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STUDY 



IRELAND 



a 



THE CHILDREN'S STUDY 



SCOTLAND. By Mrs Oliphant. 

IRELAND. Edited by R. Barry O'Brien. 

ENGLAND. By Frances E. Cooke. 

GERMANY. By Kate Freiligrath Kroeker. 

FRANCE. By Mary C. Rowsell. 

ROME. By Mary Ford. 

OLD TALES FROM GREECE. By Alice Zimmern. 

SPAIN. By Leonard Williams. 

CANADA. By J. N. M*Ilwraith. 



ri'.Z t4EVV YORK 

PUjLIC LIBRAR'-' 



ASTOR, LENOX AND 
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS. 





IRE LAM H 



Sedc ct Ea^lulk KQm 



3/^ ! 



The Children's Study 




IRELAND 



<;!" EDITED BY 

R.' BARRY O'BRIEN 

{Of the Middle Temple, 
Bartister-at-Law) 

Author of * Fifty Years of Concessions 

TO Ireland,' ' Thomas Drummond, 

Etc., Etc. 



THIRD EDITION 



LONDON 

T. FISHER UN WIN 
1905 




THE NEW Yu ! 

PUBLIC LIBRARY 

ASTOR, LENOX ANB 
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS 

R ^ L 



[/4ii rig/its reserved.} 



PREFACE 




OME months ago, Mr Fisher 
Unwin placed a MS. History 
of Ireland in my hands to edit 
and prepare for the Press. 
The editing has, to a large 
extent, resulted in re-writing 
and re - arrange'ment. The 
book in its present form does not, of course, 
pretend to the dignity of a history. It is 
rather a very elementary sketch which may, 
perhaps, stimulate the reader to take up 
worthier works on the subject. The plan which 
has been adopted is to group the facts of each 
period, so far as possible, around some central 
figure, for assuredly the pleasantest way to 
read history is to read it in biography. Pains 
have been taken not to burden the narrative 



vi PREFACE 

with details, but to deal broadly with the most 
important and the most interesting events. 
For it was felt that an imperfect sketch, 
which might leave on the mind some re- 
collection of stirring episodes and striking 
characters, would be better than a more 
finished picture crowded with details which 
might tax the memory and exhaust the 
patience of the youthful student. 

If this little book should in any way awaken 
the interest of students in the men and move- 
ments which have made Irish history, and 
should, at the same time, induce them to 
go to the fountain head for fuller information, 
it will have served its purpose. A map of 
Ireland has been prepared by a member of 
the Irish Literary Society, with the object, 
chiefly, of marking the places mentioned in 
the narrative. Like the book, it does not 
pretend to be complete, but only to help the 
reader in the first steps to knowledge. 

R. Barry O'Brien. 



September 15, 1896. 



ST PATRICK, 
BRIAN BORU, 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 
CHAPTER II 
CHAPTER III 



THE NORMANS, .... 

. CHAPTER IV 

EDWARD BRUCE, .... 

CHAPTER V 

THE FIRST EARL OF DESMOND, , 

CHAPTER VI 

ART MACMURROUGH, 

CPIAPTER VII 

THE TUDORS, .... 

CHAPTER VIII 

THE GERALDINES, .... 

CHAPTER IX 

SUBMISSION OF THE IRISH CHIEFS — THE PRO- 
TESTANT REFORMATION, 

CHAPTER X 

SHANE O'NEIL, .... 

CHAPTER XI 

DESMOND AND FITZ-MAURICE, 



PAGE 

I 



27 

39 

44 
49 
58 
63 

75 
79 
91 



viu CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XII pACB 

O'DONNELL and O'NBIL, . . , .100 

CHAPTER XIII 

THB STUARTS, . . . , . 121 

CHAPTER XIV 

ULSTER REBELLION — OWEN ROE 0*NEIL, . . I25 

CHAPTER XV 

OLIVER CROMWELL, . . , .137 

CHAPTER XVI 

THE JACOBITE WAR, . . . .147 

CHAPTER XVII 

SARSFIELD, . . . . , .165 

CHAPTER XVIII 

DARK DAYS, . . . , . I90 

CHAPTER XIX 

THE HOUSE OF HANOVER, . . , . 198 

CHAPTER XX 

HENRY GRATTAN, . . . , , 212 

CHAPTER XXI 

WOLFE TONE, . . . . .227 

CHAPTER XXII 

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE IRISH PARLIAMENT, 2^^ y 

CHAPTER XXIII 

O'CONNELI^-CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION, . , 258 

CHAPTER XXIV 

THE TITHE WAR, . . . . 27I 

CHAPTER XXV 

THOMAS DRUMMOND, .... 302 

CHAPTER XXVI 

THE REPEAL MOVEMENT, . . . ^ 308 

CHAPTER XXVII 

FAMINE— DEATH OF O'CONNELL, . . , 315 



CHAPTER I 



ST PATRICK 



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HE early history of Ireland is 
lost in the 'twilight of fable.' 
Modem researches have cer- 
tainly added much to our 
knowledge of that period, and 
opened up wide fields of in- 
formation hitherto imperfectly 
explored. Still, in a very ele- 
mentary httle book such as this, it will be 
better to keep to the highways of history ; and 
therefore I propose to make the Christian era 
the starting point of my narrative. 

Prior to the mission of St Patrick there were 
few, if any, Christians in Ireland. It is said 
that, about 431, Pope Celestine sent Palladius to 
convert the Irish. But the mission of Palladius 
was a failure, and it remained for Patrick to 
light the torch of Christianity in the island. 



8 IRELAND [387- 

St Patrick was bom, probably, near Dumbar- 
ton in Scotland, about 387. When a lad of 
sixteen he was seized and carried into captivity 
by one of those Irish expeditionary forces which, 
at the time, swept the coasts of Britain and 
Gaul, spreading terror and devastation around. 
In Ireland he became the slave of a chief named 
Milchu, and spent six years tending flocks and 
herds on the Slemish mountain in the County 
Antrim. Patrick himself tells us something of 
his life at this time. 

'When I had come to Ireland,' he says, 'I 
was employed every day in feeding cattle, and 
frequently in the day I used to have recourse to 
prayer, and the love of God was thus growing 
stronger and stronger, and His fear and faith 
were increasing in me, so that in a single day I 
would give utterance to as many as an hundred 
prayers, and in the night almost as many. And 
I used to remain in the woods, too, and on the 
mountains, and would rise for prayer before 
daylight in the midst of snow and ice and rain, 
and felt no injury from it, nor was there any 
sloth in me, as I now see, because the spirit 
was fervent within me. ... I was not from my 
childhood a believer in the only God, but con- 
tinued in death and unbelief until I was severely 
chastened ; and in truth I have been, humbled 
by hunger and nakedness, and it was my lot to 
traverse Ireland every day, sore against my will, 
until I was almost exhausted. But this proved 
rather a benefit to me, because by means of it I 
have been corrected by the Lord, and He has 
fitted me for being at this day what was once 



432] ST PATRICK'S DREAM 3 

far from me, so that I should interest or con- 
cern myself about the salvation of others when 
I used to have no such thoughts even for 
myself.' 

After six years' captivity, Patrick fled from 
Ireland and wandered for many years more in 
Britain and in Gaul. But Ireland was always 
in his thoughts and in his heart ; and now, full 
of religious fervour, he resolved to return and to 
reclaim the land from Paganism. 

'In dead of night,' he says, 'I saw a man 
coming to me as if from Hiberio, whose name 
was Victorious, and who bore countless letters, 
and he gave me one of them, and I read the 
beginning of it, which contained the words " The 
Voice of the Irish." And while I was repeating 
the words of this beginning, I thought I heard 
the voice of those who were near the wood of 
Foclut, which is nigh to the Western Sea ; and 
they cried thus, — "We pray thee, holy youth, to 
come and live among us henceforth." And I was 
greatly pricked in heart, and could read no more.' 

Patrick obeyed the voices which he had heard in 
his dreams, and came back to Ireland, fortified, 
it is said, by the authority and benediction of Pope 
Celestine. About 432 he landed on the coast 
of Wicklow. But he was driven hence by the 
native Chief Nathi, and fled northwards, taking 
refuge in Lecale in the County Down. Dichu, 
the chief of that part, at first regarded Patrick 
with hostility and aversion, but finally re- 
solved to hear what he had to say. Patrick 
explained his doctrine with clearness and sim- 
plicity, and Dichu listened with wonder and 



4 IRELAND [432- 

delight. The chief was converted, and he and 
all his tribe joined the Christian Church. So 
the mission of Patrick began. 

Ireland was about this time divided into four 
provincial kingdoms — Ulster (UUa), Munster 

iMumain), Leinster (Laighin), and Connaught 
Connacht). Over the provincial kings there 
was a supreme king called the Ard-ri, who reigned 
at Tara, and possessed, as his special domain, the 
territory of Meath. The inhabitants, like most 
of the people of Western Europe, belonged to 
the Aryan branch of the human family, that- is 
to say, they came from the same stock as the 
English, the Germans, the French; with this 
distinction, that while the English and Germans 
were Teutons, the Irish, like the French, and 
like the earlier inhabitants of Britain, were 
Celts. 

Early Irish institutions were the same as the 
early institutions of the Aryan elsewhere. 

The land was held by tribes, and at the 
head of each tribe was a chief to whom the 
clans and septs, who composed the tribe, 
looked for protection and guidance. Of course, 
there was no cohesion among these tribes, and 
there was no approach to national life. Nation- 
alism, in any shape or form, among the Aryan 
races was a growth of much later times. 
There is some evidence of the beginnings of 
an Irish literature, and of an Irish system of 
laws at this period, though the development 
of both belong to the Christian era. 

Upon the whole, Patrick found the Irish an 
intelligent and warlike people, eager for know- 



4333 ST PATRICK'S MISSION 5 

ledge, and tolerant of new views, fuU of poetic 
fancies, simple, confiding, progressive. 

Taking advantj^e of the institutions of the 
country, and of the habits and customs of the 
people, Patrick addressed himself mainly to the 
kings and chiefs, feeling that the masses of the 
inhabitants would follow their leaders. 

Having converted Dichu, he set out to see his 
old master, Milchu ; but Milchu refused to be 
converted by his former slave, and died an un- 
compromising Pagan. Patrick then proceeded 
straight to Tara to meet the Ard-ri Laoghaire. 

On Easter Eve, about 433, he arrived at Slane, 
nine miles from the royal residence, and there 
lighted the paschal fire. The king saw the fire 
afar off, and asked one of the Pagan priests who 
surrounded him what it was. The priest replied, 
* If that fire which we see be not extinguished 
to-night, it will never be extinguished, but will 
overlap all our fires ; and he that has kindled it 
will overturn your kingdom.' Laoghaire set out 
at once for Slane, and summoned Patrick to his 
presence. Patrick, full of faith and courage, 
gladly obeyed the summons, and preached 
before the king. 

The king had warned his retainers to show 
no reverence to Patrick, but the warning was 
not obeyed, and, ere the morning dawned, some 
of the most trusted followers of the king had 
embraced the new religion. The fire which 
Patrick had lit was not put out that night, and 
has never been put out since. 

Next day the missionary was invited to the 
palace at Tara; and Laoghaire gave him authority 



6 IRELAND [433- 

to preach the Christian faith all over Ireland 
From Tara, Patrick went to Connaught, and 
there he met the daughters of Laoghiure — the 
princesses Ethne and Fidelm. 

One morning at simrise, so the legend runs, 
the holy man was at the well of Clebach, near 
Cruachan, the palace of the kings of Con- 
naught Thither the princesses came, and 
beheld Patrick and his attendants. 

* And they knew not whence they were, or in 
what form, or from what people, or from what 
country, but they supposed them to be Duine 
Sidhe (fairies) or gods of the earth, or a phan- 
tasm. 

* And the virgins said unto them, " Who are 
ye, and whence come ye ? " 

* And Patrick said unto them, " It were better 
for you to confess to our true God, than to in- 
quire concerning our race." 

* The first virgin said, " Who is God ? 

* " And where is God ? 
*" And what is God? 

* " And where is His dwelling-place ? 
* " Has your God sons and daughters, gold 
and silver? 

* " Is He ever living ? 
^" Is He beautiful? 

* " Did many foster His Son ? 

* " Are His daughters dear and beauteous to 
men of the world ? 

* " Is He in heaven or in earth ? , 
*"In the sea? 

* " In rivers ? 

* " In mountainous places ? 



434] ST PATRICK'S CREED 7 

* " In valleys ? 

' " Declare unto us the knowledge of Him. 

* " How shall He be seen ? 

* " How is He to be loved ? 

* " How is He to be found ? 

* " Is it in youth — ^is it in old age — ^that He is 
to be found?" 

' But Saint Patrick, full of the Holy Ghost, 
answered and said : — 

* " Chir God is the God of all men. 

* "The God of heaven and earth, of the sea 
and rivers. 

' " The God of the sun, the moon, and all 
stars. 

* " The God of the high mountains, and of the 
lowly valleys. 

*"The God who is above heaven, and in 
heaven, and under heaven. He hath a habita- 
tion in the heaven and the earth, and the sea, 
and all that are therein. 

* " He inspireth all things. 

* " He quickeneth all things. 

* " He is over all things, 

* " He sustaineth all things. 

* " He giveth light to the light of the sun. 

' " And He hath made springs in a dry ground, 
and dry islands in the sea. 

* " And hath appointed the stars to serve the 
greater lights. 

* " He hath a Son co-etemal and co-equal with 
Himself. 

* " The Son is not younger than the Father, 
nor is the Father older than the Son. 

* " And the Holy Ghost breatheth into them. 



8 IRELAND [434- 

'"The Father, and the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost are not divided 

* " But I desire to unite you to the Heavenly 
King, inasmuch as you are the daughters of an 
earthly king — ^to believe ! " 

'And the virgins said, as with one mouth 
and one heart, "Teach us most diligently how 
we may believe in the Heavenly King. Show 
us how we may see Him face to face, and what- 
soever thou shalt say unto us, we will do ! " 

* And Patrick said, — 

'"Believe ye that, by baptism, ye put off 
the sin of your father and your mother ? " They 
answered, " We believe ! " 

'"Believe ye in repentance after sin?" 
"We believe." 

* " Believe ye in life after death ? Believe ye 
the resurrection at the Day of Judgment?" 
"We believe." 

' " Believe ye the unity of the Church ? " " We 
believe. 

And they were baptized, and a white garment 
put upon their heads. And they asked to see 
the face of Christ. And the saint said unto them, 
"Ye cannot see the face of Christ, except ye taste 
of death, and except ye receive the Sacrifice." 

* And they answered, " Give us the Sacrifice 
that we may behold the Son, our Spouse." 

* And they received the Eucharist of God, and 
they slept in death. 

* And they were laid out on one bed, covered 
with garments ; and (their friends) made great 
lamentation and weeping for them.' 



465] DEATH OF ST PATRICK 9 

And Patrick's mission prospered everywhere, 
and the light of Christianity was spread through- 
out the land. For thirty-three years he laboured 
among the Irish ; and the seed which he threw 
broadcast bore fruit an hundredfold. In 465 
his labours came to an end. On March 17th of 
that year he passed away, beloved and venerated 
by the people among whom he had lived and 
preached. He left behind a host of enthusiastic 
disciples, who completed gloriously the work 
which he had begun with so much promise, and 
so much success. 



CHAPTER II 



BRIAN BORU 



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ROM the death of St Patrick to 
the arrival of the Danes, the 
progress of Ireland in religion 
and civilisation, in art, music, 
literature and laws, was rapid 
and remarkable. Churches 
and monasteries, schools and 
colleges, sprang up every- 
where throughout the land. Irish mission- 
aries went forth to preach the Gospel in many 
countries, and to win converts for the faith of 
Christ Irish scholars filled the world with their 
fame, and Irish schools attracted students from 
the most civilised parts of Europe. An Irish 
missionary, Columba (a.d. 521-597), founded 
the famous monastery of lona, and planted 
the Cross in Alba.* His disciples, Aidan, 

* Ancient name given to Northern Scotland. 
10 



465-890] IRISH SCHOOLS II 

Finan and Colman — all Irishmen — are among 
the most illustrious names in the history of 
the early British Church, and are to this day 
household words in many an English home. 
Another Irish missionary — Columbanus (circa 
543-615) — preached to the Gauls, Germans 
and Italians, and founded the monasteries of 
Luxeuil, and Fontaines. The town of San 
Colombano in Lombardy still commemorates his 
name and fame. His disciple Gall (550-645) 
preached to the Swiss, founded one of the most 
famous monasteries of Europe — the Abbey of 
St Gall — and gave a name to one of the cantons 
of his adopted country. Other illustrious names 
may be recorded : — St Fiacre of Breuil, St Fri- 
dolin, foimder of the convent of Seckingen, 
Argobast and Florentius, bishops of Strasburg, 
St Kilian, St Cataldus, Dungal the astronomer 
who won the patronage of Charlemagne, and, 
greatest of all, John Scotus, Erigena (815-890), 
the most famous European scholar of his day. 

Ireland is a land rich in ruins, and these ruins 
bear witness to the glories of an immortal past 
Travellers from many lands still visit scenes 
hallowed by patriotic associations; and the 
round towers of Ardmore and Dromish, the 
sculptured crosses of Clonmacnoise and Kells 
and Monasterboice, and the ruined churches at 
Glendalough, Killaloe, Cashel and Clonfert, re- 
call memories of an early civilisation on which 
Irishmen may proudly dwell. 

In the study of music the Irish excelled from 
an early period, and in the seventh century 
Irish professors taught in some of the famous 



13 IRELAND [890- 

schools of Europe. A reluctant witness — writ- 
ing at a later date — bears ample testimony to 
the skill and charm of the old Irish harpers who 
were the delight and solace of so many Irish 
homes. 

'They are incomparably more skilful,' says 
Giraldus Cambrensis,^ * than any other nation. 
I have ever seen. . . . They delight so deli- 
cately, and soothe with such gentleness that the 
perfection of their art appears in the conceal- 
ment of art ! * 

In the artistic illumination of books, in 
sculpture, and in architecture, proofs are still 
extant of Irish progress and Irish genius. And 
though during the Norse wars many traces of 
Irish learning were effaced, there is yet suffi- 
cient evidence to show the literary activity of 
the people ; while that remarkable compila- 
tion, the Brehon Laws, proves that the legal 
systems of Ireland rank in the first place 
among the early institutions of the Aryan 
races. 

But although Ireland had advanced in re- 
ligion and civilisation, in art, music, literature 
and laws, the political development of the 
country remained absloutely stationary. There 
was no national life. Each provincial king 
thought only of his own province ; he had no 
country beyond it. The allegiance which he 
paid to the Ard-ri was merely nominal. There 
was no supreme authority no central government. 
Provincial kings attacked each other; tribe 

^ A Welsh historian who accompanied King John to 
Ireland. 



9441 THE NORSEMEN 13 

warred against tribe, and the general good was 
made subservient to local interest and local 
passions. 

And so it came to pass, that when the Norse 
pirates, sailing from Scandinavia, poured into 
the island in the ninth and tenth centuries, 
they found the Irish a ready prey to their at- 
tacks. The Norse wars lasted throughout the 
ninth and tenth centuries. 

The invaders were beaten in many a pitched 
battle, but they could not be driven from the 
island. They settled in Waterford, Limerick 
and Dublin, and thence made incursions into 
the interior, spreading ruin and havoc all round. 
A united and an organised Ireland could have 
easily swept them into the sea. But mere local 
efforts, however gallant, and however successful, 
must always fail to achieve great national re- 
sults ; and so, despite many defeats and disasters, 
the power of the Norsemen remained unbroken, 
until a chief appeared who infused national life 
into the county, and welded the people together 
in one grand movement against the fierce and 
barbarous invaders. 

Brian Boru was bom in Kincora about 944. 
He belonged to the royal house of Thomond, 
and sprang from the Dalcassian race.^ When 
but a mere lad, ten years old, his brother Mahon 
became king of Munster. But his sovereignty 
was only nominal, for the Norsemen held the 
strongholds of Limerick, Cork and Waterford, 
and dominated the country all round. Mahon 

^ The descendants of Cormac Cas the son of OilioU 
Olum who was Kine of Munster n the second century. 



14 IRELAND [944- 

hardly dared to meet them in the field. 
Hemmed in a corner of his dominions, he for 
a time maintained a defensive war, but was 
glad ultimately to make peace with the stranger. 
He was allowed to reign in Kincora, but the 
Norsemen were to rule in Munster. The young 
Brian, then some sixteen years of age, protested 
against this peace, said it was dishonourable to 
his house, refused to keep it, and with a hand- 
ful of followers went forth himself to fight the 
enemy. But his little band was soon cut to 
pieces, and he was left alone with but fifteen 
attendants. Then Mahon came to him in the 
wilds and fastnesses where he had taken refuge. 
The king begged him to return to Kincora and 
abandon the hopeless struggle against the Norse- 
men. But Brian said he would never rest while 
the stranger ruled in Munster, and he begged 
Mahon to muster all the Dalcassian forces and 
to make one mighty effort to rid the land of a 
foreign oppressor. But Mahon said the Norse- 
men were invincible, and that it was idle to talk 
of destroying them. * Where, Brian,' he asked, 
* are your foUowers ? ' * Dead on the battlefield,* 
answered Brian, 'and it is our duty to fight 
imtil we conquer or are dead on the battlefield 
too. The Dalcassians must never let the 
stranger rule in the land of their fathers.' 
The young warrior soon infused his own spirit 
into the king, and Mahon at length consented 
to declare war against the Norsemen. He 
summoned the Dalcassian clan from all parts of 
Ireland, and held a great council. 
It was then determined that no time should 



976] BATTLE OF SULCOIT 15 

be lost in beginning hostilities, and Mahon im- 
mediately took the field, concentrating his forces 
at Cashel. But Ivar the Norse king had heard 
of Mahon's preparations, and he resolved to 
strike before the Dalcassians were ready. He 
marched out from Limerick at the head of a 
formidable Norse army, supported by an Irish 
contingent under two traitorous chiefs, Dono- 
van and Molloy, and advanced on the Dalcas- 
sian encampment But Mahon did not wait 
for the enemy's approach. He broke up his 
camp and pushed forward to face the foe. The 
hostile armies met at the wood of Sulcoit near 
the present town of Tipperary, and there, in the 
words of the old chronicler, * a fierce and bloody 
battle ' was fought (968). It lasted from sunrise 
until noon; but 'the foreigners were routed, 
and they fled to the ditches, and to the valleys 
and to the solitudes of the great, sweet, flowery 
plain.' Mahon followed up his victory, marched 
on Limerick, burned the town and dispersed the 
Norsemen in every direction. 

Ivar fled beyond the seas and took refuge in 
Wales, and Mahon ruled in peace in Munster. 
His reign lasted until 976, when he was foully 
murdered by Donovan and Molloy and a band 
of Norse assassins. 

Brian now became king. He had no sooner 
mounted the throne than he resolved to take 
vengeance on the murderers of his brother, and 
to attack their confederate Ivar, who had once 
more returned to Ireland and taken possession 
of the island of Scattery near the mouth of the 
Shannon. Scattery, Brian attacked fii^t, and 



i6 IRELAND t977-998 

there he slaughtered the Norsemen and slew 
Ivar. 

Then (977) he marched into Donovan's 
country (Limerick), slew Donovan and his ally 
Harold, the son of Ivar, and crushed the 
forces they had brought against him. Next 
he challenged Molloy to single combat; but 
Molloy would not accept the challenge, where- 
upon (978) he entered the territory (Cork) of 
the false chief, destroyed his army in a battle 
fought on the very scene of Mahon's murder, 
Molloy himself falling in the conflict by the 
hand of Brian's son, Murrough, then a lad 
in his teens. Brian now was dl-powerful in 
Munster. But he had already resolved to ex- 
tend his authority beyond his own kingdom. 
He had already formed the determination to 
make himself king of Ireland. 

In 984 he marched into Leinster and re- 
ceived the homage of the Leinster king. Thus 
within eight years of Mahon's death he had 
made himself king of the greater part of 
Southern Ireland. He now built a 'fleet' of 
300 boats and sailed up the Shannon, invaded 
Connaught, and threatened Meath, the domain 
of the Ard-ri Malachi. Malachi grew alarmed, 
and resolved to come to terms with the in- 
vincible Dalcassian king. 

In 998 both monarchs met in friendly con- 
ference on the shores of Lough Ree, and it was 
agreed between them that Brian should be King 
of Southern Ireland, and that Malachi should 
rule north of Dublin. 

Malachi was second only in prowess to Brian 



looo] THE BATTLE OF GLENMAMA 17 

himself. He had already inflicted several de- 
feats on the Norsemen of Leinster, and had 
even sacked their great stronghold, Dublin. 
Therefore this alliance between the two most 
powerful monarchs in the country filled the 
people with joy, because it was a guarantee 
against the domination of the foreigner. But 
while Munster, Connaught and Ulster ac- 
quiesced in the new settlement, Mailmora the 
King of Leinster rebelled. He allied himself 
with the Norsemen, and determined to wage 
war upon his own countrymen. Brian set out at 
once to crush this revolt. Sweeping over the 
Wicklow HOls he pushed on towards Dublin, 
halting at Glenmama — the Glen of the Gap. 
Here he was joined by Malachi. Finding 
Dublin threatened, the Norsemen and Mail- 
mora marched out from the town to give battle 
to the Irish kings. 

At Glenmama (a.d. 1000) Norse and Irish 
met once more. A great battle was fought, 
the slaughter on both sides was terrible. But 
the Irish triumphed; annihilating the enemy's 
army and opening up the road to Dublin. 
Young Murrough again distinguished himself 
by many gallant deeds, ending in capturing 
Mailmora, whom he found hiding in a yew 
tree. 

Brian soon entered Dublin without opposition, 
and made it his headquarters until he had com- 
pletely reduced his enemies. 

After the battle the Norse king, Sitric, fled to 
Ulster and sought the protection of the Ulster 
king, O'Neil. But O'Neil gave him up to 

B 



i8 IRELAND [1003-1004 

Brian, who treated him with generosity, and 
placed him in command of Dublin. Msulmora 
was also pardoned and received into Brian's 
favour. 

Finally, Brian gave his daughter in mar- 
riage to Sitric, and he himself married Sitric's 
mother, Gormlaith, the sister of Mailmora. 
It was clearly Brian's aim to unite all the 
inhabitants of Ireland — Norse and Irish — 
under his own rule, and to build up a solid 
and compact nation. Hence he adopted a 
policy of peace and conciliation after the victory 
of Glenmama. But before he could become 
supreme king, the agreement with Malachi 
had to be broken, and that monarch had to 
be reduced to tl^ position of a vassal king. 
Brian did not scruple to take this extreme step. 
He boldly communicated his intentions to Ma- 
lachi, and marched into Meath to demand 
Malachi's submission. Malachi asked for a 
month's consideration, and Brian granted his 
request, remaining, however, at Tara until the 
answer was given. At the end of the month, 
Malachi, finding it impossible to form any 
alliance against Brian, submitted, and Brian 
became supreme king of Ireland (1002), 
Malachi retaining only the title of King of 
Meath. 

Brian's next move was to obtain the submis- 
sion of the Ulster chiefs, and for this purpose 
he marched northwards as far as Armagh in 1004. 
All Ireland, south of that town, now acknow- 
ledged his sovereignty, and, leaving Armagh, he 
made a circuit throughout the whole country. 



I004-IOI2] BRIAN'S GOVERNMENT 19 

receiving hostages from vassals, kings and 
chiefs, and returning to Kincora in £Eict as 
well as in name supreme King of Ireland. 

Brian now devoted himself to the art of 
peace. In the words of the old chronicler, 
he 'erected noble churches. He sent pro- 
fessors and masters to teach wisdom and know- 
ledge ; and to buy books beyond the sea and 
the great ocean, because their writings and 
their books in every church and in every 
sanctuary where they were, were burned and 
thrown into water by the plunderers from the 
beginning to the end ; and Brian himself gave 
the price of learning and the price of books to 
every one separately who went on this service. 
Many works, also, and repairs were made by 
him. By him were made bridges and cause- 
ways and highroads. By him were strength- 
ened, also, the diins and fastnesses, the islands, 
the celebrated royal forts of Munhain (Mun- 
ster). He built, also, the fortification of Caisel 
of the kings, and of Cenn Abrat, the island of 
Loch Cend, and the island of Loch Gair, and 
Diin Eochair Maige, Diin Cliath, and Diln 
Crot, and the island of Loch Saiglend, and 
Inis an Ghaill Duibh, and Rosach, and Cend 
Coradh, and Borumha, and the royal forts 
of Munster in like manner. He continued in 
this way prosperously peaceful, giving banquets, 
hospitable, just-judging, wealthily venerated; 
chastely and with devotion, and with law and 
with rules among the clergy ; with prowess and 
with valour; with honour and with renown 
among the laity; and fruitful, powerful, firm 



90 IRELAND [IOI2 

secure for fifteen years in the chief sove- 
reignity of Erinn.' 

And 80^ during the Ardriship of Brian, peace 
reigned in Ireland But Sitric and Maihnora 
were always reluctant vassals of the Ard-ri, and 
in loia, instigated by Gormlaith — a woman 
of remarkable beauty, remarkable ability and 
remarkable infamy (whom Brian had ultimately 
to put away) — ^they combined once more to stir 
up disorder and rebellion. 

In that year MaUmora was on a visit to 
Kincora. But Gormlaith told him in seciet 
to rebel against Brian, and that he was a mean- 
spirited slave to submit to the Dalcassian king. 
Mailmora, much irritated, entered a chamber 
of the palace where Murrough was playing 
chess with his cousin Conacing. He sug- 
gested a move to Murrough, by which the 
young prince lost the game. 'You gave the 
Danes an advice too,' said Murrough, 'at 
Glenmama by which they lost the battle. 
'Perhaps,' replied Mailmora, *I shall advise 
them again, and maybe they will not be beaten 
ne3rt time.' 'Then,' retorted Murrough, 'you 
had better get another yew tree to hide in.' 
Mailmora, much incensed at this reference to 
Glenmama (where Murrough had found him 
hiding in a yew tree), fled from the pakcj and 
prepared for war. 

O'Neil, King of Ulster, and O'Ruarc, Prince 
of Brefney, joined the malcontents, who began 
operations by invading Meath, defeating Malachi 
and plundering his territory. When this intelli- 
gence reached Brian, he despatched one army, 



10I3-IOI4] BATTLE OF CLONTARF 2t 

under Murrough, to move on Dublin by Wick- 
low, while he himself, with another army, ad- 
vanced on the town by the Queen's County and 
Kildare. Having swept all obstacles from their 
paths, father and son joined forces at Kilmain- 
ham, under the walls of Dublin, in September 
ID 1 3. And now Sitric and Mailmora made vast 
preparations for defence, while €k>rmlaith pre- 
sided over their deliberations. She, indeed — 
the mother of Sitric, the sister of Mailmora and 
the divorced wife of Brian — was the genius of 
the rebellion. She urged Sitric to entreat help 
of his kinsmen Sigurd, earl of the Orkneys, and 
Brodar of the Isle of Man. 'Spare nothing,' 
she said, ' to get them into thy quarrel, whatever 
price they ask.' They both entered into his 
•quarrel,' and the 'price' each asked was the 
sovereignty of Ireland and the hand of Gorm- 
laith. Sitric was perfectly accommodating. 
He said each should be king and each should 
marry his mother. He made but one stipula- 
tion. He said to Sigurd, ' Keep this compact 
from Brodar,' and to Brodar, ' Keep this com- 
pact from Sigurd.' And so, in the spring of 
1 014, the Norse chiefs came to Ireland, with 
two great armies, to win the crown and to woo 
Gormlaith. 

Meanwhile, Brian had laid the country waste 
all round Dublin, and at length provoked the 
Norsemen to sally from the town and risk all in 
one decisive battle. Brian now moved from 
Kilmainham, and took up a position on the 
north of the town, extending his line, probably, 
from where the Four Courts now stand to 



22 IRELAND [1014 

Clontarf, and thus keeping the enemy between 
himself and the sea. 

On Good Friday 1014, the battle of Clon- 
tarf, as it has been called, was fought. Brian's 
army consisted of the men of Munster, Con- 
naught and Meath. Murrough commanded 
the van, which was composed of Dalcassian 
warriors, leaving the rest of the Munster 
troops under the direction of Mothla O'Faelan, 
Prince of the Decies, Waterford. O'Hyne and 
O'Kelly led the forces of Connaught, while 
Malachi brought up the rear with the men of 
Meath. 

Sitric's army was composed of the forces of 
Sigurd and Brodar, which were placed in the 
van ; of the Norsemen of Dublin, commanded 
by the Norse chief Duvgall ; and of the Leinster 
men, under Mailmora, who formed the rear divi- 
sion. 

From dawn till sunset the battle raged. 
Murrough began the attack with his Dalcassians, 
throwing himself upon the forces of Sigurd and 
Brodar. The Norsemen were cased in armour, 
but it afforded them little protection from the 
battle-axes of the furious Dalcassians. Yet both 
Norse and Irish fought with desperate and equal 
valour. At first the Norsemen drove back their 
assailants, and Sitric, who watched the battle 
from the ramparts of Dublin, said to his wife 
(Brian's daughter), * Well do the foreigners reap 
the field ; many a sheaf do they cast from them.' 
But she answered, * The result will be seen at 
the end of the day,' for she thought only of her 
own people. 



IOI4] DEFEAT OF THE NORSEMEN 23 

Murrough, seeing that his men were falling 
back before the Norse forces, placed himself in 
the front of the fight and urged his warriors 
forward. In the words of the old chronicler, 
'A bird of valour and championship arose in 
him, and fluttered over his head and on his 
breath.' Seeing Sigurd in the distance, he 
dashed straight for him. The Norsemen flung 
themselves between their chief and the Irish 
leader, but Murrough cut his way through them 
* like a fierce, tearing, all-powerful lioness that has 
been roused and robbed of her whelps; or like 
the fierce roll of an impetuous, deluging tor- 
rent, which stems and smashes everything that 
opposes it. . . . There fell fifty by his right hand 
and fifty by his left in that onset, and he never 
repeated a blow to anyone, but only the one 
blow, and neither shield nor mail coat was proof 
to resist any of these blows.' At length he came 
face to face with Sigurd, and Sigurd did not 
shrink from the conflict Hand to hand both 
warriors fought, and valiantly the retainers of 
each rallied to their chief. 

But Murrough with one * crushing blow ' cleft 
the helmet of the Norse commander in twain, and 
with another struck him lifeless to the ground. 
Then the Dalcassians dashed madly forward, 
and the Norsemen fled to the sea. Sitric and 
his wife still watched the scene from the ram- 
parts of Dublin. ' Methinks,' she said, * that the 
foreigners have gained their inheritance.' 

*What meanest thou?' he asked. 

*The foreigners,' she answered, *are going 
into the sea — their natural inheritance.' 



24 IRELAND [1014 

Brian, whose failing health — ^he was now in his 
seventy-third year — ^prevented him from taking 
an active part in the battle, remained in his 
tent, and from time to time asked his attend 
ant, Laiten, how went the fortmies of the 
day. 

'The battalions,' replied Laiten, 'are mixed 
together in deadly struggle, and I hear their 
blows as if a vast multitude were hewing 
down Tomar's Wood with heavy axes. I see 
Murrough's banner standing aloft, with the 
banners of Dalgas around it' 

And again he asked how the battle fared, and 
Laiten said, ' They are now mingled so that no 
living man could distinguish them ; and they are 
all covered with blood and dust, so that a father 
could scarce know his own son. Many have 
fallen, but Murrough's banner still stands, moving 
through the battalions.' 'That is well,' said 
the king; 'as long as the men of Erin see 
that standard they will fight with courage and 
valour.' 

And again Brian asked what news from the 
front, and Laiten again answered, — 

* It is now as if Tomar's Wood were on fire, 
and the flames burning and the multitudes hew- 
ing down underwood, leaving the tall trees 
standing. For the ranks are thinned, and only 
a few great heroes are left to maintain the 
fight. The foreigners are now defeated, but the 
standard of Murrough has fJEdlen.' 

Brian said, — 

'Evil are those tidings. If Murrough has 
fallen, the valour of the men of Erin is fled, 



IOI4] DEATH OF BRIAN 25 

and they shall never look on a champion like 
him again/ 

Murrough had indeed fallen, but he had fallen 
in the arms of victory. The battle was over, 
the Norsemen had been literally swept into the 
sea, when the Irish chief, in pressing forward 
the pursuit, was slain by the retreating foe. 

Some Norse stragglers now worked their way 
to Brian's tent. 

' Many flying parties of foreigners are around 
us,' said Laiten, 'let us hasten to the camp, 
where we shall be in safety.' 

But the king said, ' Retreat becomes us not ; 
and I know l£at I shall not leave this place 
alive, for Eevin of Craglea, the guardian spirit 
of my race came to me last night and told me 
I should be slain this day, and what avails me 
— now in my old age — ^to survive Murrough and 
the other champions of the Dalgas ? ' 

The stragglers came nearer to the tent, and 
among them was Brodar and two other Norse 
warriors. 

' I see some people approaching,' said Laiten. 

'What manner of people are they?' asked 
Brian. 

* A blue, stark-naked people,' answered Laiten. 

* They are Danes in armour,' said the king, 
* and it's not good to thee that they come.' 

Then Brian, who had been resting on a couch, 
rose and unsheathed his sword. Brodar ad- 
vanced but heeded him not But one of the 
Norsemen said, looking at Brian, — 

* Cing, cing ; it's the king ! ' 

*No, no; but priest, priest,' said Brodar. 



26 IRELAND [1014-1152 

'Not at all/ said the Norseman, 'it is the 
King Brian/^ 

Then Brodar turned and raised his battle-axe. 
But Brian struck him with his sword, inflicting 
a mortal wound. Brodar staggered under the 
blow ; but for a moment recovered his balance 
and brought his axe full on the monarch's head, 
and both fell to the ground, dead. 

Clontarf was a decisive victory ; but it was 
dearly bought by the deaths of Brian and Mur- 
rough. 

The power of the Danes was for ever broken, 
but the national development of Ireland was 
effectually checked.* There was, no man to 
take Brian's place, no man to maintain a strong 
central government. Malachi once more be- 
came supreme king in name. But wars between 
provincial kings soon broke out, and for a 
century and a-half Ireland continued to drift 
again into a state of disorder and anarchy, until 
in the twelfth century, another host of foreign 
adventurers landed in the island to perpetuate 
the divisions, and distractions of the people. 

1 Joyce * Short History of Ireland.' 

' Of course Norse settlers still remained in Ireland, 
and even a Norse king reigned for a time in Dublin ; but 
all fear of Norse dominion was at an end. Henceforth 
Norse settlers became Irishmen. 



CHAPTER III 



THE NORMANS 




N 1 152, Dermot MacMorrough 
was King of Leinster. He was 
bad and unscrupulous, and 
had committed many shameful 
crimes. At length he aroused 
the indignation of the country 
by carrying off Dervorgilla, the 
wife of Ternan O'Ruarc, Prince 
of Brefney. For this offence he was finally de- 
throned by the Ard-ri, Roderick 0*Conor, and 
driven into exile. Banished from Ireland, Mac- 
Morrough sought the help of the English king, 
Henry II. (1154-1189).* 

At that time (1168) King Henry was in 
Aquitaine. Hither MacMorrough fled. Henry, 
already anxious to conquer Ireland, readily pro- 
mised assistance on condition that MacMor- 
rough, if restored to his dominions, would hold 

^ Date of the king's reign. 
27 



28 IRELAND [1169 

Leinster as the vassal of the English king. 
MacMorrough agreed, and Henry then recom- 
mended his cause ' To all my liegemen, Eng- 
lish, Norman, Welsh and Scotch,' saying * who- 
soever within the ample extent of our territories, 
shall be willing to lend aid to this prince as our 
faithful and liege subject, let him know that we 
do hereby grant to him for said purpose our 
licence and favour/ An immediate response 
was made. Conspicuous among the Norman 
nobles whose estates lay in Wales, and on the 
Welsh border, was Richard de Clare, second 
earl of Pembroke, famous in history by his sur- 
name of Strongbow. A true soldier of fortune, 
with all the martial ardour and adventurous 
spirit of his race, he readily espoused the cause 
of the deposed king, and concluded an alliance 
by which it was agreed that he should marry 
Eva, Dermot's daughter, and, on Dermot's 
death, should succeed to the throne of Lein- 
ster. The promise of lands induced many 
Norman knights to lend their swords, and 
an expedition was quickly organised under 
Robert Fitz-Stephen and Maurice Prendergast, 
who, with a force of about 2000 men, includ- 
ing 100 knights and 600 archers, landed at 
Bannow, near Wexford, in May 1169. Here 
they were joined by Dermot (who had preceded 
them) with a native force, and hostilities were 
immediately commenced. Wexford was be- 
sieged and, after a valiant resistance, captured. 
Flushed by victory, the invaders next overran 
Ossory, putting the surrounding country to 
fire and sword, and finally entrenching them- 



1170] STRONGBOW 99 

selves at Ferns. The Ard-ri, who had hitherto 
remained inactive, now awoke to a sense of 
the impending danger, summoned the princes 
to meet him at Tara, and hastily raising 
an army, marched southwards. He met Der- 
mot at Ferns, and opened n^otiations with 
him. It was agreed that Dermot should be 
restored to his kingdom on condition that he 
abandoned his foreign auxiliaries. But soon 
after this arrangement reinforcements arrived 
fh>m England under Maurice Fitz-Gerald, and 
Dermot broke his word and threw in his lot 
with the invaders once more. Dermot now 
impatiently awaited the arrival of Strongbow 
himself. That daring adventurer, understanding 
King Henry's jealous temper, had visited 
Normandy, and asked his permission to conduct 
in person the invasion of Ireland. Unwilling 
either to refuse or assent, Henry returned an 
equivocal answer, so that he could afterwards 
declare that he had, or had not, given permis- 
sion, whichever course the current of events 
might show to be more advantageous to his 
interests. Strongbow chose to understand 
Henry's answer in the affirmative, hastened 
back to WaleSj collected and equipped a 
formidable force, despatched Raymond le Gros 
with a small detachment to discover and 
secure a convenient place of disembarkation, 
and ultimately, in August 1170, landed near 
Waterford with an army of about 3000 
men. On the day after his arrival, by the 
advice of Raymond, he ordered the assault of 
Waterford. The Irish fought with desperate 



30 IRELAND [1170 

courage, and twice repulsed the enemy's attack ; 
but Norman disdplme in the end prevailed, 
Waterford was taken, and the inhabitants were 
put to the sword. The marriage of Dermof s 
daughter Eva and Strongbow then took place ; 
Dermot and his daughter riding, it is said, the 
blood-stained highways, which were cumbered 
with the bodies of the dead and dying. 

Strongbow now advanced on Dublin, where 
the Danish king Hasculf reigned. The Irish 
archbishop, Laurence OToole, was sent to offer 
terms of peace, and a truce was agreed on. But, 
while hostilities were suspended, Strongbow's 
followers, Raymond le Gros and Miles de 
Cogan entered the cit^ at the head of a chosen 
force, and slaughtered the unsuspecting citizens. 
Hasculf then fled to the Orkneys, and Strong- 
bow held Dublin. In the following year Dermot 
died, and the Norman earl was proclaimed King 
of Leinster. The Irishmen now made a desperate 
effort to drive out the invader. Dermot's sub- 
jects abandoned Strongbow and united with their 
fellow-coimtrymen in a combined attack on 
Waterford, Wexford and Dublin, where the 
Normans were now shut up. 

At the same time Strongbow was confronted 
by another difficulty. Henry was deeply 
offended by his assumption of the royal 
dignity; he was willing that he should gain 
fortune and fame, if such were to be procured, 
as the leader of mercenaries, but he could not 
brook his establishment of an independent 
authority, and he issued a proclamation com- 
manding his liege men in Ireland to return 



1I7I] ARRIVAL OF HENRY IL 31 

immediately, on pain of the forfeiture of their 
lands and chattels, and of perpetual banish- 
ment He would allow no reinforcements 
to be sent to Ireland, nor any English or 
Scottish ship to touch the Irish coast. 

A Gordian knot can be cut only by the sword, 
and Strongbow in this dilemma acted with char- 
acteristic energy. Gathering his little garrison 
together, he suddenly sallied from behind the 
w^s of Dublin, and fell on the besieging 
force with such suddenness and directness 
as to scatter them in tumultuous flight Then 
he hastened over to England, obtained admis- 
sion to the royal presence, and pacified Henry 
by the offer of all the lands he had won in 
Ireland. Henry now decided to undertake 
the conquest of Ireland himself, and having 
assembled a fleet of 400 ships, with an army 
of about 400 knights and 4000 men-at-arms, 
crossed the Channel from Milford Haven, 
accompanied by Strongbow, Hugh de Lacy 
and William Fitz-Adelm de Buigo, in October 
1 171, disembarking at Crook, near Water- 
ford. The Irish princes had suffered much 
from long years of rivalry and disunion, and 
Henry's claim of suzerainty they were not 
disinclined to acknowledge, if he, on his part, 
respected their individual rights. Several of 
the most powerful of them at once did homage 
to him, and swore fealty, their territories being 
restored to them on the usual conditions of 
feudal tenure. 

Henry also parcelled out lands among his own 
followers, giving Leinster to Strongbow, Ulster 



32 IRELAND [1173 

to De Courqr, and Meath to De Lacy. Dublin 
he granted to the people of Bristol, making 
Hugh de Lacy governor of the town. 

Afterwards, Henry summoned a meeting of 
the clergy at Cashel, under the presidency of the 
bishop of Lismore, when his 'lordship of Ireland ' 
was acknowledged by the priests and hierarchy. 
While, with chi^cteristic energy and state-craft, 
Henry was maturing schemes for the extension 
and consolidation of his acquisitions, the re- 
bellion of his sons recalled him in hot haste to 
England. 

Henry might have been able to establish a 
settled government in Ireland, but his departure 
threw everything into confusion. A struggle 
immediately broke out between the dispossessed 
Irish chiefs and the Norman adventurers, which 
was carried on with spirit and valour on both 
sides. De Lacy, who was the first governor 
of Ireland, was succeeded in 11 73 by Strong- 
bow, the strongest and most capable of the 
Normans.* 

Henry, jealous of his power, made a treaty 

^ A deUdled character of Strongbow is given by Giraldus 
Cambrensis. He described him as of feminine counten- 
ance, with a thin voice; gentle and courteous in his 
manners; gaining by address what he could not by 
force ; in peace readier to obey than to command ; when 
not in battle more a soldier than a general, and in 
battle more a general than a soldier. Prompt always to 
take his companions into council, and plunging into no 
enterprise without their advice. In action he was the 
sure rallyii^ point of his troops. In either fortune of 
war preserving an unshaken constancy, he was neither to 
be disabled by adversity, nor thrown off his balance by 



1 175- 1 1^5] NEW GRANTS 33 

with the Ard-ri in 1 1 75, by which Roderick bound 
himself to do homage to Henry as his suzerain, 
while Henry undertook to secure the sovereignty 
of Ireland to Roderick. 

Strongbow died in 11 76. He was succeeded 
in the government of the colony (1177-1181) 
by Raymond le Gros, by William Fitz-Adelm de 
Burgo, and by Hugh de Lacy, who married the 
daughter of the Ard-ri. All this time, a£fairs in 
Ireland remained in a state of great confusion. 
The Irish were not sufficiently disciplined and 
united to drive out the foreigners, and the 
Normans were not strong enough to conquer 
the entire country. At length, in 1185, Henry 
bestowed the title of lord of Ireland on his 
eldest son, John (then nineteen years old), and 
sent him to govern the coimtry. New grants of 
land had previously been made to the Norman 
warriors. According to Sir John Davies, Henry 
divided the island among ten of his nobles ; and 
though Davies says they did not gain possession 
of one-third of die kingdom, yet in title they 
were owners and lords of all, as nothing was left 
to be granted to the natives. In violation of the 
treaty made with Roderick, South Munster was 
conferred upon Miles de Cogan and Robert 
Fitz- Stephen; North Munster was given to 
Philip de Braose; Wexford fell to the lot of 
Robert de la Poer, while a great part of 
Connaught became the property of William 
Fitz-Adelm de Burgo. In most cases, the ad- 
venturers thus suddenly enriched, were prudent 
enough to enter into negotiations with the 
natives, and, obtaining peaceable possession 



34 IRELAND [1185 

of a portion of their grant, wisely left the re- 
mainder to the rightful owners. 

John landed at Waterford about Easter 1185, 
attended by a band of profligate young nobles 
and incompetent advisers. The Irish chieftains 
met him with friendly greetings. Clothed in 
their long, flowing robes and linen vests, with 
their untrimmed hair and luxuriant beards, they 
presented a dignified appearance as they entered 
the royal presence, and, according to the national 
custom, advanced to salute the new viceroy with 
the kiss of peace. But the young Norman 
courtiers, looking upon the proceeding as an 
insult, drove them back roughly, and some even 
ventured to pluck their beards and mimic their 
gestures. Deeply resenting this unworthy treat- 
ment, the chieftains returned home to meditate 
revenge. Meanwhile, John went from bad to 
worse. To meet the lavish expenditure of his 
profligate Court he inflicted a heavy taxation on 
the maritime towns, in spite of the immunities 
granted them by Henry. He even incensed the 
Norman warriors by his contemptuous treatment 
of them. At length the volcano broke forth 
with violence. The Irish rose in all directions, led 
by Donall O'Brien of Thomond. The Normans 
were attacked at all points ; John's army was de- 
stroyed, and the settiers were driven for shelter 
to the walled towns. For eight months the 
colony was exposed to the most serious disaster, 
and Ireland had nearly slipped from his grasp 
before Henry had learned the full extent of the 
insurrection. Then he recalled John and his 
idle Court, and placed the administration in the 



II99-I2IO] KING JOHN 35 

hands of De Courcy as lord-deputy. This able 
and vigorous soldier acted with all the promp- 
titude and energy the crisis demanded, and 
gradually recovered the ground which had been 
lost. 

Henry II. died in 1189, leaving Ireland but 
partially conquered and wholly unsettled; and 
so she remained throughout the reign of his 
successor, Richard I. (1189-1199). Not only 
were the Irish chiefs bent on throwing off the 
yoke of the foreigner, but the Norman setders 
were disloyal to England. In this crisis, John 
(i 199-12 16) showed eirtraordinary vigour. He 
descended on the island in 12 10, attacked the 
rebellious Norman knights, De Lacy and De 
Braose, driving them from the country, and 
finally subdued the Irish chiefs. The De Lacys 
fled to France, where they sank into such an 
abyss of distress, that to support themselves 
they became gardeners to a monastery. After 
some time, the abbot, suspecting that they had 
a story to tell, and learning their real rank, 
interceded with King John on their behalf with 
so much effect, that on their payment of a con- 
siderable fine, their Irish titles and estates wer« 
restored to them, and they returned to Ulster. 

John did not attempt to esctend the Norman 
settlement in Ireland. He tried to consolidate 
it. English laws were introduced; English 
courts were established; sheriffs and other 
officials were duly appointed ; and the districts 
subject to English control were divided into 
twelve counties — Dublin, Meath, Uriel (now 
called Louth), Kildare, Katherlagh (now called 



36 IRELAND [1216-1272 

Carlow), Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford, Cork, 
Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary. Throughout 
the remainder of John's reign, Ireland was com- 
paratively quiet But during the reigns of his 
successors, Henry III. (1216-1272) and Edward 
I. (1372-1307), the old confiision prevailed. 
Not only Irish and Normans fought against 
each other, but fought between themselves. 
Nevertheless there was a common hostility to 
England ' We are English to the Irish,' said 
one of the Normans ; ' but we are Irish to the 
English.' Amid the general anarchy, the work 
of fusion between conquerors and conquered 
went on. 

The Normans began to adopt Irish customs 
and manners, to feel Irish sympathies and 
prejudices, to take Irish titles and Irish 
names. Thus, the De Burgos became Bourkes ; 
the Fitz-Urses, MacMahon; the De Veres, 
MacSweeney ; while the proud Geraldines grew 
more Irish than the Irish themselves. 'The 
MacMahons in the south,' says Spenser, 'were 
anciently English, to wit, descended from the 
Fitz-Urses, which was a noble family in England ; 
likewise the MacSweeneys, now in Ulster, where 
recently the Veres in England, for they them- 
selves, for hatred of England, so disgraced their 
names.' 

A modem English historian has tried to 
account for this fusion. *A conquering race,' 
he says, ' can retain its peculiar characteristics, 
unaffected by the local influences and tendencies 
of the people by which it is surrounded, so long 
only as it preserves the most intimate relations 



1307] CELT AND NORMAN 37 

with its kindred elsewhere.' And this the 
invaders did not, for those to whom Ireland was 
distasteful, forsook it and returned no more; 
while those who remained — separated from their 
connections by the Irish Sea — ^learned to look 
upon it as their adopted country. He supplies 
another reason; that from a combination of 
causes the Irish Celts possess on their own soil 
a power, greater than any other known family 
of mankind, of assimilating those who venture 
among them. But there is yet another reason : 
in England, as in Ireland, no general spirit of 
patriotism was alive. To those restless Norman 
nobles, England was almost as much a name as 
to the Irish themselves. They were in no way 
connected with its past history; had not ab- 
sorbed its traditions ; and were, indeed, prepared 
to ^ make a nationality wherever they could find 
an estate.' Once safely planted in Ireland, they 
had no reason to maintain any protracted enmity 
against their Irish neighbours. ' The baron and 
his Irish retainers found the relations between 
them grow easy when the customs of the 
country were allowed to stand; and when a 
Butler or a Lacy, not content with leading his 
people to spoil and victory, assumed their lan- 
guage and their dress, and became as one of 
themselves, the affection of which they were the 
objects among the people grew at once into adora- 
tion.' The process of change went on rapidly, 
because there was no counteracting influence. 
There was no strong feeling of loyalty, for the 
English kings seldom visited Ireland. There 
was no dominant, settled authority to maintain 



38 IRELAND (1307 

the English allegiance, for the lord-deputy had 
little real power, and his personal interests very 
frequently were opposed to those of the Crown. 
When an Irish bsu'on was appointed to the post, 
all the other Irish barons became his rivals, and 
when the deputy was an English baron, all the 
Irish barons became his enemies. An ecclesi- 
astic was sometimes chosen, because he occupied 
a sort of neutral position ; but then he had his 
class and separate interests to preserve, and 
preferred the interests of his church and order 
to those of the king of England. 

But whatever were the causes, the fact re- 
mains that, throughout the reigns of Henry III. 
and Edward I. Normans and Irish were draw- 
ing closer and closer to each other. Indeed, 
it seemed possible that what had happened in 
England might happen in Ireland; and that 
the conquerors and the conquered might com- 
bine to build up a strong and united nation. 



CHAPTER IV 



EDWARD BRUCE 




N the reign of Edward II. (1307- 
1327), the English connection 
was threatened by the greatest 
danger which had yet arisen. 
In 1 3 14, the English were 
defeated at Bannockbum by 
Robert Bruce. This glorious 
Scotch victory filled the Irish 
with joy. Donall O'Neil, Prince of Tyrone, 
and the Norman De Lacy sent ambassadors 
to Robert Bruce praying him to allow his 
brother Edward to become King of Ireland. 
Robert consented, and in May 131 5, Edward 
landed at Lame with a force of 6000 disciplined 
warriors. The Irish chiefs rallied to him from 
end to end of the country. O'Conor of Con- 
naught, O'Brien of Thomond, the OTooles 
and O'Brynes of Wicklow, the O'Moores of 

39 



40 IRELAND [1316 

Leix — all united with the Scots to drive out 
the English. 

