatores ad sum posse illor precipitabunt abolebunt atque personas spiritual temporal quae promoventur ad ecclesiastica beneficia sive dignitat per Regiam Majestatem seu alios de jure patronos tantum absque aliqua provisione fienda dicto Episc Rom. manutenebunt supportabunt defendent ex hinc omnes singules Provisores alia Rom. pro promotione petentes confugientes apprehendent producent ad Reg. commun legem ib. judiciari rectari secundum statut ordination pro similibus casibus facta fienda The Second Covenant is To submit all their Controversies to the Determination of the Bishops of Waterford Cork and Ross the Mayors of Cork and Youghal Suffrain of Kingsale Philip Roch Esq William Walsh Esq the Dean of Cloyne or any three of them quorum Desmond to be one and the like is in other Provinces mutatis mutandis The Third is About their future Controversies to be decided by the Earl and the said Bishops or two of them quorum Desmond to be one and they may fine or amerce Wrong-doers of which Fine the King shall have one third and the Judges the rest The Fourth is That if the Case be too difficult for the Commissioners it shall be determined by Justices of Assize and no Force shall be used nor Peace broken on Pain of a Fine The Fifth is That they shall help and defend the Collectors of the King's Revenue The Sixth is To obey the Ordinances made by the Nobility and annexed to the Indenture which probably were
aut servitio dicto Comiti Tyrone suisque Haeredibus impendendo ac immediate parebit obediet Domino Regi sub ejus pace defensione perpetuo remaenebit suaeque Celsitudini de tempore in tempus solvet Bonagium Bonnaught caetera omnia Debita quoties ad id per Dominum Deputatum Concilium requisitus rogatus fuerit c. And on the eighteenth of July the like Order was made between O Donel and his Sons and several Proprietors of Tyrconel and O Donel's Authority was limited and both Parties were obliged to obey the Order on pain of forfeiting all their Estate And about the same time Brian Mac Mahon and Hugh Oge made their Submissions at Kilmainham and were pardoned the five hundred Marks they had forfeited by breach of their former Articles Lib. D. In the mean time the Scotch Islanders sent some Forces to the assistance of the Irish in Vlster but Andrew Brereton with five and thirty Horse met with two hundred of them and defeated them with great slaughter and by his good Conduct quieted Vlster and was therefore made General or Governor thereof But the Lord Deputy being recall'd took Shipping at Houth on the 16th day of December and being offered Testimonials of his good Government from the Council he modestly refused saying That if his Innocence would not defend him he would use no other Remedy than his Belief of the Resurrection of the Dead He was certainly a brave Man and an excellent Governor and would have been sent back with Honour if his Infirmities whereof he died the next year had not prevented it Sir Francis Bryan 1549. Lord Justice was chosen by the Council on the twenty 7th day of Decemb and sworn at Christ-Church in Dublin on the 29th but he enjoyed this Honour but a little while for the County of Typerary being infested by O Carol the Lord Justice made a Journy thither in favour of the young Earl of Ormond who was but twelve years old to protect the Country and on the second of February died at Clonmel whereupon Sir William Brabazon Lord Justice was elected by the Council he committed the Government of the County of Typerary to Edmond Butler Archbishop of Cashel and made a Journy to Limerick where Teig O Carol submitted and entred into Covenants of paying a yearly Tribute into the Exchequer and of serving the King with a certain number of Horse and Foot at his own charge and of renouncing his Pretences to the Barony of Ormond and afterwards the same Teig O Carol surrendred to the King his Country of Ely O Carol containing ninety three Plow-Lands and a half and the King re-granted the same to him and Created him Baron of Ely and by O Carol's means Mac Morough O Kelly and O Mlaghlin were now taken into Protection and Pardoned and by the Lord Deputy's Mediation the Earls of Desmond and Thomond who were wrangling about Bounds and the protection of each others Tories or Out-laws were reconciled on the eleventh of March Lib. D. and about the same time Dermond O Sullevan a great man in the County of Cork was together with his Castle or dwelling-House accidentally blown up by Gunpowder and his Brother Amalfus who succeeded him was likewise not long after killed But Bulloign being restored to the French on the twenty-fifth day of April 1550. the King was thereby enabled to send eight thousand Pound of the Money received there and four hundred men of that Garrison into Ireland which he did And thereby the Lord Justice was put into a Condition of pursuing Charles Mac Art Cavenagh Ware 188. who was again in Rebellion and was proclaimed Traytor and the Lord Justice acquitted himself so well in that Matter August that he killed many of Cave-nagh's Followers and burnt the Country But the French King hearing that the English marched an Army into Scotland lookt upon that Assault of his Ally as a Breach of the Peace with him and therefore sent an hundred and sixty small Vessels with Ammunition and Corn to assist the Scots it hapned that sixteen of them were shipwrackt on the Coast of Ireland however the King of England to obviate any Designs the French might have against his Dominions set forth a Fleet of twenty Ships and Pinnaces under the Lord Cobham which guarded two Harbors on the South and one in the North toward Scotland On the twenty third of October Richard Butler second Son of Pierce Earl of Ormond was Created Viscount Mountgarret and a little before that viz. on the tenth of September Sir Anthony Saintleger Ware 190. Lord Deputy returned to Ireland and Sir Thomas Cusack was made Lord Chancellor To this Deputy Mac Carty submitted in humble Manner and was pardoned and it seems that this Lord Deputy had Orders to call a Parliament but I do not find that there was any in Ireland during this King's Reign On the fourth of November Charles Mac Art Cavenagh made his Submission to the Lord Deputy at Dublin in presence of the Earls of Desmond Thomond Clanrickard and Tyrone the Lords Mountgarret Dunboyn Cahir and Ibracan and renounced the Name of Mac Morough and parted with some of his usurped Jurisdiction and Estate But let us cast an eye on the Affairs of the Church and we shall find that the Reformation made but small progress in Ireland since the same year produced Bishops of each sort for on the tenth of May Arthur Macgenis was by provision of the Pope constituted Bishop of Dromore and confirmed therein by the King and Thomas Lancaster a Protestant was on the third day of September made Bishop of Kildare However Bish Brown's Life 13. on the sixth of February the King sent the following Order for the Liturgy of the Church of England to be read in Ireland in the English Tongue EDWARD by the Grace of God c. Whereas our Gracious Father King Henry the Eighth of happy Memory taking into consideration the bondage and heavy yoke that his true and faithful Subjects sustained under the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome as also the Ignorance the Commonalty were in how several fabulous Stories and lying Wonders misled our Subjects in both our Realms of England and Ireland grasping thereby the Means thereof into their hands also dispensing with the Sins of our Nations by their Indulgences and Pardons for Gain purposely to cherish all ill Vices as Robberies Rebellions Thefts Whoredoms Blasphemy Idolatry c. He our Gracious Father King Henry of happy Memory hereupon dissolved all Priories Monasteries Abbies and other pretended Religious Houses as being but Nurseries for Vice and Luxury more than for Sacred Learning Therefore that it might more plainly appear to the World that those Orders had kept the Light of the Gospel from his People he thought it most fit and convenient for the preservation of their Souls and Bodies that the Holy Scriptures should be Translated Printed and Placed in all Parish-Churches
3. To reduce Shane O Neal by force or otherwise 4. To invest the Baron of Dungannon in the Earldom of Tyrone if the Lord Lieutenant think fit 5. To apprehend the O Brians that oppose the Earl of Thomond 6. To make the Clerk of the Council Secretary of State 7. To make a Statute of Uses next Parliament 8. To grant Estates Tayl by Patent to all the Irish that will surrender 9. To reserve the best Rent that was at any time heretofore reserved on the Crown Leases and the Tenant to find a Horseman for every forty Pound Rent and a Footman for every six Pound thirteen Shillings and four Pence and if any Lease be voidable to let the Tenant renew increasing his Rent according to the best Survey 10. To augment the Revenue in granting of Wards and making them sue Livery and to collect and print the necessary Statutes It seems this Lord Lieutenant managed his Affairs well in Vlster 1561. although the Particulars are not recorded any where that I could find Lib. â— for on the sixth day of January Shane O Neal made his Submission to him and thereupon on the twenty second of the same Month he went to England leaving Sir William Fitz Williams Lord Justice 1562. who was sworn on the second Day of February and continued until the twenty fourth day of July and then Thomas Earl of Sussex Lord Lieutenant returned again and finding that the inconstant Shane O Neal had apostatized into Rebellion he prepared as fast as he could to reduce him to Obedience but the Winter approaching so near he was forced to adjourn his Design till the Spring and then on the first day of April he set forward 1563. and on the ninth there hapned a Fray between some Kirne in his Camp to the Slaughter of two or three of them but the Lord Lieutenant by his Authority composed that Matter On the thirteenth of April the English discovered an Ambush laid by Shane O Neal and fell upon them so that one and twenty of the Rebels were killed On the sixteenth the Lord Lieutenant passed over the Blackwater and took a Prey of two hundred Kine And on the twenty sixth he came back to Dundalk On the first of June he advanced again to Dungannon and quartered there and the next day came to Tulloghoge and undestanding that O Neale and his Party were in a Fastness not far off the English attacked them and drove them farther into the Woods And on the third of June the English took eighty Cattle and killed four or five Rebels And on the fourth the Army returned to Armagh And on the sixth day of June they took a Prey of three thousand Kine and one thousand five hundred Garons and Mares which were divided among the Soldiers and so the Army returned to Drogheda Hereupon O Neal being shrewdly terrified Cambden 121 and being also advised by the Earl of Kildare made his Submission to the Lord Lieutenant and promised to do the like in England which he performed in the presence of the Embassadors of Sweden and Savoy and upon his Promise of amendment he was taken into Favour and the Queen gave him some Presents and lent him two thousand five hundred Pound and ordered Sir Thomas Worth and Sir Nicholas Arnold whom she sent Commissioners into Ireland to establish a College at St. Patrick's Church c. to make an Enquiry about a Complaint that O Neal had made That one John Smith had design'd or attempted to poyson him After his Return home he behaved himself civilly and loyally for some time he assail'd the Scots and slew their Captain James Mac Conal and drove them out of Vlster he protected the poor from Injury and was orderly in every thing except his Tyranny over the Lords and Gentlemen of Vlster whom he challenged to be his Vassals Whereupon Macguire and others complained to the Government but O Neal disdaining to have his Princely Claim tried in a Court grows enraged at Macguire for putting the Dilemma upon him either of running into Rebellion again or submitting his Title to the Lord Lieutenant's determination 1564. and in this Fury O Neal invades Fermanagh expels Macguire burns the Cathedral Church of Armagh and besieges Dundalk but the Valour of the Garrison preserved the place till William Sarsfield Mayor of Dublin and a choice Band of Citizens raised the Siege nevertheless O Neal spoil'd and wasted the adjacent Country The Lord Lieut to revenge this proceeded briskly against O Neal Burlace 126. but before he could bring his Designs to perfection he was recalled in his time the Country of Annaly was made Shire-Ground and is called the County of Longford and Connaught was divided into six Counties Clare Galwey Sligo Mayo Letrim and Roscomon he also erected a kind of a Post-Office for the better Correspondence between England and Ireland Holingsh 114. And yet there are some who not without probability attribute these good Works to Sir Henry Sydny On the first of February there hapned a bloody Conflict between the Earls of Ormond and Desmond Lib. P. at Athmean or Affane in the County of Waterford where the latter lost two hundred and eighty of his Men but not long after the Lord Lieutenant was recalled and Sir Nicholas Arnold 1565. Lord Justice was sworn the twenty fifth of May and had an Army or rather a Garrison of fifteen hundred and ninety six Soldiers with which he made a shift to keep what he had but he did not enjoy that Honour long before Sir Henry Sydny Knight of the Garter Lord President of Wales came over Lord Deputy he Landed on the thirteenth of January and was sworn the next Sunday after being the twentieth he was received with great joy being a Person of whose excellent Government that Kingdom had long Experience and when he received the Sword he made an eloquent and pithy Speech to this effect setting forth what a precious thing good Government is and how all Realms Commonwealths Cities and Countries do flourish and prosper Hooker 111. where the same is orderly in quiet Justice and Wisdom directed and governed Secondly What a continual Care the Queens Highness hath had and yet hath not only for the good guiding and ruling of the Realm of England but also of Ireland which she so earnestly desireth and wisheth to be preserved as well in Peace as in War That she hath made great Choice from time to time of the most Grave Wise and Expert Counsellors for the one and the most Valiant Skilful and expert Men of Arms for the other That both in Peace and Wars the publick State of the Commonwealth and every Member therein might be conserved defended and kept in Safety under her Government And for the performance thereof her Majesty over and besides the Revenues of the Crown of Ireland did yearly far above any of her Progenitors expend of her own Coffers out of England great Masses of Money
