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VOLUME  IV.      No, 


ournAl  of  che 

rch£Oto5!e& 

&nt)ilSCOriCAl 


To<Usi$tegqi  5&fc  fflft  le  Mrmsm  - 


CONTENTS. 

Sir  Richard  Bingham's  Government  of  Con? 
aaught.    (continued).    By  H.  T.  Knox. 

The  Sept  of  O'Maolale.     By  J.  Mabtyn, 

Fragment  of  Cross  near  Ballynew.     By  M, 
Redington 


V 

The  Knights  Hospitallers  in  Co,  Galway,    By* 

0   Litton  Falkijser,  .  - 


211 


The  French  in  Mayo,  1798. 
D' Alton 


By  Rev,  I<; ,  A , 


m 

Will  of  Geofirey  French.   By  Mabtin  J.  B:;, ca ;     226 

Roland  de  Burgo,  Bishop  of  Clonfert. 

Mabtin  J.  Blak        .....    230 

The  Old  Borough  of  Tuam.    By  Richaed  J, 

Kelly.  -        -"..'-        -        -        -      233 

Notes;  Bibliography,  etc.     -        -        -        -      210 
List  of  Membees,  etc,       .        -       -  241 


jy/fiyrumt.M/tJx 


ilMMUHMI  k!m$V  fMBMNHMHIHI 


[    181    ] 

JOURNAL 

OF   THE 

dmitoau  ^rtb^0l00ti:al  atttr  Htstarkal 

VOL.  IV.  No.  iv. 

Sir  Richard  Bingham's 
Government  of  Connaught. 


By  H.  T.  KNOX. 


(Continued  from  p.  176.) 


Taking  the  two  declarations  together  it  may  be  said  that  every 
one  of  position  in  the  area  of  rebellion,  excepting  Richard  Bourke 
the  Devil's  Hook's  son,  and  excepting  the  Joys  who  were  in 
O'Flaherty's  country,  joined  in  giving  evidence  in  Sir  Richard's 
favour.  These  declarations  were  made  in  answer  to  the  set  of 
charges  which  Dillon  and  Barkley  had  lodged,  which  were  coming 
on  for  trial  before  the  Lord  Deputy  and  Council.  They  seem  to 
state  the  exact  truth  so  far  as  we  can  ascertain  it  from  contem- 
porary or  nearly  contemporary  records,  and  are  not  contradicted 
upon  any  point, 

We  have  not  got  the  particulars  of  the  course  of  trial,  but 
the  final  stage  was  on  the  20th  February  1587,  when  the  Council 
acquitted  Sir  Richard  of  the  charges  brought  against  him  by 
Theobald  Dillon,  finding  that  they  were  maliciously  brought  and 
were  not  based  on  any  probable  just  cause  or  matter,  and  Sir  R's 

L 


182  GALWAY   ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   80CIETY. 

"credit  rather  increased  by  defending  so  sufficiently  and  truly 
(as  they  fell  out)  the  malicious  information  of  the  said  Theobald." 
(CXXVIII,  50), 

Thus  ended  the  first  set  of  charges.  The  Book  of  Dillon's 
complaints  is  not  extant,  but  the  substance  can  be  gathered  from 
the  Declarations.  The  only  breach  of  the  composition  which 
was  specified  is  that  which  was  committed  by  Sir  J,  Perrott  him- 
self, regarding  which  Sir  R,  notes  in  his  answer  to  a  charge  in 
1596  that  Sir  J.  is  still  in  arrears  for  beeves  taken  up. 

In  May  1587  the  Queen  withdrew  Sir  Richard  temporarily 
for  service  in  Flanders.  Wallop  wrote  to  Burghley  that  Bingham 
kept  Connaught  in  such  peace  and  order  that  in  these  bad  years 
it  yielded  corn  for  the  other  provinces  and  plenty  of  cattle,  and 
that  some  from  the  Pale  even  settled  there.  The  composition 
rents  were  being  paid  in  money,  a  matter  which  marked  a  period 
of  peace  and  prosperity. 

Sir  Richard  left  Ireland  in  July.  His  place  was  taken  by 
Sir  Thomas  Le  Strange,  and  in  September  by  his  brother  George 
Bingham.  The  Bishops  of  Tuam,  Clonfert,  Elphin  and  Kilmac- 
duagh,  Lords  Clanricard  and  Athenry,  principal  O'Briens  and 
MacNamaras,  the  chief  O'Maddens,  O'Kellys,  O'Flahertys,  O'Con- 
nors, O'Rourk  and  Burkes,  and  Galway  Merchants,  a  represent- 
ative list  of  the  great  men  of  Connaught,  signed  a  certificate 
declaring  the  good  government  of  Connaught  by  Sir  R.  and  pray- 
ing that  he  may  return,  (British  Museum,  Cotton  MSS.  Titus 
B.  XIII.  p.  418,  dated  14  Sept.  and  CLV.  22.  i.,  dated  20  Oct.. 
both  are  copies).  The  Queen  restored  Sir  R.  to  the  Government 
of  Connaught  in  the  spring  of  1588.    He  reached  Athlone  in  May. 

When  Sir  Donnell  O'Conor  Sligo  died  on  31st  Dec.  1587, 
Donogh  O'Conor  claimed  the  succession,  to  which,  if  the  legiti- 
mate son  of  Cahal,  he  was  entitled  by  the  limitation  in  the  grant 
to  Sir  Donnell.  Sir  Richard  was  in  England  in  the  early  part  of 
1588.  He  must  have  left  the  Court  early  in  March  as  he  was  at 
West  Chester  on  the  13th,  This  is  of  some  importance  because 
the  first  inquisition  was  taken  on  the  4th  March.  The  Queen 
had  herself  ordered  him  not  to  surrender  the  Manor  to  Donogh, 
from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  her  Councillors  had  already 
some  doubt  of  the  honesty  of  purpose  of  Sir  John  Perrott,  Com- 
missioners appointed  by  Sir  John  held  an  inquisition  on  the  4th 
March,  which  found  that  Donogh  was  legitimate.  Sir  Richard 
called  the  attention  of  the  Government  to  this  finding,  asserting 
that  it  was  improperly  made.     The  Escheator  of  Connaught  held 


SIR    RICHARD   BINGHAM'S   GOVERNMENT    OP    CONNAUGHT.        183 

a  second  inquisition,  Ad  Melius  Inquirendum,  which  found  that 
Donogh  was  illegitimate,  Under  orders  from  England  Sir  W. 
Fitzwilliam  issued  a  special  commission  to  Justice  Gardener, 
Justice  Walsh,  and  Sir  Richard  Bingham,  who  held  an  inquisition 
on  the  8th  June,  which  found  that  Donogh  was  illegitimate.  By 
Sir  Richard's  recommendation  Donogh  was  given  the  Manor  of 
Sligo  by  grant,  excepting  the  Castle  and  lands  of  Sligo,  which 
were  retained  for  the  Queen's  service.  This  was  in  accordance 
with  the  feelings  of  the  Irish,  who  paid  no  attention  to  illegiti- 
macy at  this  time. 

By  his  exposure  of  the  corrupt  dealing  of  the  first  set  of 
commissioners  Sir  Richard  made  bitter  enemies  of  the  Bishop  of 
Meath  and  of  Sir  Robert  Dillon  who  had  been  on  that  Commission. 
The  Government  of  England  was  satisfied  that  the  first  inquisi- 
tion had  been  taken  corruptly.  It  was  a  charge  against  Sir  John 
Perrott  that  he  had  not  put  the  Governor  or  the  Escheator  of 
Connaught  on  the  first  commission.  Though  Sir  Richard  in- 
formed Perrott  that  the  Queen  had  in  person  ordered  him  not  to 
deliver  the  Manor  to  Donogh,  yet  he  was  obliged  to  do  so  when 
ordered  peremptorily  the  third  time,  being  authorised  in  deference 
to  his  protest  to  retain  only  the  Castle,  as  he  explained  to  the 
Queen  on  the  28th  May.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  subsequent 
proceedings,  the  finding  of  the  fresh  inquisition,  which  O'Donovan 
cannot  have  been  ignorant  of,  are  ignored  in  the  account  of  this 
transaction  given  in  pp.  201,  202,  203,  of  The  0' Conors  of  Con- 
naught,  which  is  based  on  his  notes..  The  opposite  opinions 
which  prevailed  at  the  time  are  ignored.  (CXXXVI.  13,  14. 
CXXXIX.  36,  CXL.  56,  CXLI.  53,  54,  55.  Brit.  Mus.  Cotton  MSS. 
Titus.  B.  XIII.  p.  420,  421,  423,  425). 

During  the  month  of  September  ships  of  the  Armada  were 
wrecked  on  the  coast  or  came  in  for  shelter.  The  Armada  caused 
very  great  anxiety  to  the  Government  and  excited  the  minds  of 
Irish  chieftains.  A  proclamation  was  issued  ordering  all  men  to 
bring  in  Spaniards  under  pain  of  death.  It  was  generally  obeyed 
in  Connaught  and  Thomond.  O'Malleys  in  Clare  Island,  Bourkes 
in  Tirawley,  slew  many  who  were  cast  ashore.  Many  were  sur- 
rendered. In  December  it  was  reported  that  1100  had  been  put 
to  the  sword. 

Don  Alonso  de  Leyva  and  600  Spaniards  were  reported  to  be 
fortifying  themselves  in  the  Castle  of  Ballycroy,  probably  Doona 
Castle,  and  afterwards  to  have  joined  800  at  Torrane  Castle. 
Sir  R.  went  against  them  at  once.    On  reaching  Castlemacgarrett 


184  GALWAY   ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

on  the  14th  Sept.  he  heard  that  they  had  left  again,  but  as  500 
were  reported  to  have  landed  at  Broadhaven,  he  went  on  to 
Donamona.  Here  Justin  MacDonnell  was  hanged  for  treason, 
for  having  conspired  with  the  Devil's  Hook  to  bring  Don  Alonso 
and  his  men  inland  and  having  sent  guides,  having  forbidden  the 
country  people  to  supply  food,  and  having  incited  the  people  to 
collect  in  order  to  force  Sir  Richard,  who  had  but  a  small 
force,  to  retire.  (CXXXVI.  41,  vi.,  43,  ii.  58.  CXXXVIL  1,  L). 
At  the  end  of  Sept.  Sir  Richard  reported  that  all  were  quiet 
but  the  Devil's  Hook,  Sir  M.  O'Flaherty,  and  O'Rourk,  who 
refused  to  give  up  their  Spaniards.  They  held  them  as  useful 
fighting  men. 

The  Devil's  Hook  had  never  come  in  or  submitted  at  any 
time.  He  lived  out  in  the  Isles  and  Erris,  supported  by  the 
O'Malleys  and  Bourkes.  As  long  as  he  kept  quiet  no  notice  was 
taken.  But  now  he  and  others  began  to  stir.  The  coming  of  the 
Spaniards  had  raised  hopes  and  excitement,  and  those  who  kept 
any  Spaniards  thereby  made  themselves  rebels  by  supporting  the 
Queen's  enemies.  A  general  rising  was  feared.  About  the  1st 
of  November  Walter  ne  Mully,  of  the  family  of  Oloonagashel,  killed 
one  of  John  Browne's  servants  at  night,  but  Browne  procured 
protection  for  him  for  that.  This  must  he  referred  to  by  Sir 
Richard  in  his  answer  to  the  106 — 9  objections  that  Walter  was 
himself  saved  by  Browne  whose  throat  he  cut.  Walter's  brother 
John  killed  two  men  from  the  Pale,  near  Ballinrobe.  About  this 
time  Sir  M.  O'Flaherty  met  them  and  the  Devil's  Hook  and  the 
Sliocht  Ulick  and  the  Joys  on  Inishmaine  and  in  Partry.  The 
Devil's  Hook,  the  Blind  Abbot's  sons  and  others  collected  80  to 
100  men  and  went  about  the  country  robbing  and  living  on  the 
people,  coming  as  far  south  as  Lahinch  and  near  Ballinrobe. 
(CXLIII.  12.  ii.,  CXLVIII.  41). 

John  Browne  being  Sheriff  reported  these  outrages  to  Sir 
Richard,  who  ordered  him  to  get  forces  ready.  This  was  about 
the  1st  of  January,  1589.  But  it  was  not  until  the  13th  Jan.  that 
he  issued  the  order  for  action  in  the  often  quoted  commission 
which  I  give  in  full. 

'«  For  as  much  as  the  protected  Burkes  in  Mayo  have  not  only  broken 
their  protections  but  daily  annoy  and  spoil  Hor  Majesty's  subjects,  Mr. 
Browne  is  authorized  to  levy  soldiers  and  to  prosecute  the  said  traitors  and 
disobedient  persons  with  fire  and  sword,  and  to  prey,  burn,  and  spoil  tlnir 
maintainors  and  relievers ;  also  to  take  sufficient  meat  and  drink  for  him s<  If 
and  companies  when  and  where  necessary,  paying  such  prices  for  the  samo 
as  Her  Majesty  in  like  cases  of  sorvico  is  accustomed."     (CXL— -20). 


Sir    RICHARD    BINGHAM,  Knt. 

(From    the    Portrait    in    possession    of  the    Earl   of  Lucan.) 


SIR   EICHAED   BINGHAM'S    GOVERNMENT    OF    CONNAUGHT.        185 


Copy  of  Inscription  on  the  Portrait  of  Bingham, 
now  at  laleham. 


^ir  Utrljartr  gingham,  lUtigfrt, 
of  the  ancient  family  of  the  Binghams  of  Bingham 
Melcombe  in  the  County  of  Dorset.  He  was  from 
his  youth  trained  up  in  military  affairs,  served 
in  the  time  of  Queen  Mary  at  St.  Quentin,  in  the 
Western  Isles  of  Scotland,  in  the  Isle  of  Candia, 
under  the  Venetians  at  Cabo,  Chrio,  and  the  famous 
battle  of  Lepanto  against  the  Turks,  in  the  Civil 
wars  of  France,  in  the  Netherlands,  and  at  Smer= 
wick  where  the  Romans  and  Irish  were  vanquished. 
Afterwards  he  was  made  Governor  of  Connaught, 
where  he  overthrew  the  Irish  Scots,  expelled  the 
traitrous  O'Rourke,  suppressed  divers  rebellions, 
and  that  with  small  charges  to  Her  Majesty,  main  = 
tained  the  Province  in  a  flourishing  state  for  13 
years.  Finally  for  his  services  he  was  made  Mar= 
shall  of  Ireland,  Governor  and  General  of  Leinster. 
When  at  Dublin  he  dyed  January  19th,  1598. 


Note. — January  1598  is  January  1599  according  to  the  present  computation. 


[In  Thorns'  Anecdotes  and  Traditions,  p.  18,  we  read  "  Sir 
Bichard  Bingham  was  a  man  eminent  both  for  spiritt  and  martiall 
knowlege,  but  of  a  very  small  stature."] 


186         OALWAY   ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

Though  it  was  intended  to  keep  the  matter  secret,  the  prep- 
arations could  not  be  made  without  observation,  and,  whether 
the  mere  collection  of  forces  was  a  sufficient  warning  or  informa- 
tion leaked  out,  the  robber  bands  retired  before  Browne.  When 
he  entered  the  Owles,  Richard  Bourke  objected  to  his  coming  into 
the  country.  Early  in  February  Browne  reached  Carrickhowley 
Castle.  He  thence  sent  the  bulk  of  his  force  on  towards  Erris 
and  followed  some  ten  miles  behind  with  a  party  of  about  25  men. 
Richard  the  Devil's  Hook's  son  and  Walter  ne  Mully  fell  upon 
them  and  killed  them  all.  (Four  Masters  and  Lough  Ce  and  Cal. 
Carew  MSS.  III.  18th  Mar.  1589). 

During  January  the  conduct  of  Sir  M.  O'Flaberty  and  the 
Joys  had  excited  suspicion.  (CXL.  1.— i.  CXLVIII.  41).  The 
Blind  Abbot  and  Sliocht  Ulick,  Sir  M.  O'Flaherty,  the  Joys,  and 
some  MacDonnells  went  into  open  rebellion  about  the  middle  of 
March  and  invaded  the  baronies  of  Clanmorris,  Kilmaine  and 
Clare,  Sir  M.  was  said  to  make  great  account  of  the  Spaniards  he 
had  retained.  The  Sheriff  W.  Bowen  and  G.  Comerford  the 
Attorney  of  Connaught  had  a  conference  with  them  to  arrange  a 
truce.  They  insisted  on  having  the  Blind  Abbot  made  MacWilliam 
and  on  having  the  benefit  of  the  composition,  and  refused  a  truce. 
(CXLII.  34).  They  began  robbing  in  those  baronies,  and  a  party 
of  about  500  under  Sir  M.'s  eldest  son  Teig  went  into  the  barony 
of  Dunmore.  Capt.  Weekes  and  Lt.  Bingham  came  up  with 
them  near  the  castle  of  Carras  in  Kilmaine,  slew  Teig  and  two 
other  O'Flaherties  and  100  of  their  men  and  rescued  300  head  of 
cattle  and  horses.     (CXLIII.  12.  vi.  viii.  FM.  LC). 

Fitzwilliam  intervened  and  spread  ruin  over  Mayo  and  Sligo 
and  great  tracts  in  Roscommon.  He  forbad  Sir  Richard  to  pros- 
ecute the  rebels,  and  ordered  him  to  withdraw  all  his  forces  from 
Mayo,  in  order  not  to  hinder  a  pacification.  On  the  5th  April 
he  appointed  the  Bishops  of  Meath  and  Kilmore,  Sir  Nicholas 
White,  Justice  Robert  Dillon,  Sir  Thomas  Le  Strange,  and  Sir  R. 
Bingham  commissioners  to  treat  for  peace,  with  instructions  to 
give  protection  to  rebels  and  that  the  rebels  shall  not  have  a 
MacWilliam  and  shall  have  sheriffs.     (CXLIII.  2). 

Up  to  this  point  the  Septs  engaged  in  rebellion  were  of  less 
importance  than  those  of  the  second  rising  of  1586,  being  the 
same  without  the  O'Malleys  and  Clangibbons,  but  with  Sir 
Murrough  and  Walter  Bourke  of  Cloonagashel.  The  disastrous 
defeat  of  the  O'Flaherties  must  have  already  lowered  their  spirits. 
But  now  the  Lord  Deputy  himself  was  humbly  suing  for  peace 


SIR    RICHARD   BINGHAM'S   GOVERNMENT   OP   CONNAUGHT.         187 


CO     W 


3 


188  GALWAY   ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

and  submitting  to  their  demand  for  a  Mac  William  by  surrender 
of  the  Co.  Mayo.  Thus  abandoned  and  subjected  to  the  rebels 
the  old  chieftain  families  of  Mayo  were  forced  to  join  the  rebels 
for  their  own  safety. 

The  Commissioners  reached  Gal  way  on  the  11th  and  left  on 
the  27th  April.  Some  of  the  rebels  met  them,  but  most  remained 
away,  robbing  the  countries  of  those  who  did  not  join  them,  or 
whom  they  considered  to  be  well  affected  to  the  Queen.  O'Rourk 
also  invaded  and  robbed  the  Co.  Sligo  of  great  quantities  of  cattle, 
and  Bourkes  did  the  same  from  the  other  side.  The  MacDermots 
of  the  Curlews  also  rose  during  this  conference.  The  few  repre- 
sentatives of  the  rebels  made  complaints  to  the  Commissioners 
and  their  demands,  which  the  Commissioners  found  wholly  inad- 
missible, amounting  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  Queen's  government 
from  Mayo.  The  Commissioners  wanted  some  of  them  to  come 
to  Dublin  to  show  their  grievances  to  the  Lord  Deputy,  and 
suggested  a  peace  for  a  month.  The  rebels  made  impossible 
conditions  and  in  effect  said  that  they  could  not  answer  for  their 
confederates  observing  the  peace.  The  negotiation  ended.  The 
rebels'  demands  were  that  Sir  Richard  should  be  removed  and  a 
governor  pleasing  to  them  appointed,  and  that  no  Englishman 
should  dwell  among  them,  and  that  they  should  have  a  Mac- 
William — in  short  that  the  Queen's  Government  should  be  with- 
drawn. These  terms  were  incompatible  with  the  instructions  of 
the  Lord  Deputy,  they  shall  not  have  a  Mac  William  and  they 
shall  have  sheriffs.     (CXLIV.  5.  34.  L). 

Sir  N.  White  the  Master  of  the  Rolls  seems  in  these  affairs 
to  have  been  an  impartial  and  just  man,  but  the  majority  of  the 
Commissioners  made  his  influence  small.  On  the  9th  May  he 
wrote  to  Burghley  that  he  sees  no  reason  why  peace  should  not 
have  been  concluded,  "  if  the  desire  of  revenge  in  some  of  us  to 
condemn  Sir  Richard  as  author  of  the  wars  and  hinderer  of  the 
peace  were  not  the  cause." 

On  the  29th  April  the  Lord  Deputy  ordered  Sir  Richard  to 
prosecute  the  rebels,  and  promised  to  send  forces.  The  freedom 
allowed  to  the  rebels  by  the  Lord  Deputy's  manifest  fear  of  them, 
suing  for  peace  and  not  attacking  them,  had  by  this  time  forced 
nearly  all  the  O'Flaherties  and  most  of  the  Bourkes,  the  Joys, 
the  MacDonnells,  the  MacJordans,  the  MacCostellos,  the  Mac- 
Morrises,  and  the  O'Malleys  to  join  the  rebels,  as  did  some  of 
the  MacDermots,  O'Conor  Roe's  sons,  Dualtagh  O'Conor  of 
O'Conor  Donn's  family. 


SIR   RICHARD    BINGHAM'S    GOVERNMENT    OF    CONNAUGHT.        189 

Sir  Eichard  entered  into  action  immediately.  The  Sheriff 
drove  O'Eourk  out  of  Eoscommon,  and  he  himself  with  such 
forces  as  he  had  went  against  the  Bourke  rebels,  who  seem  to 
have  been  immediately  deserted  by  their  nominal  allies  in  Mayo 
who  had  submitted  to  them  owing  to  being  deserted  by  the  Lord 
Deputy.  The  Bourkes  did  not  dare  to  face  him.  He  went  into 
their  fastnesses  and  through  their  mountains  and  killed  some  of 
their  men  without  loss  of  his  own,  but  could  not  get  their  cattle 
which  had  been  driven  off  to  the  sea  and  islands.  He  came  out 
into  the  plains  again  to  rest  his  men,  and  received  at  Cong  the 
order  of  the  Lord  Deputy  made  on  the  10th  May  that  he  should 
cease  to  prosecute  the  Bourkes,  and  should  dismiss  some  of  the 
bands  lately  engaged.  He  was  also  informed  that  the  Archbishop 
of  Armagh,  late  Bishop  of  Kilmore,  Sir  Eobert  Dillon  and  Sir 
Thomas  Le  Strange  had  been  appointed  Commissioners  to  treat 
with  the  rebels  until  the  Lord  Deputy  should  come  himself  to 
make  peace  with  them.  (CXLIIL  48.  ii.  to  vi.  and  CXLIV. 
5.  6.  34.  50.  55.  63).  At  this  moment  the  rebellion  was  practically 
over.  In  10  days  or  a  fortnight  all  the  Mayo  rebels  would  cer- 
tainly have  come  in. 

The  cause  of  this  sudden  change  was  a  letter  from  the  Queen 
desiring  the  Lord  Deputy  to  adopt  a  more  temperate  course  in 
the  inferior  governments,  especially  in  Connaught.  Upon  this  he 
determined  to  make  peace  at  once  and  upon  almost  any  terms 
they  would  accept,  as  we  may  judge  from  his  subsequent  actions. 
The  report  of  the  former  Commissioners  seems  to  have  failed  to 
create  an  unfavourable  impression  in  his  mind  as  regards  Sir 
Eichard.  Even  Sir  G.  Fenton  thought  that  no  one  matter  had 
more  pushed  the  Connaught  rebels  to  disobedience  than  the 
spurning  of  their  own  minds  against  government.  (CXLIV.  Nos. 
34,  53). 

A  difference  is  apparent  in  the  tone  of  the  Lord  Deputy's 
references  to  Sir  Eichard  Bingham  from  this  time  forth,  and  his 
later  conduct  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  clear  himself  with  the  Queen's  Government  by  imputing 
to  Sir  Eichard  such  tyrannous  conduct  as  raised  up  general  dis- 
content and  drove  the  rebels  into  action,  and  to  procure  Sir 
Eichard' s  conviction  upon  such  charges  as  might  be  brought 
against  him  by  whatever  means  would  gain  the  end. 

Up  to  this  time  the  rebels  had  done  little  harm,  except  what 
O'Eourk  had  done  in  Sligo.  They  had  been  defeated  in  Mayo 
and  Eoscommon  and  their  preys  rescued.     Now  the  withdrawal 


190  OALWAY   ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

of  the  Queen's  forces  put  all  the  country  at  their  mercy,  and  the 
action  of  the  Commissioners  in  issuing  protections  and  begging 
them  to  come  to  treat  seemed  to  denote  a  great  fear  of  them ; 
their  spirits  rose  and  they  broke  out  to  rob  all  whom  they  did  not 
regard  as  their  friends,  or  who  were  loyal  to  the  Queen,  even  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  Queen's  soldiers,  who  were  allowed 
only  to  defend  themselves. 