£dward Bruce marched onward from victory 
to victory, storming castles and burning towns, 
but unhappily pilli^ing, plundering and destroy- 
ing all before him. At Dundalk, he was crowned 
king in the spring of 1316. Anxious for the 
papal sanction, &e Ulster princes, led by 
O'Neil, addressed a petition to the Pope, in 
which they enlarged on the pitifiil condition of 
the coundy, 'which had been ground so long 
beneath the tyranny of English kings, of their 
ministers and barons, some of the latter, although 
born on the island, exercising the same ex- 
tortions, rapine and cruelties as their ancestors 
had inflicted. The people had been obliged, 
like beasts, to take refuge in the mountains, 
though even there they were not safe. There 
were only laws for the English, none for the 
Irish; and any Englishman could, as often 
happened, kill an Irishman of any rank, and 
seize his property. The Church had been 
despoiled of its lands and possessions by 
sacrilegious Englishmen.' The Pope sent the 
petition to Edward, urging him to rule the 
Irish with justice and humanity; but His 
Holiness would not favour the revolt against 
England. 

The English, now unable to hold Ulster, 
retreated to Connaught. There, under the 
command of De Burgo and Bermingham, they 
were attacked by the young king of Connaugh^ 
Felim O'Conor, then only in his twenty-third year. 
A bloody pitched battle, in which many deeds 



1317-1318] BATTLE OF FAUGHART 41 

of prowess were performed by O'Connor and 
Bermingham, was fought at Athenry. But the 
young Irish king was slain, and his army utterly 
routed. 

Undeterred by the fate of his ally, Edward 
Bruce (who was now joined by his brother 
Robert) advanced to the walls of Dublin ; tra- 
versed Ossory and penetrated Munster (1316- 
13 1 7). But the excesses committed by his 
army caused a violent reaction against him. 
The English now prepared for a final struggle. 
Roger Mortimer, the lord-deputy, took the field 
with a formidable army, and the Bruces were 
compelled to retreat to Ulster. Robert soon 
gave up the struggle in despair, and returned to 
Scotland. But Edward held his ground. Mor- 
timer and Bermingham now advanced on 
Ulster (131 8) with a force of 15,000 men. The 
Scots and Irish met them at Faughart near 
Dundalk. De Lacy urged Bruce to await rein- 
forcements from Scotland. But Bruce resolved 
to hazard all on a single battle. Placing himself 
at the head of his men, he gave the order to 
advance, and the fiercest encounter of the war 
ensued. In the thick of the fight a Norman 
knight named Maupas challenged Bruce to 
mortal combat, and they fought with such fatal 
energy that both fell dead on the plain. The 
Scoto-Irish army was annihilated, and Berming- 
ham, with brutal ferocity, ordered Bruce's body 
to be cut into pieces, and sent his head, salted, 
in a box to Edward. 

The victory of Faughart crushed Bruce, but 
it did not secure Ireland to the English. In- 



42 IRELAND [1327 

deed, throughout the reign of Edward III. (1327- 
1377) their power, undermined by Irish hostility 
and Norman disaffection, declined everywhere. 
Tumult and riot prevailed in all directions, and 
the government was utterly helpless to put down 
rebellion or maintain order. Sir John Berming- 
ham, the hero of Faughart, was ensnared in a 
trap and slain, with 160 retainers, by a rival 
English faction in Leinster. In Munster, Lord 
Philip Hodnet and 140 followers shared a like 
fate. 

In Ulster, William de Buigo was brutally 
murdered by his own uncle-in-kiw, Richard de 
Mandeville — a deed which brought with it a 
terrible retribution, for the Norman-Irish of the 
district fell on the De Mandeville faction and 
slaughtered 300 of them. The De Burgos of 
Connaught, maddened by English misrule, broke 
away from the EngUsh connection altoge- 
ther, and assumed the dress and the language 
of the Irish. ^ On the banks of the Shannon,' 
says Mr Richey in his history of Ireland, 'in 
the sight of tiie royal garrison of Athlone, 
they stripped themselves of their Norman dress 
and arms and assumed the saffron robes of 
Celtic chieftains.' The example of the De 
Burgos was followed by many another Norman 
family, to whom the charm of Irish character, 
with all its shortcomings, was preferable to 
the weak and unscrupulous government of 
England. 

Norman discontent was accompanied by 
Irish insurrection. Irish septs swept over the 
country, seizing English strongholds, invading 



1377] UPRISING OF THE IRISH 43 

English territories, wresting from English hands 
the estates of which they had been despoiled. 
Ireland was, indeed, once more slipping from 
the grip of the Sassenach. 




CHAPTER V 



THE FIRST EARL OF DESMOND 




N this extremity Edward invoked 
the aid of Maurice Fitz-Gerald, 
the most powerful Norman 
noble of the Pale, as the 
English settlement was called. 
Fitz-Gerald responded to the 
call, took the field with 10,000 
men, defeated the Irish in 
many expeditions, quartered his troops on the 
colonists, and, in recognition of his services, 
was created first Earl of Desmond. 

About the same period (i 328-1 330) James 
Butler — ^another powerful Norman noble — was 
created first Earl of Ormond. 

Desmond and Ormond grew in power and 
eminence. They were, in fact, petty kings. 
They held courts, bestowed offices, conferred 
titles of rank and nobility, commanded armies 
and administered the law. The king became 
jealous of their authority, and in 1331 sent Sir 

44 



1330-1341] NORMAN LORDS 45 

Anthony Luqr, as viceroy, to hold them in check, 
and to govern the countey. Lucy summoned 
two parliaments, one in Dublin, one in Kil- 
kenny ; but Desmond refused to attend either, 
asserting the appearance of Lucy as an invasion 
of his own pri^eges. But Lucy determined to 
uphold the prerogatives of the Crown. He 
seized Desmond and flung him into prison. 
There the Earl remained for eighteen months. 
Then Lucy was recalled, and Sir John D'Arcy 
sent in his place. 

D'Arcy reversed the policy of Lucy, released 
Desmond, and governed on conciliatory lines. 
But the policy of concession failed as the policy 
of coercion had fiEuled. Ireland remained re- 
bellious and disturbed all the time. Between 
1332 and 1 34 1 many viceroys came and went, 
but the condition of the country always re- 
mained the same. Normans and Irish, at war 
with each other and quarrelling among them- 
selves, were united in one thing only — ^hos- 
tility to the government of England. 

At length, in 1341, Sir John Morris was sent 
to rule with a strong hand. But the Norman 
nobles treated him with utter contempt. He 
summoned a parliament in Dublin, but Des- 
mond and Kildare and many other Norman 
lords refused to attend, and summoned a parlia- 
ment of their own at Kilkenny. But Morris 
held his ground, and the king proclaimed that 
all natives, whether of Irish or English descent, 
should be dismissed from all offices, and that 
English-bom men should alone be appointed to 
positions of emolument and trust. This de- 



46 IRELAND [1344 

claradon set the country in a blase. Desmond 
and the Nonnan lords spoke openly of rebellion. 
They made a powerful appeal to the king, 
dwelling upon the unfitness of English strangers 
to govern Ireland, and asserting their own 
claims and privileges. Edward's wars with 
France did not leave him free to face the pro- 
spects of an Irish rebellion and he resolved to 
grant the demands of the Norman lords. The 
policy of Morris was reversed, the EngUsh-bom 
officials were dismissed, and the Norman nobles 
restored to favour. In 1344, Morris was suc- 
ceeded in the viceroyalty by Sir Ralph Ufford. 
But Ufford determined to begin as Morris had 
begun — to curb the authority of the Norman 
lords, and to govern the country in the English 
interest alone. The Norman lords, on the 
other hand, resented the appearance of Ufford 
as they had resented the appearance of Morris. 
The new viceroy summoned a parliament, but 
Desmond once more refused to attend, where- 
upon Ufford marched into the territories of 
Desmond, seized his castles, pillaged his lands, 
and flung his kinsman, the Earl of Kildare, into 
prison. After two years of reckless misgovern- 
ment, Ufford died. Desmond was restored to 
favour. Kildare was released, and the Norman 
lords again became a power in the land. 

During the next fifteen years, Ireland con- 
tinued in the old state of division and anarchy. 
But the fusion of races went on, and the hos- 
tility to English rule remained the same. The 
three powerful Norman nobles, Desmond, Or- 
monde and Kildare, would bend the knee to 



13611367] STATUTE OF KILKENNY 47 

no English viceroy; and the native princes, 
the O'Briens, the OTooles, the MacMurroughs, 
lost no opportunity of striking at English author- 
ity. The result was that the limits of the Pale 
grew smaller, and the power of the Crown 
continued to decline. 

*Our Irish dominions,' wrote Edward about 
this time, *have been reduced to such utter 
devastation, ruin and misery, that they may be 
totally lost if our subjects there are not immedi- 
ately succoured.* To save the colony, Edward 
sent his son Lionel, Duke of Clarence, as vice- 
roy in 1361, and again in 1364, and again in 
1367. But Clarence's viceroyalty was an utter 
fsulure, and he finally came to the conclusion 
that the conquest of Ireland was hopeless, and 
bent all his eneigies simply to preserve the 
English colony such as it was. 

To secure this object Clarence believed it was 
of vital importance to cut off all communication 
between the natives and the Norman settlers; 
to end the fusion of races, and to set up a 
barrier of hostility between the old and the new 
inhabitants of the island. For this purpose he 
summoned a parliament in 1367 to pass a 
memorable Act — the well-known 'Statute of 
Elilkenny.' This measure provided that mar- 
riage, fosterage^ or gossipred^ with the Irish, or 
acceptance of the Irish (Brehon) laws should be 
considered and punished as high treason. If 
any man of English descent used an Irish name, 

^ That is, entrustiDg children to be reared by Irish 
nurses or foster-mothers. 
^ Standing sponsor for a child at baptism. 



48 IRELAND [1377 

the Irish language, or Irish customs, he should 
suffer forfeiture. It was declared penal to 
present a 'mere Irishman' — that is, one who 
had not purchased a charter of denization — to 
any benefice, or to receive him into any monas- 
teiy. It was forbidden to entertain any native 
bard, minstrel or story-teller, or to admit Irish 
cattle to pastiurage on English lands. 

This was a strong measure, but it required a 
strong government to enforce it, and there was 
no such government in Ireland. The ' Statute of 
Kilkenny,' accordingly, became a dead letter, 
and the condition of Ireland remained un- 
changed. Edward III. died in 1377, leaving 
his Irish dominions in a worse plight than he 
had found them. 




CHAPTER VI 

ART MACMURROUGH 

FAMOUS Irish chieftain now 
appeared upon the scene — Art 
MacMurrough, King of Lein- 
ster. Art MacMurrough was 
born about 1357, and ascended 
the throne of Leinster in 1375. 
About the same time he mar- 
ried the daughter of Maurice 
Fitz-Gerald, Earl of Kildare. This act was a 
bold defiance of the * Statute of Kilkenny,' and 
the English government seized the opportunity 
thus given to them of confiscating the vast 
estates of the bride. MacMurrough retaliated 
by declaring war against the government ; and 
a memorable stru^le began. MacMurrough 
marched through Wexford, Kilkenny, Car- 
low and Kildare, devastating the country, and 
scattering his enemies before him. Alarmed 
at his progress, the viceroy sued for peace, and 



so IRELAND [1377-1395 

MacMurrough reoeived a subsidy of eighty 
marks to refrain from further hostilities. A 
truce followed, but it was only used by Mac- 
Murrough to prepare for a fresh encounter. 
Meanwhile he defied the authority of England, 
and reigned supreme within his own dominions. 

Richard II. (1377-1399) resolved to crush 
MacMurrough and to reduce 'rebellious' 
Ireland to complete submission. In October 
1394 he landed at Waterford with a force of 
34,000 men. This was the most imposing 
English army that had yet invaded Ireland. 
The Irish princes were duly impressed by its 
numbers and discipline, and showed a ready 
disposition to treat with the king. 

In 1395 Richard despatched Mowbray, Earl 
of Nottingham, to receive the submission of the 
southern princes. He met them at Ballygorry, 
near Carlow. All came in, even the dreaded 
MacMurrough. Peace was made, and the Irish 
kings, O'Neil of Ulster, O'Conor of Connaught, 
O'Brien of Munster, and MacMurrough of 
Leinster waited on the English king in Dublin, 
where, amid much rejoicing and many festivities, 
cordial relations were apparently established, 
and hearty friendships pledged. Richard was 
highly gratified. He felt that he had come, 
that he had seen, that he had conquered. But 
the whole negotiations were a sham, and 
Richard returned to England as poor as he had 
come. * The king,' says Sir John Davies, * re- 
turned into England with much honour, and small 
profit, for though he had spent a huge masse of 
treasure, yet did hee not increse his revennew 



v 



I395-I399] BATTLE OF KELLS 51 

thereby one sterling pound, nor enlarge the 
English borders the bredth of one acre of land ; 
neither did hee extend the jurisdiction of his 
Courtes of Justice by one foote further than 
the English colonies, wherein it was used and 
exercised before/ 

Richard had no sooner turned his back than 
the Irish were up in arms again. The English 
of Leinster attempted to capture MacMurrough, 
'but/ says the Four Masters, 'this was of no 
avail to them, for he escaped from them by the 
strength of his arm, and by his valour.' The 
viceroy, Edmond Mortimer, Earl of March, now 
took the field against MacMurrough. The Irish 
met him at Kells, near Kilkenny, where a great 
battie was fought (1397). The English were 
completely routed, and the viceroy was left dead 
upon the field. Richard resolved to return to 
Ireland, to avenge Mortimer's death and to 
annihilate MacMurrough. Accordingly, in the 
spring of 1399, he prepared a second expedition. 
Previously he proclaimed a great tournament at 
Windsor, of forty knights and as many esquires 
against all comers. To witness the feats of 
arms, Richard, with his fair and sweet child- 
wife, Isabella of Valois, sat in splendid state, 
' though,' says Froissart, ' few came to the feast, 
whether lords or knights or other men, for they 
held the king in such hatred.' Then Richard 
appointed his uncle, the Duke of York, to act 
as regent during his absence ; and at the door 
of St George's Chapel, where they had heard 
mass, he bade farewell to his twelve-years-old 
queen — ^lifting her up in his arms, proudly 



52 IRELAND [1399 

kissing her, and saying, ' Adieu, adieu, madam, 
till we meet again.' But they met no more. 

A fleet of two hundred sail carried Richard 
and his army across St George's Channel. Dis- 
embarking at Waterford, he advanced to 
Kilkenny, where he waited a fortnight for 
reinforcements under the Duke of Albemarle. 
With his whole force, he then marched against 
MacMurrough, who, secluded within his woods 
and fastnesses, boldly defied the English power ; 
denounced the king's authority as based upon 
violence and injustice; and declared his re- 
solution to 'defend the land unto his death.' 
Richard for a time placed his army at the 
entrance of the dense woods which sheltered 
MacMurrough's followers, but the Irish chief- 
tain was too wary to meet them in the open 
field. Richard, therefore, resumed his ad- 
vance, having previously created several knights, 
among whom was a young, fair and promising 
youth, Henry of Monmouth, afterwards the 
hero of Agincourt The way being obstructed 
by fallen trees, and frequently lying across 
heavy bogs into which the men-at-arms sank up 
to their waists, the march of the royal army was 
tedious and slow, while the foragers and stragglers 
were cut off by the attacks of flying parties of Irish, 
who were * so nimble and swift of foot, that, like 
unto stags, they run over mountains and valleys.' 

As Richard pushed forward, MacMurrough 
retreated, and the English army began to suffer 
from want of provisions. Richard then sent a 
message to the Irish king, requesting him to 
submit himself humbly to his liege lord, in 



1399] MACMURROUGH AND GLOUCESTER 53 

which case not only would his submission be 
accepted, but he would be rewarded with ample 
gifts of towns and territories. MacMurrough 
replied that not all the gold in the world would 
bribe him into submission, that he would still 
continue to carry on the war, and do the king 
all the injury in his power. There was no help 
for Richard but to break up his camp and 
march immediately for Dublin. Even this 
movementwas not accomplished without molesta- 
tion, for MacMurrough hung like a thunder- 
cloud in his rear, incessantly harassing his troops 
with desultory attacks. MacMurrough now 
agreed to a parley, and consented to meet one 
of the king's ambassadors in open conference. 

The Earl of Gloucester with 100 lances and 
1000 archers, was now sent to treat with the King 
of Leinster. The expedition was accompanied 
by a French writer, from whose pen we have a 
description of MacMurrough as he appeared at 
the meeting : — * From a mountain between two 
woods, not far from the sea, I saw MacMurrough 
descend, accompanied by multitudes of the 
Irish, and mounted on a horse without a saddle 
or saddle-bow, which cost him, it was reported, 
four hundred cows, so good and handsome an 
animal it was. This horse was fast, and, in 
speeding down the hill towards us, ran as swift 
as any stag, hare, or the swiftest beast I have ever 
seen. In his right hand MacMurrough bore a 
long spear, which, when near the spot where he 
was to meet the earl, he cast from him with 
much dexterity. The crowd that followed him 
then remained behind, while he advanced 



54 IRELAND [i399-i405 

to meet the earL The Irish king was tall of 
stature, well composed, strong and active; his 
countenance fell and ferocious to the eye — ^a 
man of deed.' 

The conference lasted for some time, but 
as MacMurrough absolutely refused Richard's 
terms of unconditional surrender, it broke up 
without results. Gloucester returned to Dublin, 
and MacMurrough withdrew into his native 
fastnesses. Richard, on learning the failure of 
the conference, burst into a tempest of wrath, 
and swore by St Edward that he would never de- 
part out of Ireland until he had MacMurrough, 
living or dead, in his hands. 

But as he was preparing, with his army re- 
united and reinforced, to march into the heart 
of MacMurrough's country, the terrible tidings 
came from England that Henry Bolingbroke 
had landed at Ravenspur, and that some of the 
most powerful of the English nobles had already 
joined his banner. Richard lost heart as he 
read this ominous writing on the wall. * Good 
Lord ! ' he exclaimed, * this man designs to de- 
prive me of my kingdom,' but instead of acting 
with prompt decision, he delayed three weelw 
at Dublin, so that before he landed on the 
English coast his throne was lost and won. 

MacMurrough now remained master of the 
situation. Throughout the reign of Henry IV. 
(1399-1413) he harried the English settlements, 
and upheld his authority within his own terri- 
tories. In 1405 he sacked Carlow and Castle- 
dermot — two formidable English strongholds — 
and overran Wexford. In 1407 the lord-deputy 



1407-1417] DEATH OF MACMURROUGH 55 

raised a powerful army and resolved to carry the 
war into MacMurrough's country. MacMur- 
rough, nothing daunted, once more met the in- 
vaders half way, and offered them battle near 
Callan, in the County Kilkenny. 

The fight lasted from morning to night. At 
the outset MacMurrough carried everything 
before him. But English reinforcements then 
arrived, and, in the end, his army was completely 
routed. 

The lord-deputy followed up this victory by 
marching on Callan, where he attacked Mac- 
Murrough*s ally, O'Carrol, and destroyed his 
little force of 800 men — O'Carrol himself fall- 
ing in the thick of the fight. 

MacMurrough now remained quiet for some 
years, but in 141 3 he attacked the English at 
Wexford, and inflicted a crushing defeat on 
them. Three years later they resolved to avenge 
this defeat, and to chastise the King of Leinster 
in his own territories. But MacMurrough did 
not await their coming. He poured his forces 
into Wexford, fought a pitched battle on the 
enemy's ground, and swept them within the 
walls of the town. This was his last achieve- 
ment. He died in 141 7 in the town of New 
Ross, having ruled Leinster for forty-two years, 
and dealt the severest blow which had yet 
been struck at English dominion in the 
island. 

* He was a man,' say the Four Masters, * who 
defended his own province against the English 
from his sixteenth to his sixtieth year ; a man 
full of hospitality, knowledge and chivahry ; a 



56 IRELAND [1417- 

man full of prosperity and royalty, and the 
enricher of churches and monasteries.' 

From the death of MacMurrough to the ac- 
cession of Henry VII. (1417-1485) Ireland re- 
mained in a state of confusion and anarchy. 
The Irish defied the authority of England, but 
did not combine to overthrow it, and the 
English settlers, hemmed around on all sides 
by a hostile population, barely maintained the 
struggle for existence. 

The fusion of Norman and Irish races went 
on as before, and the feeble attempts made to 
enforce the ' Statute of Kilkenny ' only excited 
contempt and ridicule. 

In 1449, Richard, Duke of York (heir-pre- 
sumptive to the English throne) became lord- 
lieutenant. He was the first English governor 
who tried to rule on popular principles, and his 
term of office was remarkable for the meeting 
of the first parliament which asserted the legis- 
lative independence of Ireland. But affairs in 
England forced him to return to that country 
in 1 45 1, and the government of Ireland fell 
into the hands of incompetent and unprinci- 
pled deputies. 

Meanwhile England was plunged into all the 
horrors of civil strife. The Wars of the Roses 
raged from 1455 to 1485. The opportunity 
was favourable to the destruction of English 
power in Ireland, root and branch. But the 
Irish were too divided among themselves to 
seize it. There was no national unity, though 
there was intense hatred of the foreigner. The 
Pale had shrunk to the smallest dimensions. It 



148SI NEW ERA 57 

was, indeed, confined to Dublin, and parts of 
Meath, Louth and Kildare. It needed but 
one united and resolute effort, and the English 
settlement would have disappeared altogether. 
That effort was never made. Irish and Nor- 
mans possessed all the lands outside the narrow 
limits of the Pale. But within these limits the 
English settlers held their ground. 

In 1485 the Wars of the Roses ended, and 
Henry Tudor ascended the English throne. A 
new era, crimsoned with misfortune, now dawned 
upon Ireland. 



CHAPTER VII 



THE TUDORS 




HE accession of Henry VII. 
(1485) brought peace to Eng- 
land, and gave her statesmen 
leisure to turn their attention 
to Irish affairs. It became their 
chief concern to effect the sub- 
jugation of the country, to bring 
it under the influence of English 
law, to improve its judicial administration, and 
to develop its great natural resources. But 
the Tudor dynasty was hateful to the Norman 
Irish. They remembered with gratitude tke 
popular government of the Duke of York, and 
gave their sympathies to the representatives of 
the White Rose. Henry they regarded as a 
usurper, and when Lambert Simnel, the son of 
an Oxford tradesman, pretending to be Edward, 
Earl of Warwick (grandson of the Duke of 

58 



1485-14891 LAMBERT SIMNEL 59 

York), appeared in Dublin in 1487, they rallied 
round him, and the lord-deputy, Garret Oge 
Fitz-Gerald, Earl of Kildare, proclaimed hm 
as Edward VI., King of England and France 
and Lord of Ireland. The arrival of John 
de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln (nephew of 
Edward IV.), whom Richard III. had adopted 
as his heir, lent additional strength to the im- 
postor's cause, more particularly as Lincoln 
brought with him 2000 German soldiers under 
Martin Schwartz, a captain of good repute. 
Lincoln must have been fully aware of the de- 
ception, but he advised that the so-called 
Edward should be crowned, and accordingly 
the Bishop of Meath performed the ceremony 
of his coronation in the Irish capital. The 
Anglo-Irish leaders, encouraged by this demon- 
stration, resolved on an immediate invasion of 
England, and, early in June 1487, Schwartz's 
2000 Germans, with a great multitude of Nor- 
man Irish, sailed from Dublin. Landing on 
the Lancashire coast, they marched swiftly into 
Yorkshire, but at Stoke, in Nottinghamshire, 
came into collision with Henry's formidable 
host, and were defeated with such slaughter 
that one-half of their number lay dead on the 
field of battle. Simnel was made prisoner, re- 
ceived the king's contemptuous pardon, and 
closed his career as a menial in the royal 
household. Henry, with sagacious generosity, 
forgave Kildare and the Irish nobles, and know- 
ing the great influence of the former, retained 
him in the office of lord-deputy. Later on ( 1 489) 
the summoned Kildare and the more powerful 



6o IRELAND [1489- 1492 

Anglo-Irish lords to his presence. He entertained 
them at a splendid banquet at Greenwich, where, 
in curious illustration of the irony of history, the 
attendant who served them at table was none 
other than Lambert Simnel. During their stay 
at Greenwich they accompanied Henry in solemn 
procession to the church, and were ultimately 
dismissed with many marks of the royal 
favour. But the Norman Irish still remained 
attached to the House of York, and another 
opportunity of showing that attachment soon 
presented itself. On the 5th May 1492, a 
merchant vessel from Lisbon dropped anchor 
in the harbour of Cork. Among the passengers 
a young man, whom no one knew, drew general 
attention by the grace of his bearing and the 
courtly elegance of his address. In person he 
was exceedingly well-made and comely, with 
handsome features ; his movements were dis- 
tinguished by their dignified ease; his whole 
bearing was that of one born to a high position. 
It was soon announced aboard that he was none 
other than Richard, Duke of York, the second 
son of Edward IV.; and his replies to the 
questions pressed upon him were so satisfactory, 
that he speedily obtained a large amount of 
support. The citizens of Cork declared in his 
favour, and the Earl of Desmond brought him 
his powerful aid. He disappeared from Ire- 
land, however, with the suddenness that had 
characterised his arrival, and passed on to play 
his part elsewhere. This was Perkin Warbeck, 
the second pretender who disturbed Henry's 
reign. 



1492- 1494] POYNINGS' LAW 6i 

Henry had treated Simnel with contempt. 
But Warbeck had to pay the extreme penalty 
of his rashness. He was seized, flung into the 
Tower, and finally executed. 

Warbeck's connection with Ireland was not, 
as we have seen, either very intimate or much 
prolonged; but it was sufficient to convince 
Henry of the necessity of establishing a strong, 
centralised government in the country. Accord- 
ingly, in 1494, he despatched thither Sir Edward 
Poynings, a knight of the garter and privy 
councillor, in whom he placed great confidence, 
with instructions to punish ti^e adherents of 
Warbeck and to reduce the whole island to 
obedience. 

Poynings' name has a permanent place in 
Irish history, by virtue of the legislative measures 
which he initiated and carried. In 1494 he 
summoned a parliament at Drogheda to give 
efiect to his policy. This parliament asserted 
the dependence of Ireland upon England, ex- 
tended to Ireland the English statutes then in 
force, and provided that no parliament should, 
for the future, be holden in Ireland until the 
chief governor and council had first certified to 
the king, under the great seal of Ireland, 'as 
well the causes and considerations as the acts 
they designed to pass, and until the same should 
be proved by the king and council of England.' 
The * Statute of Kilkenny* was revived and 
amended; the exaction of *coyne and livery'^ 

^ *The custom of visiting the tenants' houses for 
refection/ — a custom much abused by the Norman lords. 
— ^Joyce, History of Ireland* 



62 IRELAND [1494 

forbidden, and the use of Irish war-cries pro- 
hibited.* 

Fortified by these enactments, Henry deter- 
mined to proceed steadily and cautiously with 
the work of securing, extending and consolidat- 
ing his Irish possessions. He resolved in the 
first place to win the support of the Norman 
nobles, and, through them, to subdue and 
dominate the native chiefs. 

* The war-cries of the various chiefe were: — The 
0*Neils, *L4mh-dhearg abu' (The Red Hand to Victory); 
the O'Briens, *L4mh-laider abd' (The Strong Hand 
to Victory); the Kildare Geraldines of *Crom abii* 
(from the Geraldine castle of Crom, or Groom); the 
Desmond Geraldines, ' Seanaid abd ' (from the Desmond 
castle of Shanid). 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE GERALDINES 




WO Norman families stood out 
conspicuously from the rest — 
the Butlers, who had given 
many proofs of their loyalty, 
and the Geraldines, whose 
allegiance had been of a more 
fitful and imcertain character. 
But it was to the Geraldines 
that Henry addressed himself, because their 
influence with the native Irish was supreme. 

The great Earl of Kildare had, as we have 
seen, warmly espoused the cause of Lambert 
Simnel, but he took no part in the projects of 
Perkin Warbeck. In 1494 Poynings suspected 
the earl of plotting against the government, and 
though no proofs were forthcoming, he was sent 
a prisoner to England. In 1496 he was ad- 
mitted to the royal presence to plead his cause. 
He immediately won Henry's confidence by 

63 



64 IRELAND [1496 

his frankness of speech and openness of de- 
meanour. 

* I would advise you, sir earl,* said the king, 
at the opening of the interview, *to provide 
yourself with good counsel, for I apprehend you 
will need it.* * I will show you, sire,' said the 
earl, 'the best counsel in England.' 'Who is 
that?* said Henry. 'The king,' answered Kil- 
dare, and Henry laughed heartily. 'You are 
charged,' said the king, 'with burning the 
Cathedral Church of Cashel. What say you to 
that in the presence of my lord the archbishop ? ' 
who stood close by. 'Marry, sire,' answered 
Kildare, 'it is true; but then I thought the 
archbishop was in it' This answer once more 
appealed to Henry's sense of humour, and he 
laughed more heartily than before. ' Sire,' said 
the prosecuting counsel, 'all Ireland cannot 
govern this man.' * Then,' said Henry, closing 
5ie audience, 'this man shall govern all Ire- 
land.' Henry was as good as his word. Kil- 
dare was released, sent back to Ireland, restored 
to his honours and estates, and appointed lord- 
lieutenant in place of Poynings on the 6th of 
August 1496. 

During the remainder of Henry's reign, Kil- 
dare continued at the head of the Anglo-Irish 
government, and justified the king's confidence 
by his vigorous administration of the country. 
A quarrel broke out between the Norman Mac- 
WiUiam Burke of Clanricarde and a native Irish 
chief, O'Kelly of Hy-Maney. Burke defeated 
O'Kelly and seized his castle. O'Kelly ap- 
pealed to the viceroy, and Kildare, gathering 



1496-1573] DEATH OF EARL OF KILDARE 65 

aroand him the native chiefs of Ulster, exoept 
CyNeil, marched southwards and crushed Mac- 
William Burke in a great battle at Elnockdoe, 
near Galway, in 1504. For this achievement 
he was made a knight of the garter. In 
1 5 10, Ealdare marched into Munster, deter* 
mined to punish tiie southern chiefs who 
had stood by Burke. Joined by the Munster 
Geraldines, he crossed the Shannon and in- 
vaded Thomond. But O'Brien, supported by 
Burke and Macnamara, advanced to meet him. 
The earl, surprised by the formidable force 
which the southern chidfs had brought into the 
field, beat a hasty retreat But O'Brien fell 
upon his army as it was passing through the bog 
of Monabraher, near Limerick, and completely 
routed it. However, in 15 12, Kildare was up 
and doing again. He marched into Ulster 
and successfully attacked his enemies there. 
In 15 13 he went southwards again, but while 
besi^ing the castle of a chief, O'Carrol, near 
Roscrea, he fell suddenly ill and died. So 
ended the great Earl of Kildare. * He was a 
mightie man of stature,' says Holinshed, 'full of 
honour and courage . . . milde in government 
... to his enemies steme. He was open and 
playne, hardly able to rule himself when he was 
moved ; in anger not so sharp as short, being 
easily displeased and sooner appeased. . . . 
Notwithstanding hys simplicitie in peace, he was 
of that valour and policie in warre as his name 
bred a greater terrour to the Irish than other 
men's armies.' Kildare was succeeded in tiie 
government of Ireland by his son Gerald. 

E 



66 IRELAND [1519-1521 

Earl Gerald, in the earlier part of the reign of 
Henry VIII. (1509-1547), followed in the foot- 
steps of his father. He waged incessant war 
against the Irish chiefs who rebelled against 
English rule ; crushed the O'Moores of Leix, the 
O'ReiUys of Cavan, the OTooles of Wicklow, 
and captured the castle of O'Carrol which his 
fether had failed to take. But his power, valour 
and success excited the jealousy of his great 
rival, Ormond, and even aroused the suspicions 
of Wolsey. Earl Gerald was formidable to the 
Irish ; he might become formidable to the Eng- 
lish too. So bought Henry's minister. In 1 5 1 9, 
extraordinary as it might seem, considering what 
his career hitherto had been, the earl was charged, 
mainly at the instance of Pierce Butler, Earl of 
Ormond ('Pierce the Red,' as he was called), 
with ' seditious practices, conspiracies and subtle 
crafts.' He was simimoned to England to 
answer this accusation, and Thomas Howard, 
Earl of Surrey, was sent to Ireland in his place. 
Surrey's government was an utter failure, and he 
returned to England in 152 1, when Kildare's 
enemy, Ormond, was appointed viceroy. But 
Ormond did not give satisfaction either. It was 
dear that none could rule Ireland but the 
Geraldines, because the Geraldines had become 
thoroughly Irish in temperament and feeling. 
They were certainly often English to the Irish, 
but they were as often Irish to the English. 
The Irish forgave them much, because they did 
not fear on occasion to withstand England. But 
England always distrusted them, because they 
showed a spirit of independence, and even when 



1521-1532] EARL GERALD OF KILDARE 67 

representing English interests, thought of Ireland 
first. In truth England could not do with, and 
could not do without the great house of Kildare. 
And so it came to pass that Earl Gerald was sent 
back to Ireland, and was, amid enthusiastic public 
rejoicings, once more installed governor of the 
country in 1524. It was characteristic of the 
Geraldines that at the installation of Kildare, an 
Irish chief. Conn O'Neil, bore the sword of state 
before the viceroy. The Geraldines alone had the 
wisdom to see that Ireland could best be ruled 
by winning the sympathy and confidence of 
Irishmen. Gerald was now placed in a position 
of great difficulty, and even danger. It was dis- 
covered that his kinsman, the Earl of Desmond, 
had entered into a treasonable correspondence 
with the King of France, to bring about an in- 
vasion of Ireland and to free the country from 
English control. Desmond was at once sum- 
moned to England, but he refused to obey. Kil- 
dare was ordered to arrest him, and the viceroy 
marched into Munster to fulfil this unpleasant 
mission. Desmond, however, evaded arrest, 
and Kildare was suspected of conniving at his 
escape. Charges of treason were again brought 
against him, and in 1526 he again went to Eng- 
land to answer them. 

He was for a time committed to the Tower, 
and detained for several years in England ; but 
Ireland became so ungovernable in his absence, 
that, in 1532, he was sent back once more as 
viceroy. He now chastised his enemies and drew 
closer the bonds which attached him to the 
Irish chiefs. 



68 IRELAND [15321534 

At the commencement of his career he had 
been * English to the Irish,' but towards the ^d 
he showed a decided tendency to become ' Irish 
to the English,' and English distrust of him ac* 
cordingly increased. In 1 5 34 he was summoned 
to England again, and again committed to the 
Tower. He came back to Ireland no more. 
Broken in healtii and spirit, and overcome by 
trouble and sorrow, he died in the Tower on 
December 12, 1534. 

When Earl Gerald left Ireland for the last 
time in 1534, he appointed his son Thomas, 
Earl of Offaly, popularly known as 'Silken 
Thomas' (from the silken fringes worn by his 
warriors on their helmets), lord-deputy. Cadling 
him to the council board at Drogheda, the old 
earl gave him the sword of state, and said, — 

*Son Thomas, you know that my sovereign 
lord the king hath sent for me into England, 
and what shall betide me God knoweth, for I 
know not. But, however it falleth, I am well 
stept in years ; and so I must in haste decease, 
because I am old. Wherefore, in so much as my 
winter is well near ended, and the spring of your 
age now buddeth, my will is, that you behave so 
wisely in these your green years, as that with 
honour you may grow to the catching of that 
hoary winter in which you see your father fast 
faring.* 

Young and inexperienced — he was only 
twenty-one years old — Offaly took upon him- 
self the cares of state. In June, a rumour 
reached Ireland that his father, the Earl Gerald, 
had been beheaded in the Tower. Offaly 



1534] SILKEN THOMAS 69 

was in arms in an instant Placing himself at 
the head of a guard of 140 warriors, he marched 
through the streets of Dublin, entering at Dane's 
Gate, crossing the river, and proceeding to St 
Mary's Abbey where the council awaited him. 
Surrounded by his followers, he advanced to tiie 
council board, and, flinging the sword of state 
on the table, harangued the privy councillors in 
a stirring speech* 'I am none of Henry, his 
deputy,' he said, 'I am his foe. I have more 
mind to conquer than to govern ; to meet him 
in the field than to serve him in office.' The 
lord chancellor besought him to submit in 
all tilings to the authority of the king. For an 
instant Offaly seemed to waver, when the old 
Irish harper, who accompanied him, recited a 
poem in Irish, recounting the valiant deeds of 
his ancestors, and urging him to be mindful of 
their fame. Fired with enthusiasm, the young 
Geraldine exclaimed, ' I will take the market as 
it riseth, and I will choose rather to die with 
valiantesse and liberty, than to live under King 
Henry in bondage and villany,' and rushed 
from the council hall, followed by his guard. 
Gathering the Irish septs around him, O'Conor 
Faly, O'Moore, O'Carrol, O'Neil of Tyrone, and 
O'Brien of Thomond, he prepared for war. He 
besought James Butler, son of the Earl of 
Ossory, to unite with him in one mighty effort 
to drive the English out of Ireland ; but the 
cautious Butler refused. Leaving a force to be- 
siege Dublin Castle, Offaly marched into the 
territory of the Butlers, and laid waste the 
county of Kilkenny. Then returning to Dublin, 



70 IRELAND [1535- 

he joined in the siege of that stronghold. The 
Archbishop Allen, an ancient foe of the Gerald- 
ines, sought to escape from the city under cover 
of the night, and cross to England; but the 
vessel which bore him was wrecked on the 
coast. The archbishop took refuge at Howth. 
There he was discovered and brought before 
Ofifaly. He feared the anger of the young 
(reraldine, and on bended knees begged for 
mercy and pardon. There is no reason to sup- 
pose that Offaly meant to do him any hurt He 
looked on the prelate, indeed, with contempt, 
and desired only that he should be removed 
from his presence. * Beir uaim an hodach^ he 
said in Gaelic; 'Take away the clown.* This 
order was misunderstood, and the archbishop 
was pitilessly put to death, — a deed out of har- 
mony with OfTaly's gallant and chivalrous nature. 
Meanwhile Offaly pushed on vigorously with the 
attack on Dublin, but the city held bravely out, 
and in the end Offaly was obliged to raise the 
siege. In 1535, when Offaly had become Earl 
of Kildare, the lord-deputy Skeffington carried 
the war into the Geraldines' country, and laid 
siege to the castle of Maynooth. The besieged 
made a gallant defence ; but the English brought 
their artillery — ^for the first time used in Irelsmd 
— ^to bear upon the walls ; and the Irish having 
no artillery to return the enemy's fire, were forced 
to surrender. Kildare was hastening from Con- 
naught with a force of about 7000 men to the 
relief of Maynooth, when the news of its fall 
reached him. But he was resolved to give battle 
to Skeffington. A fierce fight took place at 



15371 EXECUTION OF SILKEN THOMAS 71 

Slane, but Skeffington's artillery once more 
decided the fortunes of the day, and the young 
earl was hopelessly crushed. 

He retreated among the wooded defiles of 
the mountains; but eventually surrendered to 
Lord Leonard Grey, who had succeeded Skeffing- 
ton as lord-deputy in July 1535, on a promise of 
safety and protection. The promise, it is said, 
was confirmed upon the sacrament; but no 
sanctity of association prevented Grey from 
sending Silken Thomas a prisoner to London. 
Thither his five uncles were also despatched, 
three of whom, having taken no share in the 
rebellion, had been treacherously arrested by 
the lord-deputy at a banquet to which he 
had invited them. All were committed to the 
Tower. In May 1536 an act of attainder was 
passed against Kildare and his relatives, and in 
June 1537 the young Geraldine, then in his 
twenty-fourth year, perished with his five uncles 
on the scaffold. On the walls of the state 
prison where young Fitzgerald was confined, 
may still be deciphered the unfinished signature, 
* Thomas Fitzg — .' * He was,* says Stanihurst, 
^of nature tall and personable; in counten- 
ance amicable ; a white face, and withal some- 
what ruddy; a rolling tongue and a rich 
utterance; of nature flexible and kind; very 
soon carried where he fancied, easily with 
submission appeased, hardly with stubbornness 
vexed.' 

Silken Thomas having left no issue, his 
brother Gerald became heir to the Geraldine 
estates. The story of this youth's early days is 



7a IRELAND [1537- 

as thrilling as a romance. Bom in 1535, he was 
only ten years old when Thomas was executed 
Lying ill of small-pox at Donore in the County 
Kildare when the news reached Ireland of 
his brother's and uncles' death, he was carried 
secretly away by a priest, Father Leverous, and 
placed in charge of his aunt, Lady Mary 
O'Conor, in Offaly. The hope of the Ger- 
aldines now centred in this lad, and it was 
felt, and rightly felt, that the English govern- 
ment would spare no pains to get possession 
of him. Having remained for a short time 
with his aunt, it was deemed wiser to hand 
him over to the powerful protection of O'Brien 
of Thomond, and to Thomond he was accord- 
ingly sent in care of his cousin, James Dela- 
hide. The government now made every effort 
to capture him; Threats and bribes were alter- 
nately used to persuade O'Brien to give up 
the lad, but O'Brien boldly refused. *As to 
O'Brien,' wrote the authorities at Dublin Castle 
to the English minister, Thomas Cromwell, 
'notwithstanding his letter, and promises of 
subjection and obedience to the king's high- 
ness, we could neither get him to condescend 
to any conformity according to the same, nor 
yet deliver the Earl of Kildare.' 

After remaining for six months in Thomond, 
Gerald was next sent mto Desmond's country 
to his aunt. Lady Eleanor MKDarthy. The 
government appealed to Desmond to surrender 
the lad, but Desmond refused as resolutely as 
O'Brien had refused. 

'A most gracious pardon' was offered to the 



I540] BROTHER OF SILKEN THOMAS 73 

young earl if he would 'come in.' But the 
Geraldines would put no trust in English pro- 
mises. Gerald was next sent to O'Donnell of 
Tyrconnell, whom his aunt, Lady Eleanor, had 
married 

Once more the government exhausted every 
effort to seize the fugitive ; but every effort was 
baffled by the fidelity and skill of his protectors. 
* I assure your lordship,' Cromwell was informed 
by an English agent in 1539, 'that the English 
Pale be too affectionate to the Geraldines, and 
the Irish covet more to see a Geraldine to reign 
and triumph than to see God come among them.' 

In 1540 the English minister was again in- 
formed that *the detestable traitors, young 
Gerald, O'Neil, O'Donnell, Desmond, O'Brien, 
O'Connor continue to destroy the property of 
his majesty's subjects, to subdue the whole 
land to the supremacy of the Pope, and to 
elevate the Geraldines.' 

It was now decided to send young Gerald 
out of Ireland, and, about March 1540, he 
sailed from Donegal Bay to St Malo with Father 
Leverous, and an old servant, Robert Walsh. 
Frances I., King of France received him with 
warm hospitality and showed him every atten- 
tion and favour. From France he went to 
Flanders ; and finally to Rome, where Cardinal 
Pole took him by the hand, and completed his 
education. 

In 1544 he distinguished himself in an ex- 
pedition to the coast of Africa, and in 1545 he 
was appointed master of the horse to the 
Florentine statesman, Cosmo de Medici. 



74 IRELAND [1540 

The young earl had now an established 
position, and in 1547 we find him coming to 
London in the train of foreign ambassadors, 
and taking rank with the nobles of the land. 

At a mask ball given by King Edward VL he 
fell in love with an English beauty, once a lady 
of the court, Mabel Brown. They were married 
shortly afterwards, and the romance of the 
young earFs life ended. 

In 1552 he was restored to his Irish estates, 
and in 1554 he returned to Ireland amid great 
public rejoicings. For the remainder of his 
life he lived at peace with the government, 
though, like so many of the Geraldines, he was 
always an object of suspicion to the authori- 
ties. 

In 1585 he died, and was succeeded by his 
son Gerald, who became the twelfdi Esurl of 
Kildare. 



CHAPTER IX 

SUBMISSION OF THE IRISH CHIEFS — THE 
PROTESTANT REFORMATION 





>T— 


^ i^0Hi 


w 


(^k ^ifflHj 


m 




y«?. 



HILE the life and fortunes of 
the brother of * Silken Thomas ' 
hung in the balance, great 
changes were taking place in 
Ireland. 

Lord Leonard Grey who, as 
we have seen, became viceroy 
in 1535, carried on the 
government of the country with ability and 
vigour. He led many expeditions against the 
native chiefs, beat them in battle, and out- 
manoeuvred them in negotiations. At length, 
wearied by intestine stnife and constant war, 
they prepared to make a final submission, on 
condition of being left in possession of their 
lands. 

Grey was the most competent governor that 
had yet been sent to Ireland But he raised 
75 



76 IRELAND [1540-1541 

up a host of English enemies, and was dis- 
trusted by the king. In 1540 he was recalled, 
and charged with treasonable practices, the 
chief accusation being his supposed partiality 
for the Geraldines. It was even said that he 
had connived at the escape of young Gerald 
in 1540. Grey at first treated his accusers with 
contempt, but in the end they proved too many 
for him, and he perished on the scaffold in 
July 1541. This was an act of retributive 
justice, for Grey had foully done Thomas Fitz- 
gerald and his uncles to death in 1537. Yet 
there was no proof that he was faithless to 
England, and it is most probable that he fell 
a victim to the envy and jealousy of Ormond, 
by whom he was detested as a formidable rival 
in the government of Ireland. The fruits of his 
vigorous administration were reaped by others. 
In 1 541 his successor, Sir Anthony St Leger, 
summoned a parliament at Dublin, which may 
be said to have crowned the efforts of Grey, 
and which certainly forms an epoch in Anglo- 
Irish history. The Irish chiefs attended for the 
first time. O'Moore, O'Reilly, MacMurrough, 
and even O'Brien of Thomond sent repre* 
sentatives. The submission of Ireland seemed 
complete. O'Neil renounced his ancient title, 
and became Earl of Tyrone ; O'Brien was made 
Earl of Thomond; MacWilliam Burke, Earl 
of Clanricarde; O'Donnell was promised the 
earldom of Tyrconnell; MacMurrough aban- 
doned the name of his fathers, and became 
plain Mr Kavanagh. 
All the chiefs agreed henceforth to hold 



I541-I547] ICONOCLASTS 77 

their lands on English tenure and to accept 
English law. 

The title of 'king' (instead of 'lord') of 
Ireland was conferred on Henry, and he was 
acknowlec^ed head of the Church, for the 
Protestant Reformation had aheady (1534) 
taken place in England, and Henry had abjured 
the spiritual supremacy of Rome. The Irish 
chiefs had given way all along the line, aiKl 
when Henry died in 1547 he left Ireland in a 
state of comparative peace. But the English 
were soon to learn that the submission of the 
chiefs, precarious enough in its way, was not the 
submission of the people. 

During the reign of Henry VIII. the Pro- 
testant Reformation simply meant the spiritual 
supremacy of the king, instead of the spiritual 
supremacy of the Pope. No serious effort was 
made to enforce the doctrines of the new creed 
in Ireland, though the religious sentiments of 
the people were outraged in other respects. 
Churches and monasteries were wrecked and 
plundered, holy images and venerated shrines 
were pillaged and destroyed, and a sacred relic, 
devoutly believed to be the crozier of St Patrick, 
was wantonly burned in the streets of Dublin by 
the instruments of the English monarch. 

During the reign of Edward VI. (i547-^553) 
the Reformation still made little or no progress 
in Ireland, and, indeed, the masses of the 
people were completely ignorant of the great 
religious changes which were convulsing Europe 
and England. 

The chiefs had, as we have seen, submitted 



78 IRELAND [i547i553 

to Henry VIII. in 1541, but in the reign of 
Edward some of them were in arms again. 
O'Moore and O'Connor of Leix and Offaly 
rose in rebellion, and invaded the Pale. But 
the rebellion was mercilessly crushed, the two 
chiefs were banished to England, and in the 
reign of Mary (1553-1558) their confiscated 
territories were converted into English shires, 
and called respectively the Kings and Queens 
County. 

And now arose the most formidable foe who 
had crossed England's path in Ireland since the 
death of Art MacMurrough. 




CHAPTER X 

SHANE O'nEIL 

IHANE O'NEIL was the eldest 
son of Conn O'Neil who had 
been made Earl of Tyrone by 
Henry VIII., his mother being 
a daughter of the Earl of Kil- 
dare. The earl had a younger 
son Matthew, who, though 
born out of wedlock, was his 
favourite child. Asked by Henry VIII. to 
name the heir to his lands and title, Tyrone 
named Matthew, who was immediately created 
Baron of Dungannon. When Shane grew up, 
he resented the slight which had been put 
upon him, and claimed his rights as the 
eldest and lawful son. At first the father was 
unwilling to grant the just demands of Shane, 
but, in the end, he yielded. Matthew appealed 
to the English government for support, and 

79 



go IRELAND [1553-1559 

the government took up his cause. The lord- 
deputy summoned Tyrone to Dublin to account 
for his conduct in disowning Matthew. But 
Tyrone, remaining firm in his resolve to 
stand by Shane, was kept in captivity within 
the Pale. Incensed at the action of the 
lord -deputy, Shane roused his people to re- 
bellion, and hurled defiance at the government 
In 155 1 and 1552 expeditions were sent to 
Ulster to subdue the young rebel; but they 
returned unsuccessful Towards the end of 
1552, Tyrone was released in the hope that 
he might re-establish peace ; but the hope was 
doomed to disappointment. Shane was bent 
on war. In 1553 the lord-deputy sent another 
force into Ulster ; but Shane held his ground, 
and the lord -deputy left him master of the 
situation. 'We find nothing in Shane,' say 
the authorities at Dublin Casde, ' but pride and 
stubbornness.' 

Unmolested by the government during the 
years 1554 -1558, Shane determined to unite 
all Ulster under himself, and boldly asserted 
the title of his house to the sovereignty of 
the province. His energy and ambition soon 
involved him in quarrels with rival clans, fore- 
most among whom were the O'Donnells of 
Tyrconnell, and their allies the MacDonnells, 
a Scotch colony in Antrim. But Shane pre- 
sented a defiant fi*ont to all his enemies within 
and without 

In 1558 Matthew O'Neil was killed in a 
brawl with some of Shane's retainers, and in 
1559 the Earl of Tyrone died. Shane im- 



1559] SYDNEY AND SUSSEX 81 

mediately became the acknowledged head of 
his house, and, repudiating the English peerage, 
proudly assumed the old Irish title — *The 
O'NeiL' Elizabeth (1558 - 1603) was now 
queen, and her government at once entered 
into negotiations with the formidable Ulster 
rebel 

The lord-deputy, Sir Henry Sydney, marched 
northwards and summoned Shane to meet him 
at Dundalk. Shane utterly ignored the sum- 
mons, but, with a delicious sense of humour, 
invited Sydney to come to the christening of 
his child, and stand sponsor. Sydney, who 
was a man of conciliatory disposition, and no 
doubt appreciated the adroitness of O'Neil in 
thus cleverly evading his summons to enter 
the Pale, accepted the invitation, and remained 
for some days on a visit to the castle of the 
rebel chief. Shane explained his position. He 
said that he had been elected, according to 
the Irish custom, head of the O'Neils, and 
head he would remain. He desired no quarrel 
with the English. If they left him alone, he 
would leave them alone. But he should not 
be interfered with. Sydney accepted the ex- 
planation, returned to Dublin, and peace for 
a time reigned in Ulster. But in 1559, 
Sydney returned to England, and Lord Sussex 
was sent to succeed him in the government 
of Ireland. Sussex came to the conclusion 
that Shane was a serious danger to English 
authority in the island, and resolved to bring 
him to subjection. With this view, and hav- 
ing gained the support of O'Donnell and the 



82 IRELAND [15601561 

Scotch setders in Antrim, he prepared to invade 
Ulster. 

Shane wrote directly to Elizabeth, and laid his 
case before her. He was loyal to England, he 
said, and would be delighted if the queen would 
get him an English wife. He would visit the 
queen if she would send him three thousand 
pounds for his expenses His province was well 
governed, as the queen might see if she would 
send commissioners to inquire. He acknow- 
ledged the queen's audiority, but would allow 
no deputy to rule his territories. This letter 
was left unnoticed, and Sussex pushed on with 
his preparations. Shane soon got ready for 
war. He began with a master-stroke, dashed 
into O'Donnell's country, seized O'Donnell and 
his wife — who was half-sister of the Earl of 
Argyll — and bore them off in captivity to 
Tyrone. This move paralysed the O'Donnells 
and astounded Sussex, and converted the Scots 
into Shane's allies, for the Countess of Argyll 
befriended Shane. Sussex at once marched for- 
ward, and entering Ulster in July 156 1, sdzed 
and fortified the cathedral of Armagh, and made 
the town his head-quarters. 

Shane bided his time, and watched the English 
carefully. He ran no risks. The opportunity 
he waited for at length came. A force of 1000 
men was sent forward by Sussex to ravage Tyrone. 
Shane allowed them to enter his territory and to 
seize the goods and cattle of his people. But as 
they were returning in triumph, he hung on their 
flank with an army of trained warriors, and at 
a given moment fell upon them, routing them 



iS6i] SHANE'S VICTORY 83 

Utterly, and recapturing the spoils they had 
seized. 

Sussex was confounded by his defeat. He 
wrote to the English minister, — 

'Never before durst Scot or Irishman look 
on Englishmen in plain or wood since I was 
here, and now Shane, in a plain three miles 
away from any wood, and where I would have 
asked of God to have had him, both with a 
hundred-and-twenty horse and a few Scots and 
gallo^sse [heavy-armed infantry], scarce half 
in numbers, charged our whole army and was 
like in one hour not to have left one man of 
that army alive, and to have taken me and 
the rest at Armagh/ 

Shane's victory caused a panic in London, and 
Elizabeth counselled peace. She invited Shane's 
kinsman, Kildare, to treat with the rebel, sent him 
a pardon, and invited him to come to London 
to see her. Shane first demanded that the 
English army should be withdrawn from Ulster, 
and that Armagh should be given up. The 
army was withdrawn, but Sussex still kept a 
garrison in Armagh. 

Shane had triumphed in the field; Sussex, 
despairing of destroying him in battle, resolved 
that the victorious rebel should fall by the 
steel of the assassin. The story seems in- 
credible; but we have it under Sussex's own 
hand. In August 1561 he wrote to Elizabeth 
saying that he had had a 'conference with 
Shane's seneschal, Grey Neil (about the sur- 
render of Armagh),' and that he had bnbed 
the seneschal to kul his chief. ' In fine,' says 



84 IRELAND [1562 

Sussex, 'I brake with him to kill Shane, and 
bound myself by my oath to see him have 
a hundred marks of land by the year to him 
and to his heirs for his reward. I told him 
the way he might do it, and how to escape 
after with safety.' But the assassination plot 
failed. Whether Neil Grey had simply im- 
posed on Sussex by pretending that he was 
willing to do the deed, or whether he was for 
a moment tempted by the offer of the lord- 
deputy, it may be difficult to say, but the fact 
is, he never attempted to kill Shane. 

Kildare was successful in his negotiations 
with Shane, and it was settled that the rebel 
should visit London. A safe conduct was sent 
to him, and towards the end of the year he 
set out for the English capital with a guard 
of galloglasses, accompanied by Kildare. He 
was well received by the queen's councillors, 
and lodged at the lord keeper's house. 

On the 6th of January 1562, Elizabeth re- 
ceived him in state. He entered the council 
chamber, *his safifron mantle sweeping round 
and round him, his hair curling down his back, 
and clipped short below the eyes, which gleamed 
from under it with a grey lustre,' looking fierce 
and defiant. * Behind him followed his gallo- 
glasses, bare-headed and fair-haired, with shirts of 
mail which reached beneath their knees, a wolf 
skin flung across their shoulders, and short, 
broad battle axes in their hands.' At the foot 
of the throne he paused, bent forward, knelt, 
and then, rising, addressed the queen in a 
diplomatic speech. He protested his loyalty. 



