1642. My Lord of Ormond after this being to Pass with his Army just by my Door some of his people being of my acquaintance came Galloping before assuring that my Lord of Ormond would be with me in half an hour On which my Lady Dutchess and my self be-stirred our selves and having two or three Cooks a good Barns Door and plenty of Wine we patcht up a Dinner ready to be set on the Table at my Lords coming in But some that came with him turned this another way magnifying the entertainment beyond what it was and Publishing through the Army that it was a mighty Feast for my Lord of Mount-Garrett and the Rebels and this through the English Quarters past for Currant I believe it was much the Cause of that under-hand villanous proceeding against me mentioned in my Brothers Letter My Lady Dutchess and my Lord of Antrim soon left me going into their own Country in the North. For a while I Tided it out alone till my Brother fetcht me to Dublin You have seen by my Brothers Letter how I was Imprisoned and no hopes of any relief from either the King or Parliament sitting in England So that after twenty Weeks that I had remained in Prison I was ordered to be removed to the Castle of Dublin Which Startled me and brought to my thoughts the proceedings against the Earl of Strafford who confiding in his Innocency lost his head I concluded then that Innocency was a scurvy Plea in an angry time Besides I looked upon the Justices and most of the Council to be of the Parliaments persuasion Wherefore I resolved to attempt an Escape and save my self in the Irish Quarters Which I did in this manner After the Battel of Killrush there was one George Lidwidge an Irish-man and Trooper left wounded in my house who being recovered in acknowledgment of Kindnesses received often visited me in Prison I found so much Fidelity in the man towards me that I trusted him with my design desiring his assistance which he promis'd I then giving him Mony ordered him to buy me three Horses for my self and two Servants with Sadles and Pistols which he did And the next night just as the Maid was to shut the Door it being dark I slipt into the Street leaving my two men in the house and appointing them where they should find me in the Morning About Nine of the Clock they came out of the house bidding the Maid make no noise pretending that I was not well and had not rested that Night They coming to me the Guards of the Town withdrawn and the Pattroles come in were sent before with the Son of the Trooper to the place where our Horses stood to have them ready the Trooper and my self soon following but I as his Man carrying a Saddle under my Arm. To be short we Mounted all on Horseback March'd as Troopers carelesly out of the Town and took our way by Temple-Oage towards the Mountains of Wicklow Where being come I cared little for the Justices But before Dinner my Escape was discovered by the people of the House and on Notice given to the Justices I was pursued by a Party of Horse taking their way to my house at Madingstown In the Night they invested it but not finding me after having possest themselves of what I had within and without they killed many of my Servants and Burnt the House I kept on my way towards Kilkenny as much through the Fast Country as I could till I arrived Where I found the Town very full and many of my acquaintance all preparing for their Natural defence seeing no distinction made or safety but in Arms. To this end they had chosen amongst themselves out of the most eminent Persons a Council and gave it the Title of the Supream Council of the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland and formed an Oath of Association by which all were bound to obey them They had made Four Generals of the Four Provinces Preston of Leinster Barry of Mounster Owen-roe O Neal of Vlster and one Burk of Conaught and being to give Commissions they caused a Seal to be made which was the Seal of the Council I was sent for to this Council to tell my Story which I did And then being askt what I intended to do I answer'd To get into France and so to England Upon which they told me their condition and what they were doing for their preservation persuading me to stay with them being I was beloved in the Country had three Sisters Married amongst them was persecuted on the same score they were and ruined so that we had no more to lose but our Lives I took two or three days to think of this Proposition examining the Model of Government they had prepared against the meeting of the General Assembly and most particularly their Oath of Association Which Oath I judged to be very reasonable as the Case stood it being as here followeth The Oath of Association I A B. Do Profess Swear and Protest before God and his Saints and his Angels that I will during my life bear true Faith and Allegiance to my Sovereign Lord Charles by the Grace of God King of Great-Britain France and Ireland and to his Heirs and Lawful Successors and that I will to my power during my life defend uphold and maintain all his and their just Prerogatives Estates and Rights the Power and Priviledge of the Parliament of this Realm the Fundamental Laws of Ireland the free Exercise of the Roman-Catholick Faith and Religion throughout this Land and the Lives Just Liberties Possessions Estates and Rights of all those that have taken or shall take this Oath and perform the Contents thereof and that I will obey and ratifie all the Orders and Decrees made and to be made by the Supream Council of the Confederate Catholicks of this Kingdom concerning the said Publick Cause and that I will not seek directly or indirectly any Pardon or Protection for any Act done or to be done touching this general Cause without the Consent of the Major part of the said Council and that I will not directly or indirectly do any Act or Acts that shall prejudice the said Cause but will to the hazard of my Life and Estate Assist Prosecute and Maintain the same Moreover I do farther Swear that I will not accept of or submit unto any Peace made or to be made with the said Confederate Catholicks without the consent and approbation of the General Assembly of the said Confederate Catholicks And for the preservation and strengthening of the Association and union of the Kingdom that upon any Peace or accomodation to be made or concluded with the said Confederate Catholicks as aforesaid I will to the utmost of my Power insist upon and maintain the ensuing Propositions until a Peace as aforesaid be made and the matters to be agreed upon in the Articles of Peace be Established and secured by Parliament So help me God and his holy Gospel SECT II. He takes