Dungannon O Connor Sligo O Carol and others When he came to Hampton-Court with two hundred Gentlemen in his Train it hapned that the Queen was looking out at the Window Hooker 118. and seeing such a Multitude she was thereat surprized until she was told it was the Lord Deputy of Ireland and then she replied It was well enough for he had two of the best Offices in the Kingdom And being come in he was well received for the present by the Queen but after a while was told by some of the Courtiers That the Scussle in Ulster was not worthy to be called a War since the principal Rebel Shane O Neal was but a Beggar and an Outlaw However the Earl of Desmond and O Connor were clapt up in the Tower and Sir John of Desmond was sent for and imprisoned in the same place But O Connor Lib. L. by Indenture made his Submission to the Queen Lib. H. and thereupon was enlarged and the next Year viz. the twelfth of July 1568 the Earl of Desmond submitted in most humble manner and laid all his Estate at her Majesties Feet and promised to convey what part she should be pleased to take of it and acknowledges to have forfeited a Recognizance of twenty thousand Pounds which he had formerly made to the Queen as hath been already related But when Sydny went to England he left Doctor Weston Lord Chancellor and Sir William Fitz-Williams Treasurer at Wars Lords Justices by Commission under the Great Seal of Ireland Dated the fourteenth Day of October In their time private Quarrels did swell almost into publick Wars for not only Sir Edmond Butler and Pierce Grace did invade Oliver Fitz Girald's Territories with great Fury but also the O Connors and O Mores who were Proclaimed Traytors did now appear in the Field with a thousand Gallowglasses and threatned to spoil O Carol's Country and to burn Kilkenny and the Defendants being in no good condition to resist did in vain importune the Government for Assistance Moreover Daniel Mac Carty More despising his Title of Earl of Glencar assumed the Title of King of Munster and having confederated with O Sullevan More Mac Swiny and others he invaded the Lord Roche's Country with Banners displayed and destroyed all the Corn together with seven Hundred Sheep and killed many Men Women and Children and carried away fifteen Hundred Cows and an Hundred Garrons Nor was the Contention less between James Fitz Maurice of Desmond and the Lord of Lixnaw And there happened another barbarou accident that was more surprizing than any of the rest for one Maurice Gibbon alias Reagh who was by the Popes Bull appointed to be Archbishop of Cashell had the Confidence to come to James Mac Caghwell who for some time had been Archbishop of that See Ware de presul 172. and to demand Possession which being refused the barbarous Villain stabbed the Archbishop with a Skein but it so happened that the Archbishod recovered and Maurice made his escape into Spain In Vlster Cambden 121. Turlogh Lynogh had assumed the Name of O Neal and in an Encounter with the Scots had killed Alexander Oge but it seems that quarrel was appeased and one Thousand of the Scots took Pay under Turlogh and invaded the Ferny contrary to Articles In Connaught there was a new Broil between Mac William Oughter and O Connor Sligo about a Rent in Eyter Conaught and in Thomond there were great Contests between the Earl and O Shaghaness and in this disorderly and tumultuous Condition stood the Kingdom of Ireland 1568. when in September Sir Henry Sydny Lord Deputy landed at Carigfergus he immediately sent for Turlogh Lynogh who came to him and confessed his Fault and with the greatest Humility begged the Lord Deputies Pardon which with great difficulty he at length obtained but not until the Scots Hostages were first Executed On the twentieth of October the Lord Deputy was Sworn at Dublin and immediately he sent for Sir Edmond Butler who upon several frivolous Pretences refused to come but broke out into Rebellion as shall be related hereafter In the mean time the Proceedings at Council-board will deserve a Paragraph in this History and the rather because a great and memorable Case was at this time agitated there for Sir Peter Carew whose Ancestor had formerly been Marquess of Cork and had great Possessions in several parts of the Kingdom came over well recommended to Ireland Lib. F. Lambeth and resolved to endeavour the recovery of that great Estate which was wrongfully withheld from him and particularly the Barony of Idrone in the County of Caterlogh was detained by the Heirs of those whom one of the Carews had employed as his Steward and had entrusted to mannage that Estate but Sir Peter being advised not to alarum the Irish by beginning with them first he did on the twenty ninth day of October prefer his Petition to the Council-board against Sir Christopher Chivers for the Mannor of Ballymaclethan in the County of Meath and in the Petition he suggested that Chivers was so popular and powerful a Man in his Country that there could be no indifferent Tryal had at Common-Law c. Hereupon Sir Christopher was summoned and when he appeared he pleaded ore tenus to the Jurisdiction of the Council-board in this Matter but Mr. Perriam gave three reasons why they might proceed First Because it was the common Practise to determine Causes at the Council-Table in England and instanced the Case of one Colshul about an Office in the Exchequer Secondly That in cases of Extremity as loss of Evidence want of just Tryal c. A Suit may be commenced before the Lord Chancellor or at the Council-board propter necessitatem ne curia domini Regis desiceret in Justitia exhibenda Thirdly That there are innumerable Presidents of Causes determined at the Council-Table in Ireland upon these reasons the Judges Dillon and Plunket were of Opinion the Board might proceed to determine this Cause and afterwards the two Chief Justices concurred in the same Opinion so that Chivers was forced to put in his Answer in Writing which he did but still it concluded to the Jurisdiction as before and in his Plea he insisted on the Statutes of Magna Carta cap. 11. and cap. 29. 25 Edw. 3. cap. 4. 28 Edw. 3. cap. 3. and 42 Edw. 3. cap. 3. But he likewise set forth his Title by Descent to part of the Lands in question and made some other Title to the rest The Court was angry with the Defendant for repeating his Plea to the Jurisdiction after it had been so solemnly over-ruled however they ordered the Plantiff to reply which he did by abridging his Plaint as to the Lands Descended and by a solid Answer to the rest of the Plea But at length the Parties agreed among themselves and Chivers for a small Consideration had a Release from Sir Peter however Sir Peter afterwards on the like Petition recovered the
with nineteen Spaniards and fifty Irish under one Julio an Italian Engineer The Lord Justice coming to view it had like to have been killed with a Musquet Shot nevertheless he persevered in his Resolution and caused the Castle to be battered with three Cannon a Culverin and a demy-Culverin till a Breach was made at which Captain Macworth entred and took the Castle putting fifty to the Sword and six he took and executed them in the Camp the Captain Julio was preserved two or three days for certain Considerations and then not complying with the Lord Justices Expectations he was Hanged On the third of April 1580. the Army sat down before Askeaton which is a very strong Castle built upon Rocks and of very difficult Access nevertheless the cowardly Garrison were so frightned with the example of Carrigifoyl Cambd. Eliz. 240. that they basely deserted the Castle the first night of the Siege having first layed a train of Powder which burned great part of the Castle but did not prejudice the principal Towers The same day George Carew and others with three Companies attempted Ballyloghane another Castle of Desmond's which the Garrison upon sight of them likewise deserted but not so timely but that being closely pursued many of them were slain Now was Desmond dispossessed of all his Castles and therefore the Lord Justice leaving four Companies at Askelon returned to Lymerick on the fifth of April as Ormond did to Kilkenny Malby to Connaught and others to Dublin However the Army tho in Garrison was not ildle but behaved themselves effectually as they found Occasion even the Lord Justice himself went by Sea from Lymerick to Adare and sent Captain Case by Land and both returned after the slaughter of many Traytors with a Prey of twelve Hundred Cows and many Sheep At Lymerick the fifteenth of May the Lord Justice received a Comâ—ission from the Queen to be Lord Justice and another 〈…〉 Sir William Burk Baron of Castleconnel with a Yearly Pension of an hundred Marks during Life On the thirteenth of May Sullevan 101. Walsh ' s Loyal Remonstrance Pope Gregory the thirteenth granted to all the Irish that would fight against the Queen the same plenary Pardon and remission of all their Sins as to those that are engaged in the Holy War against the Turk On the seventeenth of May a separate Commission of Martial Law was granted granted to the Lord Rooh and Sir Cormack Mac Teig of Muskry with Power to give Protection for fifteeen days to any other than the principal Rebels On the fourteenth day of June the Lord Justice invaded and destroyed Clanawliff and thence marched through Slevelogher to Kerry and on the fifteenth took a Prey of two Thousand Kine and many Sheep and mist but little of surprizing the Earl of Desmond and Doctor Sanders this last being fain for haste to leave his Gown behind him he took another Prey the next day at Castlemange nevertheless the Army being ill payed began to Mutiny and some of them refused to march with the Earl of Ormond into the Mountains of Kerry but by the Lord Justice's Discretion this Sedition was appeased and the Mutineers were Pardoned On the eighth of July the Popish Lords of Munster appeared before the Lord Justice at Limerick and being charged with Correspondence with the Rebels and negligence in Prosecuting them all of them except the Lord Barry submitted and promised future Loyalty and were ordered to maintain two thousand Men during the War and to give Pledges of Performance but the next day they thought the Charge too heavy and therefore were confined to their Chambers till they sent their Pledges soon after Sir Cormock Mac Teig was dismissed with Favour and an Order to the Country to assist him in his Attempts against the Rebels because he had promised to do some considerable Service which he very luckily effected for James of Desmond on the fourth of August invaded Muskry and took a Prey from Sir Cormock Mac Teig Cambd. Eliz. 240. then Sheriff of the County of Cork whereupon his Brother Daniel Mac Teig assembled what Force he could get together to rescue the Prey it was briskly disputed between them and the issue was the Desmonians being an Hundred and Fifty were beaten and most of them slain and Sir James being taken Prisoner was brought to Sir Warham Saint Leger and Captain Rawleigh who caused him to be Hanged Drawn and Quartered at Cork In August Ormond dislodged from Adare and marched to Buttevant where a strange kind of Sickness called afterward in England The gentle Correction seized the whole Army it took them in the Head and for two or three Days they lay Senseless and then recovered few or none died of it though by the Violence of the Disease it was not expected that many could recover Ormond divided his small Army into two Parts and marched with one half to Castle-Island and the other he sent to Traley in Kerry where all met and then dividing into three Parts marched to Dingle and as they went they drove the whole Country before them whereby they took a Prey of eight thousand Cows besides Garrons Sheep c. and slew a great many People and had slain more but that Sir William Winter who was then in the Harbour of Ventry with some of Her Majesties Ships gave many of them Protections This Winter was Vice-Admiral of England and came to cruise about the Coast and to prevent the Spaniards Landing if they should come but he had not the Patience to stay or else believed they would not come in the Winter so he returned home before they came In the mean time the Earl of Desmond was reduced to great Extremity more of his Followers having perished by the Famine than were destroyed by the Sword so that the Countess came with Tears in her Eyes to intercede for her Husband August and Sir John Desmond and Doctor Sanders endeavoured to fly to the Lord of Baltinglass who was up in Leinster but they were like to be intercepted by the Garrison of Kilmallock who met them and their two Servants and took the Servants whilst the Masters escaped so they were forced to return to Kerry and had been taken there but that a false Brother gave them notice of the Design however they took two Fryers and a Prey of two hundred and thirty Kine and slew divers of the Rebels In the mean time the new Lord Deputy landed at Dublin on the twelfth of August and immediately sent for the Sword but the Lord Justice did not think fit to part with it until he personally surrendred it which he made no haste to do but instead of going directly to Dublin having left Sir George Bourchier Collonel of Munster with two thousand eight hundred and twenty Foot and three hundred ninety five Horse and given him and others proper instructions he rode to Killalow where the unconscionable Bishop demanded thirty Pound for one Nights grazing for an Hundred
Kerry to the Sheriff and the Lord of Lixnaw with the Lord President of Munster he returned to Dublin the 9th of August 1584. In his way he took Pledges from Pheagh Mac Hugh and appointed Sir Henry Harrington to take the like from O Birne O Toole and the Septs of O More and O Connor and committed the Kings County to the care of Sir George Bourcher and of the Queens County to Sir Warham Saint Leger he also appointed Commissioners to take Hostages of the Cavenaghs and when he came to Dublin he decided a Controversy between Philip and Sir John O Reyley to both their Satisfaction About this time the Lord Deputy published Orders to be observed by Justices of the Peace one whereof was lodged with every Custos Rotulor Lib. C. the most material of them were to keep Sessions Quarterly to enquire into Penalties of Statutes forfeited Recognizances Contempts Breach of Peace winking at Malefactors Confederacies and Parlies with Tâ—â—ytors or notorious known Theives that all Men and Women from Sixteen to Seventy be Booked and Sworn to Allegiance else committed to Goal to have General Musters every year and see the People are Armed according to Law to have Buts and common Pounds to make two High-Constables Substantial Gentlemen in every Barony and printed Books of their Duty to be sent them and also two petty Constables in each Barony to send to Goal all Spies Carrows Bards and Idlers c. To appoint two Searchers for every Parish to Search the Houses and Persons not Gentlemen for Beef Pork or Mutton and if any such be found and no notice was given to the Searcher of the Killing thereof the Party shall be punished by Fine and to cause all Cattle to be marked with Pitch or Ear-mark on pain of Forfeiture On the 25th of August The Deputy with One thousand Foot some Kearns and the Risings out of the Pale and some Lords of Munster and well accompanied with Officers and Persons of Quality set out from Dublin and came the 29th to Newry where Turlogh Lynogh submitted and put in Pledges as did also soon after Macgenis Mac Mahon Turlogh Brasilogh and others The Lord Deputy having thus secured the Country ordered some Ships to Loghfoyle to attack the Scots that way which they got notice of and immediately retired and went off to Scotland almost in sight of the English Ships and their escape was imputed to the negligence of the Sea-Commanders However the Deputy proceeded to the Ban himself Ormond and the Nobility kept Clandeboy side and General Norris and the Baron Dungannon kept Tyrone side The Deputy spoiled Brian Carrows Country and forced him and Surleboy to fly to Glancomkeane with their Creights and Cows Norris took a prey of 200 Cows from Ochane which gave great relief to the Army but 100 of his stragling Boys and Servants were cut off by Brian Carrows men and some that came to their Rescue were wounded and soon after Mr. Thomas Norris was wounded in the Knee with an Arrow and Oliver Lambert was taken Prisoner in Ochanes Country nevertheless the Rebels fled from the English and were worsted in most encounters so that Captain Meriman brought a good Prey from their fastness and Norris scour'd Glancomkene-wood preyed Brian Carrows Country and slew them that were put to defend it Hereupon Ochane submitted and put in Hostages and was the first Rebel in Arms that was pardoned since the Deputy came over then went the Deputy to besiege Dunluce and sent Artillery by Sea to Skerries portrush and thence by men it was drawn two miles it soon brought the Ward to parley and to surrender this impregnable place and the fame of this Exploit made the Warders desert Donfert and these losses forced Surleboy to submit and put in Hostages and to beg Pardon which was granted him Whilst the Deputy abode in Vlster O Donell and O Toole submitted themselves unto him and there happening some Controversies between Turlogh Lynogh and others of the O-Neals he caus'd them to implead one another by Bill and Answer that so those Contests might be regularly decided he also gave them an Oath of Allegiance and drew the Grandees of Vlster to a Composition for the maintenance of 1100 Soldiers at their own charge the Queen allowing every 100 men 250 Pounds Lib. M. per annum also they agreed to surrender their Estates and take new Patents and in like manner the Lady Camphell and Donell Gorme made their Submismissions at the Camp near Dunluce on the 18th of September and obtain'd a Grant of that part of the Glinns formerly Massets paying 50 Bieves yearly and supplying 80 Soldiers to serve the Crown when required And so the Deputy left 200 Foot and 50 Horse at Colrain and came to Newry on the 28th of September to which place Turlogh Lynogh brought Henry Son of Shan O Neal and delivered him prisoner to his Lordship Con mac Neal Oge was forc'd to content himself with the upper Clandeboy and the Lieutenancy or Government of Vlster was divided between Turlogh Lynogh the Baron of Dungannon and Sir Henry Bagnall and this great Service being thus effected the Deputy return'd to Dublin the 11 of October Hence the Deputy gave an account to the Lords of the Council in England of his great Success and proposed that for 50000 per annum added to the Revenue for three years he would wall seaven Towns Athloan Dingle Colrain Liffer Sligo Newry and Mayo and build seaven Castles at Black-water and Ballishannon Bellick Broad-water in Munster Castlemartine in the Routs Galin in the Queens County and Kilcomane and erect seaven Bridges at Colrain Liffer Ballishannon Dundalk Fermoy Veale near Slevelogher and Kells in Clande-boy and with the help of the Vlster Composition he would likewise maintain 2000 Foot and 400 Horse during that time he desired 600 Soldiers and a Chief Justice might be sent over that Tamistry might be abolished and the Irish Lands pass'd in Patent to the Proprietors on English Tenures to all which he received a smooth but dilatory Answer and therefore wrote again to the Parliament of England the 17 of January 1584. to the same effect and with like success Nevertheless this active Governour proceeded to doe what he could to repair the broken and miserable Estate of Ireland he encouraged the Bishops to the Repair of Churches and wrote to England that no more Bishopricks might be granted in Comendam and he also divided Vlster into Counties and placed Sheriffs Justices of Peace Constables and other Officers in them And then he summoned a Parliament to meet the 26th of April 1585. at Dublin and caused the Irish to conform to the English Habit to which they have a great aversion because they esteem it a mark of Subjection The Irish Lords were obliged to wear Robes and the better to induce them to it the Deputie bestowed Robes on Turlogh Lynogh and other principal men of the Irish which they embraced like fetters so that one of