1562] SHANE AND ELIZABETH 85 

flattered Elizabeth, and, in a word, showed 
himself a match for the most practised 
courtiers and skilled diplomats around 
her. Elizabeth was not unfriendly to him. 
She appreciated his ability, admired his bold- 
ness, and was disposed to treat him well. But 
her advisers, having once got the dreaded 
O'Neil in England, were resolved that he 
should never go back. His safe conduct was 
so worded that no time was specified for his 
return. When he asked leave to go home, his 
attention was called to this fact. Various pre- 
texts were devised to delay him. It was said 
that the son of Matthew should be summoned 
to England in order that his claims to the 
estates of the O'Neils should be investigated. 
Shane saw at a glance that he had been out- 
witted, and that, despite his caution, the safe- 
conduct had been so worded as to put him 
at the mercy of his enemies. In these circum- 
stances he played, as usual, a bold game. He 
approached the queen directly, called her his 
friend, said he trusted to her protection, and 
placed his life and honour in her hands, * having 
no refuge nor succour to flee to but only her 
majesty.' Elizabeth was touched; she would 
not allow Shane to be imprisoned, though she 
still detained him. At length news reached 
England that Matthew's son had been killed, 
and that Ulster was growing impatient for 
Shane's return. Elizabeth determined to detain 
him no longer. She granted all his demands, 
made him sovereign of Ulster, subject alone 
to herself, and sent him back to Ireland with 



86 IRELAND [1562- 

honour and glory. He had played a game 
of diplomacy with the greatest diplomatists in 
Europe, and had won all along the hne 

Shane was now, practically, King of Ulster. 
Sussex, routed in the field, and out-manceuvred 
in negotiations, tried to get Shane into his 
hands and lock him up in Dublin Castle. 
Shane was bound by his arrangements with 
Elizabeth to visit Dublin to take the oath 
of allegiance. Sussex wrote to Elizabeth to 
ask if he might not imprison Shane on the 
chiefs arrival. But Shane did not arrive. 
With characteristic adroitness he informed 
Sussex that in the {nresent disturbed state of 
Ulster his duty to the queen obliged him to 
remain at home. Sussex next expressed his 
willingness to give his sister in marriage to 
Shane if Shane would come to Dublin to 
woo the lady. Shane said that he was ready to 
marry the lady if she were sent to him ; but 
his duties to his sovereign made it impossible 
for him to leave Ulster. 

Shane maintained order in Ulster with a strong 
hand. He put down tiie petty chiefs, and tried 
to set up a vigorous central government But 
Sussex never ceased to plot against him, and to 
use all the influence he could command to per- 
suade Elizabeth to wage war on the great Ulster 
chieftain. Elizabeth, much puzzled, at length 
gave Sussex carte blanche, and Sussex once 
more prepared to invade Ulster, having pre- 
viously aroused Shane's old enemies, the 
O'Donnells and MacDonnells, to turn on him 
once more. 



1563-1565] ATTEMPT TO POISON SHANE 87 

In April 1563, Sussex maix^hed into Ulster. 
But the expedition was an utter failure. Shane 
had his province so well in hand that not a 
single chi^ joined Sussex, and the lord-deputy 
returned to Dublin, declaring that, 'to expel 
Shane was a Sisyphus labour.' 

Elizabeth now wrote to Sussex, saying that 
she ' had decided to end the war in Ulster by 
agreement rather than by force,' and urged that 
Shane should be left in peace. 

Beaten at every turn, Sussex once more used 
the weapon of the coward. He tried a second 
time to assassinate Shane. He sent him a pre- 
sent of poisoned wine. Shane and his house- 
hold were brought to death's door ; but no one 
died. The Ulster chief fiercely demanded re- 
dress for this outrage. Elizabeth expressed the 
greatest indignation. Efforts were made on all 
hands to appease Shane, and Shane finally for- 
got the transaction. He was now, for a season, 
left in peace monarch of Ulster. But his anti- 
pathy to the foreigner remained. In this hour 
of truce, he built a castle on Lough Neagh, and 
called it ' Fuath na Gall ' (hatred of the stranger). 

*The Earl of Sussex,' says Mr Froude, 'hav- 
ing failed alike to beat Shane O'Neil in the field 
or to get him satisfactorily murdered, was re- 
called.' 

There is some reason to think that Shane now 
contemplated making himself sovereign of all Ire- 
land. Having, in 1565, easily defeated the Scots, 
who gave him some trouble in Ulster, he next 
marched southwards, seizing the English castles 
of Newry and Dundrum, and finally invading 



88 IRELAND [1565- 

Connaught, 'to receive the triball due of old 
time to them that were kings in that realm.' 

In December 1565, Sir Henry Sydney, who 
had again become lord-deputy, now prepared 
to send an expedition against Shane. Negotia- 
tions were, however, first opened with him. But 
Shane was in no temper for negotiations now. 
Stukeley, an English counsellor, warned him 
that, if he were not submissive, he would never 
succeed to the 'earldom' of Tyrone or stand 
well with the queen. Shane replied, — 

' I care not to be made an earl, unless I may 
be better and higher than an earl, for I am, in 
blood and power, better than the best of them ; 
and I will give place to none but my cousin of 
Kildare, for that he is of my house. For the 
queen, I confess she is my sovereign; but I 
never made peace with her but by her own seek- 
ing. Whom am I to trust ? When I came to 
the Earl of Sussex on safe conduct, he offered 
me the courtesy of a handlock. When I was 
with the queen, she said to me herself that I 
had, it was true, safe conduct to come and go ; 
but it was not said when I might go, and they 
kept me there till I had agreed to things so far 
against my honour and profit that I could never 
perform them while I live. That made me 
make war, and, if it were to do again, I would 
do it. My ancestors were kings of Ulster, and 
Ulster is mine and shall be mine ! O'Donnell 
shall never come into his country, nor Bagenal 
into Newry, nor Kildare into Dundrum or 
Lecale. They are now mine ; with this sword 
I won them ; with this sword I will keep them.' 



1567] DEFEAT OF SHANE 89 

Sydney was alarmed, and wrote to Cecil, say- 
ing, — 'Ireland would be no small loss to the 
English crown, and it was never so like to be 
lost as now. O'Neil has all Ulster ; and, if the 
French were so eager about Calais, think what 
the Irish are about their whole island. I love 
not war; but I had rather die than Ireland 
should be lost in my government.' 

Sydney and Cecil now urged Elizabeth to de- 
clare war against Shane. She hesitated for a 
time, but finally yielded to the importunities of 
her advisers. 

In 1566 Sydney marched into Ulster. Shane 
advanced to meet him. Two pitched battles 
were fought before Dundalk and Derry, both of 
which towns were held by the English. Shane 
was defeated in both engagements, though the 
victory at Derry was dearly bought by the death 
of the English general. 

Shane now retreated to his own borders, 
whither Sydney did not dare to pursue him. 
For nearly fifteen years the redoubtable Ulster 
chief had held his own against all the forces 
which England had brought against him. But 
he was destined, in the end, to fall by the 
hands of the Scots of Antrim. In 1567 the 
O'Donnells, stirred up by Sydney, invaded 
Tyrone, and ravaged the country. Shane re- 
taliated by marching into Tyrconnel. 

In May, a pitched battle was fought by the 
rival clans on the west bank of the Swilly, near 
Lifford. Shane bore himself throughout the day 
with characteristic prowess ; but bdbre night fell 
the army of the O'Neil's was annihilated, and 



90 IRELAND 

their chief chased from the field with but a 
handful of followers. 

In this plight he threw himself on the pro- 
tection of the Scotch settlers of Antrim — the 
MacDonnells. He came to their camp at 
Cushenden, accompanied by a guard of only 
fifty men. They received him with professions 
of friendship and hospitality ; but, in the midst 
of an evening's carousal, some pretext of quarrel 
was seized, and the doomed chief and his re- 
tainers were massacred to a man. His body was 
flung into a pit ; but the English commander of 
Castlefergus carried the head to Dublin, where 
it was hung from the ramparts of the Castle. 

So perished Shane O'Neil, the fiercest and 
subtlest foe that ever faced the English in 
Ireland.^ 

^ It cost the government nearly ;f 2,000,000 to crash 
Shane O'NeU. 



CHAPTER XI 



DESMOND AND FITZ-MAURICE 




HE rebellion of Shane O'Neil w» 
followed by the rebellion of the 
Geraldines. We have already 
seen that there was an ancient 
rivalry in the south between the 
two great Norman houses, the 
Butlers, Earls of Ormond, and 
the Fitzgeralds, Earls of Des- 
mond. The Fitzgeralds were in the main on the 
side of the Irish, the Butlers were in the main 
on the side of the English. During the reign of 
Elizabeth, the differences between the two houses 
became more marked ; for Ormond espoused the 
cause of the Reformation, and Desmond was 
the champion of the old faith. While Shane 
O'Neil was fighting in Ulster, a quarrel broke 
out between Ormond and Gerald, fifteenth Earl 
of Desmond, called by English writers *the 

91 



92 IRELAND [1565-1569 

rebel earl.' Munster was desolated by these 
wars. In 1565 Desmond was defeated in a 
battle fought on the banks of the Blackwater, 
wounded and taken prisoner. As he was borne 
from the field by the retainers of Ormond, some- 
one tauntingly asked, ' Where is the great Earl 
of Desmond now ? ' Desmond, not in the^ least 
subdued, answered, 'Where he ought to be — 
on the neck of the Butlers.' The English took 
the side of the Butlers in this civil strife. In 
1567 Sydney marched into Munster, arrested 
Desmond, and imprisoned him in Dublin Castle. 
Subsequently, he and his brother John were 
sent to London, and cast into the Tower, where 
they remained for six years. During their 
absence, James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald (Des- 
mond's cousin) roused Munster in the name of 
the Geraldines, and, in 1 569, issued a manifesto 
calling on the 'prelates, princes, lords and 
people of Ireland ' to form a league in defence 
of faith and fatherland. Sir Edmond Butler, 
(brother of the Earl of Ormond) who had re- 
cently been plundered of his lands by an Eng- 
lish adventurer. Sir Peter Carew, joined the 
Geraldine league, and began hostilities by over- 
running the English settlements in Leinster. 
*The English,' he said, *were coming to 
Ireland to make fortunes by the sword, and 
none but fools or slaves would sit still to be 
robbed.' ^ Sir Peter Carew was despatched at 
once by Sydney to repel Butler's attacks. Carew 
carried on the war with brutal ferocity, surprised 

^ State Papers (Elizabeth). Ireland. 



1569-1572] WAR IN MUNSTER 93 

the Butlers at Kilkenny, inflicted a crushing 
defeat on them, stormed Sir Edmond's castle, 
and slaughtered every man, woman and child he 
found in it Sydney at the same time (1569) 
entered Munster, captured Castle Maityr — a 
Desmond stronghold — marched into the city of 
Cork, the capital of Desmond's country ; swept 
over the County Limerick, pillaging, slaughtering, 
burning and destroying all before him. Sydney 
was supported pitilessly by his subordinate. 
Colonel Gilbert. * After my first summoning of 
any castle or fort,' wrote this commander to his 
chief, *if they would not presently yield it, I 
would not afterwards take it of their gift ; but 
win it perforce, how many lives so ever it cost, 
putting man, woman and child of them to the 
sword.' Sydney's rigour brought Butler to his 
knees. He surrendered to the lord-<leputy at 
Limerick, and was pardoned by the queen. 
But Fitzmaurice bravely held out, retreating to 
the Galtee Mountains in the County Tipperary, 
and taking up a strong position in the Glen of 
Aherlow. 

In 1570 he renewed the war, attacked the 
English at Kilmallock, and burned the town to 
the ground. In 157 1, Sir John Perrot (who 
had been made president of Munster) took the 
field against the Geraldines, destroying their 
castles, butchering their followers, and devastat- 
ing their territories. Towards the end of 1571 
he attacked Castlemane, the stronghold of the 
Desmonds in Kerry, but was gallantly repulsed. 
In 1572 he renewed the assault, and starved 
out the garrison. Fitzmaurice now issued from 



94 IRELAND [i573- 

his retreat in the Glen of Aherlow, and joined 
by the Burkes of Galway (who had been driven 
into revolt by the tyranny of Sir James Fitton, 
president of Munster), overran Connaught and 
Leinster, laying waste tracts of country, and 
sparing no foe. Fitton fiercely retaliated, seiz- 
ing the castles of the Gecaldines, and, as he tells 
us himself, putting all who crossed his path, in- 
cluding ' women and children,' to the sword. In 
i573> worn out, hunted down, left without re- 
sources, and with but a handful of followers, 
Fitzmaurice surrendered to Perrot, and retired 
to France. Immediately afterwards, the Earl 
of Desmond and his brother were released, and 
returned to Ireland. 

But Desmond was rearrested m Dublin al- 
most immediately on his arrival, and there de- 
tained some time longer. Ultimately he escaped, 
and arrived safely in his own territories. Weak 
and vacillating, he was ready enough to remain 
at peace with the government, if they only 
trusted him, which they did not. But Fitz^ 
maurice, a man of stouter fibre and stronger 
will, was resolved to renew the struggle at the 
first opportunity. In his exile he tried to win 
allies for Ireland. He appealed to the King of 
France, but France wotdd not help him. He 
appealed to Philip II. of Spain, but Philip would 
give him no support. Finally, he appealed to 
the Pope, and the Pope gave him a force of 700 
men and three ships. But the men and the 
ships never reached Ireland. They were placed 
under the command of an unscrupulous foreign 
adventurer, who handed them over to the King 



1579] A WAR OF EXTERMINATION 95 

of Portugal to reinforce an expedition against 
the King of Morocco. At length, in 1579, 
Fitzmaurice sailed from Spain leith a handful of 
^)aniaids, eicpecting to meet the Italian force 
on the way, and landed at Smerwick in the 
County Kerry. 

Thence he moved to the old fort of Dunanore, 
and was joined by John and James Fitzgerald and 
a small force from Connaught But the govern- 
ment were prepared for all emergencies, and 
Fitzmaurice was forced to abandon this posi- 
tion, and retire to the wood of Kylemore, on 
the borders of Cork and Limerick. But from 
this shelter he was also driven, and while flying 
from his foes across the Shannon to take rduge 
in Clare, he was attacked by a hostile party at 
Barrington's Bridge and killed. 

The Geraldines were now left without any 
leader of resolution or resource. John and 
James Fitzgerald jumped into the breach, but 
they were hopelessly incompetent to conduct a 
great insurrectionary movement. The Earl of 
Desmond wavered between the government and 
the rebels, but at last cast in his lot with his own 
people. But his support was of little avail. 
One victory the rebels gained at Springfield, 
in the County Limerick, and another in the 
defiles of Wicklow. But the English forces 
then swept over the country like a mighty tor- 
rent, bringing death and destruction in their 
wake. The struggle became, to use the words 
of Mr Lecky, *a war of extermination.' 

The slaughter of Irishmen was looked upon 
as literally the slaughter of wild beasts. Not 



96 IRELAND [iS79 

only the men, but even the women and chil- 
dren who fell into the hands of the English, 
were deliberately and systematically butchered. 
Bands of soldiers traversed great tracts of 
country, slaying every living thing they met 
The sword was not found sufficiently expedi- 
tious, but another method proved much more 
efficacious. Year after year, over a great part 
of Ireland, all means of human subsistence were 
destroyed. No quarter was given to prisoners 
who surrendered, and the whole population was 
skilfully and steadily starved to death. The 
pictures of the condition of Ireland at this 
time are as terrible as anything in human his- 
tory. Thus Spenser, describing what he had 
seen in Munster, tells how, * out of every corner 
of the woods and glens, they came creeping 
forth upon their hands, for their legs could not 
bear them. They looked like anatomies of 
death; they spoke like ghosts crying out of 
their graves.' The people, in the words of 
Holinshed, * were not only driven to eat horses, 
dogs and dead carrions, but also did devour the 
carcases of dead men, whereof there be sundry 
examples. . . . The land itself, which, be- 
fore these wars, was populous, well inhabited, 
and rich in all the good blessings of God, 
being plenteous of corn, full of cattle, well 
stored with fish and other good commodities, 
is now become ... so barren, both of man 
and beast, that whoever did travel from the 
one end of all Munster, even from Waterford 
to the head of Smeerweeke, which is about 
six score miles, he would not meet any man, 



iS8o] * ASHES AND CARCASES' 97 

woman or child, saving in towns and dties, 
nor yet see any beasts, but the very wolves, 
foxes and other like ravening beasts, many of 
them laie dead, being famished, and the residae 
gone elsewhere.' ' From Dingle to the Rock of 
Cashel,' said an Irish annalist, ' not the lowing of 
the cow nor the voice of the ploughman was that 
year to be heard.' The troops of Sir Richard 
Percie ' left neither com, nor horn, nor house 
unbumt between Kinsale and Ross.' The 
troops of Captain Harvie * did the like between 
Ross and Bantry.' 

The troops of Sir Charles Wilmot entered 
without resistance an Irish camp, where 
'they found nothing but hurt and sick men, 
whose pains and lives by the soldiers were both 
determined.' The lord president, he himself 
assures us, having heard that the Munster fugi- 
tives were harboured in certain parts of that 
province, diverted his forces thither, ' burnt all 
the houses and com, taking great preys, . . . 
and, harassing the country, k&ed all mankind 
that were found therein.' From thence he went 
to other parts, where ' he did the like, not leav- 
ing behind Mm man or beast, com or cattle, 
except such as had been conveyed into castles.' 
Long before the war had terminated, Elizabeth 
was assured that she had little left to reign over 
but ashes and carcases. It was boasted that, in 
all the wide territory of Desmond, not a town, 
castle, village or farmhouse was unbumt ; and a 
high English official, writing in 1582, com- 
puted that, in six months, more than 30,000 
people had been starved to death in Munster, 



98 IRELAND [1580 

besides those who were hung or who perished 
by the sword. Archbishop Usher afterwards 
described how women were accustomed to lie 
in wait for a passing rider, and to rush out like 
famished wolves to kill and to devour his horse. 
The slaughter of women as well as of men, of 
unresisting peasants as well as of armed rebels, 
was openly avowed by the English commanders. 
The Irish annalists told, with horrible detail, 
how the bands of Pelham and Ormond * killed 
blind and feeble men, women, boys and girls, 
sick persons, idiots and old people;' how, in 
Desmond's country, even after all resistance had 
ceased, soldiers forced men and women into old 
bams, which were set on fire, and, if any at- 
tempted to escape, they were shot or stabbed ; 
how soldiers were seen ' to take up infants on 
the points of their spears, and to whirl them 
about in their agony ; ' how women were found 
'hanging on trees with their children at their 
breasts, strangled with their mothers' hair.' 

* In justice to the English soldiers,' writes Mr 
Froude, ' it must be said that it was no fault of 
theirs if any Irish child of that generation was 
allowed to live to manhood. The English 
nation,' he continues, 'was shuddering over 
the atrocities of the Duke of Alva. The children 
in the nurseries were being inflamed to patriotic 
rage and madness by tales of Spanish tyranny, 
yet Alva's bloody sword never touched the 
young, defenceless, or those whose sex even 
dogs can recognise and respect.' 

In 1 580 a small force of Italians and Spaniards, 
bringing succour to the rebels, landed at Smer- 



iS8o] CAPTURE AND DEATH OF DESMOND 99 

wick, and took possession once more of the old 
fort of Dunanore. After holding out for a few 
weeks, they surrendered, and were butchered 
almost to ^ man. Leland tells the story. * The 
Italian general and some officers were made 
prisoners of war, but the garrison was butchered 
in cold blood ; nor is it without pain that we 
find a service so horrid and detestable com- 
mitted to Sir Walter Raleigh.' 

Proclaimed an outlaw and hunted like some 
wild animal, the old Earl of Desmond, attended 
by his devoted wife and a handful of faithful ad- 
herents, wandered from place to place with a 
price upon his head. After many hairbreadth 
escapes and untold misfortunes, he finally took 
refuge in the Kerry mountains. There he was 
tracked by a party of English soldiers, and ruth- 
lessly slain. His head was cut off, sent to 
England as a trophy, and impaled on London 
Bridge. 

The Geraldine rebellion was quenched in 
blood, and the southern provinces, crushed 
and broken, lay prostrate at the feet of the con- 
querer. Yet, ten years later, Ulster was again 
in arms, and Ireland rallied to the standards 
of O'Donnell and O'Neil. 



Ov> i ' ^' 




CHAPTER XII 

o'donnell and o'neil 

UGH ROE O'DONNELL was 
bom about 157 1. His House 
bad, as we have seen, fought 
against Shane O'Neil, but Shaiie 
was dead and the old feud was 
forgotten. The O'Donnells were 
now a growing power in Ulster, 
and the government, fearing 
their influence, resolved to put them down. 
The first step taken for this purpose was 
characteristic of the times. 

In the summer of 1587 young Hugh was on 
a visit with his foster-father, MacSweeny of 
Fanat, at RathmuUen in Tyrconnell. Mac- 
Sweeny's castle of Dun -Donald overhung 
Lough Swilly, and commanded a beautiful 
view of that picturesque spot. 

One afternoon a merchantman entered the 
100 



1580-1591] KIDNAPPING OF O'DONNELL loi 

lough, and dropped anchor under the lee of 
the castle. The report soon spread that she 
was laden with Spanish wines. The captain 
landed his goods, and foiuid many customers. 
He sent a special invitation to the castle, asking 
the old chief and his guests to come on board 
and enjoy the ship's hospitality. The invitation 
was accepted. MacSweeny and his friends, and 
with them young Hugh, rowed to the merchant- 
man. They were received right royally, and a 
glorious feast was spread before them. But ere 
the repast was over the captain left the cabin, 
the hatches were fastened down, the swords of 
the guests were cautiously removed, the anchor 
was weighed, and the ship sailed for Dublin. 
The merchantman was a government vessel 
sent by the viceroy to kidnap Hugh O'Donnell, 
so that he might be held as a hostage for the 
loyalty of his clan. Arrived in Dublin, Hugh 
was lodged in the castle. There he remained 
a dose prisoner for three years, then, helped by 
friendly hands outside, and, it may be, by some 
friendly hands inside, too, he escaped, and, 
under the cover of the night, fled to the house 
of a Wicklow chief, Felim OToole. But the 
alarm was promptly given, the country was 
scoured, Hugh's hiding-place was discovered, 
and OToole was forced to send him back to 
Dublin. 

Another year of dose captivity passed, then, 
on Christmas night 1591, helped once more by 
friends without, and, probably, by friends within. 
Hugh filed the bars of his cell, swung himself 
to the ground by a rope deftly placed in his 



I02 IRELAND [1591 

hands, and fled from the castle. This time he 
made good his escape, and, after many perils 
and adventures, reached Dungannon, and flung 
himself on the protection of Hugh O'Neil, Earl 
of Tyrone. 

Henceforth, the history of Hugh Roe 
O'Donnell and Hugh O'Neil becomes one 
story. 

Hugh O'Neil was bom about 1540. He was 
the second child of Matthew, the illegitimate 
son of the first Earl of Tyrone. Matthew was, 
as we have seen, on the side of the English in 
the days of Shane O'Neil. Hugh was brought 
up in England, entered the English army, and, 
some time after the suppression of Shane's 
rebellion, was sent back to Ulster, and placed 
in possession of a portion of the lands of 
Tyrone. Whether he was ever sincerely on the 
side of the English may be a matter of doubt, 
but whatever were his real feelings, he certainly 
represented, and even fought for, English 
interests in Ireland during the early days of 
his career. 

In 1 591 he fell in love with a beautiful 
English girl, Mabel Bagenal, sister of the 
English commander. Sir Henry Bagenal, who 
was then stationed at Newry. The girl returned 
O'Neil's affection, but Bagenal was strongly 
opposed to the marriage. He sent Mabel to 
Dublin under the charge of another sister. Lady 
Barnwell, but O'Neil was not to be foiled. He 
followed Mabel to her new home, and pressed 
his suit so successfully that she left her sister's 
house and married him in August 1591. 



1592-1594] REBELLION 103 

Bagenal was indignant at O'Neil's conduct, 
and he and the Ulster chief became sworn 
enemies ever after. When O'Donnell arrived 
at Dungannon in the December of that year, 
O'Neil took the lad cordially by the hand and 
resolved to save him. But Dungannon was not 
a safe resting-place. O'Neil, therefore, sent the 
young fugitive at once, under the escort of a 
troop of horse, to Maguire of Fermanagh, by 
whom he was conducted to Tyrconnell and 
placed in his father's arms. 

The protection given by O'Neil to young 
O'Donnell was a turning point in the former's 
career. His implacable foe, Bagenal, used it 
against him with the government, and warned 
the authorities that the Earl of Tyrone was no 
longer to be trusted. Still, for nearly two 
years more, O'Neil remained in the service of 
the English. But young O'Donnell, who, in 
May 1592, had, on the resignation of his father, 
been elected chief of his clan, was now in open 
rebellion, in league with Maguire. In the 
summer of 1594 the English took Maguire's 
castle of Enniskillen, butchered the garrison 
and occupied the town. But Maguire and 
O'Donnell besieged the besiegers; and on 
August 7 intercepted and destroyed a relieving 
party, leaving 400 English dead on the field. 
After this disaster the EngMsh garrison of Ennis- 
killen capitulated, and were allowed to march out 
with the honours of war. O'Neil was now 
gradually becoming more and more disaffected, 
until at length yielding to the importunities 
of young O'Donnell, and thoroughly distrusting 



IQ4 IRELAND [1595 

the English on his own account, he resolved 
to throw in his lot with the rebels. 

Early in 1595 he crossed the Rubicon, and 
made war on the govemment. Some years 
previously the Ei^lish had built a fort at 
Portmore on the Blackwater, commanding 
the entrance from Armagh to Tyrone. O'Neil 
began operations by seizing and dismantling 
this fort. He then dashed into Cavan and 
plundered the English settlements in that 
district, thence he advanced on Monaghan, and 
laid siege to the town. The garrison were 
placed in great straits, but succour soon came 
from Dublm, and Sir John Norris, commanding, 
the relieving force, contrived to evade O'Neills 
army and to revictual the town. Norris then 
marched in the direction of Newry and fell in 
with O'Neil at Clontibret near Monaghan. 

A stream separated the two armies, but Norris, 
placing himself at the head of his men, rushed 
into it, and struggled gallantly to force a passage 
to the other side. But O'Neil met him midway 
and drove him back. Again Norris advanced, 
and again he was driven back. Then a power- 
ful English knight named Seagrave, seeing 
O'Neil in the centre of his officers, directing the 
manoeuvres, and inspiring all around him, 
dashed boldly at the Irish leader, and, in an 
instant, unhorsed him. But O'Neil at the 
same moment dragged his antagonist to the 
ground. Then a fierce hand-to-hand en- 
counter ensued, but the Englishman had the 
advantage, and O'Neil lay prostrate beneath 
him. It was a struggle of strength against skill. 



1595] PORTMORE 105 

but skill told in the end. For as Seagrave, 
holding O'Neil down by sheer force, had raised 
his weapon for a final blow, O'Neil parried 
the stroke and plunged his dagger into the 
heart of his foe. 

Then placing himself once more at the head 
of his men, and shouting the war-cry of his 
clan, ' Lamh derg abu,' rushed on the English 
and swept them headlong from the field. The 
battle was fought and won. O'NeiFs victory 
was complete. The English fled in disorder to 
Newry, leaving much war material behind, and 
barely saving their general, who had been 
severely wounded. 

The government now resolved to send an- 
other expedition to recapture Portmore, and 
to invade Tyrone. The expedition set out 
in the summer of 1595, under the command 
of Norris. In • this crisis, O'Neil summoned 
O'Donnell, who had been harassing and ra- 
vaging the English settlements of Connaught 
to his support, and the young chieftain promptly 
obeyed the summons. 

The Irish took up a strong position near 
Portmore, and awaited the arrival of the English 
army. Norris came, siuireyed the position, and 
decided not to attack. After remaining for 
a short time in firont of O'Neil, he retired 
to Dundalk, and hostilities were subsequently 
suspended for the rest of the year, not, how- 
ever, until O'Neil had destroyed Portmore, and 
burned Dungannon, lest either place should 
fall into the hands of the English. 

During this period of truce, negotiations 



io6 IRELAND [iS96-i597 

passed constantly between the government and 
O'Neil, but they came to nothing. Early in 
1596, Norris marched into Connaught, to 
attack the Irish there, but retired without 
inflicting any loss upon them, being, indeed, 
himself harassed all the time by the cautious 
and skilful manoeuvres of O'Donnell. About 
December 1596, the government despatched a 
force against the Leinster chiefs, commanded by 
O'Neil's ally, MacHugh CByme. But O'Neil 
retaliated by capturing the English stronghold 
of Armagh, and plundering the settlements 
all around. In 1597, the Leinster men were 
again attacked, beaten, and their chief, Mac- 
Hugh O'Byrne, was taken prisoner and exe- 
cuted. This success checked the flowing tide 
in Leinster. But O'Neil was still supreme in 
Ulster, Munster and Connaught. Lord Borough 
was now sent as viceroy, in the hope that he 
would show more energy than had hitherto 
been displayed in crushing the Ulster in- 
surgents. He, to some extent, justified the 
expectations which had been formed of him. 
He took the field with promptness and vigour. 
His plan of campaign was admirable. He 
resolved to concentrate all his efforts against 
O'Neil and O'Donnell, and to move on the 
arch rebels' territories from three points. 

First, he himself determined to march on 
the right, from DubUn to Portmore, against 
O'Neil. Sir Conyers Clifford, the governor of 
Connaught, was directed to march on the 
left, from Galway to Ballyshannon, against 
O'Donnell; while a third army, under Barne- 



IS97] BOROUGH'S CAMPAIGN 107 

well, was ordered to inarch from Mullingar, 
northwards, and to join Borough's forces at 
Portmore. Thus Tyrconnell was to be in- 
vaded on the left by Clifford ; Tyrone on the 
right by Borough; while the whole country 
l]Wg between the two main armies was to be 
swept by young Barnewell, from Meath to the 
Blackwater. Well might the Ulster chiefs have 
quailed before this formidable expedition, but 
they flinched not for an instant O'Neil made 
his preparations with characteristic coolness and 
skill O'Donnell was ordered to await Clifford 
on the bank of the River Erne, which formed 
the southern boundary of his territory. O'Neil 
was to cross the Blackwater, and, if possible, 
check Borough's advance at Armagh; while 
a young Westmeath chief, named Tyrrell, was 
despatched with a body of picked men to 
attack Barnewell, and prevent him from effect- 
ing a junction with either of the main English 
armies. 

Borough advanced to Armagh without inter- 
ruption. But moving from Armagh to the Black- 
water he was attacked in a narrow pass by 
O'Neil. A sharp but fierce encounter ensued. 
Borough, however, forced his way onwards, 
crossed the Blackwater, entered Tyrone, and 
recaptured the old site of Portmore. But he 
had now the main body of O'Neil's army before 
him to bar his further progress. 

Still he resolved to push forward, having rebuilt, 
fortified and garrisoned Portmore. O'Neil, in no 
wise disconcerted by his first defeat, held his 
main army well in hand for a final struggle. For 



io8 IRELAND [i597 

many days he refused to give batUe, but harassed 
the English anny by constant skirmishes, and 
kept them eternally on the qui vive by skilful 
and threatening manoeuvres. At length he lulled 
them into momentary repose by a feint of in- 
activity, then seizing the opportunity, and taking 
them unawares, swooped down upon their camp 
with a suddenness and an impetuosity which 
were irresistible, routing the whole army, and 
driving them back over the Blackwater into 
the Pale once more. Borough was mortally 
wounded, and many distinguished officers were 
among the slain. O'NeU, however, failed to 
take Portmore, which was stoutly held by a 
little garrison of 300 men, commanded by Cap- 
tain Williams — ^the most gallant officer that ever 
served the English in Ireland. 

Meanwhile Clifford had pushed his way 
from Galway right up to the River Erne on the 
confines of O'DonneU's territory. O'Donnell 
had tried to prevent his passage of the river, but 
without success. Clifford bore down all opposi- 
tion, planted his gims right under O'Donnell's 
castle of Ballyshannon, and opened a raking fire 
on the defences. But the garrison fought 
gallantly, repelled attack after attack, and, 
bravely supported by O'Donnell's army in the 
field, inflicted tremendous losses on the enemy. 
After three days' fighting Clifford raised the 
siege, recrossed the Erne and returned to Gal- 
way; followed all the way by O'Donnell — ^who 
harassed his line of retreat, and captured his 
guns and stores. 

Young Tyrrell was equally successful in his 



1598] DEFEAT OF BOROUGH 109 

operations. Taking advantage of his superior 
knowledge of the country, he boldly attacked 
the English army in a narrow pass — * TyrreU's 
Pass,' in the county of Westmeath — and cut 
them to pieces. 

Bamewell was taken prisoner, and sent under 
safe conduct to O'Neil ; thus Borough's expedi- 
tion was completely defeated, though he had 
gained one important advantage — the recapture 
of Portmore. 

O'Neil now bent all his efforts to recover that 
fort Williams and the little garrison made a 
gallant defence. O'Neil tried to starve them 
out. They were reduced to the direst straits, 
living, we are told, on horseflesh and even 
grass. But Williams never lowered his flag. At 
length a relieving force was sent from Dublin, 
and the place was revictualled, and so the year 
1597 closed, leaving Williams insecure in Port- 
more, and O'Neil and O'Donnell supreme in 
Ulster. 

During the first few months of 1598 there 
was another truce, and further negotiations were 
carried on between O'Neil and the government ; 
O'Neil demanding civil rights, and religious 
freedom, while Sie government offered the 
northern chief a free pardon on complete sub- 
mission. But these negotiations led to no 
practical results, and war was resumed in the 
summer of 1598. O'Neil again attacked Port- 
more, and the garrison were again reduced to 
the direst straits; but Williams still gallantly 
held out. The government now resolved to 
send a strong expeditionary force to rescue 



no IRELAND [1598 

Williams and to destroy O'Neil. This force set 
out in August under the command of Bagenal, 
and, after a rapid march, arrived in good order, 
and without any casualties, at Armagh. Port- 
more stood on the Blackwater, five miles from 
Armagh. On the way ran a little river, about 
two miles from that city, called the Yellow Ford. 
Here O'Neil had drawn up his whole army, 
determined to fight a decisive battle. With 
him were Hugh Roe O'Donnell and Maguire. 
O'Neil had encumbered BagenaPs line of march 
with every kind of obstacle, deep trenches were 
cut along his path; holes were dug in all 
directions, and brushwood and trees were strewn 
everywhere around. 

O'Neil then placed in ambuscade a small 
force of 500 men to watch BagenaPs advance, 
and to fall upon him the moment his march 
was impeded by those obstacles. On the 14th 
August the English marched briskly forward from 
Armagh ; but were soon involved in the meshes 
which O'Neil had spread for them. While 
struggling to extricate themselves from bog, 
trench and morass, and to brush aside every 
barrier that blocked their way, O'NeiPs men in 
ambush suddenly darted upon them, and threw 
them into utter confusion. But the first divi- 
sion, under Colonel Percy, which bore the brunt 
of the attack, soon rallied, and pushing forward 
vigorously, overcame all opposition, and cut 
their way through all hindrances until they came 
right up to the main body of the Irish army. 
O'Neil then gave a general order to advance, 
and the combatants engaged in a desperate 



1598] BATTLE OF YELLOW FORD iii 

hand-to-hand encounter. Bagenal hastened 
forward with the second division to support 
Percy, but he had scarcely reached the ground 
when a bullet from the Irish ranks pierced his 
brain, and he fell lifeless from his horse. This 
disaster threw his men into confusion, and 
O'Neil took advantage of the crisis to press the 
English home. But a third division now arrived 
upon the scene to support Percy, and the fortunes 
of the day still hung in the balance when Hugh 
Roe O'Donnell, who had worked around to the 
rear of the English army, suddenly took the third 
division on the flank and cut them to pieces. 
O'Neil's wing then dashed impetuously onward, 
faUing like an avalanche on the wavering ranks 
of the first and second divisions. Percy rallied 
his men gallantly, and did all that a brave man 
could to save the situation ; but, caught between 
two fires, the whole English army, after a 
spirited resistance, broke and fled, leaving some 
2000 men dead upon the field, besides the 
commander-in-chief and many distinguished 
officers. 

A few days afterwards, Portmore surrendered, 
and the English abandoned Ulster. 

Up to this point O'Neil had shown consum- 
mate ability, but he now failed utterly to reap 
the advantages of the great victory he had 
gained. Had he marched at once on Dublin, 
the capital must have fallen, and the English 
would assuredly have been expelled from Ireland. 
The authorities at Dublin Castle fully appre- 
ciated the dangers which threatened them. * We 
cannot but fear,' they wrote, * for more dangerous 



112 IRELAND [1599 

sequels, even to the utter hazard of the kingdom, 
and that out of hand, if God and her majesty 
prevent them not* 

But O'Neil was not equal to the occasion. 
He wasted precious moments in futile negotia- 
tions, idle conference and useless action, and 
gave the English time to rally. 

In March 1599, the Earl of Essex was ap- 
pointed lord-Heutenant, with instructions to 
proceed at once against O'Neil. But he proved 
himself utterly unable to cope with the ' great 
rebel of the north.' Instead of marching at 
once to Ulster with an army of 20,000 men, he 
wasted time in making a useless military pro- 
gress through Munster. The incompetence of 
Essex gave O'Neil another opportunity of clos- 
ing the struggle by the annihilation of the 
English power in Ireland. He let that oppor- 
tunity slip too. 

In the siunmer of 1599, O'Donnell besieged 
the castle of O'Connor at Sligo, who had 
fought on the English side at the battle of the 
Yellow Ford. Essex despatched Sir Conyers 
Clifford to the relief of his colleague. In August 
Clifford set out from Boyle to Sligo, across the 
Curlew Mountains. O'Donnell, leaving a force 
to carry on the siege of O'Connor's castle, seized 
the SHgo end of a famous pass called the 
Yellow Pass, through which Clifford was bound 
to march. 

On the isth of August the news sped over 
the hills that the English were coming. 
O'Donnell sent forward an advance guard to 
attack them as they entered the pass at the 



1599 i6oo] MOUNTJOY AND CAREW 113 

Boyle end, but with instructions to fall back 
steadily, fighting all the time, on the main 
body commanded by himself. The English 
forced their way through the pass, driving 
O'Donnell's advance guard before them, until 
they faced O'Donnell himself. Then came 
the tug-of-war. Clifford's second in command, 
Colonel Ratcliff, fell dead, fighting gallantly 
at the head of his men. Then Clifford sprang 
into the breach and rallied his forces, but in 
vain. O'Donnell knew his ground, and inspired 
his men to deeds of desperate valour. Clifford 
fell, overpowered by numbers, and his army was 
completely routed. O'Connor surrendered his 
castle to O'Donnell, and joined the Irish chiefs. 
Essex now determined to treat with O'Neil. 
In September 1599, both commanders met on 
horseback in the middle of a little stream called 
the Lagan, between Louth and Monaghan. 
O'Neil again demanded civil rights and re- 
ligious freedom, and Essex seemed disposed 
to consider the demand favourably. A truce 
was agreed on until May 1600. Further 
negotiations were then carried on, but, like all 
previous negotiations, they led to nothing. At 
length Essex was recalled, and in February 
1600, Lord Mountjoy, the most competent, 
albeit the most unscrupulous and sanguinary 
commander that had yet faced O'NeH, became 
lord-lieutenant. 

He was accompanied by Sir George Carew 
and Sir Henry Docwra, two able lieutenants 
equally unscrupulous and merciless. The new 
viceroy lost no time in beginning operations. 



114 IRELAND [1601 

Carew was made president of Munster, and 
ordered to crush the Irish there. Docwra 
was sent to Ulster to deal with O'NeiL Both 
men were equal to the duties imposed upon 
them. Carew carried fire and sword through 
the southern province, where the flag of revolt 
had been raised by another Earl of Desmond, 
bearing down all opposition, and sweeping like 
a tornado over the land. 

Docwra proceeded more carefully in Ulster, 
for the name of O'Neil inspired caution and 
fear. Evading the vigilance of the Ulster chief, 
he contented himself mainly with throwing up 
forts, seizing points of vantage, avoiding un- 
necessary risks, husbanding his resources and 
biding his time. 

In the northern provinces the war, as we 
have seen, had raged round Portmore, for it was 
the key of Tyrone. Taken and le-taken again 
and again, it finally fell into the hands of O'Neil 
after the battle of the Yellow Ford. It was now 
recaptured by Docwra, and Williams was once 
more sent back to hold it. Still the years 1601 
and 1602 closed, leaving O'Neil almost onmipo- 
tent in Ulster, though his confederates in the 
south had been hemmed in and decimated by 
the ruthless Carew. But the end was now at 
hand. Since, and indeed before, the battle of 
the Yellow Ford, O'Neil had persistently urged 
the King of Spain to send help to Ireland. The 
king delayed until the last moment ; help then 
came, but it came too late. 

In September 1601, a Spanish fleet with an 
army of 3000 men, under the command of Don 



i6oi] " SIEGE OF KINSALE 115 

Juan Del Aquik, cast anchor in Kinsale Har- 
bour. Kinsale threw open its gates, and the 
Spaniards occupied the town. Del Aquila at 
once sent messengers to O'Neil and O'Donnell, 
urging them to hasten southwards and to unite 
their forces with his. O'Donnell readily re- 
sponded to the call, and having out-manoeuvred 
Carew, who was ordered to intercept him, 
reached Castlehaven, within hail of Kinsale, in 
November. 

Meanwhile, Mountjoy acted with character- 
istic alertness and vigour. He despatched a 
fleet to blockade the harbour of Kinsale, while 
he himself, forming a junction with Carew, 
pushed forward to besiege the town. Del 
Aquila was now placed in a perilous position. 
Blockaded by the English fleet, and besieged 
by the English army, he stood veritably between 
the devil and the deep sea. But O'Donnell 
saw the situation at a glance, and striking his 
camp at Castlehaven marched to the front with 
all speed, and took up his ground in the rear of 
Mountjoy. Thus were the tables turned, for 
Mountjoy was now as much besieged by 
O'Donnell and Del Aquila as Del Aquila had 
been besieged by Mountjoy and the fleet This 
double siege lasted for three months. 

Del Aquila was reduced to great straits. 
Mountjoy was reduced to greater straits. He 
had already lost 6000 men by cold, sickness, 
disease, starvation, and the rigours and con- 
flicts of the siege; and those who remained 
were still subjected to the severest hardships 
and restraints. It was a struggle of endur- 



Il6 IRELAND [1601 

ance between the Englishman and the 
Spaniard. But their interests in the fight 
were not equal The Englishman fought for 
dominion and spoil. The Spaniard fought 
for an ally in whose cause he was half- 
hearted and supine. To Mountjoy, defeat 
meant the loss of Ireland and the shame 
of his own country. To Del Aquila, it 
meant return to Spain and the end of a 
bootless mission. The one would have held 
out whilst the last ration of the last horse 
remained. But the other flinched. The 
struggle needed heroism and self-sacrifice. 
Del Aquila was heroic, but he was not self- 
sacrificing. He was prepared to fight, he 
was not prepared to suffer any more. He 
was determined that now the conflict should 
be ended quickly, whatever befel. He there- 
fore despatched a messenger to O'Donnell to 
attack the English army in the rear while he 
assailed them in the front. Victory, he said, 
was assured, if this plan was carried out 
with vigour and skill. 

At this crisis O'Neil arrived upon the 
scene. He and O'Donnell held a council 
of war. O'Donnell, with the impetuosity 
of youth, was in favour of an instant attack 
upon the English lines. But the maturer 
wisdom of O'Neil counselled delay. It was, 
he said, a question of holding out. The 
English were clearly reduced to the last 
extremities. Let Del Aquila only stand firm 
and the whole English army must surrender. 
The substance of these deliberations were 



l602] BATTLE OF KINSALE 117 

conveyed to Del Aquila, but he refused to 
hold out any longer. If the Irish did not 
attack the English army he would surrender 
Kinsale. That was his last word, and it 
left O'Neil no alternative but to fight. On 
January 3, 1602, O'Neil reluctantly gave the 
order to advance. He had hoped to surprise 
Mountjoy by a night attack. But his plans 
were communicated to the English general, 
and when, in the early hours of the morning 
of the 4th, the Irish army approached the 
English lines, the enemy was ready for them. 
Seeing this, O'Neil manoeuvred to delay the 
attack, and to change the order of battle. 
But Mountjoy, leaving Carew to hold the 
Spaniards in check, fell upon the Irish while 
carrying out these operations, and threw them 
into the utmost confusion. Instead of sur- 
prising Mountjoy, they were themselves sur- 
prised by the suddenness and vigour of his 
onset. 0'Neil,who commanded the centre, rallied 
his men, but they reeled under the English 
onslaught, and fell steadily back. O'Donnell, 
who commanded the rear, now came up, and, 
supported by Tyrrell of * Tyrrell's Pass,' 
charged the English with great gallantry. 
For a moment the tide of battle was turned 
back, and had Del Aquila done his duty 
and given a good account of Carew, the 
situation might have been retrieved. But 
there was no sortie from Kinsale; and 
Mountjoy was left free to handle the foe 
in his front. Checked for the time by the 
furious charge of O'Donnell, the English 



ii8 IRELAND [1602 

finally rallied, and renewed their assaults 
upon the centre with redoubled energy. 
O'Neil, though fighting desperately, was no 
longer able to bear up against these sus- 
tained attacks, and his army, pressed home 
on every side and baffled at every turn, at 
length gave way out-manoeuvred, overwhelmed, 
undone. Mountjoy's victory was decisive; the 
battle of the Yellow Ford was avenged, the 
great rebel of the north was outwitted, and 
crushed. 

O'Neil returned to Ulster with a shattered 
army, whither Mountjoy followed him, laying 
waste the whole country. * We have seen,' says 
the viceroy, * no one man in all Tyrone of late 
but dead carcases merely hunger -starved, of 
which we have found divers as we passed . . . 
Between TuUaghoge and Toome [seventeen 
miles] there lay unburied 1000 dead, and 
since our first drawing this year to Black- 
water there were about 3000 starved in 
Tyrone;' and he adds, with a pious exclama- 
tion, * To-morrow (by the grace of God), I am 
going into the field, as near as I can utterly 
to waste the County Tyrone.' 

O'Donnell sailed for Spain to seek fresh suc- 
cour for the Irish cause. Del Aquila sur- 
rendered Kinsale and went back to his own 
country in disgrace. Immediately on his arrival 
he was thrown into prison, where he pined away 
and died. Carew captured O'SuUivan Beare's 
castle of Dembay, and put the garrison to the 
sword. O'Sullivan Beare fled to Ulster with a 
thousand followers almost all of whom perished 



i6o3] SURRENDER OF O'NEIL 119 

on the way by sickness, starvation and disease. 
When the old chief reached Brefney, and threw 
himself on the protection of the prince of that 
territory, he was only attended by forty faithful 
adherents. O'Donnell saw Ireland no more. 
He died at Simancas on September loth 1602, 
poisoned, there is but too much reason to 
believe, by an English agent in the employ- 
ment of Carew.^ In March 1603, O'Neil, who 
had all the time been harassed by Mountjoy, 
surrendered to the lord-deputy at Mellifont, 
near Drogheda, received a free pardon, and 
was restored to his titles and estates. 'I 
have omitted nothing,' wrote Mountjoy, before 
O'Neil's surrender, * both by power and policy, 
to ruin him and utterly to cut him off; and if 
by either I may procure his head before I have 
engaged her royal word for his safety, I do 
protest I will do it, and much more be ready 
to possess myself of his person, if by only 
promise of life, or by any other means, whereby 
I shall not directly scandal the majesty of 
public faith, I can procure him to put him- 
self into my power.' 

And now all was over. The fire was 
stamped out. Ireland was subdued. 

The Norman period had been a period 
of occupation and settlement. The Tudor 
period was a period of conquest and exter- 
mination. The first invaders had shown 



^ Mountjoy had previously employed another agent 
to assassinate O'Neil. 



120 IRELAND [1603 

every disposition to mingle with the native 
race; the second were resolved to root 
them out A common religion had united 
the one; separate religions divided the 
other. Protestantism was established by 
law; Catholicism was suppressed by terror. 
All places of emolument and power were 
reserved for Protestants; Catholics were 
sternly excluded from every position of 
favour and trust. Catholic worslup was for- 
bidden. Catholic priests were placed under 
ban ; Catholic property was spoliated ; Catholic 
sentiment was spurned and insulted. Thus 
was a new trouble added to the old» and 
fresh causes of injury soon increased and 
multiplied. The Norman colonists had hoped 
to share the island with the natives. I'he 
Tudors were determined to acquire it for 
themselves. No * rights' but theirs were to 
be respected; no claims but theirs would be 
allowed. The hateful policy of * Plantation' 
was now inaugurated. Vast estates, which 
for generations had been in the possession 
of natives or Normans, were confiscated 
in Munster and Leinster, and hordes of ad- 
venturers poured into the country, bent on 
spoil and outrage. And it was on this found- 
ation of national oppression, religious persecu- 
tion, and public plunder that the dominion 
of the English in Ireland was raised by the 
Tudor dynasty. 



CHAPTER XIII 



THE STUARTS 




'NEIL^ as we have seen, had 
received a free pardon and 
was restored to his titles and 
estates. O'Donnell was suc- 
ceeded in the chieftainship of 
his clan by his brother Rory; 
and Rory was now made Earl 
of Tyrconnell. And so the 
reign of James I. (1603- 162 5) opened on a 
tranquil and exhausted Ireland. 

But O'Neil and Rory O'Donnell did not 
feel safe in Ulster. Disquieting rumours were 
abroad of plots to seize them and carry 
them off to England. They did not wait 
for this new blow to fall. Eluding the vigil- 
ance of the government — if, indeed, the 
government desired to restrain them — they 



139 IRELAND [1608-1616 

embarked in a foreign vessel at Lough SwUly 
on September 14th 1607, and sailed for 
France. They returned to Ireland no more. 
Rory 0*Donnell died at Rome in May 1608, 
and O'Neil, broken in health and fortune, 
sick, blind, miserable, passed peacefully away 
in the same city on July 20th 16 16. 

The flight of the two chiefs was seized by 
the government as a favourable opportunity 
for confiscating their lands, which comprised 
the counties of Tyrone, Derry, Donegal, Ar- 
magh, Fermanagh and Cavan, containing in 
all nearly three million acres. Of these, half 
a million acres of fertile land was distributed 
among Scotch and English settlers. The rest, 
consisting of bog, mountain and forest, was 
restored to the Irish.^ Large districts in the 
county of Derry were offered at a cheap rate 
to the great civic companies of London. 
Twelve accepted the offer, and a committee 
of their representatives was formed, with the 
title of the Honourable Irish Society, to 
administer the affairs of the 'plantation,' 
under the provisions of a royal charter. 
Thenceforth, in memory of this event, the 
town of Derry assumed the name of Lon- 
donderry. 

The * plantation ' of Ulster was followed by 
the * plantation * of Leinster, where nearly half 
a million acres of land were wrenched from 
the rightful owners and handed over to another 

^ In the reign of Elizabeth half-a-million acres were 
confiscated in Munster. 



1616-1632] STRAFFORD 123 

motley crew of English adventurers. The 
old proprietors wandered forth in the fast- 
nesses of the woods and mountains, outlaws 
and pariahs, seeking shelter from the myrmidons 
of the government and waiting for the hour 
of vengeance and reprisal to come. The Irish 
liad expected mercy from the Stuarts, but they 
received none. Charles I. (1625-1649) — selfish^ 
mean, treacherous — followed in the footsteps of 
his predecessors. Under the pretence of con- 
ciliation, he still piursued a policy of aggres- 
sion and aggrandisement. In 1626 such of 
the old Irish landowners as still remained 
drew up certain articles, forming a Bill of 
Rights, to which they respectfully solicited 
the royal assent, promising in return to raise 
a voluntary assessment of ;^ioo,ooo for the 
use of the crown. The principal articles in 
these 'graces,' as they were cdled, provided 
for the security of property, the due adminis- 
tration of justice, the prevention of military 
exactions and the freedom of trade. 

Charles took the money, promised the 
'graces,' and broke his word. About 1632 
Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, became 
lord-deputy. The spirit of confiscation was still 
in the air, and Wentworth resolved to plant 
Connaught, as Ulster, Munster and Leinster had 
been planted. He set to work with insidious 
villainy. Under the sanction of the law, he 
outraged the law. By corrupt inquisitions, 
packed juries and bribed retainers, he dis- 
possessed many of the old proprietors in Ros- 
common, Mayo and Sligo ; but the juries of 



124 IRELAND [1632-1640 

Galway refused to find against the old Norman 
house of Clanricarde, withstood the authority 
of the crown, defied the lord-deputy, and saved 
the rest of the province. In 1640 Strafford 
returned to England with his work unfinished, 
and Ireland saw him no more. 



CHAPTER XIV 

ULSTER REBELLION — OWEN ROE 0*NEIL 

HE day of vengeance and re- 
prisal, for which the plundered 
chiefs of Ulster, Leinster and 
Munster had waited and 
watched, was now at hand. 
Charles I. and his parliament 
were entering on a struggle of 
life or death. 
The occasion was favourable for an Irish 
revolt. 

England's difficulties were then, as they 
have always been, Ireland's opportunity. 

Roger O'Moore, one of the dispossessed 
chiefs of Leinster, rallied his fellow-country- 
men around him, to recover the inheritance 
of their fathers, and to fight for religious 
and national freedom. The representatives of 

125 





t 



126 IRELAND [1641 

the ancient Irish tribes — the 0*Neils, the 
O'Byrnes, the O'Reillys, the O'Hanlons, the 
O'Farrells, the M*Mahons, the Maguires — all 
who had rights to claim, and wrongs to 
avenge — flocked to his standard. 

Ulster and Leinster were to rise in arms 
in October 1641. The English settlers were to 
be expelled, and the confiscated lands restored 
to their rightful owners; the Catholic religion 
was to be established, and the independence 
of the Irish parliament recognised by the 
repeal of Poynings' law, and the withdrawal 
of English control. The plans of the Irish 
were well made, and the secret was well kept 
up to the last moment. Then, on the very 
eve of the rising, the news, like a bolt from 
the blue, burst on the authorities at Dublin 
Castle. 

Prompt measures were taken. The city gates 
were closed. The troops were called to arms. 
Two of the insurgent leaders— M*Mahon and 
Maguire — were arrested, and three others — 
0*Moore, 0*Byme and Plunket — barely escaped 
with their lives. The rising in Leinster was for 
a time checked, but in Ulster the insurrection 
broke out with savage ferocity. It was the re- 
bellion of an untrained peasantry. There was no 
capable leader, no organisation, no discipline, 
no army. There were horrible wrongs to be 
avenged, and they were avenged horrbily. 
The Irish of the province rushed like a mob 
on the English settlers, drove them from 
their homes — ^which had so recently been the 
homes of Irish — and swept them into the high- 



1641] THE REBELLION OF 1641 127 

ways, there to die of cold and hunger, or to be 
brutally murdered by a maddened peasantry. 
For four months almost the whole of the 
province was in the hands of the insurgents, 
who spared not their foes. *The pent-up 
fury of a people,' says Mr Lecky, 'brutalised 
by long oppression, broke out at last. They 
fought as men will fight who had been 
despoiled of their property, whose religion 
was under the ban of the law, who expected 
no quarter from their adversaries, whose parents 
had been hunted down like wild beasts.' The 
number of English who perished in this out- 
break has been tremendously exaggerated; 
but, reduced within reasonable limits, it is 
still sufficiently appalling. Probably 4000 
were actually killed, while some 8000 perished 
from want and ill-usage. This dark picture is 
relieved by some gleams of light wherever the 
rebels were held in military discipline. 