Errata PAge 33. l. 24. Charge that defeated read Charge defeated p 35. l. 16. understood r I understood p. 62. l. 16. use r. used p. 64. l. 10. places r. place p. 97. l. 21. after that r after that p. 99. l 9. remembred r. remember p. 100. l. 3. forceâ—s r. forces p. 106. l. 10. note r. a note p. 124. l. 24. forceable r. foordable p. 115. l. 13. speak r. spake THE MEMOIR'S OF JAMES Lord AVDLEY Earl of CASTLEHAVEN HIS Engagement and Carriage IN The WARS OF IRELAND From the Year 1642 to the Year 1651. Written by himself LONDON Printed for Henry Brome at the Gun in St. Pauls Church-Yard 1680. TO THE KING SIR I Lay at your Majesties feet these my Memoir's and if your time may permit that you will read them they are contracted in so little a Volume the more to invite you to it I am persuaded that your Majesty will find amongst them some thing new though many years past The Stile is plain and simple otherwise it could not be mine But the Truth may make amends For I pass them on my Word not to contain a Lie or mistake to my Knowledge Your Majesties most faithful Subject and dutiful Servant Castlehaven Audley To the Reader I Being one day in S. Pauls Church-yard amongst the Stationers some Books fell into my hands lately set forth Histories of the Rebellion begun in Ireland in the year 1641. with the Wars and transactions that followed on that occasion and finding my self in many places cited acting as a confederate Catholick which in plain English is as a Rebel I thought fit to publish something setting forth my own story not to excuse the Rebellion for all the water of the Sea cannot wash it off that Nation it having been begun most bloodily on the English in that Kingdom in a time of setled peace without the least occasion given but what I write is chiefly to draw from the world some compassion my case being singular as I hope the Memoires will make out I take God to witness I never bad the least hint of the Rebellion till being one night at Supper with my Lord of Kery at his House in that County his Lordship being a Privy-Counsellor shewed me a Letter which he then received from the Justices setting forth the attempt on the Castle of Dublin and the Rebellion in the North from whence sprung that unjustifiable War in which I was unfortunately engaged But on my repentance purused by my actings to bring on the first Cessations and the Peace of 46. I had many testimonies from the late King of Blessed memory and his Lieutenant the now Duke of Ormond that my faults were forgiven me Since I have always purused my duty in faithfully serving the King and after his death his Majesty that now reigns for which though most unworthy I have received many marks of his favours and since his happy Restoration for my better security hath given me his gracious Pardon by virtue of which I have sate in the Parliament of Ireland as being a Peer of that Kingdom Now to gratifie the Reader for the trouble given by these Memoires and to induce him to a favourable construction I shall God willing e're long by the help of a Friend annex to this little Book an Appendix representing in short the state of Ireland from the year of the World 1756. to the year of Christ 1652. where among other things he shall find the true original causes of the late Rebellion throughly discovered Castle-Haven Audley James Lord Audley Earl of Castlehaven HIS MEMOIR'S SECT I. The occasion and Motives of his engaging in those Wars His being in Ireland in his way to France when the Rebellion brake out His Service proffer'd to the Lords Justices but rejected His retirement to his Country-house Indictment of Treason and Commitment to Sheriff Woodcocks at Dublin Sir John Read put to the Torture of the Rack The memory of the Earl of Strafford's Death The Kings answer at York to Colonel Mervin Tuchet His escape out of Dublin and flight to Kilkenny The Model of Government and Oath of Association WHat induced me to write these Memoires is to answer a wonder that reasonably may be made how I being a Peer of England and an English-man both by Birth and Descent on all sides should engage my self amongst the Irish in their Wars not speaking a word of their Language and having little in their Kingdom I say then that I never designed it but fell into those Troubles by chance and much against my will The Story thus I was newly come from my Travels abroad where my Genius leading me to see whatever was to be seen in Armies I went of purpose to the Siege of Turain in Italy After my return I attended the King at Berwick till the first Pacification with the Scots And then hearing that the Prince Cardinal Governor of the Spanish Netherlands was preparing to March towards the relief of Arras besieged at that time by the French I pass'd over again to Flanders and Artois and saw an end of that expedition and Arras yielded to the Besiegers In short my Inclinations were to War and so intended to make it my Trade by putting my self into the Service of some Foreign Prince To this effect having settled my Affairs in England I made as I thought a step into Ireland to do the like there But it proved a longer stay The occasion take out of the ensuing Letter to me from my Brother Colonel Mervin Tuchet HEaring your Lordship is writing a Narrative of your concerns in Ireland during the late War how you came to be engaged I having been at that time with you may possibly mind you of some Passages more in my knowledge than yours When the Rebellion broke forth in the North you were in Mounster and on the News you immediately repaired to Dublin to the Lords Justices Sir William Parsons and Sir John Burlace where you acquainted them with your willingness to serve the King against the Rebels as your Ancestors had formerly done in Ireland on like occasions To which they replyed your Religion was an Obstacle There being then a Parliament in that Kingdom sitting you were resolved to see the Event sending me to your House at Madingstown in the County of Kildare to secure and defend it in case there were any Rising in those parts Vpon my coming I found many poor English stript whom I took into the House and relieved defending them in the best manner I could Some time after the Parliament being dissolved you desired of the Justices a Pass to go for England But they refusing you acquainted them that your Estate there was not in a condition to maintain you in Dublin and desired that you might be supplied with some mony for your subsistance until such time that you could apply your self to the Parliament in England for a Pass to bring you over which they denied You prest them then to