As  the  Lord  Deputy  passed  through  Athlone  on  the  7th  June 
he  forbad  Sir  Richard  to  accompany  him  and  ordered  him  to 
remain  thereabouts.  When  he  arrived  in  Galway  the  rebels  were 
ready  to  make  their  formal  submission,  which  they  did  on  the 
11th  June  in  St.  Nicholas's  Church.  The  submission  was  made 
only  by  Sir  M.  O'Flaherty  and  the  principal  Mayo  rebels,  and  by 
O'Dowda  and  Dualtagh  O'Conor  on  behalf  of  themselves  and 
their  fellows.  The  submission  was  as  humble  and  complete  as 
words  artd  promises  could  make  it.  They  promised  to  give  such 
pledges  as  the  Lord  Deputy  should  nominate,  to  surrender  all 
Spaniards,  to  make  good  all  spoils  done  since  a  certain  day,  and 
to  pay  such  fine  as  the  Lord  Deputy  shall  prescribe.  Though  the 
Lord  Deputy  reported  on  the  30th  June  that  they  had  given 
hostages,  this  seems  to  have  been  only  partly  true,  as  we  find 
later  on  that  some  were  being  required  to  give  pledges.  In  other 
cases  the  pledges  seem  to  have  been  worthless. 

On  the  12th  June  they  prayed  for  redress ;  the  important 
demands  were : — The  removal  of  Sir  Richard  Bingham — Immu- 
nity from  martial  law — One  of  themselves  to  be  appointed  collec- 
tor of  composition  rents — Gentlemen  of  the  country  to  be  Sheriffs 
— The  part  of  the  .profits  of  the  MacWilliamship  allotted  to  the 
house  of  Castlebar  to  be  given  to  the  Blind  Abbot.  These  de- 
mands would  have  meant,  if  conceded,  the  withdrawal  of  the 
Queen's  Government  from  their  countries.  At  the  same  time 
the  following  Books  of  complaints  were  delivered  to  the  Lord 
Deputy.  One  by  the  Bourkes  and  one  by  Sir  Murrough  against 
Sir  Richard  and  his  subordinates,  and  one  by  O'Dowda  against 
Sir  George  Bingham  and  Mr.  Taaf  Sheriff  of  Sligo,  Copies  of 
these  Books  were  sent  to  the  Privy  Council  of  England  with  the 
remark — "  We  do  not  believe  a  great  part  is  likely  to  be  true." 
(CLXV.  12.  22,  32.  48). 

Thus  these  rebels  had  got  all  they  wanted.  While  their 
grievances  were  to  be  considered  and  their  complaints  were  to 
be  enquired  into,  they  were  under  colour  of  peace  left  to  act  as 
they  pleased,  Sir  Richard  being  restrained  from  taking  any  action 
against  them, 


SIR   RICHARD    BINGHAM'S   GOVERNMENT    OP    CONNAUGHT.        191 

On  the  same  day  that  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  the 
Bishop  of  Meath,  Sir  Robert  Dillon  and  Sir  Thomas  Le  Strange 
were  parleying  with  O'Eourk  on  the  borders  of  his  country, 
O'Rourke's  son  Brian  Og,  sent  out  by  Sir  Brian  with  300  or  400 
men,  attacked  the  Sheriff  of  Sligo  in  the  Curlews,  and  killed  17 
of  his  40  soldiers  and  two  gentlemen.  (Egerton  Papers,  Camden 
Society's  vol.  12.,  p.  153.  Charges  against  O'Rourke,  Sir  R.  B.'s 
deposition,  also  Annals  Loch  Ce,  1589).  Soon  after  the  rebels 
broke  down  three  of  Dillon's  castles,  and  so  things  went  on  in 
Mayo,  Sligo,  Leitrim  and  North  Roscommon.  The  damage  done 
up  to  the  end  of  August  amounted  to  £15,800  according  to  claims 
reported.  Though  they  were  no  doubt  exaggerated  there  must 
have  been  much  petty  robbery,  extortion  and  loss  not  reported. 
The  Lord  Deputy  himself  had  been  a  heavy  weight  on  the  town 
of  Gal  way  and  the  country  around.  He  brought  several  council- 
lors and  an  escort  of  350  foot  and  120  horse  whom  he  could  not 
feed  or  pay.  He  desired  the  Privy  Council  to  reprove  the  town 
of  Galway  for  not  lending  more  than  £200,  all  they  could  get  by 
fair  speeches  and  afterwards  "  with  harder  speeches  and  threat- 
ening." (CXLV.  48.  61,  63.  75.  CXLVI.  5.)  He  had  not  yet 
paid  for  beeves  taken  up  for  his  journey  in  Connaught  the  year 
before,  but  Sir  Richard  Bingham  wrote  that  "  he  means  to  pay 
for  them."     (CXLVIII.  43.     Reply  to  objections  101  to  106). 

Meanwhile  there  had  been  a  good  deal  of  correspondence 
regarding  the  complaints  against  Sir  Richard,  in  which  the  Lord 
Deputy  expressed  very  forcibly  his  opinion  that  Sir  Richard  had 
been  guilty  of  tyranny  and  extortion.  Yet  up  to  the  11th  July 
Sir  Richard  had  not  been  made  acquainted  even  with  the  terms 
of  the  pacification  or  with  one  particular  of  the  Books  against 
him  which  had  been  sent  to  England,  in  spite  of  his  requests  for 
them.  As  late  as  the  14th  Sept.  he  had  received  only  extracts,  in 
defiance  of  the  orders  of  the  Privy  Council  to  give  copies  of  all 
complaints.     (CXLV.  61). 

The  conduct  of  the  Bishop  of  Meath  and  of  the  Lord  Deputy 
made  a  very  bad  impression  on  the  Queen's  Government.  On  the 
24th  June  Sir  Francis  Walsingham  wrote  thus  to  the  Bishop  of 
Meath  : — 

"  My  Lord  of  Meath,  I  am  sorry  to  write  to  a  man  of  your  calling  in 
such  sort  as  I  am  justly  occasioned  by  your  illusage  of  Sir  R.  Bingham, 
towards  whom  you  have  borne  such  malice  ever  since  his  good  dealing  in 
the  matter  of  the  office  for  Sligo's  lands,  which  by  your  means  was  corruptly 
found  against  Her  Majesty.     It  was  told  me  what  time  you  were  in  England 


192  GALWAY   ARCH.EOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

that  I  should  in  the  end  find  you  a  hypocrite.  And  what  better  reckoning 
can  I  make  of  you.  If  you  had  been  so  wise  either  in  divinity  or  policy  as 
you  would  bo  taken  to  be,  you  might  easily  have  considered  that  such  loose 
persons  as  they  are  that  broke  out  in  Connaught  could  and  should  in  no 
better  sort  be  repressed  than  by  the  sword,  which  was  the  course  adopted 
by  Sir  Richard  Bingham.  You  and  some  others  think  by  cunning  dealing 
to  overthrow  the  gentleman,  but  this  practice  of  yours,  though  not  by  Sir 
Richard  Bingham,  is  sufficiently  discovered  already  from  that  realm,  and 
the  gentleman  I  doubt  not  will  stand  upright  there,  in  despite  of  all  your 
malice.  I  am  sorry  that  a  man  of  your  profession  should  uudor  the  colour 
of  justico  carry  yourself  so  maliciously."     (CXLV.  No.  21.). 

To  Sir  William  Fitzwilliam  he  wrote  on  the  8th  July  (CXLV. 
No.  55)  :— 

"  You  must  give  me  leave  as  one  that  professoth  to  love  you,  to  deal 
plainly  with  you,  touching  the  course  of  proceeding  now  held  against  Sir 
Richard  Bingham,  Governor  of  Connaught.  I  never  saw  in  any  cause  so 
strange,  so  hard,  and  so  unjust  a  course  taken,  for  first,  as  I  am  informed, 
there  are  added  to  the  former  Commissioners  (where  of  two  before,  viz.,  the 
Bishop  of  Meath  and  Sir  R.  Dillon  wore  Sir  Richard's  mortal  enemies  in 
respect  of  Sir  Richard's  discovery  of  their  lewd  and  corrupt  dealing  in  find- 
ing an  office  for  the  benefit  of  O'Conor  Sligo)  other  two,  namely,  Francis 
Barkley  and  Fowle,  men  known  to  stand  ill-affected  towards  him.  Secondly 
Sir  Richard  Bingham  being  an  humble  suitor  unto  your  Lordship  that  he 
might  have  gone  to  Gal  way  with  you  to  have  answered  such  matters  as  by 
practice  by  some  of  the  Commissioners  themselves  he  was  liked  to  be  charged 
with  by  certain  rebels  and  traitors,  your  Lordship  would  in  no  sort  be  drawn 
to  yield  thereunto,  upon  pretence  that  the  name  of  tho  Binghams  was  so 
odious  unto  the  said  rebels,  as  if  any  of  them  should  have  been  present  ;it 
Galway,  they  would  not  have  come  in  to  have  submitted  themselves. 
Lastly,  such  libels  as  were  exhibited  against  the  said  Governor  by  the  said 
traitors  and  rebels,  were  sent  over  hither  without  acquainting  the  Governor 
therewithal,  to  the  end  he  might  have  yieldod  his  answer  thereunto,  with 
an  opinion  belike  that  the  same  should  have  wrought  a  condemnation  of  tho 
said  Governor  before  he  should  have  been  heard. 

But,  My  Lord,  we  proceed  here  in  a  more  just  course,  for  we  do  not 
condemn  men  here  before  they  are  heard,  and  as  for  the  gentleman  himself 
(who  desireth  no  favour  but  justice  if  he  shall  be  found  in  any  sort,  by  just 
trial,  culpable  of  those  great  crimes  he  standeth  charged  withal  by  the  said 
libels)  I  can  assure  you  ho  is  not  so  weakly  friended,  nor  hath  deserved  so 
ill,  both  of  this  state,  and  of  that  too,  as  he  shall  be  shaken  out  of  his 
government  without  good  cause,  and  the  same  duly  proved  in  a  more  upright 
course  than  is  now  held  there. 

To  appoint  the  enemies  of  a  party  complained  of  especially  by  rebels  to 
be  his  commissioners  agreeth  with  no  rules  of  justice,  and  to  discountenance 
a  Governor  of  a  province  upon  information  given  only  by  rebels  before  his 
answer  made  thereunto  sorteth  with  no  policy,  and  it  may  fall  out  my  Lord 
Deputy  to  bo  your  own  case,  for  it  is  no  new  thing  in  that  realm  to  have 
deputies  accused.  I  have  thought  that  for  my  sake,  who  have  not  deserved 
the  worst  of  you,  the  poor  gentleman  should  have  had  at  your  hands  though 


SIR   RICHARD    BINGHAM'S   GOVERNMENT   OP   CONNAUGHT.      193 

not  favour  yet  justice.  It  hath  been  told  me  by  some  here  of  good  quality 
that  the  end  of  this  prosecution  tendeth  to  remove  him  out  of  his  govern- 
ment with  an  attempt  to  annex  Athlone  into  the  Deputyship,  but  I  can 
assure  your  Lordship  it  will  never  be  won  that  way,  neither  do  I  think  it 
convenient  that  ever  it  should  be  separated  from  the  Government  of  Con- 
naught. 

And  as  touching  your  Lordship's  proceeding  at  Galway  in  treating  with 
the  rebels,  it  standeth  not  with  the  Queen's  honour  that  they  should  be 
dandled  in  so  dishonorable  a  sort  as  I  hear  they  are,  being  base  fellows.  I 
dare  undertake  that  if  the  matter  had  been  referred  to  the  Governor  it  would 
have  been  performed  with  great  honour,  and  less  extraordinary  charges  than 
the  diet  of  the  Commissioners  will  amount  to. 

I  write  not  this  to  have  Sir  R.  Bingham's  faults  covered,  if  he  may  be 
justly  charged,  for  my  favour  towards  him  is  not  grounded  upon  any  parti- 
cular respect,  being  no  ally  or  kinsman  unto  me,  but  for  the  worthiness  and 
honesty  that  I  know  to  be  in  the  gentleman ,  whom  I  assure  your  Lordship 
I  do  not  mean  to  abandon,  but  to  favour  with  the  best  credit  I  have,  until 
by  just  proof  he  shall  be  convicted  of  those  foul  matters  he  is  now  sought 
to  be  charged  withal." 

Before  leaving  Connaught  the  Lord  Deputy  forbad  Sir  Kichard 
to  use  martial  law  or  to  hold  any  Sessions  or  Circuit  of  Assizes 
until  be  himself  goes  through  every  county  (CXLV.  No.  48). 

The  device  of  trying  Sir  R.  by  a  set  of  Commissioners  who 
would  be  ready  to  condemn  him  even  unjustly  having  failed,  the 
Lord  Deputy  appears  to  have  adopted  another  device  to  secure  a 
court  on  which  he  could  rely  to  convict  as  the  choice  of  jurors 
among  Sir  R.'s  enemies  in  Connaught  would  rest  with  him.  The 
following  extract  from  a  letter  of  the  Privy  Council  to  the  Lord 
Deputy  dated  the  27th  July  shows  how  it  was  brought  to  nought 
by  the  determination  of  the  Queen's  Government  that  the  trial 
should  be  fair  (CXLV.  82)  :— 

"  Having  considered  report  of  your  pacification  at  Galway,  of  which  we 
are  very  glad  if  it  may  continue,  and  that  you  purpose  in  August  and  Sept- 
ember to  hold  Sessions  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  in  sundry  counties  for  satis- 
faction of  subjects  that  find  themselves  aggrieved  by  Sir  Richard  Bingham 
and  inferior  officers,  and  the  great  books  of  complaints,  some  certified  by 
the  first  Commissioners  and  others  sent  over  by  Sir  Geoffry  Fenton,  in 
which  the  Governor  is  charged  with  many  extortions  and  hard  dealings,  in 
which  he  should  justify  himself,  and  should  be  heard  especially  as  they  were 
made  by  those  who  were  in  actual  rebellion— you  shall  try  the  Governor 
before  yourself  and  Council  except  the  Bishop  of  Meath  and  Sir  Robert 
Dillon — and  we  do  not  think  it  meet  that  any  charges  against  Sir  Richard 
Bingham  should  be  heard  at  General  Sessions,  but  only  against  inferior 
officers.  If  you  condemn  him  report  to  us  or  the  Queen.  If  not  then  for 
his  credit  you  shall  make  a  public  declaration  in  open  Sessions  in  the 
counties  where  he  hath  been  accused  of  his  innocency." 


194  GALWAY   ARCH2EOLOOICAL   AND   HISTORICAL    80CIETY. 

During  August  Sir  Richard  was  seeking  trial.  He  was  ready 
for  it  anywhere  so  long  as  he  had  impartial  judges.  He  observed 
that  he  could  bring  his  witnesses  to  Dublin,  and  that  Sir  M. 
O* Flaherty  and  the  rest  would  come  easily  as  peace  had  been 
made.  This  remark  must  have  seemed  a  cruel  sarcasm  if  Sir 
Wm.  Fitzwilliam  saw  it,  as  he  must  have  known  how  little  they 
regarded  the  peace  (CXLVI.  13).  The  Lord  Deputy  did  not  try 
Sir  Richard,  but  left  all  matters  affecting  him  to  stand  over  until 
he  should  return  from  holding  Sessions.  He  and  his  council 
write  that  many  books  of  extortions  were  presented  and  the 
matters  proved  against  the  inferior  officers  at  Ennis,  and  that  they 
purpose  to  make  them  an  example.  They  make  a  similar  remark 
regarding  the  Sessions  at  Sligo,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  any 
one  ever  was  punished.  It  is  probable  that  these  were  only  pre- 
sentments, which  they  took  to  be  true,  and  that  no  trials  were 
ever  held. 

Sir  Richard  met  the  Lord  Deputy  at  Galway  and  was  ordered 
to  leave.  The  Lord  Deputy  was  there  in  the  first  week  of  Sept- 
ember and  thence  moved  to  hold  a  Sessions  at  Kilmaine  on  the 
8th  September.  Only  six  Bourkes  of  importance  attended.  The 
Blind  Abbot  and  the  rest  excused  themselves  as  they  had  to  go 
against  about  500  Scots  who  had  landed  in  Erris,  led  by  one  of 
Grace  O'Malley's  sons.  These  Scots  probably  expected  to  be 
engaged  by  the  Bourkes  then  in  action.  But  the  Bourkes  did  not 
want  them  just  then.  Their  interest  at  this  moment  was  to  get 
the  Lord  Deputy  safely  out  of  Connaught  and  gather  their  harvest 
before  making  open  war.  So  there  was  a  quarrel  and  fight,  and 
the  Scots  left,  and  so  did  the  Lord  Deputy.  After  Sessions  at 
Sligo  and  Roscommon  he  went  out  of  the  province.  The  object 
of  this  tour  was  to  gather  evidence  against  Sir  Richard  and  his 
officers.  Many  presentments  were  made  at  these  places  of  alleged 
acts  of  cessing  and  taking  cows  without  payment,  and  formal 
complaints  were  lodged  at  Sligo  against  Sir  George  Bingham  and 
others. 

But  O'Rourk  refused  to  appear  and  it  was  admitted  that  he 
must  be  chastised.  He  also  had  lodged  complaints  against  Sir 
Richard  some  time  before.  This  tour  completed  the  tale  of  com- 
plaints which  will  be  dealt  with  together  (CXLVI.  5,  13,  28,  30, 
35,  36,  42,  43,  52,  64). 

Having  got  rid  of  the  Lord  Deputy  and  having  got  in  their 
harvest,  the  Bourkes  were  ready  for  more  important  action  than 
petty  robbery.     Early  in  October  the  Blind  Abbot  was  named 


SIR   RICHARD    BINGHAM'S   GOVERNMENT    OF    CONNAUGHT.       195 

Mac  William  on  Rausakeera,  a  fort  near  Kilmaine,  proclaimed  by 
MacTibbot  in  the  usual  form.  Marcus  Mac  an  Abb  was  pro- 
claimed MacDonnell.  The  assumption  oi  the  name  of  Mac  William 
was  the  most  flagrant  flouting  of  the  Queen's  authority  and  the 
most  open  renunciation  of  submission  and  of  previous  engagement 
that  could  be  imagined.  The  Lord  Deputy  negotiated  with  the 
usual  result.  The  Blind  Abbot  used  most  submissive  and  loyal 
language,  but  gave  no  other  satisfaction.  (CXLVII.  9,  23,  28,  41, 
43.  CXLVIII.  5,  19).  The  Queen  intervened  on  the  20fch  Novem- 
ber by  a  letter  to  the  Lord  Deputy  expressing  her  displeasure  at 
the  Bourke  rebellion  and  making  a  Mac  William,  and  ordering  him 
to  help  Sir  R.  Bingham  to  suppress  the  new  Mac  William,  and 
the  Clandonnells.     (CXLVIII.  No.  14). 

Sir  William  was  now  forced  to  stop  spinning  out  time  to 
avoid  a  trial.  The  Books  of  Complaints  and  Sir  R.'s  answers  and 
the  charges  of  the  Commissioners  were  read  before  the  Council 
Board  and  dealt  with  on  the  8th  November.  This  seems  to  have 
been  the  beginning  of  the  trial.  No  witnesses  appeared  against 
Sir  R.  His  witnesses  were  under  examination  on  the  28th.  He 
was  promised  acquittal  except  on  three  reserved  points.  His 
answer  to  these  points  was  put  in  on  the  3rd  December.  On  the 
4th  December  acquittal  was  formally  recorded,  and  on  the  5th 
December  proclamation  thereof  was  ordered.  (CXLVIII.  15,  19, 
CXLIX.  6,  8, 10,  21).  Before  dealing  with  the  charges  and  answers 
it  is  convenient  to  note  how  the  rebellion  was  suppressed. 

Sir  Richard  was  now  ordered  back  to  Connaught,  but  was 
not  yet  allowed  to  handle  the  rebellion,  though  the  rebels  were 
plundering  as  usual.  The  Lord  Deputy  arranged  to  leave  for 
Galway  on  the  16th,  and  ordered  forces  to  meet  him  there,  where 
he  had  about  1,500  men  at  the  end  of  the  month,  besides  those 
under  the  Earls  of  Clanricard  and  Thomond.  On  the  23rd  Decem- 
ber proclamation  was  made  at  Galway  by  the  Lord  Deputy  in- 
viting the  rebels  to  come  in  by  the  12th  January,  1590,  and  submit 
themselves.  As  it  said  nothing  about  their  returning,  many 
suspected  and  did  not  come  in.  The  Lord  Deputy  sent  out  his 
officers  to  beg  them  to  come  in.  Some  said  they  would  not  come 
because  they  could  not  give  all  the  pledges  required,  and  if  the 
best  came  in  they  would  not  get  out  again.  The  Blind  Abbot  and 
the  Bourkes  said  they  could  not  control  the  country  without  a 
chief,  by  whatever  name.  Of  those  who  came  in  several  were 
arrested,  demands  made  on  them,  and  hostages  required.  None 
of  note  came  in  except  Sir  M.  O'Flaherty  and  David  O'Dowda. 


196  OALWAY   ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Sir  M.  was  detained  because  he  would  not  give  up  his  son 
as  a  pledge.  O'Dowda  was  detained  to  make  him  surrender 
Castleconor  and  give  good  pledges. 

On  the  13th  January  Sir  Richard  was  put  in  command  of  the 
forces  for  prosecution  of  the  rebels.  The  Lord  Deputy  and  Coun- 
cil put  several  persons  under  restraint  upon  suspicion.  The  Lord 
Deputy  went  away.  O'Flaherty  and  O'Dowda  had  not  given  the 
pledges  required,  "  and  therefore  we  left  them  with  their  own  con- 
sents to  the  disposition  of  Sir  Richard  Bingham."    (CL.  16,  23, 27.) 


CASTLECONOR  in  Tireragh  (O'Dowda'b). 


Sir  R.  did  not  take  the  field  till  the  28th  January,  win m  he 
marched  to  Cong,  where  he  mustered  on  the  1st  February 
soldiers  and  228  kerne  and  Borne  men  under  the  two  Earls.  They 
left  Cong  on  the  3rd  February  and  marched  into  Tirawley  halting 
at  Newbrook  and  Castlebar.  The  rebels  did  nothing  beyond  firing 
a  few  shots  into  the  camp  and  a  few  trifling  skirmishes  until  the 
force  entered  Tirawley  by  the  Barnagee  pass,  when  400  of  bhem 
made  a  feeble  attack  on  the  rere,  but  were  driven  off  by  a  dis- 
charge of  shot,  and  did  not  meddle  with  liis  forces  again.  Next 
day  the  Blind  Abbot  on  horseback  chased  and  nearly  overtook  one 


SIR   RICHARD    BINGHAM'S    GOVERNMENT    OP    CONNAUGHT.        197 

of  Lord  Thomond's  kerne,  who  turned  suddenly  and  struck  at  him 
with  a  sword,  which  nearly  cut  off  one  of  his  feet  at  the  ancle. 
A  surgeon  afterwards  cut  it  all  off.  The  rebels  now  gave  up 
hope  and  dispersed  to  look  after  their  own  cattle.  They  began  to 
burn  their  own  corn  and  houses  in  Tirawley.  Sir  Eichard  did  the 
same.  About  1,200  ricks  were  destroyed.  On  the  12th  they 
moved  towards  the  mountains  of  Erris  and  reached  Burrisool  on 
the  16th.  Parties  were  sent  out  to  search  the  fastnesses  between 
Newport  and  Castlebar  and  into  Gallen.  By  the  21st  February 
Sir  Bichard  was  at  Newbrook  again,  and  the  leaders  of  the  Bourkes 
were  suing  for  peace.     (CLI.  4,  i.,  57,  81,  83). 

On  the  10th  March  he  wrote  from  Eoscommon  that  the 
Bourkes  and  Clandonnells  had  submitted  wholly  to  the  conditions 
of  peace  which  he  required  of  them,  that  all  the  Septs  of  Mayo 
which  had  been  in  rebellion  had  been  received  into  the  Queen's 
peace  and  mercy,  and  that  they  were  to  bear  all  the  charges  of  the 
war.  He  was  now  ready  to  turn  against  O'Eourk,  who  had 
invaded  Sligo  in  March.  (CLI.  32.  ii. — v.)  Illness  prevented  him 
from  taking  the  field  himself  for  this  duty.  The  forces  were  placed 
under  the  command  of  Sir  George  Bingham.  Within  the  month 
O'Eourk  and  his  sons  had  taken  refuge  in  Ulster  and  all  the  Septs 
of  the  County  of  Leitrim  had  submitted.  (CLI.  No.  57).  Sir  Brian 
O'Eourk  afterwards  went  to  Scotland.  The  King  surrendered 
him  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  The  principal  men  of  his  Sept  came  to 
Sir  Eichard  in  Athlone  and  he  used  them  well.  Leitrim  gave  no 
trouble  for  some  years. 

Thus  with  small  forces  Sir  Eichard  reduced  the  rebellion 
within  two  months  of  action.  In  January  Walter  Kittagh  Bourke, 
Edmund  of  Cong,  Walter  ne  Mully,  and  other  Bourkes  and  Clan- 
donnells, met  him  at  Galway,  thereby  testifying  to  a  real  submis- 
sion. In  September  he  reported  that  the  costs  of  the  war  might 
be  charged  upon  the  Bourkes  and  the  countries  which  had  joined 
them,  Iar  Connacht,  the  Joys  country,  Tireragh,  O'Conor  Eoe's, 
and  O'Eourk's  countries,  and  that  the  Bourkes  had  paid  the  com- 
position rent  as  well  as  a  fine  for  their  revolt. 

The  costs  of  the  rebellion  were  : — 
War  against  the  Scots  and  Bourkes  in  1586       . . .  £1476  :     3:4 
„  Bourkes  and  others  in  1589/90...     3296  :  17  :  6 


(to  be  continued). 


M 


[    198    ] 

The  Sept  of  O'Maolale 

(or  Lally)  of  Hy-Maine. 


By  MISS  J,  MARTYN. 