Pledges and pay such reasonable Fine as Her Majesty shall think fit and so he sign'd a Submission and swore Obedience His Pardon was sign'd the 12th of May and sent to Sir Edward Moor to be delivered I suppose on the receipt of Hostages and on the 31st Tyrone sent the State a kind Letter he had received from the King of Spain but made the Messenger swear that no Copy of it should be taken The Queen was wonderfully pleased with the Pacification of Vlster 25 May 1596. and by her Letters to the Council commended Norris for that great service she upbraids Her Officers in Ireland with the monstrous Accusations brought against them by the Irish and declares she will subdue the stubborn by the Sword but will govern the oppressed by justice therefore she commands them to Unanimity in her Service and to commission Norris and Fenton to settle Connaugh and to examine the many Complaints that are made against Sir Richard Bingham Sir Edward Moor who carried Tyrone's Pardon could not find that Earl who purposely went out of the way to avoid it for three Pinaces with about 200 men and some Powder arrived from Spain in May consigned to O Donell with promise of farther supply as is most probable whereupon the Vlster Lords were so far from observing the late Peace that Tyrone took upon him to make an O Reily and entertain'd a correspondence with Pheagh Mac Hugh and other of the Rebels of Leinster Lib. M. Lambeth and on the 6th of July Tyrone O Rourk Mac William c. sent the Clan-shyhyes to stir up Rebellion in Munster and sign'd a general Letter or Credential to that effect he delay'd taking his Pardon till the 22th of July and even then refused to renounce foreign Aid upon Oath however he put in his Pledges and protested Loyalty and Obedience only to delay the War a little longer for which he was not yet so fully prepared as he desir'd for he had not an answer from Pheagh Mac Hugh till the latter end of August and then he received one to his content For in the beginning of August Pheagh Mac Hugh although he was under protection enter'd into open Rebellion Lib. B. 2. Lambeth and by surprise took and raz'd the Fort of Ballyne Cor and great suspicion was had of the O Moors and some of the Butlers there was noise also of some Spaniards at Sea so that the Lord Deputy complaining that he was not countenanced nor credited in England as he ought to be petitioned to the Lords of the Council there to be a means to remove him from the Government However these Misfortunes were somewhat alleviated by the quiet and peaceable condition of Connaugh which the General Norris and Sir Geoffry Fenton had reduced to terms of Submission The Deputy marched out of Dublin the 18th of September to prosecute Pheagh Mac Hugh and for some time encamped at Rathdrome he took many Preys and slew some Rebels and on the 16th of November caused two of the Pledges which Pheagh Mac Hugh had put in for his good behaviour to be executed in the Camp In like manner the Earl of Ormond effectually prosecuted the Butlers as Sir Anthony Samtbeger did the O Moors and O Connors In the mean time Tyrone is not idle but notwithstanding his Submission and his Pledges Camd. Eliz. 515. he attempted to surprise Armagh and killed 35 men of that Garison he oppos'd the Convoy that carried the Victuals thither and murthered eight of the Garison that went out for Wood his Son in Law Henry Oge made Incursions into the Pale as far as the River Boyne he also endeavour'd to surprise Carlingford Castle and contrary to his Covenant refused to suffer any relief to be brought to the Fort of Blackwater Whereupon the Lord Deputy and Council wrote him a smart Letter on the 30th of November which he answered the 4th of December and alleadg'd that he had just provocation to doe what he did because his Allie and Confederate Pheagh Mac Hugh was prosecuted by the State This was but a lame excuse for that Rebel was not at all comprehended in Tyrone's Articles however General Norris so far espoused O Neal's Quarrel that he wrote to the Council Board that one good Letter would have prevented the danger Armagh is in whereby he covertly reprehended the Deputy's severity But the Board sent him a smart answer and since he understood Tyrone's Humor best they left it to him to relieve Armagh by Force or Treaty as he thought fit On the 30th of December Captain Lea had a Rencounter with Pheagh Mac Hugh and had the good fortune to kill thirty of the Rebels and sent most of their heads to Dublin On the second of January Sir Richard Bingham being a severe Governour and perhaps therefore obnoxious to the Irish who were frequent Transgressours was upon their repeated complaints removed from the Government of Connaugh and Sir Conyers Clifford substituted in his room On the 15th of January General Norris accompanied by Bourchier and Fenton marched from Dublin to re-victual Armagh and on the 22d met with Tyrone who complemented the General at a great rate applauded his Moderation and thank'd him for his Friendship offered to suffer Armagh to be re-victualled as it was without opposition and made all the Protestations of Loyalty and offers of Submission that could be devis'd and desired that the General would procure a new Commission to conclude an everlasting Peace with him which accordingly was granted to Norris Bourchier and Secretary Fenton whereof they gave notice to Tyrone and appointed him to meet on the second of April but he by his Letter of the 15th of March alleadged many frivolous Excuses and though they by their dispatch of the 22d assured him of all reasonable satisfaction 1579. yet he still persisted in his Excuses wherefore they wrote to him again the tenth of April and he by his answer of the 15th made many triviall Complaints and particularly he questioned the General 's Power to make good what he should promise for that possibly the new Deputy should not approve of what they should agree to and therefore he desired a farther day whereupon the General finding too late that he was baffled and abus'd by that cunning Traitor he exclaimed against his Perfidiousness and broke off the Treaty In the mean time O Donell had invaded Connaugh in January and drew most of the late pardoned Rebels into a new Revolt so that Clifford was oblig'd to hasten to that Government Some of the Rebels of the Brenny attempted the Town of Kells but by the Valour and Vigilance of Captain Street they were disappointed and lost 35 of their Company The Deputy made a Journey to Caterlogh and thence to Kilcor and staid thereabouts pursuing Pheagh Mac Hugh and his Abetters from the 18th of February to the 15th of March Lib. B. 2. Lambeth on the 12th of which month 140 Barrels of Powder took fire at
the Crane in Dublin and did much harm On the seventh of May the Deputy made another journey into Pheagh Mac Hugh's Country 1597 and on the eighth had the good fortune to kill that Arch Rebel Ibid. and to take a Prey of 200 Cows which were divided amongst the Soldiers But the Queen believing that her Affairs were prejudiced by the disagreement between the Deputy and the General did at his own Request revoke the Lord Deputy and to supply his Place sent over Thomas Lord Burrough Lord Deputy who landed on the 15th of May and received the Sword in St. Patrick's Church on Sunday the 22d Camb. Eliz. 543. he had supreme Authority in Martial as well as Civil Causes and immediately ordered General Norris to his Presidency of Munster which Affront together with the Disappointment of the chief Government which he knew he merited and earnestly expected and the many baffles Tyrone had put upon him broke his Heart The Lord Deputy amongst other Instructions had charge to enquire what English Undertakers had ☜ contrary to their Covenants suffered Irishmen to inhabit their Lands and to enquire into the Earl of Glancar's Estate which for want of Heirs Males was devolved to the Crown After a Month's Truce with Tyrone the Deputy marched to Vlster where the Crown retained only Newry Knockfergus Greencastle Armagh Dundrum and Olderfleet Connaugh was likewise in Rebellion and so were some of the Butlers in Munster The Deputy met some opposition at a Pass near Armagh but he gallantly forced his way and thereby was convinced that the Irish would run if resolutely assaulted he soon took the Fort of Blackwater and garison'd it with English but whilst they were giving thanks to God for this Victory they were called from Prayers to Arms upon the appearance of the Irish Forces with whom they skirmished successfully yet so as that the Deputy's Brother-in-Law Vaughan and several others were slain and particularly two Foster-brothers of Henry Earl of Kildare for grief whereof the Earl soon after dyed Clifford Governour of Connaugh was ordered to advance with the Forces of his Province to the borders of Vlster wherefore with 700 old Soldiers he attempted it bravely but being opposed by a numerous Enemy he nevertheless made a gallant retreat above 30 Miles and in the face of 2000 Rebels without any considerable loss Upon the Lord Deputy's return towards the Pale the Earl of Tyrone immediately besieged the Fort of Blackwater and the Deputy as nimbly marched to its relief and having raised the Siege he designed to march to Dungannon and so to clear the way thither that on any occasion the Army might march that way but he fell 〈◊〉 and was forced to return and dyed in the way to Dublin and Sir Thomas Norris President of Munster was provisionally made Lord Justice on the 30th of August but he being melancholy at the death of his Brother soon grew weary of the Office and at his Request the Government was committed to Adam Loftus Lord Chancellour and Archbishop of Dublin and Sir Robert Gardiner Lord Chief Justice Lords Justices who were sworn on the 15th of November and the same day the Council gave in writing an account of the State of the Kingdom and concluded that it was an universal Irish Rebellion intended to shake off all English Government The Earl of Ormond was made Lieutenant General of the Army and he was to have 100 Marks per mensem and 30 Horse and 30 Foot and the Lords Justices were to have 33 l. 6 s. 8 d. per mensem and 20 Horse and 20 Foot equally divided between them The Earl of Ormond upon application made to him by Tyrone procured a Commission to himself the Bishop of Meath and Secretary Fenton to treat with that Rebel and on the 22d day of December they met at Dundalk and agreed to a Cessation for eight weeks on Tyrone's engagement to furnish the Fort of Blackwater with 50 Bieves and to give the Garison liberty of Forage and other Articles recited at large Morison 22. On the 18th of February O Rourk submitted to the Lieutenant General and subscribed the Agreement likewise mentioned at large Morison 22. and on the 15th of March Ormond proposed to Tyrone 13 Conditions of Pardon mentioned Morison 23. to most of which he agreed but because O Donell and some others did not appear that matter was adjourned to the 10th of April in the mean time the Pardon was drawn and bears date the 11th of April but I do not believe that Tyrone ever came for it both because he was Anno 1600. outlawed on the former Indictment and because he immediately relapsed into his former Disloyalties and not only sent aid to Phelim mac Feagh but also laid close Siege to the Fort of Blackwater but the defence made by Captain Thomas Williams was so considerable that Tyrone despair'd of effecting his design by Force and therefore resolved to starve them and indeed they were reduced to great necessity when in August Marshal Bagnall with 14 Ensigns of Foot and a choice Party of Horse was sent to relieve them The Rebels Camd. Eliz. 565. being a vast number fell upon the English in a Wood half a Mile beyond Armagh and the Earl of Tyrone having a particular spight against the Marshal Bâ—gnall he bent all his Force that way and had the good fortune to kill the Marshal and to rout the English Army with the slaughter of 13 Captains and 1500 Soldiers whereupon the shattered remnant of the English retired to Armagh and sent to Captain Williams to surrender the Fort of Blackwater that he might reinforce and preserve the rest of the Army By this Victory the Irish got Arms Ammunition and Victuals and which was more so much Reputation that the English could act only on the defensive part and not that it self without continual fear and danger But the Queen was nettled at this Defeat and by the 12th of September 1598. blam'd Ormond that he was not there and ordered him to reduce the old List to 8000 and to clear the Army from Irish and she also sent over Sir Richard Bingham to succeed Bagnall in the Office of Marshal but as soon as he landed he dyed at Dublin and Sir Samuel Bagnall was sent with 2000 Foot and 100 Horse which though at first designed to plant a Garison at Loghfoyle were on the aforesaid all news ordered to land at Carlingford In the mean time Tyrone sends Owny mac Rory Oge and Tirrel into Munster with 4000 Kernes 598. the President Sir Thomas Norris opposed them but was forced by necessary occasions or rather by reason of the weakness of his Forces to return to Cork whereupon the Munsterians generally rebell in October and kill murther ravish and spoil without Mercy and Tyrone made James Fitz Thomas Earl of Desmond on condition to be tributary to him He was the handsomest Man of his time and is commonly called the Sugan Earl And the Queen
what little jealousie he had of it was seasonably imparted to the Lords Justices by the Letter mentioned Page 65. as his surprize at that unexpected Rebellion is expressed in his Letter to the Earl of Ormond recited Appendix 49. The next thing in Dispute The Sixth Question is The Number of those that were Massacred which Sir William Petty computes not to exceed 37000 Not the twentieth part of what is reported says the Earl of Castlehaven not exceeding some hundreds says P. W. not above 400 says the Author of the Settlement and Sale of Ireland not above 4000 says R. S. in his Collection of Murders To which I answer That by Depositions upon Oath it does appear that many thousands of British were murdered and many more came to untimely Deaths by the Cruelty of the Irish and this is an undeniable way of Arguing That all the British that did not escape did perish by that Rebellion and though the Difficulty still remains to ascertain the number of those that escaped yet it is certain they could not be half of what were in the Kingdom because the Towns that were left for their Refuge were not capable to Receive or Entertain so great a number and even those that did escape to Towns did perish in heaps by reason of the ill usage they had received from the Irish And indeed Sir W. Petty does allow this method of Calculation but his mistake is occasioned by leaving out an Item that I conceive should have been added and that is the number of those born in Ireland and transported thither out of England and Scotland during the interval between 1641. and 1652. for his Compution runs thus British in Ireland anno 1641. 266550 British alive anno 1652. 