direct you what course you should steer To which they replied Go home and make fair Weather You took this Advice and being come my Lord of Antrim and my Lady Dutchess of Buckingham soon followed and you were very well pleased with so good Company to spend your Provisions But in a short time the Irish came and drove away great part of your stock to a village near It being night you desired me to take your Servants and endeavour the recovery Which I did bringing with me two or three of the chiefest Conductors of this Rabble This enrag'd the Irish so much as you conceiv'd I was not safe there and therefore sent me to Dublin to attend the Justices Orders and assure them of your readiness to return on a Call they sending a Convoy Which they promis'd to do as occasion required When I went from you you thought it necessary that I should take with me all the poor English that were saved and to let them go with the Carts which were loaden with Wool for Dublin leaving only one of them who was a Sadler then my Lord of Antrims servant In the passage neer Rath-Cool the Rebels fell upon them and barbarously killed some and wounded others my self and one more escaping by the goodness of our Horses But a Servant of mine governing the Carts and being an English-man they took And whilst they were preparing to hang him Sir John Dungans Eldest Son Watt Dungan came forth of his Fathers house with a Party and rescued him with the rest of those that were left alive and brought them safe to Dublin where I was gotten The Sadler that I had left in my Lord of Antrims Service some time after met me complaining that coming for Dublin he had been taken by the Rebells by means of a Boy that served your Lordship and if I would not give him forty Shillings being he was damnified in so much he would complain I told him that the Boy he mentioned was no Servant of yours but kept out of Charity and to whip the Dogs out of doors being blind of an Eye and lame of a Leg. He replied that although he were blind and lame he had a Note from my Lord of Antrim to have him apprehended by those that were neither blind nor lame which he gave to them who took him Prisoner and carried him to the Garrison of Leixlipp kept by the Rebels I bad him do what he pleased for I would not give him one Farthing The next I heard of it was that he had complained and that your Lordship was Indicted of high Treason Vpon which I made my addresses to the Lords Justices again to let them know that they had not kept their Words with me in suffering this Clandestine proceeding against my Brother but however I would go and fetch you and to that purpose desired them to let me have a party of Horse But that they refused I then came down to you with some of my Friends and acquainted you with what had past You answered that you knew nothing of it and went immediately with me to Dublin where you addressed your self to my Lord of Ormond as I did my self in your behalf to the Lord Justices and Council to acquaint them that you were come They replied that they could say nothing to it till you appeared before them Which you did the next day and then they Ordered you to come the day following At which time without calling you in they committed you to Mr. Woodcocks House one of the Sheriffs of Dublin Now I seeing this rigorous usage towards you and being refused a Pass for my self to go for England made a shift to get away in a small boat and go directly to the King at York and Petition him that you might be sent for over to be Tried here by your Peers But his Majesties answer was that he had left all the Affairs of Ireland to the Parliament Vpon which I went to London and Petitioned the Parliament to the same effect Their answer was that they could do nothing without the King of which I gave you an account by Letter This was the last Correspondence I had with you being after that continually serving his Majesty in England But the King coming from Newark to Oxford he sent me with Dispatches to my Lord Lieutenant and Ordered me to go to you and use my endeavours to persuade you to hasten a Peace You received the Commission as very agreeable saying that from the beginning of the War you had always laboured for a Peace and that you hoped it would soon be done Before I returned I saw it proclaimed and it goes by the name of the Peace of 46. London the 17th of May. 1680. Now that you have seen what my Brother writes of the occasion of my longer stay in Ireland so much contrary to the design of my going thether I will hence forth in my own Method go on with the Story of my own adventures in that Kingdom But to this end I must once more place myself in Madenstown whether as you see in my Brothers Letter I was first retired by advice of the Lords Justices I continued there some five or six Moneths after in peace and quietness and for the greatest part of the time in so noble and excellent company as that of the Dutchess of Buckingham and the Lord Marquess of Antrim her Husband who did me that very great honour In the mean while Parties were sent out by the Justices from Dublin and the Towns adjacent to kill and destroy the Rebels and the like was done through all parts of the Kingdom But the Officers and Soldiers did not take care enough to distinguish between Rebels and Subjects but killed in many places promiscuously On which partly and partly on other provocations that preceeded and some too that followed the whole Nation finding themselves concerned took to Arms for their own defence and particularly the Lords of the Pale did so who yet at the same time desired the Justices to send their Petition to the King Which was refused And for their farther discouragement Sir John Read his Majesties Sworn Servant a stranger to the Country un-engag'd and an eye-witness of their proceedings then upon his journey to England prevailed with by them to carry their Remonstrance to his Majesty the late King of ever Blessed Memory and to beg his pardon for what they had done coming to Dublin and not concealing his Message was put to the Rack for his good will The said Lords having Tried this and other ways to acquaint the King with their Grievances and all failing an open War broke forth generally throughout the Kingdom and very unfortunately for me One Encounter happened in the sight of my House between my Lord of Ormond commanding the English and my Lord Richard Vicount of Mount-Garret the Irish The latter was defeated This Encounter goes by the name of the Battel of Kill-Rush and was fought the 15 th of April