Among  the  names  which  "  illumine  the  pages  "  of  Ireland's 
military  history  those  of  the  descendants  of  the  chieftains  of 
Hy-Maine  are  well  represented.  We  find  the  O'Kellys,  the 
O'Naghtens,  the  O'Maddens,  the  O'Maolalas,  and  others:  but  in 
this  sketch  we  are  alone  concerned  with  the  sept  of  the  O'Mullaly  or 
Lallys  of  the  celebrated  Clan  Colla,  Hy  Fiachra  Fin,  which  in  the 
10th  century  ruled  in  Moenmoy  now  Glanricarde.  Teige  O'Dugan, 
whose  ancestors  had  been  bards  and  historians  of  the  Hy-Many, 
published,  about  1750,  a  topographical  poem  in  which  he  names 
the  O'Naghtens  and  O'Mullalys  as  the  chiefs  of  Moenmagh. 
These  are  his  words : — 

11  To  whom  the  rich  plain  is  hereditary 

Two  who  have  strengthened  that  side 

O'Naghten  and  O'Mullally, 

Thoir  fight  is  heavy  in  the  battles, 

They  possess  the  land  as  far  as  Hy-Fiachrach." 

At  the  date  of  the  publication  of  the  poem  it  is  believed  that  several 
historical  documents  and  traditions  were  extant  in  the  territory 
which  have  since  been  lost,  and  no  doubt  has  been  thrown  upon 
O'Dugan's  accuracy.  Dr.  O'Donovan  in  his  Tribes  and  Ciistonis 
of  Hy-Many  tells  us  that  the  Irish  Annals  seldom  make  mention  of 
the  O'Naghtens  though  that  sept  was  "  the  senior  of  all  the 
Hy-Many  ":  the  same  silence  seems  to  have  been  observed  with 
regard  to  the  O'Mullallys. 

The  O'Mullallys  descend  from  one  of  the  most  ancient  of  the 
noble  families  of  Ireland.  Amlaffe  O'Mullala  who  gave  his  name 
to  his  descendants  is  described  as  "  just  and  valiant,"  a  title  which 
has  been  adopted  as  their  motto  by  his  posterity.  The  use  of  sur- 
names had  been  instituted  by  law  in  the  reign  of  Brian  of  the 
Tributes,  and  each  family  selected  the  name  of  some  distinguished 
ancestor  which  with  the  prefix  0  or  Mac,  grandson  or  son,  was  to 
be  henceforth  the  family  name.     Dr.  O'Donovan  says  "  The  most 


THE    SEPT   OP  O'MAOLALE.  199 

ancient  account  of  this  law  is  found  in  a  fragment  of  a  MS.  in 
Trinity  College,  Dublin,  supposed  to  be  part  of  Mac  Liag's  Life  of 
Brian  Borumha,  in  which  it  is  stated  ■  it  was  during  his  time  sur- 
names were  first  given,  and  territories  were  allotted  to  the  names, 
and  the  boundaries  of  every  territory  and  cantred  was  fixed.' " 
Hence  we  may  conclude  that  the  septs  of  the  O'Mullally,  O'Kelly, 
and  others,  were  established  in  the  territory  of  Hy-Many  before 
Canute  began  his  Danish  rule  in  England. 

In  1169  the  Norman  settlers  in  Wales  came  over  to  Ireland. 
Connaught  seemed  to  become  at  once  the  prey  of  the  De  Burghs 
who  sought  to  obtain  possession  of  the  whole  province.  The  chiefs 
of  Hy-Many  resisted,  and  in  1200  Amlaffe  II.  was  killed  in  a  skir- 
mish in  defence  of  his  territory  of  Moenmoy. 

Donnell  Mac  Amlaffe  O'Mullally  was  slain  in  battle  in  Con- 
naught  in  1397,  when  Walter  Bermingham  and  Sir  Thomas  Burke 
left  six  hundred  of  the  Irish  dead  upon  the  field.  His  father-in- 
law,  0' Donnell,  perished  also  on  that  occasion. 

Melachlen  Macdonell  O'Maolala,  chief  of  his  house,  was 
wedded  to  Mary,  daughter  of  Teige  O'Dowda,  Lord  of  Tireragh 
in  Sligo.  The  sept  of  O'Dowd  possessed  a  wide  territory  com- 
prising much  of  the  counties  of  Mayo  and  Sligo.  Their  annals 
are  fully  displayed  in  Hardiman's  Hy  Fiacra.  The  territories  of  the 
O'Dowds,  O'Hara,  and  MacFirbis  were  seized  by  the  De  Burgos, 
who  subsequently  became  Lords  of  Connaught :  their  Portumna 
estates  came  to  them  by  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  one  of  the 
chieftains  of  Hy-Many,  the  Lady  More  O'Madden. 

Melachlen  O'Maolala  was  slain  in  battle  in  Hy-Many  by 
Lord  William  De  Burgh  in  1419.  His  wife  died  in  1430,  leaving 
two  sons  John  and  Connor  O'Maolala.  The  latter  became  Bishop 
of  Clonfert  and  died  in  1447. 

We  now  come  to  John  Melachlan  O'Maolala,  styled  "  happy 
chieftain  of  his  name,"  who  married  Moore  or  Merlin  O'Byrn  of 
Tire-brien.  The  O'Byrns  were  the  formidable  chieftains  of  that 
last  subjugated  district  of  Ireland  now  the  county  of  Wicklow. 
They  were  classed  with  the  O'Tooles  as  the  "  Irishry  south  of  the 
Pale."  John  and  Merlin  his  wife  left  two  sons,  Dermod  and 
Thomas  O'Mullally,  commonly  called  Lally.  The  latter  became 
Archbishop  of  Tuam,  deceased  1536.  The  annals  of  Connaught 
record  the  death  of  John  O'Mullala  at  Tuam,  anno  1480.  The 
castle  of  Tullock-na-dala  near  Tuam,  was  the  place  from  which 
Maolala  derives  one  of  his  titles.  And  we  may  conclude  that  in 
the  everlasting  feuds  between  the  tanists  of  Hy-Maine  and  the 


200         GALWAY   ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Clanricard,  his  other  possessions  must  have  been  wrested  from 
him,  for  we  find  the  family  resident  in  Tuam  from  the  date  of  his 
death.    And  now — 

M  O'er  Maine's  green  sward,  there  rules  no  lord 
Saving  the  Lord  on  high." 

Her  ancient  chieftains  O'Dalys,  O'Naghtens,  O'Kellys,  were  dis- 
possessed and  scattered  by  the  De  Burgos.  It  is  curious  to  note 
that  one  of  the  many  titles  borne  by  Ulick  de  Burgo,  the  first  Earl 
of  Clanricard,  was  "  Baron  of  Ui  Maine  (or  Hy-Maine)  and  Dun- 
kellin." 

Dermod  succeeded  his  father  and  married  Brigide,  daughter 
of  Tigue  O'Kelly,  Lord  of  Hy-Maine.  He  died  at  Tully  Mullally 
in  1577,  leaving  one  son. 

Melachlin  McDermot  O'Mullally  married  Margaret,  daughter 
of  Cormack  MacRoger  MacDermot,  chief  of  Moylurg.  We  learn 
that  the  history  of  this  powerful  clan  is  detailed  in  the  Book  of 
Lecan,  and  the  more  ancient  Psalter  of  Casliel.  The  Book  of  Kil~ 
ronan  compiled  by  their  chief  seanachie  the  O'Diugnan,  has  most 
interesting  particulars  of  their  lineage. 

This  brings  us  to  the  troubled  times  when  Sir  Anthony 
St.  Leger  was  appointed  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland.  He  had  pre- 
viously been  employed  as  chief  of  the  Commission  issued  in  1537,  to 
survey  land  and  inquire  into  titles,  with  power  to  confirm  or  cancel 
them.  In  the  three  years  spent  in  this  commission,  Sir  Anthony 
St.  Leger  had  made  himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with  Irish 
affairs,  and,  consequently,  on  the  first  vacancy  he  was  entrusted 
with  the  supreme  direction.  The  long  and  harrassing  wars  had  re- 
duced the  chiefs  and  lords  to  a  deplorable  state.  The  whole  country 
had  been  wasted,  and  it  was  high  time  that  there  should  be  some 
measure  of  submission  on  one  side  and  concession  on  the  other. 
"  At  this  time,"  say  the  Four  Masters,  "  the  power  of  the  English 
was  great  and  immense  in  Ireland,  so  that  the  bondage  in  which 
the  people  of  Leath  Mogha  (the  southern  half)  were,  had  scarcely 
been  equalled  before  that  time."  From  all  sides  submissions 
flowed  in.  O'Donnell  and  O'Neill  in  the  north,  O'Toole,  O'More, 
and  others  in  Leinster,  and  in  Connaught  the  chieftains  O'Kelly, 
O'Melaghlin,  and  O'Mullally,  made  submission,  Lally  signing  terms 
submitting  himself,  his  vassals  and  lands  by  indentured  articles  of 
agreement  to  Sir  Anthony  St. Leger  the  Lord  Deputy.  He  deli- 
vered his  eldest  son  John  Melaghlin  O'Mullally,  then  25  years  old, 
as  a  hostage  for  the  performance  of  the  articles.     "  Then  at  a 


THE    SEPT   OF   o'MAOLALE.  201 

Parliament  held  in  Dublin  was  witnessed  a  novel  sight,  Irish 
chieftains  sitting  for  the  first  time  with  English  lords,  the  speeches 
of  the  Speaker  and  Lord  Chancellor  being  interpreted  to  them  in 
Irish  by  the  Earl  of  Ormond."  * 

John  Melaghlin  styled  Baron  of  Tullinadally,  surnamed  "  the 
warlike  hostage,"  was  the  next  chief  of  his  sept.  He  married 
Judith  O'Madden,  daughter  of  the  chief  of  that  name,  Hugh 
O'Madden,  Lord  of  the  territory  of  Silenchia.  John  distinguished 
himself  with  his  galloglasses,  at  the  siege  of  Boulogne,  1544,  of 
which  Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury  gave  a  brilliant  description  in 
his  Life  of  King  Henry  VIII.  In  1573  his  brother  William 
O'Lally  was  consecrated  Archbishop  of  Tuam.  He  was  appointed 
commissioner  for  the  pacification  of  Connaught  by  Queen  Elizabeth 
in  1585,  and  died  1595.  A  third  brother  who  had  been  dissatisfied 
with  his  father's  submission  to  the  crown  of  England,  and  to  the 
supremacy  of  Henry  VIII.,  went  to  Eomewith  many  companions 
and  warred  for  Octave  Earnese  in  the  struggle  for  his  inheritance 
of  Parma  and  Placentia. 

Dermod  succeeded  his  father  and  is  the  second  who  was 
styled  Baron  Tully-Mullalla.  He  married  Mary,  daughter  of 
William  O'Naghten  of  Lisma,  co.  Eoscommon. 

The  Annals  of  Lough  Ce  tell  us  that  "  In  the  13th  century 
the  de  Burgos  established  their  power  over  the  province  of  Con- 
naught,  and  in  the  16th  century  the  descendants  of  EitzAdelm, 
with  the  aid  of  the  native  Irish,  endeavoured  to  shake  off  the 
English  supremacy."  It  would  seem  that  not  all  the  native  Irish 
were  willing  to  forgive  the  harryings  they  had  undergone  at  the 
will  of  the  de  Burgos,  for  we  find  that  several  chieftains  of  the 
old  septs,  amongst  whom  are  named  O'Kelly  and  O'Mullally, 
marched  to  Ballinrobe  and  joined  Sir  Richard  Bingham  the  Lord 
Deputy  against  them.  It  seems  almost  incredible  that  any  of  the 
Irish  chiefs  should  join  forces  with  this  man,  to  whom,  as  Gover- 
nor of  Connaught,  are  attributed  such  cruelties  and  barbarities 
against  the  native  people.  At  the  battle  of  Ardnary  3,000  of 
the  rebels  were  slain,  1585.  Dermod  died  in  1590,  as  it  appears 
by  an  inquisition  taken  at  Athenry  in  1621,  in  which  he  is  named 
Principalis  suix  Nationis.  Here  we  may  mention  that  "chief  of  his 
nation"  meant  "  chief  of  his  clan;"  it  was  even  applied  to  some  of 
the  settlers  in  Ireland.  For  instance,  "  William  Blake  and  the 
rest  of  his  nation." 

*  Haverty's  History  of  Ireland. 


202  OALWAY   ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Isaac  O'Mullally,  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death, 
married  Mary,  daughter  of  John  Moore  of  Briess.  His  marriage 
brings  the  Lally  family  into  connection  with  their  ancient  enemy, 
for  Mary  Moore's  mother  was  the  Lady  Mary  de  Burgh,  daughter 
of  Richard  "  Sassenagh  "  Earl  of  Clanricard.  The  Lady  Jane 
Burke,  her  sister,  was  wife  of  Sir  Lucas  Dillon  of  Laughlin,  2nd 
son  of  Sir  Theobald  1st  Lord  Viscount  Dillon.  Isaac  died  12th 
May  1624,  leaving  James  his  son  and  heir  of  full  age,  and  two 
younger  sons,  namely,  Donal  and  William. 

James  Lally,  Baron  of  Tolendal,  married  in  1623  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Gerald  Dillon  of  Traymore,  co.  Mayo,  brother  to 
Theobald  Lord  Viscount  Dillon.  His  brothers  Donal  and  William 
were  outlawed  having  followed  the  fortunes  of  Charles  II.  Their 
estates  were  forfeited,  viz.,  Ranamary  and  Carrownalaghy  in  the 
Barony  of  Dunmore,  Ballibanebale  and  Gortagolloghe  and  Bally- 
doogan  in  the  Barony  of  Kilconnel.  William  married  Prances 
Butler  and  had  one  son,  Edmond  Lally,  who  married  Eliza  Bra- 
bazon.  James,  too,  forfeited  a  part  of  his  estate  to  Cromwell  in 
1652,  and  died  on  the  old  soil  of  Tullynadaly  in  1676. 

Thomas  inherited  the  real  estate  of  his  father,  7th  June,  1677. 
He  married  his  cousin  Jane  Dillon,  sister  of  Theobald,  7th  Lord 
Viscount  Dillon  of  Costello-gallen  (father  of  Arthur  Count  Dillon. 
Lieutenant  General  in  the  French  service).  She  had  four  sons, 
The  name  of  Dillon  cannot  be  passed  over  lightly,  for  it  was  one 
of  great  note,  not  only  in  Ireland  but  also  in  Spain,  in  Austria, 
and  especially  in  France.  Dillon,  says  Voltaire  in  his  Siecle  de 
Louis  XIV.  "  nom  celebre  dans  les  troupes  irlandaises."  This 
name  is  to  be  found  engraved  on  the  stones  of  the  Arc  de  Triomphe 
in  Paris  among  "  the  glories  of  France."  From  the  days  of  the 
7th  Viscount,  Theobald  Dillon,  may  be  dated  the  long  and  glorious 
connection  of  the  name  with  the  French  service.  He  had  as  a 
matter  of  course  attached  himself  to  the  service  of  James  II.  his 
legitimate  King,  and  was  in  consequence  outlawed  in  1690.  The 
attainder  was  only  reversed  after  his  death  in  favour  of  his  son 
Arthur.  Lord  Dillon's  sister  Jane /Survived  her  husband  Thomas 
Lally,  and  took  for  her  second  John  Burke,  Esq.  She  was  adjudg- 
ed by  the  trustees  for  sale  of  Irish  properties  in  Dublin  in  1700,  to 
her  dower  on  the  land  of  Tullynadaly  after  the  attainder  of  her 
eldest  son  James  Lally.  Her  second  son  was  William,  ancestor 
to  the  Lally s  of  Miltown  and  of  Grange.  *' The  present  chief  " 
(1777)  "  of  this  branch  is  James  Lally  of  Miltown,  Esq.,  who  by  his 
marriaga  with  a  daughter  of  N.  Kirwan  of  Ballygadaly,  near  Tullin- 


THE    SEPT    OF   O  MAOLALE. 


203 


daly,  has  a  son  now  six  years  old.  This  James  has  two  brothers, 
Thomas  an  old  fryar,  and  Patrick  father  of  two  sons"  (vide  the 
old  MS.  pedigree). 

Col.  James  Lally,  the  6th  and  last  styled  Baron  of  Tollindally, 
was  governor  and  sovereign  of  the  noble  corporation  of  Tuam  for 
the  King,  James  II.  in  1687,  member  of  his  last  Parliament  in 
1689,  outlawed  in  the  same  year.  He  was  Colonel  in  the  French 
service  and  commandant  of  the  Lally  Battalion  in  Dillon's  regi- 
ment, June  1690.  He  was  killed  1691  during  the  blockade  of 
Montmelian.  He  died  unmarried.  Besides  his  four  brothers, 
Gerald,  William,  Mark  and  Michael,  he  had  four  sisters,  who 
married,  the  first  to  Walter  styled  Baron  Jourdan,  chief  of  the 
Barony  of  Gallen ;  the  2nd  to  Nicholas  Nangle,  of  one  of  the  most 
ancient  Norman  families,  Baron  of  Costello  ;  the  3rd  to  N.  O'Gara, 
Esq.,  chief  of  the  Barony  of  Coolavin,  and  the  4th  to  N.  Betagh, 
Esq.,  of  Danish  extraction,  to  be  traced  to  Co.  Meath. 

In  O'Connor's  Military  Memoirs  of  Ireland  the  name  of  James 
Lally  is  given  special  mention  : — 

"The  2nd  Article  of  the  Treaty  of  Limerick  consigned  many  illus- 
trious Irishmen  to  poverty  and  perpetual  exile.  The  names  of  a  few 
whose  estates  were  thus  sacrificed  will  excite  the  sympathy  of  the  reader, 
even  after  a  lapse  of  150  years.  Richard  Duke  of  Tyrconnel ;  Donagh 
Earl  of  Clancarty;  Lords  Claregalway,  Galway,  Enniskillen,  Slane,  Lucan, 
Kilmallock,  Mountcashel,  Brittas  ;  Sir  William  Talbot,  Sir  Neal  O'Neil, 
Sir  John  Fitzgerald,  Sir  Patrick  Trant,  Sir  Richard  Nagle,  Sir  Luke 
Dowdal,  Sir  Terrance  McDermot,  James  Lally  of  Tullinadaly,  Richard 
Pagan  of  Feltrim,  Nicholas  Darcy,  of  Platten,  besides  many  others  of  less 
note — the  Goolds,  Galways,  Murrougbs  and  Coppingers  of  Cork,  the 
Cheevers  of  Drogheda,  the  Savages  of  Down,  the  O'Haras  of  Antrim,  the 
Bagots  of  Carlow,  the  Barrets  of  Cork,  the  O'Plyns  and  O'Connors  of  Ros- 
common, the  Nugents  of  Dardistown,  the  O'Garas  of  Coolavin.  They  had 
committed  no  offence,  were  guiltless  of  treason  or  rebellion.  They  had 
fought  for  their  legitimate  King,  and  now  suffered  the  penalties  of  treason 
because  they  had  not  recognised  the  authority  of  an  English  convention 
to  substitute  a  foreign  invader  for  him  whom  their  principles  taught  them 
to  regard  as  the  lawful  sovereign  of  the  British  Islands." 

"  Dillon's  Eegiment "  in  which  Lally  fought,  was  part  of 
Lord  Mountcashel's  Brigade.  Lord  Dillon  appointed  his  son, 
then  not  20  years  of  age,  Colonel,  and  conferred  the  rank  of  Colo- 
nel as  Commandant  of  the  2nd  Battalion  on  his  cousin,  James  Lally, 
who,  with  his  brothers,  mainly  contributed  to  form  that  2nd  Batta- 
lion from  several  independent  companies.  When  James  died  at 
the  siege  of  Montmelian  he  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Gerald, 
who  married  Maria  de  Bressac  and  had  one  son  the  celebrated 


204  QALWAY    ARCH.BOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Thomas  Arthur  Baron  de  Tollendal,  Count  de  Lally.  Needless 
to  say  Sir  Gerald  gave  his  son  a  military  education  and  caused 
him  to  spend  his  vacations  with  the  regiment.  At  the  age  of  eight 
he  "  assisted,"  according  to  the  history  of  those  times,  at  the  siege 
of  Giron,  where  he  first  "  smelled  powder."  When  but  12  years  old 
he  mounted  guard  for  the  first  time  in  the  trenches  before  Barce- 
lona. In  1732  young  Lally  distinguished  himself  at  the  siege  of 
Kehl  during  the  war  for  the  succession  to  the  throne  of  Poland, 
and  at  Philipsburg  he  saved  the  life  of  his  father  and  gained  the 
rank  of  Major.  His  father  died  Brigadier  General  and  Field 
Marshal  in  1737.  In  the  same  year  he  travelled  to  Russia 
in  the  interests  of  the  Jacobite  cause.  He  went  ostensibly 
to  seek  service  in  the  army  in  which  his  uncle  General  de  Lacy 
then  held  a  command,  but  in  reality  as  the  bearer  of  a  message 
to  the  Empress  from  Cardinal  Fleury  the  French  minister  of 
foreign  affairs,  to  further  the  project  of  placing  the  son  of 
James  II.  on  the  throne  of  England  by  means  of  an  alliance 
between  France  and  Russia.  The  sentiment  of  the  Russian  court 
was  opposed  to  the  plan  and  the  project  failed.  We  next  find  him 
in  the  campaign  of  Flanders  in  the  war  upon  the  accession  of 
Maria  Theresa  to  the  Austrian  throne.  He  took  part  in  the  battle 
of  Dettingen  and  in  the  sieges  of  Messin,  Ypres  and  Fumes.  In 
1744  a  new  regiment  was  created  for  Lally,  to  be  called  by  his 
name,  and  in  four  months  he  had  it  so  well  organised  that  it  dis- 
tinguished itself  at  the  siege  of  Tournoi.  At  Fontenoy  Lally  so 
distinguished  himself  that  Louis  XV.  named  him  Brigadier-General 
on  the  battlefield.  Marshal  Saxe  declared  that  the  Irish  Brigade 
decided  the  victory  on  that  day  by  dispersing  "  the  terrible  English 
columns"  that  had  successfully  withstood  the  artillery  of  the 
Due  de  Richelieu  and  the  King's  household  cavalry.  "  The  slopes 
of  Fontenoy  proclaimed  to  all  time  that  a  better  friend  or  a  more 
dangerous  foe  never  swept  a  battlefield  than  the  disciplined  Irish- 
men." Well  did  the  soldiers  and  chiefs  of  the  Irish  Brigade 
deserve  the  motto  on  their  flag  given  them  by  the  Bourbon  King 
11  Semper  et  ubique  tidelis."     O'Connor's  Military  History  says — 

11  In  the  great  war  of  the  Austrian  succession  tho  deeds  and  fame  of 
the  Irish  troops  were  higher  than  ever.  The  profound  and  daring  Saxe 
was  at  the  head  of  Louis's  army,  and  often  when  defeat  seemed  inevitable 
the  shout  of  the  Irish  Brigade  daunted  the  enemy,  and  their  charge  bore 
back  and  shattered  the  exulting  columns  of  the  Allies." 

We  next  find  Lally  in  Scotland  with  Charles  Edward.     He 
fought  at  Falkirk  and  after  Culloden  escaped  to  London,  thence  to 


COEKIGENDA. 

p.  205,  1.  11  from  foot,  for  "  He  had     ....     words "  read 
"  His  policy  was  declared  in  six  words." 

1.  2  from  foot,  for  "And  Lally  was  one  of  the  mildest "  read  "  And 
Lally  was  not  one  of  the  mildest." 


THE    SEPT    OP   O'MAOLALE.  205 

Ireland,  and  back  again  to  London  where  a  price  was  put  upon 
his  head.  But,  disguised  as  a  sailor,  he  finally  escaped  to  Dunkirk. 
Passing  over  his  hairbreadth  escapes,  his  being  taken  prisoner, 
passing  over  his  adventures  at  Berg-op-Zoom  and  Maestricht,  we 
come  to  the  period  when  he  proposed  to  the  French  ministry  a  new 
expedition  to  England  for  the  young  Pretender,  urging,  at  the  same 
time  a  vigorous  war  upon  the  English  in  India. 

His  advice  was  not  acted  upon  at  the  time,  but  later,  in  1757, 
when  the  French  East  Indian  Company  found  itself  unable  to  re- 
press the  steady  advance  of  the  English  Company,  it  applied  to 
the  home  government  for  a  supply  of  men  and  money  with  a 
special  request  that  Count  Lally  de  Tolendal  be  sent  in  command 
of  the  expedition.  His  military  abilities  as  well  as  his  hereditary 
hatred  of  England  recommended  him  for  the  post ;  he  was  named 
Lieutenant  General,  Grand  Cross  of  St.  Louis,  King's  Commis- 
sioner, Syndic  of  the  Compagnie  des  hides,  and  general  commander 
of  all  the  French  establishments  in  Eastern  Asia.  The  directors 
of  the  company  specially  charged  him  "  to  reform  the  abuses  with- 
out number,  the  extravagance  and  mismanagement  that  absorbed 
their  revenues."  His  destination  was  the  Carnatic  and  Pondichery 
would  be  his  headquarters.  Among  the  officers  of  his  little  army 
were  scions  of  the  best  families  in  France.  He  was  to  be  second- 
ed by  the  troops  under  the  command  of  Bussy  the  commander  in 
in  the  Deccan,  and  above  all  he  had  his  own  Irish  regiment. 
History  tells  us  what  wonders  he  wrought,  stranger  as  he  was  to 
the  country,  and  regarded  with  hostility  by  the  whole  French 
establishment  over  whom  he  had  been  given  almost  the  powers  of 
a  dictator.  With  characteristic  impetuosity  he  pushed  his  opera- 
tions so  vigorously  that  of  the  hostile  posts  that  covered  the 
Carnatic  two  were  carried  by  assault  and  the  rest  capitulated,  so 
that  in  the  space  of  thirty-eight  days  there  were  no  English  left 
along  the  south  of  the  Coromandel  coast.  He  had  declared  that 
his  policy  was  declared  in  six  words  "  No  more  English  in  the 
Peninsula."  Sir  Eyre  Coote,  an  Irishman  and  his  enemy,  bears 
testimony  to  his  military  genius :  "  There  is  certainly  not  a  second 
man  in  India  who  could  have  managed  to  keep  on  foot  for  so  long 
a  period  an  army  without  pay,  and  without  any  kind  of  assistance." 
Voltaire,  alluding  to  his  mission  of  reform  of  abuses  among  the 
the  officials  of  the  French  East  Indian  Company,  declared  "  Had 
he  been  the  mildest  of  men  under  these  conditions  he  would  have 
been  hated."  And  Lally  was  one  of  the  mildest.  He  has  been 
described  as  one  who  made  no  compromise  with  respect  to  discip- 


206         OALWAY   ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

line,  one  who  had  a  horror  of  everything  that  was  not  straight- 
forward, impatient  of  delay,  and  out-spoken  to  the  point  of  rough- 
ness against  injustice  or  wrong  of  any  kind.  "  I  have  not  met  the 
shadow  of  an  honest  man  in  India,"  he  wrote  to  a  member  of  the 
French  ministry;  "in  the  name  of  God  recall  me  from  this  country 
for  I  am  not  made  for  it." 