In Cavna, where O'Reilly, a chief of some 
ability, commanded, the fury of the insurgents 
was checked and controlled. Castles and 
towns surrendered to O'Reilly on conditions 
which were scrupulously kept. English settlers 
threw themselves on his protection, and were 
guarded with care. Bedell, the Protestant 
bishop of Kilmore, fell into his hands and was 
treated with kindness and humanity. Bedell's 
fiamily, with 1200 English besides, were escorted 
by 2000 rebels to the English garrison at Drog- 
heda. 'The rebels,' says Bedell's friend and 
biographer, Clogy, * offered us no violence [dur- 
ing a march of seven days] save in the night— 



128 IRELAND [1641 

when our men were weary with continual 
watching — they would steal away a good horse, 
and run off, but were very civil to us all the 
way, and many of them wept at our parting 
from them, that had lived so long and peace- 
fully amongst them as if we had been one 
people with them.* Bedell died in the hands 
of the rebels, and was buried with every mark 
of respect and honour. 

Clogy describes the scene, — *The chiefs of 
the Irish rebels gathered their forces together 
and accompanied the corpse from Mr Sheriden's 
house to the churchyard of Kilmore in a great 
solemnity, and desired Alexander Clogy piim- 
self], the minister of Cavan, to perform the oflSce 
for the dead (according to our manner in former 
times), and promised not to interrupt in the 
least. But we, being surrounded with armed 
men, esteemed it more prudent to bury him as 
all the patriarchs, prophets, Christ and His 
apostles, and all the saints and martyrs in 
former ages were [buried], than attempt such 
a hazardous office (and sacrifice for the dead 
as they call it), and needless at such a time in 
the presence of those Egyptians. But instead 
thereof, they gave him a volley of shot, and 
said with loud voices — ^^ Requiescat in pace 
ultimus Anglorumy ' 

The rebellion quickly spread to the south, 
and Leinster and Munster were soon aflame. 
But the English now rallied; troops were 
poured into the country, and, to use the 
language of Mr Lecky, *the worst crimes of 
Mountjoy and Carew were rivalled by the 



1642] SIR CHARLES COOTE 129 

soldiers of Sir Charles Coote, of St Leger, 
and of Sir Frederick Hamilton.' Coote took 
Wicklow, and, says Leland, * [committed] such 
unprovoked, such ruthless and such indis< 
criminate slaughter, as rivalled the utmost 
extravagances of the northerns.' Another 
general, we read, 'killed in one day 700 
country people — men, women and chilcken 
— ^who were driving away their cattle,' near 
the town of Newry. In the island of Magee, 
thirty families were butchered in one night 
by the English garrison at Carrickfergus. 
So great was the slaughter of the Irish after 
the defeat of the rebels at Dundalk, that, we 
learn from Carte, 'there was neither man nor 
beast to be found in sixteen miles between the 
two towns of Drogheda and Dundalk ; nor, on 
the other side of Dundalk, in the County 
Monaghan, nearer than Carrickmacross — a 
strong pile twelve miles distant.' 

Fire and sword were carried throughout the 
coimtry; whole districts were laid waste; 
guilty and innocent were involved in com- 
mon ruin. *We can hardly,' says Mr Lecky, 
'have a shorter or more graphic picture of 
the manner in which the war was conducted 
than is furnished by one of the items of Sir 
William Cole's own catalogue of the services 
performed by his regiment in Ulster — 
" Starved and famished of the vulgar sort 
whose goods were seized on by his regiment, 

7000. 

Amid this scene of carnage— carnage by the 
rebels, carnage by the government — a man of 



130 IRELAND 11642 

genius and humanity at length appeared. This 
was Owen Roe O'Neil. 

Owen Roe O'Neil, the nephew of Hugh 
0*Neil, was bom about 1582. He fled with 
his uncle to the Continent in 1607, was edu- 
cated in a Franciscan monastery at Louvain, 
and finally entered the Sj^ish army, where he 
soon won his way to rank and distinction. In 
1640, with a force of 2000 men (chiefly Irish), 
he defended Arras against an army of 25,000 
French veterans. After a brilliant defence, the 
town was ultimately forced to capitulate, but 
the skill and prowess shown by O'Neil was 
recognised by the enemy, who permitted him 
to march out with all the honours of war. In 
1642 the rebels of Ulster besought his help, 
and, flinging up his command in the Spanish 
service, he sped to Ireland, landing at Donegal 
in the end of July. A month later war was 
openly declared between Charles I. and the Par- 
liament, and thus both countries were at once 
in aJ)laze. 
'^•••^^inyreland there were now practically four 
partie4 

TheTC were the rebels of Ulster (representing 
the old Celtic population) who desired com- 
plete separation from England. There were 
tile rebels of the south (representing the old 
]^nglish colonists) who were loyal to the 
English connection, but who demanded reli- 
gious liberty and local self-government. There 
was the party of the king (represented by 
the Marquis of Ormond); and there was 
the party of the parliament, represented by 



1642] CONFEDERATION OF KILKENNY 131 

General Monroe and a Scotch army in 
Ulster. 

The southern rebels were further sub-divided 
into two sections — a lay section consisting of 
lords and gentlemen; clerical section con- 
sisting of bishops and priests. 

In October 1642, the southern rebels estab- 
lished a government of their own in Elilkenny, 
and formed a parliament or 'confederation/ 
in which sat eleven spiritual and fourteen 
temporal peers, and 226 commoners. 

The policy of Owen Roe O'Neil was clear 
and well defined. It was a policy of war. The 
policy of the Confederation of Kilkenny was 
confused and irresolute. It was a policy of 
peace. The one desired to combine all Ireland 
against the English, and to drive them from the 
island. The other wanted to win concessions 
from the English, and to live in friendship and 
union with them. The Royalists turned their 
attention to the * Confederates ' of Kilkenny, 
in the hope of drawing them to the side of the 
king. The lay party in the Confederation were 
willing to treat with Charles on the terms of 
religious toleration, but the clerical party would 
consent to nothing short of the re-establishment 
of the Catholic Church in all its former power 
and grandeur. Thus was the Irish camp in 
the south split into two divisions, which led to 
endless intrigues and quarrels, and ultimately 
brought disaster on the Irish cause. Towards the 
end of 1642 the Irish forces in the field were 
commanded by Barry in Munster, by Preston 
in Leinster, and by Burke in Connaught. These 



133 IRELAND [1643 

officers were directly appointed by the Con- 
federation of Kilkenny. Owen Roe 0*Neil 
commanded in Ulster, and though, of course, in 
touch with the 'Confederation,' he practically 
held a position of absolute independence. His 
first act on becoming chief of the Ulster rebels 
was to condemn in indignant language the 
outrages which had disgraced the outbreak in 
the north. He would rather, he said, join the 
English than tolerate such atrocities. He next 
sent, under safe conduct, to Dundalk all the 
prisoners whom he found in the hands of the 
insurgents. 

Finally, he devoted himself to training and 
organising his men, until he converted what had 
been a rabble into a disciplined and effective 
army. 

After a desultory warfare, Ormond, represent- 
ing the interests of the king, made a truce with 
the Confederation on September 15, 1643, for 
one year, much to the disgust of the clerical 
party in that body, and of Owen Roe O'Neil, 
who believed that it was a time for fighting 
and not for treating. By the conduct of the 
Confederation, a year was lost in useless 
negotiations, which only paralysed the action 
of O'Neil, and wasted the energies of the 
country. Meanwhile the Parliamentary general, 
Monroe, held his ground. And so the years 
1644, and ^^^^ 1645, passed. The indecision, 
supineness and neglect of the Confederation 
left O'Neil powerless to march against Monroe. 
There was a war of skirmishes, which helped to 
discipline O'Neil's army, but there were no 



I645J THE BATTLE OF BENBURB 133 

pitched battles to give a decisive tum to 
the struggle, one way or the other. 

At length, in November 1645, Rinuc- 
cini, the Papal Nuncio, arrived with arms, 
ammunition and stores for the rebels. 
He flung himself at once on the side 
of the clerical party in the Confederation, 
recognised the genius of O'Neil, sent 
for him, supplied him with war material, 
and bade him take the field against 
Monroe. O'Neil lost no time in carrying 
out the mandate of the Nuncio. Hastening 
to Ulster, he gathered his forces together, 
and, advancing to meet Monroe, took up 
a strong position at Benburb, within 
seven miles of Armagh. Here, about the 
spot where the Oona and the Blackwater 
meet, the battle was fought on the 5th 
of June 1646. The engagement was com- 
menced by Monroe opening a heavy fire on 
the Irish force which had been sent to 
defend a defile through which he had to 
pass. Under the cover of this fire, his 
horse advanced and swept the Irish before 
them. The main body of his army then 
marched through, and confronted O'Neil. 
The Irish infantry, which had been placed 
well under cover, now opened a raking 
fire on the Scottish ranks. Monroe ordered 
up his artillery, but the natiure of the ground 
interfered seriously with the play of the 
guns. He ordered his cavalry to charge, but 
the Irish pikemen met them steadily, and 
drove them back with slaughter. So far 



134 IRELAND [1646 

O'Neil had acted on the defensive, making 
the most of his position, and sparing his men. 
But now, as the rays of the setting sun fell on 
the baffled Scotch, and subjected them to the 
inconvenience which the Irish had borne all the 
day, he ordered a general advance. Monroe had 
already despaired of victory, and was sounding 
a retreat, when the Irish, seeing the enemy 
hesitate and waver, fell furiously upon them, 
and forced them back on all sides. Monroe 
made a feeble attempt to rally his forces, but 
the onset of the Irish was irresistible, and 
Monroe's army was routed and almost anni- 
hilated. 

An English historian has graphically de* 
scribed its defeat and overthrow. 

'Sir James Montgomery's regiment was the 
only one which retired in a body ; all the others 
fled in the utmost confusion, and most of the 
infantry were cut in pieces. Colonel Conway, 
after having two horses shot under him, made 
his escape almost miraculously to Newry with 
Captain Burke and about forty horse. Lord 
Montgomery was taken prisoner with about 
twenty-one officers and one hundred and fifty 
common soldiers. There were found three 
thousand, two hundred and forty -three slain 
on the field of battle, and others were killed 
next day in the pursuit. 

*0'Neil had only about seventy killed, and 
two hundred wounded. He took all the 
Scots' artillery, being four field -pieces, with 
most of their arms, thirty-two colours, their 
tents and baggage. The booty was very great : 



1647] ORMOND 13s 

one thousand, five hundred draught horses 
were taken, and two months* provisions for 
the Scotch army — enough to serve the Ulster 
Irish (a hardy people, used to live on potatoes 
and butter, and content generally with only 
milk and shoes?) double the time. Monroe 
fled without his wig and coat to Lisnegarvy, 
and immediately burned Dundrum, deserted 
Portadown, Clare, Glanevy, Downepatrick, and 
other places.' 

The victory of Benburb put heart into the 
rebels. O'Neil was the hero of the hour. 
Rinuccini sent for him to march southwards 
to attack the English forces there. But, in the 
south, all was division and confusion. Preston, 
the Confederate general in Leinster, hated 
O'Neil, and would not loyally co-operate with 
him. Meanwhile, Ormond (who had been 
appointed lord-lieutenant by Charles in 1644), 
was now placed in a position of great embar- 
rassment, and even of great peril, in Dublin. 
In 1647 the king had been beaten by the 
Parliamentary forces, had flung himself on the 
protection of the Scots, and had been sur- 
rendered by the Scots to the Parliament. The 
royal cause was lost. Ormond was now hemmed 
in on one side by a Parliamentary army under 
Jones, and on the other by an Irish army 
which had at last advanced on the city under 
O'Neil and Preston. The lord-lieutenant had 
now to chose between two evils — surrender to 
the Irish rebels, or surrender to the English 
rebels. He chose what he conceived to be the 
lesser evil, and, on July 28, 1647, threw open 



156 IRELAND [1647-1649 

the gates of the city to Jones, and left Ireland 
Jones did not let the grass grow under his feet 
In August he sallied forth from the city, 
marched against Preston (who was now 
separated from O'Neil), attacked him at his 
head-quarters near Trim, and utterly routed 
his army. And now the general confusion be- 
came worse confounded. Lord Inchiquin, who 
had at first sided with the Parliament, sud- 
denly through some real or imaginary slight, 
combined with Preston against Jones. In 1648 
Ormond returned to Ireland and rallied the 
lay party in the Confederation (who had really 
become English Royalists) around him. The 
Nuncio denounced Ormond and his friends, 
and wiping the dust of the Confederation from 
his feet, joined O'Neirs army at Maryborough. 
The Confederation then proclaimed O'Neil 
a rebel, and the Nuncio excommunicated the 
Confederation. In February 1649, Rinuc- 
cini left Ireland in despair, promising to send 
foreign succour to O'Neil. ONeil held his 
little army together, sometimes treating with the 
forces of the Parliament, sometimes treating 
with the Confederation, being all the while 
bent on gaining time until the promised help 
arrived, when he could march against Parlia- 
Inient and the Confederation, and crush both.^ 

^ An admirajble little book has recently been written on 
this period by Mr Taylor, Q.C—TJke Life of Owen Roe 
a Neil (New Irish Library). 



CHAPTER XV 



OLIVER CROMWELL 




VENTS were now rapidly 
approaching a crisis. On 
January 30, 1649, Charles had 
been executed. On May 19, 
England was declared a 
Commonwealth [ 1 649 - 1 660]. 
On August 12, Jones defeated 
Ormond at Rathmines. On 
August 15, Cromwell landed in Dublin with a 
force of 9000 infantry and 4000 horse. O'Neil 
saw at a glance that the foe who had now to be 
faced was not Ormond, but Cromwell; and 
though broken in health, indeed dying of an 
incurable malady, from which he had long 
suffered, at once offered to join his forces with 
the Royalist leader, and to help in uniting all 
Ireland against the common enemy. But 
137 



138 IRELAND [1649 

Oliver gave no time for these or for any 
negotiations to mature. Early in September he 
appeared before the town of Drogheda, which 
was held by the Royalist forces under Sir 
Arthur Aston. 

What then happened Oliver himself tells us 
in brief and pithy language. 

* After battery, we stormed it The enemy 
were about 3000 strong in the town. They 
made a stout resistance, and near 1000 of 
our men being entered, the enemy forced 
them out again. But God, giving new courage 
to our men, they attempted again, and entered, 
beating the enemy from their defences. ... Be 
ing thus entered, we refused them [quarter], 
having the day before summoned the town. I 
believe we put to the sword the whole number of 
the defendants. I do not think thirty of the 
whole number escaped with their lives. Those 
that did are in safe custody for the Barbadoes.' 

Among Cromwell's soldiers was an officer 
named Wood, the brother of Anthony Wood, 
the Oxford historian. From Anthony Wood 
we learn his brother's experiences of the siege ; 
how he * would tell them of the most terrible 
assaulting and storming of Tredagh, where he 
himself had been engaged. He told them that 
3000 at least, besides some women and children, 
were afterwards put to the sword, on September 
nth and 12th, 1649, ^^ which time Sir Arthur 
Aston, the governor, had his brains beat out 
and his body hacked to pieces. He told 
them that when they were to make their 
way up to the lofts and galleries of the 



i649l DROGHEDA— WEXFORD 139 

church, and up to the tower, where the 
enemy had fled, each of the assailants would 
take up a child and use it as a buckler of 
defence when they ascended the steps, to 
keep themselves from being shot or brained. 
After they had killed all in the church, they 
went into the vaults underneath, where all 
the flower and choicest of the women and 
ladies had hid themselves. One of these, 
a most handsome virgin, arraid in costly and 
gorgeous apparel, kneeled down to Thomas 
Wood, with tears and prayers, to save her 
life, and being stricken with a profound 
pitie, he took her under his arm, went with 
her out of the church, with intention to put 
her over the works to shift for herself, but a 
soldier, perceiving his intentions, he ran his 
sword through her . . . whereupon Mr Wood, 
seeing her gasping, took away her money, 
jewels, etc, and flung her down over the 
works.' 

Finally we learn from Ormond that *The 
cruelties exercised there for five days after 
the town was taken would make as many 
pictures of inhumanity as are to be found in the 
Book of Martyrs^ or in the relation of Amboyna.* 
From Drogheda, Cromwell proceeded to Wex- 
ford. What happened there he also tells 
us in brief but sufficient language. 'Upon 
Monday, ist October, we came before Wex- 
ford ... on Thursday, nth inst., our batteries 
began to play, then our men ran violently 
upon the town with their ladders and stormed 
it. And when they were come into the 



140 IRELAND [1650 

market place, the enemy making a stiff re- 
sistance, our forces brake them and then put 
all to the sword that came in their way 
Two boatfuls of the enemy attempted to 
escape'; being overprest with numbers, sank, 
whereby were drowned near 300 of them. 
I believe, in all, there was lost of the enemy 
not many less than 2000 ; and I believe not 
twenty of yours from first to last of the 
siege.' The town was then pillaged, so that 
'Of the former inhabitants, scarce one in 
twenty could challenge any property in their 
houses ... for which, as for all, we pray 
God may have all the glory.' 

Ormond now took up his position at Kil- 
kenny, whither Owen Roe O'Neil, carried in 
a horse-litter, set out to join him, but falling 
hopelessly ill on the way, died at Cloughouter 
Castle, in the County Cavan, November 6th, 
1649. Town after town now surrendered to 
Cromwell, and he marched triumphantly through- 
out the country. Towards the end of the year 
he went for a short time into winter quarters, 
but in February 1650 he was again in the 
field. In March he attacked Kilkenny, 
which surrendered after a gallant defence of 
eight days. He then moved against Clonmel, 
which was held by the veterans of Owen 
Roe O'Neil's army, commanded by his 
nephew, Hugh O'Neil. He had fortified 
the place strongly, and behind the fortifica- 
tions were 2000 men, who had never turned 
their backs upon a foe. On 9th May 
Cromwell opened fire on the defences, but 



i65o] SIEGE OF CLONBfEL 141 

ONeil replied with vigour and effect The 
calibre of the English guns told, however, 
in the long run, and a huge breach was 
made in the walls. Then Cromwell's Iron- 
sides dashed into the breach, but were 
stoutly met by the Ulstermen; a fierce 
death-wresde of four hours ensued, but the 
Cromwellians were driven back with great 
slaughter. 'They found,' said an eye-witness 
on the English side, Uhe stoutest enemy 
this army had ever met in Ireland ; and there 
was never seen so hot a storm of so long 
continuance, and so gallantly defended, either 
in England or Ireland.' But Hugh O'Neil 
felt that the town with its battered walls could 
not stand another siege, and his ammunition 
being exhausted, he resolved to retreat under 
the cover of the night, and to fall back on 
Limerick, which was still in the hands of 
the Irish. Evading the vigilance of the 
English general, he carried out this manoeuvre 
with complete success. Next day the citizens 
sounded a parley, and sent a deputation to 
treat with the enemy. Cromwell, believing 
that the army of Hugh O'Neil was still 
before him, granted honourable terms. His 
Ironsides then entered the town, but the 
Irish army was gone; only the inhabitants, 
old men, women and children, remained. 
Cromwell had been outwitted by the young 
Ulsterman ; nevertheless, he faithfully kept the 
terms he had made. There was no massacre 
in Clonmel . 
Cromwell left Ireland on the 29th May 1650. 



143 IRELAND [1651-1652 

The war was then carried on by his lieutenants, 
Ireton and Ludlow. For two years longer 
the Irish, ill-led, ill-equipped, and torn by con- 
tending parties, maintained an unequal struggle 
against the veterans of the English common- 
wealth. But by the end of 1650 all their chief 
strongholds had fallen, except Limerick and 
Galway. Early in 1651, Ireton attacked 
Limerick. It was gallantly defended by Hugh 
O'Neil ; but, worn out by sickness and disease, 
distracted by internal dissensions, plague- 
stricken and starving, the town was ultimately 
forced to capitulate, 27th October 1651. Hugh 
O'Neil was tried by court-martial, and sen- 
tenced to death, but the gallantry of the young 
general had won the admiration of Ludlow, 
who, despite the efforts of Ireton, insisted on 
saving his life. He was, however, sent as a 
prisoner to the Tower of London, and there 
detained until July 1652, when, on the demand 
of the Spanish government, he was released. 
He died in Spain in 1660. 

After the fall of Limerick, Galway alone 
remained, and Galway surrendered in May 
1652. 

The war was now over ; and Ireland, beaten 
once more, lay panting and bleeding at the 
feet of the conqueror. 

Terrible had been the struggle, and terrible 
was the vengeance wreaked upon the vanquished 
nation. 

According to the calculation of Sir W. Petty, 
*out of a population of 1,466,000, 616,000 
had, in eleven years, perished by the sword. 



16521654] 'FAMINE AND THE SWORD' 143 

by plague, or by famine artificially produced. 
504,000, according to this estimate, were Irish, 
112,000 of English extraction. A third part 
of the population had been thus blotted out, 
and Petty tells us that, according to some 
calculations, the number of the victims was 
much greater. Human food had been so 
successfully destroyed that Ireland, which had 
been one of the great pasture countries of 
Europe, was obliged to import cattle from 
Wales for consumption in Dublin. The stock 
which, at the begining of the war, was valued 
at four millions, had sunk to an eighth of that 
value, while the price of com had risen from 
I2S. to 50S. a bushel. Famine and the sword 
had so done their work that in some districts 
the traveller rode twenty or thirty miles without 
seeing one trace of human life, and fierce 
wolves — rendered doubly savage by feeding on 
human flesh — multiplied with startling rapidity 
through the deserted land, and might be seen 
prowling in numbers within a few miles of 
Dublin. Liberty was given to able-bodied 
men to abandon the country and enlist in 
foreign service, and from 30,000 to 40,000 
availed themselves of the permission. Slave- 
dealers were let loose upon the land, and many 
hundreds of boys and of marriageable girls, guilty 
of no offence whatever, were torn away from 
their country, shipped to Barbadoes, and sold 
as slaves to the planters. Merchants from 
Bristol entered keenly into the traffic. The 
victims appear to have been for the most 
part the children or the young widows of 



144 IRELAND [1654 

those who were killed or starved; but the 
dealers began at length to decoy even English- 
men to their ships, and the abuses became 
such that the Puritan government, which 
had for some time cordially supported the 
system, made vain efforts to stop it. How 
many of the unhappy captives became the 
prey of the sharks, how many became the 
victims of the planters' lust, it is impossible to 
say. The worship, which was that of almost 
the whole native population, was absolutely 
suppressed. Priests continued, it is true, with 
an admirable courage, to move, disguised, among 
the mud cottages of the poor, and to hold up 
the crucifix before their dying eyes ; but a large 
reward was offered for their apprehension, and 
those who were taken were usimlly transported 
to Barbadoes or confined in one of the Arran 
Isles. Above all, the great end at which the 
English adventurers had been steadily aiming 
since the reign of Elizabeth, was accomplished. 
All, or almost all, the land of the Irish in 
the three largest and richest provinces was 
confiscated, and divided among those adven- 
turers who had lent money to the Parliament, 
and among the Puritan soldiers, whose pay 
was greatly in arrear. The Irish who were 
considered least guilty were assigned land in 
Connaught, and that province, which rock and 
morass have doomed to a perpetual poverty, 
and which was at this time almost desolated 
by famine and by massacre, was assigned as 
the home of the Irish race. The confisca- 
tions were arranged under different categories, 



i6S4] CONFISCATION 14$ 

but they were of such a nature that scarcely 
any Catholic or even old Protestant landlord 
could escape. All persons who had taken 
part in the rebellion before November loth 
1642, all who had before that date assisted the 
rebels with food or in any other way, and also 
about one hundred specified persons, including 
Drmond, Bishop Bramhall and a great part of 
the aristocracy of Ireland, were condenuied 
to death, and to the absolute forfeiture of 
their estates. All other landowners who had 
at any period borne arms against the Parlia- 
ment, either for the rebels or for the king, 
were to be deprived of their estates, but were 
promised land of a third of the value in 
Connaught If, however, they had held a 
higher rank than major, they were to be 
banished from Ireland. Papists, who during 
the whole of the long war had never borne 
arms against the Parliament, but who had 
not manifested a * constant good affection' 
towards it, were to be deprived of their estates, 
but were to receive two-thirds of the value 
in Cbnnaught Under this head were in- 
cluded all who lived quietly in their houses 
in quarters occupied by the rebels or by the 
king's troops, who had paid taxes to the 
rebels or to the king after his rupture with 
the Parliament, who had abstained from actively 
supporting the cause of the Parliament. Such 
a confiscation was practically universal. The 
ploughmen and labourers who were necessary 
for the cultivation of the soil were suffered to 
remain, but all the old proprietors, all the 



146 IRELAND [1654-1660 

best and greatest names in Ireland were com- 
pelled to abandon their old possessions, to 
seek a home in Connaught or in some happier 
land beyond the sea. A very large proportion 
of them had committed no crime whatever, 
and it is probable that not a sword would 
have been drawn in Ireland in rebellion if 
those who ruled it had suffered the natives to 
enjoy their lands and their religion in peace.^ 

In September 1658 Cromwell died, and in 
May 1660 the monarchy was re-established, 
and Charles II. became king [i 660-1 685]. 

^Lecky. 



CHAPTER XVI 




THE JACOBITE WAR 

HE Irish looked with hope to 
Charles, but they looked in vain. 
The landowners, who had been 
dispossessed by Cromwell, be- 
lieved that they would now be 
restored. But the Cromwellian 
settlement was, in its main 
features confirmed, and the bulk 
of the old proprietors were for ever deprived 
of their inheritance. The upshot of the 
Cromwellian settlement, as confirmed, at the 
Restoration, was, according to Petty, this: 
whereas, prior to 1641, two-thirds of the good 
land of Ireland belonged to Catholics — old 
Irish and old English— afler 1665 two-Chirds 
of the good land remained in the hands of 

147 



148 IRELAND [1660- 1689 

Protestants and new English. Though laws 
were passed in restraint of Irish commerce, 
laws prohibiting the exportation of Irish cattle 
to England, and excluding Irish ships from the 
trading privileges enjoyed by English ships, 
yet the government of Charles II. compared 
favourably with the government of his pre- 
decessors. The Catholics were treated with 
toleration, and the country enjoyed a brief 
period of repose. 

In 1685 Charles II. died, and James 
ascended the throne (1685-1689). 

James was a Catholic, and was disposed to do 
justice to the Catholics of Ireland, but the 
English people who were incensed at his 
anti-Protestant feeling, revolted against his 
rule, and in June 1688 invited William, 
Prince of Orange, who had married James's 
daughter, Mary, to become king. Respond- 
ing to this invitation, William arrived in 
England in November 1688; in December 
James was forced to fly the kingdom, and 
in February 1689, William and Mary were 
proclaimed king and queen (1689- 1694). 
James now flung himself upon the protection 
of the Irish, and in March 1689 landed in 
Kinsale. Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnel, 
was lord-lieutenant. He was a partisan of 
James, and wished to rule Ireland in Eng- 
lish Jacobite interests. He was a bigoted 
Catholic, and desired to oppress his Pro- 
testant fellow-countrymen. He was wanting 
in true national feeling, and at every stage 
proved himself unpatriotic and incompetent. 



i6S9] IRISH PARLIAMENT 16S9 149 

The first step taken by James and Tyrconnd 
was to summon a parliament in Dublin. 
This parliament met on the 7th May, and 
it sat until the 20th July. It was composed 
almost exclusively of Catholics. During its 
short existence it passed some measures 
which were just and politic; it passed 
others which were extreme and revolutionary. 
It passed more which were unfair and irra- 
tionaL I. It provided for complete religious 
freedom; took measures for promoting trade 
and commerce, and repealed Poynings* law, 
thus re-asserting the legislative independence 
of the country. II. It passed an act over- 
throwing the Cromwellian settlement, and 
restoring the forfeited estates to the descend- 
ants of those who had then been plundered. 
III. It attainted for high treason 2000 per- 
sons who were hostile to James, and confis- 
cated their property. Of the first measure 
there can be nothing but praise; the second 
was harsh but natural; the third was harsh 
and tyrannical But none of these measures 
ever took effect. The war which ended in 
the third conquest of Ireland had already 
commenced, and the sounds of battle called 
James and Tyrconnel to the field. Two 
towns in Ulster, held by English Protestant 
settlers, had declared for William — Enniskillen 
and Londonderry. Both towns were now 
besieged by forces which Tyrconnel had 
raised and set against them, and both were 
offering a gallant resistance. Of these towns 
the most important was Londonderry, and 



ISO IRELAND [1689 

its siege is one of the most famous in 
history. In December 1688, Tyrconnel had 
sent Lord Antrim to seize the town for 
James. But while the principal citizens were 
hesitating between the rival kings, the 
apprentices of Derry shut the gates against 
the forces of James, and Antrim retired to 
Coleraine. Later on, however, a force sent 
by Tyrconnel under Mountjoy was admitted 
by the citizens, and Colonel Lundy was made 
governor of the town. But Lundy was sub- 
sequently obliged to declare for William 
and Mary, who confirmed him in his position 
of governor. In these circumstances, Tyr- 
connel resolved to take vigorous measures 
for the reduction of the place, and in April 
1689 the famous siege began. 

On April 13, James himself hastened from 
Dublin to witness the operations. Lundy, the 
governor, though he had declared for William 
and Mary, was decidedly favourable to the 
Jacobite cause. He made no attempt to check 
the advance of the Jacobite army, detained 
on board ship in the harbour two regiments 
which had been sent from England to reinforce 
the garrison, and summoned a council of war 
to discuss terms bf capitulation. The council, 
which was composed of the officers of the 
English regiments in the harbour, and of the 
principal civic authorities, decided that the 
town — fortified only by a weak wall, manned 
by a few old guns — could not stand a siege, and 
it was resolved that the new regiments should 
be sent back to England, and t^t the citizens 



iCSgi SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY 151 

should be left to make the best terms they could 
with the enemy. 

The regiments sailed away, and the citizens 
of Londonderry were left to their own devices. 
Independently of the decision of the council., 
they denounced Lundy as a traitor, threatened 
to blow out his brains, or hang him on the 
walls, and prepared to defend themselves to 
the death. 

But there was treachery within the walls, for 
on the night of April 17, when the Jacobite 
forces were steadily advancing, it was found 
that the gates were still open, and that the 
keys had disappeared. The citizens, however, 
were soon on the alert; the guards were im- 
mediately doubled, the pass-word was changed, 
and the whole town stood to arms. 

At dawn of day, on April 18, watchers on 
the ramparts espied James's army marching 
onwards. Moved by a common impulse, and 
led by two gallant officers — Major Baker and 
Captain Murray — and inspired by the preach- 
ing of a Protestant clergyman named Walker, 
soldiers and gentlemen, artisans and yeomen, 
rushed to the walls, seized pike and musket, 
and prepared to man the guns. A shout of 
*No surrender' rent the air; and a discharge 
of shot from the nearest bastion warned James 
that Londonderry was not yet his. 

During the night of April 18, Lundy left 
the town, with the sanction of Murray and 
Walker. Next morning the civil administration 
was placed in the hands of Walker, while 
Murray was appointed to the military command. 



152 IRELAND [16S9 

Preparations were then completed for a resolute 
defence. All the inhabitants capable of bearing 
arms were distributed into eight regiments, 
which were duly officered with colonels, 
captains and ensigns. In a few hours each 
man knew his post, and was ready at beat of 
drum to repair to it Though no strict discipline 
was or could be maintained, an admirable 
regularity prevailed ; and, if not under military 
law, the combatants showed the true military 
spirit. When a soldier became spent with 
fatigue, he retired to rest without waiting for 
permission, and his place was instantly supplied 
by a comrade, without waiting for orders. 
There was no reluctance to avoid doing so, 
however inconvenient; no impatience under 
labour, however severe. At suitable oppor- 
tunities, volunteer rallying parties were formed, 
issuing from the defences and attacking the 
hostile lines, frequently returning with supplies 
of provisions and plunder. The stimulus of 
religious enthusiasm kept alive the courage, and 
refreshed the energies of the defenders. A 
large part of the day was devoted to preaching 
and praying. Eighteen clergymen of the 
Established Church, and seven or eight Non- 
conformist ministers, besides taking their share 
in the toils of the siege, collected the people at 
stated intervals in the cathedral, the Anglican 
liturgy being used in the morning, and the 
simpler service of the Dissenters in the 
afternoon. The cathedral, however, was not 
only a place of worship, but a military posi- 
tion. Cannon were planted on the summit 



i689] SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY 153 

of its tower, and gunpowder stored in its 
vaults. 

James and his generals were perplexed by a 
defence which was conducted in defiance, as it 
seemed, of all the ordinary rules of war. When 
the inhabitants refused to surrender, and would 
have none of his promises or conditions, he 
hastily returned to Dublin, angry and confused, 
entrusting the conduct of the siege to Maumont, 
a French general — Richard Hamilton being 
second in command. The operations then 
began in earnest. For several days the town 
was battered by heavy ordnance. ' It was soon 
on fire in several places. Roofs and upper 
storejTS of houses fell in and crushed the 
inmates. During a short time, the garrison, 
many of whom had never before seen the effect 
of a cannonade, seemed to be discomposed 
by the crash of chimneys, and by the heaps of 
ruin mingled with disfigured corpses. But 
familiarity with danger and horror produced 
in a few hours the natural effect. The spirit 
of the people rose so high that their chiefs 
thought it safe to act on the offensive. On the 
2ist of April, a sally was made under the 
command of Murray. The Irish stood their 
ground resolutely, and a furious and bloody 
contest took place. Maumont, at the head of 
a body of cavalry, flew to the place where the 
fight was raging. He was struck in the head 
by a musket ball, and fell a corpse. The 
besiegers lost several other officers and about 
two hundred men before the colonists could be 
driven in. Murray escaped with difficulty. 



154 IRELAND [1689 

His horse was killed under him ; he was beset 
by enemies ; but he was able to defend himself 
till some of his friends made a rush from the 
gate to his rescue, with old Walker at their 
head'i 

May came and went. June came, and still 
Londonderry was unconquered. Nor was there 
any slackening of the defence in vigour and 
bravery of spirit. In the sallies and skirmishes 
which rapidly succeeded one another, the 
advantage, on the whole, was with the besieged. 
They had captured numerous prisoners, and 
two French banners, which hung as trophies 
in the chancel of the cathedral. The besiegers 
were amazed at their persistency; it seemed 
that the siege * must be turned into a blockade.' 
But before adopting this slow operation, they 
resolved on a final effort to carry the town by 
assault. The point of attack selected was an 
outwork called Windmill Hill, near the southern 
gate. Every effort was made to inflame the 
ardour of the forlorn hope, which was led by 
Captain Butler, son of the Lord Mountgarret. 

On the walls, the colonists were drawn up in 
three ranks. The duty of those in the rear was 
to load the muskets of those in front, and to 
take their places when they fell. Boldly, and 
with a terrible clamour, the Irish advanced; 
but after a stem and prolonged contest were 
driven back. Amidst the thickest fire might 
be seen the women of Londonderry, serving 
out water and ammunition to their brothers 

^ Macaulay. 



1689] SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY 1$$ 

and husbands. In one place, where the crumbl- 
ing battlements were only seven feet high, 
Butler and some of his men reached the top ; 
but they were all killed or made prisoners. At 
length, after 400 of the Irish had fellen, the 
retreat was sounded. 

Then the blockade began, and the enemy 
spared no exertions to render it complete. AU 
the approaches to the city by land were closely 
guarded ; north and south, east and west, were 
extended the long lines of the Irish army. The 
river banks brisSed with forts and batteries; 
and still further, to render impossible the water 
passage, a great barricade was constructed 
across the river about a mile and a half below 
the city. 'Several boats full of stones were 
sunk;^ a row of stakes was driven into the 
bottom of the river; large pieces of fir-wood, 
strongly bound together, formed a boom which 
was more than a quarter of a mile in length, 
which was fastened to both shores by cables 
a foot thick.' 

The sufferings of the besieged were now 
severe. Their supplies of provisions had long 
been exhausted, and they were driven to have 
recourse to the most nauseous and loathsome 
substitutes for food. Famine is generally 
accompanied by her fell sister, pestilence, and 
the ranks of the defenders were rapidly thinned 
by an epidemic fever. Yet there was no com- 
plaining heard in the streets. The parent shed 
no tears over the child smitten by the plague, 

^ Macaulay. 



156 IRELAND [1689 

whose young life was exhausted by prolonged 
want ; the husband returning from the walls to 
his fasting wife was encouraged to perseverance 
by her dying accents ; youth and old age, men 
and women, endured their privations with calm 
composure and silent heroism : every day they 
sought refreshment within the walls of the 
cathedral, and in the consolations of prayers 
and praise forgot their pain, or derived new 
strength with which to support it. On the 15th 
of June they were gladdened by a sudden gleam 
of hope. The sentinels on the cathedral towers 
saw a fleet of thirty sail in the .beautiful waters 
of Lough Foyle. * Signals were made from the 
steeples and returned from the mastheads, but 
were imperfectly understood on both sides. 
At last a messenger from the fleet eluded the 
Irish sentinels, dived under the boom, and 
informed the garrison that ELirke had arrived 
from England with troops, arms, ammunition 
and provisions to relieve the city. In London- 
derry expectation was at the height ; but a few 
hours of feverish joy were followed by weeks 
of misery. Kirke thought it unsafe to make 
any attempt, either by land or by water, on 
the lines of the besiegers, and retired to the 
entrance of Lough Foyle, where, during several 
weeks, he lay inactive.' 

The conduct of the siege was now entrusted 
to the French general Rosen, who pressed for- 
ward the operations with new vigour. He 
attempted to undermine the walls; but the 
besieged discovered his plan, and after a sharp 
flght, in which he lost a hundred of his men. 



i689] SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY 157 

compelled him to abandon it. This repulse, 
inflicted on a victorious soldier, a marshal of 
France, trained in all the practices of scientific 
war, roused his fiercest indignation, and he 
resolved upon an expedient, not less horrible in 
its atrocity than, from a military point of view, 
it was useless. He collected from the sur- 
rounding country all the Protestants, old men, 
women and children who had lingered by their 
familiar hearths, and at the point of the 
bayonet drove them to the gates of the city 
(July 2d). It was supposed that a sight so 
pitiful would overcome the resolution of the 
defenders; but, in truth, it stimulated them 
to greater exertions. They issued an order 
that no man should utter the word * Surrender' 
on pain of death. They held in their hands 
several prisoners of high rank, who had 
hitherto been treated kindly. A gallows was 
erected on one of the bastions, and a message 
sent to Rosen, requesting him to send a con- 
fessor instantly to prepare his friends for death. 
*The prisoners in great dismay wrote to the 
savage Livonian, but received no answer. They 
then addressed themselves to their countryman, 
Richard Hamilton. They were willing, they 
said, to shed their blood for their king; but 
they thought it hard to die the ignominious 
death of thieves in consequence of the bar- 
barity of their own companions-in-arms. . . . 
Hamilton was disgusted by the inhumanity 
of Rosen, but being only second in com- 
mand, could not venture to express publicly all 
that he thought He, however, remonstrated 



IS8 IRELAND [1689 

Strongly. Some Irish officers felt on this 
occasion, as it was natural that brave men 
should feel, and declared, weeping with pity 
and indignation, that they shoi:dd never cease 
to have in their ears the cries of the poor 
women and children who had been driven 
at the point of the pike to die of famine 
between the camp and the city. Rosen per> 
sisted during forty-eight hours. In that time 
many unhappy creatures perished; but Lon- 
donderry held out as resolutely as ever, and 
he saw that his crime was likely to produce 
nothing but hatred and obloquy. He at 
length gave way, and suffered the survivors 
to withdraw. The garrison then took down 
the gallows which had been erected on the 
bastion.' 

As the month wore on, the sufferings of 
the besieged necessarily increased. Their 
numbers were being rapidly reduced by the 
ravages of famine and disease. The fighting 
men were so exhausted by the labour of repair- 
ing the breaches and repelling the attacks of 
the enemy, that they could scarcely keep 
their feet. They fell sometimes unwounded 
by shot and shell, but from absolute weakness. 
The grain that remained was so small in 
quantity that it was doled out in mouthfiils; 
and the defenders existed chiefly upon salted 
hides, or on the rats that came to devour 
the bodies of the unburied dead. Dogs 
were luxuries within the reach of few. Even 
in these dire circumstances the spirit of the 
garrison showed no abatement. There were 



i689l SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY 159 

a few traitors, but they plotted secretly; it 
would not have been safe for them to speak 
of surrender in public. Some of the stouter 
hearts did not hesitate to say: — 'First the 
horses and hides, and then the prisoners, and 
then each other.' *It was afterwards related, 
half in jest yet not without a horrible mixture 
of earnest, that a corpulent citizen, whose 
bulk presented a strange contrast to the 
skeletons which surrounded him, thought it 
expedient to conceal himself from the numer- 
ous eyes which followed him with cannibal 
looks whenever he appeared in the streets. 
But the end was now near.' 

Among the merchant ships which had 
come to Lough Foyle under ICirke's convoy 
was one called the Mountjoy. The master, 
Micaiah Browning, a native of Londonderry, 
had brought from England a large cargo 
of provisions. He had, it is said, repeatedly 
remonstrated against the inaction of the arma- 
ment. He now eagerly volunteered to take 
the first risk of succouring his fellow-citizens, 
and his offer was accepted. Andrew Douglas, 
master of the Fhosnix, who had on board 
a great quantity of meal from Scotland, was 
willing to share the danger and the honour. 
The two merchantmen were to be escorted 
by the Dartmouth, a frigate of thirty-six guns, 
commanded by Captain John Leake, after- 
wards an admiral of great fame. 

* It was the thirtieth of July. The sun had 
just set ; the evening service in the cathedral 
was over; and the heart-broken congregation 



l6o IRELAND [1689 

had separated, when the sentinels on the 
towers saw the sails of three vessels coming 
up the Foyle. Soon there was a stir in the 
Irish camp. The besiegers were on the alert 
for miles along both shores. The ships were 
in extreme peril; for the river was low; and 
the only navigable channel ran very near to 
the left bank, where the headquarters of the 
enemy had been fixed, and where the batteries 
were most numerous. Leake performed his 
duty with a skill and spirit worthy of his noble 
profession, exposed his frigate to cover the 
merchantmen, and used his guns with great 
effect. At length the little squadron came to 
the place of peril. Then the Mountjqy took 
the lead and went right at the boom. The 
huge barricade cracked and gave way ; but the 
shock was such that the Mauntjoy rebounded 
and stuck in the mud. A yell of triumph 
rose from the banks; the Irish rushed to 
their boats and were preparing to board; 
but the Dartmouth poured on diem a well- 
directed broadside, which threw them into 
disorder. Just then the Phtznix dashed at 
the breach which the Mauntjoy had made, 
and was in a moment within the fence. Mean- 
time the tide was rising fast. The Mountjqy 
began to move, and soon passed safe through 
the broken stakes and floating spars. But her 
brave master was no more. A shot from 
one of the batteries had struck him, and he 
died by the most enviable of all deaths, in 
sight of the city which was his birthplace, 
which was his home, and which had just 



i689] SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY i6i 

been saved by his courage and self^levotion 
from the most frightful form of destruction. 
The night had dos^ in before the conflict at 
the boom b^an, but the flash of the guns 
was seen and the noise heard by the lean 
and ghastly multitude which covered the 
walls of the city. When the Mounijay 
grounded, and when the shout of triumph 
rose from the Irish on both sides of die 
river, the hearts of the besieged died within 
them. One who endured the unutterable 
anguish of that moment has told us that 
they looked fearfully Hvid in each other's 
eyes. Even after the barricade had been 
passed, there was a terrible half-hour of sus- 
pense. It was ten o'clock before the ships 
arrived at the quay. The whole population 
was there to welcome them. A screen made 
of casks filled with earth was hastily thrown 
up to protect the landing-place from the 
Ixitteries on the other side of the river, and 
then the work of unloading began. First 
were rolled on shore barrels containing six 
thousand bushels of meal. Then came great 
cheeses, casks of beef, flitches of bacon, kegs 
of butter, sacks of peas and biscuits, ankers 
of brandy. Not many hours before, half a 
pound of tallow and three-quarters of a pound 
of salted hide had been weighed out with 
niggardly care to every fighting man. The 
ration which each now received was three 
pounds of flour, two pounds of beef, and a 
pint of peas. It is easy to imagine with what 
tears grace was said over the suppers of that 



Ida IRELAND [16S9 

evening. There was little sleep on either 
side of the wall. The bonfires shone bright 
along the whole circuit of the ramparts. The 
Irish guns continued to roar all night; and 
all night the bells of the rescued city made 
answer to the Irish guns with a peal of joyous 
defiance. Through the whole of the thirty-first 
July the batteries of the enemy continued to 
play. But, soon after the sun had again gone 
down, flames were seen arising from the camp ; 
and when the first of August dawned, a line 
of smoking ruins marked the site lately occu- 
pied by the huts of the besiegers; and the 
citizens saw, far off, the long columns of pikes 
and standards retreating up the left bank of 
the Foyle towards Strabane.'^ 

Such was the end of the memorable siege 
of Londonderry. The English Protestant 
colonists bad fought bravely for their re- 
ligion and mother country, and fortune had 
crowned their efforts with signal success. On 
the day of the relief of Londonderry, tJie 
colonists of Enniskillen also gained a brilliant 
victory. Sallying from the town, they attacked 
the Irish at Newtown Butler, and completely 
defeated them. Thus was Ulster held for 
England. 

William now sent more reinforcements to 
Ireland. In August 1689 an army of about 
10,000 men, under the Duke of Schomberg — 
reputed to be one of the most skilful captains 
of his time — landed in Bangor Bay. The 

^ Macaulay. 



i689] SCHOMBERG 163 

duke led his troops at once against Carrick- 
fergus, and after a sharp struggle succeeded in 
capturing it. With the Enniskillens, a body of 
volunteers more conspicuous for bravery than 
discipline, he advanced along the coast as hx 
as Dundalk, where lack of supplies compelled 
him to halt and entrench himself. James's 
army of about 26,000 men drew near, but 
Schomberg did not accept battle. The Irish 
paraded before him in order of batde, with 
banners flying and trumpets sounding defiance ; 
his own soldiers burned to cross swords with 
the foe, but Schomberg was not to be moved, 
and set to work very vigorously to drill and 
train the recruits who formed so large a part 
of his force. But insufficient provisions and 
malaria rapidly thinned his ranks, proving 
more destructive than even a disastrous 
defeat would have been. The number of 
the sick exceeded that of the healthy ; 
there were not enough of spare men to bury 
the dead, and the putrifyin^ bodies soon 
increased the fury of the pestilence. It was 
well that the arrival of some post regiments 
enabled Schomberg to recover bis camp, or 
he might have lost his army without losing 
a battle. He suffered greatly in the retreat, 
but arrived at length within the frontiers of 
Ulster, and fixed his headquarters at Lisbum. 
This ended a curiously abortive campaign, 
of which it was said, not without justice, that 
'Schomberg did nothing, and James helped 
him.' 

During the winter, Schomberg received 



i64 IRELAND [1689 

large supplies of stores and provisions, and 
made such considerable improvements that 
in the spring he was able to muster a force 
of 30,000 men. On the other side, James's 
army was strengthened by 7000 veteran 
French soldiers under the Count Lauzun. 
Perceiving the importance of bringing affairs 
in Ireland to a decisive issue, Wllliam him- 
self crossed St George's Channel, and landing 
at Carrickfergus on the 14th of June 1690, 
assumed the command in chief. There were 
now practically three contending forces in 
Ireland — the Williamites, who desired to rule 
the country in English Protestant interests ; 
the Jacobites, who desired to rule it in English 
Catholic interests ; and the Irish, who desired to 
be rid of both, but who were obliged to unite 
with the latter in order to overthrow what 
was the real English power in the island. The 
Williamites were, of course, represented by 
William, and the Jacobites by James. The 
Irish were represented by the brilliant and 
chivalrous soldier who now steps upon the 
scene. 



CHAPTER XVII 



SARSFIELD 




ATRICK SARSFIELD— whose 
family came to Ireland with the 
first Norman settlers — was born 
probably at Lucan, in County 
Dublin, about 1650. His 
ancestral estates had been for- 
feited by Cromwell, but were 
restored by Charles II. Young 
Sarsfield was educated at a French military 
school, and first served in the French army 
under Luxembourg. Subsequently, he served 
in the English army under Charles II. and 
James II. He fought against Monmouth at 
Sedgemoor in 1685, and was severely wounded. 
Throughout the reign of James he spent most 
of his time in England, and does not seem 
to have been actively employed. About 1688 
16S 



i66 IRELAND [1690 

his eldest brother died, and he succeeded to the 
family estates. Later on, when the revolution 
came, he remained faithful to James, and accom- 
panied that king first to France and afterwards 
to Ireland. He sat in the Irish parliament of 
1689, and helped Tyrconnell to organise the 
Irish army. He was, however, never in favour 
with Tyrconnell or James, and received no 
command at the outbreak of the war, but 
after the defeat of Mountcashel at Newtown 
Butler, he was, at the instance of the French 
ambassador, made a brigadier-general and 
sent to Connaught with a 'handful of men' 
to hold that province. Sarsfield did his work 
well, taking possession of Sligo, Athlone and 
Galway, and expelling the English troops 
from the province. The French ambassador 
held Sarsfield in high esteem. He wrote in 
1689 to the French minister, Louvois, 'Sars- 
field is a man distinguished by his merit, who 
has more influence in this kingdom than any 
man I know. He has valour, but, above aU, 
honour and probity which are proof against 
any assault. . . . Sarsfield will, I believe, be 
extremely useful, as he is a man who will 
always be at the head of his troops, and will 
take great care of them. ... He is a good 
commander.* 

On hearing of William's arrival, James held 
a council of war, and finally resolved to check 
William's advance on the banks of the Boyne. 
Hither Sarsfield was summoned in June 1690, 
and on ist July the first great pitched battle 
of the campaign was fought The Irish 



1690] THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE 167 

army, numbering some 30,000 men (less 
than a third of which were French), was 
drawn up on the right bank of the river, 
under the command of a French general, 
Marshal Lauzun. William's forces, consisting 
of Dutch, French Huguenots and English, 
stood on a rising ground on the left. ' Beneath 
lay a valley, now so rich and so cheerful that 
the Englishman who gazes on it may imagine 
himself to be in one of the most highly favoured 
parts of his own highly favoured country. 
Fields of wheat, woodlands, meadows bright 
with daisies and clover, slope gently down to 
the edge of the Boyne. That bright and 
tranquil stream, the boundary of Louth and 
Meath, having flowed many miles between 
verdant banks crowned by modem palaces, 
and by the ruined keeps of old Norman barons 
of the Pale, is here about to mingle with the 
sea. Five miles to the west of the place from 
which William looked down on the river, now 
stands, on a verdant bank amidst noble woods, 
Slane Castle, the mansion of the Marquess 
of Conyngham. Two miles to the east a 
cloud of smoke from factories and steam 
vessels overhangs the busy town and port of 
Drogheda. On the Meath side of the Boyne, 
the ground, still all com, grass, flowers and 
foliage, rises with a gentle swell to an eminence 
surmounted by a conspicuous tuft of ash trees 
which overshades the ruined church and 
desolate graveyard of Donore.'^ 

^ Macaulay. 



i68 IRELAND [1690 

The Irish commanded three chief positions 
— Slane, some miles up the river, on the left ; 
Oldbridge, lower down, on the right; and the 
hill of Donore behind Oldbridge. At Slane, 
the Boyne, winding southwards, intersects the 
County Meath, Slane itself being in Meath, but 
on the left bank of the river, nearer LiOuth, 
and joined to the right bank by a bridge. At 
Oldbridge (also in Meath, but on the right 
bank of the river), the Boyne was fordable. 
Donore covered Oldbridge, and was a strong 
position. There the French regiments and 
Sarsfield's horse (the picked forces in the 
Irish army) were posted immediately under 
the eye of Lauzun. William began the 
battle early in the morning by ordering his 
right wing, under young Schomberg, to seize 
the bridge of Slane, cross it, and turn the left 
flank of the Irish army — an admirable 
manoeuvre suggested by old Schomberg. 

Lauzun, anticipating this move, had sent a 
regiment of Irish dragoons, under Sir Neil 
O'Neil, to defend the bridge. Young Schom- 
berg dashed forward gallantly, but was met with 
eqiial gallantry by Sir Neil O'Neil. A sharp 
struggle ensued, but O'Neil was killed at the 
outset; his men were thrown into confusion, 
Schomberg seized the bridge and crossed it 
triumphantly. Lauzun, seeing this, immediately 
ordered the French regiments and Sarsfield's 
horse to advance in the direction of Slane, and 
hold Schomberg and the English right in check. 
This manoeuvre was promptly carried out, and 
Schomberg was prevented from pushing forward 



1690] THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE 169 

beyond the Bridge of Slane. The left flank of 
the Irish army was saved : William's first move 
was checkmated. 

The English king then (about 10 a.m.) 
ordered his left wing to move forward and cross 
the river at Oldbridge. Here they were con- 
fronted (i) by the Irish infantry under Tyr- 
connell — an utterly incompetent commander 
— (2) by the Irish horse under Hamilton — a 
gallant and skilful officer. 

William's veterans — English, Dutch, Danes, 
French Huguenots — ^plunged into the stream, 
and reached the middle without any oppo- 
sition; then the Irish infantry, ill-trained, ill- 
equipped, ill-led, rushed forward to meet them ; 
but out-numbered, out-disciplined, out-generaled, 
they broke and fled under the heavy onset of 
some of the best troops in Europe. *Tyr- 
connell,' as Macaulay truly says, ' looked on in 
helpless despair. He did not want personal 
courage, but his military skill was so small 
that he hardly ever reviewed his regiment in 
the Phoenix Park without committing some 
blunder ; and to rally his ranks which were break- 
ing all round him was no task for a general 
who had survived the energy of his body and 
of his mind, and yet had still the rudiments of 
his profession to learn.' But, happily for the 
military reputation of Ireland that day, Tyr- 
connell did not stand alone. As the infantry, 
demoralised by his commands, and confused 
by his orders, broke and fled in all directions, 
Hamilton placed himself at the head of the 
horse, and dashed into the river to dispute its 



170 IRELAND [1690 

passage with the enemy. Then came all the 
fighting that was done at the battle of the 
Boyne. The 'Irish horse/ says Macaulay, 
'maintained a desperate fight in the bed of 
the river with Solmes' Blues. They drove the 
Danish brigade back into the stream. They 
fell impetuously on the Huguenot regiments, 
which, not being provided with pikes, then 
ordinarily used by foot to repel horse, began 
to give ground. Caillemot (their leader), while 
encouraging his fellow exiles, received a mortal 
wound in the thigh. . . . Schomberg, who had 
remained on the northern bank, and who had 
thence watched the progress of his troops with 
the eye of a general, now thought that the 
emergency required from him the personal ex- 
ertion of a soldier. . . . Without defensive 
armour, he rode through the river and rallied 
the [Huguenots] whom the fall of Caillemot 
had dismayed.' But in the midst of his gallant 
efforts he fell. The Huguenots rallied once 
more under the impetuous charge of the Irish, 
and the battle continued to rage fast and furious 
all around. 

'Old soldiers were heard to say that they 
had seldom seen sharper work in the Low 
Countries.' At this juncture William came up 
with reinforcements, and his presence inspired 
his men to renewed efforts. Still Hamilton 
held his ground bravely. The Enniskillens 
were sent against him, but he swept them 
instantly from his path. William tried to 
rally them, but in vain — they tiuned and fled. 
Then the English king, placing himself at the 



1690] THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE 171 

head of his own fellow-countrymen — a com- 
pany of Dutch dragoons — furiously charged the 
Irish. This was the final struggle. LdEt with- 
out reinforcements, abandoned by Lauzun and 
James, and overwhelmed on all sides by the 
rapidly increasing English regiments, Hamilton 
was borne down and taken prisoner. Still the 
Irish horse fought on. ' Is this business over, 
or will your horse make more fight?' said 
William to Hamilton, when the Irish com- 
mander was brought into his presence. *0n 
my honour, sir,' said Hamilton, * I believe they 
w5l.' But the Irish horse were at length 
beaten. * Whole troops,' says Macaulay, *had 
been cut to pieces. One fine regiment had 
only thirty unwounded men left. It was enough 
that these gallant soldiers had disputed the 
field till they were left without support, or 
hope, or guidance, till their bravest leader was 
a captive, and till their king had fled.' 