the Oath and Employment Chief heads of the Model of Government Burras Fore-Faukland Byrrh and Ballinikille yield to Preston who not long after was twice defeated Castlehaven begins his Command with an action of Charity And then he forces Crawford from the Siege of Balli-Brittas takes Ballinunry Clogrenen and Ballilenan and withall defeats the succour ON the whole matter I returned to this Council thank'd them for their good Opinion of me and engaged my self to run a Fortune with them Whether Anger and Revenge did not incline me to it as much as any other consideration I cannot resolve This I well remember that I consider'd how I had been used and seen my house burning as I pass'd by besides that I was a light man with no Charge and not any hopes of redress from the King who was then engaged in an Intestine War Now being thus a Confederate and having taken the Oath they made me one of the Council and General of the Horse under Preston The Assembly met the 24. of Oct. 1642. It differ'd nothing from a Parliament other then that the Lords and Commons sate together and not in two Houses This you see was a force put upon us and we hoped in time the storm being pass'd to return to our old Government under the King We had many learned in the Law amongst us whom we encouraged to keep us as near the old Government as might be holding to the Ancient Laws of the Land That Assembly without delay approved all the Council had done and settled a Model of Government viz. that at the end of every General Assembly the Supream Council should be confirmed or changed as they thought fit That it should consist of 25. six out of each Province three of the six still resident The 25 th was my self with no Relation to any Province but to the Kingdom in general Every Province had a Provincial Assembly which met on Occasions and each County had Commissioners for Applotting money within themselves as it came to their shares on the general Applotment of the Province Many other things there were as to Government If a Letter came to them written in Irish it would be wonder'd at and hardly could one be found to read it We were not in case to bring to Justice those that begun the Rebellion But I never saw any of them esteemed or advanced The General Assembly being put off the Generals fell to their work and my General took in Burras Fort-Faukland and Birrh in the Kings County where I was with him And I had the good Fortune to begin my first commanding in the Wars with an Action of Charity For going to see this Garrison of Birrh before it marcht out I came into a great room where many people of Quality were both men and women They with many Tears so soon as they saw me fell on their Knees desiring me to save their lives I was astonished at their posture and Petition and desiring them to rise ask'd what the matter was They answered that from the first day of the Wars there had been continual action and much blood shed between them and their Irish Neighbours and little Quarter on either side And that therefore understanding that I was an English man some knowing me they desired that I would take them into my Protection I doubted that there was too much reason for their fears considering they were to March two or three days through the Woods of Iregan and waste Countreys before they came to Athy their next friends Garrison I went immediately to the General and desired that I might command their Convoy which he granted Then culling out two hundred Horse and three hundred Foot in whom I had most Confidence I March'd and delivered them with their Baggage safe They were at least eight hundred Men Women and Children I was with this General the 18 th of March 42. when he was beaten at Ross by the Marquess of Ormond and by Colonel Monk since Duke of Albermarle at Timochoe in the Queens County the 5 th of Octob. 42. Yet afterwards he besieging Ballynckill in the same County I ventured once more with him Where he having Intelligence that Major General Crawford was besieging Ballybritas a Castle belonging to the Vicount Clanmaleer he sent me with a Party of fifteen hundred Horse and Foot to endeavour the succouring of that place which I did Crawford drawing off in passing the River of the Barrow in a skirmish had his Thigh broken with a Musquett-shot I returned as Ballynekill was rendred and conveyed that Garrison too as I had done the other of Byrrh After this I remained at Kilkenny with the Supream Council and Preston went into the lower parts of the Province with the Army Of whose absence the Enemies Garrisons in the County of Catherloe and Queens County taking advantage Alarm'd the County of Kilkenny even to the Gates of the City I was then by the Council commanded to go against them And therefore having gotten together about 2000 men with some Cannon I Marched to Ballenunry in the County of Catherloe and took it as also Clogrenan Where the County of Wexford Regiment Mutined but were reduced and some examples made served well for the future I Marched thence into the Queens County and Besieged Ballilenan Commanded by the Grimes's a Valiant People with a strong Garrison But a great breach being made their Succour came by the way of Athy I was not well at this Alarme but laid upon my Bed in my Tent. However I made no great matter of it knowing the Succour could not be considerable But my Old Lord Richard Vicount of Mountgarret being abroad sent me advice that they were coming on in great hast and stronger than I thought both in Horse and Foot and were then near the end of the Tougher which is a great way cut through a Bog and I believe in length at least half a Mile Now I had a great Guard of Horse and Foot at my end of the Tougher with a Line thrown up before them So I judged the danger not great However I got on Horse-back taking with me 400 Horse and coming to my Guard I saw some of the Enemy on the Tougher in their March Whereupon I bad my Horse and Guards follow me and March towards them thinking to have fought them upon the Tougher But they retired and formed on a plain two Musquet-shot off I having pass'd the Tougher prepared to Charge But they Drew off again and did not stand me till they had gotten through a Gap in a Ditch with water to the Belly Being past they lined the Ditch with Musqueteers drawing up their Horse and Foot close by to defend this Gap Sir Walter Butler with his Squadron begun the Fight but being Wounded in the Ditch with a Pike through his Thigh his men sell off and a second Squadron Charged and did the like But the Enemy seeing more Squadrons coming on in the smoke took their advantage to