Obliged  to  surrender  Pondichery,  having  held  out  against  a 
siege  of  ten  months,  Lally,  half  mad  with  disappointment  and  dis- 
gusted with  the  treachery  of  the  Indian  officials,  was  carried 
prisoner  to  England.  Released  on  parole  he  returned  to  Paris, 
only  to  find  himself  accused  of  corruption  and  treason,  crimes 
alien  to  his  chivalrous  nature.  Warned  by  a  false  friend  to  fly,  he,  in- 
stead, proceeded  to  Fontainbleau  and  surrendered  himself  prisoner, 
only  desiring  an  inquiry.  He  was  thrown  into  the  Bastille  and 
thence  wrote  to  the  minister  "  I  stake  my  head  upon  my  inno- 
cence of  those  charges.     I  await  your  orders." 

For  fifteen  months  this  turbulent  soul,  this  "hero  of  a  hundred 
fights,"  pined  in  prison.  Meantime  his  enemies  so  wrought  against 
him  that  he  was  refused  counsel,  and  when  the  charges  were  made 
known  to  him  no  time  would  be  granted  him  to  prepare  for  his 
defence.  History  tells  us  that  "  nothing  whatsoever  was  proved 
against  him,  except  that  his  conduct  did  not  come  up  to  the  per- 
fection of  prudence  and  wisdom,  and  that  it  did  display  the  greatest 
ardour  in  the  service,  the  greatest  disinterestedness,  fidelity  and 
perseverance,  with  no  common  share  of  military  talent,  and  of 
mental  resources."  He  was  condemned  to  death,  and,  his  request 
for  a  private  execution  being  refused  he  was  gagged  and  drawn  in 
a  common  tumbril  to  the  place  of  execution.  "  Such,"  in  his 
words,  "  was  the  reward  of  long  years  of  service  in  the  armies  of 
France."  "  So,"  says  Voltaire,  "  was  a  murder  committed  with 
the  sword  of  justice."  The  chronicles  of  the  time  record  that  so 
surprised  and  indignant  was  "  the  brave  Lally  "  at  the  charge  of 
having  "  betrayed  the  interests  of  the  King,"  that  in  a  fury  he 
plunged  the  only  weapon  within  reach,  a  pair  of  compasses,  into  his 
breast,  crying  "  Betray  my  King !  never,  never ! "  The  wound 
was,  though  serious,  not  mortal,  but  it  hastened  his  execution. 
His  confessor,  the  Abbe  Aubry,  wrote  to  his  (Lally's)  friends  "  He 
struck  himself  like  a  hero  of  old,  but  he  died  like  a  Christian." 

Felicite,  Countess  de  Lally  (nee  Crofton)  was  probably  de- 
ceased at  the  time  of  her  husband's  death,  for  we  find  no  mention 
of  her  in  the  family  annals  beyond  the  record  of  her  marriage. 
Their  only  son,  Trophimus  Gerard  de  Lally  Tolendal,  accordin 


THE    SEPT   OP   O'MAOLALE.  207 

to  family  tradition,  was  summoned  by  his  father  to  an  interview 
in  his  prison  cell  on  the  night  before  his  execution,  and  there 
sworn  by  all  he  held  sacred  to  leave  nothing  undone  that  could 
establish  the  fact  of  his  father's  innocence.  He,  accordingly, 
made  it  the  one  object  of  his  life,  and  it  was  only  after  twelve 
years,  during  which  he  pleaded  in  court  after  court  with  pathetic 
eloquence,  that  the  sentence  was  reversed,  and  the  son  restored 
by  King  Louis  XVI.  to  all  the  honours  of  his  family.  Of  him  it 
was  said  that  "  his  filial  piety  made  of  him  a  juris-consult  and  an 
orator,  and  gained  him  the  esteem  of  all  honest  men." 

Count  Trophimus  afterwards  became  Marquis.  He  married 
Elizabeth  Charlotte  Wedderburn  Halkett,  whose  first  cousin  was 
Lord  Loughborough,  Lord  High  Chancellor  of  England  and  Earl 
of  Eosslyn.  They  left  an  only  daughter,  Elizabeth  Felicity  Claude 
de  Lally-Tolendal,  who  married  the  Comte  d'Aux. 

Madame  d'Arbley  in  one  of  her  "  Johnsonian"  letters,  dated 
April  1822,  mentions  "  the  good,  the  wise,  the  eloquent  M.  de 
Lally": — 

"  My  son  who  has  just  returned  from  Paris,  has  frequently  seen  this 
excellent  statesman  and  accomplished  orator,  who  is  now  in  peculiar  good 
health,  and  he  has  enclosed  for  me,  in  a  letter  written  with  all  the  warmth 
of  heart  that  so  singularly  endears  as  well  as  embellishes  his  genius,  sun- 
dry of  his  latest  and  most  admirable  speeches." 

Between  1823  and  1825  Thomas  Lally  of  Tuam  visited  the 
Marquis  in  Paris.  He  received  an  enthusiastic  welcome  and  re- 
turned to  Ireland  laden  with  rich  presents  and  family  memorials 
— silver  cups  and  flagons,  etc.,  an  engraving  of  the  coat  of  arms  of 
the  Lallys,  and  a  portrait  of  the  Marquis. 

From  a  letter  now  before  the  writer,  bearing  date  4th  Septem- 
ber, 1837,  from  the  representative  of  the  English  branch,  the  Eev. 
Dr.W.  M.  Lally,  Drayton  Eectory,  Tarn  worth,  Staffordshire,  it  would 
seem  that  he  also  went  to  France,  in  1826,  to  visit  his  illustrious- 
relative,  and  learned  from  him  that  the  Irish  branch  still  existed 
on  the  old  soil  of  Ireland.  Dr.  Lally  writes  that  he  "  enjoyed  the 
friendship  of  the  Marquis  de  Lally  Tolendal  to  the  day  of  his 
death,  and  of  his  daughter  and  grandson  to  the  present  day." 
(1837).  He  "  obtained  permission  to  make  a  complete  copy  of  the 
Lally  Pedigree  from  '  Conn  of  the  Hundred  Battles '  to  himself." 
He  engaged  Sir  William  Betham,  English  King  at  Arms,  to 
examine  the  pedigree  with  the  object  of  finding  his  own  diverging 
ancestor."  His  grandfather's  name  was  Michael,  he  seeks  to 
know  "  whose  son  he  was,"  and  has  reason  to  think  it  was  Edward 


208  GALWAY   ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 


ARMS  OF 
"  Trophimc,  Gerard,  Comto  ct  Marquis 
DE  LALLY-TOLENPAL,  Pair  de  Prance.    Ministre 
d'Etat  et  Conseiller  prive  dc  S.  M.,  Mcmbre  hcnorairc 
du  Bureau  des  Colleges  Britanniques,  L'un  des  quarante 
de  l'Academie  Franoaise,  &c." 


THE    SEPT    OP    O'MAOLALE.  209 

as  he  finds  an  Edward  living  in  London  in  1707-8,  and  having  a 
son  Michael  then  and  there  baptised.  He  believes  that  his  great- 
grandfather, who  may  have  been  Mark  Lally,  finding  himself 
neglected  in  France  "  (probably  at  the  time  when  the  Brigade  were 
divided  and  scattered  through  other  regiments,  and  reduced  to 
French  pay)  "came  over  to  England  where  he  married  a  Miss 
Bushill  and  about  1707  or  1708  had  a  son,  my  grandfather 
Michael."     My  great-grandfather  had,  I  understand,  22  children." 

About  the  year  1840  Dr.  Lally  came  to  Ireland  and  visited 
Galway.  He  stayed  at  Eyre  Square  with  his  relatives,  Anthony 
Martyn  and  Very  Eev.  Andrew  Henry  Martyn,  P.P.  of  Carra- 
brown  and  Vicar  of  Galway,  sons  of  Henry  Martyn,  Windsor, 
Castlebar,  and  of  his  wife  Bridget  Lally  of  the  old  Tullinadaly 
stock.  From  information  obtained  from  the  Marquis,  Dr.  Lally 
and  the  Rev.  Andrew  Henry  Martyn  visited  the  ancient  Franciscan 
cemetery  attached  to  the  Abbey,  Galway,  and  there  identified  the 
Lally  tomb. 

The  New  York  Critic  for  July  1906  makes  it  appear  that 
Count  de  Lally  Tolendal  was  not  only  a  soldier  but  also  a  poet, 
and  in  fact  that  he  was  the  real  author  of  the  Lines  on  the  Burial 
of  Sir  John  Moore.  The  statement  is  as  follows  :—  "  In  1749  a 
Colonel  de  Beaumanoir,  a  native  of  Brittany,  raised  a  regiment  in 
his  neighbourhood,  and  with  it  accompanied  Lally's  ill-fated 
expedition  to  India.  This  Colonel  was  killed  in  defending  Pondi- 
chery,  the  last  stronghold  of  the  French,  against  the  forces  of 
Coote.  He  was  buried  at  dead  of  night  by  a  few  faithful  followers 
on  the  north  bastion  of  the  fortress,  and  the  next  day  the  French 
fleet  set  sail  for  Europe  with  the  remnants  of  the  garrison.  Lally 
Tolendal  was  executed,  but  a  worthy  son  made  noble  efforts  to 
rehabilitate  his  father's  memory.  The  memoirs  published  by  his 
son  were  widely  circulated,  and  must  have  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  Eev.  Charles  Wolfe.  The  original  French  lines  of  the  poem 
are  given  in  the  appendix  matter  of  the  book." 


[EDITOR'S  NOTE.] 

[The  genealogical  particulars  in  the  above  account  of  the  Lallys  are  deri- 
ved mainly  from  a  MS.  pedigree  in  the  hand  of  the  Marquis,  which  was  a 
copy  of  a  portion  of  the  pedigree  compiled  "  from  the  old  Irish  Manuscript 
Books  of  Pedigrees,  as  well  as  from  the  Records  preserved  in  the  Exchequer, 
Auditor  General,  and  Rolls  Offices"  by  William  Hawkins,  Ulster  King  of 
Arms.  At  the  foot  of  the  Marquis's  MS.  is  written  "  I  warrant  the  Exactness 
of  these  Extracts  and  summary  accounts  of  our  family.  Paris  29  of  October 
1817.  Lally  Tolendal,  Peer  of  France,  Minister  of  State,  &c,  &c."  His 
seal  is  affixed :  and  though  the  impression  is  defective,  there  is  enough  to 
show  that  it  consists  of  an  eagle  displayed,  within  a  riband  containing  the 


210  OALWAY  ABCHJSOLOGICAL  AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

motto  Just  and  Valiant. 

These  extracts  were  written  out  by  the  Marquis  for  the  benefit  of  Thomas 
Lally  of  Tuam,  who  died  in  1837.  The  MS.  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Miss 
Mart  vn.  0' Donovan  had  access  to  it  in  1843,  and  printed  it  in  TVibes  and 
Customs  of  Hy-Many,  p.  178 — 182.  O'Donovan  says  he  is  convinced  that  the 
pedigree  "contains  much  spurious  matter,"  and  appends  footnotes  pointing 
out  alleged  inaccuracies  or  fabrications. 

Unfortunately  Sir  William  Hawkins,  who  is  responsible  for  the  compi- 
lation, is  known  to  be  inaccurate,  as  indeed  we  had  occasion  to  state  before 
(p.  109).  He  was  Ulster  King  of  Arms,  not  (as  O'Donovan  has  it,  perhaps 
by  a  misprint)  in  1709,  but  from  17G5  to  1787.  There  was  another  Hawkins 
who  was  Ulster  King  of  Arms  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  century. 

The  most  important  error  is  one  not  noticed  by  O'Donovan.  Isaac  Lally, 
above,  who  "tf.  1624"  (really  1631),  had  Tullaghnadaly  granted  to  him  in 
1618.  But  he  was  son,  not  of  Dermod,  but  of  William  the  Protestant  Arch- 
bishop of  Tuam,  And  his  wife  Mary,  or  rather  Marian,  was  daughter,  not  of 
"John  Moore  of  Briess"  but  of  Nehemiah  Donellan,  likewise  Archbishop  of 
Tuam  (1595 — 1599),  and  Fellow  of  Trinity  College.  These  facts  are  made 
clear  by  the  funeral  certificate,  as  was  pointed  out  by  Mr.  G.  D.  Burtchaell 
in  Notes  and  Queries  for  1902  (9th  S.  X.  p.  453).  The  remorseless  Hawkins 
appears  to  have  so  manipulated  the  pedigree  as  to  get  rid  of  both  the  episcopal 
ancestors  of  his  French  client,  because  episcopal  descents  would  not  appear 
respectable  in  France. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  point  out  that  the  proper  form  of  Tullaghnadaly 
appears  to  be  UulAC  r\&  *04La,  the  hillock  of  the  meeting. 

In  the  illustration  of  the  coat-of-arms  of  the  Marquis,  it  may  be  seen 
that  the  dexter  supporter  holds  a  banner  on  which  is  a  strange-looking 
inscription.  The  characters  are  meant  for  Irish  characters,  and  the  inscrip- 
tion is  meant  to  read  Usagur  al>oo.  "Usagur"  is  stated  by  Hawkins  to 
signify  **  just  and  valiant,'  and  to  have  boon  applied  to  the  original  U  maol- 
lalla"  who  "  flourished  about  anno  940,"  after  which  it  became  "  the  motto 
of  the  family."  But  I  do  not  suppose  that  the  word  will  bo  recognised  by 
any  Gaelic  scholar,  nor  that  it  existed  before  the  time  of  the  remorseless 
Hawkins.  "  Aboo  "  is  of-course  the  well-known  word  ,at)U  which  occurs  in 
various  family  mottoes  and  means  something  like  "to  victory."  To  further 
emphasize  the  Irish  origin,  the  colour  of  the  banner  is  green,  as  is  indicated 
heraldically  by  the  sloping  lines  from  left  to  right. 

The  New  York  Critic  in  making  Count  Lally  author  of  the  "  original  "  of 
Wolfe's  famous  poem  is  only  in  all  innocence  taking  seriously  what  was 
originally  one  of  "  Father  Prout's  "  excellent  jests.  This  clever  linc-for-linc 
rendering  in  French  of  Wolfe's  verses  first  appeared  in  Bentley's  Miscellany 
for  1837,  the  account  there  of  their  origin  corresponding  with  the  account 
given  by  the  N.  Y.  Critic.  "  Col.  de  Beaumanoir  "  is  presumably  fictitious  ; 
nor  (it  is  to  be  presumed)  did  the  Marquis  publish  any  memoir  of  his  father 
as  alleged.  "  Father  Prout  "  amusingly  closod  his  account  of  the  poem  with 
the  words  Fides  sit  penes  lectorcm,  which  may  bo  translated  "  May  Die  reader 
be  gifted  with  credulity ;  "  and  some  American  readers  were. 

Ed.] 


[    211    ] 

Note  on  the 

Fragment  of   a   Cross 

Near  Ballynew,  Connemara, 


By  MISS  M.  REDINGTON  {Hon.  Sec). 


This  cross  was  of  simple  form,  but  was  ornamented  on  back 
and  front.  The  design  still  visible,  and  here  illustrated,  is  on 
the  thickness  of  the  upper  side  of  the  arms.  The  back  and  front 
of   the  cross  appear  to  have   been  intentionally   damaged,  and 


212  GALWAY   ARCH-EOLOGICAL  AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

the  ends  of  the  arms  may  have  been  broken  off  at  the  same 
time;  for  in  the  fragment  that  remains  the  arms  are  only  five 
inches  long,  and  they  were  most  probably  longer  originally.  This 
mutilated  fragment  lies  on  a  heap  of  stones  placed  on  what 
would  appear  to  have  been  the  old  foundation  of  the  cross.  It 
marks  the  spot  where  St.  Cananagh,  an  early  Christian  missionary, 
was  put  to  death,  and  stands  close  to  the  village  of  Bally  new,  in 
the  parish  of  Ballinakill,  Connemara.  The  style  of  the  ornament 
here  shown  would  seem  to  suggest  the  existence  of  a  religious 
house  in  this  neighbourhood  in  late  medieval  times,  and  such  a 
one  did  exist  about  a  mile  to  the  east,  where  the  ruined  church  of 
Ballinakill  still  stands  on  the  hill  side  over-looking  Lough  Cartran. 
Some  foundations  of  the  monastic  buildings  still  remain,  the  rest 
must  have  been  defaced  by  the  makers  of  the  present  high  road 
from  Cleggan  to  Letterfrack.  The  church  itself  is  not  of  parti- 
cular interest.  The  altar  must  have  stood  under  the  west  gable, 
the  window  in  which  is  partly  filled  by  a  piece  of  roughly  exe- 
cuted plate-tracery,  probably  re-erected  by  unskilled  hands  at  a 
much  later  date  than  that  of  the  church. 

St.  Cananagh's  holy  well,  about  half  a  mile  further  east,  is 
still  much  resorted  to,  especially  on  the  feast  day  of  the  Saint. 

Like  many  another  early  Saint,  St.  Cananagh  seems  to  have 
started  on  his  missionary  journeys  from  Aran.  A  very  early  church 
in  almost  perfect  preservation  is  dedicated  to  him  on  the  middle 
island,  and  his  name,  curiously  translated  into  "Gregory,"  has  been 
given  to  the  sound  between  the  greater  and  the  middle  island. 


[    213    ] 


The  Knights  Hospitallers  in 
Co.  Galway. 


C,  LITTON  FALKINEB,  M.A.,  M.B.I.A. 


Having  recently  had  occasion,  in  connection  with  a  paper  I 
have  had  the  honour  to  read  before  the  Koyal  Irish  Academy  on 
"The  Hospital  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  in  Ireland,"*  to  consider 
the  extent  and  location  of  the  possessions  of  the  Knights  Hos- 
pitallers throughout  Ireland,  my  attention  has  been  directed 
to  the  evidence  of  the  association  of  that  great  military  order  with 
Connaught  and  more  particularly  with  the  County  of  Galway. 
The  subject  is  one  which  has  not  hitherto  been  examined  with 
much  care,  and  most  antiquaries  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
accepting  without  further  inquiry  the  statements  on  this  subject 
contained  in  Harris'  "Ware",  and  in  Archdall's  "Monasticon 
Hibernicum."  Both  of  these  important  authorities  are  entitled 
to  the  greatest  respect,  but  inasmuch  as  their  accounts  of  the 
possessions  of  the  Knights  Hospitallers  in  Ireland  are  neither  ex- 
haustive nor  in  all  respects  accurate,  I  have  had  occasion  to 
inquire  with  some  minuteness  into  the  statements  they  contain. 
Among  the  minor  difficulties  of  this  investigation  not  the  least 
troublesome  has  been  the  identification  of  the  place  called 
Kinalekin  by  Ware  in  his  account  of  the  Monasteries  of  Ireland 
in  the  twenty- sixth  chapter  of  his  "  Antiquities  of  Ireland,"  and 
stated  to  have  been  the  seat  of  a  Preceptory  of  the  Order  of 
Knights  Hospitallers.  It  has  occurred  to  me  that  it  may  be  of 
some  interest  to  the  members  of  the  Galway  Archaeological 
Society  to  present  the  results  of  my  researches  under  this  head 
in  somewhat  greater  detail  than  was  appropriate  to  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Koyal  Irish  Academy. 

In  Archdall's  "  Monasticon  Hibernicum  "  it  is  stated  that  "a 
commandery  for  Knights  Hospitallers  was  founded  in  the  13th 
century  under  the  invocation  of  St.  John  the  Baptist, "f  at  Kin- 
alekin in  the  County  Galway.  Archdall,  on  the  authority  of 
Allemand,  attributes  the  foundation  to  an  O'Flaherty,  and, 
accepting  this  assertion   as  accurate,  founds  upon  it   the   con- 

*  See  Royal  Irish  Academy  Proceedings,  Vol.  xxvi.,  Section  C. 
f  Card.  Moran's  edition  vol.  ii.,  p  221.     See  Appendix  (1). 

N 


214  GAI.W  AY    AHCH^OLOGICAL    AND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

jeotore  that  "Kinalekin  is  probably  in  Iar-Connaught,  of  which 
(>"  Flaherty  was  dynast."  Examination,  however,  revealed  the 
fact  that  not  only  was  there  no  authority  for  this  conjecture,  but 
that  the  name  could  not  be  reasonably  identified  with  that  of  any 
existing  townland  in  West  Connaught.  It  accordingly  became 
necessary  to  look  elsewhere.  A  document  printed  in  "Blake  Family 
Records,"  1st  Ser.  p.  66,*  provided  me  with  the  required  clue.  In 
a  power  of  attorney  given  in  the  year  1529,  by  Sir  John  Rawson, 
the  last  Prior  of  the  Hospital  of  Kilmainham  (which  was  for  more 
than  three  centuries  the  chief  seat  of  the  Order  of  St.  John  of 
Jerusalem  in  Ireland)  to  Stephen  Fitzjames  Lynch  of  Galway, 
mention  is  made  among  other  property  of  this  Order,  of  "the 
tithes  of  Kcnalagheyi  in  the  Diocese  of  Clonfert."  In  a  note  to  this 
document  Mr.  Blake  cites  from  the  Haliday  Papers t  a  letter 
dated  Nov.  18,  1560,  from  the  Lord  Deputy,  the  Earl  of  Sussex, 
and  Privy  Council  of  Ireland  to  the  Earl  of  Clanricard,  O' Kelly 
"captain  of  his  country"  and  others,  directing  that  a  grant  be  made 
to  one  Walter  Hope  of  a  lease  for  a  term  of  years  "of  certain 
parcelles  of  landes  lying  in  Connaughta,  belonging  to  the  house  of 
Kvhnaynan."  Among  the  property  to  be  comprised  in  the  lease 
"the  parsonage  of  Kynneleghane"  is  included.  A  search  in  the 
Elizabethan  "  Fiants"  published  in  the  Reports  of  the  Deputy 
Keeper  of  the  Records  showed  that  the  Lease  so  directed  to  be 
given  was  in  fact  executed \  in  1570,  when  Walter  Hope  was 
given  a  lease  of  "the  rectories  of  Kifnnelegkane,  Ballenclare, 
Kyltaraughta,  and  Kylvechana  in  Connaught,  of  the  possessions 
of  the  late  priory  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  ;||  while  a  Further 
fiant  dated  5th  Dec,  1578,  recited  a  grant,  pursuant  to  a  Queen's 
Letter  of  27  Sept.,  1575,  to  the  Provost,  burgesses  and  com- 
monalty of  Athenry  in  Connaught"  of  "  the  rectory  of  Kynnclcij- 
Ikiiic,  Co.  Galway,  with  the  tithes  of  Kinnelcghanc  and  Barnaboye 
(the  altarages  and  one  cople  of  the  tithes  for  the  curate  and  for 
repairing  the  church  excepted)-' '§ 

The  mention  of  Clanricarde  and  O'Kelly's  country  in  the 
letter  from  Sussex,  coupled  with  the  grant  to  the  borough  <>f 
Athenry  in  the  fiant  just  quoted,  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that 

•  See  Appendix  (2). 

t  Hist.  MSS.  Comm.,  15th  Report, App. Pari  HI.p  1 13.  See  Appendix  (3). 
Letter  of  the  English  Privy  Council  to  Sir  Henry  Sydney.     Appen- 
dix (4) 

||  Fiant  Elizabeth,  No.  1680.     See  Appendix  (6), 
§  Fiant  Elisabeth,  No.  3419.     See  Appendix  (G). 