150000 Ergo there perished in the War but 116550 Whereof one Third in the first Year of the Rebellion and the rest from thenceforward But he should have added That in those ten Years from 1641. to 1652. there were born in Ireland and there came thither out of England and Scotland in all about 300000 Souls and he should have added a proportion of that number to the other and then he had been near the Computation which other Judicious Men have made in that matter But others well knowing that the greatest part of the British that were in Ireland did really perish in the first year of that Rebellion do deny that there was any such Number there as is pretended to have been Massacred and one of them is so vain to say That the Irish were a hundred to one But whoever considers that the British Plantations in Munster had been setled forty years before and that of Vlster almost thirty years that half the Kingdom was the Propriety of Protestants that there were no less than 100000 Scots as the Earl of Strafford affirmed upon his Tryal that the Earl of Cork alone had above 10000 Protestant Souls upon his Estate that all the Officers of State War and Justice and most of the Mechanicks were British will find no Grounds for that Objection However I will not pretend to determine the Number but this I will say That it was great enough to draw the Curse of God and the Revenge of Man upon the infamous Authors of that Massacre as it afterwards did The next Objection is The Seventh Question That the Rebellion was not General but was begun by a few desperate Persons in the North and therefore the Popish Members of Parliament did readily agree to a Protestation against it Review 31. in a Session of Parliament on the 16th of November Quidam nobiles in Vltonia conspirant says Mr. Beling Page 2. To which I answer That the beginning of all Rebellions is by a few or at least there do but few appear in them at first but never any Rebellion in the world increased faster or became more General than this whereby it is manifest that the Design and Conspiracy was Universal and so Rory Macguire told his Brother-in-Law Colonel Awdly Mervin on the 27th of October That all Ireland was by that time in their hands and those that are Ingenious of that Party do confess it to be so P. W. Pref. to Remonstrance 12. their own Procurator P. W. does acknowledge That it was an Vniversal Rebellion and that all the Irish Papists a very few excepted P. W. Letters 54. that it was the National Sin of the whole Catholick Party by Participation were concerned in it O Reylye's Wife said The Lords of the Pale were the Ringleaders and Colonel Planket affirmed That all the Popish Lords had contracted before-hand and Patrick O Bryan testified the same upon Oath and named the Lord of Gormanstown particularly The Lord Macguire confessed That those of the Pale were privy to the Plotting of the Rebellion and Macmahon declared That all the Popish Lords and Gentlemen in Ireland were Engaged in the Plot and that twenty out of every County were to be detached for the Surprize of the Castle of Dublin There was not one County shall I say a Catholici intra Dublinium numero hereticis superiores paratissimi erant ad Vrbis deditionem concurrere vindiciae eversae 91. Temple 46. City in the Kingdom exempt from the Rebellion and in the Province of Vlster only there were 30000 Irish-men in the Rebellion by the 5th of November and I must do Father Ponce the Right to acknowledge That he is more just than to shelter his Party under this pitiful and false Subterfuge and therefore he frankly confesseth That they were all in the b Faedus initur ab omnibus vindiciae eversae 6. Conspiracy and that not the Great Men only but the c Non proceres modo sea eujusâ—bet conditionis per universum Râ—gnâ—m Cathoâ—â—â— Catholicks of all Conditions throughout the whole Kingdom were concerned And certainly it is Incumbent upon these Advocates to shew that those whom they would clear from this Rebellion did publish any Protest or Manifesto against it or d As the Marquis of Clanâ—ickard and some few others did fight against the Rebels or assist the Assaulted English but on the contrary it is manifest by the Decrees of the Assembly That they would suffer no Neuters amongst them But what need any more to be said than that a few could not have perpetrated the Murders and Robberies they have committed The Irish were not so stout nor the British so tame to be served so by a few It appears by Dr. Jones his Examination that the Conspirators at Multifernam computed their Number to be 200000 Men and the Event shewed they had no less but I will close all with the Expression of the Congregation at Kilkenny in May 1642. viz. There is the Vnanimous Consent and Agreement of almost the whole Kingdom in this War and Vnion And the saying of the King to the Protestant Agents at Oxford Anno 1644. when they offered to prove that it was a General Conspiracy and Rebellion
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-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 Junctuâ—e 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
more than 50. There were a great many Projects in England for the Plantation of Ulster 1610. but many things that seem'd speclous in the Theory were afterwards found disadvantageous or impracticable Sir Francis Bacon's Notion was signified by his Letter to the King and is to be found in his Reâ—â—scitatio pag. 255. but it is not so exact as rest of that Great Man's Works However the Lands designed for the Undertakers were this Year disposed to them and two Books of Articles were printed for their better direction and it was particularly mention'd in their Agreements That they should not suffer any Labourer that would not take the Oath of Supremacy to dwell upon their Lands But the incomparable City of London was the Soul and Life of the intended Plantation and therefore the Lords of the Council in his Majesty's behalf entred into Articles with that City the Twenty eighth day of January 1609. to this effect First That Twenty thousand Pounds be levied by the City Fifteen thousand Pounds of it to be expended in the Plantation and Five thousand Pounds in clearing and buying Private Titles Secondly That Two hundred Houses be built at Derry and room for Three hundred more and Four thousand Acres profitable Land to be laid thereto and that the Bishop and Dean shall have convenient Plots for their Houses Thirdly That a hundred Houses be erected in Colerain and room for Two hundred more and Three thousand Acres to be annexed thereto and the King to maintain a Bridge for ever Fourthly That the whole County of Colerain be cleared by the City from all Claims except three or Four Irish Free-holders and the Bishop and Dean of Derry and the City to have the whole Territories of Glancanken and Killetragh and the Patronage of Churches Fifthly That the aforesaid Four thousand and three thousand Acres pay a Fee-farm Rent of Fifty three Shillings and four Pence and be held in Free Burgage and all the rest in Common Socage Sixthly That the City shall have all Customs Tonnage Poundage c. for Ninety nine Years at Six shillings eight pence per Ann. and the Fishing of the Ban and Laghfoyl as far as it ebbs Seventhly The City to have liberty to transport Prohibited Goods growing on their own Lands and the Office of Admiralty in the Counties of Tyrconell and Colerain Eighthly That no Flax Hemp Yarn or Raw Hides be transported from Derry or Colerain without Licence of the City-Officers Ninthly That their Land be freed from all Patents of Privilege and all Compositions and Taxes Tenthly That they have the Castle of Culmore keeping a Ward in it Eleventhly That the Liberties of each Town shall extend three Miles each way and shall have such farther Liberties as shall be thought fit on view of the Charters of London Cinque-Ports Newcastle and Dublin Lastly That the King shall keep necessary Forces a convenient time and that the City shall have Seven years to make demand of any thing reasonable and necessary which cannot be now foreseen and that an Act of Parliament shall pass to ratifie these Articles and the City to build sixty Houses in Derry and forty in Colerain with sufficient Fortifications by November next and to finish all by November 1611. But afterwards on the Twenty eighth of March 1611. the Londoners finding that they could not possibly accomplish their Undertaking within the appointed time petitioned the King that they might be permitted to proceed in their Buildings at Colerain and leave alone Derry till the next Year which was granted provided they would finish Colerain that Summer and fortifie or rather inclose Derry It seems the King and Council of England resolved to proceed effectually to the Reformation of Ireland by making Laws and by putting those that were made in execution and by putting that Kingdom under a regular and methodical Government and in order to it on the twenty fourth day of June 1611. the Lord Carew was sent Commissioner to Ireland to inspect Affairs there and to endeavor to lessen the Publick Charge and to inhance the King's Revenue and to provide for a Parliament He had Five Pounds a day allow'd him from the twentieth of May and Four hundred Pounds Imprest he received in England and was to sign next to the Deputy all Orders of Council-board And tho' the Lord Deputy complain'd that the Forts of Halbowling Castle-ni-park Duncannon Gallway and the Castle of Limrick were not finish'd and repair'd and that the Londoners did not proceed to build at Derry tho' they did at Colerain and that it was necessary to keep a considerable Force in the Kingdom nevertheless the Lord Carew and Council did proceed to lessen the King's Charge 13893 l. by reforming the Army which they reduc'd to 176 Horse 1450 Foot and 123 Warders contrary to the Deputy's Opinion who was therefore traduc'd as partial to Military Men and it seems that immediately the Fort of Castle-ni-park that is the Stone-work of it was built and afterwards a Blockhouse was also erected down lower and almost level with the Water and they also setled the Customs in all parts of the Realm On the thirteenth of July 161â— the former Proclamation of the fourth of July 1605. against Titular Bishops Jesuits Friars c. was reviv'd but so faintly executed that I find mention only of the Titular Bishop of Down and four Friars to have been apprehended thereupon There were also Orders issued to tender the Oath of Supremacy to all Magistrates Justices of the Peace and other Officers and to displace those that would not take it And in August there was an Inquisition by Jury to discover the Breaches of Articles made by the Planters and Undertakers in Munster and particularly Whether any Irish contrary to the Plantation-Covenants were permitted to inhabit or dwell on the Lands granted to the Undertakers Moreover there was a general Muster of the Signiory-men or English Inhabitants on the Plantation-Lands at which no body was found so well supplied with British Tenants as Sir Richard Boyle afterwards Earl of Cork for there were mustered of his own Tenants at Tallow Eighty Horsemen One hundred eighty six Pikemen Two hundred and fifty Shot and Six Halberdiers It is observed That all the Goods and Merchandizes exported and imported this Year did not exceed the Value of 211000 l. and before this time there was so little Foreign-Trade that Seven Years Customs probably from the beginning of the King's Reign to April 1609. did amount to no more in the several Ports than as followeth viz. Â l. s. d. Seven Years Customs in Wexford 36 08 10 Ross 53 10 09 Drogheda 215 02 08 Carigfergus 399 06 07 Youghall 70 00 00 Kingsale 18 02 03 Derry Ballyshanon 35 03 10 Cork 255 11 07 Dingle 01 06 06 Waterford 716 03 07 Dublin 1890 02 01 Dundalk 65 19 06 Gallway 72 17 06 Limrick 141 09 06 Dungarvan 00 13 11 But it seems that this was only the Custom of Prohibited Goods 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
Displeasure resolv'd to send them into Ireland and therefore a Commission under the Great Seal of England was directed to Sir Dudly Digs Rushworth 55. Sir Thomas Crew Sir Nathaniel Rich and Sir James Perrot and others to inquire of sundry Matters concerning his Majesties Service in Ireland as well in Point of Government Ecclesiastical and Civil as of Revenue and to inspect the State of the Kingdom and propagate Religion settle the Government and improve the Exchequer The Pretence of this Commission was the many Complaints of the Irish against the Lord Deputy not that there was any just occasion for those Accusations but that it is always their Custom to complain of any Governour That is a good Protestant and a good Englishman as this Lord Deputy was in perfection and is therefore to the last Degree hated and scandaliz'd by the Irish Papists and it is no wonder it should be so for their Interests are Diametrically opposite to that of an English Protestant and therefore it does necessarily follow that whoever Is faithful to the English will be odious to the Irish and subject to their Clamours and Contempts However the Lord Deputy was not wanting to his own Vindication and therefore wrote to the King that he met a Cloud of malicious Enemies instead of good Subjects and that even some of the Privy Council were Spies upon him and took occasions to lessen him tho' they had no other Provocation for doing so but his Examination of a certain Patent according to his Majesties special Order and his righting the Church against their Depredations And tho' the King in Answer August 1621. assur'd him That his Reputation stood without blemish and that his Majesty had sent him some Propositions which he was ordered to observe yet the Deputies Enemies not only prevail'd to have the aforesaid Commission of inspection issued but having gain'd that Point they urged that the Commission could not have any considerable Effect whilst the Lord Deputy continued in the Government and therefore procured that a Successor should be nam'd and that being also accomplish'd in the Choice of the Lord Viscount Falkland The Lords of the Council on 25th of January did advise the King by Letter to re-call the Lord Deputy immediately and to appoint Justices till the new Deputy could go over but the King from Nâ—wmarket on the 28th of January Answers That it were dishonourable to serve one in that eminent Station so unkindly without a Crime and that the new Deputy will be there before the Commissioners can be ready to enter on Business and with his own Hand adds this Postscript It was never wont to be my Fashion to disgrace any Ancient Minister of mine before he were heard To this the Lords of the Council on the Tenth of February reply That they design no Disgrace to the Lord Deputy nor do propose but what is usual and what was done on the removal of the Lord Chichester The King answer'd again That it was so done in the Case of the Lord Chichester because he had not resolv'd who should be the Successor However the Lords of the Council prevail'd and tho' the Lord Deputy did on the Ninth of February 1621. write to the Duke of Buckingham That he is content Publick Proclamation should be made That if he had done any wrong he might suffer for it so confident he was of his Innocency yet he suspected the Design of the intended Commission was to scandalize him and to that end the Commissioners were partial and therefore desires that iâ— the Bent of that Commission be against him then indifferent Men should be employ'd and if only Publick Good were design'd by it that then he might be one of the Commissioners yet he could not prevail in any of his Requests but was in May following remov'd tho' he was afterwards found not only Innocent but so deserving that he was soon after his Return created Viscount Grandison of Limbrick in Ireland Baron Trogose of Highworth in England Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and Privy-Counsellor of both Kingdoms ADAM LOFTUS Viscount ELY 1622. Lord Chancellor RICHARD WINGFIELD Viscount POWERSCOURT were sworn Lords Justices on the Fourth day of May and soon after received a Letter of the 29th of May from his Majesty ordering them to allow the new Lord Deputy Falkland his full Entertainment and all Perquisits c. from the day the Lord Grandison surrendred the Sword abating thereout for themselves at the Rate of 2000 l. per Annum for the time till he receives the Sword and that the House and Grounds of Kilmainham and the Port Corn be likewise reserved for the New Lord Deputy And it seems that these Lords Justices had seised the Lord Grandison's Papers after his removal for on the Eighteenth of June the King sent them a Letter to restore the Papers to that Lord's Servants and another Letter of the Twenty fourth of October was sent to the new Deputy to pay the Lord Grandison 230 l. for the Charges of his Voyage to England And on the 24th of July the King reciting That by a former Patent of the Second of November 1620. he had granted unto Sir William Irwing Two third parts of the forfeited Recognizances of Alehouse-keepers which his Majesty did intend to resume he therefore orders the Lords Justices to accept of Sir William's Surrender and in lieu thereof and for his Services to grant him the Fifth part of all the Profit of Ale-Licences for Twenty one Years commencing from the making of the Act of State for paying Three shillings six pence for every Licence But these Commissioners that went to Ireland were very busie in inquiring into the Misgovernment that was so loudly and bitterly complain'd of but they found by experience Rushw 17â— that too many of the Irish will complain without Cause However they publish'd new Instructions in print for the more orderly Government of the Courts of Justice and did declare That for the future the Council-Table should not administer an Oath in Matters of Interest or Title or in Complaints between Party and Party but should keep it self within its proper Bounds and afterwards November 7. 1625. a Proclamation was published to the same Effect These Commissioners did also make an Estimate of the Revenue and thought that it might be improved to 17067 l. 6 s. 8 d. more than it was in Harps i.e. Nine-pence pieces stamped with a Harp on one side which passed for a Shilling in Ireland so that Twenty shillings Irish was but Fifteen shillings Sterling but how much they were mistaken in their Computation will appear by a Table of their Estimate and an Account how the Revenue stood Anno 1632. 1622. 1632. First They supposed that the Officers of the Presidency might be paid out of the Profits of their respective Courts and so there would be saved per Annum 2657 l. 6 s. 8 d. But the Profits of those Courts do not amount to near that Sum and whatever they