good Correspondence and the small War we had was chiefly in cutting off of Convoys My Provisions came much harder to me than his to him and O Neal began to be very weary of sometimes assisting me with Cows So that after two Months I resolved the endeavouring to gain my own Country seeing no hopes of any forces from O Neal. Which to Effect for I did not desire fighting I caused a Tougher or great way to be cut through the Bog near the Fort leading to Toinregaoh by which their Provisions came This way being finisht I knowing their days took my time to pass most of my Horse and some Foot shewing them beyond the Tougher as if that night I intended straight for Toinregaoh Monro having this Intelligence posted away a great Party of Horse and Foot to secure his Convoy But the night being come I turned and in stead of Marching towards Toinregaoh past over the Bridge with the whole Army leaving my Cannon and Baggage in the Fort with a strong Garison plenty of Ammunition and all the Provision I could possibly scrape to put in That night I March'd and all the next day taking a great round before I could have my own Country on my back which having obtained in the County of Cavan I faced towards the Enemy about five or six Miles from them Which Monro knowing and finding that I lay easier for my Provisions then he did raised his Camp and March'd to his own Country It being now late in the year I thus Free of him sent a Party of Horse and Foot to bring off my Cannon and what I left in the Fort and so March'd to Fienaegh where I met Commissioners from the Supream Council to receive the Army and lodge them on the three Provinces together with fifteen hundred Vlster men which on my Order came to me out of Conought being of no Army but endeavouring to live by strong hand which I could not admit Thus ended the Vlster expedition like to be so fatal to the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland through the sailing or something else of General Owen Roe O Neal. But after all the three Provinces had no reason to complain of this Campagne For this Army they sent kept them from being troubled either with Scots or Vlster People that year SECT V. Views the Siege of Duncannon how laid and that strong place taken by General Preston Is sent with an Army to Mounster against Inchiquin of late declared for the Parliament Dean Boyle's message Capper-Quin and Michaelstown taken Skirmish of Horse near the Black-water Mallow Donerail and Liscarrol yield Miltown and Conycastle taken by a storm of 3000 Garsoons meer servant Boys that belong'd to the Army A Flood hinders the relieving of Ballimartir Yet he surprizes Rostellan and several Officers in it and then forces Castle-Lions and Lismore to Surrender Marches straight to Cork Blind scustle there by night Returns to Tallow and thence goes to Youghhal In that way all the little Castles submit An unexspected mutinous Accident at one of them What done at Youghal The Snow falling he retires to Capper-Quin and so ends this Campagne HAving thus left the Army with Commissioners on Muster more than eight Thousand strong for I had been recruited with several Companies I took my way to Kilkenny ill pleased that the Treaty of Peace train'd so long and designed not to stir from the Council till I saw it concluded But coming there I found the Supream Council in great Consternation For Duncannon that Commanded the harbour of Waterford was declared for the Parliament as also my Lord of Inchiquin Commanding in Mounster who before had not only submitted to the Cessation but carried with him a considerable number of his Troops into England to serve the King Now taking there some disgust as 't is said because the Presidency of Mounster was given to the Earl of Portland he returns and declares for the Parliament Commanding by their Commission as President of Mounster Those of Waterford now pressed the taking in of Duncannon making great offers to the Council of large assistance Preston is named for this work and sent with three or four Thousand men Miners and a good Train of Artillery it being within his Province And I having the curiosity to see it left the Council and followed him I will relate the particulars of this Siege because the only in form that I saw in Ireland He made not any line of Circumvallation fearing no succour that could come on the Land-side but began his approaches with two Attacks and being come near the place joyned them with a line of Communication and then ran them on divided to the two ends of the Curtain Those within made a good defence and lost nothing in six weeks only the Besiegers had made a lodging in the Ditch At this time two or three Parliament Frigats arriv'd with succour of Men Ammunition and Provisions coming to Anchor within less then Cannon-shot of the Fort. But before they could man out their Boats so horrible a Storm arose that in eight or ten days none could come on shore Whereupon those within being in despair and press'd with some essential want yielded All this while my Lord of Inchiquin over-ran Mounster and coming to Cashel the people retired to the Rock where the Cathedral Church stands and thought to defend it But 't was carried by Storm the Souldiers giving no Quarter So that within and without the Church there was a great Massacre and amongst others more than twenty Priests and Religious men kill'd Towards the Spring the Council ordered me to go against him and to begin the Field as early as I could The Enemy in this Province had always been victorious beating the Confederates in every Place never having received Check but in the mentioned Encounter at Cloghleah So that every Gentlemans House or Castle was Garisoned and kept the Country in awe To begin this Field then I made my first rendevous at Clonmel and the Army Encamped near it Thither Dean Boyl now Lord Chancellor of Ireland and then Married to my Lord of Inchiquins Sister came and there he found me His business was to persuade me to spare Donerail and other Houses and Castles not Tenable I answered that I desired it as much as he though hitherto they had annoyed the Country equally as if they had been strong I told him in short I had order to take all I could and such as I thought not fit to Garison to destroy Yet if he pleased to cause the Garisons to be drawn out and by Letters from the Owners to put them into my hands I would appoint some few men into them with Commanders in whom I most confided and make it my Business to preserve them by interceeding to the Council The Dean and I parted very good Friends But whether he could or no prevail with my Lord of Inchiquin or the Owners I know not I am sure I heard no more from him Soon after that