The battle was now over, and the Irish army, 
retreating in good order, fell back on Dublin, 
and finally on Limerick. James had fled 
early in the day, taking Sarsfield's horse with 
him as a body-guard, and did not draw rein 
until he reached Dublin Castle. There, as the 
story goes, he was met by Lady Tyrconnell. 
He threw all the blame on the Irish. *The 
Irish ran away,' he said. * Your majesty,' said 
Lady Tyrconnell, * seems to have won the race.' 
The fact was, the Irish were fighting whilst 
James was running. In his early career 
James appears to have had the reputation of 
a brave man; but to have left the Boyne at 



172 IRELAND [1690 

the crisis of the battle, and to have withdrawn 
Sarsfield*s horse for his own protection, thus 
depriving the Irish army, in the hour of its need, 
of its ablest commander and of one of its 
choicest regiments, was the act of a poltroon 
and a coward. Early in July this 'king of 
shreds and patches' retired to France, to the 
immense joy of everyone. William, to use his 
own words, did not let the 'grass grow under 
his feet' after the battle of the Boyne. He 
pushed forward rapidly to Dublin, and thence 
— the garrisons on the way having fallen into 
his hands — to Limerick, where the whole 
Irish army was now gathered under Lauzun, 
Boisseleau, Tyrconnell and Sarsfield. 

On his approach, a council of war was 
called. Lauzun declared at once that Limerick 
could not be defended. * It is unnecessary,' he 
said contemptuously, *for the English to bring 
cannon against such a place. What you call 
your ramparts might be battered down with 
roasted apples ! ' Tyrconnell shared Lauzun's 
view. But Sarsfield said the town could be 
defended and should be defended. The ram- 
parts might be contemptible, but the men 
who stood behind them were not. He knew 
his fellow-countrymen, and he felt that, ramparts 
or no ramparts, they would give a good account 
of themselves, and of the enemy. At all events, 
honour bade him stay, and stay he would. 

Boisseleau gallantly supported the brave 
Irishman. But Lauzun and Tyrconnell would 
not give way. A compromise was at length 
agreed on. Lauzun and Tyrconnell, with the 



1690] FIRST SIEGE OF UBfERICK I73 

French troops^ might retire to Galway. Sars- 
field and Boissdeau would remain with the 
Irish r^^ents and defend the town. 

Then Tiaiiziin, Tyrconnell, and the French 
departed. Sarsfidd, Boissdeau, and the Irish 
hdd their ground Thus 'was Limerick, in 
August 1690, put in the position in which 
Londonderry had been placed in April 1689 
The English colonists had gathered to the one 
city to make a last stand. The Irish now 
gaUiered to the other for the same heroic 
purpose. Lundy and the English officers had 
declared that Londonderry could not be 
defended, and withdrew with the English 
regiments which were on board ship in the 
harbour. Lauzun declared that Limerick could 
not be defended, and marched off with his 
French troops. What Londonderry did when 
abandoned by those whose duty it was to stand 
in the breach, we have seen. What Limerick 
did when left to its fate, we have now 
to see. Boissdeau, an experienced engineer 
officer, was at once chosen governor of the town. 
Sarsfield held his old position — commander 
of the horse. Boisseleau set energetically to 
work to strengthen the fortifications. Sarsfield 
placed the troops and guarded the outposts. 

On August 9, William sat down before the 
town with an army of 28,000 men. The de- 
fenders numbered an effective force of 10,000 
infantry and 4000 horse. William at once 
sent a message to Boisseleau to surrender. 
Boisseleau sent back a courteous reply. 
*Tell the English king,' he said, 'that I 



174 IRELAND [1^90 

hope I shall merit his opinion more by a 
vigorous defence than by a shameful sur*^ 
render of a fortress which has been entrusted 
to me.' William was not prepared for this 
reply. He had heard that Lauzun and the 
French had departed. He did not believe 
that the town, thus abandoned, would attempt 
to hold out. He was resolved to await the 
arrival of a siege train, which was coming up 
from Waterford, with guns, ammunition and 
stores. On August 11 this siege train arrived 
at the little village of Ballyneety, within ten 
miles of William's camp. 

The day before the news of its approach had 
reached Limerick. Sarsfield saw at a glance 
that the fate of the town might depend on the 
arrival of the siege train, and he resolved that 
arrive it never should. On the night of August 
10, he issued from the city, with a force of 500 
horse, and under the direction of a faithful 
guide, moved, by a circuitous route, in the 
direction of Ballyneety, whither he had learned 
the convoy, guarding the siege train, were 
bending their way. During the day of the i ith, 
he remained concealed in the Keeper Moun- 
tain. In the evening, the seige train arrived 
at Ball^eety. That night, Sarsfield resolved 
to surprise the convoy and destroy the train. 
His first step was to learn the password of 
the enemy. Here fortune favoured him. The 
wife of a soldier attached to the convoy had 
lagged behind in the march. One of Sars- 
field's troopers came up with her, and was 
struck by her forlorn position, friendless, 



1690] FIRST SIEGE OF LIMERICK 175 

tired, deserted. He dismounted and placed 
her on his horse. He learned who she was, 
and she told him that the password of the 
convoy was *Sarsfield.' At two o'clock on 
the morning of the 12th, Sarsfield's horse 
approached the lines of the enemy. The 
English sentinels challenged, and the pass- 
word was given — * Sarsfield.' The Irish horse 
passed on, and drawing nearer, and nearer, until 
at length they came within striking distance of 
the foe. 

The sentinels again challenged, when the 
leader of the foremost troop, placing himself 
at the head of his men, and drawing his sword, 
answered * Sarsfield,— Sarsfield is the word, 
and Sarsfield is the man.' The Irish horse 
charged, the English outposts were driven in, 
the camp was surprised ; 60 Englishmen were 
killed, one officer was taken prisoner, the 
rest fled, leaving waggons, guns, ammunition, 
stores, all behind. Then * the victorious Irish 
made a huge pile of waggons and pieces 
of cannon. Every gun was stuffed with 
powder, and fixed with its mouth in the ground, 
and the whole mass was blown up.' The 
solitary prisoner was treated with great civility 
by Sarsfield. * If I had failed in this attempt,' 
said the Irish general, ' I should have been off 
to France.' Intelligence had been carried to 
William's headquarters that Sarsfield had stolen 
out of Limerick, and was ranging the country. 
*The king guessed the design of his brave 
enemy, and sent 500 horse to protect the guns. 
... At one in the morning the detachment 



176 IRELAND [1690 

set out, but had scarcely left, when a blaze like 
lightning, and a crash like thunder, announced 
to the wide plain of the Shannon that all was 
over. 

' Sarsfield had long been the favourite of his 
countrymen, and this most seasonable exploit, 
judiciously planned and vigorously executed, 
raised him still higher in their estimation. 
Their spirits rose, and the besiegers began to 
lose heart. William did his best to repair his 
loss. Two of the guns which had been blown 
up were found to be still serviceable. Two 
more were sent for from Waterford. Batteries 
were constructed of small field pieces, which, 
though they might have been useless against 
one of the fortresses of Hainault or Brabant, 
made some impression on the feeble defences 
of Limerick. Several outworks were carried by 
storm, and a breach in the rampart of the city 
began to appear.*^ 

On the 27th August William ordered an 
assault on the city. At three o'clock in the 
afternoon the storming party advanced. 

The grenadiers led the way. Firing their 
matchlocks and throwing their grenades, they 
sprang into the breach. The defenders, con- 
fused and dismayed by the explosion of the 
grenades — 3, new experience to them — gave 
way all along the line and fell back rapidly. 
On came the English, flushed by success, and 
accustomed to victory, and back went the 
Trish before them. Within a short distance of 

^ Macaulay. 



1690] FIRST SIEGE OF LIMERICK 177 

the breach they rallied and faced the foe, but 
the charge of the assailants was irresistible and 
bore down all opposition. The English had 
now penetrated well into the town, and their 
victory seemed assured. But the Irish, driven 
to bay, rallied once more, and this time made 
a determined stand. A fierce hand-to-hand 
street fight, which lasted for four hours, now 
began. The citizens of Limerick joined the 
soldiers, and, seizing whatever weapons lay 
ready to their hands, rushed into the fray. The 
very women mingled in the contest, flinging 
stones, bottles and other missiles at the assail- 
ants, and being, as the Williamite historian who 
was at the siege, says, * nearer to our men than 
their own.' Hour after hour passed, but still 
the fight went on. Backwards and forwards, 
to and fro, the surging mass of combatants 
swayed, till, towards sunset, the English 
slowly and sullenly, but steadly and surely, 
commenced to give way. A splendid German 
regiment, the Brandenburgers, had entered 
the town, and were working around to the rear 
of the Irish, when a mine exploded beneath 
their feet and blew them into the air. Then 
amid the ruin and carnage the Irish redoubled 
their efforts and beat the English back to the 
breach. There the enemy made a last stand, 
but in vain. They were hurled from the city, 
and driven pell-mell to their entrenchments. 
William, who had witnessed the fight from an 
old ruin called Cromwell's Fort, now saw his 
retreating army flying from the victorious Irish. 
He quickly hastened to his tent and summoned 



178 IRELAND [1691 

a council of war. But it was decided that the 
attack should not be renewed. A few days 
afterwards William sailed for England, leaving 
General Ginkel in command of the army, and 
on 31st August General Ginkel mardhed away 
from Limerick. About the same time Lauzun 
and Tyrconnell retired to France, while Sars- 
field and Boisseleau remained among the 
people whom they had so well and gloriously 
defended. 

In September a fresh force was sent from 
England under John Churchill, afterwards 
Duke of Marlborough. Churchill captured 
Cork and Kinsale, but did not march on 
Limerick, and so the campaign of 1690 
ended. 

On the opening of the new year the contend- 
ing parties stood thus : the English held the 
whole of Ulster, the greater part of Leinster, 
and about one-third of Munster; the Irish, 
the whole of Connaught, the greater part ot 
Munster, and two or three counties in 
Leinster. 

In January 1691, Tyrconnell, unfortunately, 
returned. He came with plenary powers from 
James, who was at the Court of France. He 
was lord-lieutenant, and as such head of the 
state. He was not nominally commander-in- 
chief of the forces ; but he considered him- 
self, nevertheless, entitled to interfere in the 
management of the campaign. No greater 
calamity could have befallen the Irish cause 
than the return of Tyrconnell with these 
powers. He was feeble in mind and body, 



1691] THE NEW CAMPAIGN 179 

the mere partisan of a worthless king, and 
utterly incapable of guiding the destinies of 
any country. 

In May two French generals arrived — St 
Ruth and D'Usson. St Ruth was made com- 
mander-in-chief, and D'Usson appointed 
second in command. Those two generals 
represented the interests of the French king. 
They came to crush his great rival, William 
III. As for Ireland, save as a means of 
carrying out their master's policy, it was no- 
thing to them. 

In these distributions of favours the one 
man to whom Ireland was everything, the 
one man who had shown capacity and patriot- 
ism, was almost utterly ignored. Patrick Sars- 
field was left out in the cold; but he did 
not complain. He took command of his own 
troops in Connaught, served loyally under St 
Ruth, took part in no intrigues, held his 
tongue and fought for his country. Between 
Tyrconnell and St Ruth there was a bitter 
feud; they hated each other cordially. But 
on one point they agreed; they both hated 
Sarsfield. Thus, amid dissensions and rival- 
ries, plots, intrigues and cabals, the Irish 
army took the field. Far different was the 
state of affairs in the army of the enemy. 
Ginkel commanded, and under him served 
Mackay, Talmash and Ruvigny, and all 
worked together as one man. 

Towards the end of May the English army 
took the field, and Ginkel marched straight 
for Connaught He first attacked Ballymore, 



i8o IRELAND [1691 

and took it without difficulty. He then 
advanced on Athlone, and there the Irish 
were resolved to make a stand. 

Athlone is the border town between Leinster 
and Connaught It consists of two parts : 
one part called the English town in Leinster; 
the other called the Irish town in Connaught 
The Shannon runs between both, and both 
were connected by a bridge over the river. 
The fortifications of the English town were 
worthless ; but there was a castle in the Irish 
town, extending some two hundred feet along 
the river, and rising to a height of about 
seventy feet, and this stronghold admitted of 
a stout defence. 

On the 19th of June, Ginkel planted his 
cannon before the English town. St Ruth 
was then in Limerick. Sarsfield was stationed 
with his forces near Athlone, but awaiting 
orders from his chief, who ought to have 
been upon the spot The town was garrisoned 
by 600 men, under the command of a cap- 
able officer named Maxwell. 

At eight o'clock on the morning of the 20th, 
Ginkel opened fire on the English town. By 
twelve noon he had made a breach in the 
walls, and before evening the Irish were in 
fiiU retreat over the bridge (blowing up two 
of the arches) to the Irish town. That night 
St Ruth arrived from Limerick, and encamped 
on the Connaught side of the river. Next 
day he threw up entrenchments where the 
river was fordable, to prevent the English 
from crossing there. On the 2 2d, Ginkel 



1691] SIEGE OF ATHLONE i8i 

attacked the Irish town. After a fierce cannon- 
ade and a stout resistance, he succeeded in 
making a breach in the walls, but did not 
push his advantage further that day. On the 
23d he renewed the attack and battered 
down the castle ; but did not attempt to enter 
the town. On the 24th, he held a council 
of war. Two plans were open to him — ist, 
to ford the river and attack St Ruth; 2d, to 
force the bridge. After much deliberation, 
the second plan was ultimately adopted. On 
the morning of the 26th, the bridge was at- 
tacked. * By the 26th the fire from the English 
batteries, working day and night, had dnven 
the Irish fi"om their trenches by the river,' 
and 'also ruined most of the houses that 
were as yet left standing. Ginkel had just 
received thirty waggon-loads of powder and 
100 cart-loads of cannon-balls from Dublin, 
and was not sparing of either powder or shot' 

* The Irish worked splendidly to repair dam- 
ages, resolved at all costs to recover and 
maintain their position on the river bank. . . . 
This was done under a fire so furious that, to 
quote an eye-witness, **a cat could scarce 
appear without being knocked on the head 
by great or small shot. . . " All the 26th 
and 27 th a fierce fight for the bridge was 
maintained, the English endeavouring to re- 
pair the broken arches, the Irish obstinately 
striving to prevent this. After two days, little 
advantage had been gained by the English.' 

•What we got here,' Story admits, *was 
inch by inch, as it were, the enemy sticking 



i82 IRELAND [1691 

very close to it, though great numbers of them 
were slain by our guns. 

' One arch on their own side the English had 
succeeded in repairing, but they were unable 
to lay beams across that on the Connaught 
side until the Irish were forced to quit their 
breastwork, which was fired by a grenade, and, 
being constructed of fascines, extremely dry by 
reason of the hot weather, burnt furiously. 

' On Sunday morning, June 28th, the besieged 
were in a perilous case. Beams had been laid 
across the last broken arch, planks were being 
laid across the beams; and the Irish, driven 
from their last shelter, could do little to prevent 
this. The town was on the point of being 
entered. 

' But out of this peril came the most heroic 
action of the siege. A certain sergeant of 
Maxwell's dragoons, whose name as given in 
James's Memoirs was Custume, getting to- 
gether a party of ten other stout fellows, 
volunteered to pull up the planks laid down 
by the enemy. Donning their breast and back 
pieces, that they might as long as possible keep 
their lives, they rushed boldly out upon the 
bridge, drove back the carpenters, "and with 
a courage and strength beyond what men 
were thought capable of," say the Memoirs^ 
"began to pull up the planks, break down 
the beams, and fling them into the water. 
A tremendous fire from the whole English 
line was opened on them, and man after man 
fell, but plank after plank was torn up and 
hurled into the stream. Then the beams were 



i69i] SIEGE OF ATHLONE 183 

attacked with saw and axe, but the eleven were 
all killed before their task was finished. Then 
eleven more sprang out, and again the beams 
began to yield, though the men dropped one 
by one as before. Two got back alive to the 
town, the other nine were left dead on the 
bridge; but the last beam was floating down 
the uncrossable Shannon." ' ^ 

Ginkel was in despair at this defeat. On the 
30th June he summoned another council of war, 
and advised that the siege should be raised 
But Talmash and Ruvigny strongly opposed this 
view, urging that the worst thing that could 
befall them was retreat. They admitted the in- 
surmountable difficulties of crossing the bridge, 
but said that an attempt should be made to ford 
the river, and to this Ginkel finally agreed. 
Meanwhile there was much rejoicing, much 
carelessness, and much dissension in the Irish 
camp. St Ruth thought the fight was over. 
He sat down to write a vigorous letter to 
the French king denouncing Tyrconnell. Tyr- 
connell was in his tent fuming and raging at 
the arrogance of St Ruth. 

D'Usson was enjoying the pleasures of the 
table. Two men alone were doing their duty 
— Sarsfield and Maxwell. Maxwell warned 
St Ruth to be on his guard, and implored 
him to strengthen the defences of the town 
and the river. Sarsfield called on St Ruth 
and urged him to listen to the admonitions 
of Maxwell. But St Ruth treated both with 

> Dr Todhunter, Life of Sarsfield^ New Irsh Library. 



iS4 IRELAND [1691 

contempt, telling Maxwell that if he did not 
wish to defend the town any longer, another 
officer could be got to do it, and ordering 
Sarsfield to his quarters. But before many 
hours had passed, St Ruth was rudely awakened 
to his vain - glorious folly. At six o'clock in 
the evening, while the Irish camp was in 
a state of absolute repose and unsuspicion, 
the English forded the river and were upon 
the Connaught side before the Irish realised 
the disaster which threatened them. There 
was an alarm, a sudden rally, a stout resist- 
ance; but it was too late. The English had 
come at the right moment. The Irish were 
thoroughly unprepared and were utterly routed. 
Before morning dawned, St Ruth was in fuU 
retreat to Galway, and Ginkel was in posses- 
sion of Athlone. 

St Ruth now took up a strong position on 
the field of Aughrim, four miles south of 
Ballinasloe. Here Ginkel found him on i ith 
July, and resolved to give him battle the next 
day. 

Macaulay has described the battle naturally 
with English sympathies, but not without 
some appreciation of the valour of their 
enemies. 

* [The Irish army] was drawn up on the slope 
of a hill, which was almost surrounded by 
red bog. In front, near the edge of the 
morass, were some fences, out of which a 
breastwork was without difficulty con- 
structed. . . . 

* At five o'clock [on the evening of the 12th] 



i69i] THE BATTLE OF AUGHRIM 185 

the battle began. The English foot, in such 
order as they could keep on treacherous and 
uneven ground, made their way, sinking deep 
in mud at every step, to the Irish works. 
But these works were defended with a resolu- 
tion such as extorted some words of un- 
gracious eulogy, even from men who enter 
tained the strongest prejudices against the 
Celtic race. Again and again the assailants 
were driven back. Again and again they 
returned to the struggle; once they were 
broken and chased across the morass, but 
Talmash rallied them, and forced the pursuers 
to retire. 

'The fight had lasted two hours ; the evening 
was closing in, and still the advantage was 
on the side of the Irish. Ginkel began to 
meditate a retreat. The hopes of St Ruth 
rose high. " The day is ours, my boys ! " he 
cried, waving his 'hat in the air. "We will 
drive them before us to the walls of Dublin." 
But fortune was already on the turn. Mackay 
and Ruvigny, with the English and Huguenot 
cavalry, had succeeded in passing the bog at 
a place where two horsemen could scarcely 
ride abreast . . . soon hurdles were laid on 
the quagmire. A broader and safer path 
was formed, squadron after squadron reached 
firm ground. The flank of the Irish army 
was speedily turned. The French genersd 
was hastening to the rescue when a cannon 
ball carried off his head. Those who were 
about him thought that it would be dangerous 
to make his fate known. His corpse was 



i86 IRELAND [1691 

wrapped in a cloak, carried from the field, 
and laid, with all secrecy, in the sacred ground 
among the ruins of the ancient monastery of 
Loughrea. Till the fight was over, neither 
army was aware that he was no more. To 
conceal his death from the private soldiers 
might perhaps have been prudent; to conceal 
it from his lieutenants was madness. The 
crisis of the battle had arrived, and there was 
none to give direction. Sarsfield was in 
command of the reserve, but he had been 
strictly enjoined by St Ruth not to stir with- 
out orders, and no orders came. Mackay 
and Ruvigny, with their horse, charged the 
Irish in flank. Talmash and his foot returned 
to the attack in front with dogged determi- 
nation. The breastwork was carried. The 
Irish, still fighting, retreated from inclosure to 
inclosure, but as inclosure after inclosure was 
forced, their efforts became fainter and fainter. 
At length they broke and fled.' ^ 

Sarsfield now took command and conducted 
the retreat of the beaten army with courage 
and skill, falling back steadily on Limerick. 
Meanwhile, Ginkel pushed on vigorously, 
capturing Sligo and Galway, both of whidi 
towns capitulated on favourable terms, the 
garrisons being allowed to retire to Limerick. 
There Sarsfield once more resolved to make 
a last stand. 

On 14th August, Ginkel approached the 
city, and on the 30th the second siege 

^ Macaulay. 



1691] TREATY OF LIMERICK 187 

began. There was a gallant defence^ and 
there was much slaughter. The English 
artillery battered the fortifications and set the 
town in a blaze. But for four weeks the 
Irish held out bravely and kept the enemy 
at bay. But the English had conquered aU 
Ireland but Limerick. The struggle was 
hopeless. Sarsfield could not expect to win 
the independence of his country; but he 
was determined to fight or to die unless he 
could secure honourable terms for the van- 
quished nation ; and this he did. 

On 23d September a parley was sounded; 
terms of capitulation were immediately dis- 
cussed between the besiegers and the be- 
sieged, and on the 3d of October the Treaty 
of Limerick — ^whose violation has left so deep 
a stain on the honour of England — was 
signed. Stripped of all technicalities, the 
treaty secured the Irish Catholics in the full 
enjoyment of religious freedom on taking the 
oath of allegiance, and no other oath, to the 
English king. It provided, besides, that those 
who possessed lands in the reign of Charles 
II. should be left in undisturbed possession 
of their property. In a word, the treaty of 
of Limerick guaranteed the Irish against 
religious persecution and the confiscation of 
their estates. It was also part of the treaty 
that Sarsfield and the Irish troops should 
be permitted to retire to France, and thither 
they sailed before the end of the month. 

On the 4th of October, Talmash, with five 
British regiments, occupied the English town 



i88 IRELAND [1691 

of Limerick; and on the following day the 
Irish army was paraded on the King's Island, 
in order that they might decide between the 
service of England and France. Ginkel and 
Sarsfield each issued a proclamation; the 
former warmly recommending the service of 
King William, the latter the service of King 
Louis. On the 6th the army was again 
paraded, and it was agreed that a flag should 
be fixed at a given point, and that all who 
chose for England should file off to the left, 
while those who were for France should march 
on. The sun shone brightly on this strange, un- 
wonted spectacle. Mass was said, and Catholic 
priests preached a sermon at the head of 
each regiment, while Catholic prelates passed 
through the lines and blessed the troops. 
The lord justices and Ginkel were then in- 
formed that all was ready. As the British 
cortkge advanced, the Irish army, 15,000 
strong, presented arms. Adjutant - General 
Withers then addressed them in eloquent 
commendation of the English service, after 
which the regiments formed into column, and 
the word * March ' was given. 

The citizens of Limerick crowded the walls ; 
the peasantry gathered in masses on the neigh- 
bouring hills, and it can well be imagined how, 
when the decisive word was uttered, the 
deepest silence prevailed around, and not a 
sound was heard but the heavy tread of the 
advancing battalions. First came the picked 
soldiers of the Irish guard, 1400 in number, 
who excited, it is said, Ginkel's warmest 



DEATH OF SARSFIELD 189 



admiration. They marched past the 
and only seven ranged themselves on the side 
of England. The next two regiments were 
the Ulster Irish, and these in a body filed 
off to the English side. Of the remainder the 
great majority decided for France, so that when 
the long procession closed, only about 1000 
horse and 1500 foot had joined the English 
flag. 

The rest of Sarsfield's days were spent in 
the service of the French king, but he did not 
long survive the do?nifall of his country. In 
July 1693, ^" ^^^ bloody field of Landeiiy 
he was struck down in the moment of victory, 
charging the retreating army of England. 

The story of the men who rallied round 
Sarsfield in the struggle for Irish independence 
belongs rather to French than to Irish history. 
Forming that famous Irish Brigade, which first 
won its laurels at the battle of Marsiglia, and 
afterwards bore them so proudly on many a 
bloody field — Malplaquet, Blenheim, Ramillies, 
Oudenarde, Cremona, Almanza and Fontenoy 
— they nobly sustained the national honour, 
and shed a lustre of melancholy glory on the 
chequered fortunes of their unhappy country; 
bequeathing to posterity a splendid reputation 
and an imperishable name. 



CHAPTER XVIII 



DARK DAYS 




"|ND now the iron of the con- 
queror entered once more into 
the soul of the vanquished 
nation. The Treaty of Limer- 
ick had, as we have seen, 
guaranteed the Irish against re- 
ligious persecution. But within 
two months of its signature, 
and in flagrant violation of its terms, the first 
step was taken in forming that infamous Penal 
Code on which Englishmen now look back 
with so much shame and humiliation. 

The very first article of the treaty had 
provided that * Their majesties, William and 
Mary, as soon as their affairs will permit 
them to summon a parliament in this 
kingdom, will endeavour to procure the 
190 



1691-1698] PENAL CODE 191 

said ^Roman Catholics such further security, 
in the exercise of their religion, as may 
preserve them from any disturbance on 
account of their said religion.' Yet before 
William had ceased, to reign, the founda- 
tion of the Penal Code was laid deep and 
wide. 

1691. — Catholics were excluded from parlia- 
ment, and prevented from holding any office, 
civil, military or ecclesiastical, or from prac- 
tising law or medicine in Ireland. 

1695-1696. — Catholics were prohibited, under 
heavy penalties, from teaching in a school or 
in a private family. 

Catholic parents were forbidden, under the 
risk of losing all their property, to send their 
children abroad to be educated. 

No Catholic could bear arms; no Catholic 
could keep a horse above the value of £$ ; 
no Catholic could be a guardian, an executor 
or administrator, or could take the benefit 
of any legacy or deed of gift. 

1697-1698. — All Catholic biishops, monks 
friars and regular clergy were banished. 

Catholic parish priests and their curates, 
who were permitted to remain, were subjected 
to a strict suroeillancey and to a system of 
registration which placed them abjectly under 
government control. 

No Catholic church was allowed to have 
a steeple or a belL 

No Protestant woman was allowed to marry 
a Catholic on pain of forfeiting her estates; 
and a Protestant man who married a Catholic 



193 IRELAND [1699- 1704 

became at once subject to all the disabilities 
of Catholics. 

1699-1700. — Catholics were practically dis- 
qualified from practising as solicitors. They 
were even forbidden to he gamekeepers. Such 
were the Acts of William's reign (1694- 1702}. 
In the reign of Anne (1702-17 14) yet severer 
measures were passed. 

1 703-1 704. — Catholics were excluded from 
the army, the militia, the civil service, the 
municipal corporations and the magistracy.^ 
A Catholic parent was boimd to educate and 
maintain any one of his children who became 
a Protestant, and to appoint a Protestant 
guardian of that child. The eldest son of a 
Catholic, if he became a Protestant, acquired 
a permanent interest in the estate of his father, 
who sank immediately to the position of a 
life tenant. 

Catholic children inherited the lands of 
their father, share and share alike, but if 
the eldest son became a Protestant, then he 
inherited all, to the exclusion of his Catholic 
brothers and sisters. 

Every Catholic was disabled from buying land 
or holding it on mortgage ; he could not even 
take a lease for more than thirty-one years, 
and then only on the condition of paying two- 
thirds of the fuU annual value of the land. 

No Catholic was allowed to live in Galway 
or Limerick. 

^ By the imposition of the Test Act, then for the first 
time introduced in Ireland. This Act also applied to 
the Nonconformists. 



1704-1709] PENAL CODE 193 

All Catholic pilgrimages were declared riots 
and unlawful assemblies. Anyone attending 
them was to be fined ten shillings and whipped 
at the cart tail. 

All crosses, pictures and inscriptions were 
to be destroyed by the magistrates. 

1 708-1 709. — A scale of rewards was fixed for 
the discovery of Catholic bishops, clergy and 
schoolmasters. For an archbishop or bishop, 
j£^o ; for regular or unregistered priests, ;^2o ; 
for a schoolmaster, ;^io ; and these fines were 
levied on the Catholic population. 

Furthermore, no man was allowed to take 
an annuity chargeable on land ; and any person 
who discovered that a Protestant held land in 
trust for a Catholic, became entitled to the 
land held under such trust. 

The wife of a Catholic who turned a Pro- 
testant could at once obtain a jointure, charge- 
able on her husband's estate ; and she became 
entitled as well to a third of his real and per- 
sonal chattels. 

Catholic children who became Protestants 
were empowered to demand an allowance firom 
their parents. 

Such were the chief enactments of the 
Penal Code as it was framed under William 
and Anne. 

But that code, yet incompleted, was accom- 
panied by another measure of iniquity. The 
Treaty of Limerick guaranteed the old Irish 
proprietary in the possession of their lands. 
But many years had not elapsed before an Act 
was passed by which 1,060,692 acres were 

N 



1^4 IRELAND [1709 

wrested from the rightful owners and handed 
over to a new set of English adventurers. 

' What, then,' said Lord Clare, referring to 
this and the previous acts of confiscation, 
— ' what, then, was the situation of Ireland at 
the revolution, and what is it at this day? 
The whole power and property of the country 
have been conferred by successive monarchs 
of England upon an English colony, com- 
posed of three sets of English adventurers, 
who poured into this country at the termina- 
tion of three successive rebellions. Confisca- 
tion is their common title, and from their 
first settlement they have been hemmed in 
on every side by the old inhabitants of the 
island, brooding over their discontents in 
sullen indignation.' 

But let it be said in justice to William III., 
that it was his wish to keep the Treaty of 
Limerick, and to protect the Irish Catholics 
from persecution and spoliation. English 
public opinion, however, was too strong for 
him, and despite his efforts, the policy of 
oppression and dishonour triumphed. 

In 1692, the House of Commons addressed 
William III. : — * We most humbly beseech 
your majesty that no outlawries of any rebels 
in Ireland may be reversed, or pardons granted 
to them, but by the advice of your parlia- 
ment, and that no protection may be granted 
to any Irish Papist to stop the course of 
justice.' 

'It must be a great mistake in policy,' 
urged the lords justices, about the same time. 



1709] ENFORCEMENT OF PENAL CODE 195 

'to lose the opportunity of changing the 
(landed) proprietors from Papists to Pro- 
testants, as this will* They added, ' The Pro- 
testants of Ireland would be in perfect despair 
if (the Papists) are restored.' 

In 1704 no Papists were allowed by law to 
dweU in the town of Galway. 

In 1 704-1 705 the House of Commons re- 
solved 'that the prosecuting and informing 
against Papists was an honourable service;' 
' that the saying or hearing of Mass by persons 
who had not taken the oath of abjuration,' 
tended to defeat the * succession to the crown,' 
and that all magistrates who neglected to put 
the laws against Papists into execution were 
' betrayers of the liberties of the kingdom.' 

In 1706 the lord-lieutenant urged the en- 
forcement of the Penal Code against 'our 
domestic enemies.' 

In 1708 several Papists, 'merchants and 
gentlemen' of Galway, were flung into gaol, 
and others driven outside the walls. 

'I have,' writes Richard Wall, the mayor, 
to Dublin Castle, 'pursuant to order of last 
night's post, turned all the Popish inhabitants 
out of the town and garrison, and have com- 
mitted several Popish priests to gaol. I have 
also taken care to remove the market outside 
of the walls, and have given orders to prevent 
Mass being said in the town.' 

In 1709 the lord-lieutenant again recom- 
mended the gentlemen of the House of 
Commons 'seriously to consider whether any 
new Bills are wanting to enforce and explain 



196 IRELAND [1709 

those good laws which you have already passed 
against the common enemy.' 

In 17 1 1 the necessity of enforcing the Penal 
Laws was again enjoined by public proclama- 
tion. 

The secretary of state wrote to the mayor 
of Galway to express a hope that he would 
continue his exertions ' to bsuiish priests, those 
enemies of our constitution, out of the town, 
and cause those you have apprehended to be 
prosecuted by law with utmost rigour.' 

In 17 1 2, Sir Constantine Phipps, the lord 
chancellor of that day, urged upon the cor- 
poration of Dublin *the duty of preventing 
the public Mass being said, contrary to law, 
by priests not registered, and that will not take 
the oath of abjuration.' 

In 1 7 13 the sergeant-at-arms was ordered 
'to take into custody all Papists who should 
presume to come into the gallery of the House 
of Commons.' Thus were the Catholics made 
outcasts and pariahs in their native land 

In 1 7 14 Anne died, and the Stuart era came 
to a close. 'In Ireland there was peace. 
The domination of the colonists was absolute. 
The native population was tranquil with the 
ghastly tranquillity of exhaustion and of despair. 
. . . The iron had entered into the soul. 
The memory of past defeats, the habit of daily 
enduring insult and oppression had cowed the 
spirit of the imhappy nation.' 

'There were indeed Irish Roman Catholics 
of great ability, energy and ambition, but they 
were to be found everywhere except in Ireland 



1714] A BROKEN NATION 197 

— ^at Versailles and at Saint Ildefonso, in the 
armies of Frederic and in the armies of Maria 
Theresa. One exile became a marshall of 
France. Another became prime minister of 
Spain. If he had stayed in his native land, 
he would have been regarded as an inferior by 
all the ignorant and worthless squireens who 
drank the glorious and immortal memory. . . . 
Scattered over all Europe were to be found 
brave Irish generals, dexterous Irish diplomat- 
ists, Irish counts, Irish barons, Irish knights 
of Saint Lewis and of Saint Leopold, of the 
White Eagle and of the Golden Fleece, who, 
if they had remained in the house of bondage, 
could not have been ensigns of marching regi- 
ments or freemen of petty corporations. These 
men, the natural chiefs of their race, having 
been withdrawn, what remained was utterly help- 
less and passive. A rising of the Irishry against 
the Englishry was no more to be apprehended 
than a rising of the women and children against 
the men.' ^ 

The last conquest of Ireland had indeed 
broken the spirit of the nation. 

^ Macanlay. 



CHAPTER XIX 



THE HOUSE OF HANOVER 




HEN George I. ascended the 
throne (1714-1727), the 
English colonists in Ireland 
were supreme. All power 
and wealth were in their 
hands. But England which 
had shown no mercy to the 
native race, did not spare 
her own children. Even they were not per- 
mitted to prosper in Ireland. So far back as 
1660, an Act, called the Navigation Act, had 
been passed, which gave to English and Irish 
ships the exclusive privilege of carrying goods 
to and from Asia, Africa or America, thus 
conferring a great boon on the shipping 
interests of both countries. But, in 1663, 
another Navigation Act was passed, and from 
198 



1714) WILLIAM MOLYNEUX 199 

this Act the name of Ireland was omitted. 
Thus Irish ships were at once excluded 
from the privileges which English ships now 
alone enjoyed, and this blow, aimed at 
English colonists as well as native Irish, was 
fatd to the * carrying' trade of the country. 
In 1665 and 1680, Acts were passed 'abso- 
lutely prohibiting the importation into Eng- 
land, from Ireland, of all cattle, sheep and 
swine, of beef, pork, bacon, mutton, and even 
of butter and cheese.'^ 

In 1696, the colonies were forbidden to 
send any goods directly to Ireland; and, in 
1699, Ireland was forbidden to send manu- 
factured wool, then a thriving industry to 
any country in the world.^ Thus, as Swift 
says, 'the conveniency of ports and harbours, 
which nature bestowed so liberally on this 
kingdom, is of no more use to us than a 
beautiful prospect to a man shut up in a 
dungeon.' 

Men of spirit among the English colonists 
resented this injustice. William Molyneux 
(1656-1698), a famous Irishman of English 
descent, protested against the Act of 1696. 
He took the high ground that the English 
parliament (for the commercial laws against 
Ireland were the measures of that assembly) 
had no right to legislate for Ireland. Ire- 

* Lecky. 

' * It was computed by a contemporary writer that the 
Irish woollen manufacture afforded employment to 1 3,000 
Protestant families [in Dublin], and to ^000 dispersed 
over the rest of the kingdom.' — Lbcky. 



20O IRELAND [1714-1719 

land, he said, was an ancient kingdom with 
an independent parliament, but a common 
sovereign. The Irish owed allegiance to the 
English king, but not to the English legis- 
lature; and, therefore, laws passed by the 
English parliament were not binding on the 
Irish people.^ 

This was the ground taken up by Moly- 
neux; this was the origin of the demand 
for Irish legislative independence — or Home 
Rule, with which the present generation is 
so familiar. But England was resolved that 
the Irish parliament should not be inde- 
pendent, and, with a view of settling the 
question for ever, an Act was passed in 17 19 
declaring that 'the English parliament had, 
hath, and of right ought to have, full power 
and authority to make laws of sufficient 
force and validity to bind the people and 
kingdom of Ireland.' But, as the commercial 
laws of 1696 had drawn a protest from 
William Molyneux, this new Act of the 
English parliament brought a yet greater 
Irishman of English descent into the field. 

Dean Swift (1667-1745) denounced the claim 
of the English parliament to make laws for Ire- 
land with vigour and scorn. He said, * I have 
looked over all the English and Irish statutes 
without finding any law that makes Ireland 
depend on England any more than England de- 
pends upon Ireland. We have, indeed, obliged 

^Parliaments were introduced into Ireland by the 
Norman settlers. The first Irish parliament sat probably 
in 1295. 



I7I9] DEAN SWIFT ao| 

ourselves to have the same king with them, 
and consequently they are obliged to have the 
same king with us. For the law was made 
by our own parliament, and our ancestors were 
not such fools as to bring themselves under 
I know not what dependence (which is now 
talked of), without any ground of law, reason 
or common sense. ... I declare next, under 
God, I depend only on the laws of my 
country. ... It is true, indeed, that with- 
in the memory of man the parliaments of 
England have sometimes assumed the power 
of binding this kingdom by laws enacted 
there, wherein they were at first openly 
opposed (so far as truth, reason and justice 
are capable of opposing) by the famous 
William Molyneux, an English gentleman 
bom here, as well as by several of the 
greatest patriots and best Whigs in England, 
but the love and torrent of power prevailed. 
Indeed, the arguments on both sides were 
invincible. For, in reason, all government 
without the consent of the governed is the 
very definition of slavery; but, in fact, 
eleven men, well-armed, will certainly subdue 
one single man in his shirt. . . . Neverthe- 
less by the laws of God, of nations and of 
your country, you are and ought to be as free 
a people as your brethren of England.' 

Swift was followed by another formidable 
champion of Irish legislative independence, 
Charles Lucas (1713-1771). Lucas declared 
that the attempt of England to make laws for 
Ireland was a daring usurpation of the rights of 



202 IRELAND [1719 

a free people. To submit was to be enslaved. 
*The laws of Ireland,' he said, 'make us not 
independent of the King of Great Britain, but 
absolutely free of all legislatures but our own. 
... If this be treason, disaffection or dis- 
loyalty, it is high time to cut me off. I 
scorn to ask mercy, or any other favour, from 
slaves and tyrants.' 

But, unhappily, while the English colonists 
resented the injustice and oppression of Eng- 
land, they themselves continued to wrong and 
oppress the native population. More penal 
laws were passed against Catholics. 

During the reigns of George I. (1714-1727) 
and George II. (i 727-1 760), it was provided: — 

1. That the horses of Catholics might be 
seized for the militia. 

2. That Catholics should pay double towards 
raising the militia. 

3. That Catholics could not be police-con- 
stables, watchmen or vestrymen (Geo. I.). 

4. Catholics were disqualified from voting at 
elections, and excluded from the Bar. 

5. Barristers marrying Catholics were sub- 
jected to all the disabilities of Catholics. 

6. In case of war with a Catholic power. 
Catholics were bound to make good the 
damage done by Catholic privateers. 

7. Catholic hawkers and pedlars were taxed 
to support Protestant proselytising schools 
(Geo. II.). 

Thus was the Penal Code completed. 
While England was riveting the chains of 
the colonists, the colonists were riveting the 



1725] RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION "203 

chains of the wretched Irish. Throughout the 
reign of Anne, the Catholics had been merci- 
lessly hunted down; throughout the reigns of 
the first two Georges they were mercilessly 
hunted down still. 

In 1 7 14 a priest lay for weeks in the gaol of 
Galway because the mayor could not get 'a 
Protestant jury of freeholders to try him.' 

In 1 7 15 the Papists were again driven from 
the town. Catholic chapels were closed; 
priests were seized, dragged sometimes even 
from the altar, and flung into gaol. In the 
same year the lords justices recommended ' such 
unanimity as may once more put an end to 
all other distinctions but that of Protestant 
and Papist;' and the House of Commons re- 
solved, *It is the indispensable duty of all 
magistrates to put into immediate execution 
the laws against Popish priests who shall 
officiate contrary to law, and that such magis- 
trates as shall neglect the same be looked on 
as the enemies of the constitution.' In 17 16 
the lord - lieutenant urged that ' the laws 
against Papists should be strictly enforced,' 
and in 17 19, 'union among all Protestants 
against the common enemy' was once more 
enjoined. 

In 1723, the lord-lieutenant again recom- 
mended *the vigorous execution of the laws 
against popish priests.' In 1725, a priest 
named Henderson penetrated to Ulster, and 
had the courage to preach a sermon at 'the 
Mass place of Arline,' declaring, to use the 
language of Archdeacon Walter Bell, who 



204- IRELAND [1725 

supplied the information to the Castle, that, 
' the Romans in this kingdom were depressed, 
and their clergy obliged to go to ditches and 
glens to celebrate their Mass ; but if they would 
shed their blood and fight for their religion, 
and become martyrs, they would flourish, as 
they did when they had their temples and 
abbeys.' Henderson was finally arrested, and 
indicted (i) for using blasphemous words ; and 
(2) for notous and tumultuous assembly and 
assault. * On the first indictment,' to use the 
words of the judge who tried him, 'he was 
found guilty on full evidence, and sentenced 
to stand in the pillory with his crime wrote on 
his breast, to be whipped four times through 
the streets of the city of Derry, and to be 
burnt in the face with the letter B ; all which 
was strictly executed.' On the second indict- 
ment he was acquitted. He was then sent to 
Tyrone and tried for sedition. He was found 
guilty, and sentenced as at Derry. Finally, the 
grand jury, 'presented against him as a vaga- 
bond, and prayed that he might be transported 
to America, which was done.' 

In the same year the House of Commons 
addressed the king against the reversal of 
outlawries, dwelling on * the fatal consequences 
which will inevitably follow from the reversal of 
any of the outlawries of the rebellious Irish 
Papists.' *We beg leave,' they say, *to lay 
before your Majesty, that the greatest part of 
the titles, which your British and Protestant 
subjects of Ireland have to their estates, are 
derived under attainders for the rebellions in 



I73I] RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION 205 

1 64 1 and 1688. And as the Irish, by the 
forfeitures of their estates, became less able to 
put in execution their treasonable designs, so, 
by corrupting the blood of their nobility, and 
depriving them and their posterity of their 
hereditary titles and honours by force of the 
outlawries for high treason, they have had less 
power and credit with their followers to lead 
them into rebellion. And this was so well 
understood, that no outlawry of any person 
guilty of the rebellion of 164 1 was reversed till 
the time of the government of Earl Tyrconnell 
in 1687.' 

Two years later, Lord Carteret, the lord- 
lieutenant, wrote to the English Cabinet on 
the same subject, begging that no outlawries 
may be reversed. *The English,' he says, * who 
settled themselves in Ireland upon the suppres- 
sion of the rebellion of 1641-1649, have much 
the greatest part of the property of the kingdom, 
and look upon the Acts of Parliament which 
confirm the attainder of the rebels, and secure the 
forfeitures to the Protestant purchasers, as their 
fundamental constitution, and the greatest securi- 
ties of their religion, lib^ties, and properties.' 

In 1728, it was declared from the judicial 
Bench that *the intention of the legislature 
was to disable Papists from enlarging their 
landed interest, and to settle what lands they 
already had, so as it should moulder away in 
their hands.' 

In 1 731, the mayor of Galway was once more 
ordered to expel all priests and nuns from the 
town, and purge the place of popery. 



2o6 IRELAND [1731 

In the same year, the Commons, in an address 
to the king, declared that, ^ the great number 
of Papists in Ireland must at all times justly 
alarm your loyal Protestant subjects,' and 
resolved once again that the popery laws should 
be vigorously enforced. In 1733, the lord- 
lieutenant urged upon parliament the necessity 
of securing * a firm union amongst all Protest- 
ants, who have one common interest and the 
same common enemy.' 

In 1735, there lived in a village in the Bog of 
Allen, Dr Gallagher, the Catholic bishop of 
Raphoe. His life is a picture of the 'penal 
days.' * Sixty or seventy years ago,' writes a 
Protestant historian of our own time, ' the aged 
inhabitants of the district used to speak of his 
exertions on their behalf. " There," they would 
say, ''he administered confirmation; here he 
held an assembly of clergy; on that hill he 
ordained some young priests, whom he sent to 
France, Spain, Italy ; and we remember, or we 
heard, how he lived in yonder old walls in 
common with the young priests, whom he 
prepared. He sometimes left us with a staff in 
his hands, and, being absent for months, we 
feared he would never return, but he always 
came back, and closed his days amongst us." ' 

In 1739 ^^^ Papists petitioned the king 
for 'the relaxation of the most severe laws 
passed against us, contrary to the Treaty of 
Limerick.' 'Two-thirds of the business of 
the law courts,' they say, 'consist of popish 
discoveries;' and they add, 'we are daily 
oppressed by the number of idle and wicked 



1772] EFFECT OF POPERY LAWS 207 

vagrants of this nation informing against our 
litUe leases and tenements, if the law gets 
any hold thereof.' This petition was treated 
with contemptuous silence. * Though little 
attention is to be given to this paper,' wrote 
the Duke of Newcastle, *[yet] keep a strict 
watch on the behaviour of the Papists.' 

In fine, so well had the Penal Code worked 
as an instrument for plundering the native 
race, that, in 1739, there were not twenty 
Catholics in Ireland who possessed each 
^1000 a year in land, while the estates belong- 
ing to others of less yearly value were propor- 
tionally few. *It is no matter to the public,' 
said the prime sergeant of the day, in 1747, 
' in whose hands the estate is, provided it is not 
in the hands of a Papist' And ten years later 
a judge declared from the Bench, 'that the 
laws did not presume a Papist to exist, nor 
could they breathe without the connivance of 
government' In these circumstances, it is 
not surprising to learn, at a later period, on 
the authority of Lord Townshend, that 'the 
laws against popery have so far operated that 
there is no popish family at this day [1772] 
remaining, of any great weight, from landed 
property.' 

While this horrible triangular duel went on 
between England, English colonists and Irish, 
the country was perishing by want and star- 
vation. England destroyed the trade of the 
colonists; the colonists crushed the industry 
of the native race. Everywhere misery and 
anarchy prevailed. 



2o8 IRELAND [1772 

'This kingdom,' wrote Swift in 1727, *is now 
absolutely starving by the means of every op- 
pression that can be inflicted on mankind . . . 
and,' he adds with terrible irony, ' I confess my- 
self to be touched with very sensible pleasure 
when I hear of mortality in any county parish 
or village where the wretches are forced to pay, 
for a filthy cabin and two ridges of potatoes, 
double the worth, to whom death would be the 
pleasantest thing to be wished for, on account 
both of themselves and the public' 

In 1740 a famine swept over the land, and 
thousands died on the roadside and in the 
ditches. 

'I have been absent from this country for 
some years,' writes a contemporary authority, 
'and on my return, but last summer, found it 
the most miserable scene of universal distress 
that I have ever read of in history — want and 
misery in every £ace; the roads spread with 
dead and dying bodies ; mankind of the colour 
of the docks and nettles they fed on ; two or 
three, sometimes more, going on a cart to the 
grave for want of bearers to carry them ; and 
many buried only in the fields and ditches 
where they perished; whole villages were left 
waste by want and sickness, and death in 
various shapes.' 

Many years later the wretchedness of the 
people dreyr the following statement from 
another contemporary authority : — 

* Can the history of any other fruitful country 
on the globe, enjo3dng peace for fourscore 
years, produce so many recorded instances of 



1772] LANDLORD AND TENANT 209 

the poverty and wretchedness, and of the 
reiterated want and misery of the lower orders 
of the people ? ' 

Amid this universal misery, the first 
agrarian war broke out. In Ireland there 
was no common bond of sympathy between 
landlord and tenant. 

'The landlord was an alien — [the descend- 
ant of some English settler who had acquired 
his title by confiscation] — ^with the fortunes of 
the residents on his estates upon his hands 
and at his mercy. He was divided from them 
in creed and language. He despised them 
as of an inferior race, and he acknowledged 
no interest in common with them. Had he 
been allowed to trample on them, and make 
them his slaves, he would have cared for 
them, perhaps as he cared for his horses. But 
their persons were free, while their farms 
and houses were his; and thus his only 
object was to wring out of them the last 
penny which they could pay, leaving them 
and theu: children to a life scarcely raised 
above the level of theu: own pigs.' ^ 

* Rents,' wrote Swift, in his fiercest style, 
'are squeezed out of the blood, and vitals, 
and clothes, and dwellings of the tenants, 
who live worse than English beggars.' 

In 1761-1762, the landlords of Tipperary 
— the descendants of Cromwellian soldiers — 
cleared their tenants off waste lands and 
commons to make way for graziers, in order 

^Froude. 

o 



2IO IRELAND [1772 

that a sudden and laige demand for beef in 
the English market might be fully met. This 
clearance meant starvation to the tenants, who 
had no other resource but the land. They rose 
against their oppressors, banded themselves into 
a secret organisation, seized arms wherever they 
could find them, and swept over the country, 
committing every species of outrage, destroying 
property, attacking human life, and inflicting 
terrible punishments on all who crossed their 
paths. This insurrection of slaves lasted inter- 
mittingly for about ten years, and is known as 
the first *Whiteboy'^ rising. It was confined 
to the south. But in the north there were 
agrarian troubles too; for strangely enough, 
as England did not spare her own colonists, 
these colonists did not spare their own kindred 
in Ireland. British colonial landlords oppressed 
British colonial tenants. In 1 7 7 1 an Ulster land- 
lord refused to renew the leases on his estates, 
unless the tenants — themselves British settlers — 
paid heavy fines. Many tenants refused, and 
took up arms against the landlords ; marching 
throughout the country, defying the law, com- 
mitting outrage, and causing terror and dismay 
wherever they went. The government took 
strong measures to put them down, and the 
rising was soon quelled. 'But,' to use the 
language of a Protestant historian, 'the effects 
were long baneful. So great and wide was the 
discontent, that many thousands of Protestants 

^ So called because the insurgents wore white shirts 
over their clothes as a * badge of union.' 



1772] PROTESTANT EMIGRATION 211 

emigrated from those parts of Ulster to the 
American settlements, where they soon ap- 
peared in arms against the British government, 
and contributed powerfully by their zeal and 
valour to the separation of the American 
colonies from the empire of Great Britain.' 



CHAPTER XX 



HENRY GRATTAN 




HESE social disturbances were 
soon followed by a great 
political crisis. The English 
colonists in Ireland, following 
the example of the English 
colonists in America, revolted 
against the mother country. 
With this revolt the name of 
one of the greatest Irishmen of the period 
is immortally associated. The story of his 
life is, indeed, the history of that famous move- 
ment by which the English colonists in Ireland, 
supported by the native race, won free trade, 
and re-established Irish legislative independ- 
ence. 

Henry Grattan was bom in Dublin on July 
3, 1746. Entering Trinity College in 1763, 



I773-I77S] THE IRISH PARLIAMENT 213 

he was called to the Bar in 1772, and became 
a member of the Irish House of Commons in 
December 1775. 

At that time the Irish parliament was sunk in 
a state of utter subserviency to England : — (i) 
It could not be summoned without the per- 
mission of the English privy council; (2) it 
could originate no Bills — it could only prepare 
heads of Bills for approval in England ; (3) it 
could not alter or amend any Bill coming 
from England — it could only accept or re- 
ject it 

But, besides its subserviency to England, 
it did not represent the Irish people in any 
true sense. Catholics (who still, despite the 
Penal Laws, constituted four-fifths of the popu- 
lation) could not, as we have seen, be 
members of it; they could not even vote at 
elections. 

But it hardly represented Irish Protestant 
opinion in any eflfective sense. Out of 300 
members, 216 were elected for boroughs or 
manors. Out of these 216, 200 were elected 
by 100 persons, and about 50 by 10. One 
lord returned 16 members, another 9, another 
7, while one family returned 14. In fact, the 
Irish parliament was a close corporation, 
nominated by a few Anglo-Irish aristocratic 
families. In addition to these defects, it was 
hopelessly corrupt Dominated by English 
viceroys, filled by English placemen, bribed in 
English interests, it was nothing more nor less 
than a court for registering the decrees of 
English statesmen. 



214 IRELAND [1775- 

Besides the subserviency and corruption of 
the Irish parliament, two other great questions 
engaged public attention: — (i) The Commer- 
cial Code, which chiefly affected Protestants; 
(2) the Penal Code which wholly affected 
Catholics. All three questions filled the mind 
and moved the heart of Grattan, and he came 
forward as the champion of religious liberty, 
commercial freedom and political independ- 
ence. 

Among all the Irish Protestant patriots of the 
period, Grattan was distinguished by his intense 
love of his Catholic fellow-countrymen, and his 
earnest desire to do them justice. 

* The question of Catholic Emancipation,' he 
once said, * involves the question whether we 
are to be a Protestant settlement or an Irish 
nation.' And again, *I conceive it a sacred 
truth that the Irish Protestant will never be 
really free until the Irish Catholic ceases to be 
a slave.' 

The Catholics were of course in those days 
utterly helpless, and they had to depend on the 
support of enlightened and patriotic Protestants. 
Indeed, a CathoUc committee had been formed 
between 1756 and 1760 by three eminent 
Catholics — Curry, Wyse and O'Connor. But it 
effected nothing and gradually melted away in 

1763. 

The Catholic demands were then beneath the 
contempt of the government In 1 7 73, however, 
a new Catholic association was founded, and a 
fresh effort was made to ameliorate the con- 
dition of the Catholic population. 



1778] AMERICAN WAR 215 

The time was opportune. England was on 
the eve of a great struggle with her American 
Colonies, whom her misgovemment had driven 
into revolt. The struggle actually began in 
1775. It raged with fluctuating fortune t^ough- 
out 1776. But on October 17th 1777, the Eng- 
lish sustained a crushing defeat at Saratoga, 
where the English general, Burgoyne, and his 
whole army surrendered to the American 
general. Gates. Affairs looked black and des- 
perate for England. Ireland was in a critical 
state. The country was denuded of troops ; all 
had been drafted off to fight the Americans — 
though, as Grattan said, * America was the only 
hope of Ireland and the only refuge of the 
liberties of mankind.' In 1778 the situation 
was still more desperate. The French had 
united with the Americans and threatened 
England with war. The mayor of Belfast, 
fearing a French invasion, asked the govern- 
ment to garrison the town, and he was told 
that he could have 'half a troop of dis- 
mounted cavalry and half a troop of invalids.' 
England was no longer able to defend or to 
hold Ireland. Such a crisis had not arisen 
since Sarsfield had forced William to raise the 
siege of Limerick. 