THE    KNIGHTS    HOSPITALLERS    IN    CO.    GALWAY.  215 

it  was  in  East  rather  than  in  West  Galway  that  the  original 
of  the  Knights  Hospitallers  house  was  to  be  sought,  and  that 
the  Kinalekin  of  Ware  and  Archdall  would  prove  to  be  identical 
with  the  Kynneleighane  of  their  various  Elizabethan  documents. 
I  accordingly  had  recourse  to  O'Donovan's  "Tribes  and  Customs 
of  the  District  of  Hy-Many  commonly  called  O'Kelly's  Country." 
From  the  map  of  the  territory  given  in  that  work,  and  from 
a  note  at  p.  15,  I  found  the  origin  of  the  reference  to  the 
O' Flaherty  foundation  of  Kinalekin  on  which  Archdall  has 
built  his  mistaken  inference.  For  it  appeared  from  O'Donovan's 
admirable  map  that  the  original  O'Flaherty  country  ran  very  close 
to  the  town  of  Athenry  in  days  long  prior  to  the  coming  of  the 
Bourkes.  Further  though  the  Townland  Index  made  no  mention 
of  Kynnaleighane,  it  gave  three  townlands  of  Barnaboy,  the 
name  which  is  bracketed  with  Kynnaleighane  in  the  Athenry 
grant ;  and  of  these  one  containing  299  acres,  1  rood  and  35 
perches  was  given  as  lying  in  the  Barony  of  Clare  and  Parish  of 
Athenry.  The  reference  in  O'Donovan's  "  Hy-Many"  having 
given  me  the  Irish  original  of  Kynneleghane  as  "Kinal  Ffeighin" 
I  next  looked  up  the  same  scholars  "  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters" 
under  that  place  name,  where  I  was  rewarded  by  finding  the 
results  of  my  inquiries  and  conjectures  confirmed  by  the  express 
statement  of  that  really  omniscient  topographer.  For  at  p.  2230 
O'Donovan  notes  as  follows: — "  Kinal  Ffeighin  from  Kinal- 
Eghin — this  is  the  Monastery  called  Kinalekin  by  Archdall,  who 
erroneously  places  it  in  O'Flaherty's  country.  It  is  more  correctly 
called  Kinaleghin  in  an  inquisition  dated  22  April,  1636,  which 
places  it  in  Clanricarde.  The  ruins  of  the  Abbey  which  are  of 
considerable  extent  are  situated  in  the  parish  of  Ballinakill,  barony 
of  Leitrim,  and  County  of  Galway,  about  3$  miles  to  the  north- 
east of  the  village  of  Woodford  (near  Eagle  Hill).  The  Abbey 
Church  measures  124  feet  in  length.  There  are  within  it  many 
curious  monuments  to  members  of  the  Bourke  family."  A  detailed 
description  of  these  remains,  and  a  fuller  statement  of  the  facts 
upon  which  O'Donovan's  note  is  founded  are  given  in  the 
Ordnance  Survey  Papers  preserved  in  the  Eoyal  Irish  Academy, 
vol.   ii.,   p.   504.*     The   identification   of   Kinalekin   with   Kinal 

♦O'Donovan's  description  of  the  place  and  its  remains  is  in  full  agree- 
ment with  a  careful  inspection  of  the  ruins  recently  made  by  Mr.  J.  M. 
Bradshaw  on  my  behalf.  Mr.  Bradshaw  writes  as  follows  : — 'About  eight 
miles  west  of  Portumna  you  will  see  printed  on  the  one  inch  map  (Survey) 
a  place  called  "Abbey"  with  " Friary"  beside  it.     This  is  the  place.  I  visited 


216         OALWAY   ARCHAEOLOGICAL    AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Ffeighin  is  accordingly  complete.  I  give  in  an  Appendix  the 
documents  referred  to  above,  iu  the  hope  that  some  member  of 
the  Society  may  be  able  to  supply  information  concerning  various 
rectories  and  other  property  enumerated  as  having  been  among 
the  possessions  of  the  Knights  Hospitallers. 

It  is  somewhat  curious  that  Hardiman  in  his  "  History  of 
Galway"  makes  no  direct  mention  of  the  Hospitallers  as  con- 
nected with  the  city.  But  in  a  reference  to  the  Templars  he 
writes  as  follows: — "This  famous  order  had  a  convent  here 
beyond  the  east  gate,  but  it  was  suppressed  in  1312,  and  its 
possessions  granted  by  Edward  II  to  the  Hospitallers  of  St.  John 
of  Jerusalem.  The  circular  foundation  of  this  ancient  building 
may  be  seen  marked  on  the  old  map  of  the  town,  at  the  S.  W. 
corner  of  the  Green. "t  The  house  thus  described  by  Hardiman  as 
a  "convent"  was  evidently  one  of  the  "guest  houses"  or  inns  which 
both  Templars  and  Hospitallers  were  licensed  to  establish  in  the 
principal  cities,  and  which  formed  an  interesting  feature  in  the 
social  life  of  mediseval  Ireland. 


APPENDIX. 


(1).  "  Kinalekin ;  Commandery :  A  commandery  for  Knights  Hospitallers  was 
founded  here  in  the  13th  century  under  the  invocation  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist  by  O'Flaherty ;  Kinalekin  is  probably  in  Iar-Connaught,  of  which 
O'Flaherty  was  dynast. 

We  find  that  John  was  prior  in  the  year  1310;  when  Joan,  the  widow  of 
John  de  Burgh,  sued  him  as  custos  of  his  lands,  etc.,  for  her  dower  thereof. 

John  de  Blohely  was  prior ;  he  was  succeeded  by  a  third  John,  who  sued 

John  de  Burgh  for  a  townland  in  Tullagh  Mc  Roskyn,  of  which  John  O'Lean 

who   was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Clonfert  in  the  year  1322,  and  died  A.D. 

had  unlawfully  diseized  John   de   Blohely,  predecessor  of  John   the 

present  prior. 

A  Franciscan  friary  was  founded  here  before  the  year  1825." 

(Archdall's  Monasticon  llibemicnm.     Ed.  Card.  Moran,  ii  p.  221.) 

them  to-day,  and  called  at  the  adjoining  National  School,  over  which  is  the 
inscription  ''Abbey  of  Kilnalahan,"  and  so  the  people  pronounce  the  name, 
but  far  off  are  the  ruins  of  a  smaller  monastery  called  "  Lab  in"  and  I  believe 
there  is  a  holy  well  (St.  Brigid's).  The  ruins  are  oxtonsive  and  in  a  very  fair 
state  of  preservation, — several  Churches  or  Shrines,  in  one  of  which  is  a 
striking  tomb  with  original  altar.  I  was  informed  that  one  of  the  Irish 
princes  is  buried  in  this  corner,  and  that  the  graveyard  is  still  used  for 
purposes  of  burial.  I  should  have  noted  that  it  is  the  burial  place  of  tho 
Bourkes." 

f  Hardiman's  History  of  the  Town  of  Galway,  p.  274. 


THE    KNIGHTS   HOSPITALLERS    IN    CO.    GALWAY.  217 

(2).  "Power  of  Attorney  given  by  Sir  John  Rawson,  Knight,  Prior  of  the 
Hospital  of  Kylmaynan,  near  Dublin,  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  in  Ireland, 
to  Stephen  Fitz  James  Lynch,  of  Galway,  merchant.  The  donor  thereby 
gave  said  attorney  power  to  grant  leases  of  all  the  lands,  tithes,  oblations  and 
altarages  belonging  to  the  said  Hospital  in  any  part  whatsoever  of  Connaught, 
and  especially  the  tithes  of  the  ecclesiastical  parishes  of  Ballyclare  and 
Kiltarragh  in  the  Diocese  of  Tuam,  the  town  of  Clonmakany  near  Ballyclare, 
the  tithes  of  Kenaleghen  in  the  Diocese  of  Clonfert,  and  the  chapel  and  house 
of  St.  John  the  Baptist  of  Ballyne-robe,  with  a  carucate  of  land  and  one  mill 
there ;  with  power  to  collect  the  rents  and  profits  thereof,  and  hold  the  same 
to  the  use  of  the  said  Prior  and  Hospital,  the  power  to  continue  for  the  period 
of  two  years  from  the  date  thereof.  Attested  under  the  writing  and  signature 
of  the  underwritten  public  notary.  Dated  at  the  chief  house  of  Kilmaynan 
near  Dublin,  of  the  Hospital  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  in  Ireland,  July  22, 
A.D.  1529.  Witnesses:  Father  Richard  Ellercare,  Prebendary  of  Castro- 
knoke,  and  Steward  of  Kilmaynan,  and  Robert  North.  Attestation  of  Nicholas 
Bennett  of  the  Diocese  of  Ferus,  public  notary.  Signed  Nicholas  Bennett, 
notary." 

Blake  Family  Records,  1st  Series  p  66,  Record  No  86. 


(3)  "By  the  lorde  lieutenant  and  counsaill 

T.  Sussex. 

We  grete  you  well ;  and  whereas  upon  sute  made  to  the  quenes  majastie 
by  Walter  Hope,  it  was  her  highnes  pleasure  that  he  shulde  have  in  lease  for 
terme  of  years  certain  parceiles  of  landes  lyeing  in  Connaughta,  belonging  to 
the  house  of  Kylmaynan,  nowe  annexed  to  her  majasties  crowne  imperiall, 
videlicit,  the  toune  of  St.  John's  of  Randone  with  the  appurtenances  ;  the  par- 
sonage of  Ballanclare,  the  house  of  Cloune  Machanyn,  the  parsonage  of  Kynne- 
leghin,  the  parsonage  of  Kyltaraughta  and  Kilvekena,  the  house  of  St.  John's 
in  Gallwaye,  with  all  their  appurtenances,  in  consideracion  that  he  hath 
revealed  and  brought  to  light  the  saide  landes  heretofore  concealed  and  not 
aunswered  to  her  highnes  or  her  progenitoures. 

We  lett  you  witt  that  because  presently  we  cannot  take  ordre  for  the 
survey  thereof,  we  are  contented  and  pleased  that  the  said  Walter  Hope  shall 
have  holde  and  enjoye  the  saide  parceiles  of  landes  with  their  appurtenances 
with  all  profittes  and  commodities  belonging  to  the  same  during  our  further 
pleasure  for  the  which  he  shall  answere  rent  to  her  majestie  according  to 
suche  survey  as  shal  be  made  thereof. 

Wherefore  we  chardge  and  commannd  as  well  all  such  as  be  occupiers 
and  inhabiters  of  the  saide  landes  to  permitt  and  suffre  him  quietly  without 
any  your  lettes  or  impedimentes  peasibly  to  enjoye  the  same ;  as  also  all 
other  her  highnes  officers  mynisters  and  loving  subjects  to  be  aiding  and 
assisting  to  put  him  in  possession  thereof  and  to  maynetayne  him  therein 
till  our  further  pleasure  be  known. 

Given  at  Laughlin,  the  xviiith  1560. 

H.  Dublin,  cane. — W.  Fitzwilliams — John  Plunket — James  Bathe — 
John  Travers — Thomas  Lokwood,  dean — Francis  Agarde—  John  Chaloner. 

To  our  verie  good  lorde  the  Erie  of  Clanricarde;  O'Kelle,  capitain  of  his 
countrey ;  the  Mayor  of  Galwaye,  and  all  other  her  majesties  officers, 
mynisters,  and  loving  subjects,  to  whom  it  shall  appertayne."  Haliday  MSS. 
15th  Report  of  Hist.  MSS.    Commission,  App.  Part  II,  p.  113. 


218         GALWAY   ARCH^OLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

(4)     Letter  of  English  Privy  Council  to  Sir  Henry  Sydney. 

"After  our  right  heartie  commendacions :  We  have  received  your 
lttttrres  of  the  26th  of  May,  fourth  of  June,  touching  two  severall  sutes  made 
unto  you  there  by  Walter  Hope  of  Dublin,  the  one  for  the  obtaining  of  a 
pencion  granted  unto  him  of  late  years  by  Oswald  Mass  higher  do,  late  pryor  of 
Kylmayneham,  for  service  done  unto  the  said  pryor  and  house,  as  he  alleagath 

For  answer  unto  bothe  which  sutes  you  shall  understande  that 

like  as  in  the  fyrste  we  think  it  very  resaonable  yf  in  the  acte  of  parlyament 
made  for  the  uniting  of  the  landes  and  possessions  of  the  said  house  of 
Kylmayneham  [to]  the  crowne  there  bo  any  suche  clause  or  provision  as  he 
alleagath  for  the  allowing  of  all  these  grauntes  that  passu]  bona  fide  from 
the  said  pryor  before  the  dyssolucion  of  the  said  house,  and  that  it  shall  also 
appere  unto  you  that  the  graunt  passed  unto  him  for  his  said  pencion  ys  of 
that  nature,  and  made  bona  fide,  without  fraude  or  covyn,  and  further  that 
the  landes  granted  unto  him  in  Connaght  by  a  concordatum  of  our  very  good 
lorde  the  earl  of  Sussex,  and  the  counsell  then  being,  were  not  allotted  unto 
him  in  recompence  of  his  said  pencion,  but  for  other  respectes  and  consydera- 
cions,  that  then  he  be  allowed  his  pencion  according  to  equitie  and  justice, 
together  with  the  arrerages  due  unto  him  uppon  the  same 

And  so  we  byd  you  right  hartily  well  to  fare.  From  St.  James,  the  secondo 
of  July,  1566." 

Holiday  MSS.    loc.  cit.  p.  189. 


(5)  Lease  under  commission  26  Sept  ix  to  Walter  Hoppe,  of  Molynger,  Co. 
Westmeath,  of  the  rectories  of  Kynnaleighen,  Ballenclare,  Kyltara^hta.  and 
Kylveckana  in  Connaught,  of  the  possessions  of  the  late  priory  oi  S.  John  of 
Jerusalem.  To  hold  for  21  years,  rent  28*4.  Not  to  alien  without  License. 
Fine  28  4—  5  Dec.  xiii.  Fiant  Elizabeth  No.  16S9.  App.  to  12th  Report  of 
Deputy  Keeper  of  Irish  Records  p  21. 


6    Grant  (under  Queen's  letter  27  Sept.,  xvii)  to  tho  provost  burgesses  and 

commonalty  of  Athenry  in  Connaught  of the  rectory  of 

Kynnaleighane,  Co.  Gaiway,  with  the  tithes  of  Kinnaleighane  and  Hame- 
l)oye  (the  altarages  and  one  cople  of  the  tithes  for  the  curate  and  for  repairing 
the  church  excepted)  the  rectory  of  Ballenclare,  same  co.,  with  the  tithes  of 
I'.iillcnclare,  Lisharroll,  and  Lydeacan  (the  altarages  and  two  copies  of  grain 
for  the  curate  and  for  repairing  the  church  excepted),  the  rectory  of  Kil- 
taraghta,  same  co  (the  altarages  and  one  cople  of  tithes  for  the  curate  and 
for  repairing  the  church  excepted)  the  rectory  of  Kilveckana,  same  co.,  (the 
altarages  and  one  cople  of  tithes  for  the  curate  and  for  repairing  the  ehunli 
excepted)  possessions  of  the  late  hospital  of  S.  John  of  JerUfftlem  in  Inland. 
To  hold  for  ever,  in  free  socage.  Rent  (of  them  and  all  other  lands)  £96  12  0. 
20  Aug,  xx. 

Fi>mt  Mi-abeth,  No.  3419.     (Appendix  to  13th  Report  of  Deputy  Keeper 
of  Irish  Records,  p  94.) 


[    219    ] 


The  French  in  Mayo,  1798. 


By  Rev.  E.  A.  D' ALTON,  C.C.,  M.R.I  A  A 


In  three  of  the  Irish  provinces  out  of  four  rebellion  broke 
out  in  the  summer  of  1798.  In  Munster  the  outbreak  was  unim- 
portant and  was  easily  suppressed,  In  Ulster  only  Antrim  and 
Down  rose  to  arms,  and  even  in  these  counties  the  strength  of 
the  rebels  was  not  great.  In  Leinster,  and  especially  in  Wexford, 
a  graver  state  of  things  arose ;  but  Wexford  unaided  was  unable 
to  hold  its  own  when  the  government  put  forth  its  strength,  and 
by  the  end  of  June  the  rebellion  might  be  said  to  be  over.  So  far 
Connaught  had  remained  quiet,  and  only  when  peace  had  come 
to  the  other  provinces  did  the  Western  province  become  for  a 
brief  period  agitated  by  war.  This  change  was  effected,  not  by 
any  sudden  outbreak  on  the  part  of  the  people,  but  by  the  land- 
ing of  a  French  invading  force  at  Killala,  on  the  evening  of  the 
22nd  of  August. 

Nearly  two  years  before  this  date,  a  powerful  French  expedi- 
tion had  been  sent  to  Ireland  under  Hoche,  but  it  had  failed 
owing  to  the  unfriendly  winds,  and  in  the  next  year  Admiral 
Duncan  had  shattered  the  Dutch  invading  force  off  Camperdown. 
Early  in  1798,  the  French  Directory  proposed  to  send  a  fresh 
and  powerful  expedition  ;  but  the  glamour  of  the  East  attracted 
Bonaparte,  and  owing  to  his  advice  the  strength  of  France  was 
diverted  to  Egypt,  and  during  the  fierce  struggle  in  Wexford  not 
a  man  and  not  a  gun  came  from  France.  It  did  not  however 
suit  France  that  Ireland  should  be  at  peace,  and  towards  the  end 
of  July  it  was  determined  to  send  several  small  expeditions. 
They  were  to  sail  from  different  French  ports  and  land  at  different 
parts  of  Ireland.  They  were  to  stir  up  anew  the  almost  extinct 
fires  of  rebellion  ;  they  might  perhaps  lead  to  great  results ;  at  least 
they  would  tie  England's  hands  at  home,  and  prevent  her  interfer- 
ence with  French  designs  abroad.     One  of  these  expeditions  was 

f  Author  of  A  History  of  Ireland  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Present 
Day.     Vols.  I.  and  II.  Kegan  Paul,  1906. 


220  GALWAY   ABCH^JOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   80CIETY. 


THE    FRENCH    IN    MAYO,    1798,  221 

placed  under  General  Humbert,  sailed  from  Rochelle  on  the  6th  of 
August,  and  16  days  later  landed  at  Killala.  The  whole  strength  of 
the  invaders,  officers  and  men,  was  1,036.  As  the  French  vessels 
sailed  into  the  Bay  with  the  English  flag  flying  at  their  mastheads, 
they  were  taken  to  be  friends,  and  as  such  allowed  peacefully  to 
land.  But  in  any  case  there  was  no  force  at  Killala  able  to 
encounter  a  French  army  of  more  than  a  thousand  men,  under  an 
experienced  officer  like  Humbert.  Some  yeomen  and  fencibles 
did  make  a  feeble  resistance ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  53  of  the 
Longford  Militia  turned  traitors  to  their  own  side  and  went  over 
to  the  enemy. 

Humbert  set  up  his  headquarters  at  the  palace  of  the  Protes- 
tant Bishop  of  Killala,  Dr.  Stock,  a  cultured,  kindly  man  who 
spoke  French  well,  lived  on  good  terms  with  the  French  officers, 
and  has  left  us  an  interesting  account  both  of  officers  and  men.* 
Humbert  who  had  risen  from  the  ranks  and  had  served  with 
Hoche  in  La  Vendee,  is  described  by  the  Bishop  as  of  good  height 
and  shape,  in  the  full  vigour  of  life,  a  good  officer  but  of  a  forbid- 
ding physiognomy.  His  eye  was  small  and  sleepy,  "  the  eye  of  a 
cat  preparing  to  spring  on  her  prey.  For  learning  he  scarcely 
had  enough  to  enable  him  to  write  his  name."  Colonel  Charost 
was  born  in  a  higher  position  in  life  and  was  a  man  of  some  educa- 
tion, "  with  a  plain  good  understanding."  Captain  Baudet  was  a 
big  man,  more  than  six  feet  high,  always  boasting  of  his  prowess. 
Captain  Ponson,  on  the  contrary,  was  a  little  man,  volatile,  rest- 
less, impatient,  always  in  good  humour,  and  so  inured  to  hardship, 
that  a  continual  watching  for  five  days  and  nights  "  did  not 
appear  to  sink  his  spirits  in  the  smallest  degree."  Of  the  soldiers, 
some  had  fought  on  the  Rhine  and  some  had  shared  the  glories  of 
Bonaparte  in  Italy ;  all  had  seen  service,  and  were  familiar  with 
all  the  privations  and  horrors  of  war ;  and  some  of  them  told  the 
Bishop  that  at  the  siege  of  Mayence  in  the  preceding  winter  they 
had  slept  on  the  ground  in  holes  made  four  feet  deep  under  the 
snow.  Not  having  ready  money  in  Ireland  Humbert  paid  for 
what  he  took  by  drafts  on  the  future  Irish  Directory.  The  French 
however  had  a  good  supply  of  arms,  sufficient  for  5.500  of  the 
Irish,  who  hastened  to  join  them.  They  were  very  proud  of  their 
new  French  uniforms  and  of  the  arms  which  they  got,  though 
they  knew  so  little  how  to  use  the  latter  that  in  many  cases  they 

*  "  Narrative  of  what  passed  at  Killala  and  the  parts  adjacent  during 
the  French  invasion  in  the  summer  of  1798."     By  an  Eye  Witness. 


222  GALWAY   ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

put  the  cartridges  in  at  the  wrong  end  of  the  barrel.  The  French 
held  them  in  contempt,  as  they  did  the  priests,  declaring  that 
they  themselves  had  just  driven  "  Mr.  Pope  out  of  Italy  and  did 
not  expect  to  find  him  again  so  suddenly  in  Ireland." 

After  a  short  stay  in  Killala,  the  French  general,  leaving  200 
of  his  troops  to  garrison  the  place,  pushed  on  to  Ballina,  which 
he  also  took  and  garrisoned,  and  then,  advancing  to  Castlebar. 
appeared  there  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  of  August.  General 
Lake,  who  had  arrived  from  Dublin  the  previous  evening,  was  in 
command  of  the  English,  his  second  in  command  being  Major- 
General  Hutchinson.  The  latter  had  been  hurriedly  sent  on  lie  mi 
Galway  with  reinforcements,  and  reached  Castlebar  on  the  25th. 
and  pending  the  arrival  of  Lake  had  made  preparation?  to  meet 
the  invaders.  Quite  satisfied  that,  on  their  march  from  Ballina, 
they  would  take  the  Foxford  road,  he  had  sent  General  Taylor 
with  a  strong  force  to  Foxford  to  intercept  them;  but  Humbert 
turned  west  of  Lough  Conn,  and  advanced  by  the  mountain  road 
which  passed  through  Barnagee,  or  Windy  Gap.  A  yeoman  look- 
ing after  his  cattle  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  saw  a  column 
of  soldiers  in  blue  marching  rapidly  towards  the  Gap,  and  mount- 
ing his  horse  rode  into  Castlebar  and  alarmed  the  garrison. 
General  Trench  was  then  sent  forward,  but  being  fired  on  by  the 
French  about  a  mile  from  the  town  he  hurriedly  fell  back,  and 
the  whole  English  force  at  Castlebar  was  drawn  out  to  meet  the 
enemy. 

There  is  a  conflict  of  testimony  as  to  the  numbers  engaged 
on  both  sides.  Plowden  puts  the  number  engaged  on  the  English 
side  at  6,000,  so  also  docs  (iuillon,  the  French  historian,  as  docs 
Teeling,  whose  brother  was  an  officer  under  Humbert."  The 
estimate  of  Hutchinson  is  1,700  on  the  English  side,  and  on  the 
other  side  700  French  aided  by  500  rebels.  If  allowance  he  made 
for  Taylor's  force,  which  was  at  Foxford,  the  Larger  estimate  of 
Plowden  mast  be  considerably  reduced,  and  perhaps  Hutchinson 
is  near  the  truth,  though  he  certainly  does  not  overstate  the 
number  on  his  own  side. t     There  is  less  difficulty  m   accepting 


•  Historical  Review;  Guillon's  La  France  et  UlrlmuL  pnulant  In  Ilrro- 
lution;  Maxwell' s  History  of  the  In*h  IhhtUum  ;  Teeling's  Ptrxmal  A 
tiir. 

f  Cornwall 'is  Correspondence,  vol  ii.     "Statement  by  thfl   Bon.  Ifajoc 
General  Hutchinson  with  reference  to  the  Action  at  Castlebar.      Hutchinson 
was  severely  censured  by  Cornwallis,  and  in  consequence  resigned  hil  po 
on  the  Staff  in  Ireland. 


THE    FRENCH    IN    MAYO,    1798.  223 

his  estimate  of  the  French,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  only 
1,000  landed  at  Killala,  and  that  garrisons  had  been  left  both  at 
Killala  and  Ballina.  As  to  the  rebels  their  number  was  of  little 
consequence.  They  had  scarcely  any  knowledge  of  the  use  of 
arms  and  no  experience  of  actual  war,  and  it  is  easy  to  believe 
that  Humbert  placed  them  in  the  front  merely  to  draw  the  fire  of 
the  enemy,  and  that  at  the  first  discharge  of  the  English  guns 
they  broke  and  fled. 

Even  assuming  the  correctness  of  Hutchinson's  estimate,  the 
odds  against  the  French  were  heavy.  They  had  less  than  half 
the  number  of  the  English ;  they  had  but  40  mounted  men,  while 
the  English  had  cavalry  and  infantry  in  the  usual  proportions  ; 
the  French  had  but  two  small  four-pounder  guns,  the  English 
had  twelve  pieces  of  cannon  and  one  howitzer ;  they  had  also  the 
advantage  of  position.  They  were  drawn  up  in  two  lines  in  front 
of  the  town.  The  Kilkenny  Militia  and  the  Prince  of  Wales 
Fencibles  were  in  the  front  line,  the  Frazer  Fencibles  and  the 
Galway  Yeomanry  in  the  second.  A  little  in  advance,  at  the 
right  wing,  on  the  high  ground  between  Staball  and  the  Turlough 
road,  was  Captain  Shortall  with  a  battery  of  three  guns.  As  the 
French  descended  the  hill  beyond  the  Workhouse.  Shortall  opened 
fire,  and  with  such  effect  that  the  French  fell  back.  A  second  time 
under  shelter  of  some  houses  they  advanced,  but  again  Shortall's 
guns  were  well  handled,  and  the  French  sustained  some  loss, 
after  which  they  again  advanced,  driving  some  cattle  before  them. 
Finding  that  their  formation  in  close  column  exposed  them  too 
much  to  the  enemy's  guns,  they  deployed  to  right  and  left  and 
advanced  tirailleur  fashion.  General  Sarazin  at  the  head  of  the 
grenadiers  leading  the  attack  by  the  Ross  road,  drove  back  the 
English  right,  and  captured  Shortall's  guns  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet.  The  attack  on  the  English  left  was  led  by  Ardouin,  chef 
de  battailion.  The  Longford  and  Kilkenny  Militia  at  this  point 
fired  at  long  range,  and  without  effect,  and  then  fled,  panic-stricken, 
into  the  town.  The  artillery  and  Lord  Roden's  cavalry  showed 
more  courage  than  the  militia,  and  a  stand  was  made  at  the 
bridge  which  spans  the  north  end  of  the  Main  street.*  But 
such  resistance  as  was  offered  was  speedily  overcome  by  the 
victorious  French.  The  fugitives  could  not  be  rallied.  Some 
were  shot  down  as  they  ran;  many  of  the  Longford  and  Kilkenny 
men  deserted  to  the  enemy,  or  simply  delivered  themselves  up  as 

*  Bridge  St.  on  the  map. 