not to be named did very much scandalize the Patrons of his Preferment Nevertheless his unparallel'd Repentance and the most Pious manner of his Death hath obtain'd for himself the Pity of all good Men and undoubtedly the Mercy of God And it is observable 1637. that the Earl of Cork and this Bishop Atherton did on the 27th of June 1637. joyn in a Petit on to the Lord Deputy and Council to appoint Arbitrators to decide their Controversies and accordingly the Bishop of Derry and the Master of the Court of Wards were Assigned to that purpose and in their Adward which I have seen they recite that the Bishopricks of Waterford and Lismore by the Alienations of former Bishops were left worth but Fifty pound per Annum Revenue in Land and that the Earl had not purchased any thing immediately from the Church but from other Persons for valuable Considerations near Forty years before yet out of Love to Religion and the Professors thereof he was contented to part with some of his Right and so they Adwarded Lismore c. to the Earl and Ardmore c. to the Bishop and this Adward was afterwards confirm'd by the Lord Lieutenant and Council and after that by the King Anno 1638. 1638. Doctor Bedell Bishop of Killmore held a Synod in his Diocess which was a thing very strange and unusual in Ireland Nevertheless it made excellent Cannons or Constitutions which are to be sound in Bishop Bedell's Life pag. 237. But Matters growing high in Scotland and England the Lord Deputy went over to the King and left ROBERT Lord DILLON of KILLKENNY WEST Sir CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD Mr. of the Rolls Lords Justices who were Sworn on the 12th of September 1639. and soon after call'd a Parliament which met on the 16th day of March but did little or nothing until THOMAS Earl of STRAFFORD returned Lord Lieutenant on the 18th of March 1639. and on the 20th the Irish Parliament met again and Granted four entire Subsidies to the King and were on the 17th day of June prorogued to the First day of October following having first made the Twelve Acts to be found at large in the Printed Statutes 15 Car. 1. The first of these four Subsidies was Assessed at 46170 l. but the Second and Third of these Subsidies being in the absence of some Protestant Members with the Army at Caricfergus upon the Motion of Nicholas Plunket Assess'd in another manner did not together amount unto more then 23768 l. 15 s. 0 d. and the Fourth Subsidy was never Taxed at all by reason of the Rebellion that ensued And it is to be Noted that the Protestants paid more than one Third of the Commons part of the Subsidies besides 26480 l. 6 s. 0 d. Granted in Fourteen Subsidies by the Protestant Clergy only and above Three fourths of the Nobilities part of these Subsidies or more for the Nine Subsidies on the Nobility came too 52850 l. 18 s. 4 d. whereof the Confederate Lords paid but 10620 l. 18 s. 4 d. and it is very remarkable that foreknowing the Rebellion as undoubtedly they did they paid not one Penny of the Second or Third Subsidies and the Commons paid so little that of the Three Subsidies on them there was in Arrear when the Rebellion broke out 23855 l. 9 s. 7 d. And yet these Gentlemen or their Advocates have bragged in some of their Libels That they gave the King near a Million of Money But to proceed The Lord Lieutenant upon the Credit of these Subsidies and the annual Revenue which now was improv'd to above 80000 l. per Annum was enabled to raise Eight thousand Foot and One thousand Horse additional to the Veteran◠〈◊〉 they cost the Kingdom in raising clothing and paying them 204057 l. and were design'd to sudue the Rebells in Scotland and awe the Mutineers in England but being mostly Papists who were thereby Train'd to the use of Arms this Army was so offensive to all moderate and thinking Protestants that it brought great dis-repute and prejudice on the Kings Affairs and in the end cost the Lord his lieutenant his Head The Lord Lieutenant was exposed to the Hatred of the Presbyterians Husbands Collections 2 part 245. for imposing a new Oath on the People hereafter mentioned which was so much abhorr'd by many that they quitted the Kingdom rather then take it and he was open also to the Jealousies of the Protestants by bringing over with him Sir Toby Mathews a Jesuited Priest and by the Correspondence that was known to be between Paul Harris another plotting Priest and Sir George Ratcliff the Lord Lieutenant's intimate Friend and by suffering Publick Mass-houses at the Naas so near his own House and by permitting Fryars to dwell in a House of his own which he had built to other Uses But notwithstanding all this it is certain he was no Friend to Popery but only temporiz'd until he should meet with a more proper Season to go through with that Work as himself expresses it About this time Archibald Adair who had been Bishop of Killalla since the Year 1630 was deprived of his Bishoprick upon this Occasion One Corbet a Clergy-man that fled from Scotland for writing a Satyrical Book against the Covenanters called Lysimachus Nicanor was sent to this Bishop for Preferment but he being a moderate Man and perhaps too indulgent to his own Nation did not approve of Corbet that had handled the Scots so severely and therefore he gave no countenance to him but on the contrary told him That it was a bad Bird that foul'd his own Nest which was the sharper because Corby in Scotch signifies a Raven And when Corbet told him That he had hardly escaped with Life but had left his Wife to try the Humanity of the Scots the Bishop replied That he had left her to a very base Office And other things he said which the Government thought too favourable to the Govenanters and tho' they would not be much considered at another time yet now was thought a sufficient Cause of Deprivation and Doctor John Maxwell was made Bishop in his room but the next Year after the Execution of Atherton Bishop of Waterford Adair was made Bishop of that See Nor should it be omitted That this Bishop Maxwell a most excellent Preacher and a hearty Royalist was nevertheless wounded stript naked and left amongst the Dead by the Irish Rebels whose Skeins never distinguished between a Prelate and a Fanatick But the Bishop was accidentally preserved by the Earl of Twomond who travelled that way towards Dublin and afterwards went to the King to Oxford and was the first Man that convinced the King of the innate Hatred the Irish Rebels bore to all those of the Protestant Religion But let us return to the Lord Lieutenant who went again to England to give the King an Account of the good Posture of Affairs in Ireland leaving in his stead Sir CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD Master of the Rolls
Parsons by Owen O Conally an Irishman but bred a Protestant by Sir John Clotworthy and he being drunk told his Story so odly and delivered this surprizing Information so incoherently that small regard was had to what he said and therefore he was dismissed with Directions to make farther Discoveries if he could Nevertheless the Lord Parsons went to his Collegue Burlace at Chichester-house to communicate Conally's Intelligence unto him and whilst the Lord Justice Burlace was fretting that Conally should be so slightly dismiss'd Vide his Examination Append 2. behold about Ten a Clock at Night he came again and confirm'd his former Story Whereupon several of the Conspirators were that Night apprehended and tho' James Warren and Paul Neale found means to escape out of Custody yet the Lord Macguire in whose Lodgings were found many Hatchets Skeins and Hammers and Mac Mahon were taken and kept safe until their Execution It was about Five a Clock in the Morning 23d of October when Mac Mahon was Examined and Confessed That on that very day all the Forts and strong Places in Ireland would be taken that he with the Lord Macguire Hugh Brine Captain Bryan O Neale and several other Irish Gentlemen were come expresly to surprize the Castle of Dablin and that Twenty men out of each County were to be here to joyn with them That all the Papist Lords and Gentlemen in the Kingdom were engaged in this Plot That what was to be done in other parts of the Country was so far advanced by that time as it was impossible for the Wit of Man to prevent it that they had him in their Power and might use him as they pleased but he was sure be should be revenged And it is observable that Mac Mahon's Fancy was so full of the Bloody Tragedy which was to be Acted that day that during Owen O Conallies Examination as he walked in Chichester-Hall he drew with Chalk several postures of Men some on Gibbets and some groveling on the Ground so much was he delighted with what he thought or rather knew would soon be the Condition of the miserable English Nor is it to be omitted that Sir William Cole upon the Information of John Cormuck and Flagharty Mac Hugh that the Irish did design to seize on the Castle of Dublin and murder the Lords Justices and Council and the Protestants there did on the 21. of October send Letters with an Account of that Matter to the Lords Justices but how they mis carried is not known but it is certain those Letters never came to hand On this First day of the Rebellion the Irish surprized the Lord Blaney's House his Wife and Children and seized the Newry and the Magazine there See it Burlace 22. wherein were Seventy Barrels of Powder they also took Dungannon Fort Mountjoy Charlemont Tonrage Carrickmacross Cloghouter in the County of Cavan and Castlemonaghan and committed many Murders and the Lords Justices issued a Proclamation to encourage the English to defend themselves which were immediately Printed and sent to several places by Expresses and from this time forward there was not a day and scarce an hour wherein the dismal Tidings of some new Outrage or Barbarity did not arrive On the 24th the Alarms and Fears were so great at Dublin that the Castle Drawbridge was once let down and some of the State went to the Platform of the Castle to view the Irish Army which was falsly said to be approaching The Lords Justices being in this deplorable Condition did turn themselves to all the Methods of preserving the Kingdom which so great a Danger did require and their small Materials would allow but tho' their Industry was great their means were inconsiderable the whole standing Army did not exceed Two thousand ninety seven Foot and Nine hundred Horse Officers included and these were scattered in Single Troops and Companies or small Parties into places remote from Dublin and far distant from one another so that some of them were cut off by the Enemy and more of them being Irish Papists did revolt to the Rebels however they did send Potents for as many as they thought could safely March and particularly for the Earl of Ormond's Troop which came with himself to Dublin on the Second day of December and they made Sir Francis Willoughby Commander of the Castle These Letters are at large Temple 25. and Sir Charles Coot Governour of the City and on the 25th of October sent Owen O Conally with Letters to the Lord Lieutenant and Sir Henry Spotswood with an Express to the King But their main hope was that the Papists of the Pale who were of English Extraction and had signalized their Loyalty in all former Rebellions would also stand firm to the Crown in This and therefore the Lords Justices and Council sent Letters to the Sheriffs of those five Counties to make their best defence against the Rebels and to do all that was necessary for their own Preservation And to encourage as well as enable those Papists that the State had a good Opinion of the Lords Justices dispersed Seventeen hundred Arms to the Lords of Fingall Gormanstown Dunsany Slane Netervill Merion Hoath and other Roman Catholick Gentlemen for the Guard of the Pale and Arms were likewise sent to the Towns of Waterford Wexford and Trim with a Licence to import more they issued also Commissions of Martial Law for the more speedy Execution of the Rebels and thereby the more Expeditious Suppressing of the Rebellion Temple 55. and these Commissions were directed to Papists viz. to Henry Talbot for the County of Dublin John Bellew Esquire for the County of Louth Richard Dalton and James Tuit in Westmeath and James Talbot in the County of Cavan They also gave Commissions of Government of the respective Counties to several Roman Catholicks viz. the Lords Mountgarret Gormanstown Mayo Costilo Walter Bagnall Sir James Dillon Sir Robert Talbot Sir Christopher Bellew Sir Thomas Nugent and Mr. Nicholas Barnewall and by these Commissions these Lords and Gentlemen in their respective Districts had power to Levy and raise Forces to Arm and Array and conduct them and to prosecute the Rebels with Fire and Sword to use Martial Law and to Pardon and receive into his Majesties mercy as they should think fit as may be seen more at large in the Lord Gormanstowns Commission Postea Appendix 8. But the Lords and Gentlemen of the Pale were deeper in this General Conspiracy than the Lords Justices suspected and therefore were so far from being wrought upon by these Kindnesses and the Confidence the State placed in them that on the contrary from the very beginning they industriously sought for Pretences to break out into Action Their first Essay was on the 27th day of October at which time they picked a Quarrel at the words Irish Papists in the Proclamation against the Rebels as being Terms so General and Comprehensive that themselves might seem included and tho' they being Old English
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 〈◊〉 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 Wainmâ—â— 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
that hereafter he will be pleased upon the humble Suit of both Houses of Parliament to give His Royal Assent to such Bills as they shall tender unto him for the setling of those Propositions and all other things necessarily conducing thereunto Ibid. 86. And on the Twenty fourth of February His Majesty returned His Gracious Answer in Approbation of these Votes in haec verba viz. That as he hath offered and is still ready to venture His own Royal Person for the Recovery of that Kingdom if His Parliament shall advise him thereunto so He will not deny to contribute any other Assistance he can to that Service by parting with any Profit or Advantage of his own there and therefore relying on the Wisdom of His Parliament doth consent to every Proposition now made to him without taking time to examine whether this course may not retard the reducing of that Kingdom by exasperating the Rebels and rendring them desperate of being received into Grace if they shall return to their Obedience It would be too tedious to relate all that was done in this Affair of the Adventurers and therefore all that I shall mention here upon that Head is That these Votes produced several Acts of Parliament in Confirmation of them and raised the Sum of 400000 l for the Irish War But on the 9th day of March in the Declaration presented to the King at Newmarket Husbands 97. the Parliament inserted this Article viz. That the Rebellion in Ireland was framed and contrived here in England and that the English Papists should have risen about the same time we have several Testimonies and Advertisements from Ireland and that is a common Speech amongst the Rebels wherewith concur other Evidences and Observations of the suspicious Meetings and Consultations the tumultuary and seditious Carriage of those of that Religion in divers parts of this Kingdom about the time of the breaking out of the Irish Rebellion the Deposition of O Conally the Information of Master Cole Minister the Letter of Tristram Whitcombe the Deposition of Thomas Crant and many others which we may produce do all agree in this the publick Declaration of the Lords Gentlemen and others of the Pale That they would joyn with the Rebels whom they call the Irish Army or any other to recover unto His Majesty His Royal Prerogative wrested from him by the Puritan Faction in the House of Parliament in England and to maintain the same against all others as also to maintain Episcopal Jurisdiction and the lawfulness thereof these two being Quarrels upon which His Majesties late Army in the North should have been incensed against us To which His Majesty Answers thus Ibid. 106. If the Rebellion in Ireland so odious to all Christians seems to have been framed and maintained in England or to have any countenance from hence We conjure both Our Houses of Parliament and all Our loving Subjects whatsoever to use all possible means to discover and find such out that we may joyn in the most exemplary Vengeance upon them that can be imagined But We must think Our self highly and causelesly injured in Our Reputation if any Declaration Action or Expression of the Irish Rebels any Letter from Count Rosettie to the Papists for Fasting and Praying or from Tristram Whitcombe of strange Speeches uttered in Ireland shall beget any Jealousie or Misapprehension in Our Subjects of Our Justice Piety and Affection it being evident to all Understandings That those mischievous and wicked Rebels are not so capable of great