all this my Lord Lieutenant continued his design of going into Mounster and I think to Limbrick and March'd with all his Party But coming to Carrick a house of his own Word was brought him there that Mac Thomas had declared for the Nuncio and was drawn up near Clonmel with three or four hundred Horse I was sent to him by his Excellency as thinking my Interest might have gained something on him because he had served most of the Wars under my Command When I came and delivered him my Message he answered me that he was engaged with the Nuncio according to his Conscience and would not quit him I acquainted his Excellency with this answer and that I saw no hopes of reclaiming this man Yet my Lord Lieutenant would go on and took his March towards Cashel Mac Thomas Marching for the most part in sight of us Coming near the Town and making halt his Excellency received Notice I think from my Lord Dillon residing at Athlone that O Neal was Marching against him with all the force he could make Whereupon my Lord was pleased to call me to him telling me his intelligence askt my opinion what was to be done I gave it quickly that he should immediately March back the shortest way and endeavour to gain Laughlin Bridge He followed my advice And passing near Kilkenny sent his brother Sir George Hambleton and my self to let the Magistrates of that City know what Intelligence he had from all hands However if they pleased he would come to them with the Party he had and venture his Fortune with them They received the Message with all kindness and duty and answered that if he pleased to come to them they would serve him with their Lives though they did believe it would be the loss of him and them together On our report his Excellency kept on his March for the gaining of Laughlin where there was a Bridge that crossed the River of the Barrow and a Fort at the end on the County of Catherloe side Commanded by Colonel Walter Bagnal Having gained this point we lost no time in our March to Dublin Where coming near I think the whole people of the City came forth to meet his Excellency with as much joy as ever man was received having for several days judged him and his Party lost Coming near the Subburbs his Excellency honour'd me with carrying the Sword before him through the City and into the Castle I can give no reason for it besides his own goodness other than that I had been always a promoter of the Peace and the only of the Confederate Catholicks that came with him and never left him in these his Adventures The Nuncio now thought all his own committing to several Prisons such of the late Supream Council and others as he called of Ormonds Party And having gotten his Forces together March'd them in one Army though they took for their better conveniency in their March two different ways towards Dublin O Neal and Preston as Generals Commanding under him They were noised so numerous and powerful that in good earnest the people Officers and Souldiers did not know what to make of it and shewed apprehension enough His Excellency perceiving this as it was too plain called for me and we discoursed the whole matter I took the boldness to give my Opinion Which was That this Army of the Nuncio could no longer subsist in any place then as they found Provision where they came That neither of his Generals ever had any Magazines during the War That they undertook this matter in Confidence of the plenty they should find in his Quarters That I thought it was a thing of too great hazard to oppose them in the Field and yet if they were not stopped they would come on and at least live upon him till they had eaten all Lastly that on consideration of the whole I thought it best to prevent their coming too near Which could not be done any other way then by destroying the Quarters His Excellency was of the same Opinion and therefore sent Orders immediately to all people within eight Miles of the Town to bring in whatever they had giving them three or four days for it And what was found abroad after the time prefixt Parties were ordered to burn and destroy particularly Forrage and Mills for now all the Harvest was in This was all effected before the Nuncio and his Army were come to Kilcullin-Bridge And yet how disappointed soever they were they advanc'd as far as Leixlip and Newcastle both which places lying within three Miles distance one of an other and six from Dublin they made their Head-quarters Preston at Leixlip and Owen O Neal at Newcastle the Nuncio with his Council remaining at Seginstown some six Miles farther off But not being able to live long by the Air for from their own Countries they expected not much and the continual rains and prodigious swelling of the River Liffy hindering that little that was coming to them for all the Bridges over it were broken and great jealousies even more than the ordinary old ones arising 'twixt the two Generals and 'twixt the Nuncio also and Preston they returned several ways in greater hast than they came The Quarters being destroyed and Athlone betrayed to the Nuncio by Dillon a Fryer and the Harbour of Dublin blockt up by Parliament Men of War my advice was ask'd by his Excellence in this extremity with which of his Enemies he should Treat I answer'd that I was confident he had resolved that before there being no question in the case For giving up to the Parliament when the King should have England he would have Ireland with it but to the Nuncio and his Party it might prove far other ways and the two Kingdoms remain separate What weight this discourse had I know not But immediately my Lord Lieutenant engaged himself in a Treaty with the Parliament During which Treaty his Excellency was forced to March into the County of Westmeath and other parts to feed his people Where we were not much at our ease For by Owen O Neal we were kept in continual Alarme Now all being agreed for the delivery of the places under his Command to the Parliament I took my leave of his Excellency resolving to go for France though with much grief of heart to leave this Noble Lord who had shewn so much Loyalty Justness and steddiness in his proceedings during these Transactions even from the meeting at Seginstown to the Conclusion of the Peace made with the Confederates and now again to the giving up of his Government to the Parliament For which I doubt not but he shall remain in Story as he deserves a Fixed-star by the light of which others may walk in his steps But alass whilst this Noble Lord was acting above board with the Confederates there was another Game playing under him and in the dark between the Earl of Glamorgan and those of the Nuncio's party This Earl I