224  OALWAY   ABCHJ20LOGICAL   AND    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

prisoners;  the  remainder  in  a  disordered  mass  took  to  flight. 
The  infantry  threw  away  their  arms  so  as  to  rim  the  better ;  the 
cavalry  galloped  through  the  town  to  Hollymount  and  Tuam. 
Nor  did  some  of  them  consider  themselves  safe  at  the  latter  place, 
but  with  all  haste  rode  on  to  Athlone,  where  they  arrived  early 
on  the  29th,  having  covered  a  distance  of  63  miles  in  27  hours. 

The  easy  victory  of  the  French  and  the  precipitate  retreat  of 
their  enemies  caused  the  battle  to  be  called  the  Races  of  Castle- 
bar.  There  was  a  tradition  in  the  town,  which  has  still  survived, 
that  early  in  the  fight  a  party  of  French,  guided  by  their  Irish 
allies,  outflanking  the  English  left,  crossed  the  Newport  road  and 
the  river  near  the  present  graveyard,  and  coming  out  on  the 
Westport  road,  took  possession  of  the  high  ground  near  the 
present  county  prison,  and  from  this  fired  into  the  English  ranks 
in  the  town.  The  English,  it  was  said,  feared  that  a  second  army 
was  advancing  from  Westport,  and  becoming  demoralized,  at 
once  took  to  flight.  But  I  can  find  no  trace  of  any  such  move- 
ment in  the  despatches  of  Humbert  or  Hutchinson,  and  think  the 
tradition,  like  a  good  many  others,  has  no  foundation  in  fact. 
Maxwell  thinks  that  treachery  had  a  share,  and  a  good  share,  in 
the  defeat,  and  points  to  the  desertions  from  the  militia."  But 
a  sufficient  explanation  of  the  defeat  is  that  the  military  licence 
of  the  time  had  demoralized  the  army,  Only  six  months  before, 
Abercromby  had  described  the  army  as  dangerous  to  everyone 
but  the  enemy;  the  language  of  Cornwallis  after  he  came  to 
Ireland  is  equally  strong ;  t  and  the  disgraceful  cowardice  at 
Castlebar  shows  how  well  these  condemnations  were  deserved. 

In  his  despatches  to  the  French  Directory  Humbert  gives 
the  number  of  killed  and  wounded  at  600,  the  number  of  prisoners 
at  1,200,  an  obvious  exaggeration  if  we  accept  Hutchinson's 
estimate  of  the  combatants.  {  It  is  significant  however  that  the 
number  of  their  losses  is  not  given  either  by  Hutchinson  or  Lake. 
As  for  Maxwell's  estimate  of  87  killed  and  wounded  and  376 
prisoners,  it  is  mere  guess-work,  and  equally  unreliable  is  his 
statement  that  the  loss  of  the  French  in  killed  and  wounded  was 

•  Maxwell  is  a  strong  partisan,  and  therefore  not  very  reliable,  but  he 
had  the  advantage  of  knowing  the  ground,  and  he  gives  notes  taken  by  an 
English  officer  who  was  serving  with  General  Taylor  at  ^oxford. 

f  "  The  Irish  Militia  are  totally  without  discipline,  contemptible  before 
the  enemy  when  any  serious  resistance  is  made  to  them."  Cornwallis  to 
Portland,  July  8th,  1798. 

I  Le  General  Humbert  au  Directoire  Executif,  1c  II  Fructidor  (Guillon). 


THE    FRENCH    IN    MAYO,    1798.  225 

much  greater  than  that  sustained  by  their  opponents.  It  is  how- 
ever admitted  on  all  hands  that  the  French  captured  all  the  guns 
and  military  stores,  with  large  numbers  of  prisoners.  Nor  would 
a  man  have  escaped  them  if  they  had  horses  enough  to  continue 
the  pursuit.  A  few  Frenchmen,  only  ten  in  number,  more  daring 
and  reckless  than  the  rest,  followed  the  English  for  two  miles. 
At  that  point  Lord  Roden  faced  about  and  opened  fire,  killing  five 
of  tbem  and  driving  away  the  others.  The  dead  Frenchmen  were 
buried  by  the  peasantry  where  they  fell,  and  in  memory  of  the 
event  the  place  has  ever  since  been  called  French-hill.  In  1876 
a  monument  was  raised  to  their  memory  on  the  spot  where  their 
bones  were  laid  to  rest.  In  digging  for  the  foundation  the  work- 
men came  upon  the  skeletons  from  one  of  which  rolled  out  three 
silver  coins,  a  five  franc  piece,  one  of  two  francs  and  a  one  franc 
piece.  I  have  seen  the  five  franc  piece,  which  is  in  a  good  state 
of  preservation.  On  one  side  is  the  inscription  "  Union  et  Force," 
on  the  reverse  side  "  Republique  Francaise,  5  francs,  L'An  6;  " 
round  the  rim  are  the  words  "  garantie  nationale."* 

Humbert  set  up  a  provincial  government  at  Castlebar  with 
Mr.  John  Moore  of  Moorehall  as  President.  He  hoped  that  the 
peasantry  would  flock  to  his  standards,  but  they  kept  away; 
even  very  many  of  those  who  had  French  uniforms  and  guns 
went  to  their  homes  and  stayed  there.  As  a  result  Humbert  had 
to  abandon  Castlebar,  and  marching  through  Swinford  and  Cool- 
ooney,  he  was,  on  the  9th  of  September,  compelled  to  surrender 
to  Lord  Cornwallis,  who  had  with  him  an  army  of  20,000.  Castle- 
bar was  soon  reoccupied  by  the  English,  as  was  Ballina  and 
Killala  ;  Mr-.  Moore  was  arrested  and  died  in  prison,  and  the 
provincial  government  of  Connaught  was  at  an  end. 

*  The  coin  is  at  present  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  James  Daly  of  Castlebar 
who  kindly  gave  it  to  me  to  examine. 


Will  of  Geoffrey  French 

of  Galway,  A.D.   1528. 


By  MARTIN  J.  BLAKE. 


The  original  Will  of  Geoffrey  French  of  Galway,  merchant, 
of  which  a  photographic  reproduction  (now  first  published)  is 
here  given,  has  been  preserved  in  the  collection  of  the  Blake 
Family  Records  now  in  my  possession.  I  have  given  a  summary 
of  it  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Blake  Family  Records  (published 
in  1902)  at  page  65,  under  "  Record  No  85." 

The  Public  Record  Office,  Ireland,  does  not  contain  the  pro- 
bates of  any  wills  proved  in  the  ecclesiastical  Court  of  the  Arch- 
diocese of  Tuam  prior  to  the  Reformation.  Consequently  this 
original  document  which  bears  date  the  11th  of  October  1528  is 
now  the  only  existing  record  of  this  Will.  Before  the  Reformation 
it  was  not  necessary  nor  customary  that  the  Will  itself  should  be 
signed  by  the  testator ;  it  was  written  by  a  notary  either  from  the 
verbal  instructions  or  written  memoranda  of  the  testator,  and 
then  read  over  to  the  testator ;  and  was  sufficiently  authenticated 
by  the  signatures  of  the  notary  and  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese  or 
his  representative.  This  Will  bears  the  autograph  signatures  of 
"Thomas  Tuamen"  (Thomas,  Archbishop  of  Tuam)  and  "Marcus 
Morony,  Notary."  Thomas  O'Mullaly  was  Archbishop  of  Tuam 
from  1513  to  1536 ;  he  was  previously  (1508  to  1513)  Bishop  of 
Clonmacnois  (Thiener,  Monumenta  Hibernorum  historiam  illus- 
trantia,  at  p.  515) ;  this  fact  was  not  known  to  Sir  Jame8  Ware 
the  historian  (see  Harris*  edition  of  Ware's  works,  vol.  I.,  at  p, 
174) ;  and  has  even  escaped  the  notice  of  that  careful  and  accurate 
modern  historian  Mr.  Hubert  Knox  in  his  Notes  on  the  Diocese 
of  Tuam. 

I  have  not  definitely  ascertained  what  particular  branch  of 

French  family  is  descended  from  this  testator  Geoffrey  French; 

but  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  think  that  he  was  an  ancestor  of 

the  branch  known  in  the   17th  and  18th  centuries  as  French  of 

Tyrone,  County  Galway,  which  later  on  assumed  the  surname  of 


WILL  OF  GEOFFREY  FRENCH. 


227 


St.  George.  On  the  6th  April  1677,  Arthur  French  was  certified 
to  be  in  possession  of  the  lands  of  "  Tirone  "  previously  held  by 
his  father  Christopher  French  (who  died  in  1676)  whose  eldest 
son  and  heir  he  was  (Connaught  Certificates  Roll  IV.,  skin  46), 
The  patent  granted  under  the  Acts  of  Settlement  in  pursuance  of 
this  certificate  was,  however,  made  out  (in  trust  probably)  in  the 
name  of  Jeffery  French  who  was  second  brother  of  said  Arthur 
French  (Patent  enrolled  10  January  1678).  This  Arthur  French 
of  Tyrone  was  Mayor  of  the  Town  of  Galway  in  1691  when  the 
Town  was  surrendered  to  the  army  of  King  William  under  Gen- 
eral Ginckle.     He  died  in  1712,  having  married  twice.     He  was 


succeeded  in  the  Tyrone  estate  by  his  only  son  by  his  first  wife 
(Mary),  namely  Christopher  French;  and  by  his  second  wife, 
Sarah  widow  of  Iriell  Farrell  of  Cloonyquin,  Co.  Eoscommon, 
Arthur  French  left  issue  five  sons,  of  whom  the  eldest,  Arthur 
French  succeeded  to  the  Cloonyquin  estate  and  is  ancestor  of  the 
present  family  of  French  of  Cloonyquin.  The  above  mentioned 
Christopher  French  of  Tyrone  died  circa  1718  (will  dated  31  July 
1718)  and  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son  Arthur  French  of 
Tyrone,  who  married  (23  January  1736)  Olivia  eldest  daughter  of 
John  Usher  by  his  wife  Mary  St.  George,  only  daughter  and 
heiress  of  George  St.  George  1st  Baron  St.  George  of  Hatley. 
Arthur  French  of  Tyrone  died  8th  May  1779  and  was  succeeded 


228  OALWAY   ARCH^OLOGICAL   AND    HISTORICAL   80CIETY. 

by  his  eldest  son,  Christopher  French  of  Tyrone,  who  in  1774 
assumed  the  surname  of  St.  George  in  pursuance  of  a  direction 
contained  in  a  settlement  made  by  his  mother's  father,  Baron  St. 
George.  This  Christopher  French  St.  George's  grandson,  Chris- 
topher St.  George  of  Tyrone,  died  on  12  November  1877,  without 
male  issue,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  two  daughters  as  co-heir- 
esses, namely  Josephine  St.  George  who  married  Andrew  Browne 
of  Carnacregg  and  Katherine  St.  George  who  married  Kobert 
Kerr  St.  George  of  Woodsgift,  Kilkenny. 

I  append  a  transcript  of  the  Latin  original  of  the  Will  of 
Geoffrey  French,  together  with  a  translation  into  English. 


In  Dei  Nomine  Amen.  Ego  Galfridus  Prenishe  do  Oalvia  mercator  compos 
mente  licet  eger  corpore  condo  testamentum  meum  In  hunc  modum.  In 
primis,  lego  animam  meam  omnipotent  deo  patri  et  filio  et  spiritu  sancto, 
beate  Marie  virgini  ac  matri  Sancto  Michale  Archangelo  omnibusque  Sanctis 
ac  civibus  celestis  curie,  corpusque  meum  cumulandumin  monasterio  fratrum 
minorum  de  observantia  juxta  Galviam  cum  predecessoribus  meis.  Item 
do  et  lego  Arthuro  meo  seniori  filio  et  principali  heredi  domum  meam  in 
qua  nunc  inhabito  cum  coquina  et  pavimento  usque  ad  coquinam  Marci 
Frenishe.  Item  lego  dicto  Arthuro  omnes  terras  meas  michi  jure  hereditario 
spectantes  apud  Athenry.  Item  lego  dicto  Arthuro  unam  ullam  magnam 
eream.  Item  lego  dicto  Arthuro  meum  librum  rationium  cum  omnibus 
debitis  in  se  contentis,  et  si  fratros  ejus  adjuvarent  eum  in  recuperationem 
prefatorum  aut  aliqua  parcella  inde  quod  tunc  devidatur  inter  eos  do  recu- 
peratoribus.  Item  super  prefato  Arthuro  lego  annuatim  pro  capitali  domino 
et  pro  pelve  beate  marie  apud  monasterium.  Item  lego  meo  filio  Marco 
Frenishe  domum  in  qua  nunc  inhabitat  et  occupat  cum  suis  edificiis  et 
coquina  sibi  annexa.  Ita  quod  dictus  Marcus  fabricaret  sibi  aliam  viam  ad 
introitum  intus  et  extra  parte  magnam  portam.  Item  lego  super  dictum 
Marcum  viii°d  vizt.  sex  pro  domino  et  ii°»  d  pro  pelve.  Item  lego  super 
dictis  Arthuro  et  Marco  Frenishe  Anniversarium  meum  et  parentum  meo- 
rum  annuatim,  unum  annum  super  dictum  Arthurum  et  unum  annum  BUpeK 
dictum  Marcum,  et  sic  do  anno  in  annum  durante  vita  eorum.  Item  lego 
meo  filio  Edwardo  omnes  terras  meas  quas  emi  et  perquisivi  in  Ireconnaght 
vocatur  Letteragh  et  unum  cacabum  magnum  que  vocatur  chitill,  post 
decessum  sue  matris.  Item  lego  dicto  Edwardo  meum  ciphum  argentum 
quod  Nicholaus  Laghnan  de  Athenry  habet  in  pignoro  xiii"  et  iiii°'  denariis. 
Item  lego  meo  filio  Cristofor  Frenishe  meum  ciphum  quod  Stephinus 
Frenishe  habet  in  accommodatione.  Item  lego  quod  nullus  meorum  filiorum 
alienaret  sou  impignoraret  aliquam  parcellam  sue  partis  nisi  habita  liccntia 
prius  a  seniore  et  principalc  horede.  Item  lego  meo  uxori  Agnesie  Skirrct 
prefatas  terras  de  Letteragh  in  Ireconnaght  durante  vita  sua,  et  omnes 
vaccas  meus  tam  parvas  quam  magnas.  Item  lego  dicte  Agnesie  omnia 
utensilia  vasa  domus,  et  duos  ciphos  argenti,  praeter  illud  quod  legavi,  et 
post  decessum  ejus  fiat  devisio  inter  suos  filios  prout  sibi  videtur.  Item 
ordino  et  const  ituo  prefatam  Agnesiam  meam  uxorem  meum  verum  execu- 


WILL    OF   GEOFFREY   FRENCH.  229 

tricem  ad   disponendam   pro   anima  mea  prout   sibi  videbitur.       Hi   sunt 

debita   que  debeo.      In    primis   debeo   Jonoco    Kyrwane    unam  pipam  vini 

solvendo    sibi   in  dicta  villa,    libere  ab  omne   onere   ac  duarias    vaccinias. 

Item  debeo  Mc  y  Dowane  de  Connemara  unam  patenam  valentem  ad  quin- 

que  uncias  et  xiim  denarios.     Datum  Galvie  xi°  die  mensis  Octobris  Anno 

Domini  MDXXVIII. 

Marcus  Morony  Thomas  Tuamen 

Notarius  manu  propria 


TEANSLATION. 

In  the  Name  of  God,  Amen.  I  Geoffrey  Frenche  of  Galway 
merchant,  of  sound  mind,  though  sick  in  body,  make  my  testa- 
ment in  this  manner.  In  the  first  place  I  leave  my  soul  to 
almighty  God,  the  father  son  and  holy  ghost,  to  blessed  Mary 
virgin  and  mother,  to  St  Michael  the  Archangel  and  to  all  the 
Saints  and  citizens  of  the  celestial  court ;  and  my  body  to  be 
buried  in  the  monastery  of  the  Friars  Minor  "  de  observantia" 
near  Galway,  with  my  predecessors.  I  leave  to  my  eldest  son 
and  principal  heir  Arthur,  the  house  where  I  live,  with  the 
kitchen  and  courtyard  as  far  as  the  kitchen  of  Marcus  Frenche. 
I  leave  to  said  Arthur  all  the  lands  belonging  to  me  by  hereditary 
right  at  Athenry.  I  leave  to  said  Arthur  one  large  bronze  Jar. 
I  leave  to  said  Arthur  my  book  of  accounts  with  all  the  debts 
therein  contained,  and  if  his  brothers  help  him  to  recover  the 
aforesaid  or  any  part  thereof,  then  the  same  to  be  divided  equally 
between  them.  I  put  upon  the  said  Arthur  an  annual  (payment) 
for  the  head  father,  and  for  the  almsdish  of  blessed  Mary  at  the 
monastery.  I  leave  to  my  son  Marcus  Frenche  the  house  in 
which  he  now  lives  and  occupies,  together  with  the  buildings  and 
the  kitchen  annexed  thereto ;  upon  condition  that  he  construct 
another  way  to  go  in  and  out  by  way  of  the  great  gate.  I  put 
upon  the  said  Marcus  eightpence — viz.,  six  for  the  Father,  and 
two  for  the  almsdish.  I  put  upon  the  said  Arthur  and  Marcus 
annually  my  anniversary  and  that  of  my  ancestors,  one  year 
upon  the  said  Arthur,  and  one  year  upon  the  said  Marcus,  and  so 
from  year  to  year  during  their  lives.  I  leave  to  my  son  Edward 
all  the  lands  which  I  bought  and  acquired  in  Ire-Connaught 
called  Letterach ;  and  a  large  kettle  which  is  called  •  chitill,'  after 
his  mother's  death.  I  leave  to  said  Edward  my  silver  bowl 
which  Nicholas  Lachnayn  of  Athenry  has  in  pledge  for  13  shil- 
lings and  4  pence.  I  leave  to  my  son  Christofor  Frenche  my 
bowl  which  Stephen  French  has  in  pledge.     I  direct  that  none  of 

o 


230  GALWAY   ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

my  sons  shall  alienate  or  mortgage  any  part  of  his  portion  with- 
out the  previous  consent  of  the  eldest  and  principal  heir.  I  leave 
to  my  wife,  Agnes  Skirrett,  the  said  lands  of  Letterach  in  Ire- 
Connaught  during  her  life,  and  all  my  kine,  great  and  sin  nil ; 
I  leave  to  said  Agnes  all  my  household  utensils  and  vessels,  and 
two  silver  bowls  except  that  which  I  have  already  bequeathed, 
and  after  her  death  to  be  divided  amongst  her  sons  as  she  may 
direct.  I  appoint  and  constitute  my  said  wife  Agnes  my  true 
executor  to  dispense  for  my  soul  as  shall  seemeth  her.  List  of 
my  debts :  I  owe  to  Jonock  Kyrwan  one  pipe  of  wine,  to  be  paid 
to  him  in  the  said  town  free  of  all  charge  and  custom  duties  (?). 
I  owe  to  the  son  of  O'Duane  of  Connemara  one  dish  worth  5 
ounces  and  12  pence.  Dated  at  Galway  the  11th  day  of  the 
month  of  October,  A.D.  1528." 

44  Marcus  Morony  "Thomas  Tuamen 

Notary"  with  his  own  hand." 


A  Note  on 

Roland  de  Burgo 

alias  Burke,    Bishop  of  Clonfert ;  and   the 
Monastery  "  De  Portu  Puro  "  at  Clonfert. 


By  MAliTIN  J.  BLAKE. 


Roland  de  Burgo  alias  Burke  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Clon- 
fert diocese  by  Pope  Clement  VIII.  in  1534.  In  1541  Roland 
acknowledged  King  Henry  VIII.  as  Supreme  Head  of  the  Church, 
and  by  a  fiant  dated  24th  October  1541  he  was  appointed  by 
King  Henry  VIII.  Bishop  of  Clonfert,  upon  hia  undertaking  to 
surrender  the  Papal  Bull  for  the  same.  By  a  fiant  dated  24 
November  1543,  Roland  was  granted  "  the  site  and  possessions  of 
the  Monastery,  of  Regular  Canons  of  the  Order  of  St.  Augustine, 
•  De  Portu  Puro,'  in  Clonfert,  to  be  united  to  the  Bishopric  of 


A  NOTE  ON  ROLAND  DE  BURGO.  231 

Clonfert  for  ever — without  account — "     He  died  on  20th  June 
1580  as  appears  from  the  following  Inquisition : 

"  Exchequer  Inquisition  :  Co.  Galway  :   15th  Elizabeth  : 
Eolandus  deBurgo  alias  Burke,  late  Bishop  of  Clonfert." 

"  Inquisition  taken  at  the  town  of  Athenry,  1st  October  1584,  before  John 
Crofton  and  a  Jury,  who  find  :  That  Roland  de  Burgo  alias  Burke  late 
Bishop  of  Clonfert,  closed  his  last  day  on  the  20th  of  June  1580  :  and  was 
seized  in  fee  of  the  Castle  called  Tynagh  and  two  quarters  of  land  adjoin- 
ing the  Castle  :  and  that  he  held  the  aforesaid  of  the  Lord  Archbishop  of 
Tuam  at  a  certain  annual  rent  and  at  certain  other  services  of  which  the 
Jury  are  ignorant :  That  the  aforesaid  Roland  left  no  son  I1)  or  other 
issue  born  in  matrimony  who  could  be  his  heir  :  But  that  Lord  Ulick  de 
Burgo  now  Earl  of  Clanricard  as  kinsman  and  next  heir  of  the  aforesaid 
Roland  (namely  son  of  Richard  de  Burgo,  who  was  son  of  Ulick,  who  was 
son  of  Richard,  brother  of  Redmund  late  of  Tynagh  who  was  father  of 
the  aforesaid  Roland  who  died  without  heir  of  his  body  lawfully  begotten) 
entered  and  seized  into  his  hands  the  aforesaid  Castle  and  lands  of  Tynagh 
and  now  possesseth  them." 

Pedigree  Illustrating  above  Inquisition. 


Ulick  de  Burgo  (Burke)  of  Knocktoo  :  died  1509. 


Richard  de  Burgo  (Burke)  d.  1530.     Redmund  de  Burgo  (Burke)  of  Tynagh 

Ulick  de  Burgo  (Burke)  1st  Earl       Roland  de  Burgo  (Burke)  Bishop  of 
Clanricarde  d.  1544.  Clonfert, d.  20  June  1580, 

Richard  de  Burgo  (Burke)  2nd  Earl 
Clanricarde  d.  1582, 

Ulick  de  Burgo  (Burke)  3rd  Earl  Clanricarde 
referred  to  in  above  Inquisition 
of  1584. 


The  Monastery  "  De  Portu  Puro  "  at  Clonfert. 

The  first  monastic  establishment  at  Clonfert  was  founded  by 
St.  Brendan  in  A.D.  553  or  A.D.  562.  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
12th  century  St.  Brendan's  establishment  was  refounded  for  the 
Canons  Eegular  of  St.  Augustine,  and  the  Monastery  then  became 
known  by  the  name  "  De  Portu  Puro  " — "  of  the  clear  Harbour  " 


(l)  Bishop  Roland  de  Burgo  left  an  illegitimate  son,  Redmund  Burke,  referred  to 
later  on. 


232  QALWAY   ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

— in  reference,  I  presume,  to  the  harbour  on  the  Shannon  at 
Clonfert,  which  lies  on  the  river  Shannon. 

It  is  far  more  probable  that  Morrogh  O'Fihely,  Archbishop  of 
Tuam  (1506-1513),  derived  his  appellation  "  De  Portu  "  from  his 
being  a  native  of  Clonfert  where  this  Monastery  of  "  De  Portu 
Puro  "  was,  rather  than  from  being  a  native  of  Baltimore,  co.  Cork, 
a  far  fetched  suggestion  put  forward  by  Sir  James  Ware  without 
any  authority  for  it. 