In this terrible predicament the English Pro- 
testant colonists flew to arms. If England could 
not defend them, they would defend themselveSi 
Volunteer corps were raised throughout the 
whole country, and the ranks of the volunteers 
were filled by Catholics as well as Protestants. 
England became alarmed. She could trust 



ai6 IRELAND [1778- 

neither Catholic nor Protestant in Ireland, for 
she had wronged both. The time had clearly 
come for concession, and fearing Catholics 
more than Protestants, she resolved to appease 
them first Accordingly, before the end of the 
year 1778, the first great breach was made in the 
Penal Code. An Act was passed allowing 
Catholics to hold land on leases of 999 years, 
and to inherit land in the same way as Protest- 
ants, and this was unquestionably a substantial 
measure of justice. 

*You are now,' wrote Edmund Burke, on 
the passing of this Act, to the Speaker of the 
Irish House of Commons, * beginning to have 
a country, and ... I am persuaded that when 
that thing called a country is once formed in 
Ireland, quite other things will be done than 
were done whilst the zeal of men was turned 
to the safety of a party, and whilst they thought 
its interests provided for in the distress and 
destruction of everything else.' 

Events were indeed tending to make Ireland 
*a country.' Irish and Colonists, Catholics 
and Protestants had been brought together by 
common misfortimes. The Catholics fought 
for religious liberty, the Protestants for com- 
mercial freedom — both for political independ- 
ence. 

In October 1779, Hussey Burgh, the friend 
of Grattan, moved an amendment to the address 
in favour of Free Trade, which was carried by 
an overwhelming majority. Then the members 
of the House of Commons went in a body to 
present their petition to the lord-lieutenant. 



17791 FREE TRADE 217 

The volunteers lined the way and presented 
arms as they passed. Thus, as Mr Lecky 
happily says, * due emphasis ' was given to the 
demand. But the lord-lieutenant sent back 
an evasive answer, saying that he would give 
a favourable consideration to all questions ' con- 
ducive to the public welfare,' and no more. 
Grattan and the National Party were, however, 
in no temper to be trifled with. Dublin was in 
a state of intense excitement. Volunteers and 
citizens filled the streets. As members of 
parliament passed to and fro, they were met 
by angry mobs who threatened them with chas- 
tisement if they did not support the demand 
of Grattan. 

On the 4th November the volunteers paraded 
around the statue of William III. in College 
Green, and fired salutes, which were heard 
with startling effect at the Castle. On either 
side of the statue cannon was placed with the 

inscription, * Free Trade or this ;* and every 

means were taken to show the earnestness and 
determination of the people. On November 24th 
Grattan moved that no new taxes should be voted 
until the popular demands were granted ; and 
Hussey Burgh delivered a famous speech which 
well expressed the popular feeling. ' Talk not 
to me,' he said, * of peace ; it is not peace, but 
smothered war. England has sown her laws as 
dragons' teeth, and they have sprung up in 
armed men.' 

The government at length felt it was hope- 
less to hold out; and on December 13th the 
English minister introduced, in the English 



2i8 IRELAND [1780- 

parliament, a Bill to repeal the Commercial 
Code. The measure met practically with no 
opposition, and took its place on the Statute 
Book in February 1780. All restrictions were 
removed to the export of Irish wool, woollen 
manufacture and glass, and the trade of the 
colonies was thrown open to Ireland. Thus, in 
a moment, were the obnoxious laws of Charles 
II. and William III. swept utterly away. 

But the greatest question of all, the question 
of political independence, remained, and Grattan 
did not allow it to slumber. Ireland could 
have no guarantee for good laws, he urged, until 
the Irish parliament was free of English control 
It had been free in times past — free from 1295 
to 1494. Then its rights were invaded by an 
English viceroy, and Poynings' Law was passed. 
But since then its independence had been as- 
serted again and again — in 1641 by an Irish 
Catholic House of Commons ; in 1642 by Irish 
Catholic peers in their petition to Charles I.; 
in 1645 by the Irish Catholic Confederates; 
and in 1689 by the Catholic parliament of 
James II. 

When, after, and in violation of, the Treaty of 
Limerick, the voice of the Catholics had been 
silenced, the cry was taken up by the Protestant 
colonists, by Molyneux, by Swift, by Lucas ; and 
Grattan was resolved that it should not now be 
allowed to die. * The time had come,' he said, 
* when the issue should be fought out and settled 
for ever.' 

On April 19th 1780, he brought the subject 
before parliament, and moved, ' that the (king) 



I78i] LEGISLATIVE INDEPENDENCE 219 

Lords and Commons of Ireland, are the only 
power competent to enact laws to bind Ireland.' 
This motion struck at Poynings' Law, which 
enabled the English parliament to make laws 
for Ireland, and at the Act of George I. which 
declared that the parliament of Ireland was 
dependent on England. But the House of 
Commons was not yet ready to support Grattan, 
and feeling that if he pressed the question he 
would be defeated, he wisely dropped it for that 
session. But it was not dropped in the country. 
Throughout 1780 and 1781 a vigorous agitation 
was kept up. In 1781, the volunteers numbered 
some 80,000 men, and, with arms in their hands, 
they demanded the restoration of Ireland's legis- 
lative rights. Great meetings were held, spirited 
resolutions were passed, and every determina- 
tion was shown to push die question to a speedy 
issue. 

In the autumn, 1781, another great disaster 
befell the arms of England in America. The 
English commander, Lord Comwallis, after 
sustaining a vigorous siege, was forced to sur- 
render, with his whole army, numbering 7000 
men, at Yorktown, on October 19. This was 
a crushing blow, and while England was still 
reeling under it, the volimteers pressed forward 
with their demands. 

In February 1 782, they held a convention at 
Dungannon, and passed strong resolutions, not 
only in favour of legislative independence, but 
of Catholic Emancipation as well. Two months 
afterwards (April i6th), Grattan once more 
brought the question before parliament, and, in 



2ao IRELAND [1782 

a speech of remarkable power and eloquence, 
moved the famous ' Declaration of Irish Rights.' 
Dublin was filled with volunteers. Cavalry, 
infantry, artillery, were, Grattan's son tell us, 
posted on the quays, bridges and approaches to 
the Houses of Parliament ; and ' it was through 
their parted ranks that Grattan passed to move 
the emancipation of his country.'^ Twelve 
months previously the House of Commons 
would not support him. But now there was no 
opposition. The English minister had, in fact, 
expressed his willingness to grant the Irish 
demand before Grattan had entered the House 
of Commons on that memorable i6th of April. 
And it was with this knowledge that Grattan 
began his famous speech with these immortal 
words, — 

' I am now to address a free people I Ages 
have passed away, and this is the first moment 
in which you could be distinguished by that 
appellation. I have spoken on the subject of 
your liberty so often, that I have nothing to 
add, and have only to admire by what Heaven- 
directed steps you have proceeded, until the 
whole faculty of the nation is braced up to the 
act of her own deliverance. 

* I found Ireland on her knees ; I watched 
over her with an eternal solicitude ; I have 
traced her progress from injuries to arms, and 
from arms to liberty. Spirit of Swift, spirit of 
Molyneux, your genius has prevailed. Ireland 
is now a nation. In that new character I hail 

^ Lecky. 



1/82] LEGISLATIVE INDEPENDENCE 221 

her, and bowing to her august presence, I say, 
Esto perpetua,^ 

Grattan's resolution was carried by acclam- 
mation; and the House of Commons thus 
affirmed, without a dissentient voice, the right of 
the Irish parliament, and the Irish parliament 
alone, to make laws for Ireland. 

Next day the volunteers passed a resolution 
declaring that, * We will support Colonel Grattan 
with our lives and fortunes.' 

But an Act of Parliament was now necessary 
to give effect to Grattan's resolution, and the 
English minister seized the opportunity which 
the delay afforded of trying to minimise the 
concession which he had reluctantly granted. 
Even, at the eleventh hour, he endeavoured 
to induce Grattan to accept a * subordinate ' 
instead of an 'independent* parliament, but 
Grattan firmly refused. 

On April 19th, Lord Shelburne wrote to 
Mr Fitzpatrick, Irish secretary, to stiffen his 
back, — * The only thing I fear of you is giving 
way too easily. It is incredible how much 
is got by arguing and perseverance. Tell them 
that peace [with America] may be made in a 
moment, and it behoves them to make the 
most of the instant, and conclude on reasonable 
terms.* 

Grattan determined to 'conclude' on the 
* terms ' of the Declaration of Rights, and on no 
other terms. On April 2 2d, he wrote to his 
agent in London, Mr Day, — 'Take the first 
opportunity of going to Lord Shelburne and 
state to him, as a friend to both countries, the 



223 IRELAND [1782 

absurdity of negotiating on the Irish subject 
We have sent an ultimatum. We have asked 
for RIGHTS ; exclusive judicature, exclusive 
legislature are our rights; we cannot consent 
to pay for them^ or to negotiate upon them. The 
country is committed, and cannot put in a train 
of treaty what is decided in both Houses of 
Parliament, and backed by the lives and for- 
tunes of the nation. Take notice that we not 
only conceive ourselves committed, but conceive 
the question now carried^ and drink the 16th 
April 1782 CLs the day of our redemption. We 
want only to thank England, not to negotiate 
with her.' 

On May 6th, the lord - lieutenant, the 
Duke of Portland, wrote to Lord Shelbume : — 
'Every day convinces me not only of the 
impossibility of prevailing on this country to 
recede from any one of the claims set forth in 
the addresses, but of the danger of new ones 
being started. The hope I expressed of re- 
serving the final judicature, if not totally, at 
least by retaining the writ of error, no longer 
exists.' On the same day, Grattan wrote to 
Fox : — * I understand it is wished our demands 
should be as specific as possible — they are 
so — 2i withdrawal of the claim of supremacy, 
legislative and judicative, by England ... no 
foreign legislature, nor foreign judicature, nor 
legislative council, nor dependent army, nor 
negotiation, nor commissioners to settle these 
matters.' 

He followed up this letter by despatching 
an ultimatum to Day, on May nth: — *I 



1782] LEGISLATIVE INDEPENDENCE 223 

have only time to say that if nothing is 
concluded before our meeting — the 26th — 
we must proceed as if refused. Protraction 
is inadmissible. Mention this, as it is of the 
last consequence.' Six days afterwards, the 
English House of Lords consented unanim- 
ously, on the motion of Lord Shelbume, 
to repeal the obnoxious Act of George I., and 
the Commons, on the motion of Mr Fox, 
acquiesced. Nevertheless, what he gave with 
one hand, the English minister tried to 
take away with the other. He stiH clung 
desperately to the hope that Ireland might ad- 
mit ' the superintending power and supremacy 
of Great Britain.' 

On June 6th, the Duke of Portland wrote 
to Lord Shelbume: — *I have good reason to 
hope that I may shortly be enabled to lay 
before you the sketch or outlines of an Act 
of Parliament to be adopted by the legislatures 
of the respective kingdoms, by which the super- 
intending power and supremacy of Great Britain 
in all matters of state and general commerce 
will be virtually and effectively acknowledged.' 
Shelbume replied on June 9th: — *No matter 
who has the merit, let the two kingdoms be 
one, which can only be by Ireland now 
acknowledging the superintending power and 
supremacy in precise and unambiguous terms 
to be where Nature has placed it.' But Ireland 
did not acquiesce in the views of the British 
minister. Grattan would not recede one step 
from the ground he had taken up. On June 
2 2d, Portland wrote in despair to Shelburne : — 



224 IRELAND [1783 

* The disappointment and mortification I suffer 
by the imexpected change in those dispositions 
which had authorised me to entertain the 
hopes I had perhaps too sanguinely expressed 
in the letter which I had the honour of writing 
to your lordship on the 6th inst., must not 
prevent my acquainting you that for the present 
those expectations must be given up. . . . 
Any attempts to conciliate the minds of this 
nation to any such measure as I intimated 
the hope of, would at this moment be de- 
lusive and impossible.' Had England had 
to deal with the Irish parliament only, she 
might have obtained her own terms. But 
behind the Irish parliament stood the Irish 
volunteers, and th^y would not give way. 
'Those to whom the people look up with 
confidence,' wrote Lord Temple, who became 
lord-lieutenant in September 1782; *are not 
the parliament but a body of armed men com- 
posed chiefly of the middle and lower orders, 
. . . leading those who affect to guide them.' 

The end at length came. The English 
minister surrendered unconditionally. Eng- 
land renounced forever all claim to make 
laws for Ireland. A free Irish parliament, un- 
trammelled by English control, and an inde- 
pendent Irish judicature unfettered by English 
authority, were finally established without cavil 
or question. In January 1783, the English 
parliament passed a * Renunciation Act,' de- 
claring *that the right claimed by the people 
of Ireland to be bound only by laws enacted 
by his majesty and the parliament of that 



1782] CATHOLIC RELIEF ACT 225 

kingdom in all cases whatever shall be, and 
is hereby established and ascertained forever, 
and shall at no time hereafter be questioned 
or questionable.' Thus was the battle of Irish 
legislative independence fought and won. 

Besides the Catholic Relief Act of 1778, 
the repeal of the Commercial Code in 1779, 
and the great victory of 1782, other measures 
of importance were passed. In 1780, the 
Test Act was repealed and Protestant dis- 
senters were placed * politically on a level ' with 
their Episcopalian fellow-countrymen. In 
1 781, the Habeas Corpus Act was introduced. 
In 1782, Catholics were allowed to buy, sell and 
dispose of land in the same way as Protestants. 
They were allowed to teach in schools; the 
laws expelling Catholic bishops and regular 
clergy, subjecting secular priests to the necessity 
of registration, and other measures in restraint 
of Catholic worship, were repealed. Catholics 
were no longer prohibited from keeping a 
horse above the value of /^s^ or compelled 
to make good the losses inflicted by the 
privateers of a Catholic enemy. Catholics 
were permitted to live in Galway and Limerick, 
and were allowed to be guardians of their 
own children. A National Bank was estab- 
lished, and the judges were made independent 
of the Crown. The wave of revolution which 
had swept over the country, between 1778 and 
1783, carried justice and freedom with it 

There was now a season of repose. But the 
Catholics were resolved to improve the victories 
they had gained. In 1790, while the French 



226 IRELAND [1783-1793 

Revolution was convulsing Europe, they began 
a fresh agitation for the redress of grievances ; 
and, in 1792, further concessions were granted 
to them. They were admitted to the Bar up 
to the rank of king's counsel. They were 
allowed to be attorneys, to teach in schools 
without the licence of the Protestant bishop 
of the diocese, and to intermarry with Pro- 
testants. But they did not rest here. Still 
pressing forward, they next demanded admission 
to the magistracy, to the grand jury, to muni- 
cipal corporations, to the Dublin University,* 
and, above all, to the elective franchise. The 
stirring events which followed this new agita- 
tion centred around the life of one remarkable 
man, and may well be included in a brief 
sketch of his extraordinary career. 

^ Founded in the reign of Elizabedi. 



CHAPTER XXI 



WOLFE TONE 




OLFE TONE was bom in 
Dublin, 1763. A graduate of 
Trinity College and a member 
of the Bar, he entered politics 
in 1 790-1 791. Catholic Eman- 
cipation and Parliamentary 
Reform were the questions of 
the hour. The Catholic organi- 
sation had just fallen under the influence of a 
great Catholic democratic leader — ^John Keogh ; 
and a secret political society, pledged to reform, 
had been established in Belfast. Tone flung 
himself into the Catholic cause, and joined the 
Ulster reformers. Visiting Belfast in 1791, he 
met the members of the secret political society, 
and co-operated with them in founding the 
United Irish movement. This movement was, 
227 



228 IRELAND [1792 

in the beginning, constitutional. The majority 
of its founders were parliamentary reformers. 
But Tone was always a rebel; he has himself 
placed the fact beyond controversy. * To sub- 
vert the tyranny of our execrable government,' 
he says; *to break the connection with Eng- 
land, the never-failing source of our political 
evils, and to assert the independence of my 
country — these were my objects. To unite the 
whole people of Ireland ; to abolish the memory 
of our past dissensions, and to substitute the 
common name of Irishmen in place of the 
denomination of Protestant, Catholic and Dis- 
senter — ^these were my means.' 

Tone strove earnestly to bring the United 
Irishmen and the Catholic Committee into 
touch. He succeeded. In 1792, the Catholic 
leaders visited Belfast, and then and there was 
sealed the bond of union between them and 
their Ulster brethren. 

In the same year. Tone became assistant 
secretary to the Catholic Committee. Catholics 
and United Irishmen now worked together for 
a common cause. Catholic Emancipation and 
Parliamentary Reform was the cry of both. 
The Catholics were organised as they had 
never been organised before. Agents of the 
Committee were sent throughout the country. 
Communications were opened between Dublin 
and the provinces. There was a consolidation 
of forces and a concentration of aims which 
made the agitators formidable. 

*I have made men of the Catholics,' says 
Keogh. It was no idle boast. He had infused 



1793] UNITED IRISHMEN 229 

a spirit of independence into the Catholic body, 
which gave life and energy to the Catholic move- 
ment. The country was roused. The ministers 
were alarmed. The union between northern 
Presbyterians and southern Catholics sent a 
thrill through the Cabinet. Troubles on the 
Continent increased. England's allies were 
routed by the soldiers of France. The prin- 
ciples of the revolution spread to Ulster. 

Protestant volunteers marched through the 
Protestant capital, cheering for the French Re- 
public, and bidding defiance to England. The 
victory of Valmy gave joy to many a northern 
and many a southern heart. Belfast illuminated. 
Dublin illuminated. * Huzza ! huzza ! ' writes 
Tone in his diary, ^ Brunswick and his army are 
running out of France, with Dumouriez pursu- 
ing him. If the French had been beaten, it 
was all over with us.' The government felt 
that the United Irishmen and the Catholics 
were driving in the direction of separation. 
How were they to be stopped ? By a policy of 
conciliation, which would break up the union 
of their forces, satisfying the one and isolating 
the other. So thought Pitt, and, acting on the 
conviction, he resolved to grant the most urgent 
demands of the Catholics. In 1793 they were, 
accordingly, granted their demands formulated 
in 1792, including the parliamentary franchise. 
At the last moment. Tone urged the Catholic 
committee to press for the admission of Catho- 
lics to parliament But Keogh refused to move 
from the line of battle originally drawn up. 
The franchise was within his reach ; he would 



230 IRELAND ti794- 

take it, and bide his time for the rest. ' Will 
the Catholics be satisfied with the franchise?' 
says Tone ; and he adds, ' I believe they will, 
and be damned!' He was disgusted with 
Keogh's moderation, *Sadl sadl' he notes. 
'Merchants, I see, make bad revolutionists.' 

But Tone was not conciliated. No con- 
cession would satisfy him. His goal was 
separation; and he was not checked for an 
instant in his onward course. In 1794 he 
plunged more deeply into treason, and others 
followed or anticipated his example. Measures 
were then taken for re-organising the United 
Irish Society on a rebellious basis. But the 
work of revolution was checked by the arri- 
val of I^rd Fitzwilliam in December 1794. 
He came with a message of peace. He was 
sent to emancipate the Catholics. In February 
1795 a Bill for this purpose was read a first 
time in the House of Commons, practically 
without opposition. The hopes of the people 
were raised to the highest pitch, and then 
they were dashed suddenly to the ground. 
The king revolted at the notion of further 
concessions to the Catholics. Pitt flinched. 
Fitzwilliam was recalled. The policy of con- 
cession was abandoned. An era of terror 
and revolution commenced. Fitzwilliam left 
Ireland on the 25th of March 1795, ^™^^ ^^^ 
sorrow and the blessings of a grateful people. 
On March 31st the new viceroy. Lord Cam- 
den, made his state «ntry though the streets 
of Dublin, amid the angry growls of a sullen 
and despairing multitude. The policy of con- 



1795] TONE LEAVES IRELAND 231 

cession was replaced by a policy of coercion. 
But the work of revolution was not stopped. 
On the contrary, it grew apace under the new 
regime, Camden began his reign by a state 
prosecution. On the 23d of April, the Rev. 
William Jackson, a Protestant clergyman, who 
had been sent in 1794 by the French govern- 
ment on a mission to the United Irishmen, 
was put on his trial for high treason. There 
was a clear case against him, and he antici- 
pated the sentence of the law, dying in the 
dock by his own hand. On May loth the 
United Irish Society became a distinctly re- 
bellious organisation. Soon afterwards Tone, 
who had been in direct communication with 
Jackson, and was under the surveillance of 
the authorities, resolved to leave for America. 
Before departing, he explained his plans to 
the United Irish leaders — Thomas Addis 
Emmet, Thomas Russell, Neilson, Simms, 
M*Cra<ien, and to the Catholic leader, John 
Keogh. In Dublin he saw Emmet and 
Russell. ^ I told them that my intention was, 
immediately on my arrival in Philadelphia, to 
wait on the French minister, to detail to 
him fully the situation of affairs in Ireland, 
to endeavour to obtain a recommendation to 
the French government; and, if I succeeded 
so far, to leave my family in America and 
set off instantly for Paris, and apply, in the 
name of my country, for the assistance of 
France, to enable us to assert our independ- 
ence.* 

A few days later, on the summit of 



232 IRELAND [1796- 

M*Ard's Fort, near Belfast, he, Neilson, 
Simms, M'Cracken and Russell, 'took a 
solemn obligation never to desist in our 
efforts until we had subverted the authority 
of England over our country, and asserted 
our independence.' 

On June 13th, Tone sailed from Belfast 
for America. He was true to the duty he 
had undertaken, and, after a short stay in 
the United States, set out for France. Arriv- 
ing at Havre in January 1796, he immediately 
placed himself in communication with the 
French government, established close rela- 
tions with De La Croix, Camot, General 
Clarke and Hoche, and finally persuaded the 
Directory to send an expedition to Ireland. 

On December i6th 1796, the expedition, 
consisting of forty-three sail, with an army 
of 15,000 men, under the command of Hoche 
and Grouchy, left Brest. Tone, who now held 
the rank of adjutant-general in the French 
service, was on board the Indomptdble. In the 
night the ships were scattered. The Fratemitt^ 
with Hoche on board, never reached Ireland. 
But Grouchy, with thirty-five sail, including 
the Indomptable^ made Bantry Bay on the 
evening of December 21st Tone was in 
favour of landing immediately, but Grouchy 
hesitated, standing off and on the coast, until 
at length the elements warred for England, 
and swept the French fleet firom the Irish 
shore. * It is sad,' says Tone, 'after having 
forced my way thus far, to be obliged to 
turn back; but it is my fate, and I must 



1797] BANTRY BAY 233 

submit Notwithstanding all our blunders, it 
is the dreadful stormy weather and easterly 
winds, which have been blowing furiously since 
we made Bantiy Bay, that have ruined us. 
Well, England has not had such an escape 
since the Spanish Armada, and that expedi- 
tion, like ours, was defeated by the weather ; 
the elements fight against us, and courage 
here is of no avaiL' Buoyant under mis- 
fortune. Tone did not relax his efforts. He 
urged the French government to despatch 
another expedition. He was supported in 
his appeal by del^ates from Ireland, and 
backed by the great influence of Hoche. 
Another expedition was prepared by the 
Dutch Republic in union with France. 

But the Dutch fleet, under De Winter, was 
destroyed by the English fleet, under Duncan, 
at Camperdown, on October nth 1797. A 
month before the battle, Hoche, in whom Tone 
had kindled a real interest for Ireland, died. 

Tone's cup of disappointment was filled to 
the brim, but he did not despair. He applied 
himself with fresh vigour to persuade the 
French government to make one last attempt 
in the cause of Irish freedom. Meanwhile 
events had been moving rapidly in Ireland. 
The policy of coercion had borne fruit. 
Martial law, 'half- hangings,' indiscriminate 
torture, and wholesale oppression and cruelty 
had done their work. The United Irish leaders 
found their ranks filled by a harassed and a 
desperate peasantry. North joined hands with 
south; Qitholic combined with Protestant. 



234 IRELAND ti797" 

The timid and the fearful for very safety 
sought refuge in revolution. The people 
were dragooned into treason. 'Every crime, 
every cruelty that could be committed by 
Cossacks or Calmucks, has been transacted 
here.' So wrote Sir Ralph Abercrombie 
when he took over the command of the 
troops early in 1798. Shortly afterwards he 
was forced to resign. His humanity was too 
great a strain upon the endurance of the 
ascendency faction. 

Grattan and the constitutional party begged 
the government at least to temper coercion 
with concession. But a stem ^non possumus* 
was the only reply. * We have offered you our 
measure ' [Cathohc Emancipation], Grattan said 
to the ministers in the House of Commons in 
1797 ; * you will reject it. Having no hope left 
to persuade or dissuade, and having discharged 
our duty, we shall trouble you no more, and 
from this day we shall not attend the House of 
Commons.' 

As the doors of the constitution closed, the 
path of revolution, opened. In 1796, the 
United Irish Society had become a military 
oi^anisation. Before the spring of 1797 a 
supreme executive had been established in 
Dublin, and provincial directories were formed 
in Ulster and in Leinster. A competent 
military chief had taken command. Lord 
Edward Fitzgerald had joined the rebels. 
Arrangements were pushed forward for an 
insurrection. The Ulster Directory proposed 
the end of 1797 for the rising; the Leinster 



1798] INSURRECTION 435 

Directory the beginning of 1798. The last 
date was fixed upon. But the government 
struck suddenly, and struck hard. Before 
the end of March 1798, all the leaders in 
Ireland, except Lord Edward Fitzgerald and 
M'Cracken, were seized and imprisoned. But 
Fitzgerald and M'Cracken resolved to take 
the field. May 23d was the day appointed 
for the commencement of hostilities; but on 
May 19th Fitzgerald's place of hiding was 
discovered, and, after a desperate resistance, 
he was dragged to jail, surrounded by a 
troop of dragoons.* The insurrection, never- 
theless, broke out on May 24th. 

Left without leaders, the insurgents fought 
wildly and desperately, sometimes rushing 
into excesses, which were, however, exceeded 
by the forces of the king. The rebels overran 
the county of Kildare, and the bordering parts 
of Meath and Carlow. They seized Dunboyne, 
Dunshaughlin and Prosperous, and took posses- 
sion of Rathangan, Kildare, Ballymore, Narragh- 
more. But the troops made a stand at Naas 
and Carlow, drove back their assailants, and 
re-occupied the captured towns. The rebels 
rallied on the hill of Tara, but were once more 
routed and dispersed. On June 7th, M*Cracken, 
with a strong force, attacked the town of An- 
trim. Successful in the first onset, he was 
ultimately repulsed after a fierce battle, and 
some days later, arrested, tried by court-martial, 
and hanged. But the rebels of County Wex- 

^ He died of his wounds in June 1798. 



236 IRELAND [1798 

ford made the stoutest fight of all. Taking the 
field on May 27th, they seized Oulart, marched 
on Ferns, captured Enniscorthy, and occupied 
Wexford itself. In a few days the whole 
county was in their hands, with the exception 
of the fort of Duncannon and the town of New 
Ross. On June 4th, New Ross was attacked. 
The battle raged for ten hours. The town 
was taken and re-taken, but in the end the 
rebels were defeated and forced back on Gorey. 
A few days later they took the offensive again, 
and advanced on Arklow. Reinforcements were 
despatched from Dublin to succour the garrison. 
On June 9th Arklow was attacked. Another 
fierce battle, closing only with sunset, was 
fought. Victory remained still doubtful, when, 
at 8 p.m., the rebel captain was struck down, 
killed by a cannon ball. Then his men, who 
had throughout the day maintained the struggle 
with desperate courage, retreated sullenly, fall- 
ing back once more on Gorey. 

Fresh troops now arrived from England, 
and General Lake, who had succeeded Aber- 
crombie as commander-in-chief, took the field 
in person. On June 21st, the rebel army was 
attacked in its last stronghold on Vinegar Hill, 
and annihilated. The insurgents, retreating 
through the counties of Dublin and Wicklow, 
were hunted down with merciless vengeance. 
'The carnage was dreadful,' wrote Lake to 
Castlereagh ; * the determination of the troops 
to destroy everyone they think a rebel is be- 
yond description.' Before the end of July 
the fire was put out in Wexford. But, before 



1798] 'RACES OF CASTLEBAR' 237 

the end of August, an attempt was made to 
re-kindle it in the west. 

When the news of the insurrection reached 
France, the government, yielding to the im- 
portunities of Tone, resolved to despatch 
another expedition to Ireland. The plan was 
to send detachments from various French ports. 
For this purpose, General Humbert was quar- 
tered at Rochelle with 1000 men; General 
Hardy at Brest with 3000 men; General 
Kilmaine was held in reserve with 9000 men. 
At the last moment the government grew 
dilatory, and Humbert determined to strike 
at once on his own responsibility. Accom- 
panied by Tone's brother, Matthew, and 
another United Irish exile, Bartholomew Teel- 
ing, he left Rochelle towards the middle of 
August, and landed in Killala on the 2 2d of 
the same month. General Lake hastened to 
meet him. A pitched battle was fought at 
Castlebar on August 2 2d. Lake was beaten 
and driven from the field. He retreated so 
rapidly that the battle is to this day known 
as the * Races of Castlebar.' Comwallis, who 
had become viceroy in June, came quickly 
to Lake's help, and forced Humbert to sur- 
render at Ballinamuck on September 8th. 
Matthew Tone and Teeling were arrested, and, 
despite the protestations of Humbert, hurried 
to Dublin and hanged. 

Yet another effort was to be made. On 
September 20th, the last French expedition 
sailed from Brest. It consisted of a fleet of 
one sail of the line, the Hoche (74 guns), eight 



238 IRELAND [1798 

frigates — Loire^ RUolue^ Beilone, Coquille, Em- 
buscade, Immortaliti, Romaine^ Semillanti — and 
one schooner the Biche^ under command of 
Admiral Bompard, and of an army of 3000 
men under General Hardy. Tone was on 
board the admiral's ship the Hoche, As on 
the previous occasion, the ships were scattered 
on the voyage; but, on October loth, Bompard 
arrived at the entrance of Lough Swilly with 
the Hoche^ the Loire^ the Rholue and the 
Biche. He was instantly signalled from the 
shore. At daybreak next morning a British 
squadron, consisting of six sail of the line, 
one razee (60 guns) and two frigates, under 
the command of Sir John Borlase Warren, hove 
in sight. Bompard signalled the French frigates 
and the schooner to retreat, and cleared the Hoche 
for action. A boat from the Bicke came along- 
side the Hoche for last orders. The French 
officers gathered around Tone and urged him 
to escape. 'The contest is hopeless,' they 
said. *We shall be prisoners of war; but 
what will become of you?' He answered, 
* Shall it be said that I fled when the French 
were fighting the battles of my country ? No ; I 
shall stand by the ship.' The British admiral hav- 
ing despatched two sail — ^the razee and a frigate 
— ^to give chase to the Loire and the Rholue^ 
bore down on the Hoche with the rest of 
the squadron. The French ship was sur- 
rounded, but Bompard nailed his colours to 
the mast. For six hours the Hoche stood 
the combined fire of the British ships. Her 
masts were dismantled; her rigging was swept 



1798] ARREST OF TONE 239 

away; the scuppers flowed with blood; the 
wounded filled the cock-pit. At length, with 
yawnmg ribs, with five feet of water in the 
hold, her rudder carried away, her sails and 
cordage hanging in shreds, her batteries dis- 
mounted, and every gun silenced, she struck. 
Tone commanded a battery, and fought like 
a lion, exposing himself to every peril of the 
conflict. The Hoche was towed into Lough 
Swilly, and the prisoners landed and marched 
to Letterkenny. The Earl of Cavan invited 
the French officers to breakfast. Tone was 
among the guests. An old college companion. 
Sir George Hill, recognised him. *How do 
you do, Mr Tone?' said Hill. *I am very 
happy to see you.' Tone greeted Hill cordi- 
ally, and said, *How are you. Sir George? 
How are Lady Hill and your family?' The 
police, who suspected that Tone was among 
the prisoners, lay in waiting in an adjoining 
room. Hill went to them, pointed to Tone, 
and said, * There is your man.' Tone was 
called from the table. He knew that his hour 
had come; but he went cheerfully to his 
dooin. Entering the next apartment, he was 
surrounded by police and soldiers, arrested, 
loaded with irons and hurried to Dublin. 

On November loth, he was put on his trial 
before a court-martial. He said to his judges, 
« I mean not to give you the trouble of bring- 
ing judicial proof, to convict me, legally, of 
having acted in hostility to the government 
of his Brittanic majesty in Ireland. I admit 
the fact From my earliest youth I have re- 



240 IRELAND [i7q8 

garded the connection between Ireland and 
Great Britain as the curse of the Irish nation, 
and felt convinced that, while it lasted, this 
country could never be free nor happy. My 
mind has been confirmed in this opinion by 
the experience of every succeeding year, and 
the conclusions which I have drawn from every 
fact before my eyes. In consequence, I deter- 
mined to apply all the powers which my in- 
dividual efforts could move, in order to separate 
the two countries.' 

He made but one request. He asked to 
be shot like a soldier. The request was refused, 
and he was ordered to be hanged within forty- 
eight hours. On the morning of the 12th of 
November, Curran moved the Court of King's 
Bench for a writ of habeas corpus. 

* I do not pretend,' he said, * that Mr Tone 
is not guilty of the charges of which he is 
accused. I presume the officers were honour- 
able men. But it is stated in this affidavit as 
a solemn fact that Mr Tone had no com- 
mission under his majesty, and therefore no 
court-martial could have cognisance of any 
crime imputed to him whilst the Court of 
King's Bench sat in the capacity of the great 
criminal court of the land. In times when 
war was raging, when man was opposed to 
man in the field, courts - martial might be 
endured; but every law authority is with me, 
whilst I stand upon this sacred and immut- 
able principle of the constitution, that martial 
law and civil law are incompatible, and that 
the former must cease with the existence of 



1798] FATE OF TONE 241 

the latter. This is not, however, the time 
for arguing this momentous question. My 
client must appear in this court. He is cast 
for death this very day. He may be ordered 
for execution whilst I address you. I call 
on the court to support the law, and move 
for a habeas corpus^ to be directed to the 
provost -marshal of the barracks of Dublin 
and Major Sandys to bring up the body of 
Tone. 

Chief Justice. *Have a writ instantly pre- 
pared.' 

Curran. ' My client may die whilst the writ 
is preparing.' 

Chief Justice, *Mr Sheriff, proceed to the 
barracks and acquaint the provost - marshal 
that a writ is preparing to suspend Mr Tone's 
execution, and see that he be not executed.' 

The sheriff hastened to the prison. The 
court awaited his return with feverish sus- 
pense. He speedily reappeared.. 'My lord,' 
he said, *I have been to the barracks in per- 
suance of your order. The provost-marshal 
says he must obey Major Sandys. Major 
Sandys says he must obey Lord Comwallis.' 

Curran. *My lord, Mr Tone's father has 
just returned from serving the writ of habeas 
corpus^ and General Craig says he will not obey 
it.' 

Lord Chief Justice Kilwarden, *Mr Sheriff, 
take the body of Tone into custody, take the 
provost-marshal and Major Sandys into custody, 
and show the order of the court to General 
Craig.' 



242 IRELAND 

The sheriff hastened once more to the prison. 
He returned quickly. He had been refused 
admittance, and was told that Tone had at- 
tempted suicide, and that he lay in a precarious 
state. A surgeon was called to corroborate 
the sheriff's statement. 

Lord Chief Justice, * Mr Sheriff, take an order 
to suspend the execution.' 

At the prison. Tone lay on his pallet, dying. 
On the evening of the nth of November, while 
the soldiers were erecting the gallows before 
his window, he cut his throat with a penknife, 
inflicting a deep wound. At four o'clock next 
morning a surgeon came and closed the wound. 
As the carotid artery was not cut, he said 
that Tone might recover. *I am sorry,' said 
Tone, * that I have been so bad an anatomist.' 
He lingered till the morning of November 19th. 
Standing by his bedside, the surgeon whispered 
to an attendant that if he attempted to move 
or speak he would die instantly. Tone over- 
heard him, and making a slight movement, 
said, * I can yet find words to thank you, sir ; 
it is the most welcome news you can give 
me. What should I wish to live for ? ' Falling 
back with these expressions upon his lips, he 
instantly expired. 

So perished Wolfe Tone. So ended the 
rebellion of 1798.^ 

^ Taken from the Introducdon to the Autobiography of 
Wolfe Tone. New Edition. 




CHAPTER XXII 

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE IRISH CONSTITUTION 

T is often said that England's 
difficulty is Ireland's oppor- 
tunity. But it is equally true 
that Ireland's difficulty is Eng- 
land's opportunity. England 
had the opportunity now, and 
she seized it with effect. In 
the moment of her weakness 
the volunteers had re-established the legis- 
lative independence of their country. In 
the moment of Ireland's weakness, England 
resolved to destroy that independence. She 
had certainly promised that the right of the 
Irish parliament to make laws for the Irish 
people should never again be 'questioned or 
questionable.' But, in flagrant violation of that 
promise, she now determined to take the right 
away. 

243 



244 IRELAND [1798- 

The Irish parliament was in no way re- 
sponsible for the rebellion of '98. On the 
contrary, the class from which it was exclusively 
drawn had done all in their power to suppress 
the rebellion. They were staunchly loyal to' 
England. Nevertheless, England marked the 
Irish parliament for doom. In fact, she had 
never liked the constitution of '82. It had 
been wrung from her by force, and she only 
waited for the opportunity to destroy it The 
opportunity had now come. 

The English minister laid his plans with insidi- 
ous cara He tried to corrupt both Catholics 
and Protestants, and was ready to betray both. 
He told the Catholics that in a legislative union 
lay their only chance of emancipation. An Irish 
Protestant parliament, he said, would be afraid 
to concede their full claims. For as they con- 
stituted three-fourths of the population of 
Ireland, the Protestants would be swamped if 
complete political liberty were given to the 
Catholics. But an English Parliament would 
have none of these fears. The Irish Catholics 
could not swamp the Protestants of England. 
Therefore, an English Parliament could be just 
with safety ; an Irish Parliament could not. 

He next told the Protestants that in a union 
lay the only security for the Protestant Estab- 
lished Church. 'While Ireland's claim to be 
an independent kingdom was allowed, the Pro- 
testants ' he "^aid, 'could not fairly argue that 
the Church of a fourth of the population 
should be the state Church. But,' he urged, 
'if Ireland were by a union merged in the 



1799] BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 245 

larger kingdom, then it might reasonably be 
contended that the Protestant Church, being the 
Church of the vast majority of the Empire, 
should everywhere within the empire be estab- 
lished by law.' But these specious arguments 
produced no effect upon the masses of either 
Catholics or Protestants. They however, in- 
fluenced an important minority in both sects. 
The Catholic Hierarchy were caught in the trap, 
and threw themselves into the arms of the 
minister. But the most that could be got from 
the great Protestant organisation — the Orange 
Society — was a promise that they would not, as 
a body, oppose the proposed measure. Other 
means were, however, soon tried to win the 
support of the Protestant party. Bribery was 
used on a gigantic scale. Money, peerages, 
offices were bestowed with lavish prodigality. 
The minister could not persuade the Protestants. 
He bought them. Twenty-two Irish peerages, 
five English peerages, and twenty promotions in 
the Irish peerage were among the rewards given 
to those who had promised to betray the Irish 
parliament, while not less than a million and 
a quarter sterling was spent in bribing the 
owners of corrupt boroughs, who in fact, held 
the key of the situation. Men of honour who 
stood by their country were dismissed from 
public offices, while every mean and servile 
creature who had a vote to sell was marked out 
for favour and reward. So lavish was the 
corruption that the very corrupters themselves 
grew sick of the * dirty work ! ' * I am kept here,' 
wrote the lord-lieutenant [Lord Cornwallis], *to 



846 IRELAND [1799 

manage matters of a most disgusting nature 
to my feelings. . . . My occupation is now 
of the most unpleasant nature, negotiating and 
iobbing with the most corrupt people under 
heaven. I despise and hate myself every hour 
for engaging in such dirty work. ... It has 
ever been the wish of my life to avoid all this 
dirty business; and I am now involved in it 
beyond all bearing. . . . How I long to kick 
those whom my public duty obliges me to 
court* 

Almost all that was corrupt in Ireland 
supported the Union. Almost all that was 
incorruptible opposed it. The unbribed in- 
tellect of the country, as Mr Lecky has well 
said, was against it. Who cares now to recall 
the speeches of those who defended it; while 
the speeches of those who attacked it are 
remembered not only as the patriotic utterances 
of honest men, but as choice specimens of 
fervent and earnest eloquence. Who is not 
familiar with the masterpieces of Plunket, of 
Bush, of Saurin and of Grattan; but what 
unionist speech is worth recording, if we 
except the rancorous address of the un- 
principled Clare, the common enemy of all that 
was Hberal, enlightened and just, in both 
countries and in all parties. But Plunket, Bush, 
Saurin and Grattan fought in vain. The purse 
of the minister prevailed against the genius of 
the nation. Nevertheless, Irishmen may well 
remember with pride the brilliant though 
unsuccessful efforts of the best and purest of 
her sons to preserve the perishing liberties of 



1799] PLUNKET 247 

their country. ' I will make bold to say,' said 
Plunket, 'that licentious and impious France, 
in all the unrestrained excess which Anarchy and 
Atheism have given birth to, has not committed 
a more insidious act against her enemy than 
is now attempted by the professed champion 
of the cause of civilised Europe against her 
friend and ally in the time of her calamity and 
distress — ^at the moment when our coimtry 
is filled with British troops — when the 
loyal men of Ireland are fatigued and ex- 
hausted by their efforts to subdue the rebelHon 
—efforts in which they had succeeded before 
those troops arrived — whilst the Habeas Corpus 
Act is suspended — ^whilst trials by court-martial 
are carrying on in many parts of the kingdom — 
whilst the people are taught to think they have 
no right to meet or deliberate, and whilst the 
great body of them are so palsied by their fears, 
or worn down by their exertions, that even this 
vital question is scarcely able to rouse them 
from their lethargy — ^at a moment when we are 
distracted by domestic dissensions — dissensions 
artfully kept alive as the pretext of our present 
subjugation and the instrument of our future 
thraldom.' *For centuries,' said Bush, *the 
British parliament and nation kept you down, 
shackled your commerce and paralysed your 
exertions, despised your characters and ridiculed 
your pretensions to any privileges, commercial 
or constitutional. She has never conceded a 
point to you which she could avoid, nor granted 
a favour which was not reluctantly distilled. 
They have been all wrung from her like drops 



248 IRELAND [i799 

of blood, and you are not in possession of 
a single blessing (except those which you 
derive from God), that has not been either 
purchased or extorted by the virtue of your own 
parliament from the illiberality of England.' 
' If a legislative Union,' Saurin said, * should be 
so forced upon this country against the will 
of its inhabitants, it would be a nullity, and 
resistance to it would be a struggle against 
usurpation, and not a resistance against law. 
You may make it binding as a law, but you 
cannot make it obligatory on conscience. It 
will be obeyed as long as England is strong, but 
resistance to it will be in the abstract a duty, 
and the exhibition of that resistance will be a 
mere matter of prudence.' * When I take into 
account,' says Burrowes, 'the hostile feelings 
generated by this foul attempt — by bribery, by 
treason and by force — to plunder a nation of its 
liberties in the hour of its distress, I do not 
hesitate to pronounce that every sentiment of 
affection for Great Britain will perish if this 
measure pass, and that, instead of uniting the 
nations, it will be the commencement of an 
era of inextinguishable animosity.' 

The question of the Union was brought 
before the Irish House of Commons on 
January 22d,'i799. The English minister, 
who was still uncertain of his ground, pro- 
ceeded with extreme caution. He did not 
propose a union point blank, he only asked the 
House to consider the subject of the relations 
between the two countries. But the National 
Party did not allow themselves to be caught 



1799] NATIONAL VICTORY 249 

by this device ; they refused to consider a scheme 
of union in any shape or form. The question, 
they said, was for ever closed by the compact of 
'82, and they would not re-open it. After a 
brilliant debate of twenty hours, the minister 
forced a division and carried his point, but only 
by a majority of one (106 — 105). This was 
virtually a victory for the Nationalists, and they 
improved it a few days afterwards by carrying a 
resolution against the Government by a majority 
of five. Thus the first battle of the Union was 
won by the Nationalists. Dublin was exultant. 
The whole city illuminated. The Nationalist 
members everywhere received an enthusiastic 
ovation. The Unionists were met with exe- 
crations and threatened with violence. Lord 
Clare's house was attacked, the windows were 
broken, the mob was fired on. The rejoicings 
ran into tumult, and the tumult alarmed the 
minister. Baffled and defeated in his first 
attempt, and seeing the excitement of the 
populace, and the hopelessness of carrying the 
question immediately to a successful issue, he 
abandoned it for the session of '99. 

In England the question had fared differently. 
There, towards the end of January 1799, par- 
liament declared in favour of a union by an 
overwhelming majority, and later on the 
English minister said that the question 
should be brought forward again and again 
in the Irish parliament, until it was carried. 

The Irish parliament was prorogued in June 
1799. Then the floodgates of corruption were 
opened, and the country was inundated with 



250 IRELAND [1800 

the bribes and cajolments of the minister. 
Unhappily, the members of the House of 
Commons were not proof against the tempta- 
tions showered upon them, and a majority was 
ultimately secured, by a system of treachery 
and corruption, which has made the union 
between England and Ireland one of the 
most infamous transactions in history. Lord 
Comwallis said, in June 1799, that when he 
found it 'impossible to gratify the unreasonable 
demands of our politicians,' he was reminded 
of the lines in which Swift had lampooned 
another Irish lord-lieutenant, and the system 
of corruption of an earlier date : — 

' So, to effect his monarch's ends, 
From Hell a viceroy devil ascends, 
His budget with corruption cram'd, 
The contributions of the damned ; 
Which, with unsparing hand he strows, 
Through courts and senate as he goes ; 
And then at Beelzebub's black hsdl, 
Complains his budget is too small.' 

Early in January 1800 the chief secretary, 
Lord Castlereagh, had taken pains to increase 
the budget. He wrote urgently to England : — 

*We are in great distress, and I wish the 
transmiss was more considerable than the last. 
It is very important we should not be destitute 
of the means on which so much depends.' 

On the 15th of January 1800, the Irish parlia- 
ment assembled for the last time. The govern- 
ment were not anxious to bring the question on 
immediately; they were not yet quite ready. 



i8oo] THE LAST STRUGGLE 251 

They had, among other things, manipulated the 
borough representation during the recess, so 
that, as a Nationalist member put it, ' A string 
of men who are against the Union are to go out 
[in order] that a string of men who are for it 
may come in ; * and the elections — thirty-nine in 
number — which were to produce this result had 
not yet taken place ! 

But the Nationalists were resolved to force 
the hand of the government ; and, accordingly, 
one of their number — Sir Laurence Parsons — 
raised the question of the Union by moving 
that the independence of the Irish parliament, 
as settled in 1782, should be maintained. A 
debate, which lasted for twenty hours, followed, 
and was signalised by, at least, one striking, 
dramatic scene. 

Grattan had left parliament in 1797, and had 
taken no part in public life since. He spent 
some time in England. His health failed, and 
he took up his residence at the Isle of Wight 
The rebellion of '98 and the project of the 
Union had filled him with anguish and in- 
dignation, and, weighed down by anxiety for 
the future of Ireland, his constitution, never 
very robust, had become seriously enfeebled. 
He returned to Dublin towards the end of 
1799, shattered in body, distracted in mind, and 
utterly prostrated by acute nervous depression. 
He had no wish to enter parliament again. He 
felt that his work was done ; and, overwhelmed 
by the disasters of his country, was indeed 
anxious to die. But, as the day of the final 
struggle approached, his spirit rose under every 



253 IRELAND [1800 

adversity, and he resolved to fling himself into 
the fight and to join his old comrades in their 
last battle for Irish freedom. Just as parlia- 
ment was about to meet, a vacancy occurred in 
the borough of Wicklow. Through the kind 
offices of a friendly sheriff, the election was held 
on the 15th January, and at midnight Grattan 
was declared duly elected. A messenger 
hastened to Dublin to apprise him of the fact 
The scene which followed has been graphically 
described by Mrs Grattan : — 

*The messenger arrived in Dublin about 
five in the morning, when we heard a loud 
knocking at the door. Mr Grattan had been 
very ill, and was then in bed; and, turning 
round, he exclaimed, " Oh ! here they come ; 
why will they not let me die in peace?" 
The question of union had become dreadful 
to him; he could not bear the idea or 
listen to the subject or speak on it with 
any degree of patience. He grew quite wild, 
and it almost drove him frantic. I shall never 
forget the scene that followed. I told him he 
must get up immediately and go down to the 
House ; so we got him out of bed and dressed 
him. I helped him downstairs. Then he went 
into the parlour and loaded his pistols, and I 
saw him put them in his pocket, for he appre- 
hended he might be attacked by the Union 
party and assassinated. We wrapped a blanket 
round him, and put him in a sedan-chair ; and, 
when he left the door, I stood there, uncertain 
whether I should ever see him again. After- 
wards, Mr M*Cann came to me and said that I 



i8oo] GRATTAN'S REAPPEARANCE 253 

need not be alanned, as Mr Grattan's friends 
had determined to come forward in case he was 
attacked, and, if necessary, take his place in 
the event of any personal quarrel. When I 
heard that, I thanked him for his kindness, but 
told him, " My husband cannot die better than 
in defence of his country ! " ' 

Grattan arrived at the House at seven o'clock 
on the morning of the i6th. Thin, weak, ema- 
ciated, he presented a melancholy figure, as, 
dressed in the uniform of the volunteers and 
supported by George Ponsonby and Arthur 
Moore, he tottered to the table to take the 
oaths. The ministers bowed to him. The 
Opposition bowed to him. The occupants of 
the strangers' galleries looked down upon the 
scene with breathless interest, and a thrill of 
excitement ran through the House as the great 
orator and statesman was borne to his place in 
the ranks of the Nationalists. Between seven 
and eight a.m. he rose to speak, but finding 
it impossible to stand, he begged the per- 
mission of the House to address them sitting. 
The request being granted, he then delivered a 
speech of two hours' duration, which, listened to 
at first in breathless silence, was soon inter- 
rupted by rapturous applause, as, inspired by the 
grandeur of his theme, the orator warmed to 
his work, and the old fire and eloquence blazed 
forth, showing that the energies of the mind 
had conquered the feebleness of the body, 
and that, in heart and soul and intellect, Henry 
Grattan was himself again. Clear statement, 
convincing facts, sound constitutional doctrines, 



254 IRELAND [1800 

pungent argument, sparkling epigrams, fierce 
denunciation, ardent appeals to honour and 
consistency filled the speech and electrified the 
audience. Relying upon the compact of '82, 
and reminding the House of the * finality ' of 
that arrangement, he took his stand upon the 
highest ground of constitutional law and poli- 
tical morality, and, condensing the sum and 
substance of his whole address in a single sen- 
tence, said, — * The thing the minister proposes to 
buy is what cannot be sold — ^liberty.' But in 
the face of law and morals it was 'sold' — 
meanly, basely sold ; meanly, basely purchased. 
If, indeed, genius and eloquence could have 
i^ved the Irish parliament, Grattan would have 
saved it. But its fate was sealed. The seductions 
of the minister were proof against the eloquence 
and enthusiasm of the patriot. 

At ten o'clock on the morning of the 16th 
January a division was taken, and the Nation- 
alists were defeated by a majority of forty-two. 
Grattan had spoken to corrupt ears. The 
minister had succeeded beyond his expecta- 
tions. Still the government did not feel sure 
of their mercenary majority. *I trust this 
first success,' wrote the lord-lieutenant, *will 
cement our party ; it is still composed of loose 
materials, much more intent on the personal 
than the public question.' The Moose ma- 
terials' were, however, * cemented,' and on 
February 6th, a motion in favour of the Union 
was carried by a majority of forty-three. 

The final struggle took place on May 26th. 
The Nationalists now knew that their cause 



i8oo] THE UNION 255 

was lost, but they fought to the end, if not for 
victory, for honour, and in the hope that the 
liberties of the country, though crushed for 
the moment, might yet revive under happier 
auspices. *I know,' said Gould, 'that the 
minister must succeed, yet I will not go away 
with an aching heart, because I know the 
liberties of the people must ultimately triumph. 
The people must at present submit because 
they cannot resist 120,000 armed men; but the 
period will occur when, as in 1782, England 
may be weak and Ireland sufficiently strong to 
recover her lost liberties.' 

Grattan made one of his most brilliant efforts, 
and warned the government that the measure 
would bring neither peace nor contentment to 
Ireland, and that the sentiment of nationality 
would survive the destruction of the parlia- 
ment. * The constitution,' he exclaimed, * may 
for a time be lost, but the character of the 
people cannot be lost. The ministers of the 
Crown may perhaps at length find out that it 
is not so easy to put down for ever an ancient 
and respectable nation by abilities, however 
great — or by corruption, however irresistible. 
Liberty may repair her golden beams, and with 
redoubled heat animate the country. The cry 
of loyalty will not long continue against the 
principles of liberty. Loyalty is a noble, a 
judicious and a capacious principle, but in 
these countries loyalty distinct from liberty is 
corruption, not loyalty. The cry of the con- 
nection will not in the end avail against the 
principles of liberty. Connection is a wise and 



256 IRELAND [iSoo 

2l profound policy, but connection without an 
Irish parliament is connection without its 
own principle, without analogy of condition, 
without the pride of honour that should attend 
it — ^is innovation, is peril, is subjugation — ^not 
connection. . . . Identification is a solid and 
imperial maxim, necessary for the preservation 
of freedom, necessary for that of empire ; but 
without union of hearts, with a separate govern- 
ment, and without a separate parliament, identi- 
fication is extinction, is dishonour, is conquest 
— not identification. Yet, I do not give up my 
country. I see her in a swoon, but she is not 
dead. Though in her tomb she lies helpless 
and motionless, still there is on her lips a spirit 
of life, and on her cheek a glow of beauty : — 

** Thou art not conquered : Beauty's ensign yet 
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, 
And death's pale flag is not advancM there." 

'While a plank of the vessel stands to- 
gether, I will not leave her. Let the 
courtier present his flimsy sail, and carry 
the light bark of his faith with every new 
breath of wind, I will remain anchored 
here with fidelity to the fortunes of my 
country, faithful to her freedom, faithful to 
her fall.' 

This was Grattan's last speech in the Irish 
Parliament. At its close, the Union Bill was 
carried by a majority of 44, and on August i, 
1800, it passed into law. So perished the 
Irish constitution. 



i8oo] A LEGACY OP BITTERNESS 2S7 

*In the case of Ireland,' says Mr Lecky, 'as 
truly as in the case of Poland, a national 
constitution was destroyed by a foreign power 
contrary to the wishes of the people. In the 
one case the deed was a crime of violence : 
in the other it was a crime of treachery 
and corruption. In both cases a legacy of 
enduring bitterness was the result' 

Thenceforth Ireland was governed by a Par- 
liament in London, whither she sent a hundred 
representatives. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

O'CONNELL CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION 

tlREE years after the Union 
there was an abortive rising 
in Dublin. It was a flicker of 
the fire of '98, and was quickly 
put out. Robert Emmet, then 
a youth of twenty-four years, 
and the brother of Thomas 
Addis Emmet, one of the 
founders of the United Irish movement, formed 
the design of attacking Dublin Castle and over- 
throwing the government. But before his plans 
were matured, the authorities learned of his 
intentions and prepared to apprehend him. 
Finding that his schemes were foiled and that 
arrest was imminent, he placed himself at the 
head of a small body of men, and saying, 
*Come on, my boys, we may as well die in 
258 



t 


^^-^ 


^A 


m 



18001803] ROBERT EMMET 259 

the street as cooped up here/ led the attack 
on the castle. There was some sharp, de- 
sultory fighting, and the commander of the 
soldiers and several of his men were killed. 
But the insurgents were soon shot down 
and completely dispersed. Emmet was 
arrested, tried and hanged. His project was 
hopeless from its inception. But he had at 
least the courage of his convictions. He 
embarked all his fortune in the desperate 
enterprise, and sealed with his life his 
devotion to his country. *Let no man write 
my epitaph,' he said, in a touching speech 
delivered from the dock, *for as no man who 
knows my motives dares now vindicate them, 
let not prejudice nor ignorance asperse them. 
Let me and them rest in obscurity and peace 
my memory be left in oblivion, and my tomb 
remain uninscribed, until other times and 
other men can do justice to my character. 
When my country takes her place among 
the nations of the earth, then, and not till 
then, let my epitaph be written.' 