saying he would fain see what man durst Toutch his Habit I laying hold on him said Lies the Enchantment there And after this the Mayor Town Major and all the rest carried them away Prisoners to the Castle as I had appointed SECT VIII He returns to the Army Inchiquin Marches to Mounster with 1100 Horse from the Siege of Dublin That Siege rais'd Cromwel landed at Dublin takes Drogheda by Storm The Lord Lieutenant forms a good Army in the County of Kilkenny Inchiquin worsted at Glascarrig Castlehaven relieves Wexford which after is betray'd by Stafford Castlehaven relieves Duncannon and the Siege of it raised Cromwel takes Ross and thence Marches to the County of Cork where all the Towns open to him Tickle's Treacherous undertaking Castlehaven made Commander in Chief of Leinster He Storms Athy Gowran betray'd to Cromwel The Plague raging at Kilkenny Cromwel Besieges and takes it by composition Castlehaven's Orders not obeyed he goes to my Lord Lieutenant in the County of Clare NOw after a while that I had diverted my self a Hunting I repaired to Limbrick and there lay causing by fair and foul means all people both in that City and County to bring in what remained due to the King of their Aplotments Having got ten Thousand pound together I delivered it to Sir George Hambleton Treasurer of the Army My Lord Lieutenant now wrote to the Commissioners of Trust sitting at Kilkenny to let me know that I should come to the Army and that all difficulties concerning Command should be removed to my Satisfaction I obeyed and Sir George and my self with our ten Thousand pound went to the Army which we found in their March removing from the Phenix side of Dublin to Rath Mines where they Encamped But my Lord of Inchiquin soon after acquainted his Excellency with some Letters he had received from his Officers in Mounster that Cromwel was to land there Which if so all his Towns would revolt if not prevented by his speedy repair thither with some or all his Army In Order to this my Lord of Inchiquin desired his Excellency's Consent that he might March away with eleven hundred Horse and his Excellency imparted all to me At which I was infinitely surprized alleadging the whole Army too weak for the work in hand I remember my Lord Lieutenants Answer But 't is not my business to speak more of this Subject having been always kept a stranger to the undertaking of this Siege 'T is enough for me to tell you here that my Lord of Inchiquin with eleven hundred Horse March'd away and you may imagine many more Soon after this happen'd the Defeat before Dublin And not long after that Cromwell with his Army Landed there March'd to Tredath and took it with all the Towns in those parts My Lord Lieutenant not being able to stand before him retired with what Troops he had to the County of Kilkenny Where my Lord of Inchiquin came to him and in a short time they formed a good Army For besides my Lord of Inchiquins Forces many Vlster Regiments of Foot joyned them Owen O Neal having by this time though too late for himself and the King's service come in upon Articles which he sign'd upon his Death-bed after he had been rejected by the Parliament Cromwel being retired to Dublin refresh'd his Army sitted himself for a new undertaking and took his March by the Sea side through the County of Wicklowe to Besiege Wexford My Lord of Inchiquin was sent to oppose him They met on the Strand in the County of Wexford towards Glascarrig fought and my Lord was Worsted My Lord Lieutenant being with his Army come to Ross and fearing a want of men within Wexford I knowing the Town and Country about it offer'd to attempt the Relief My Lord accepted my good Will and ordered me as many Regiments of Vlster Foot as made fifteen hundred men The Colonels were my Lord of Eveah and one Mac Coffre also I think another and appointed two hundred Horse to escort us I took a great compass and came before day to the Ferry near Sir Thomas Esmond's house called Ballin-Treman who as I remembred was with me Then leaving the Horse for my return I Passed that Arm of the Sea in Boats and having delivered the Foot to Sir Edmund Butler the Governor I took the same way homewards as I came The Town thus Manned was Impregnable as to Cromwel by force Yet he took it by the advantage of a Castle that was betray'd unto him by the Governour one James Stafford This Castle was strong and stood about two or three hundred Paces from the Wall The Communication with the Town could not be Cut. So that the Danger was least there if Treachery had not been in the Case But the Castle being betray'd it Mastered all that part of the Wall So Cromwel's Forceâ—s entred and made almost as great a Slaughter as at Drogheda My Lord Lieutenant then with his Army retired over the River of Ross and encamped on the County of Kilkenny side From whence his Excellency sent me into the County of Waterford to Passage over against Bally-hack to look after the relieving of Duncannon Besieged by some of Cromwels people I think Ireton Commanded And for all there were Parliament Ships before it I ventured one morning with a Boat and got into the place to the Governour a brave Gentleman one Colonel Wogane whom my Lord sometime before had sent to Command and with him besides the Irish Garison about a hundred English Officers who had served the King in the Wars of England He from the highest part of the Rampart shewed me how the Enemy lay After I had well considered all I offered to send him that night by Sea eighty Horse Sadled and with Pistols if he would mount them with so many of his English Officers and before day with them and some Foot make a sharp Sally He lik'd it extremely but doubted my part for putting in the Horse it being about three miles by Sea I bad him leave that to me Having thus concluded I took my Boat returned and set my self to my Business The Tide serving at the beginning of the night and having provided Boats I Commanded eighty choice Horse to come to the Sea side Where making the Horsemen alight I caused the Horses to be Boated sending some to hold them They entred the Place and all was executed as designed great Slaughter made and the Cannons seised For the Confusion amongst the Enemy was great by reason that they judged it the falling in of an Army from abroad hearing and seeing horses and knowing none to be in the Fort. Our people retiring before day the Enemy raised the Siege in the morning and Marched off His Excellency shortly after this made me Governour of Waterford whither I went with a Thousand men But the Town would not admit them entrance On which I after several days dispute being in despair Marched away in the night All this while