Advantage as by having their false Discourse so far believed as to raise Fears and Jealousies to the Distraction of this Kingdom the only way to their Security And we cannot express a deeper sense of the Sufferings of Our poor Protestant Subjects in that Kingdom than We have done in Our often Messages to both Houses by which We have offered and are still ready to venture Our Royal Person for their Redemption well knowing That as We are in Our own Interest more concerned in them fo We are to make a strict Accompt to Almighty God for any Neglect of Our Duty or their Preservation And on the 15th of March 113. from Huntington the King sent this Message viz. That he doth very earnestly desire that they will use all possible Industry in expediting the business of Ireland in which they shall find so chearful a Concurrence by his Majesty that no Inconvenience shall happen to that Service by his Absence he having all that Passion for the reducing of that Kingdom which he hath expressed in his former Messages and being unable by words to manifest more Affection to it than he hath endeavoured to do by those Messages having likewise done all such Acts as he hath been moved unto by his Parliament therefore if the Misfortunes and Calamities of his poor Protestant Subjects there shall grow upon them tho' His Majesty shall be deeply concerned in and sensible of their Sufferings he shall wash his hands before all the World from the least Imputation of Slackness in that most necessary and pious Work Whereupon the Parliament Voted the next day Ibid. That those Persons that advise His Majesty to absent himself from the Parliament are Enemies to the Peace of this Kingdom and justly to be suspected to be Favourers of the Rebellion in Ireland Resolved c. 1642. That those Persons that advised His Majesty to this Message are Enemies to the Peace of this Kingdom and justly to be suspected to be Favourers of the Rebellion in Ireland The Year 1642. began with Sir Symon Harcourt's Expedition against Carrickmain in the County of Dublin on the Twenty sixth of March which proved fatal to him nevertheless his Lieutenant-Colonel Gibson took the Castle and put all within it to the Sword refusing to give Quarter to those obstinate Rebels that had slain his beloved Colonel And about the same time all the Popish Priests that could be found in Dublin were by the Lords Justices sent in French Bottoms to France In the beginning of April 1642. Doctor Jones afterwards Bishop of Meath and Seven other Divines who by Virtue of a Commission dated the 23d of December 1641. had taken many Examinations about the Rebellion and the Murders Plunders and Robberies committed by the Irish did out of their Depositions form a Remonstrance and being recommended by the Lords Justices and Council they did Present it to the Commons House of Parliament in England It set forth That the Rebellion was occasioned by the ancient Hatred which Papists bear to Protestants and by their Surfet of Freedom and Indulgence in that Kingdom That the Design was to eradicate the Protestant Religion and the Professors of it that the Rebellion was general and of a long Contrivance that sometimes they pretended the Kings Commission and sometimes spoke Contemptibly of his Majesty that they designed to extirpate all of English Extraction even the very Papists that they kicked Bibles up and down and
and attacked them so briskly that they quickly fled but by reason of the adjacent Bog and the harrass'd Condition of the English Horse there was not much Execution done the number of the Slain not exceeding Five hundred amongst which were the Lord Dunboyn's Brother the Lord Ikerin's Son and Colonel â—â—vâ—nagh and on the English side not above Twenty killed and Forty wounded However it was an entire Victory all their Powder and Amunition the Generals Waggon drawn with Eight Oxen his and the Lords of Ikerin's Sumptures and Twenty Colours being taken and for this great Service the Lieutenant General had a Letter of thanks from the Parliament of England and a Jewel worth 500 l. Soon after arrived at Dublin Philip Lord Lisle Lieutenant General of the Horse and his first Essay was to relieve the Castle of Geashill which with Three hundred Horse and One hundred and twenty Foot he easily effected he was accompanied by old Sir Charles Coot in this Action who at a Council of War told the rest that if they made haste they might easily pass the Defiles and Causeways before the Enemy could get together to oppose them whereto another reply'd that perhaps that might be so but when the Countrey was Alarm'd how should they get back I protest said Sir Charles Coot I never thought of that in my Life I always considered how to do my business and when that was done I got home again as well as I could and hitherto I have not mist of forcing my way and accordingly they went and their march was so swift that they came unexpectedly to Phillipstowne and took it and on their return they followed some of the Popish Lords of the Pale to Trim and forced that place likewise and by Coot's advice resolved to make it a Garison and therefore in order to settle this Affair with the Lords Justices the Lord Lisle guarded by some of the Horse went to Dublin but the next night after he was gone the Irish to the number of Three thousand came in the dead of the night to surprise Trim but the Centinel gave the Alarm and thereupon Sir Charles Coot with all the Horse he could get being not above Seventeen issued out of the Gate and was followed by others as fast as they could get ready The Success was answerable to so generous an Undertaking and the Irish were routed without any other considerable Loss on the English Side except that of Sir Charles Coot himself who was shot dead but whether by the Enemy or one of his own Troopers is variously reported Upon his Death the Government of Dublin was given to the Lord Lambert on the Twelfth of May and tho' in July Colonel Monk had it by the Lord Lieutenant's Order yet as soon as the King was informed that it had been predisposed to the Lord Lambert Monk was removed and the Lord Lambert was confirmed And on the Twenty third of May the Marquis of Ormond publish'd a Proclamation against the Exorbitances of the Soldiers and to supply their Necessities the Lords Justices gave them Custodiums on the Villages in the Irish Quarters which produced good Effects both in relieving the Soldiers and in annoying the Rebels On the first of June came over some Regiments under the Conduct of Sir Foulk Hunks and Lieutenant Colonel Kirke whereupon the Earl of Ormond with Four thousand five hundred Foot and Six hundred Horse marched to the Relief of Athlone and in his way took in the Castles of Knocklinch Trimletstown and Kinkelfe and beat Five hundred Rebels from Ballynecurr but upon his approach the Rebels burnt Molingar and Bullymore and Sir James Dillon and the Irish Army thought fit to withdraw so that the Lord President of Connaught with Fifty Horse and Two hundred Foot met the Marquis of Ormond Five Miles from Athlone and received from him Two Regiments of Foot and Two Troops of Horse and then both these Lords return'd the one to Athlone and the other to Dublin About the same time viz. in June Colonel Monk marching to reinforce the Lieutenant-General took Castleknock and killed Eighty Rebels besides some that he hanged and a while after he took the Castles of Rathroffy and Clongowswood in the County of Kildare and did good Execution upon the Enemy and of Seventy which he had taken Prisoners most of them being murdering Rebels were afterwards executed at Dublin And on the Twentieth of the same Month Colonel Gibson made a prosperous Incursion into Wicklow and killed many of the Confederates and brought home a considerable Prey But on the Twenty first of June the Irish Parliament sat according to the Prorogation and the Lower House voted That the Oath of Supremacy should be tendred to all their Members that so the Rotten ones may be cut off and new ones chosen in their room and to that purpose a Bill was prepar'd and sent into England and it seems that they did proceed to chuse new Members for the Corporations and Counties within their power in stead of those that were in actual Rebellion which was one of the Grievances the Confederates afterwards complain'd of And it is worthy Observation The Proclamation Burlace Append. p. 57. That the Lords Justices and Council finding the Rebellion to be so general that all Degrees and Conditions of the Irish had with hateful and bloody obstinacy either publickly or privately contributed to the Destruction and Extirpation of the Protestants and that those under Protection abused that Favour to murder and rob the English the more slily and securely they did by their Order of the Nineteenth of August revoke repeal and annul all Protections that had been given to any Rebel before that time which was one of the wisest Acts that was done in the whole War for nothing is more experimentally true than this That the English never or very seldom suffered by the Irish at open Defiance but have been often destroyed by their Perfidiousness and Treachery But to proceed In August the Lord Moor Sir John Burlace junior and Colonel Gibson with Fifteen hundred Men two Pieces of Battery and two Field-pieces marched into the Counties of Louth and Meath and took the strong Castle of Sedan with the Slaughter of Five hundred Rebels whereat the Lords Gormanstown and Nettervill were so frightned that the former quitted the Fort of Nabar and the other deserted the Castle of Newtown whereby those Counties of Louth and Meath were cleared of the Enemy And this good Success was followed by more of the same sort for the Captains Piggot and Grimâ—s defeated a Party of Eight hundred Rebels near Athy and killed Two hundred of them and the Lord Lisle in the midst of September marched without controul through West-Meath and Cavan and destroyed the Country burnt the Earl of Fingall's House and his Town of Virginia and at last sat down before Carrickmacross which after one days Battery was deserted by the Cowardly Ward But in October the Rebels to the number of Two
Warrant from Mr. Nicholas Plunket And on the Fourteenth of November they nam'd their Supreme Council viz. LEINSTER Archbishop of Dublin jurat Viscount Gormanstown jurat Viscount Mountgarret jur resid Nicholas Plunket jur resid Richard Beling jur resident James Cusack jur resid CONAUGH Archbishop of Tuam jur Viscount Mayo Bishop of Clonfert jur resid Sir Lucas Dillon jur Patrick Darcy jur resident Jeofry Brown jur resident MUNSTER Viscount Roch jur resid Sir Daniel O Bryan Edmond Fitzmorris jur Doctor Fennell jur Robert Lambart jur resid Geo. Comyn jur ULSTER Archbishop of Armagh jur resid Bishop of Down jur resid Philip O Reyly jur resid Colonel Mac Mahon jur Ever Macgenis jur Tirlagh O Neal. They also appointed Provincial Councils and ordered That the Supreme Council may authorise One or more to sollicit Aid of Foreign Princes to advance this Common and Holy Cause and may give them Instructions And on the Fifteenth of November they appointed the Lord Mountgarret to be president and Richard Shea to be Clerk of the Supreme Council And that the Officers of the Army calling to their Assistance one or more of each Province should concert the Measures of carrying on the War And that the Supreme Council shall send an Agent to the King to inform Him of the Motives and Causes of this Holy War and of the Grievances of the Kingdom And they appoint Sir Richard Barmwall Muster-master General and order Four thousand Pounds in Money to be new Coined And on the Sixteenth of November they ordered 31700 Men to be raised in the following Counties whereof 5300 Foot and 520 Horse were to go to the Army and the rest to be for the Defence of the Country and the Garisons viz. Â Â Â Foot Horse West-Meath 3000 whereof for the Army 500 50 Meath 3000 Â 500 50 Kildare 3000 Â 500 50 Wexford 3000 Â 500 50 Kings County 2800 Â 500 30 Queens County 2400 Â 400 40 Wickloe 2400 Â 400 40 Dublin 2000 Â 300 50 Kilkenny City 3000 Â 500 50 Louth 1700 Â 300 20 Longford 3000 Â 500 50 Catherlogh 2400 Â 400 40 Â 31700 Â 5300 520 And on the Nineteenth of November they order'd That the King's Revenue be duly gathered up for the making a Common Stock for the Use of the Kingdom And on the Twentieth they appointed the Lord Brittas John Kelly John Baggot James Darcy Maurice Fitzharris and Maurice Baggot a Committee to enquire after Protestants Goods and Lands in the County of Limerick And on the 21th day James Cusack who before the Rebellion was one of the King's Council and Clerk to the Commission of Grace was appointed Attorney-General And it was ordered That Soldiers be Cessed on all Persons and Places that are refractory in paying their Quotâ— of the Contribution and that every Burgess shall have Five shillings per diem and every Knight of a Shire Ten shillings per diem during the Assembly and for Ten days before and after it and that the Earl of Castlehaven devise an Order of Knighthood concerning the Honor of St. Patrick and the Glory of the Kingdom And so on the Ninth of January this Assembly was Dissolved leaving the Government in the Hands of The Supreme Council who notwithstanding his Majesty's Proclamation of 1 January 1641. under His own Signet to the contrary acted as a SEPARATE STATE and contrary to their own Oath of Maintaining the King's Prerogative and their Pretence of taking Arms for it they usurped all the King's Prerogatives even to that of Coining Money and sending Ambassadors to Foreign Princes and to the Granting of Letters of Mart and Reprisalâ— whereof the Reader may see a Precedent Burlace pag. 97. And thus Matters â—ood in Ireland in the Year 1642. In the close of the last Year we left our small Army near Ross 1643. which tho' Victorious was nevertheless in a sad Condition being meanly â—â—oatlied in Fed and worse Paid so that tho' the Lords Justices and Council did send a pressing Letter to the Lieutenant General to keep the Army abroad because there was no Subsistence for them in Dublin and the better to enable him thereunto they sent him Six thousand Pound of Bisket and Ten Barrels of Powder and the like quantity of Match and Musket Bullet yet the Wants of the Army were so great in all manner of Necessaries that it was impossible to keep the Field and therefore they returned to Dublin It is one of the most difficult things in the World to keep an ill-paid Army in exact Discipline for the Soldier that is denied his Due will expect a Connivance upon any Extortion that is less than Equivalent to his Pay and from one Degree it passes to another till it Centers in Licentiousness and thus it happened in Dublin the Officers at first winked at the little Rapines of the Soldiers till at length they openly plundered the Markets but this was the way to spoil all and by discouraging the Market Folks to starve themselves therefore it was strictly prohibited by a severe Proclamation and some Offenders were made Examples whereupon many of the Officers of the Army on the Fourth of April 1643 presented the Government with a very bold and threatning Remonstrance quod vide Appendix 20. which they say was another Cause of the ensuing Cessation But General Preston having again besieged Ballynakill Colonel Crawford on the Eleventh of April marched from Dublin with Thirteen hundred Foot and One hundred and thirty Horse to raise that Siege but he could not perform it and so that place was surrendred But I should have mentioned that the Lords Justices and Council to prevent any Peace or Cessation with the Irish did send His Majesty a most excellent Letter of the Sixteenth of March 1642. recited at large here Appendix 4. which it seems was not well relished at Court for not long after Sir William Parsons who was a great Promoter of that Letter was removed and thereupon accused of Treasonable misdemeanours by Major Butler and Sir Francis Warren but there being more of Malice than Truth in that Impeachment it came to nothing however Sir JOHN BURLACE and Sir HENRY TICHBURNE were Sworn Lords Justices on the Twelfth of May and on the Twenty fifth of the same Month the Pope sent over his Bull of Indulgence to the Confederates which is to be found here Appendix 15 and was published by the Irish even after the Cessation was concluded But the Lords Justices and Council were tyred in contriving ways to support the Soldiery and at length they thought upon an Excise and by their proclamation of the Twenty fourth day of June imposed it for Six Months unless other relief for the Army should be sent in the mean time This Excise was exceeding high amounting to half the value of the Commodity in lieu whereof the Retailer was permitted to advance his Price a Moiety more than