His directions were faithfully kept, and to 
this day no scroll or monument marks the 
spot where his remains are buried, but his 
memory is enshrined in the hearts of the 
people; and the present writer has seen 
many a frieze-coated peasant, many a humble 
artizan, many a thoughtful student pass with 
bowed and uncovered head the site of the 
scaflFold on which he died. 

The Catholic question now became the 
question of the hour. 'I cannot leave the 



26o IRELAND [1803- 

[Catholics] as I found them. I have raised 
no unauthorised expectations, and I have 
acted throughout with the sanction of the 
Cabinet.* So wrote Lord Comwallis, re- 
membering tne hopes which had been held 
out to the Catholics at the time of the 
Union; but the English minister left the 
Catholics where he found them. Having 
gained his point, having carried the Union, 
Mr Pitt left the Catholics to their fate. In 
1805 he even refused to present a petition 
to the House of Commons in their favour. 
The petition was, however, presented by 
another great Englishman, Mr Fox, but 
instantly rejected. In 1806 an organisation 
formed in Ireland to promote the Catholic 
cause was put down by the government. In 
1808, 1 8 10 and 181 1, the House of Commons 
again refused to consider the Catholic 
claims, and vigorous means were taken to 
prevent the agitation of the question in 
Ireland. However, in 181 2 and 18 13, the 
House of Commons at length agreed to 
inquire into their complaints. But in 18 14 
another organisation, formed in Ireland to 
press forward their demands, was suppressed; 
and in 181 5 and in 18 16 parliament once 
more refused to consider the question. 

In 18 19, Grattan, who had entered the 
English parliament in 1805, and who devoted 
the remainder of his days to the cause of 
Catholic Emancipation, brought forward the 
subject for the last time, but failed to secure 
the support of the House of Commons. In 



1822] DEATH OF GRATTAN 261 

1820, Grattan died, and the Catholic cause 
was taken up by another great Irishman, Lord 
Plunket 

In 182 1 the House of Commons^ at the 
instance of Plunket, agreed to emancipate the 
Catholics on condition that the Crown were 
given a veto on the appointment of Catholic 
bishops; but the House of Lords would not 
listen to the proposal. 

In 1822, the greatest champion of the 
Catholics in Englsutid, Mr Canning, declared 
their case *to be hopeless,' and in 1823 the 
House of Commons, retreating from the posi- 
tion which it had taken up in 182 1, once 
more rejected their claims by a large majority. 

*The Catholic question,' wrote an English 
statesman of the period, 'is gone to the 
devil' 

But there had now arisen a great Catholic 
tribune, who was destined to bring back the 
Catholic question from perdition by an agitation 
which shook the very empire to its base. 

Daniel O'Connell was bom near Cahersiveen, 
in the County Kerry, on August 6, 1775. 

He was educated abroad at St Omer and 
Douai. In 1793 he returned to Ireland, and 
in 1798 became a member of the Irish Bar. 
His success in his profession was rapid and 
brilliant; but the passion of his life was to 
work out the salvation of his country. He 
had joined the United Irish Society, but took 
no active part in the movement, and, indeed, 
soon came to the conclusion that the cause 
of Ireland could best be served by constitu- 



263 IRELAND [1822 

tional agitation, conducted with spirit and skill, 
and carried on with energy and perseverance. 

The first great question which engaged his 
attention was the Union. He detested the 
measure heartily, and, while strongly opposed 
to separation from England, believed that a 
lasting peace between the two countries could 
only be secured by the maintenance of Irish 
legislative independence, based on complete civil 
and religious freedom. A great meeting of 
Catholics was held in Dublin in 1800 to protest 
against the Union. Here O'Connell made 
his first speech. It had been said by the 
supporters of the English minister that, if the 
Irish parliament were preserved, it would be 
necessary to re-enact the Penal Code in all its 
original severity. But this threat was treated 
by O'Connell with scorn and defiance. *Let 
every man who feels with me proclaim, that 
if the alternative were offered him of union 
or the re-enactment of the Penal Code in all 
its pristine horrors, that he would prefer, with- 
out hesitation, the latter, as the lesser and 
more sufferable evil; that he would rather 
confide in the justice of his brethren, the Pro- 
testants of Ireland, who have already liberated 
him, than lay his country at the feet of 
foreigners. ... I know that the Catholics 
of Ireland still remember that they have a 
country, and that they will never accept of any 
advantages as a sect which would debase and 
destroy them as a people.' 

In 1810 he reiterated these sentiments. 

• Were Mr Percival [the English premier] to- 



i822] POSITION OF THE CATHOLICS 963 

morrow to offer me the repeal of the Union 
upon the terms of re-enacting the entire Penal 
Code, I declare it from my heart, and in the 
presence of God, that I would most cheerfully 
embrace his offer.' 

The position of the Catholics at this time 
was humiliating and deplorable. There was no 
public spirit among them — no national life. 
It was said that you might know a Catholic 
walking through the streets of Dublin by his 
deject^ demeanour and servile appearanca 
The Penal Laws had done their work thoroughly 
— the Catholics were still slaves. In 1793, 
Wolfe Tone and John Keogh had rous^ 
them to action ; had shown them their strength ; 
had taught them to help themselves. But Tone 
was gone, Keogh was a feeble old man, and 
the Catholics, unanimated by any guiding spirit, 
had sunk again into a state of hopeless lethargy. 

Formidable by numbers, but powerless in 
organisation, the English minister felt that he 
could treat them with contempt and contumely. 
O'Connell resolved to change all this. He 
knew that 4,000,000 Catholics, well organised, 
well led and determined to be free, would 
constitute a force which no government could 
afford to despise. To make the Catholics such 
a force, O'Connell now bent all the energies 
of his vigorous mind. But he had to fight 
a great battle with the Catholics themselves 
before he gained the ascendency which made 
him irresistible. In 18 13, Grattan was prepared 
to accept Catholic Emancipation in exchange 
for allowing the English government the privi- 



264 IRELAND [1822 

lege of exercising control in the appointment 
of Catholic bishops. Parliament, indeed, re- 
fused to emancipate the Catholics even on this 
condition, but a great controversy was raised 
over the compromise, which for a time divided 
the Catholics, but ended ultimately in the 
supremacy of (yConnelL 

The English Catholics and the Catholic 
aristocracy in Ireland were in favour of the 
compromise, or the * veto ' as the power given 
to the English government came to be called. 
Even the authority of Rome was thrown into 
the scale in favour of the moderate party. But 
O'Connell declined to accept emancipation on 
what he denounced as degrading terms. He 
would give to no English government the 
power of nominating the Catholic bishops of 
Ireland, and upon this issue he was prepared 
to fight even the Pope himself. *As much 
religion as you like from Rome,' he said, * but 
no politics ; ' and the emancipation of the Irish 
Catholics, he insisted, was a question of Irish 
politics. The controversy lasted for some years, 
but O'Connell drew the Irish Catholic Hierarchy 
and the vast mass of the Irish people to his 
side, and triumphed over all his opponents. 
While withstanding the moderate Catholics on 
the one hand, O'Connell was attacked by the 
extreme Protestant party on the other; but he 
was a match for all. 

In 181 5 he was forced to fight a duel with 
Major D'Esterre, a member of what he had 
described as the beggarly corporation of Dublin. 
It was an anxious moment for Ireland. But 



1823] CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION 265 

O'Connell killed D'Esterre, and passed himself 
unscathed through the conflict^ 

And now in 1823, when the cause of the 
Catholics was darkest he girded himsdf for the 
final struggle with the English Government. 

He founded one of the most remarkable 
political organisations ever formed in these 
islands — ^the Catholic Association. His object 
was to weld the catholics into one compact 
mass, and to place them under his own com- 
mand. He desired, in fact, to raise a great 
constitutional army, and to move it with 
almost military precision against the strong- 
holds of the government He determined 
to sweep every Catholic in the country into 
the new organisation, to establish Catholic 
centres in every county and parish, to dispatch 
Catholic agents throughout every district, and 
to make all subordinate branches of the organi- 
sation subject to the authority of a central 
committee in Dublin, presided over by him- 
self. He stood upon the law, but he bent 
the law to his own will. He kept within the 
constitution, but he used the constitution for 
his own ends. In a word, he fought under 
cover and threw his enemies into indescribable 
confusion. The Catholics flocked into the 
new organisation, and it grew rapidly in power, 
and even in grandeiu-. * Self - elected, self- 

^ This duel produced a deep impression on O'Connell, 
and he never fought one afterwards. In passing 
D'Esterre's house he always uncovered ; and subse- 
quently contributed to the support of that ill-fated 
gentleman's family. 



266 IRELAND [1824- 

constituted, self - assembled, self - adjourned, 
acknowledging no superior, tolerating no equal, 
interfering in all stages with the administration 
of justice, levying contributions, and discharg- 
ing all the functions of regular government, it 
obtained a " complete mastery and control over 
the masses of the Irish people." ' So the Eng- 
lish minister Canning described the Catholic 
Association two years after its establishment 
The struggle now became a fight between the 
government and one man, for it was O'Connell 
who infused life into the Catholics, and whose 
spirit pervaded all classes, and animated the 
whole nation. 

In 1824 the government resolved to prose- 
cute him for sedition, but the prosecution broke 
down, and he became more formidable than 
3ver. In 1825 the authorities made a more 
serious move. They suppressed the Catholic 
Association. But O'Connell immediately 
founded another Catholic Association, the 
same as the first in everything except the 
name. Throughout the years 1826 and 1827 
England did nothing for the Catholics. But 
Ireland was now drifting into revolution. The 
country was surging with discontent. The 
Irish soldiers in the English army could no 
longer be trusted. Under the cover of a 
constitutional agitation, O'Connell had roused 
the spirit of rebellion. The lord - lieutenant 
saw the coming storm, and warned the English 
minister to give way. But the minister stolidly 
refused. Then the agitation was brought to a 
head. In the summer of 1828 an election took 



i828] THE CLARE ELECTION 267 

place in the County Clare. The government 
candidate was Mr Vesey Fitzgerald, president 
of the Board of Trade. Upon the side of 
the Catholics stood O'Connell himself. As 
a Catholic he could not sit in parliament, 
but he resolved to force the hand of the 
government by getting returned for the seat. 
Mr Fitzgerald used soft words and made fair 
promises. But O'Connell said Ireland had 
had enough of these things. *The time is 
come/ he exclaimed, * when the system which 
has been pursued towards this country must be 
put a stop to. It will not do for the future 
to say, "Sweet friend, I wish you well," but 
it must be shown by acts that they do wish us 
well. It is time that this system should be 
put an end to, and I am come here to put an 
end to it.' The election began amid a scene 
of intense excitement. The county was filled 
with troops, for the government apprehended 
tumult and disorder, if not open rebellion. 
But O'Connell kept his forces well in hand. 
He had organised the mighty masses which 
hung upon his breath so that they might over- 
awe the government by their strength and 
discipline, but expose themselves to no un- 
necessary or foolish risks. With the weapons 
of the constitution he had resolved to strike 
down the minister who would not allow the 
Irish people to enter the constitution. At the 
beginning of the election an incident occurred 
which, though slight in itself, showed the 
power of O'Connell and the flow of the tide. 
As O'Connell walked through Ennis to the 



268 IRELAND [1828 

polling station, the streets were lined with 
troops. The people cheered; the enthusiasm 
spread to the soldiers, and a young private, 
stepping out from the ranks in defiance of all 
discipline, rushed to O'Connell, exclaiming, — 
* I care not what may happen to me, I must 
shake the hand of the saviour of my country.* 
The spirit of the youthful soldier was shared by 
his more cautious comrades, who, as the Times 
said, had been 'manifestly inoculated in the 
feelings of those among whom they live, and 
from whom they were taken.' 

The contest lasted for several days. The 
landlords fought upon the side of the govern- 
ment, but their tenants revolted, and voted to 
a man for O'Connell. On July 5 the poll was 
declared ; O'Connell was returned by an over- 
whelming majority. Of course he was not 
allowed to take his seat in Parliament, but 
he had brought the struggle to an issue which 
the mmister could no longer shirk. That 
issue was, in the minister's own words, 'con- 
cession or civil war.' *In the autumn' [of 
1828], said Sir Robert Peel, 'out of a regular 
infantry force amounting to 30,000 men, 
25,000 were stationed either in Ireland or 
on the west coast of England, with a view 
to the maintenance of tranquillity in Ireland. 
I consider the state of things which requires 
such an application of military force much 
worse than open rebellion.' *If we cannot 
get rid of the Catholic Association,' said the 
Duke of Wellington, *we must look to civil 
war in Ireland.' But there was only one way 



i829] CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION 369 

of getting rid of the Catholic Association, and 
that was by emancipating the Catholics. The 
government realised this fact at last, and in the 
spring of 1829 Catholic Emancipation was carried 
triumphantly through both Houses of Parliament 
*I have,' said O'Connell, 'gained a bloodless 
victory more glorious than Waterloo.' Catholics 
were now admitted to parliament, and were 
allowed to hold all military and civil offices, 
except the important posts of regent, of lord 
chancellor, and of lord-lieutenant of Ireland. 

Unhappily for the peace of Ireland, and for 
the establishment of friendly relations between 
the two countries. Catholic Emancipation, 
which was grudgingly granted, was unfairly 
carried out * In 1833, ^0"^ years after Catholic 
Emancipation,' says Mr Lecky, * there was not 
in Ireland a single Catholic judge or stipen- 
diary magistrate. All the high sheriffs, with 
one exception, the overwhelming majority of 
the unpaid magistrates and of the grand jurors, 
the five inspectors-general, and the thirty sub- 
inspectors of police, were Protestants. . . . 
For many years promotion had been steadily 
withheld from those who advocated Catholic 
Emancipation, and the majority of the people 
thus found their bitterest enemies in the 
foremost places.' 

O'Connell was marked out for special repro- 
bation, and the English minister and the English 
press regarded him as a public enemy with 
whom no terms should be made or kept The 
measure was also accompanied by a flagrant act 
of injustice which left bitter recollections be- 



270 IRELAND [1829 

hind. The forty-shilling freeholders^ who had 
won the battle of emancipation were at once dis- 
franchised. Thus the concession of Catholic 
Emancipation was wanting in the grace and 
generosity which inspire gratitude, affection and 
respect It brought no peace, it effaced no 
memories, and it served to keep alive the feel- 
ing that everything was to be got from Eng- 
land's fear ; nothing from her justice. 

The logical outcome of Catholic Emancipa- 
tion should have been the immediate abolition 
of the tithes which the Catholic population 
paid to the Protestant State Church. But the 
government resolved to uphold the tithe system 
in defiance of the popular demands. The 
result was a fierce agitation, which culminated 
literally in a peasants' war.* 

^ In 1793 the franchise was extended to Catholic 
tenants * who paid a freehold rent ' of forty shillings. 
These tenants voted generally at the bidding of their 
landlords. But at the Clare election they revolted, and 
were punished accordingly. 

^ It may be noted that in 183 1 national schools were 
established in Ireland. These schools, supported by 
parliamentary grants, were open alike to Catholics and 
Protestants. Four days in the week were to be devoted 
to moral and literary, and one or two days to separate 
religious instruction. A Board, composed partly of 
Catholics and partly of Protestants, were given the entire 
control of the system. 





CHAPTER XXIV 

THE TITHE WAR.^ 

N 1830 the population of Ireland 
consisted of 7,943,940 persons, 
of whom 852,064 were Episco- 
palian Protestants; 642,356 
were Presbyterians, and 21,808 
members of other forms of Pro- 
testant dissent; the Catholics 
numbered 6,427,712 souls. 
The Church of the 800,000 Protestant Episco- 
palians was established and endowed, the Church 
of the 600,000 Presbyterians was endowed but 
not established, the Church of the 6,000,000 
Catholics was neither established nor endowed, 
the 21,000 Protestant dissenters maintained 
their churches by voluntary contributions. The 
800,000 Protestant Episcopalians belonged to 
the wealthy, the 6,000,000 Catholics to the 
poorest classes. The latter supported their 

^ Abridged from Fifty Years of Concessions to Ireland, 
271 



272 IRELAND [1830 

clergy according to their means, with gener- 
osity ; the former had theirs supported for them 
by the State, and by the Papists, who were 
forced to pay tithes to the Protestant Estab- 
lishment. The places of worship of the one 
body were, comparatively speaking, well-built, 
commodious edifices, attended by scant con- 
gregations ; the places of worship of the other 
were ill-raised structures, utterly inadequate to 
supply the wants of the people, who, in hun- 
dreds and thousands, flocked on the Sabbath 
to their doors. 

* On an Irish Sabbath morning,' says Sydney 
Smith, * the bell of a neat parish church often 
summons to worship only the parson and an 
occasionally - conforming clerk, while, two 
hundred yards off, a thousand Catholics are 
huddled together in a miserable hovel, and 
pelted by all the storms of Heaven.' 

In 1830, O'Connell, and a great Catholic 
bishop, Dr Doyle, opened fire on the tithe 
system. In a memorable sentence, for which 
he was much censured at the time, Dr Doyle 
struck the key-note of the new agitation. * Let 
your hatred of tithes,' he said, 'be as lasting as 
your love of justice.' In October 1830, the 
tithe war began. Mr Macdonald, the Pro- 
testant curate of Graigue — a. parish containing 
4000 Catholics and 63 Protestants — contrary 
to the general practice of the clergy of 
the Established Church, demanded tithes of 
the Catholic priest, Father Doyle. Father 
Doyle refused to pay, and Macdonald seized 
his horse. The news of this demand and 



iSjpl GRAIGUE sn 

setzme qnicklj spreatA. tbmo^toot the poiisliy 
and the peasantiy, nDying romid the priest, 
struck against the payment of thhes. In 
Februaiy 1831, steps vere taken to enforce 
the law. Cokmei Sir John Harvey, die resi- 
dent magistiate of the district, coDected a 
strong force of militaiy and police^ and with 
them seized the vantage points of the paiish. 
The Tillage at Graigne, which lies in a beauti- 
folly situated valley on the banks of the Bar 
row, was occupied by a body of 350 pcdice. 
Thomastown was held by a troop of the ist 
Dragoon Guards, and Gowian by a detachment 
of the 2ist Fusiliers. Altogether, Colond 
Hairey had at his disposal a force of 600 mexu 
In March * hostilities ' commenced. Colonel 
Harvey's plan of campaign was this: he 
determined to make a raid on all the catde in 
the vicinity of Graigue, and to move the whole 
lot off under an escort so strong that the 
peasants would not dream of resistance, and 
that the law might thus be enforced without 
any risk of bloodshed. The peasants were 
well aware of the strength of Colonel Harvey's 
force, and also shrewdly suspected what the 
plan of attack would be. They accordingly 
resolved to take great precautions to saf^^ard 
the cattle, and they knew so much of the law 
as to be aware that cattle placed under lock 
and key could not be seized. Their plan of 
defence, dierefore, was to * hurry* the cattle off 
the moment the military and police should 
come up, and to place them in legal security. 
The better to carry out this plan, the cattle 



274 IRELAND [1830 

were collected in groups at various points 
around the village, sentinels were placed in 
charge of them, directions were given to have 
Colonel Harvey closely watched ; and the * moi 
^ordre ' was issued that the moment his force 
appeared a general rush should be made for 
the cattle-folds, and the cattle swept under 
cover before the military and police arrived. 
Colonel Harvey, on his part, caused a sharp 
look-out to be kept on the movements of the 
peasants, and directed that the first favourable 
opportunity should be seized for taking them 
by surprise. 

On the 3d of March, having heard that all 
was qqfbt in the valley of Graigue, that the men 
were at work ploughing in the fields, the women 
engaged in various avocations, and perfect 
peace and stillness prevailing everywhere, 
Colonel Harvey gave orders to advance. The 
police and soldiers moved rapidly up the hills 
by which the valley is surrounded, but before 
they had reached the summits their attention 
was arrested by the blowing of horns, the 
ringing of chapel bells, the shouting and 
whistling of men, and all the sounds of a great 
commotion. On reaching the summits, they 
looked upon a lively and an exciting scene. 
The men had unyoked their horses from the 
ploughs, and were galloping off at a great speed 
in all directions over the plain. Thousands of 
peasants, mounted and on foot, were seen 
dashing into the valley and filling up the 
spaces through which the troops had to pass to 
reach the points where the cattle were known 



i830] GRAIGUE 275 

to be collected. The women rushed after the 
men, making for the houses and hurrying 
before them the children, who, screaming and 
yelling, joined in the general chase. The 
position of affairs was clear at a glance; the 
peasants were hastening to the improvised 
cattle-folds for the purpose of placing their 
flocks securely under lock and key. To inter- 
cept their movements and to reach the cattle- 
folds before them, the troops set off in full 
chase, helter skelter. An exciting and an 
amusing race ensued, but the peasants won. 
When Colonel Harvey's men reached the 
cattle-folds there was not so much as a pig to 
be seen — except under lock and key. During 
the manoeuvres of the military and the defensive 
operations of the peasants not an angry word 
passed, not an expression of ill-will was inter- 
changed. Indeed, to Colonel Harvey and the 
military, the whole scene appeared supremely 
ludicrous and painfully undignified. When the 
* engagement ' was over, many of the peasants 
came up to the magistrate and said, * We wish 
no harm to the soldiers and police, colonel, 
and we don't want to do them any harm, but 
we will not pay any tithes ever again, and we 
will resist always as we resisted to-day.' For 
two months Colonel Harvey, with his force 
of 600 men, persevered in his efforts to collect 
Mr Macdonald's tithes^ and at the end of that 
period he had succeeded in collecting precisely 
one-third of the amount due by the whole 
parish. He then desisted and early in May 
withdrew his little army, leaving the peasant? 



276 IRELAND [1831 

of Graigue in the peaceful enjoyment of their 
victory. 

The example of Graigue was quickly followed 
throughout the counties of Kilkenny, Carlow, 
Wexford and Tipperary, and the strike against 
tithes soon became general. On the i8th of 
June, some cattle seized for tithe by the Rev. 
Alexander M*Clintock, rector of Newtown- 
Barry, were put up for sale. The people 
had collected in large numbers to prevent 
the sale, and to make a demonstration generally 
against the tithe system. On the cattle being 
brought out under an escort of police, the mob 
charged the police, seized the cattle, and carried 
them off in triumph. The police promptly 
rallied, charged the mob, and recaptured the 
cattle. The peasantry apparently determined 
not to be baffled in their designs, quickly col- 
lected again, and crowded upon the police and 
sheriff's officers. The resident magistrate in 
charge, feeling alarmed at what he considered 
the threatening attitude of the peasants, called 
out a division of the yeomanry, mustering 190 
men, each man being provided with fifty rounds 
of ball cartridge. Who began the encounter 
which ensued, it is difficult to say. Some 
assert that the yeomanry were at once received 
by the people with a volley of stones ; others 
declare that the attitude of the people was 
perfectly passive when the yeomanry fired on 
them. The one thoroughly well authenticated 
fact is, that the appearance of the yeomanry 
was followed by a most sanguinary conflict — 
the people (who were without firearms) assail- 



1831] NEWTOWN-BARRY 277 

ing the yeomen with stones, sticks and slanes, 
the yeomen charging the people with fixed 
bayonets, and pouring into them a steady and 
well-directed fire. The conflict was soon over. 
Twelve of the peasants were almost instantane- 
ously shot dead, and twenty fatally wounded. 
The yeomen escaped almost scathless. The 
mob were eflfectually dispersed, but the sale of 
the cattle was not carried out. The people 
succeeded in their immediate design, but at a 
high cost. 

On the 26th of December 1830, a large 
gathering of people collected around the house 
of Dr Hamilton, the rector of Knocktopher — 
a gentleman not unpopular in the parish 
(where the Catholics were as forty to one to 
the Protestants), though his tithes were ' set 
high,' and regularly exacted. Dr Hamilton 
despatched one of his servants to learn their 
business, and they sent back word, saying, 
*We want a reduction of tithes; we want to 
see Dr Hamilton.' Dr Hamilton refused to 
see them, declaring that he would hold no 
intercourse with a mob which had approached 
his house in a threatening manner. 'But,' 
he added, *I am prepared to receive a 
respectable deputation from the tithe-payers; 
and if such a deputation will wait upon me 
this day week, I shall hear what they have to 
say.' 

The peasants expressed themselves quite 
satisfied with this proposal, and peaceably 
withdrew. On the 3d of January 1831, a 
deputation, consisting of twelve of the most 



278 IRELAND [1831 

respectable tenant-farmers of the neighbour- 
hood, waited on Dr Hamilton, who was 
attended on the occasion by Colonel Harvey, 
Mr Greene the resident magistrate of the 
district and others. 

Dr Hamilton received the deputation in an 
apparently irritated and a petulant mood. 
*What do you want?' he said, when they 
were ushered in. 'Are you tired of me? 
Do you want to get rid of me?' *No, your 
reverence,' the deputation replied, 'we are 
not tired of you; we would never get a 
better. You have lived amongst us, and 
spent your income amongst us. All we want 
is a reduction. The people are determined 
on it, and we b^ you to consent to a small 
reduction.' ' I have lived among you,' answered 
Dr Hamilton, *for thirty-five years. Have I 
during that time done any act of harshness 
towards you?' 'No, your reverence; but at 
the same time, sir, you are drawing from us 
in tithe j^iyoo a year, and your reverence's 
fother drew only ^^350.' ' Yes,' said Hamilton, 
'but it is not more than the value of the tithe.' 
'But, sir, what value do you give us for the 
tithe ? ' 'I tell you what it is,' said Hamilton, 
evading this question, 'you are refusing to 
pay tithes now; you will refuse to pay rents 
by-and-by.* 'There is a great difference, sir,* 
retorted the spokesman of the deputation, 
'between tithes and rents. We get some 
value for the rents ; we get the land, anyway, 
for them. But we get no value at all for the 
tithes. We pay our own clergy, and we have 



iSjil CARRICKSHOCit 2>9 

not any business with any other.* * Well, and 
what reduction do you want ? ' said the rector, 
coming ultimately to the point. The deputa- 
tion answered that they would be satisfied 
with a reduction of five per cent, but this 
reduction Hamilton firmly declined to make. 
After some further conversation and argument, 
the deputation withdrew, having failed com- 
pletely in the object of their visit As they 
were leaving, they said to Colonel Harvey, 
who enjoyed the privilege, rarely possessed by 
English officials in Ireland, of commanding 
popular confidence, * Colonel, if his reverence 
will give us the five per cent, reduction, he 
will be paid every shilling of his tithes; if 
he does not, he will not get a farthing of 
them.' 

The deputation having failed. Colonel Har- 
vey, as was his wont, endeavoured to negotiate 
a friendly arrangement or compromise between 
the parson and the tithe-payers, but without 
success. 

It may be stated that in Knocktopher, as 
at other places, the peasantry were divided 
into two parties — ^a moderate party and an 
extreme party — the one willing to pay on 
certain conditions, the other indisposed to 
pay at all. The immediate effect of the 
failure of the deputation — which represented 
the moderate section — was to throw Uie parish 
completely into the hands of the extreme men 
(who were led by a hedge schoolmaster, an 
old United Irishman), and this circumstance, 
conjoined with Dr Hamilton's stubborn resolve 



28o IRELAND [1831 

not to grant a reduction, led to the breakdown 
of the negotiations opened by Colonel Harvey. 

In March, as there was no prospect of a 
settlement, and as the peasantry manifested a 
stronger determination than ever not to give 
way, Dr Hamilton wrote to Colonel Harvey 
requesting that strong measures should be 
taken to put the law in execution. ' A 
military force,' he said, * ought to be sent to 
collect the tithes. . . . The people are in a 
state of rebellion. . . . They ought to be 
compelled to pay.' But Colonel Harvey does 
not seem to have been inclined to take strong 
measures to * compel the people to pay.' His 
view appears to have been that measures ought 
rather to be taken to alter than to enforce the 
law. 'The people,' he says, writing to the 
under - secretary at Dublin Castle, in March, 
the very day on which he received Hamilton's 
letter, * are quieter, but still looking for legisla- 
tive relief.' And again in April he writes, * I 
am of opinion that nothing but legislative 
enactment — in other words, a change in the 
law — ^will allay the agitation.* As Colonel 
Harvey showed no disposition to place a 
military force at the service of Dr Hamilton 
to enable him to collect his tithes, Dr Hamil- 
ton communicated directly with the Castle, 
asking for advice and assistance. The Castle 
advised that legal proceedings should be taken 
against the tithe-payers, and promised to pro- 
vide whatever forces might be requisite for 
carrying out the law. 

In November 1831, the legal proceedings 



1831] CARRICKSHOCK 281 

advised by the Castle were commenced, and 
tithe processes issued. In December, the 
business of process-serving began. On the 
1 2th of that month, a process-server, named 
Butler, accompanied by a police force num- 
bering thirty-nine men, under the command 
of Mr Greene, resident magistrate, and Captain 
Gibbons, sub-inspector, set out on his mission. 
The peasants, who had collected in small 
batches, followed the police and process-server 
from point to point on their march, but made 
no effort to impede their progress. Many pro- 
cesses were served, and the police and process- 
server retired safely after their day's work 
without let or hindrance from the people. On 
the 13th, the work was resumed, and Dr 
Hamilton himself rode out in the morning to 
learn what progress had been made. He met 
Captain Gibbons, and received all particulars 
from him. *We got on excellently yesterday,' 
said the chief of the police; 'not the slightest 
interruption from anyone.' *I hope you will 
get on peacefully to-day also,' said Dr Hamilton, 

* and I trust that there will be no collisions with 
the people, and above all, no bloodshed.' * Oh, 
there is no fear of that,' said Captain Gibbons, 

* I have got a force which could disperse any 
Irish mob.' Dr Hamilton felt reassured, and 
the work of process-serving was peacefully 
carried out on the second day as it had been on 
the first. The peasants, however, had collected 
in larger numbers than on the previous occasion, 
and followed the proceedings of the police with 
many expressions of irritation and hostility. As 



282 tRELAND ti^3l 

the latter were returning homewards in the 
evening, the peasants crossed their line of 
march in large numbers, and blocked the way. 
The police halted. The leader of the peasants, 
' a man in a kind of military uniform, and wear- 
ing a sash,' stepped forward and said, ' Things 
passed off quietly yesterday, and they passeid 
off quietly to-day, but they won't pass off quietly 
to-morrow if you begin at this work again ; so 
we warn you in time.' He then retired, the 
peasants dispersed, and the police marched on 
without further interruption. 

On the morning of the 14th, the process- 
server and the police set out once more in the 
discharge of their duties. They had not pro- 
ceeded far on their way, when the blowing of 
horns and the ringing of chapel bells were 
heard, and the peasants were seen gathering in 
hundreds to the summons, coming armed with 
sticks, pitchforks, slanes, and scythes. The 
man in the semi-military uniform and the sash, 
who had confronted the police on the previous 
evening, was conspicuous as their leader. 

The police held on their course, having taken 
precautions to guard themselves against attack, 
while the peasants steadily followed them from 
place to place, marching in divisions and in 
quasi-military order. Some hours passed, and 
several processes were served without peasants 
and police coming into collision. Between one 
and two p.m. the police turned in the direction 
of the hamlet of Higginston to finish up their 
three days' work, and serve the remainder of 
the processes. On the line of march to Higgins* 



1S31I CARRICKSHOCIt 183 

ton, Captain Gibbons chose his way through a 
narrow defile or pass, with high stone walls on 
either side. This defile is known in the neigh- 
bourhood by the name of Carrickshock. A 
worse line of march than that through the pass, 
or, as the peasants call it, the * boreen ' of Car- 
rickshock, could not. Colonel Harvey said, be 
taken. On the other hand, Mr Greene said the 
line of march was excellently chosen for defen- 
sive purposes. But, be the question of ill or 
well choosing of the line of march as it may, 
Captain Gibbons had scarcely reached the 
middle of the * boreen ' when the blowing of 
horns was again heard, and before the chief of 
the police could realise the situation, the 
peasants seized the entrances to the pass with a 
rush, and thronged along the stone walls. Their 
leader then advanced to Captain Gibbons, who 
was mounted, and said, *We don't want to 
harm the police. We want the process-server. 
Give him up to us and we won't interfere with 
the police at all' Gibbons answered, * I shall 
not give him up. It is my duty to protect him, 
and I shall do my duty.' The peasant, in 
reply, urged that the people were determined to 
have the process-server, and would not go away 
without him. After some further conversation. 
Gibbons expressed his willingness to give up 
the work of process-serving for the day, provided 
the people dispersed. 

The peasant replied that the police might 
do anything they liked if they gave up the 
process-server. 'That,' said Gibbons; 'is out 
of the question.' The parleying then ceased. 



284 IRELAND [1831 

The peasant returned to his own party, and 
Gibbons ordered his men to march forward. 
As the police advanced, the leader of the 
peasants, backed by his followers, once more 
confronted Gibbons, demanding the surrender 
of the process-server. Gibbons again firmly 
declined, and called on the peasants to give 
way and let the police pass on. The peasants 
refused to yield an inch of ground until 
the process- server was surrendered, declaring 
their determination to put down the tithe 
system. Gibbons then ordered his men to 
'present arms,' and placing himself at their 
head, gave the word *fire,' at the same time 
drawing his revolver and shooting the leader 
of the peasants. The police fired with effect, 
and many of the peasants fell killed or 
wounded. But the police fire was quickly re- 
turned by a volley of stones from the ranks of 
the peasants, and Gibbons, struck on the 
temple by one of these missiles, dropped from 
his horse dead. The peasants then rushed 
straight for the police, and a desperate hand- 
to-hand conflict ensued, the former using their 
scythes, slanes, and pitchforks; the latter 
charging with the bayonet. 

The conflict lasted for about an hour, and 
resulted in the complete rout and almost total 
annihilation of the police force, eleven of whom 
were killed and seventeen wounded. The 
casualties among the peasantry were also serious. 
The news of this unfortunate affray soon 
spread throughout the country, creating conster- 
nation and panic in Ascendency and official 



1832] DOON 28s 

circles. The Protestant bishops immediately 
issued directions to the clergy not to press for 
the payment of tithes until parliament had 
dealt with the subject, and the Castle acqui- 
esced in the adoption of the policy of prudent 
restraint so advised. A truce was accordingly 
granted. 

But parliament would not concede the popular 
demands, and the 'truce' came to an end in 
April 1832. In that month the Rev, J. Coote, 
rector of Doon, in the County Limerick, 
imitating the example of Mr Macdonald 
of Graigue, had, contrary to the practice 
of the Ascendency clergy, demanded tithes 
of the parish priest of the district. The 
priest refused to pay, and Mr Coote seized 
his cow. The 1 7th of April was fixed for the 
sale of the cow. It may safely be said that 
never before or since has a cow been sold 
under similar circumstances of distinction. 
Two pieces of artillery, sixty men of the 12 th 
Lancers, and five companies of the 92d 
Highlanders, with a strong force of police, 
escorted the unfortunate animal to the place 
of sale, where not less than 4000 peasants 
had assembled to witness the sight. Amid 
a scene of great excitement and uproar, 
the cow was ultimately 'knocked down' 
to the priest's brother for a sum of twelve 
pounds. The military then retired, leaving 
the village in the hands of the police. But 
the soldiers had scarcely proceeded a mile 
outside of the village, when the peasants, armed 
with sticks and slanes, attacked the police in 



286 IRELAND [1832 

force, driving them into their barrackB for 
shelter, or hunting them out of the town. A 
mounted orderly was at once despatched to 
recall the troops, who quickly returned, the 
Lancers leading the way. Unawed by the 
presence of so formidable an array of 'horse, 
foot, and artillery,' the peasants fell on the 
Lancers, pouring volley after volley of stones 
into them, inflicting serious injuries on the 
commanding officers. The Lancers promptly 
charged, scattering the peasants, who had 
pushed close up to them, in all directions. But 
the main body of peasants still evinced a de- 
termination to hold their ground and to renew 
the conflict, when the Highlanders came up 
and opened fire on them. The peasants, many 
of whom had been wounded, then retreated, 
and order reigned in Doon. 

On the 5th of September the Rev. Mr 
Gavin, rector of Wallstown, proceeded with a 
staff of valuers to value for tithes the lands in 
his parish. Parson Gavin and his staff were ac- 
companied by a party of police, a detachment 
of the 92d Highlanders, and a detachment of 
the 14th Foot; the whole force bcnng under 
the command of one admiral, two generals, 
and three magistrates — ^Admiral Evans, General 
Barry, General Annesley, Gerald Nagel, Brazier 
Gray, and George Bond Low. It may be 
observed that the population of Wallstown 
consisted of 3163 Catholics and one Protest- 
ant. Having valued a few farms without 
interruption, Mr Gavin and his imposing 
escort arrived about noon on the lands of 



1832] WALLSTOWN 287 

a 'strong* fanner named Blake. Blake seems 
to have been informed that his land could 
not be legally valued, as the crops upon it were 
growing crops. Blake gladly availed himself 
of the legal point thus suggested, to make a 
demonstration against the tithe system. He 
collected a force of about 500 peasants, and 
posted them at the foot of a hill, upon its 
summit, and around it, thus occupying a com- 
manding position. With about 200 men he 
himself, accompanied by a man named Doyle 
(who seems to have been practically the leader 
of the insurgents), took his stand on the right 
of the hill, commanding one of two by-roads 
which led from the main thoroughfare into his 
farm. On the left side of the hill, at some 
distance from Blake's party, and commanding 
the other by-road, about 150 peasants were 
placed, under the leadership of a man named 
Ryan. In the fields of another farm, which 
was separated from Blake's land by the main 
road, more peasants were placed, clearly with 
the design of hanging on the rear of any hostile 
force which might move along the road. The 
peasants were armed with sticks, slanes, reap- 
ing-hooks and pitchforks. They were also 
supplied, though not very plentifully, with 
stones. Having arrived at the gate opening 
into Blake's farm. Admiral Evans (who was 
chief in command of the police and soldiers) 
halted. Observing the position and attitude of 
the peasants, the admiral held a council of 
war, and it was decided that the police and 
Highlanders, under the command of General 



288 IRELAND [1832 

Annesley, should enter the farm, and that the 
14th, under the direction of Lieutenant Grier- 
son and the magistrates, should remain on the 
high road to watch the peasants in the rear, and 
to await orders. While the admiral was hold- 
ing a council of war, Blake advanced to the gate 
and asked what the soldiers and police wanted. 
* We have come,' said the admiral, * with the 
Rev. Mr Gavin to see the valuation quietly 
carried out, and I hope there will be no 
resistance, and that you will ask the peasants 
to disperse.' Blake answered, ' I will not, sir, 
if I can, allow my land to be valued for the 
tithe.' * But we are determined that the valua- 
tion shall be carried out and the law obeyed ; 
open the gate quietly and let us in.' *I will 
not open the gate,' said Blake, *and if the 
valuers come on the land we'll drive them off.' 
Blake then withdrew and joined the peasants 
at the hillside. Admiral Evans ordered the 
gate to be forced open. This being done, the 
police and the Highlanders entered, and took 
up their position in the field facing the hill, 
where peasants were stationed. The police 
were placed in the front rank, and the High- 
landers, under General Annesley, ordered to 
form squares a short distance behind them. 
Having made his dispositions. Admiral Evans 
rode up to the peasants and called upon them 
to disperse. 

* Let us have no disturbance,' he said ; * do 
not attempt to resist the law.' * We will resist,' 
said Doyle, who now stood at the head of the 
peasants ; * we won't yield a foot but by force.' 



1832] WALLSTOWN 289 

* I beg of you,' urged the admiral, * not to be 
so obstinate. I will go on my knees to b^ of 
you to retire.' * It will do you no good,' said 
Doyle ; * lives will have to be lost on some side 
before the valuation is carried out to-day.' 

* You leave me no alternative,' said the admiral. 

* I must now read the Riot Act.' He then 
read the Act, and said, ' I now call upon you, in 
the name of the law, to disperse.' The peasants 
shouted back, * We won't. No tithes ! No 
church ! No minister ! No bye-laws 1 ' Evans 
then returned to his men, and in a loud voice 
gave the order to * Prime and load ; ball cart- 
ridge.' *I gave this order in a loud voice,' 
Admiral Evans subsequently said, * in the hope 
that the peas£tnts would be frightened at the 
sound of the " ball cartridge," but they remained 
unmoved.' Evans next directed the valuers to 
go forward and commence their work. The 
valuers did so, but when they had gone some 
way from the soldiers and police, a handful of 
peasants rushed at them, driving them right out 
of the field on to the roadway. Admiral Evans 
then said to General Annesley, 'There is no- 
thing for it ; I must fire.' Instructions were next 
sent by General Annesley to Lieutenant Grier- 
son to work round to the rear of the peasants, 
driving the men in the fields across the road 
before him, and dispersing Ryan's party, by 
whom the flank of Doyle's * division ' was pro- 
tected. While these instructions were being 
carried out by Grierson, the peasants, under 
Doyle, had thrown themselves into a position of 
attack, the pitchforks being, to use Lieutenant 



290 IRELAND [1832 

Grierson's words, 'presented at the charge. 
* For the last time I call upon you to disperse,' 
shouted Admiral Evans from his place at the 
head of the police. * Never,' shouted back 
Doyle from his place at the head of the peas- 
ants. 'Present arms — fire,' said the admiral, 
repeating the last words thrice. The police 
fired, but not apparently with very much effect 
The fire was almost immediately returned by 
a volley of stones, and then Doyle, placing 
himself at the head of his men, roared, * Now, 
boys, at them ! Hurrah for O'Connell ! Faugh 
a ballagh 1 ' ^ In a moment, and with a spring, 
the peasants were upon the police, who, sur- 
prised by the quickness and audacity of the 
attack, gave way, and Doyle and his followers, 
cutting boldly through their ranks, suddenly 
came face to face with the Highlanders. Doyle 
was a prudent fellow, and quickly shouted to 
his comrades, 'Back, back;' whereupon the 
peasants halted in front of the squares. For a 
moment there was a pause. In the centre of 
one of the squares, apparently in a place of 
assured safety, sat Parson Gavin, on horseback. 
One of the peasants, catching sight of him, 
seized a reaping-hook, to which a long cord was 
attached, and flinging it with much dexterity 
straight for the rector, landed it securely on his 
reverence's neck. This successful feat was re- 
ceived with a burst of cheers and laughter from 
the peasants. The peasant of the reaping-hook 
tugged vigorously at the cord, almost pulling 

^ Clear the way. 



1832] WALLSTOWN 291 

the rector, who had grasped the cord at the 
other end to ease the pressure of the hook on 
his neck, from his horse. For a minute the 
rector's rieck was in serious peril. Then a 
Highlander dashed forward and struck the 
peasant, who had advanced far beyond his own 
ranks in the struggle, to the ground with the 
butt-^nd of his musket. The next moment the 
Highlander was felled with a blow from a 
stone. The owner of the reaping-hook, who 
had regained his legs, rushed at the prostrate 
Highlander, and, seizing his gun, was bearing 
it off in triumph, when the Highlander's 
comrade sprang forward and ran the peasant 
clean through the body with his bayonet 
*Now, boys, at them again,' shouted Doyle; 
and the peasants recklessly flung themselves on 
the squares. Meanwhile Grierson had come up 
with Ryan's party, and was successfully attack- 
ing them. Urged by the magistrates to fire, he 
refused to do so, but very reluctantly chaiged 
the peasants with the bayonet. The peasants 
stoutly resisted. The magistrates again called 
upon Grierson to fire, and Grierson again 
refused. The magistrates then rushed in among 
the soldiers, and, on their own responsibility, 
shouted vigorously, *Fire, fire, fire.' The 
soldiers fired one round, and with effect. The 
peasants, fighting and returning the fire of the 
soldiers with volley after volley of stones, 
retreated up the hill, falling further and 
further away firom Doyle's party. That party, still 
struggling with the Highlanders, now beheld the 
defeat of Ryan, and saw Grierson's soldiers 



092 IRELAND [1832 

advancing upon themselves. Thus taken on the 
flank by the men of the 14th, while the High- 
landers were pressing them home in front, the 
peasants broke and fled, leaving Parson Gavin 
the victor of the day. 

The valuation was then triumphantly carried 
out, and the rector left the field, scarcely 
rejoicing, for blood had been shed, but, doubt- 
less, consoling himself with the reflection that 
he had only done his duty — done what the 
law empowered him to do. That 3163 Papists 
should be bayoneted and ball-cartridged into 
paying him tithes, in order that he might 
minister to the spiritual wants of one Protestant, 
did not, apparently, strike Parson Gavin as at 
all open to objection. 

In October another collision between the 
police and the peasantry occurred. Captain 
Burke, inspector of police, with a party of 
men, was proceeding to post up tithe notices 
in the neighbourhood of Rathkeeran, County 
Waterford, when a mob of 200 peasants assem- 
bled, and, as he thought, threatened to bar his 
progress. He called upon them to disperse. 
They refused. He then pulled out his watch 
and said, ' I will give you ten minutes to dis- 
perse, and if you do not disperse at the end of 
that time, I will fire on you.* The peasants 
still refused, and persisted in following the 
police. Having arrived at a certain point, 
Burke determined to make a stand. He 
moved his men into a field, and drew them up 
near the entrance to a * boreen.' The peasants 
flocked after him. With reference to the de- 



1832.34] RATHKEERAN ^93 

tails of what then occurred, the accounts given 
by the police and peasants, respectively, differ. 
According to the former, the peasants took 
up a position in the field facing the police. 
Inspector Burke called upon them thrice to re- 
tire, and they thrice declined to do so. Burke 
then ordered his men *to prime and load.' 
Scarcely was the order given when a young girl, 
named Catherine Foley, placed herself at the 
head of the peasants, and said, ' Now, boys, is 
your time' (before the police had finished 
loading, apparently); 'attack them, and don't 
spare a man.' The peasants immediately rushed 
forward, assailing the police with stones, sticks 
and slanes. The police fired, and charged with 
the bayonet. A fierce struggle ensued, and was 
only terminated on the arrival of a detachment 
of the 70th Regiment to the support of the 
police, when the peasants retreated. According 
to tne peasants' account, the police began 
hostilities, and wantonly fired on the people, 
who were at the time quietly assembled in the 
field, and whose object, in following the police, 
had been, not to attack them, but to make a 
peaceable demonstration against tithes. The 
undoubted facts of the case — whoever began 
hostilities, and whatever was the object of the 
peasants in following the police — are these: — 
The police fired and killed twelve of the 
peasants, wounding many others. Catherine 
Foley was shot full in the face, a * musket ball 
entering at the right side of the mouth passing 
through the base of the skull, and penetrating 
the spine, causing instant death.' 



294 IRELAND [1834 

On the 1 8th of December 1834, a force of 
horse (4th Royal Irish Dragoons), foot (29th 
Regiment) and police, under the command of 
Major Waller (29th Regiment), Lieutenant Tait 
(Dragoons), Captain Pepper (Police), Captain 
Colles, J.P., and Captain Bagley, R.M., pro- 
ceeded to collect the tithes of Archdeacon 
Ryder, J.P., in the parish of Gortroe, County 
Cork. The dragoons, who marched from Cork 
City, fell in with a small body of peasants at a 
place called Barthelmy's Cross, near the village 
of Gortroe. The peasants were armed with 
their usual weapons — sticks and slanes — and 
some of them were moimted. 

Archdeacon Ryder, who accompanied the 
cavalcade in the double capacity of parson and 
magistrate, suggested to Captain Bagley, on 
seeing the peasants, that it might be prudent for 
the dragoons to draw their swords and get 
ready for action ; and, at the request of Captain 
Bagley, Lieutenant Tait ordered his men so to 
do. The peasants, however, made no effort to 
obstruct the advance of the dragoons, but 
retreated steadily before them through the 
village of Gortroe, falling back on the farmstead 
of one of the tithe-defaulters — the widow Ryan 
by name — whose indebtedness to Archdeacon 
Ryder amounted to the sum of 40s. The 
widow Ryan lived near the hamlet of Rathcor- 
mac. Her house (one of a cluster of houses 
outside the little village) stood at some distance 
from the high road, with which it was connected 
by the usual boreen entrance. In front of the 
house was a large yard, and in front of the yard. 



1834] RATHCORMAC 295 

and on the same side of the boreen, a haggard — 
both yard and haggard being separated from the 
boreen by a mud wall about four feet high. 
To the rear of yard and haggard was a well- 
planted shrubbery. The peasants, who, in their 
struggle against tithes, generally selected with 
deliberation and care the points at which, from 
time to time, they determined to 'give battle' 
to the authorities, had resolved, on the present 
occasion, to confront the force of Parson Ryder 
at the house of the widow Ryan. With this 
object they 'fortified' the haggard and yard. 
The gate opening from the yard into the boreen 
they removed, and in its place wedged a cart 
(with the shafts resting in the yard) tightly 
between the piers — so tightly, in fact, that it 
became an immovable fixture, and could neither 
be pulled into the yard nor dragged back into 
the boreen. At the entrance from the main 
road to the boreen a barricade was thrown up, 
and behind this barricade a number of men 
were placed, to await the arrival of the troops ; 
the yard and haggard being occupied by the 
main body of the peasants, armed with sticks, 
slanes, spades, pitchforks and reaping-hooks. 

While the dragoons, under Tait and Bagley, 
were marching on the widow Ryan's from 
Barthelmy's Cross, pushing the peasants' 'out- 
posts' before them, the 29th and the police, 
under Waller and Pepper and Colles, were 
coming up from another direction to the same 
point. At the entrance to the boreen the 
peasants' 'outpost' halted, and the 29th and 
the police joined the dragoons. 



296 IRELAND [1834 

Bagley addressed the men behind the barri- 
cade, requesting them to permit the troops to 
enter the boreen. The men answered, *No 
tithes ! no parson 1 You have no right to come 
in.' Bagley replied, * We shall force an entrance 
if you do not give way.' The peasants again 
shouted, * No tithes ! no parson ! no church ! ' 
After some further discussion between the 
magistrates and the peasants, and a good deal of 
cheering on the part of the latter, Bagley at last 
said, * My good people, be silent, I am going to 
read the Riot Act.' * We want none of your 
bye-laws here,' shouted back the leader of the 
peasants, and then, turning to his own followers, 
called out, as Bagley began to read the Act, * To 
the haggard, boys ! to the haggard ! We'll defend 
it, or lose our lives ! ' And for the haggard, with a 
rush, and cries of * No tithes ! no tithes ! ' the 
peasants made. Bagley, having read the Riot 
Act, ordered the police to throw down the barri- 
cade. This they quickly did, whereupon the 
troops entered the boreen, the dragoons leading 
the way. On approaching the haggard the 
dragoons halted, and the 29th marched forward. 
On reaching the haggard wall the 29th halted, 
and Major Waller, sent to Captain Bagley for 
further instructions. 

Bagley said, * You must dislodge the peasants 
from the haggard and the yard. If they do not 
go quietly, you must try the bayonet. If that 
is not sufficient, you must fire ; but do not fire 
except in the last resort* Major Waller then 
directed Lieutenant Alves to attack the haggard 
with some of the men of the 29th, and 



i834] RATHCORMAC 297 

Lieutenant Shepherd to attack the yard with 
others. The dragoons and police were stationed 
in the boreen between the haggard and the main 
road, to prevent any advance of the peasants 
from that quarter. Hostilities were commenced 
by Archdeacon Ryder, who, acting upon his 
own responsibility, succeeded, all by himself, in 
clambering over the wall and entering the 
haggard. He was seized by the peasants, neck 
and crop, and literally flung back into the 
boreen. Alves then mounted the wall, and 
waving his sword, called on his men to * follow.' 
Seeing Alves on the wall, the leader of the 
peasants shouted to his comrades, * Don't let 
him in ! Don't let him in ! Don't strike him ; 
but don't let him in ! ' A number of peasants 
quickly rushed forward and brandished their 
sticks close up in front of Alves. Alves parried 
the sticks with his sword, while his men climbed 
on to the wall. Many of the soldiers, having 
got on top of the wall, were about to pull up 
some of their comrades and to descend on the 
inside, when the peasant leader roared to his 
companions, *Now, boys, at them;' and the 
peasants (sticks, slanes and pitchforks in hand) 
made for the soldiers. A fierce flght ensued ; 
the peasants striking furiously at the soldiers 
with their formidable weapons, and the soldiers 
vigorously thrusting back with their bayonets. 
Again and again the soldiers climbed to the top 
of the wall, and again and again they were 
driven back, maimed and bruised, with their 
bayonets bent and their firelocks smashed, 
many of the peasants having been placed hors 



298 IRELAND [1834 

de combat by bayonet wounds. After this 
struggle had continued for some time, Lieu- 
tenant Alves called out to Major Waller, *We 
cannot, major, take this place by the bayonet,' 
whereupon Archdeacon Ryder rushed up to 
Captain Bagley, crying ou^ *What are we to 
do, we are so resisted ? * 

Simultaneously with the struggle at the hag- 
gard, Lieutenant Shepherd was endeavouring 
to force his way into the yard. He had suc- 
ceeded in jumping into the cart, followed by 
two of his men, while the rest climbed up the 
wall at either side, when the peasants rushed 
forward, and, seizing the shafts and lifting them 
high in the air, rolled Shepherd and his com- 
panions clean back into the boreen. However, 
he soon returned to the attack, and a fight, 
even more desperate than that being waged at 
the haggard, followed. The soldiers charged 
with the bayonet again, but to little purpose. 
Enter the yard they could not, either over the 
wall or by mounting the cart. Then, finding 
it was hopeless to take either the haggard or 
yard by the bayonet. Major Waller gave direc- 
tions to his lieutenants to fire. Alves* men fired 
first. After they had done so. Major Waller, 
who, firom his position in the boreen could 
command a better view of what was going on 
in the yard than in the haggard, tells us that he 
looked in the direction of the yard to see what 
effect Alves' fire had produced there. * It pro- 
duced no effect,' he says ; * the fight went on as 
violently as ever.' Shepherd, on hearing Alves 
fire, called to Waller, saying, 'Major, must I 



1834] RATHCORMAC 299 

fire?' and Waller answered, *Yes.' Shepherd, 
turning to the peasants, then said, *Now, if 
you do not give way, I must fire/ The leader 
of the peasants then replied, * We are not afraid 
to die ; lives must be lost on either side before 
ye come in.' There was no alternative now 
left to Shepherd but to give the word *fire.' 
This he promptly did. *I then,' says Major 
Waller, * looked in the direction of the cart to 
see the effect. The crowd dispersed after the 
fire, but quickly closed up^ and rushed back 
to the cart as thick as ever.* Such truly had 
been the case. The peasants, thrown but for a 
moment into confusion, quickly rallied, and as 
their leader called out, * Never flinch, my boys ! 
close up, and at them again ! ' flung themselves 
once more on the soldiers — who, under the cover 
of the fire, had jumped into the cart, and clam- 
bered over the waU — driving them back with 
eminent success. But sticks, slanes and pitch- 
forks, though weapons, which, in the hands of 
a martial peasantry, could be effectively used 
against bayonets, were poor instruments of 
defence against powder and ball After a 
struggle, to the gallantry of which Lieutenant 
Shepherd bore testimony, asserting that he * had 
never seen such determined bravery as was 
shown by the people on that day,' the peas- 
antry gave way under the sustained fire of the 
troops, retreating steadily to the shrubbery. 
Major Waller then occupied the haggard and 
the yard. The peasants had not, however, it 
seems, been completely disposed of. *They 
are mustering in the shrubbery,' said Captain 



300 IRELAND [1834 

CoUes to Waller; *you must disperse them.' 
*No,' replied Waller, who doubtless had had 
quite enough of the work which, in all pro- 
bability, he did not consider particularly clean. 
* 111 surround the farmyard, and keep what I have 
got; for, if I leave it, the peasants will come 
back, and I shall have my work all over again.' 
At this juncture Archdeacon Ryder came up 
and said^ 'All right, major, I have got my 
tithes.' It seems that the archdeacon — ^who 
had performed various strategical movements 
on his own account during the day (including 
the escapade in the haggard) — had succeeded in 
taking the widow's house in the rear, while the 
battle was raging in front, with the result that 
he saw the widow, and obtained the tithes from 
her. It was this cheerful fact which he now 
announced to Waller. The parson being satis- 
fied, all were satisfied, and Major Waller and 
Lieutenant Tait marched their men back to 
Cork. The soldiers gone, the peasants emerged 
from the shrubbery to take up their comrades 
who had fallen in the fray, and to find that 
the casualties had been considerable; twelve 
peasants were killed and forty-two wounded. 