I did only keep up a Bussel till the King and Cromwel had decided their Quarrel He therefore again sate down before Limbrick with a powerful Army on the County of Limbrick side I with what Force could be drawn together March'd to Killalow and there Encamped He kept a Guard on his side the River as I did against him at Bryans-Bridge and Castle Conel We lay in this manner a long time he attempting nothing either on the Town or River which was not yet for deable in any place My Lord Deputy being at Galway sent me a Letter in all hast to come to him On my Arrival he told me that the Abbot of St. Katherine was in the Harbour and in his Company many Officers with a quantity of Arms Ammunition and other Materials for War That they were sent by the Duke of Lorrain who pretended by some agreement to be Protector Royal of the Kingdom of Ireland with Power over all our Forces and Places And that he was to continue that Title and Dominion till after the War ended he were reimburst all his Expences and his Damages satisfied I was much startled at this News For though I strugled to keep up a Bussel I never intended to buy it so dear as to give Footing or colour of Pretence or Title to any Foreign Prince And having heard my Lord all out I took the boldness to ask him how far he was concerned in this matter He protested before God and upon his Honour that he never gave Commission for any such Treaty and as to the thing he knew no more than what he had told me other then that the General Assembly then sitting in the Town were in great joy for this Succour and prest him earnestly for the reception But I found him entirely against it Being thus satisfied I desired him to leave the matter to me and let me deal with the Assembly Immediately therefore I went and found them on the Debate To which in my time I spake and with much Detestation of the thing declared all Traytors that were for receiving this succour on those terms and that I would not sit more to hear of this Stuff but return to my Forces knowing what I had to do My Lord Deputy was much pleased with this round Discourse and publickly approved it So the Abbot with what he had returned from whence he came At my return which was without delay to Killalow I found all quiet And whether Ireton had Information of this Passage I know not but by a Trumpet I received from him a long Letter four sides of Paper close written in a small hand The drift was to set forth the justness of the Parliaments proceedings their great Power how short a time I could subsist what ill Company I was with and threw what durt he could on the King I served but concluded with great value of my person pitying my Condition and offering me that if I would retire and live in England privately I should not only enjoy my Estate but remain in safety with the esteem and favour of the Parliament I immediately shewed this Letter to Father Peter Walsh my then Ghostly Father whom I had always found faithful to the King and a lover of his Country With his advice by the same Trumpet I answered all his Points and rejected his proposition concerning my own person desiring him withal to send no more Trumpets with such Errands if perhaps he would not have the Messenger ill Treated From this time there was an end of all Messages and Letters between us Now Ireton remained still and quiet without any action or attempt expecting the coming of Sir Charles Coot on my back or the fall of the River Both came together and besides that a third unlucky accident For now some days I had kept Guards towards Conaught when Ireton by Treachery of the Officer one Captain Kelly made himself Master of Bryans-Bridge 'T is called so though there be no Bridge Whilst I was hastening with some Troops to oppose having left the defence of the Pass at Killalow to Colonel Fennel he cowardly or Treacherously quitted it and with all his Party fled into Limbrick Where upon the rendition of the Town which was not long after Ireton with more than his ordinary justice hanged him Some say he was carried to Cork and that it was done there He pleaded for his Defence not only this Service but how he had betrayed me before Toughal But his Judges would not hear him on his Merit but bid him clear himself of the Murders laid to his charge Now receiving Letters from my Lord Deputy of Sir Charles Coots approach I hastened to him with what Troops I had left viz. about three hundred Horse and found him drawn into Loghreah with his Forces not being able to keep the Field against Coot who was twice his number The Enemy did not think fit to attempt him and were gone by before my coming About this time Athlone gave up to them and so did Limbrick to Ireton some few Months after In the mean while my Lord Deputy and my self with what Troops we had retired towards Jerchonnoght under the Covert of the River that runs by Galway and so shifted up and down till Sir Charles Coot came before the Town on Loghreahs side and had taken a Castle a little above on the River Then we retired into Galway Where we had not long been before we heard of the Kings Defeat at Worcester A man now would think that this Noble Lord had discharged his part Yet his Zeal carried him farther He dispatch'd me for France to the King by the way of Iniss-bofin for the River of Galway was full of Parliament Ships with orders to set out the ill state of his Majesties Affairs in that Kingdom And that nevertheless to serve his Majesty he intended after Galway should be lost to make a Mountain War and give the Enemy trouble for some time if his Majesty would but send him five hundred Barrels of Powder with Match and Bullets proportionable and some Arms and appointed me to return with them to Iniss-bofin a fit place for our Magazine it being a large Island lying of Jerchonnoght three Miles into the Sea in which we had a strong Garison 'T is surrounded with Rocks and has but one entrance where there is a pretty good Harbour for Frigats and small Men of War I here Shipped my self and landed at Brest ordering the Frigate that brought me to expect my orders The Captain was Antonio Vandersipp of Brugis We had a sharp fight with an English Ship that we met in the way but foul weather parted us No great hurt was done other than that the Bishop of Down was Killed in the Cabbin 't is thought by the Wind of the Bullet or Fear for he had not the least sign of any hurt and lived near a quarter of an hour Being Landed I took post for St. Germains where I found the King Queen-Mother and my