suffer the Right of the Crown to be destroyed by any way but shall Lett it to your power and if you cannot Lett the same you shall certifie His Majesty clearly and expresly thereof you shall give your true and faithful Council for the King's Majesty's Profit and his Highness's Council you shall conceal and keep All other things for the Preservation of His Majesty's Realm of Ireland the Peace amongst His People and Execution of His Justice according to His Majesty's Laws Usages and Customs of His Highness's Realm you shall perform and do to your power So God you help and by the Contents of this Book The Lord Lieutenant did immediately set himself to reform the Army and reduced his own Troop to 40 and Lucas and Armstrong's Troops to 30 each and the other two Troops to 25 each so that he had in all but 150 Horse and 2000 Foot and to maintain these he was forced to revive the Excise and to lay a Tax of 3d. per Acre throughout that part of the Pale under his power and to seize on some Debts and Tobacco belonging to the Londoners and on the 16th of March he issued a Proclamation to prohibit Outrages and Robberies on pain of Death And thus Matters stood in Ireland at the end of the Year 1643. Nor can we open the following Year with a better Scene than a Session of Parliament 1644. which was held at Dublin on the 17th of April and the very next day the Speakers of both Houses issued Letters to the Officers of the Army strictly prohibiting them from taking the Solemn League and Covenant and in those Letters they took notice of the Lords Justices and Councils Proclamations of the 18th of December 1643 to the same effect And on the 20th of May the Government issued a Proclamation to free from Customs and Impositions for 6 Months all Goods and Commodities that shall be imported for the Relief of the Army into Dublin Drogheda Carlingford Dundalk Cork Youghall or Kinsale But we must leave Ireland for a while and adjourn to Oxford which was the Theater on which the Affairs of that Kingdom were for the present transacted and therefore the Negotiations there shall be handled together and they happened in this manner The Cessation being made as hath been already related the Confederates chose the Lord Viscount Muskery Sir Robert Talbot Dermond mac Teig O Brian c. As their Agents to sollicite the King in England about the Terms of a Peace and the Lords Justices did likewise as from the Council-Board send Sir William Stuart Sir Gerard Lowther Sir Philip Percival 1643. and Justice Donelan to whom Sir George Ratcliff and Sir William Sambach being then at London were added But the Protestants not knowing of this last or not thinking that these Agents would effectually insist upon Their Sense of Affairs or were prepared to prove their Grievances Did on the Sixth of October meet at the Earl of Kildare's House and agreed upon a Petition which they preferred to the Lords Justices and Coâ—ncil desiring leave for their Agents to repair to the King and that the Irish Agents might not be heard till they should arrive and that Care might be taken to continue the present Parliament which by Change of one of the Lord Justices was in Danger of being dissolved To which on the Twelfth of October they received a favourable Answer That they the Lords Justices had taken care to send Protestant Agents to the King to assist in the Treaty and that nevertheless they would transmit a Copy of the Petitioners request to His Majesty and if His Majesty would License their Departure they would not hinder it But the Protestants knowing that even of late time Agents had gone to the King without such special License from His Majesty they did on the Fourthteenth of October proceed to the Choice of Four Persons fit to be employed and prepared a Petition to the King and then Petitioned the Lords Justices and Council To transmit that Address to His Majesty and to License their Agents to repair unto him to England and on the 19th the Lords Justices answered That they had signified their former Petition to his Majesty and had importuned Secretary Nicholas for a speedy Answer which the Petitioners ought to expect and that in the mean time they would not hinder the Agents from going when they pleased but could not recommend them to the King until His Majesties Pleasure were known The Lord Chancellor Bolton took an Exception to the Copy of the Petition that it was not signed as the Original was which Nicety was soon answered by transcribing the Names of the Subscribers but the Earl of Roscomon Sir James Ware and one other who had signed the first Petition went farther and entered the following Protestation concerning it The Sense of divers of his Majesties Protestants Subjects who have Signed to the late Petition directed to His Majesty SUffering under the Mis-construction of Our Petition We hold it fit to declare that We exhibited not the same through want of Assurance of His Majesties Care of the Protestant Religion and of his Subjects nor yet to divert any Supplies that may be drawn from hence against such as in his Kingdom of England have taken up Arms against him but meerly in Right to Gods Cause and in Our Right humbly to inform His Majesty when the Irish Agents repair unto him if the said Agents shall endeavour to surprise or prejudice Us in either this is the Commission We give and if any Person or Persons imployed by Us shall go further or otherwise busie themselves to the disturbance of His Majesties Service against such We do and shall protest as being in Our Intentions no Parties thereunto which as it may serve to vindicate our Faith to His most sacred Majesty so it may shew how Causeless the Jealousies are of this Address to him And thus it stood till January when His Majesties Letter of the Sixth of November arrived and thereby License was granted to the Petitioners to send their Four Agents whereupon the Petitioners chose Sir Charles Coot and Captain William Parsons to be added to the Four they had pitched upon before and presented their Names to the Lord Lieutenant and on the Seventeenth day of February following the Commons of the Irish Parliament approved of what the Petitioners had done and declared their Concurrence therewith whereupon the Petitioners moved the Lord Lieutenant and Council for a recommendation to His Majesty both of their Cause and Agents and being demanded they produced their Instructions which were rectified as is mentioned Appendix 22. and then they were informed that it would gain them favour with the King if they carried over their Companies with them except Sir Charles Coot's which was in Conaught but Captain Parsons his Troop chose rather to be disbanded then to go over to Fight against their Countrey-men but Captain Ridgway's and Sir Francis Hamiltons Companies were Transported under their
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 Perâ—idy ☞ 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 ☞ 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 â—ustifie 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
World upon whose Loyalty and Conduct in the Affairs of Ireland His Majesty did most depend But there is yet a greater Mystery in the matter and it was thus Whilst Ormond was in England the Scots * Earl of Lanerick Earl of Lauderdale 〈…〉 Commissioners finding what usage was design'd to the King did endeavour to retreive the Honour of their Nation by doing something extraordinary in his Favour and the Presbyterians every where finding the prevailing Independents did despise the Sanctity of the Covenant and the Supporters thereof began to be Alarm'd so a proper Juncture of doing Service to the King was suddenly expected hereupon Ormond by the Kings Order met the Scotch Commissioners near Marlow and they for Scotland and he for Ireland undertook to promote His Majesties Service and in order to it he went to France and so into Ireland to prosecute this Design and not in Answer to the Irish Ambassy as they sancied and the same Reason prevailed upon Insiquin to joyn with him and it was pursuant to this Treaty that the Earl of Lanerick then Duke Hamilton invaded the Kingdom of England But as soon as the Parliament Commissioners in Ireland understood 27th July that the Marquiss of Ormond intended to return to that Kingdom they did all that was possible to prevent his Design and upon bare Suspicion seized upon Sir Maurice Eustace Sir John Gifford Sir Francis Willoughby Colonel William Flower the Lieutenant Colonels Ryves Capron and Smith Major John Stephens and Captain Peirce and kept them Prisoners in the Castle for some days and then sent them in Custody to Chester and they also kept Sir Thomas Lucas and Colonel Byron Prisoners at Tredagh As for the Military Motions this Year tho' they were not many nor in many Places Munster being entirely quiet and very little either of Leinster or Ulster disturbed yet they may be esteemed very considerable because they were between the Irish themselves for Insiquin had managed his Affairs so prudently by assisting the weaker side and the Nuncio had Acted so rashly in Excommunicating the Supream Council and their Adherents that Owen Roe and Preston and their Followers were engaged in as * Quod quidem ille acrius quam unquam fecerat in communes Religionis Regni hostes in Confederatos presecutus est Beling 118. fierce and as spiteful a War as any that had been since the Rebellion broke out so that Preston assisted by the Marquiss of Clanrickard took Athâ—one and besieged Athy and Insiquin in favour of the Supream Council besieged Fortfalkland and tho' Owen Roe came to relieve it and posted his Army so advantagiously between Insiquin and Munster that the English had certainly been starved if the generous Bounty of the Marquiss of Clanrickard had not supplyed them with Necessaries yet at length Owen Roe was forced to a retreat not much different from a Flight and the Fort was surrendered to Insiquiâ— and with these Losses November and this Disgrace Owen Roe was so netled that he ravaged over the whole County of Roscomon and took Jamestown and so obstinately Stormed Carigdrumrusk that Rory Macguire and most of his Regiment were there slain and in revenge of it the Garison being all Papists were put to the Sword And by this Campaign Owen Roe was so weakned that he offered a Cessation to Colonel Jones and to carry his Army to Spain if Jones would give him Liberty to do so And it seems That the Marquiss of Antrim had some Highlanders in the Counties of Wicklow and Wexford which being joyned with the Birnes and Cavenaghs who were of the Nuncio Faction and rejected the Peace gave such Disturbance to the Supream Council that they were fain to send Sir Edmond Butler and Sir Thomas Esmond to suppress them which at last they effected tho' not without considerable Slaughter on both sides In the mean time Jones took Ballysannon Nabber and Ballyho and many of the Scots being gone to assist Duke Hamilton's Invasion of England Colonel Monk by the means of Sir Price Coghrun and Lieutenant Colonel Cunningham surprized Carigfergus and in it Monroe September whom he sent Prisoner to London and then had an easie Conquest of Belfast and Colerain and Sir Charles Coot had no very hard one of the Fort of Culmore and for those good Services the Parliament Presented Colonel Monk with 500 l. and made him Governour of Carigfergus But in November the Irish Ambassadours to the Pope returned to Ireland and brought with them abundance of Relicks but no Money Beling 196. as may be easily gathered from the following Letter from Sir Richard Blake to Sir Robuck Linch Sir THIS day the Lord Bishop of Fernes and Mr. Plunket gave an account of their Negotiation to the House they made a full Representation to his Holiness of the desperate Condition of the Kingdom that without present and good Supplies which they expected from his Holiness there was no hope of the Preservation of the Catholick Religion or Nation That his Holiness was bound in Justice to do it his Nuncio here having in a General Assembly of the Confederates undertaken That the Sum promised Sir Kenelm Digby for the Wars of England upon good Conditions for Catholicks would be applied to the Service of the Catholick Confederates of Ireland but after four Months attendance their Answer was there being no Intelligence then of our Distance or Divisions with the Lord Nuncio or Owen O Neal That his Holiness hath sent by the Dean of Firmo a considerable Help unto us and that he had no account how that was disposed of That the Turks were in Candia and threatened Italy That there was great Scarcity of Corn in Rome and the adjoyning Territories and that a great Sum of Money must be issued to satisfy the Commoners That his Predecessor Pope Urban had left the Treasury empty and the See deeply charged with Debt That the Cardinals and others who had Pious Intentions to advance our Holy Cause were Poor and hardly able to maintain their own Ports so that nothing could be expected from them And for the Conditions the Agents expected from his Holiness for Religion upon our Treaty with the Queen and Prince he said that it was not proper for the See Apostolick to grant any Articles to Hereticks though it be true that Catholick Princes in Germany and other Kingdoms do it As for the Nuncio's Engagement That the Catholicks of Ireland should be Supplied by his Holiness in their Maintenance of the War that he had no such Commission though it was true that his Holiness would give Money for Conditions of Religion but none upon the Event of War Our Agents heard not of our Disunion and Raptures in this Kingdom until after their taking leave of his Holiness and then when the same was known and published in Rome they heard from some eminent Persons That what his Holiness was resolved to give for our Support he knew not to what Party he
observe That it was a constant Rule with him ever since his coming to the Government in the year 1662. to order the Muster-Master to check the Pay of every Officer and Soldier that did not produce a Certificate of taking the Sacrament twice a year On the 2d of December Circular Letters were sent to the Justices of Peace to make a strict search after the Titular Bishops and Regular Clergy that did not transport themselves according to the Proclamation of the 16th of October and on the 12th of December a Proclamamation issued to quicken the Justices of Peace in searching for Arms c. On the 13th of December issued a Proclamation taking notice of a Letter scattered in the Streets of Dublin intimating a Conspiracy against the Life of the Lord-Lieutenant and promising Protection and Reward of 200 l. to the Discoverer and at length one Jepson a young man newly perverted and two Priests his Abettors were taken and imprison'd for the Fact In the mean time the Lord-Lieutenant took great care to revive the Militia and to Discipline Arm and Array them And on the 26 th of March 1679. there issued a Proclamation to seize the nearest Relations of Tories and to imprison them until such Tories are killed or taken and to apprehend the Popish Priests of every Parish respectively and transport them beyond Seas unless within fourteen days after any Robbery or Murther committed the Criminals be taken killed or discovered And on the same day a Reward of 10 l. for taking a Jesuit or Titular-Bishop was promised by Proclamation And not long afterwards the Lord-Lieutenant and Council by their Letter ordered the Popish Inhabitants to be removed from Galloway Limerick Waterford Clonmell Kilkenny and Droghedagh except some few Trading Merchants Artificers and others necessary for the said Towns and Garisons and by vertue thereof many were expelled but by the stupidity of the Protestants and at their request and upon their Security the Papists were readmitted into those Towns Some time before this there was a great blow given to Popery by the Conversion of Dr. Andrew Sall a Learned and a Pious Man He had been a Jesuit of the Fourth Vow and in great esteem amongst that Party He was afterwards made one of the King's Chaplains and continued a good Protestant till his death On the 3 d of April 1680. the Earl of Anglesey wrote to the Lord-Lieutenant That Hetherington is sent over to Ireland to make good his Information if he can and that it is His Majesty's absolute and unalterable pleasure advised by all the Council to have every individual of the Popish Clergy seized and imprisoned till they petition to be sent over Seas and promise never to return or practice against the State for there is no other way to cure their Madness And that there are those in England that will undertake to apprehend them all To which His Excellency on the 17 th of April returned this Answer That above a year ago two Proclamations did issue against the Popish Clergy with promise of Rewards to those that should apprehend them and that if any in England will undertake it they shall have the promised Reward and his Thanks besides And that to tell him of the insolent Deportment and signal Perfidy of the Popish Clergy of Ireland is to preach to him that there is pain in the Gout and protests That he would rather be rid of Them than of that Disease And for his farther sense of them refers to a Letter of his printed near the end of P. W. ' s Remonstrance In May 1682. His Excellency went to England leaving his Son the Ear of Arran Lord Deputy until his return which happened in August 1684. On the 14th of March 1683. issued a Commission of Grace to the Chief Governour Chancellor High-Treasurer Chancellor of the Exchequer the three Chief Judges Master of the Rolls Secretary of State the second Justice of the Kings-Bench and