The  following  Inquisition  relating  to  this  Monastery  is  on 
record  at  the  Public  Becord  Office,  Dublin  : 

Exchequer  Inquisition  :  Co.  Gal  way :  17  James  I. :  "  Mon- 
asterium  de  Clonferte  " : 

"  Inquisition  taken  at  Gal  way  the  7th  August  1607,  before  a  Jury,  who 
find  :  That  the  Monastery  of  Clonfert  formerly  called  the  Monastery  M  De 
Portu  Puro"  was  never  surrendered  to  the  King:  That  said  Monastery 
was  granted  by  a  fiant  of  King  Henry  VIII.  to  Roland  Burke  late  Bishop 
of  Clonfert  in  which  fiant  it  is  recited  that  the  Abbey  was  annexed  to  the 
See  of  Clonfert  :  That  Henry  O'Cormacan  was  Abbot  and  died  seized  of 
the  lands  and  the  temporalities  and  spiritualities  of  said  Abbey .  That 
after  the  death  of  said  Henry  O'Cormacan,  Bishop  Burke  and  others 
were  in  dispute  about  the  profits  of  the  Abbey  for  five  or  six  years  :  That 
William  O'Cormacan  then  (1567)  betook  himself  to  Rome  and  obtained 
the  Abbey  from  the  Pope  :  That  an  agreement  was  then  come  to  between 
said  William  and  Bishop  Burke  that  the  temporalities  and  spiritualities 
should  be  divided  between  them:  That  on  the  death  of  said  William 
O'Cormacan  in  1571,  Bishop  Burke  received  the  whole  until  his  death: 
That  (Stephen)  Kirwan  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Clonfert  after  the  death 
of  Roland  Burke,  and  came  to  an  agreement  with  Redmund  Burke  son  of 
Roland,  and  gave  to  him  a  moiety  of  the  profits  :  That  after  tbe  death  of 
said  Redmund  Burke,  said  Bishop  Kirwan  took  the  whole  of  the  mesne 
profits:  That  the  total  quantity  of  land  amounts  to  6  quarters,  and  the 
annual  rent  of  the  quarter  of  Down  McMearan  :  That  after  the  death  of 
said  Bishop  Kirwan,  the  mesne  profits  came  to  the  hands  of  the  Bishop 
of  Clonfert  that  now  is  "  (Roland  Lynch). 

Stephen  Kirwan  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Clonfert,  in  succes- 
sion to  Roland  de  Burgh,  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  on  30th  March  1581. 
Roland  Lynch  was,  on  20th  October  1602,  granted,  by  Queen 
Elizabeth,  the  See  of  Clonfert,  to  hold  in  commcndam :  he  had 
previously  (in  1587)  been  appointed  by  the  Queen,  Bishop  of  Kil 
macduagh. 


[    233    ] 

The    Old    Borough    of    Tuam 

Its  Laws,  Privileges,  and  Constitution. 


By  RICHARD  J.  KELLY,  Barrister --at-Law,  Vice-President. 


The  ancient  and  historic  Borough  of  Tuam  was  incorporated 
by  a  Charter  of  the  13th  of  James  I.,  (1613)  enrolled  in  Chancery 
(Part  2.,  Jac.  L,  p.  1  to  20).  The  constitution  then  and  thereby 
granted  was  similar  to  other  bodies  of  like  character  that  were  in 
Ireland  at  the  time.  The  limits  of  the  borough  extended  about 
two  miles  around  the  town,  but  were  not  fixed  by  Charter  or  ascer- 
tained by  perambulation.  James  II.  granted  a  Charter  also  to  the 
borough  in  the  fourth  year  of  his  reign,  and  it  will  be  found  en- 
rolled in  Chancery  (P.  4,  James  II.,  p.  1  to  41).  Under  the  first 
Jacobite  Charter  the  corporation  consisted  of  a  sovereign,  12  free 
burgesses,  and  a  commonalty,  with  the  title  "The  Sovereign,  Free 
Burgesses,  and  Commonalty  of  the  Borough  of  Tuam."  The 
following  officers  were  named  in  the  Charter: — A  Sovereign ;  Twelve 
Free  Burgesses;  Two  Sergeants-at-Mace;  and  also:  A  Town 
Clerk;  Kecorder;  Treasurer;  Constables;  Scavengers;  Inspectors 
of  Markets;  Bellman;  and  Weighmaster.  The  freemen  were  not 
regularly  admitted  at  the  time  of  their  abolition,  but  one  honorary 
freeman,  the  Marquis  of  Anglesea,  was  admitted  as  such  about 
that  time.  The  inhabitants  of  late  years  were  admitted  to  act  as 
commonalty  on  those  occasions,  in  which  the  body  had  by  Charter 
a  right  to  interfere. 

On  the  Feast  of  the  Nativity  of  St.  John  the  '  Sovereign  ' 
formerly  called  the  Superior  was  elected  annually  by  a  majority  of 
the  assembly  consisting  of  the  free  burgesses.  He  must  be  a  free 
burgess  and  he  held  office  for  one  year  dating  from  the  Feast  of 
St.  Michael  and  until  his  successor  was  duly  elected  and  sworn  in. 
His  oath  of  office  was  on  that  day  administered  by  his  predecessor, 
and  power  to  elect  a  successor  during  a  vacancy  was  given  to  the 
burgesses  and  commonalty.  The  same  person  had  been  of  late 
re-elected  and  at  the  time  of  the  dissolution  Eichard  Savage  the 
last  sovereign  was  sovereign  for  six  years  successively. 

In  1699  a  resolution  against  the  practice  of  re-election  was 
passed  by  the  Corporation  but  repealed  in  1736,  revived  in 
1818,  but  again  repealed  in  1823.     In  1822  an  election  of  the 


234  GALWAY  ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

sovereign  by  the  free  burgesses  alone  took  place,  the  sovereign 
having  refused  to  attend.  There  was  no  power  under  the  Charter 
to  appoint  a  Deputy  Sovereign,  but  in  1812  such  an  appointment 
was  made  '  agreeably  to  antient  usage  and  a  bye-law  of  the  cor- 
poration. The  Sovereign  was  the  Chief  officer  of  the  corporation, 
who  presided  at  all  its  meetings  and  was  Judge  of  the  Borough 
Court.  He  acted  as  clerk  of  the  markets  under  the  Charter  and 
exercised  a  discretionary  power  to  fine  persons  for  committing 
nuisances  or  violating  the  regulations  of  the  markets.  Although 
nominally  chief  magistrate  of  the  town  he  was  not  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace.  In  1828  he  was  appointed  a  county  magistrate  on  a  peti- 
tion of  the  burgesses,  but  was  superseded  on  a  representation 
being  made  that  he  acted  as  a  proctor  in  the  Consistorial  Court  of 
the  Archbishop  of  Tuam.  The  Sovereign  had  a  salary  of  £50  a 
year  from  the  revenues  of  the  corporation  and  in  the  eighteenth 
century  he  seems  to  have  received  the  entire  of  the  revenues 
subject  to  the  payment  of  the  other  officers  and  the  expenses  of 
the  entertainment  of  the  corporation.  In  1725  a  salary  of  £30 
was  allowed  and  in  1726  he  was  to  have  two-thirds  of  the  revenue 
or  about  £40;  in  1818  his  salary  was  to  be  a  fourth  of  the  tolls  and 
henceforth  a  fixed  salary  was  appointed.  Certain  fees  were  payable 
to  him  in  all  proceedings  of  the  Borough  Court  but  the  court  had 
been  of  late  discontinued.  He  also  had  fees  for  affixing  the  seal 
of  the  corporation  to  documents  to  be  used  abroad.  The  annual 
corporation  dinner  was  abolished  in  1819  and  since  that  date 
there  were  no  expenses  incidental  to  the  position. 

The  Free  Burgesses  were  elected  by  the  sovereign  and  free 
burgesses,  and  held  office  until  death,  removal,  or  resignation. 
Vacancies  could  be  supplied  within  seven  days  and  in  1701  a  bye- 
law  was  passed  that  no  election  should  take  place  but  at  a  court 
of  seven  burgesses  at  least.  This  was  altered  in  1713  to  five  and 
in  1716  to  six  and  the  sovereign,  and  in  1717  to  a  majority  of  those 
present,  and  on  the  nineteenth  day  after  a  vacancy.  There  were 
originally  13  free  burgesses  including  the  sovereign  and  the  num- 
ber increased  to  20  by  the  Charter  of  Jamas  II.  The  names  of  the 
burgesses  were  entered  in  the  books  of  the  corporation,  but  many 
afterwards  appear  in  1691  attending  merely  as  freemen.  A 
practice  arose  of  receiving  the  resignation  of  a  free  burgess  accom- 
panied by  a  recommendation  "  about  his  successor.  There  was 
no  property  qualification."  The  Charter  directed  that  he  be 
elected  "  out  of  the  better  and  more  honest  inhabitants  of  the 
borough."      The  residence  qualification  was  latterly  insisted  on 


THE    OLD   BOEOUGH    OF   TUAM.  235 

but  it  did  not  prevail  formerly.  Care  was  taken  to  ensure 
punctual  and  regular  attendance  and  several  instances  of  dis- 
franchisement for  non-attendance  occur.  On  the  26th  of  April 
1817,  a  meeting  was  held  for  the  purpose  "  of  electing  burgesses 
out  of  the  resident  inhabitants  of  the  town  in  room  of  the  burgessss 
who  are  non-resident."  On  that  day  one  of  the  burgesses  was 
disfranchised  for  swearing  in  two  persons  to  collect  the  tolls  and 
customs  in  opposition  to  the  sovereign  and  three  for  not  attending. 
Subsequent  meetings  were  held  for  a  similar  purpose.  In  1835 
the  burgesses  were :  Mayor  Wm.  Burke  (23rd  June  1815) ;  Charles. 
Blake  (17th  December  1816);  Paul  Mannion  (26th  April  1817); 
John  Francis  Brown  (same  date) ;  John  Martin  (23rd  Jan.  1822) ; 
Myles  Egan  (23rd  September  1822) ;  Thomas  Browne  (14th  Oct. 
1822) ;  Doctor  Madden  (7th  July  1823) ;  James  Henderson  (12th 
January  1824) ;  Eichard  Savage  (11th  September  1826) ;  Thomas 
Keary  (14th  February  1829);  Denis  Kirwan  (5th  August  1831); 
and  Patrick  S.  Keary  (7th  August  1832). 

At  the  time  of  the  Union  the  borough  was  under  the  patronage 
of  the  Hon.  Walter  Yelverton,  and  John  Lord  Clanmorris,  and  a 
sum  of  £1000  was  paid  to  the  former,  and  £14,000  to  the  trustees  of 
the  latter  for  loss  of  the  privilege  of  sending  a  member  to  Parlia- 
ment. The  corporation  then  became  independant,  and  in  1811 
the  entire  body  was  changed — on  the  30th  September  seven  bur- 
gesses having  resigned  their  places  were  filled.  In  1818  a 
resolution  was  passed  that  no  two  members  of  the  same  family 
be  elected,  but  in  1822  this  resolution  was  rescinded.  The  sove- 
reign and  burgesses  at  the  time  of  the  dissolution  were  all,  but 
one,Eoman  Catholics,  but  no  religious  or  political  differences  ever 
entered  into  the  matter  of  election.  The  burgesses  were  exempt 
from  the  tolls  and  customs — some  took  advantage  of  the  privilege 
others  did  not.  Before  the  Union  they  voted  for  the  two  members 
of  parliament  at  the  election.  The  sergeants-at-mace  were  elected 
by  the  sovereign  and  burgesses  and  held  office  during  good  beha- 
viour. They  acted  as  bailiffs  and  constables  having  a  salary  of 
five  pounds  a  year  and  a  suit  of  clothes,  and  they  were  permitted 
to  reside  in  the  town  house.  They  summoned  the  burgesse's  to  the 
meetings  and  were  bound  to  serve  and  execute  the  processes  of 
the  Borough  Court  —  their  scale  of  fees  being  5d.  for  service 
of  a  summons,  and  Is.  Id.  for  executing  attachment,  and  Is. 
Id.  for  executing  a  decree.  The  Town  Clerk  was  elected 
by  the  sovereign  and  burgesses  and  held  office  for  life.  He 
was  to  act  as  registrar  of  the  Borough   Court  and  of  the  cor- 


236  GALWAY    ARCH2EOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

poration  meetings  and  had  formerly  £3  a  year,  in  1743  with  fees 
on  the  proceedings  of  the  court.  The  election  of  a  Recorder  was 
by  the  sovereign  and  burgesses,  was  annual  and  among  the  bur- 
gesses— the  last  election  was  in  1811.  A  man  holding  that  office 
was  disfranchised  in  1817  for  swearing  in  a  toll  collector  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  sovereign  and  he  was  the  last  to  hold  that  office. 
His  salary  varied  from  £2  to  £4  and  in  1811  he  had  £5.  One  of 
the  burgesses  was  treasurer  and  the  last  appointment  was  in  1818 
but  he  seems  to  have  had  no  salary  or  emoluments.  Latterly  the 
sovereign  acted  as  treasurer.  Constables  and  scavengers  were 
appointed  by  the  Grand  Jury  and  small  sums  applotted  for  their 
salaries.  The  bellman  had  £3  a  year,  and  the  weighmaster  was 
sworn  in  under  the  4th  Anne,  c.  14  and  53,  and  in  1706  a  public 
crane  was  established.  In  1817  three  persons  were  sworn  in  as 
weighmasters.  Inspectors  of  the  markets  were  appointed  by  the 
Grand  Jury  and  originally  up  to  1745  a  clerk  of  markets.  Free- 
men were  admitted  under  the  Charter  who  should  be  of  the  com- 
monalty, and  the  old  books  contain  entries  of  admittance  and 
tines  for  quarterage  on  those  who  traded  in  the  borough  who  were 
not  free.  Freemen  were  exempt  from  tolls  and  had  no  other 
privileges.  None  of  the  officers  under  the  corporation  exercised 
exclusive  or  criminal  jurisdiction.  A  court  was  held  for  the 
borough  by  the  sovereign  or  his  deputy  at  which  a  grand  jury  was 
sworn  who  were  freemen.  They  prevented  nuisances  on  the  roads 
and  streets,  forestalling  persons  exercising  trades  not  being  free, 
and  issued  writs  for  the  recovery  of  stolen  goods,  appointed  scaven- 
gers, constables,  inspectors  of  markets,  overseers  of  roads  and 
bridges  and  watchmen,  and  passed  presentments  for  paying  salaries 
for  officers,  providing  arms  for  the  watchmen,  purchasing  weights 
and  measures,  repairing  roads  and  bridges,  providing  a  public 
pound,  and  regulating  trades,  and  they  tried  cases  for  assaults,  and 
tin  y  acted  as  a  jury  in  civil  actions.  The  jury  varied  from  12  to 
18  and  the  foreman  was  always  a  burgess,  and  they  were  all  pro- 
bably freemen  as  it  is  described  as  "a  court  of  freemen."  Subse- 
quently to  1758  the  jury  did  not  meet,  at  least  there  is  no  record 
of  any  such.  They  tried  cases  for  assaults  and  freemen  were 
sworn  in  before  them. 

The  Court  of  Record  was  created  by  the  Charter  empowering 
the  corporation  to  hold  such  before  the  sovereign  every  Wednes- 
day "  from  week  to  week  for  all  actions  of  debts,  covenants,  tres- 
pass, detinue,  contracts  and  personal  deiminds  whatsoever,  not 
exceeding  the  sum  of  five  marks  sterling,  which  shall  arise  or 
happen  within  the  said  borough  of  Tuam  or  its  liberties  thereof." 
This  court  was  held  down  to  about  1826.  The  proceeding  was  bj 
plaint,  summons  and  attachment  against  the  goods  of  the  defen- 
dant.     A  power  of  an  M  formerly  to  have  existed.     In 

actions  against  a  stranger  indebted  to  an  inhabitant  of  Tuam  the 
attachment  was  issued  without  previous  summons  on  an  affidavit 
of  debt,  and  that  the  debtor  was  about  to  leave  the  town.     In  all 


THE  OLD  BOROUGH  OF  TUAM.  237 

other  cases  attachment  did  not  issue  unless  the  party  defaulted  in 
appearance.  By  consent  cases  could  be  summarily  disposed  of  on 
the  summons,  but  otherwise  the  attachment  issue  and  the  return 
being  made  to  the  parties  appearing  they  proceeded  by  regular 
pleadings  to  an  issue  tried  before  a  jury.  The  sovereign  was 
Judge  and  taxed  the  costs.  Goods  taken  on  attachment  were 
released  on  bail,  but  if  not  bailed  they  remained  with  the  sergeant- 
at-mace  until  judgment  was  had  in  the  cause  when  they  were 
sold  for  payment  of  the  debt  and  costs.  Execution  issued  against 
the  goods.  Only  five  or  six  weeks  intervened  in  a  litigated  cause 
between  its  commencement  and  conclusion  and  the  costs  averaged 
about  £30.  There  appears  to  have  been  from  300  to  400  causes  in 
a  year.  A  few  summonses  appear  to  have  been  issued  in  1829  but 
there  is  no  record  of  any  such  after  1830.  The  sovereign  in  1829  who 
held  the  office  successively  for  six  years,  and  whose  father  held  it 
before  him  for  two  years,  gave  as  his  reason  for  discontinuing  the 
court  that  vexatious  actions  were  brought  against  him  by  an 
enterprising  and  unscrupulous  attorney  acting  for  pauper  clients. 
This  individual  was  the  son  of  a  burgess  and  was  disfranchised  in 
1817,  and  in  revenge  he  declared  he  would  make  it  hot  for  the 
corporation,  and  became  an  attorney  on  purpose  to  carry  out  his 
vendetta.  The  sovereign  was  cast  in  costs  and  he  looked  to  the 
corporation  to  indemnify  him.  Great  public  inconvenience  re- 
sulted from  the  discontinuance  and  numerous  applications  were 
made  to  continue  the  court,  but  Mr.  Savage  declined  to  be  made 
a  butt  for  the  adventurous  attorney's  attacks. 

There  was  no  Manor  Court  in  Tuam.  The  last  sovereign  was 
a  proctor  in  the  Consistorial  Court  of  the  Protestant  Archbishop, 
and  he  writes  that  the  Archbishop  had  a  patent  for  a  Manor  Court. 
In  1716  a  burgess  was  censured  for  replevying,  as  seneschal  of  the 
Archbishop,  a  distress  taken  by  the  deputy  sovereign,  and  the 
burgess  and  sovereign  resolved  "  to  proceed  according  to  law  in 
defence  of  their  Charter  and  the  liberties  thereby  granted,  against 
any  person  not  a  member  of  the  corporation  who  should,  as 
seneschal  of  any  person,  grant  or  execute  any  such  replevins 
within  the  corporation." 

The  Assistant  Barrister  of  the  County  of  Galway  sat  twice  a 
year  in  Tuam,  and  the  inhabitants  complained  of  having  to  go  to 
Galway.  The  area  was  20  stat.  miles  and  the  petty  sessions  court 
was  held  in  Tuam  by  County  Magistrates  of  whom  five  resided  in 
the  borough.  There  was  no  local  police  save  so  far  as  the  ser- 
geants-at-mace  acted  as  such  in  reference  to  the  markets.  A 
portion  of  the  county  constabulary  were  stationed  in  the  town, 
but  not  under  the  orders  of  the  sovereign.  The  town  was  not  up 
to  1829  lighted,  flagged  or  watched,  and  the  streets  were  repaired 
by  county  presentment.  We  notice  charges  for  paving  the  north 
street  (?)  in  1702.  There  was  no  borough  gaol  but  there  was  an 
old  guardhouse,  and  there  was  a  county  gaol. 

The  revenues  of  the  corporation  were  derived  solely  from  the 


238  QALWAY    ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

charges  collected  under  tolls  and  customs  at  fairs  and  markets. 
The  Charter  gave  the  corporation  a  right  to  hold  a  free  market 
on  every  Thursday,  and  :i  yearly  fair  on  the  Feast  of  St.  John  and 
the  day  following,  and  grants  them  the  tolls  and  customs  belonging 
thereto.  The  market  was  subsequently  changed  to  Saturday,  and 
this  led  often  to  trouble,  as  litigious  persons  refused  to  pay  the 
toll.  The  corporation  claimed  to  hold  fairs  on  10th  of  May,  4th 
of  July,  10th  of  October,  and  15th  December.  The  tolls  were  let 
annually  by  sovereign  and  burgesses,  by  public  cant  or  advertise- 
ment. The  sovereign  got  the  proceeds  on  condition  of  paying 
expenses.  In  1700  the  sovereign  gave  up  the  surplus  after  paying 
an  officer  to  build  a  market  house,  and  in  1713  a  sum  of  £200  was 
in  hands  and  so  expended.  In  1716  the  building  of  the  old  market 
house  was  completed  at  a  cost  of  £478  16s.  0£d.  In  1827  the 
customs  were  let  for  five  years  to  the  committee  of  the  new  Roman 
Catholic  Cathedral  as  a  contribution  to  the  building  fund.  The  tolls 
were  let  as  follows:— In  1703,  £25;  1715,  £41;  1717,  £45;  1718, 
for  seven  years,  £9  6s;  1725,  £49;  1730,  £76;  1741,  £80;  1746, 
(cranage  excepted)  £86;  1751,  (with  cranage)  £105;  1780,  £130; 
1785.  £140;  and  from  1785  to  1819  no  record  of  a  letting.  In 
1819,  £230;  1820,  £210;  1821,  £200;  1827,  lease  to  chapel  com- 
mittee, £250.     It  was  stated  they  were  worth  £400,  and  let  for  £300. 

From  1700  to  1725,  the  erection  of  the  market  house  was  the 
principal  expenditure.  In  1820  a  sum  of  £122  was  paid  for  putting 
up  a  town  clock,  and  a  sum  of  £308  for  repairing  the  building. 
The  sovereign  then  was  Charles  Blake,  and  in  1820  a  balance  of 
£325  was  due  him  by  the  corporation.  The  corporation  also 
erected  a  crane  and  purchased  weights  and  measures.  From  1725 
to  1819  the  revenue  was  devoted  to  the  payment  of  the  sovereign 
and  salaries  of  officers,  and  the  expenses  of  the  annual  entertain- 
ment given  on  Michaelmas  Day,  which  was  abolished  in  1819. 
In  1824  the  sovereign  was  Thomas  Savage,  and  the  Toll  Farmer 
Peter  Ryan. 

The  accounts  of  the  corporation  in  1819  are  interesting.  We 
find  William  Merrick  paid  £19  for  a  livery  for  the  sergeant-at- 
mace;  £7  paid  for  a  dung  cart;  10s.  to  Michael  Higgins  for 
repairing  the  bridge,  and  Laurence  Higgins  15s.  3d;  £7  was  paid 
for  paving  Chapel  lane;  £8  to  Simon  Hackett  for  stone  cutting, 
and  18s.  paid  for  repairing  Kitty,  the  cripple's  house ;  £1  2s.  9d. 
p:ii<l  to  Doctor  Kelly  fov  dressing  the  persons  whipt;  Laurence 
Higgins,  bellman,  got  £3.  Soma  of  the  old  names  as  debtors  are 
interesting:  Breheny  Smith,  John  Dillon,  Michael  Concannon 
(mason);  McLoughlin  (glazier);  John  Connolly,  Thomas  Kenny, 
Terence  Joyce,  Thomas  Hicks,  Mrs.  Dean  Burton,  John  Elwood, 
Pat  Neland,  Stephen  Boh  an,  Pat  Gany  (turner) ;  Mrs.  Carroll, 
Mrs.  Douay,  Patrick  Egan  (attorney).  In  1821  one  John  Burke 
was  sovereign,  and  he  claimed  a  debt  as  due  him  by  the  corpora- 
tion, and  his  attorney  retained  the  books  of  the  body  as  a  lien. 
An  interesting  case  arose  out  of  it — Burke  v.  Burke.     It  was  a 


THE    OLD   BOROUGH    OF   TUAM.  239 

prosecution  for  criminal  information  between  these  two  gentlemen, 
and  it  arose  out  of  the  detention  of  the  town  house  by  Mr.  Burke, 
and  his  refusal  to  attend  the  corporation  meetings.  There  was  a 
collateral  case  subsequently  of  Larkin  v.  Savage  against  the 
sovereign  by  the  caretaker  of  the  house  under  Mr.  Burke.  Both 
cases  were  unsuccessful  against  the  corporation.  There  was  a 
case  of  Cosgrave  v.  Savage  instituted  to  demand  a  sum  of  £62,  of 
which  £8  10s  was  for  paying  for  his  commission  of  the  peace 
(which  was  afterwards  superseded). 

In  1831  the  Town  of  Tuam  comprised  1,127  inhabited  houses; 
9  building  and  61  uninhabited.  It  comprised  97  families  chiefly 
employed  in  agriculture,  and  547  families  engaged  in  trade  and 
handicraft,  and  554  not  comprised  in  these  two  last.  There  were 
3,153  males,  and  3,730  females,  or  6,883.  Employed  in  retail  or 
handicraft  were  701  persons;  capitalists,  bankers, professional  and 
other  educated  men  150.  In  1821  the  persons  were  4,571  and 
showed  an  increase  of  2,313.  A  Government  Commission  consist- 
ing of  Maziere  Brady  and  John  E.  Corballis  visited  Tuam  in 
September  1833,  and  they  reported  concerning  the  condition  of 
the  town,  its  finances  and  its  corporation.  In  the  course  of  that 
interesting  report  we  read : — "  No  particular  individual  can  be 
pointed  out  as  exercising  paramount  influence  in  the  corporation 
since  the  change  of  its  members  in  1811,  and  the  proceedings  of 
the  sovereign  and  free  burgesses  are  of  a  more  popular  character 
than  those  of  any  other  corporate  body  we  have  visited.  The 
admission  of  the  commonalty  to  some  share  in  the  corporate 
proceedings  and  the  perfect  freedom  from  religious  distinction 
between  the  free  burgesses  and  the  great  majority  of  the  com- 
munity are  strongly  calculated  to  prevent  the  dissension  which 
too  commonly  prevails  in  other  places  between  the  corporations 
so  called  and  the  inhabitants.  But  without  evincing  that  marked 
hostility  to  be  found  elsewhere  the  inhabitants  of  Tuam  are  far 
from  being  satisfied  with  the  present  constitution  of  the  municipal 
body,  and  they  naturally  object  to  the  power  of  self  election  vested 
in  the  free  burgesses  which  in  practice  leads  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  commonalty  from  all  control  over  the  details  of  corporate 
business  and  the  application  of  the  corporate  revenues.  It  seems 
to  be  considered  that  the  number  of  free  burgesses  is  too  small, 
and  it  has  been  suggested  as  an  improvement  that  they  be  in- 
creased to  24.  We  found  no  objection  on  the  part  of  any  member 
of  the  corporation  to  its  being  constituted  on  more  popular 
principles." 