Rathcormac produced a profound effect on 
the English Tory minister, Sir Robert Peel, and 
in February 1835 he introduced a Bill practically 
making tithes wholly payable by the landlords 
(who were chiefly Protestants) and thus, to 
some extent, relieving the tenants (who were 
almost entirely Catholics) from the burden of 
the obnoxious impost But the English Liberals 
(who were now supported in parliament by a 



i835] PROPOSED LEGISLATION 301 

strong Irish party under O'Connell) sought to 
get better terms for the Irish Catholics, and 
proposed that the surplus revenues of the Pro- 
testant Church should be used ^or the purposes 
of general education in Ireland. Sir Robert 
Peel would not, however, give way on this point, 
whereupon he was driven from office, and the 
Liberals, who had 'now formed an alliance with 
O'Connell, came into power. Then was seen, 
for the first time, an English government in 
Ireland under the direction of a man who 
understood the country, and loved the people. 
This man was Thomas Drummond. 



CHAPTER XXV 



THOMAS DRUMMOND 




ORN in Edinburgh in 1797, and 
entering the Royal Engineers 
in 1S15, Drummond gradually 
glided into politics, and, in 
June 1835, became under- 
secretary at Dublin Castle. 
There were a lord-lieutenant 
and a chief secretary nomin- 
ally over him; but he was really over the 
whole administration. He was the Irish 
government. Parliament had not yet settled 
the tithe question. The Liberal ministry of 
Lord Melbourne had to fight hard to carry 
the reform they proposed, and, meanwhile, the 
Protestant clergy endeavoured to get their tithes 
by the old methods. But Drummond sternly 
declined to collect tithes at the point of the 
302 



1835-38] DRUMMOND'S POLICY 303 

bayonet. What the clergy could get without 
the aid of the mDitary and police, they were 
welcome to ; but Drummond, himself a Protest- 
ant, indignantly refused to shoot down Catholic 
peasants because they would not pay tithes to 
a Protestant Church. He remained in Ireland 
for five years. During that time, he governed 
with wisdom and justice, won the confidence of 
the people, and drew them to the side of the 
law. He crushed the Orange Society, which 
had been formed over half a century before 
by bigoted Protestants to oppress Catholics. 
He restrained the excesses of the peasantry 
in their struggle against landlordism, partly 
by the vigour of his administration^ partly by 
the popular confidence which his sympathy with 
the suffering and oppressed inspired; on the 
one side, putting down agrarian outrages with a 
strong hand ; on the other, telling the landlords, 
in words which have never been forgotten, to 
remember that ' Property has its duties as well 
as its rights.' He stopped the tithe war by re- 
fusing to place the forces of the Crown at the 
beck of the clergy, and by warning the people 
that they should not outstep the limits of the 
law if they desired to have the protection of the 
government. He subdued popular agitation 
by ruling on popular principles ; he made Ire- 
land tranquil by making the Irish believe in his 
love of justice and in his love of them. But 
from the moment he set foot in Ireland to the 
day of his death, he was assailed by the Ascend- 
ency faction, and denounced by the English 
Tory press. But he never departed from the 



304 IRELAND [1838- 

policy of well-doing which he had marked out 
for himself — 



* Unshaken, unreduced, unterrified ; 
Nor number nor example with him wrought 
To swerve from right or change his constant mind.' 

But his labours in Ireland and for Ireland 
seriously impaired his health. 

In the winter of 1839, it became evident that 
Drummond's health was breaking down. His 
friends urged him to relinquish hi^ duties for a 
time, and seek rest and change of scene. 
Yielding to their repeated entreaties, he went to 
England for a short time. He returned to Dub- 
lin in February in 1840. On April loth of that 
year he entertained a party of friends to dinner. 
He rode to the Castle as usual on Saturday 
morning. On Sunday he became seriously un- 
well. On Monday he grew worse. On Tuesday 
it became clear that Thomas Drummond had 
not now long to live. As pure and noble a soul 
as had ever been breathed into man was quickly 
passing away. On Tuesday night he asked to 
see his children. The doctors felt obliged to 
deny him this request. He then begged Dr 
Johnson to open a drawer, which he pointed 
out, where there were three small Bibles, each 
with a history attached to it. * Give these,' he 
said, ' to my children, with their papa's bless- 
ing. It is the best legacy I can give them.' 
On Wednesday afternoon Drummond began to 
sink rapidly. All was nearly over now. Dr 
Johnson told his noble-hearted patient that 



i84o] LIBERAL LEGISLATION 305 

he had not many minutes to live. * Doctor,' 
replied Drammond, *all is peace; tell my 
mother that on my death-bed I remembered the 
instructions I had received from her in child- 
hood.' Mrs Drummond entered the room, 
and he bade her a last farewell. 'Dearest 
beloved Maria,' he said, *you have been an 
angel of a wife to me. Your admonitions have 
blessed me long.' The last moment had now 
arrived, and Dr Johnson asked Drummond 
where he wished to be buried — * in Ireland or in 
Scotland?' *In Ireland, the land of my 
adoption,' was the immediate answer ; * I have 
loved her well and served her faithfully, and 
lost my life in her service.' All then ended. 
One of the best, one of the most unselfish and 
pure-minded friends Ireland has ever known, 
was no more. 

Drummond's remains rest in Harold's Cross 
Cemetery, Dublin, and his statue — the only 
one, it may be truly said, ever erected by the 
Irish people to an English official — stands in 
the City Hall, side by side with the sculptured 
figures of Charles Lucas, Henry Grattan and 
Daniel O'Connell. His memory is to-day 
green in the hearts of the nation he loved and 
served so well, his name honoured and revered 
wherever his life and work are known. 

Drummond had done much for Ireland. But 
the English parliament did little. The tithe 
question was indeed settled in 1838 ; but 
exactly on the lines laid down by Sir Robert 
Peel in 1834. The Liberals had failed to 
carry their proposal for applying the surplus 



3o6 IRELAND [1838- 

revenues of the Church for educational pur- 
poses. 

In 1838 the Poor Law, established in England 
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was introduced 
into Ireland. But the measure was not in 
accordance with Irish views and Irish wishes. 
The government had, in the first instance, 
appointed a Commission, composed chiefly of 
Irishmen, to inquire into the subject. This 
Commission had reported against the applica- 
tion of the Workhouse System to Ireland; 
recommending instead that the deserving 
poor should be relieved by the aid of 
voluntary associations helped by the state. 
The government, however, disregarded the 
report of the Irish Commission, and accepted 
the report of a Scotch gentleman, who, at 
the request of Lord John Russell, had paid 
a flying visit of six weeks to the country. 
When the Bill, founded on this gentleman's 
report, was brought forward, all the amend- 
ments introduced by Irish members were 
rejected; and when it became law, he was 
practically entrusted with the administration 
of it. Thus a Poor Law, based on the 
Workhouse System and antagonistic to Irish 
feeling and opinion, and worked by English 
officials, was established. 

In 1840, an Act was passed for the reform 
of the Irish municipal corporations. At 
that time there were sixty -eight municipal 
corporations in Ireland, every one of which 
was practically in the hands of the Protestant 
Ascendency. The government resolved to 



i840] LIBERAL LEGISLATION 307 

change this condition of things, and accord- 
ingly in 1835 introduced a Bill giving the 
Catholics a fairer representation in all the 
municipalities. But the Tories and the House 
of Lords strongly opposed the measure; 
and the upshot of the struggle (which 
lasted for five years), was that fifty-eight out 
of the sixty-eight corporations were abolished, 
and a restricted franchise (which, however, 
gave more power to the Catholics) was con- 
ferred on the remaining ten. An Irish orator 
once said that he was prepared to 'destroy 
the whole of the constitution to preserve the 
remainder.' The British parliament destroyed 
almost the whole of the Irish municipalities 
to preserve the remainder. 



CHAPTER XXVI 



THE REPEAL MOVEMENT 




HEN the Melbourne ministry 
had come into power, O'Connell 
said that he would give them a 
fair trial in order to see if it were 
possible for the English parlia- 
ment to do complete justice 
to Ireland; and he kept his 
word. But when the Mel- 
bourne ministry fell in 1841 without carrying 
out a complete policy of reform, and when a 
Tory ministry came into power, bent on govern- 
ing Ireland in opposition to the wishes of 
the people, he demanded the Repeal of the 
Union, and threw himself heart and soul into 
this his last agitation. * Grattan,' he said, ' sat 
by the cradle of his country, and followed her 
hearse ; it was left to me to sound the resur- 
308 



i84l] REPEAL ASSOCIATION 309 

rection trumpet, and to show that she was not 
dead but sleeping.' O'Connell's case for repeal 
rested on two main propositions. 

1 . * Ireland was fit for legislatim independence 
in position, population and natural advantages. 
Five independent kingdoms in Europe possessed 
less territory or people ; and her station in the 
Atlantic, between the Old World and the New, 
designed her to be the entrepot of both, if the 
watchful jealousy of England had not rendered 
her natural advantages nugatory. 

2. * Ireland was entitled to legislative independ- 
ence^ her parliament was as ancient as the 
parliament of England, and had not derived 
its existence from any charter of the [English] 
crown, but sprung out of the natural rights of 
freemen. Its independence, long claimed, was 
finally recognised and confirmed by solemn 
compact between the two nations in 1782. 
That compact had since been shamefully vio- 
lated, but no statute of limitations ran against 
the rights of a nation.' ^ 

The Repeal movement was practically laid 
upon the same lines as the movement for 
Catholic Emancipation. There were three 
classes of subscribers to the organisation — 
volunteers who subscribed or collected ;;^io 
a year ; members who subscribed jQi ; and 
associates who subscribed is. There were 
Repeal wardens, who presided over each dis- 
trict; Repeal marshals, who organised great 
meetings; Repeal police, who kept order; 

* Sir Gavan Duffy — Young Ireiand, 



310 IRELAND [1841- 

Repeal libraries, which educated the people; 
Repeal courts, which for a time superseded the 
or(Unary legal tribunals; and a Repeal rent 
which filled the exchequer of the organisation. 

Monster meetings were held throughout the 
country, at which O'Connell addressed vast 
multitudes, stimulating exertion, inspiring en- 
thusiasm, kindling hope. 

In 1843 ^^ withdrew altogether from parlia- 
ment, and devoted himself absolutely to the 
work of rousing the nation. The greatest of 
the Repeal meetings were then held. 30,000 
persons assembled at Trim ; 130,000 at Mullin- 
gar ; 250,000 on the Hill of Tara. Within the 
space of three months, O'Connell attended 
thirty-one of these huge gatherings, and travelled 
over 5000 miles ^ 

No such sight of its kind has, perhaps, ever 
been witnessed as O'Connell's appearance at 
one of these monster meetings, always, of 
course, held in the open air, and generally on 
some well-known spot hallowed by fond his- 
torical memories. There was no turmoil, no 
disorder. The mighty multitude hung upon 
the agitator's lips, and were swayed by the 
words which fell from them. Sometimes 
the fiercest passions were aroused; some- 
times the tenderest emotions of the human 
heart were touched; and often a wave of 
humour and pleasantry would break over the 
audience, drowning the magic voice of the 
orator amid roars of delight and merriment 

* Shaw Lefevre— A»/ and O'ConneU. 



1843] REPEAL ASSOCIATION 311 

We have, indeed, a picture of O'Connell at 
one of these Repeal meetings from the pen 
of a distinguished English writer.^ 

* Once to my sight the giant thus was given, 
Walled by wide air, and roofed by boundless heaven : 
Beneath his feet the human ocean lay, 
And wave on wave flowed into space away. 
Me thought no clarion could have sent its sound 
E'en to the centre of the hosts around ; 
And, as I thought, rose the sonorous swell, 
As from some church tower swings the silvery bell ; 
Aloft, and clear from airy tide to tide 
It glided easy as a bird may glide. 
To the last verge of that vast audience sent. 
It played with each wild passion as it went : 
Now stirred the uproar — now the murmur stilled. 
And sobs of laughter answered as it willed. 
Then did I know what spells of infinite choice 
To rouse or lull has the sweet human voice.' 

But one of the most remarkable features in 
the Repeal movement was the creation of a new 
Irish party, whose teachings were destined to 
revolutionise the thought of the country. 

In 1842, three young men — Charles Gavan 
Dufiy, Thomas Osborne Davis and John Blake 
Dillon — founded a newspaper in Dublin to 
advocate the cause of Repeal, and to preach 
the doctrine of Irish nationality; to unite all 
classes and creeds in a single effort for the 
public weal ; to obliterate the very memories of 
racial and religious dissension, and to sink all 
other distinctions in the common name and 
common faith of Irishmen. The paper was 

^ Lord Lytton. 



312 IRELAND [1843- 

called the Nation, Duffy became the editor; 
Davis his famous colleague. But soon both 
men — Duflfy the * brain,' and Davis the * spirit * 
of the enterprise — gathered around them a galaxy 
of brilliant writers, whose articles, essays, poems 
breathed a new soul into Ireland. The young 
men worked with O'Connell, but not under him. 
He had said on a memorable occasion, that ' all 
sublunary blessings ' were * too dearly purchased 
at the expense of a single drop of human blood.' 
They revolted at the doctrine, and believed 
that where argument failed the sword should 
be used. O'Connell's motto was 'Justice to 
Ireland, or Repeal of the Union.' The motto 
of the Nation was 'Repeal of the Union, or 
Separation.' The young men, who came to be 
called the * Young Ireland Party,' gradually drew 
away from O'Connell, and slowly but steadily 
drifted towards revolution. O'Connell saw the 
flow of the tide, and said, 'An outbreak will, 
sooner or later, be the consequence of the 
present afflicted state of Ireland. While I live, 
that outbreak will not take place ; but sooner or 
later, if the Irish parliament is not restored, the 
day will come when England will rue her present 
policy in tears of blood.' 

The * Young Irelanders ' at length developed 
into a Separatist party. * What is the tone ol 
the new paper ? ' a witty lawyer was asked some 
time after the establishment of the Nation, He 
answered 'Wolfe Tone.' And, indeed, the 
name of the great Irish rebel, which had nevei 
been pronounced by O'Connell, was recalled by 
the Nation^ and held up for admiration and 



i844] TRIAL OF 0*CONNELL 313 

reverence. In the end a breach occurred 
between O'Connell and * Young Ireland/ and 
the result was disastrous to the national 
cause. 

Meanwhile the English minister resolved to 
strike a blow at the Repeal movement. A 
great Repeal meeting was fixed to take place 
at Clontsuf on October 8, 1843. On the very 
night before the meeting was proclaimed by the 
lord-lieutenant O'Connell, to the disgust of the 
* Young Ireland * party, obeyed the proclamation, 
and instantly issued orders to stop the people 
who were even then preparing to move forward 
to Clontarf from various parts of the coimtry. 
No meeting took place. The people quietly 
obeyed O'Connell, for it was not in the power 
of the government of itself to arrest their pro- 
gress without bloodshed. 

About a week after the proclamation of the 
Clontarf meeting, O'ConneU and a number of 
his colleagues, including the * Young Ireland ' 
leader, Gavan Duflfy, were arrested, and on 
the 1 6th of January 1844 placed upon their 
trial in Dublin on a charge of seditious con- 
spiracy. The trial was one of the most 
remarkable on record — remarkable for the 
display of forensic ability which it called 
forth — remarkable for the scandalous in- 
justice which marked its progress at every 
stage. The bench was packed, the jury were 
packed, and the vast resources of the Crown 
were used with unscrupulous dexterity to secure 
a conviction. * Next morning,' says Sir Gavan 
Duffy, writing of the way in which the trial had 



314 IRELAND [1844 

been arranged, 'it was known throughout the 
United Kingdom, and speedily known over 
Europe and America, that the most eminent 
Catholic in the empire — a man whose name 
was familiar to every educated Catholic in the 
world — was about to be placed upon his trial 
in the Catholic metropolis of a Catholic 
country before four judges and twelve jurors 
among whom there was not a single Catholic' 
Of course 0*Connell and his colleagues were 
convicted, and in due course (May 1844) 
sentenced to fine and imprisonment. The 
trial was afterwards (September 1844) reviewed 
by the House of Lords, on the appeal of 
O'Connell and his friends, and condemned by 
that assembly, Lord Denman denouncing it as 
a ' mockery, a delusion and a snare.' The con* 
viction was squashed, and O'Connell and the 
repealers were, after a few months' imprison- 
ment, set free. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

FAMINE — DEATH OF O'CONNELL 

]ND now a great calamity befell 
the land and broke the heart 
of O'Connell. Since the Union 
the agricultural population of 
Ireland had been in a state of 
destitution. * Irish destitution,' 
said Gustave de Beaumont, a 
French writer, in 1837, * forms 
a genus apart; it is like no other destitu- 
tion.' There were constantly recurring periods 
of distress; there was sometimes famine; 
and the peasantry were always on the verge of 
pauperism. 

The chief industry, indeed almost the only 
industry, was the land, and the land system 
was fatal to the prosperity and even to 
the comfort of the tenants. 'The landlords 

315 




3i6 IRELAND [1845 

in Ireland/ said Lord Donoughmore, 'have 
been in the habit of letting land, not farms.' 
Never has a happier description of the Irish 
land system been given than this. The land- 
lord let *land' — ^a strip of bog, barren, wild, 
dreary. The tenant reclaimed it, drained, 
fenced, built, reduced the waste to a cultivable 
state, made the 'land' a 'farm.' Then the 
landlord pounced upon him for an increased 
rent. The tenant could not pay ; his resources 
had been exhausted in bringing the bog into 
a state of cultivation ; he had not yet recouped 
himself for his outlay and labour. He was 
evicted, flung on the roadside to starve, with- 
out receiving one shilling's compensation for 
his outlay on the land ; and the ' farm ' which 
he had made was given to another at an 
enhanced rental. What did the evicted tenant 
do? He entered a Ribbon Lodge, told the 
story of his wrong, and demanded vengeance 
on the man whom he called a tyrant and 
oppressor. Only too often his story was 
listened to, and vengeance was wreaked on 
the landlord or new tenant, and sometimes 
on both. The result was the horrible 
agrarian war which raged in Ireland during 
the whole period of the Union. Landlords 
evicted without pity, and tenants murdered 
without remorse. Poverty and anarchy were 
the result.^ 

No resources, no foresight could, probably, 
have averted the terrible visitation of 1845-47. 

* Life of Thomas Drummond, 



1845] THE LAND SYSTEM 317 

But it would not have fallen with such crushing 
disaster on a prosperous people. The potato 
was the staple food of one half of the whole 
population, then numbering between 8,000,000 
and 9,000,000 souls. In the autumn of 1845 
a blight fell on the crop. O'Connell, with 
his knowledge of the country and his experi- 
ence of similar disasters in the past, warned 
the government of the coming calamity. But 
the government paid no heed to his admoni- 
tions. An Irish famine they regarded as a 
figment of the Irish imagination. Throughout 
1846 the condition grew worse, and by the end 
of the year famine was already in the land. 
Hundreds and thousands were perishing by 
want and pestilence. O'Connell, whose health 
had been failing since 1845, now broke down 
utterly. He was crushed by the misfortunes of 
his people. His physicians urged him to leave 
Ireland immediately and to settle for a time in 
the south of Europe. He consented to go, but 
stopped on his way through London to make 
a last appeal to Parliament in behalf of his 
starving countrymen. In February 1847, be 
entered the House of Commons. His changed 
appearance filled the members of that hostile 
assembly with sympathy and perhaps with 
sorrow. It was clear to every man that the 
mighty giant who had made and unmade 
Cabinets, whose name was a terror in the 
councils of ministers, and whose fame extended 
to every civilised country in the world, was fast 
sinking into the grave. Feeble and dejected, 
with bent head and broken voice, he rose to 



3i8 IRELAND [1845. 

ask parliament to do its duty and to save a 
dying nation. He said, — 

*I am afraid the House is not sufficiently 
aware of the extent of the misery; I do not 
think the members are sufficiently impressed 
with the horrors of the situation of the people 
of Ireland ; I do not think they understand 
the miseries — the accumulation of miseries — 
under which the people are at present suffer- 
ing. It has been estimated that 5000 adults 
and 10,000 children have already perished 
from famine, and that twenty-five per cent of 
the whole population will perish unless the 
House shall afford effective relief. They will 
perish of famine and disease unless the House 
will do something speedy and efficacious — not 
doled out in small sums, not in private and 
individual subscriptions, but by some great 
act of national generosity, calculated upon a 
broad and liberal scale. If this course is not 
pursued, parliament will be responsible for the 
loss of twenty-five per cent, of the population 
of Ireland. I assure the House most solemnly 
that I am not exaggerating. I can establish 
all I say by many and many painful proofs. 
Typhus fever, in fact, has aheady broken out, 
and is desolating whole districts. It leaves 
alive only one in ten of those it attacks. 
This feaiful disorder ere long will spread to 
the upper classes; the inhabitants of England 
will not escape its visitations, for it will be 
brought over by the miserable wretches who 
escape from the other side of the Channel. 
The calamity will be scattered over the 



i847] O'CONNELUS LAST APPEAL 319 

whole empire, and no man will be safe from 
it.' 

The government ultimately took vigorous 
measures for dealing with the famine. Parlia- 
ment voted large sums to succour the dis- 
tressed; and outside parliament private in- 
dividuals and societies came forward with 
magnificent generosity to relieve the sufferings 
of the people. But help came all too late. 

In a few years famine, pestilence, and the 
tide of emigration which these misfortunes set 
in motion, swept away nearly two millions of 
the population. 

O'ConnelFs prophecy was fulfilled, but he 
did not live to see its fulfilment. In March 
1847, ^e left England for Rome, accompanied 
by his youngest son, Daniel, by his chaplain. 
Father Miley, and by his faithful valet, Duggan. 

At Paris the great advocate, Berryer, and 
the great Liberal thinker, Montalembert, waited 
on the Irish chief. * I cannot,* he said to 
Berryer, * refuse myself the pleasure of pressing 
your hand.' But he was too feeble to converse. 
Montalembert introduced a deputation from a 
Catholic society. O'Connell said, 'Sickness 
and emotion close my lips. I should require 
the eloquence of your president to express to 
you all my gratitude.' 

From Paris, 0*Connell proceeded by. easy 
stages to Lyons. There he grew rapidly worse 
* I am,' he said, * but the shadow of what I was, 
and I can scarcely recognise myself.' 

As he passed through the city on his way to 
the boat which was to bear him down the Rhone 



r 



320 IRELAND [1847 

and on to Genoa, the streets were filled with 
crowds of persons, who uncovered and bowed in 
the presence of one whom they regarded not 
only as the most famous Irishman, but as the 
most famous Catholic of his day. On May 6, 
Genoa was reached There O'Connell lingered 
helplessly for a few days. Disease of the brain 
had set in. The light of that brilliant intellect 
was for ever quenched. In the afternoon of 
May 15, he sent for Duggan and said, ' I am 
dying ; you have been a faithful servant, and I 
bid you good-bye.' Turning to his son and 
Father Miley, who stood by his couch, he said, 
*Let my heart be carried to Rome, and my 
body to Ireland.' He then fell into a deep 
slumber, and woke no more. His dying wishes 
were religiously carried out 

A box containing his heart was placed by his 
son in the hands of Pio Nono, and subsequently 
laid with great solemnity in the church of St 
Agatha. His body was brought back to Ireland 
and buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, amid 
the poignant sorrows of the people to whom he 
had devoted his existence. 

In less than twelve months after his death, 
the * outbreak ' which he had foretold occurred. 
The Yornig Irelanders rose in arms; but the 
insurrection was quickly quelled. Some of the 
leaders were arrested, tried, convicted and im- 
prisoned or transported ; others fled beyond the 



The Repeal movement was strangled, and 
Ireland for a time 9ank into a state of torpor 
and lethargy. 



CONCLUSION 3zr 

How she was awakened from that state ; how 
new men and new movements arose ; how fresh 
concessions were extracted from England ; how 
in 1869 the Protestant State Church was dis- 
estabhshed and disendowed; how in 1870 a 
Land Act was passed, giving protection to in- 
dustrious tenants; how in 1881 and 1885 other 
measures of Land Reform became law, and 
Household Suffrage was established; how 
finally, in 1893, the principle of Legislative 
Freedom was affirmed by the House of Com- 
mons — these are subjects which do not come 
within the scope of the present book. But it 
may in conclusion be said that, despite many 
misfortunes and disasters, the Irish people have, 
within the past sixty years, advanced slowly but 
surely on the road to material well-being, and 
national liberty. 



INDEX 



Abbbv, St Mary's, fe 

Abercrombie, Sir Ralphs 934 it stf. 

Africa, 73 

Agatha, St, 390 

Aberlow, Glen of, 93*4 

Aidan, xo 

Alba, 10 

Albemarle, Duke of, 5a 

Allen, Archbishop, 70 

Almanza, 189 

Alva, Duke of, 98 

Alves, Lieutenant, 9^tiseq» 

Amboyna, 139 

Anne, Queen, 196, 203 

Annesley, Generalj aSiS et seq, 

Antrim, 2, 80, 89, 9o» 335 

Lord, 150 

Aquila, Don Juan del, 115 

Aquitaine, 27 

Ardmore, xz 

Ard-ri, X2, ap, 33 

Ard-ri Laognaire. See Laoghaire 

O'Conor. See O'Conor 

Argobast, xx 

Argyll, Earl of, 8a 

Arklow, 236 

Arline, 203 

Armagh, z8, 82 (cathedral), 83 

Arran Isles, 144 

Arras, 130 

Aryan branch, 4, za 

Aston, Sir Arthur, X38 

Athenry, 4Z 

Athlone, 4a, z66, z8o 

Aughrim, Z84 



Bagenal, Mabel, zoa 

Sir Henry, 88, Z03-3, zxi 

Baeley, Captain, 394 et teq. 
Baker, Major, zsz 
Ballinamuck, 237 
Ballinasloe, 184 
Ballygorry, 50 
Ballymore, 179, 235 
Ballyneety, 174 
Ballyshannon, 106, zo8 
Bangor Bay, i6a 
Bannockbum, 39 
Bannow, a8 
Bantry, 97, 333 
Barbsidoes, X38, X43 
Bamewell, 106, X09 
Barnwell, Lady, xoa 
Barrington's Bridge, 95 
Barrow, 373 
Barry, X3 

General, a86 

Barthelmy's Cross, 394*5 

Battles. See names of fields whers 

they were fought 
Beare, O'Sullivan, xi8 
Beaumont, Gustave de, 3x5 
Bedell, Bishop of Kilmore, X27 
Belfast, 2x5, 227, 229 
Bell, Archdeacon Walter, ao3'4 
Beltone, The, 238 
Benburb, Battle of^ X33 
Bermingham, Sir John, 40-x 
Berryer, 319 
Biche^ The, 238 
Blackwater, 92, X07 



322 



INDEX 



323 



Blake (the farmer), 387 tt siq. 

Bo^ of Allen, 206 

Boisseleau. 173-3 

Borough, Lord, xo6 et teq. 

Bom, Brian, 13 et seq. 

Borumha, xp 

Bourkes, The, 36 

Boyle, zza 

Boyne, Battle of the, z66 ei uq. 

Brabant, 176 

Brandenburgers, The, 177 

Braose, PhiUp de, 33 

Brefney, 30, 1x9 

Brehon Laws, za, 47 

Brest, 232, 337 

Breuil, xz 

Brian Bora, 13 eiseq, 

Bristol, X43-4 

Britain, 2, 3 

Brodar, sx, 25, 36 

BrowHj Mabel, 74 

Browning, Micaiah, X59 

Brace, Edward, 41 

Robert, 39, 4Z 

Brunswick, 229 

Burgh, Hussey, 2z6 

Burgo, William Fitz-Adelm Dc, ax, 

33> 42 
Burgos, The De, 36, 43 
Burgoyne, General, 3x5 
Burke, Z3X 

Captain, 293 ei teq. 

Edmund, 2x6 

Mac- William (of Clanricarde), 

64 et sea. 
Burkes of Galway, 94 
Bush, 246 etseq. 
Butler, James, 37, 44, 69 

Sir Esmond, 92-3 

Butlers, The, 63, 9Z et seq. 



Cahbrsivebn. 26Z 

Caillemot, 170 

Caisel, 19 

Calais, 89 

Callan, 55 

Cambrensis, Giraldus, Z2, 33 (in note) 

Camden, Lord, 230 et seg. 

Cami>erdown, 353 

Canning, 26X, 206 

CareWj Sir George, XT3 etseq. 

Su: Peter, 92 et seq. 

Carlow, 49; sacked, 54, 335 
County, 376 



Carnot, 333 

Ourrickfergus, Z99, z63-4 

Carrickmacross, X39 

Carrickshock, 38^ 

Carte, X39 

Carteret, Lord, 005 

Cas. Cormac X3 

Casnel, zz, 33, 64, 97 

Castlebar. 237 

Castledermot, 54 

Castlefergus, 90 

Castlehaven, zzs 

Castlemane, 93 

Castle Martyr, 93 

Castlereagh, Lord, 336, 350 

Cataldus, St, zx 

Catholic Association, 365, 366, a68 

Committee, 228 

Emancipation, 319, 360 et seq,^ 

363, 360-70, 309 

Relief Act, 225 

Cavan, 127 

Earl of, 239 

Cecil (Lord Burleigh), 89 

Celestine, Pope, z, 3 

Cend Coradh, Z9 

Loch, Z9 

Cenn Abrat, Z9 

Charlemagne, xx 

Charles I., X23 et seq, 

II., 165, 2x8 

Churchhill, John (Duke of Mail- 
borough), X78 

Clanricarde, 64, X24 

Clare, 95, Z3S, 270 

— — County, 267 

Lord, Z94 

;— (the Unionist orator), 346, 249 

Richard de, 28 

Clarence, Lionel, Duke of, 47 

Clarke, General, 333 

Clebach, 6 

Clifford, Sir Conyers, zo6, zo8, iza 
et seq, 

Clogy, X37 et seq, 

Clonfert, zz 

Clonghouter Castle, Z40 

Clonmacnoise, zz 

Clonmel, Z40 

Clontarf, 22, 26, 3x3 

Clontibret, 104 

Cogan, Miles de, 33 

Cole, Sir William, 129 

Coleraine, X50 

College Green, 2x7 



/ 



324 



INDEX 



CoUes, Captain, 995 

Colman, zi 

Colombano, San, xx 

Colamba, xo 

Columbanus, xx 

Commercial Code, 8x4, ax8, 335 

Conadng, 90 

Confederation of Kilkenny, X3X 

Connacht, 4 

Connaught, 4, 6, X7, 33, 88, 94, 133, 

X44 et stq, fiyZtt uq» 
Conway, Colonel, 134 
Conyngham, Marquess of, 167 
Coote, Rev. J., 385 

Sir Charles, X39 

Cofuille, The, 338 

Cork, X3, 60, 93, X78 

Cormac. Cas, X3 

Cornwallis, Lord, 3x9, 345-6, 350, 360 

Coiwcy, De, 32, 35 

Craig, Gencaral, 34X 

Croix, de la. 233 

Cromwell, Oliver, X37 9t seq,» X65 

Thomas, 73 

Cromwell's Fort, 177 
Crook. 31 
Cruacnan, 6 
Curlew Mountains, xxa 
Curran, 240>x 
Curry, 3x4 
Cushenden, 90 
Custume, x83 



Dalcassian Race, X3 eiseq,, 33 ttteq. 
Dalgas, 34^ 35 
D'Arcy, Sir John, 45 
Darimoutky The, X59 ets^, 
Davies, Sir John, «, 50 
Davis, Thomas Osborne, 3x1 
Dedes, Prince of the, 33 
* Declaration of Irisii Rights,' 330, 

22X 

Delahide, James, 73 

Dembay, xz8 

Denman, Lord, 3x4 

Dermot MacMorrough {See Mac- 

Morrough) 
Deny, 80. 204 
Dervorgilla, 27 
Desmond, Earls of, ^eiseq.^ 60, 67, 

72,01 et seq,, xx4 

John, 02 

D'Esterre, Major, 364*5 
De Winter, 333 



Didin, 3 

Dillon, John Blake, 3xx 

Dingle, 97 

Docwra. Sir Henry, xx3 et eeq. 

Donegal Bay, 73, 130 

Donore, 167 

Donoughmore, Lord, 3x6 

Donovan, 15, x6 

Doon, 386 

Douai, 36x 

Douglas, Andrew, X59 

Down, 3 

Downepatrick, X35 

Doyle, Father, 273 ei seq. 

288 et seq 

Drogheda, 6z, 137, X99, X67 

Dromish, xx 

Dmmmond, Thomas, 30X et seq. 

Dublin, X3, X7, 3z, 33, 33, 33 (granted 
to the people of Bristol), 4X, 45 
(Parliament summoned), 69 (de- 
claration of Silken Thoma^ 90, 
xox, 153, 390, 32a, 236, 237, 230, 
249, 35Z-3, 358 (abortive nsing^, 
afiS. 304 

Castle, 73, 80, 90, 93, XXX, X71, 

Z05, 258, 28X, 285, 302, 304 

University, 236 

Duffy, Sir (^avan, 309, 3x1 et seq, 

BSK„S?;r 

Dumbarton, 3 

Dumouriez, 339 

Dunanore, 95, 99 

Dunbojme, 235 

Duncan, 233 

Duncannon, 236 

Diin Crot, 19 

Dundalk, ^o-x, 89, X05, 129, 163 

Dundonada, xoo 

Dundrum, 87, 88, X35 

Dtin Eochair Maige, X9 

Dungannon, Z03, X05, 2x9 

Baron of, 79 

Dunshaughlin, 2:^5 
D'Usson, General, 179 et seq* 
Duvgall, 32 

Edward I., 38 
Eevm of Craglea, 35 



INDEX 



3^5 



Elizabeth, Queen, 8x etseq,y 226, 306 
Entbuscade^ The, 238 
Emmet, Robert, 2^8-9 

Thomas Addis, 231 

Ennis, 267 
Enniscorthy, 236 
Enniskillen, 103, 149, 162 
Emiiskillens, The, 163 
Erne, 107, 108 
X, Ear 



, Earl of, X12 et sea. 

Ethne, 6 

Eva (Dermot's daughter), 28 ; married, 

Evans, Admiral, 286 et seq. 



Faly. O'Conor, 69 
Faughart, 41 



Ferns, 29, 236 

Fiacre, St, 11 

Fidekn, 6 

Finan, zx 

Fitton, Sir James, 94 

Fitz-Gerald, Garret Oge, 59 

Maurice, 29, 44 

Fitzgerald, James, 95 

- James Fitzmaurice, 92-3 et seg. 



John, 95 

Lord Edward, 235 

- Thomas, See Offaly, also 76 



dward, 235 et seg. 



—^ Vesey, 267 

Fitzpatricx, Mr, 221 

Fitz-Stephen, Robert, 28, 33 

Fitz-Urses, The, 36 

Fitzwilliam, 230 

Flanders, 73 

Florentius, ix 

Foley, Catherine, 293 

Fontaines, xi 

Fontenoy, X89 

Four Masters, The, 5X, 55 

Fox, Charles James, 222-3, 260 

Foyle, Lough, 156, 159, 162 

France, King of (treasonable oorre- 

si>ondence with), 67 
Francis I. receives Earl Gerald, 73, 94 
Fratemiti, The, 232 
Frederic, X97 
Free Trade, 2x7 
Fridolin, St, xx 
Froissart, 51 

Froude, J. A., 87, 98, 209 
•FuathnaGalV87 

Oair, Loch, X9 



Gall, II 

Abbey of St, ix 

Gallagher, Dr, 206 

Galtee Mountains, 93 

Galway, xo6 et seg.^ xo8, 14a, t66, 184, 

192, 195 et seg., 203, 205, ^^s 
Gaul, 2, 3 

Gavin, Rev., 286 et seg. 
Genoa, 320 
Geoive I., 198 et seg. 
Ger^, Earl, 65 et seg. 

(son of the above), 71 et stg. 

^twelfth Earl of KildareX 74 

(fifteenth Earl of De£inoiid)j 91 

et seg. 
(yeraldines, 36, 63 */ seg.^ 91 ei stg* 
Gibbons, (^ptain, 281 et seg, 
Gilbert, Colonel, 93 
Ginkel, Ckneral, 178 et seg. 
Giraldus C^ambrensis, 12, 32 ftoia) 
Glanevy^ 155 
Glasnevm Cemetery, 320 
Glendalough, xx 
Glenmama, 17, 20 
Gloucester, Earl of, 53 
(>orey, 256 
Grormlaitn, 18 etseg, 
Gortroe, 294 
Giould, 251 
C^wran, 273 
Graigue, 272 et seg. 
(^ttan, Henry, 212 et seg., 774, S46, 

251 et seg.f 260-1, 305, 308 
Gray, Brazier, 286 
Greene, Mr, 278, 281 
Greenwich* 60 

Grey, Lord Leonard, 71, 75-6 
Grierson, Lieutenant, 288 et seq, 
Gros, Raymond le, 29 et seq^ 
Grouchy, 232 



Habeas Corpus Act, 225, 247 
Hainault, 176 
Hamilton, Dr, 277 etseg, 

Richard, 153, 157 (at Uie Bnttle 

of the Boyne), 169 et seq. 

Sir Frederidc, 129 

Hardy, General, 237 

Harold, x6 

Harold's Cross Ometery, 305 

Harvey, Colonel Sir Jolm, 273 et ug. 

Harvie, Captain, 97 

Hasculf, 30 

Havre, 239 



,1 



i 



326 



INDEX 



Henderson, 203 ei seq, 
Henry II., 37, 39 etseq, 

III., 38 

IV.. 54 

of Monmoath, 5a 

VII.j 56, 58 et seq, 

VIII., 66 

Hiberio, 3 
Higginston, 383 
Hill, Sir George, 339 



Hoche, 333 et seq, 

Hoche^ The, 237 ei seq. 

Hodnet, Lord Philip, 4a 

Holinshed. 65, g;6 

Home Rule, Origin of, 300 

House of Commons, 194 et seq., 303, 

ao6, 2x9, 33Z, 350, 260-1, 3x7 et 

seq., 331 
—— Lords, 261, 3x4 
Howard, Thomas. See Earl of 

Surrey 
Howth, 70 

Humbert, General, 337 
Hy-Maney, 64 

Inchiqdin, Lord, 136 

Indomptable, The, 23a 

Inis an Ghaill Duibh, 19 

Invasion of England, 59 

Ireland divided into kin^oms, 4; 
Norse Invasion^ 13 ; divided into 
English cotmties, 35; Henry 
VIII. made king, 77 

Ireton, 143 

Irish Literanr Society, vL 

Isabella of Valois, 51 

Isle of Man, si 

Ivar, 15, x6 

Jackson, Rev. William, 33X 

tames II., 148 

James's Memoirs, 183 

John, King, xa (note), 33, 34 (lands at 

Waterlord) et seq. 
Johnson, Dr, 304 et seq, 
Jones, Michael, z36-7 



Kavanagh, Mr, 76 
Keeper Mountain, 174 
Kells, zz, 5x 

Keogh, John, 227 etseq., 263 
Kerry Mountains, 99 
Kildare, 3z, 49 



KUdare, Earls of, 46, 49, S9> 63 et seq. 
„7% 83, 84, 88, 335 
Kilian, St, xz 

Kilkenny, 45, 49, 52, 69, 93, 131 et 
seq., X40 

(jounty, 376 

Killala, 337 

Killaloe, xz 

Kilmaine, General, 337 

Kilmainham, az 

Kilmore, Bishop of, z37*8 

Kilwarden, Lord Chief Justice, 341 

Kincora, X3, 14, X9 

King's Cotmty, Origin of; 78 

Island, 188 

Kinsale, 97, Z15 et seq., 148, 178 
Kirke, X56 
Knockdoe, 65 
Knocktopher, 377, 379 
Kylemore, 95 

Lacy, Hugh de, 3X, 33, 33, 35, 37, 39 

Lagan, 1x3 

Laighin, 4 

Laiten, 24, 35 

Lake, General, 236 et seq. 

Landen, 189 

Laoghaire, 5, 6 

Lame, 39 

Lauzun, Count, X64, 167 et seq. 

Leake, Captain John, X59, x6o 

Lecale, 3, 88 

Lecky, W. E. H., 95, 127, 138, 146, 
X99, 3X7, 346, 257, 269 

Lefevre, Shaw, 3x0 

Leinster, 4, 17, 27 (given to Strong- 
bow), 3x, zo6, x2o, xaa, zaS, 178 

— — Directory, 334-5 

Leix, 40 

Leland, 99 

Leverous, Father, 7s, 73 

Lifford, 89 

Limerick, 13, 15, X4X-3, X7X, 173 et 
seq., X87, X93, sas 

— County, 93 

Lincoln, Earl of, 59 

Lisbon, 60 

Ldsbum, 163 

Lismore, Bishop of, 3a 

Lisnegarvy, X35 

Loire, The, 238 

London Bridge, 99 



Londonderry, 149 et sea., 17; 
Lough Neagh. See Neagb 



173 



INDEX 



3^7 



Longhrea, x86 
Lough Ree. See Ree 

SwiUy. 5"^eSwilly 

Louis XTV., x88 

Louth, 167 

Louvain, 130 

Low, George Bond, 386 

Lucas, Charles, 201 ei seq., az8, 305 

Lucy, Sir Anthony, 45 

Ludlow, 142 

Ltmdy^ Colonel, 150 ei seq., X73 

Luzeuil, XI 

Lyons, 3x9 

L3^tton, Lord, 3x1 



Macaulat, XS4 ei teq., 167, 169 et 

seq., iZ^et seq. 
Macdonald, Rev., 373 etseq. 
MacDonnells, The, So, 86 
Mackay, 179, X85 
MacMahons, 36, xa6 
MacMorrough, Dermot, 37 ei seq, 
MacMurrough, Art, 49 ei seq. 
MacMurroughs, The, 47, 76 
Macnamara, 65 
MacSweeney, 36 

of Fanat, loo-t 

Maguire of Fermanagh, X03, xzo, X36 

Maeuires, The, X26 

Ms£on, X3 ei seq. 

Mailmora, 17, x8, 30 ei seq. 

Malachi, The Ard-ri, x6, X7, x8, so, 32 

Malplaquet, 189 

MandeviUe, Richard de, 43 

March, Earl of. See Mortimer 

Maria Theresa, X07 

Mailborough Diikeo^ 178 

MarylL, X48 

Maryborough, X36 

Maumont, X53 

Maupas, 41 

Maxwell, xSs eiscq. 

Maynoodi, 70 

Mayo, X33 

M'Cann, Mr, 353 

McCarthy, Lady Eleanor, 79, 73 

M'Clintodc, Rev. Alexander, 270 

M'Cracken, 33X, 335 ei seq, 

Meath^ 4, x6, x8. ao, 33, 167 

Medici, Cosmo de, 73 

Melbourne Ministry, 306 

Milchu, 2, 5 

Miley, Father, 3x9, 330 

Milford Haven, 31 



M'Mahon, X36 

Molloy, 15, x6 

Molyneux, William, \^ets€g.<, aifl 

Monabraher, 65 

Monmouth, X65 

Monroe, General, X3x ei seg. 

Montalembert, 319 

Montgomery, Lord, 134 

Moore, Arthur, 253 

Morocco^ King of, 95 

Morris, Sir John, 45 

Mortimer, Edmond(Earlof MartSi), 51 

Mountcashel, x66 

Mount^arret, Lord, 154 

Mountjoy, Lard, xx3 ei seq. 

MouHij'oy, The, xso ei seq. 

Mowbray, £^1 of Nottingbaciij 5? 

Mullin^ar, X07, 3x0 

Mumam, 4 

Munhain, X9 

Munster, 4, X3 ei seq.. 17, tp, 33 
(North and South M.), 92 ei se^., 
96 ei seq. (massacres)^ jr?^ ii^ 
(Carew made President ijf)^ no, 
X22 (note), Z28, X78 

Mturay, Captain, 151, Z53<4 

Murrough, X7, 20 ei seq. 

Nagel. Gerald, 286 

Narragnmore, 235 

Nathi, Chief, 3 

Nation, The, 3x3 

Naviration Act, X98 

Neam, Lough, 87 

Neil, (Jrey, 83-4 

Neilson, 231 

Newcastle, Duke of, 007 

New Irish Library, 136, zSj 

New Ross, 55, 236 

Newry, 87, 102, X04, 105, 134 

Newtown-Barry, 276 

Newtown Butler, X62, x66 

Norris, Sir John, xoa. ei seq^ 

Nottingham, Earl or. See Mawbray 

O'Brien, Donall, 34, 39 

of Munster, 50, 65 

of Thomond, 69, 73, 76 

O'Briens, The, 47 
O'Brynes, The (of Wicklow), 39 
O'Byme, MacHugh, zo6, ia6 
O'Bymes, The, 126 
O'Carrol, 55, 65, 66, 69 



328 



INDEX 



O'Connell, Daniel, 361 tt ttf,, 301, 

305, 313 ei stq. 
O'Connor, 3x4 

of Leix, 78, XZ3 

O'Conor, Felim (King of Connaught), 

39. 40 etstq., 50 

Lady Mary, 73 

— — Roderick, 37 

O'Donnell, Hugn Roe, 99 9t seq. 

RorV, X3X-3 

O'Donnells of Tyrconnell, 73, 76, 80, 

83. 86, 88, Qo 
O'Faelan, Mothla, 33 
O'Farrells, The, 136 
Offaly, 7a 

Tliomas, Earl of, 68 tt seg. 

O'Hanlons, The, 136 

CHyne, 33 

Oilioll Olum, xj 

O'Kelly. 33, 64 

Olum, Oilioll, 13 

O'Moore, Roger, 135 ei uq. 

O'Moores, The (of Leix), 39, 66, 76, 77 

O'Neil, 17, 30, 40, 50 

Conn, 67, 79 

- Donall, 39 

Hugh, 99, I03 et seq., 130, 140 

et seq. 

Matthew, 79*80, 85 

Sir Neil, x68 

Owen Roe, 130 ei seq. 

Shane, 79 et seq., 99 

of Tyrone, 69, 76 

Orange Society, 303 

O'Reillys, The (of Cavan), 66, 76, 136 

et seq. 
Orkneys, 3Z 
Ormond, First Earl of, 44 

Marquis of, 130, 135 et seq. 

Pierce Butler, Earl of, 66, 76 

Ormonds, The, 91, 98 
O'Ruarc, Teman, so, 37 
Ossory, 38, 41 

Earl of, 69 

O'Toole, Felim, zox 

Laurence, 30 

O'Tooles, ITie (of Wicklow), 39, 47, 

66 
Oudenarde, X89 
Oulart, 336 

Pale, The, 56-7, 73i 781 8x, xo8, 167 
Palladius, z 
Paris, 33Z 



Parliaments, Irish, 45, 6x, 76, 3x3, 3x6, 

3x8, 3^, 348 et seq. 
Parsons, Sir Laurence, 35X 
Patrick. St, X et seq., 77 . 

Peel, Sir Robert, 368, 300, 301, 305 * 

Pelham,98 
Pembroke, Earl of, 38 
Penal Code, X90 etseq., aos, 3x3, 360-3 
Pepper, 395 
Percie, Sir Ridiaid, 97 
Percival (the Engliui Premier), 363 
Percy, Colonel, xio, izx 
Perrot, Sir John, 93 
Petty, Sir W., X43-3, X46 
Philadelphia, 331 
Philip II. of Spain, 9u( 
Phipps, Sir Constantine, 196 
PAamx, The, 159 
Phcenix Park, X69 
Pio Nono, 330 
Pitt, 339| 360 

' Plantation,' Policy of, z3o 
Plunket, X36 

Lord, 346 et uq., 361 

Poer, Robert de la, 33 
Poland, 357 
Pole, dardinal, 73 

John de la, 59 

Ponsonly, (Jeorge, 353 
Pope, The, 40, 94 
Portadown. 135 
Portland, Duke of, 333-3 
Portmore, 104-5 *^ *^y« 
Portugal, King of, 95 
Poyning's Law, 318, 3x9 
Poynings, Sir Edward, 6x, 63 
Proidergast, Maurice, 38 
Preston^ X3X, xjs-e 
Provincial Division of Ireland, 4 

Qusbn's County, Origin of, 78 

* Races of Castlebar,* 237 
Raleish, Sir Walter, 99 
Ramillies, 189 
Raphoe, Bishop of, 306 
Ratcliff, Colonel, XX3 
Rathcormac, 300 
Rathkeeran, 393 
Rathmines, 137 
Rathmullen, xoo 
Ree, Lough, x6 
Reformation, 77, 91 



INDEX 



3^9 



Repeal Movement, 308 </ seg. 
Risolue, The, 238 
Richard I., 35 
11^ 50 et sea, 

Richeyj Mr, 43 
Rinuccini, 133 
Rochelle, 237 
Roderick, 33 
Rotnaine, The, 238 
Rome, 73, 319 
Rosach, 19 
Roscommon, 123 
Roscrea, 65 
Rosen, General, 156-7 
Rosb, 97 
Russell, Lord John, 306 

^»Thomas, 231 

Ruvigny, 179, 183, 185 
Ryan, 289 et seq. 

The widow, 294 et seq, 

Ryder, Archdeacon^ 294 et seq. 



Saiglbnd, Loch, 19 
St Agatha. See Agatha 

Cataldus. See Cataldus 

Fiacre. See Fiacre 

Fridolin. ^'^tf Fridolin 

Gall. ^tf^rGall 

George's Channel 52, 164 

Chapel, SI 

Ildefonso, 197 

Kilian. See Kilian. 

Leger, Sir Anthony, 76 

Malo, 73 

Omer, 261 

Patrick. See Patrick 

Ruth, General, 170 et sea. 

San Colombano. See Colombano 

Sandys, Major, 241 

Saratoga, 215 

Sarsfield, Patrick, 165 et seq, 

Saurin, 246 et seq. 

Scattery, 15 

Schomberg, Duke ot, 262 eiseq. 

Schvrartz, Martin, 59 

Scotland, 2 

Scotus John, XI 

Seagrave, zo4*5 

Seckingen, zx 

Sedgemoor, 165 

SemillanU^ The, 238 

Shannon, 15, 42, 65, 95, x8o, X82-3 

Shelbume, Lord, 22X et seq. 



Shepherd, Lieutenant, 307 et teq. 

Sieges. See names of tciwns^ ctc», 
besieged {e.g. Limerick i London- 
deny) 

Sigurd, 21, 23 

Silken Thomas. See Ofialy (Euf dt) 

Simms, 232 et seq, 

Sjmnel, Lambert, 58 et seq. 

Sitric, 17, x8, 20, 21 

Skeffington, 70- z 

Slane, 5, tz 

Castle, 167 

Slemish Mountain, 2 

Sligo, XX2, X23, 166, x86 

Smeerwedce, 96 

Smerwick, 95 

Smith, Sydney, 272 

Solmes' Blues, Z70 

Spain, King of (5«f also, PfuUp tlX 

Spenser, 36, 96 

Sprinefield, 95 

Stanihurst, 7Z 

Statute of Kilkenny, 47-8, 49^ ^6^ 5i 

Stoke, 50 

Story, x8x et seq, 

Strabane, 162 

Strafford, Thomas Wentwnrth, Eail 

of, Z23-4 
Strasburg, xx 

Strongbow, 28, 30 (married) ei seq. 
Stukeley, 88 
Sulcoit, 15 

Surrey, Thomas Howard, EarE 0% 66 
Sussex, Lord, 8x et seq. 
Swift, Dean, X99 et seq.^ soS-g^ ai8, 

250 
Swilly, 89, xoo, X22, 239 
Sydney, Sir Henry, 8x, 88 et £e^. 



Tait, Lieutenant, 294 et seq. 
Talmash, X79, X83 et seq. 
Tara, 5, 18, 310 
Taylor, J. F., x^eCnote) 
g, Bartholom 



/ 



>lomew, 237 



Teeling, 

Temple, Lord, 224 
Test Act, X92, 225 
Thomastown, 273 
Thomond, X3, 34, 65, 72 
Times, The, 268 
Tipperary, 209 
Todnunter, Dr John, 183 
Tomar's Wood, 24 
Tone, Matthew, 237 



{ 



330 



INDEX 



•xa, 937 



T0D6, Wolfe, 397 €t Mf ., 3x9 

Toome, 1x8 

Tower, The, 67-8, 71, 149 

Townshend, Lord, 307 

Transplantatbn, i^ 

Treaty of Limerick, 187, 190 €tMq., 

906, 9X8 
Tredagh, X38 
Trinity Coll^;e. DaUin, 
Tullaghoge, xx8 
Tyrconnell, X07 
— — Lady, 17X 
Richard Talhot, Earl oC; 148 «/ 

seg.f x66 et seq.^ 178 it seq, 
Tyrone, 8a (the rout of Lord Soiiex), 

88, zoa, xz8, xaa, 904 

Earl, 79, 80, xoa-3 

Prince of, 39 

Tyrrell, X07, 1x7 
Tyrrell's Pass, 109 



Upporo, Sir Ralph, 46 

XJlla,4 

Ulster, 4, X7, 3Xi 35> 40 (ousts the 
English), 85 (Shane made sove- 
reign oOt 87 (abortive expedition 
of Lord Sussex), loa, xix (evacu- 
ated by the English^ zx8 (land 
wasted by Mountjoy), xaa, xag, 
X33 (Battle of Benburb) 

Duw:tory, 234 

United Irish Movement 337, 230 ei 
seg.. 358, 36x 

Usher, Archbishop, 98 



Victorictts, 



viaonctts, 3 
Vinegar Hill, 336 



Valmy, 339 
Veres, The De, 36 



Wauis, x5, 38 
Walker, Rev., 151, 154 
Wall, Richard, X95 

Walsh, Robert, 73 

Warbeck, Perkin, 60-z 

War<cries, 69 (note) 

Warren. Sir John Borlase, 338 

Wars otthe Roses, 56-7 

Waterfordj 13 (AsBiuilted), 39 tt seg,, 

50 (Richard IL lands), 96, 174, 

176 
Waterloo, 360 
Wellington, Duke of, 368 
Western Sea, 3 
Wexford, the town besieged, 38, 301 

49, 54. 236 
— — County, 235-6 
*Whiteboy^Ri3i«,3io 
Wicklow, 3, 21, 253 
— Hills, X7, 95 
William IIL, 148 
Williams, Captain, xo8 etseg* 
Wilmot, Sir Charles, 97 
WindmiU Hill. 154 
Wood, Anthony. 138 

Thomas, 139 

Wyse, 3x4 

Yellow Ford, xxo, xz3 

Pass, 1X3 

York, Duke of, 51, 56 (Loid'Lieaten- 

ant of Ireland), 58 
Yorktown, 3x9 
Young Ireland, 3x2 et sig* 



THE END 



Coition atid Coy. LimiUdt Prtnttrt, Edmbut^, 



( 




4^ ^mmMS ^ 



"^ 



r