the two Barons of the Exchequer to grant His Majesty's Title to those that were in possession and to grant Mannors and other Privileges for a reasonable Fine c. and by vertue hereof a Court called the Court of Grace sate at the King's-Inns which at length dissolved by the death of the King which happened on the 6th day of February 1684. As soon as the News of the King's death arrived at Dublin the Duke of Ormond summoned the Council and the next day they proclaimed King James II. great Solemnity but with such dismal Countenances and so much Concern as if they had that day foreseen as many did the Infelicity and Misfortune of the following Reign The Irish are generally a People that bear Adversity better than Prosperity In Tribulation they have shewn some Fortitude and Patience but they never met with the Smiles of Fortune without Transportation and Extacy and upon this extraordinary occasion they grew so extravagant and wild that I dare â—ver That the Irish in the short Reign of King James did commit more Insolencies on the English than These did on Them in 500 years before The Instances of this sort are innumberable and the Circumstances almost incredible It would be too tedious to enumerate the particular Batteries Perjuries Affronts and Murthers and therefore I will confine my self to Generals and of that sort was The desertion of their Cabbins by the Irish for several months together under pretence of a fear of being murdered by the English and this was done throughout the Kingdom and in many Parishes where there were few or no English to be afraid of and the design of all this was to get the English disarm'd and to usher in a practice which was as general viz. Of impeaching the English for assembling together in the night-time And although the Perjuries in this Affair were so notorious that the very Promoters of this Design were asham'd of it yet near 3000 were indicted of this Offence and for Treasonable Words and the like in one Vacation and especially in the County of Tipperary and if the Courage and Integrity of Sir John Mead had not â—topped their Career there the Consequence of this Trick had been fatal to the English of that County and as it was it did them a great deal of harm And in the County of Cork Major Lawless a waspish and inveterate Fellow was the grand Prosecutor but he having more Malice than Wit managed the matter with such rashness and unbecoming vehemence as expos'd him to the Censure even of his own Party And besides a thousand other severities he did to the English he caused Sir Emanuel Moore Edward Rigs Esq and thirty-three Protestants more to be indicted and tried for High-Treason although he had nothing at all to say against the first but that he was a Protestant nor any more to object against the second but that he should say That he had a good Estate in England and if he could not live quietly in Ireland he would go thither However he was so
and the Measures of the Rebellion were concerted and setled there tho it seems by the Lord Macguir's Examination that the Day was appointed at Loghross But as the Lords Justices and Council in their Letter express it none of the former Rebellions could parallel this either in the dangerous Original the unexampled Cruelty and extreme Hatred to the British Nation in the barbarous Progress or in the terrible Consequences aimed at therein being no less than to wrest from His Majesty His Scepter and Sovereignty to destroy and root out the British and Protestants and every Species of English out of the Kingdom to suppress God's Truth and set up Idolatry in the stead of it and finally to Invade the Realm of England And in another Letter they affirm That the barbarous and execrable Cruelty of the Irish exceeded any that ever was exercis'd by Turks or Infldels against Christians And even the Earl of Castlehaven Memoirs 25. P. W. Remonstrance 594. tho' a Papist and Peter Walsh tho' a Franciscan Friar do confess That the barbarous Design of this bloody Conspiracy was no less than to extirpate the Protestants and totally to root them out of that Kingdom And they intended to effect this by the most inhuman Methods Declaration of Parliament 21. viz. a General Massacre and Universal Plundring Nor did they come much short of attaining their End Dr. Maxwell's Examination for in the first Three Months of this Rebellion they murdered and otherwise destroyed One hundred fifty four thousand Protestants Lord Justices Letter of 16 March 42. Men Women and Children as the Priests themselves computed it and as one of their own Writers by way of ostentation hath published Bishop Bedell's Life 179. And without doubt Temple 16. no Nation can parallel the horrid Cruelties and abominable Murders without Number or Mercy committed on the British throughout the Land without distinction of Quality Sex or Age Memoirs Epist 1. and certainly it was bad enough when the Earl of Castlehaven himself confesseth That all the Water in the Sea cannot wash away the Guilt of the Rebels the Rebellion being begun most bloodily in a Time of Peace and without Occasion given They destroyed the Soul as well as the Body forcing many weak Christians to turn Papists and then murder'd them whilst they were in the Right Faith See Append. 10. as they said And the cruel Manner of their Torturing the English was more detestable than the Murder it self some being starved till they eat Pieces of their own Flesh broil'd upon Coals and others were used worse At Kilkenny the Lord Mountgarret and the Mayor and Aldermen and Three hundred Citizens in Arms stood by whilst the Protestants were plundered in that City Lord Justices Letter of 14 December And at Longford when the Castle was surrendred upon Quarter the Priest with his Skein in his Hand watched at the Gate till the Minister came forth and then stabbed him into the Guts and ripped up his Belly which Signal was observed by the rest who in like manner murdered all the English of that Garison Men and Women were stript stark naked and in that bitter Winter exposed to the Extremities of Hunger and Cold whereof many thousands died Sucking Children were haled from their Mothers Breasts Remonstrance of Dr. Jones pag. 8 9. and one of them was murdered whilst it was sucking its deceased Mother Nor were Women in Labor used any better One was delivered upon the Gallows another ript up and two Children she went with taken out of her Belly and thrown to the Swine who eat them Burlace 72. and a third the Wife of Mr. Oliphant a Minister being delivered on her Journey in the High-way was nevertheless forced to trot on and draw after her the Child and the Concomitants of so sad an Accident until she died But it would be endless to recount all the Instances of their wanton Cruelty and impossible to frame an Idea in the Mind of the Reader as horrid as their Actions Dr. Maxwell's Examination Appendix 10. which were rendred the more inhuman by the Mirth and Sport they made at the unspeakable Torments and Sufferings of the English And lest some amongst them should have more Bowels of Compassion than the rest Lord Justices and Councils Letter 22 November the Confederates did prohibit to harbour or relieve any Protestant on pain of Death and declared they would not lay down Arms whilst there was the Seed of an Englishman in Ireland And to leave no room for Reconcilation they put to death in Ulster a Messenger sent to them by the State The Motives to this Conspiracy were First The happy Conjuncture for such a Design whilst England and Scotland were embroil'd Secondly The Example of the Scots who had reaped Advantage by their Mutiny and the Irish expected as much at least And Thirdly The Number of able Men ready to enter into this Rebellion which they computed to be Two hundred thousand or more But the Pretences for this Rebellion were exceeding weak and such as manifest that they will rise as often as they get opportunity and in effect do upbraid the English with Stupidity that after so much Experience they should suffer them to be in a Condition to Rebel any more Memoirs 9. and they are briefly these 1. That the Irish were looked upon as a Conquered Nation 2. That the Six Counties in Ulster escheated to the King were disposed for the most part to British 3. That there was a Rumour that Seven Counties more would be seised by the King 4. That the Popish Religion was persecuted in England and they were afraid would be so in Ireland Thus Rumors and Fears tho' without Cause are by the Popish Advocates thought sufficent Justifications of an Irish Rebellion and the Author of the Bleeding Iphigenia assures us Pag. 23. That this War is justified by a Learned Pen and he wonders it should be called a Rebellion as if says he our taking up Arms for our necessary Defence of Lives and Religion against the Protestants our Fellow-Subjects were a Rebellion He argues from the Principle of Self-preservation and the Law in the Case of Homicide se defendendo That it is lawful to make War for Defence of Life or Estate and à fortiori for Religion and concludes That it may be done to prevent a Danger that is foreseen i. e. rumoured or feared And that was the Case of the Papists says he they were necessarily to be destroyed by the Presbyterians and therefore they did wisely to begin first But whoever considers the three Antipathies of Nation Interest and Religion already mentioned will easily find that the true Design of this Universal Rebellion was 1. To destroy the English 2. To regain their Estates And 3. To establish Popery And all other Pretences are without Foundation and vain This horrid Conspiracy was on the Twenty second of October discovered to the Lord Justice
them called Traytors or Rebels but advised rather to use the soft Expression of DISCONTENTED GENTLEMEN But the Protestants scorning to be put upon so one of them express'd himself so briskly and so judiciously that the Irish finding they could not get a better agreed with much ado to the Protestation against the Rebels recited here Append. 12. And so having sate two days the Parliament was Prorogued to the Eleventh of January having first appointed a Committee of Both Houses to Treat with the Rebels and a Commission issued accordingly but the Traytors were so pufft up with their innumerable Victories over the naked and unresisting English that they tore the Order of Parliament and the Letter that was sent them and refused to Treat But the Lord Dillon of Costilo who since the Rebellion broke out was by His Majesty's former Orders sworn Privy Counsellor was deputed by the Popish Lords to attend the King and the Lord Taaf and Mr. Burk went with him but before he Embarked he presented the Lords Justices and Council a scandalous Letter See it Append. 3. in nature of a Remonstrance from the Rebels of the County of Longford which nevertheless was framed in the Pale wherein amongst other things they demand Freedom of Religion and a Repeal of all Laws contrary thereunto And this produced the Vote of the Eighth of December in the Parliament of England That they would never give Toleration of the Popish Religion in Ireland or any other of His Majesty's Dominions These Irish Agents hapned to be intercepted by the Parliament and imprison'd and their Papers being rifled it was found to be one of the Private Instructions to the Lord Dillon to move That no Forces might be sent over to Ireland but that it might be left to the Remonstrants to suppress the Rebellion 2 Temple 9. But afterwards they made a shift to escape out of Prison and diligently followed the King's Camp and effectually sollicited the unhappy Cessation Husbands's Collections 2 part 247. which afterwards ensued and whereof this Longford Remonstrance was the Parent and Foundation But what regard these Lords had to His Majesty's Service will appear by their vain Expressions in a Letter to the Lord Muskery Anno 1642. viz. That tho' it did not stand with the Convenience of His Majesty's Affairs to give him Publick Countenance yet that the King was well pleas'd with what he did and would in time give him Thanks for it Which being dscovered to the Parliament by Mr. Jepson a Member of that House begat strange Jealousies of His Majesty's Proceedings then tho' now it is manifest those Expressions related to the Cessation that was in Enbryo and not to the Rebellion which the King always abhorr'd In the mean time the King sent some Arms from Scotland to Sir Robert Steward and others in Vlster on the Eighteenth of November and Commissions to raise Forces Particularly the Lord Mongomery had Commission to raise 1000 Foot and 500 Horse and he did raise the Foot and three Troops of the Horse And on the Nineteenth the Lords Justices had an Account that His Majesty had left the Management of the Irish War to the English Parliament and the Order of Parliament was sent to them together with 20000 l. in Money and a Commission to the Earl of Ormond to be Lieutenant-General of the Army and also the following Order of Both Houses of Parliament viz. THE Lords and Commons in this present Parliament being advertised of the dangerous Conspiracy and Rebellion in Ireland by the treacherous and wied Instigation of Romish Priests and Jesuits for the bloody Massacre an Destruction of all Protestants living there and other His Majesty's Loyal Subjects of English Blood tho' of the Romish Religion being ancient Inhabitants within several Counties and Parts of that Realm who have always a former Rebellions given Testimony of their Fidelity to this Crown and for the utter depriving of His Royal Majesty and the Crown of England 〈◊〉 the Government of that Kingdom under pretence of setting up the Poâ—â— Religion have therefore taken into their serious Consideration how the mischievous Attempts might be most speedily and effectually prevented wherein the Honor Safety and Interest of this Kingdom are most nearly and fully concerned Wherefore they do hereby declare That they do intendâ— serve His Majesty with their Lives and Fortunes for the Suppressinâ— of this wicked Rebellion in such a way as shall be thought most effectualâ— by the Wisdom and Authority of Parliament and thereupon have ordereâ— and provided for a present Supply of Money and raising the Number of Six thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse to be sent from England being â—â—e full Proportion desired by the Lords Justices and His Majesty's Councâ— resident in that Kingdom with a Resolution to add such further Succours as the Necessity of those Affairs shall require They have also resolved of providing Arms and Munition not only for those Men but likewise for His Majesty's faithful Subjects in that Kingdom with store of Victuals and other Necessaries as there shall be occasion and that these Provisions may more conveniently be transported thither they have appointed Three several Ports of this Kingdom that is to say Bristol Westchester and one other in Cumberland where the Magazins and Storehouses shall be kept for the Supply of the several Parts of Ireland They have likewise resolved to be humble Mediators to His Most Excellent Majesty for the Incouragement of those English or Irish who shall upon their own Charges raise any Number of Horse or Foot for His Service against the Rebels that they shall be honourably rewarded with Lands of Inheritance in Ireland according to their Merits And for the better inducing the Rebels to repent of their wicked Attempts they do hereby commend it to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or in his absence to the Lord Deputy or Lords Justices there according to the Power of the Commission granted them in that behalf to bestow His Majesty's gracious Pardon to all such as within a convenient Time to be declared by the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or Lords Justices and Council of that Kingdom shall return to their due Obedience the greatest part whereof they conceive have been seduced upon false Grounds by the cunning and subtile Practices of some of the most malignant Rebels Enemies to this State and to the Reformed Religion and likewise to bestow such Rewards as shall be thought fit and published by the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or Lords Justices and Council upon all those who shall arrest the Persons or bring in the Heads of such Traytors as shall be personally named in any Proclamation published by the State there And they 〈◊〉 hereby exhort and require all His Majesty's loving Subjects both in this and in that Kingdom to remember their Duty and Conscience to God and his Religion On the Twentieth day of November the Lords Justices wrote again to the Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant for Supplies of
Men and desired that he would hasten thither in Person And â—â—on 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 kiâ—â—ed 140 Irishmen in defence of the Place By this Remora the intended Siege of Tredagh wâ—s delayâ—â— 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. Dâ—â—dal'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 〈◊〉 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
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 ☞ 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