Appended  are  some  extracts  from  the  old  Corporation  Re- 
cords of  1823-7,  the  oldest  now  extant. 


(to  be  continued). 


[     240    ] 

Notes. 


Bibliography.— Mr.  E.  R.  McC.  Dix  writes:  '  I  have  acquired  a  little 
Galway  Chapbook,  printed  in  1801,  by  Geo.  Connolly,  describing  himself  as 
Bookseller  &  Army  Stationer.  It  is  "  The  Sugar-Plumb  or  Sweet  Amuse- 
ment for  Leisure  Hours,"  Ac,  Ac,  and  has  a  rude  woodcut  as  frontispiece. 
It  contains  short  Btories  for  children.  It  is  a  19mo.  of  110  pp.  This  carries 
back  Connolly's  printing  2  years  earlier  than  hitherto  known.'     (See  p.  178.) 

County  Roscommon  Archaeological  Society.— An  Archaeological 
Society  for  Co.  Roscommon  is,  we  are  glad  to  say,  in  process  of  formation, 
an  organizing  committee  having  been  appointed  with  Mrs.  Crofton  (Mote 
Park)  and  Mr.  George  A.  P.  Kelly  (Cloonglasnymore,  Strokestown)  as  Hon- 
orary Secretaries ;  and  the  number  of  those  who  have  already  signified  their 
intention  of  joining  the  Society  is  sufficient  for  a  satisfactory  start  to  be 
made.  All  who  are  anxious  for  the  spread  of  intelligent  interest  in  local 
history,  for  the  preservation  of  the  memorials  of  the  past,  and  for  the  public- 
ation of  all  manner  of  records  that  will  form  material  for  history,  must 
rejoice  at  the  rise  of  new  archaeological  societies.  And  as  the  members  of 
the  Galway  Archaeological  and  Historical  Society  are  particularly  concerned 
with  the  Province  of  Connaught,  they  will  be  particularly  interested  in  the 
formation  of  this  second  archaeological  society  in  this  Province.  We  hopo 
ere  long  to  be  able  to  record  the  progress  and  increasing  influence  of  the 
Roscommon  Society. 

Kerry  Archaeological  Association.— It  is  pleasant  also  to  record 
the  starting  of  another  new  society,  the  Kerry  Archaeological  Association. 
This  society  has  Lord  Kenmare,  H.M.L  ,  as  its  President,  and  Miss  Hussey 
(Aghadoe  House,  Killarney)  is  the  very  active  Honorary  Secretary.  A  some- 
what novel  plan  is  to  have  both  members  and  associates ;  the  members  to 
pay  £1  annually,  and  the  associates  10s.,  both  classes  of  subscribers  to 
receive  the  Journal  of  the  Society,  but  only  the  former  class  to  receive  any 
extra  publications  and  to  exercise  tho  rights  of  membership.  Fifty  havo 
already,  at  the  moment  of  writing,  signified  their  intention  of  being  full 
members.  This  looks  very  hopeful.  And  Kerry  is  a  fruitful  field  for 
archaeologists'  work. 

The  Association  for  the  Preservation  of  the  Memorials  of 
the  Dead  for  Ireland  if  anxious  to  secure  tho  co-operation  in  its  labours 
of  the  members  of  all  archaeological  societies  in  the  country.  Tho  President 
and  Editor  (Lord  Walter  Fitzgerald)  and  the  Honorary  Treasurer  (Mr.  E.  R. 
McC.  Dix)  are  both  members  of  our  own  Society,  and  are  both  well  known 
as  among  the  most  zealous  and  able  workers  in  Ireland  in  tho  cause  of 
archaeology  and  local  history.  The  importance  of  recording  in  print  any 
specially  interesting  obituary  inscriptions  is  obvious ;  but  complete  lists  of 
the  early  monuments  in  any  graveyard  are  also  of  value  for  genealogical  work 
and  because  so  many  are  becoming  effaced  through  age  and  the  effects  of 
weather.  This  Association  publishes  inscriptions  down  to  as  lato  a  date  as 
1860  in  some  cases. 


[    241    ] 

(Saltoa^  jlrcbajologiral  ana  historical  ^oriettr. 

List  of  Membees,  corrected  to  31st  December,  1906. 


President:  The  Most  Rev.  J.  Healy,  d.d.,  m.r.i.a. 

Vice-Presidents  :  Hon.  R.  E.  Dillon,  Ex-President ;  Richard  J.  Kelly  ; 

Lord  Killanin, 

Editor  :  W.  P.  Trench.  |      Hon.  Treasurer  :  T.  D.  Lawson. 

Hon.  Secretary  :  Miss  M.  Redington. 

Executive  Committee  :  The  Officers  of  the  Society,  and  T.  B.  Costello, 

A.  Eraut,  Monsignor  Pahey,  C.  Litton  Palkiner,  J.  A.  Glynn,  Colonel  Nolan, 

W.  S.  Waithman. 

[Life  Members  in  small  capitals,  (a)  prefixed  signifies  a  member  of  "Council" 
i.e.,  an  original  member  of  the  Society  (1900)  ;  \  signifies  subscription 
for  1905  and  1906  still  unpaid.} 

Alcorn,  J.  G.,  J. P. ;  Kilroe,  Drumgriffin. 
aAnderson,  His  Honour  Judge  William  H.  M.,  k.c,  Recorder  of  Gal  way  ;  22 
Upper  FitzWilliam  Street,  Dublin. 
Ardilaun,  Lady:  Ashford,  Cong. 

Berridge,  R. ;  Ballinahinch  Castle,  Co.  Galway. 
Bigger,  Francis  J.,  m.r.i.a.  ;  Ardrie,  Belfast. 
Blake,  Hon.  E.,  m.p.  ;  20  Kensington  Gate,  London,  W. 
Blake,  James  W.;  Revagh,  Galway. 
Blake,  Colonel  LI.,  d.l.  ;  Cloghballymore,  Kilcolgan. 
Blake,  Martin  J.  ;  13  Old  Square,  Lincoln's  Inn,  London. 
Blake,  Colonel  Maurice,  c.b.,  d.l.  ;  Tower  Hill,  Ballyglass. 
Blake-de-Burgh,  Charles  0.  ;  Windham  Club,  St.  James's  Square,  London. 
Boland,  P.  J.  ;  Glenard,  Galway. 
Boothman,  C.  T.  ;  14  Clarinda  Park,  Kingstown. 
aBurke,  Sir  Henry  G.,  Bart.,  d.l.  ;  Marble  Hill,  Loughrea. 
Burke,  Rev.  Thomas,  p.p.  ;  Kinvara. 
Burke,  William  Lambert ;  26  Leeson  Park,  Dublin. 
Byrne,  Rev.  W.,  s.J. ;  St.  Ignatius'  College,  Galway. 

Canton,  Very  Rev.  Canon,  p.p.  ;  Athenry. 

Carr,  Most  Rev.  J.,  d.d,  ;  Archbishop  of  Melbourne. 
fCarrigan,  Rev.  William,  CO.,  m.r.i.a.  ;  Durrow. 
f  Carter,  Joseph  S.  ;  Galway. 

aClonbrock,  Lord,  k.p.,  h.m.l.  ;  Clonbrock,  Ahascragh. 
<xClonbrock,  Lady,  Clonbrock,  Ahascragh. 

Cochrane,  Robert,  i.s.o.,  p.s.a.,  m.r.i.a.,  Hon.  Sec.  R. S.A.I. ;  17  Highfield 

Road,  Rathgar,  Dublin. 
fColohan,  Nicholas  W.,  m.d.  ;  The  Villa,  Galway. 


242  LI8T   OP   MEMBERS. 

non.  H.  J. ;  Grove  House,  Tuam. 
Concanon,  J.  B. ;  Annagh,  Ballyglunin. 
Conroy,  J.  C.  ;  Francis  Street,  Galway. 
Cooke,  John,  m.a.  ;  66  Morehampton  Road,  Dublin. 
Corcoran,  P. ;  Abbeygate  Street,  Galway. 
Costello,  T.  B.,  m.d.  ;  Tuam. 
Curran,  Rev.  Thomas,  p.p.  ;  Moycullen. 

D'Alton,  Rev.  E.  A.,  m.r.i.a.  ;  Athenry. 
aDaly,  Colonel  J.  A.,  d.l.,  Raford,  Loughrea. 
aDaly,  William,  d.l.  ;  Dunsandle,  Athenry. 

Davies,  M.  Blako  ;  Castleturvin,  Athenry. 

Davies,  Surg.-Lt.-Col.  J.  N.  ;  Clondarragh,  Foxrock,  Co.  Dublin. 

Davy,  P.  J.,  J.p.  ;  Killaghbeg,  Ballinasloe. 
aDillon,  Hon.  R.  E.,  d.l.,  (Vice-President) ;  Clonbrock,  Ahascragh. 

Dillon,  Thomas;  Galway. 

Dix,  E.  R.  McC.  ;  17  Kildare  Street,  Dublin. 

Donelan,  D.  O'Conor,  j.p.  ;  Sylan,  Tuam. 

Duffy,  M.  J.  ;  Mainguard  Street,  Galway, 

Edwards,  Rev.  Bro.,  o.s.f.  ;  Franciscan  Monastery,  Roundstone. 
aEraut,  Alexander,  m.a.  ;  Grammar  School,  Galway. 
fExon,  Charles,  m.a.  ;  Queen's  College,  Galway. 

aFahey,  Very  Rev.  Mpnsignor,  d.d.,  v.g.  ;  Gort. 
Falkiner,  C.  Litton,  m.a.,  m.r.i.a.  ;  Mount  Mapas,  Killiney. 
Faller,  S. ;  Williamsgate  Street,  Galway. 

Fitzgerald,  Lord  Waltku,  m.r.i.a.  ;  Kilkea  Castle,  Mageney. 
Fitzmaurice,  Rev.  E.  B.,  o.s.f.  ;  Drogheda. 
Fogerty,  G.  J.,  R.n.  ;  67  George  Street,  Limerick. 

( liinly,  Rev.  \V.,  p.p.  ;  c/o  W.  P.  Linehan,  809  Little  Collins-St.,  Melbourne. 

Gardiner,  J.  C,  r.m.  ;  Galway. 

Garetin,  J.  Ribton,  d.l.,  f.s.a.,  m.r.i.a.  ;  Braganstown,  Castlebellingham. 

Gaussen,  Mrs.  D.  ;  Thornhill,  Smithborough,  Co.  Monaghan. 

Geraghty,  Rev.  B.,  p.p.  ;  Kilbegnet. 
aGlynn,  J.  A. ;  Beech  House,  Tuam. 

Golding,  Patrick  S. ;  Ballinasloe. 

Gough,  Viscount ;  Lough  Cutra  Castle,  Gort. 

Grealy,  Dr.  Nicholas ;  Galway. 
aGrogory,  Lady  ;  Coole  Park,  Gort. 

Hallctt,  T.  G.  P.  ;  Weil  House,  Galway. 

Hallett.  Mrs. ;  Weir  House,  Galway. 

Hamilton,  Thomas  T.  ;  7  University  Road,  Galway. 

Hargrove,  Mrs.  ;  Shelley  Court,  Tite  Street,  London,  S.W. 
oHealy,  Most  Rev.  John,  d.d.,  m.r.i.a.,  Archbishop  of  Tuam  (President). 

H.nnelly,  Very  Rev.  Canon,  p.p.  ;  Cong. 

Hodgson,  C.  Mortimer  ;  Currarevagh,  Oughterard. 
aHunt,  Rev.  H.  De  Vere  ;  The  Rectory,  Ahascragh. 

Joyce,  Mrs.  F. ;  Isercleran,  Craughwell. 


LIST    OP    MEMBERS.  243 

Kelly,  E.  Festus  ;  Lyndhurst,  Hants. 
Kelly,  Rev.  James,  c.c.  ;  St.  Columba's,  Inishbofin. 
aKelly,  Richard  J.,  j.p.  (Vice-President);  10  Mountjoy  Square,  Dublin. 
Kelly,  T   Aliaga  ;  1  Westmoreland  Street,  Dublin. 
Kelly,  William  Edward,  d.l.  ;  St.  Helen's,  Westport. 
Kenny,  Thomas  M.  ;  Galway. 
Killanin,  Lord,  d.l.  (Vice-President)  ;  Spiddal. 
Knox,  H.  T.,  m.r.i. a.  ;  Westover  House,  Bitton,  Bristol. 

aLawson,  T.  Dillon  (Hon.  Treasurer)  ;  Bank  of  Ireland,  Galway. 
Longworth,  E.  Dames,  d.l.  ;  Glynwood,  Athlone. 
Lopdell,  Colonel  J.  R.,  j.p.  ;  Rockmore,  Athenry. 
Lynch,  Major  J.  Wilson,  d.l  ;  Belvoir,  Sixmilebridge. 
Lynch,  P.  J.  ;  Upper  Mallow  Street,,  Limerick. 

aMcCormack,  Most  Rev.  P.  J.,  d.d.  ;  Bishop  of  Galway. 

McDonogh,  Martin  ;  Flood  Street,  Galway. 

McDonogh,  T.  C.  ;  Flood  Street,  Galway. 

McDonnell,  James  ;  Waterslade,  Tuam. 
f  McDonnell,  John  C. ;  Dominick  Street,  Galway. 
faMcHugh,  Very  Rev.  M.  J.,  s.J.;  Crossboyne,  Castlerea. 

Macken,  Rev.  T.  F.  ;  St.  Jarlath's,  Tuam. 

Madden,  Right  Hon.  Mr.  Justice,  p.c.  ;  Nutley,  Booterstown,  Co.  Dublin. 

Martin,  Hon.  Mr.  Justice  ;  Ballinahinch,  British  Columbia. 

Martyn,  Edward  ;  Tullyra  Castle,  Ardrahan. 

Martyn,  Colonel  Oliver  ;  89  St.  Stephen's  Green,  Dublin. 

Miller,  Ormsby  B.,  d.l.  ;  Blindwell,  Tuam. 

Mills,  Dr.  J.  ;  District  Asylum,  Ballinasloe. 

Moffett,  Sir  Thomas,  ll.d.  ;  49  Mespil  Road,  Dublin. 

Moloney,  A.  ;  9  Charing  Cross  London. 

Monahan,  Miss  A. ;  Herga,  Harrow-on-the-Hill. 
aMorris,  Sir  George  ;  48  Lower  Leeson  Street,  Dublin. 
fMurphy,  H.  M.  A.  ;  3  Francis  Street,  Galway. 

Murphy,  Patrick ;  Tuam. 
aMurray,  J.  W.  Brady,  j.p.  ;  Northampton,  Kinvara. 

aNolan,  Colonel,  j.p.  :  Ballinderry,  Tuam 

O'Dea,  Right  Rev.  T.,  d.d.,  Bishop  of  Clonfert;  St.  Brendan's,  Loughrea. 

O'Farrell,  Charles ;  Dalyston,  Loughrea. 
fO 'Flanagan,  E.  P.  ;  Ballinrobe. 

O'Gorman,  Philip  ;  Printinghouse,  Galway. 
aOrmsby,  C.  C,  c.e.  ;  Galway. 

Oranmore  and  Browne,  Lord,  d.l.  ;  Castle  Macgarrett,  Claremorris. 

Potter,  R.  E.  ;  Furbough,  Galway. 
Power,  B.  O'Neill ;  Ryehill,  Athenry. 

Roe,  Rev.  Radcliffe  P.  ;  Athenry. 

Redington,  Miss  M.,  (Hon.  Secretary) ;  Kilcornan,  Oranmore. 

Roche,  Thomas  Redington  ;  15  Earlsfort  Terrace,  Dublin. 


244  LIST  OP   MEMBERS. 

Sandys,  W.  A.,  m.d.  ;  Palmyra  Crescent,  Galway. 
Senior,  A.,  ph.d.  ;  Queen's  College,  Galway. 
Simmons,  R.  W. ;  Dominick  Street,  Galway. 
Stacpoole,  The  Duchess  de  ;  Mount  Hazel,  Ballinasloe. 
Stopford,  E.  A.  ;  7  Trebovis  Road,  London,  S.W. 

Teeling,  Mrs.  Luke  ;  32  Upper  Mount  Street,  Dublin. 
Tighe,  M.  J. ;  Merville,  Galway. 
Tivy,  R.  B. ;  Provincial  Bank,  Galway. 
aTrench,  W.  FitzJohn,  m.a.,  m.r.i.a.  (Editor) ;  Ardmore,  Galway. 
Tulloch.  Mrs.  F.  Lushington  ;  Shanbolard,  Moyard,  Letterfrack. 

Upton,  Henry  A.  S„  m.b.i.a.,  f.r  s.a.i.  ;  Coolatore,  Moate. 

aWaithman,  W.  S.,  d.l.  ;  Merlin  Park,  Galway. 
Wardell,  J.  H.,  m.a.,  m.b.i.a.  ;  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 
Woollcombe,  R.  Lloyd,  ll.d.,  m.r.i.a.  ;  14  Waterloo  Road,  Dublin. 
Wright,  E.  Percival,  m.d.,  m.r.i.a.  ;  5  Trinity  College.  Dublin. 

Candidate  for  Election  at  Next  Meeting. 

Gwynn,  Stephen,  m.p.  ;  Raheny  Park,  Raheny,  Dublin. 

Libraries  which  Subscribe  to  the  Journal. 

British  Museum,  London. 
King's  Inn,  Dublin. 
National  Library,  Dublin. 
Queen's  College,  Galway. 
Trinity  College,  Dublin. 
Catholic  Temperance  Society,  Tuam. 
And  the  following  branches  of  the  City  of  Dublin  Public  Library  :  Capel 
Street,  Thomas  Street,  Charleville  Mall,  Lower  Kevin  Street. 


Tiotert  fflaedona/d, 

Established  1862.  Established  1862 

«3     REGISTERED    PLUMBER,     > 

%€eating  &  &anitary  Engineer 

AND    GENERAL   CONTRACTOR. 


To  be  added  to  List  of  Members. 
Reidy,  Rev.  T.,  c.c.  ;  Moore,  Ballinasloe. 


Electric  Bells  a  Speciality,      &&■ 
Accessories  always  kept  in  Stock. 

Acetyline  Gas  Instalations  Estimated  for,    and  all  in- 
formation relative  to  same  furnished  on  application. 

High  and  Low  Pressure  Hot 
Water  Heating  Apparatus    . 

For  Churches,  Public  Buildings,  Mansion  Houses,  and 
Buildings  of  every  Description. 


CITY  PLUMBING  AND  SANITAEY  WOEKS : 

SbominicA  &treet,  &aiu)ay> 

Registered  Telegraphic  Address:—1'  Plumbus,  Gal  way." 


244  LIST   OP   MEMBERS. 

Sandys,  W.  A.,  m.d.  ;  Palmyra  Croscont,  Galway. 
Senior,  A.,  ph.d.  ;  Queen's  College,  Galway. 
Simmons,  R.  W. ;  Dominick  Street,  Galway. 
Stacpoole,  The  Duchess  de  ;  Mount  Hazel,  Ballinasloe. 
Stopford,  E.  A.  ;  7  Trebovis  Road,  London,  S.W. 

Teeling,  Mrs.  Luke  ;  32  Upper  Mount  Street,  Dublin. 
Tighe,  M.  J.  ;  Merville,  Galway. 
Tivy,  R.  B. ;  Provincial  Bank,  Galway. 
aTrench,  W.  FitzJohn,  m.a.,  m.u.i.a.  (Editor) ;  Ardmore,  Galway. 
Tulloch.  Mrs.  F.  Lushington  ;  Shanbolard,  Moyard,  Letterfrack. 

Upton,  Henry  A.  S„  m.b.i.a.,  f.r.s.a.i.  ;  Coolatore,  Moate. 


National  Library,  Dublin. 
Queen's  College,  Galway. 
Trinity  College,  Dublin. 
Catholic  Temperance  Society,  Tuam. 
And  the  following  branches  of  the  City  of  Dublin  Public  Library  :   Capel 
Street,  Thomas  Street,  Charleville  Mall,  Lower  Kevin  Street. 


Tlofart  Tftacctonafd, 

Established  1862.  Established  1862^ 

<     REGISTERED    PLUMBER,     O 

%€eating  &  &anitary  Engineer 

AND    GENERAL   CONTRACTOR. 


ESTIMATES   FURNISHED 

For  Internal  Household  Plumbing,  including — Baths, 
W.C  's,  Wash  Basins,  Domestic  Hot  Water  Circulation, 
and  Kitchen  Kanges  fitted  up  in  every  manner  con- 
sistent with   the   most   recent   and  approved    Modern 

Principles. 

Electric  Bells  a  Speciality,      &»- 
Accessories  always  kept  in  Stock. 

Acetyline  Gas  Instalations  Estimated  for,    and  all  in- 
formation relative  to  same  furnished  on  application. 

High  and  Low  Pressure  Hot 
Water  Heating  Apparatus    . 

For  Churches,  Public  Buildings,  Mansion  Houses,  and 
Buildings  or  every  Description. 


CITY  PLUMBING  AND  SANITARY  WOEKS : 

SbominieA  &treet,  jgaiuOay, 

Registered  Telegraphic  Address: — "  Plumbus,  Galway." 


C0AL5.  COALS. 

IMPORTANT  TO  THE  PUBLIC. 


Messrs.  BEHAN 

Beg  to  inform  the  Public  generally 
that  they  have  been  appointed     - 

Sole  Agents  in  the  West  of  Ireland 

For  the  Sale  of  the  Celebrated 

WHITEHAVEN  COALS 

Which  they  will  be  prepared  to  dispose  of  at  their 

STORES  in  MIDDLE  STREET 

At  the  Lowest  Possible  Price. 


These  Coals  are  received  by  the  Agents  direct  from 
tlie  Colliery,  of  which  the  Whitehaven  Company  are 
Sole  Lessees,  and  therefore  are  in  a  position  to  dispose 
of    their   Coals  without  compelling  Purchasers  to  pay 

Middleman's  Profits. 


CliADDAGH 
RINGS. 


- 


OKIGINAL  MAKERS  OF 

GLADDAGH  BROOCHES,  BANGLES,  SCARF  PINS,  ETC. 

AS    SUPPLIED   BY   US  TO 

H.  M.  King  Edward  VII.  H.  E.  H.  The  Princess  of  Wales 

Her  late  Majesty  Queen  Victoria.       H.  E.  The  Countess  of  Cadogan 

H.  R.  H.  The  Prince  of  Wales.  H.  E.  The  Countess  of  Dudley. 

H.  E.  The  Countess  of  Aberdeen. 

And  many  other  persons  of  the  highest  distinction. 

'history  of  ring  free. 


^ 


T.  DILLON  &  S0NS,GfluWflY 

Established  by  J.  Dillon,  1750.     Registered  in  the  Goldsmiths     H  1  JlLiUjN  fc. 


Hall,  Dublin,  1784. 


MERCHANT  TAILOR  AND 
WAREHOUSEMAN, 


A.  MOON, 

EG-LINTON   BUILDINGS,    GAL  WAY. 


SPECIALITIES— Galway  Hand-Spun  Tweeds 
Galway  Hand-Spun  Nap  Flannels 

The  Celebrated  Claddagh  Cloaks 
Genuine  Old  Cottage-made  Bawneen  Flannel  in  Cream 
Tailoring  for  Gentlemen.     Dressmaking  for  Ladies 

Boots  and  Shoes 
Agent  for  the  SUNBEAM  CYCLES. 


Agent  for  "  K 


A.  MOON  holds  the  largest  stock  of  Irish-made  Goods  in 
the  Provinces,  which  he  strongly  recommends. 

Telegrams:  "  Moon,  Galway." 


gent's  size.  \s\l       Jim/  ladies  size 


THE  CLADDAGH  EKOOCH. 
Rkgd.  No.  i: 

MAKER  OF  THE  CLADDAGH  RINGS, 

BROOCHES,  HAT  PINS,  &c,   AND   CONNEMARA    MARBLE 
JEWELLERY   AND    ORNAMENTS. 


If  you  ever  want  to  send  a  token  to  a  friend  in  other  parts  bearing  a 

local  interest,  what  could  be  better  than  a  novelty  in  Claddagh 

Jewellery  or  Connemara  Marble. 


S.  FALLER,  WATCHMAKER,  JEWELLER  &  SILVERSMITH 

Williamsgate  St,  Galway,  and  Main  Street,  Ballinasloe- 

O'GORMAN  &  COMPANY, 

PRINTINGBOUSE,  GALWAY. 


BOOKSELLERS, 

WHOLESALE    &   RETAIL    STATIONERS, 

ACCOUNT  BOOK, 
ENVELOPE,  AND  PAPER  BAG  MAKERS. 


PLATES  ENGRAVED  FOR  VISITING  CARDS. 
NOTEPAPER  STAMPING  WITH  ADDRESS  IN  RELIEF. 

IN-MEMORIAM  CARDS, 

BALL   PROGRAMME    CARDS,  INVITATION  WEDDING 

CARDS,  TURNED  OUT  IN  THE  MOST 

UP-TO-DATE  MANNER. 

BOOK-BINDING  IN  ALL  ITS  BRANCHES. 


GREALY'S  MEDICAL  HALL 

GALWAY. 


Prescriptions  carefully  Compounded  with  Pure  Drugs. 


Large  Variety  of  Patent  Medicines  always  in  Stock- 


N.B. — When  communicating  with  Advertisers,  please 
mention  the  Journal  of  t\)t  (Salhrai)  JUrb&ologiad 
attft  Ijiatortral  %omt)i, 


Charges  tor  Advertisements.— Page  15s.  Half-page  8s.  Quarter-page  5s. 
Application  for  spaces  in  next  issue  to  be  addressed  to  O'Gorman  &  Company, 
Printinghouse,  Galway.