A Perfect Relation of THE Beginning and Continuation of the Irish-Rebellion, From May last, to this present 12th. of January, 1641.  
With the Place where, and Persons who, did Plot, Contrive, and put in Execution that Romish damnable design.  
As also their inhuman Cruelties which they have, and still execute, with devilish hatred, upon the Protestants.  
Written by a worthy Gentleman, and sent over by a Merchant now dwelling in DUBLIN.  
Whereunto is annexed the merchant's letter who sent the Copy of this Relation: With another letter wherein is truly related, The battle fought betwixt our English, and the Rebels, on the tenth of January, at a Town called Swords, eight Miles from DUBLIN. 〈…〉   

Sir,  
I Received your kind Letter from your friend, whose presence I have not yet had the happiness to enjoy; I shall show him what courtesy and respect I can. I have now herein made bold to trouble you with a Relation written by an honest Gentleman of these parts. I will pass my word the work is truly written, and not like those scurrilous things printed concerning this kingdom. God help us, we are in a miserable condition, there will be no safety here without the destruction of vile Popery. Our army consisting of about 3000. men, is again gone abroad this day to fight with the enemy, God give them good success. Yesterday they burned some Villages about seven miles off that harboured the Rogues, and brought in 3000. Sheep, and 80. Cowes, with other pillage: Our Ships being four snall ones, one great one, of a 190. Tuns, are gone yesterday well provided to relieve Droghedath, which I hope they have done, the wind being to their desire. This in exchange of your news, which I pray impart to our friends. Thus with my hearty good wishes to you, and your Wife, I take leave,  
Your very loving friend, P. G.   

A perfect Relation of the Rebellion in Ireland, from the beginning thereof, till this present January.  
SInce the Irish Army in May last was disbanded, (which was done with much reluctation of the multitude, being very unwilling to lay down their Arms,) and the Romish plot for civil wars (and bloody battle practised by the lurking Jesuits, and their adherents, the Romanists in general) between our gracious sovereign, and his Subjects of Scotland took none effect; and the opportunity and means of taking away root and branch of the Protestants, both English and Scotish in Ireland was avoided. It is clear and manifest, that this new way of Treason and Rebellion, was by the disloyal and perfidious Romanists, the Incendiaries of all Christendom, at some frequent Conventicles and meetings, principally at a Friary called Multifornam in the County of Westmeath, where many hundreds of them met and consulted for many days together this last Summer (provision being brought in unto them by the country) where they thus plotted, contrived, and put in execution as followeth, videlicet. That on the 23. day of October last, most of the King's Forts and Castles throughout the Realm, should be by select men set out and allotted to every particular Fort and Castle to be by them surprised; and the governors and Keepers thereof slain, or kept prisoners.  
Accordingly many Castles and Forts were then surprises; the Surprizers under colour of neighbourhood and friendship, inviting themselves to breakfast or dinners to the Governors and keepers thereof, where themselves, their Wives, Children, and Servants were robbed, spoiled, and stripped of all their moneys, plate, jewels, goods, corn, Cartell, householdstuff, and apparel, and some slain or hanged, and some kept prisoners, and barbarously handled.  
For surprisal of his highness' principal Castle and City of Dublin; where the residence of this Princely government is, was allotted and assigned the Lord Macguire Baron of Eneskelim, the two Macmoghans', and others. The Lord Macguire to that purpose repaired to Dublin some few days before; and the Macmoghans', and the rest, the two and twentieth of October, with intent to surprise the Castle on the morrow at the opening of the Gates, and letting down the drawbridge, and to act their intended tragical massacre of the Protestants, on the twenty fourth day of October being Sunday.  
To that purpose had they gathered together a multitude of desperate savage barbarous fellows out of their remote Countries into Dublin: of whom (upon the discovery of the conspiracy) the Lord Macguire, the Macmoghans', and many others were apprehended and took the Castle the same day; but not so early in the morning as they intended, and are yet there in durance. And many hundreds more were near approaching to the City of Dublin on the three and twentieth day of October; but upon the noise of the discovery, Retreated.  
And moreover about four hundred men having divers months lain on shipboard in the Port of Dublin in two of the best Ships furnished with Guns, frequenting that Port, hired under pretence of transporting those four hundred men, being levied and Shipped by his highness' Letters of Licence for Spain were upon the discovery neglected, and no further care taken for their transportation, or victualling. But the Friar, one Mallun, that had been the chief agent in victualling, and for the pretended transportation of those four hundred men, hid himself from further examination and inquiry; and the men were thereupon set on shore.  
What the secret intended intended Plot was, as well touching those four hundred men, as also touching those two armed Ships, the occurrences and consequence being compared, I leave to the judicious to discern; many delays being made against Articles of Charter-party, to hinder the Masters and Navigators of the said Ships from hoising sail when the wind served. Notwithstanding, it pleased that Almighty and omniscient God, that hath been always propitious, benign, and gracious to our gracious King, in reseving and delivering him; as also his gracious Father of famous memory, and famous Queen Elizabeth their predecessor, from many malicious, wicked, and bloody Romish designs; As the Queen from pistols, poisons, and poniards, and the Armado of Spain, in the year 1588. King James, and our gracious King Charles from the Gun-powder-Treason, and since, in bringing back our gracious sovereign Lord, and King, out of the jaws of Spain, and Rome; by defeating, and preventing the massacre of his majesty's royal Sister, and her royal issue in Holland; from the Spanish Armado, in the year 1639. overthrown by the Hollanders, without his loss or costs. From intestine and civil wars between him and his Subjects of Scotland, laboured by that arch-devil, Arch-juggler. So now by his secret and mighty power and providence (as the manner of discovery will make appear) to prevent the imminent ruin, and utter destruction and loss of the whole realm of Ireland, and his highness' people the Protestants, which must have followed; if the Castle or Dublin, whereby all his highness stores and provisions of all manner of Arms, Ammunition, and instruments for War▪ being than no small quantity had been surprised. Yet the rest of the Conspirators in most of the Counties throughout the the realm being confident of the good success of the Lord Macguire in surprising the Castle, and City of Dublin. (And well they might be confident thereof, for the good success of the Catholic cause was prayed for at their Masses;) went on with their traitorous and bloody resolutions; and the neighbouring Irish in most Counties, slew the neighbouring English; Debtors their Creditors Tenants their Landlords, some Lords of lands their Tenants, Mortgagers their Mortgagees, Servants their Masters, and severally possessed themselves of their several lands and goods, Money, plate, jewels, apparel, householdstuff, corn, and cattle, and thrust them, that they let live, out of doors naked. Many great men's servants being Irish, ran away from their Masters with their best Horses to the Rebels. The Rebels further prosecuting their traitterous and rebellious designs, surprised every day more and more of his highness' Forts, Castles, and Towns, partly by fraudulent and treacherous insinuation, partly by force, partly by promises of fair quarter to those his highness' Subjects, who had upon the noise of the Rebellion betaken themselves thereunto for safeguard of themselves and their goods, that upon rendition they should carry away bag and baggage. Behold, all ye that pass by, and read this relation, how these promises of quarter were performed!  
No sooner came his majesty's subjects out of those Holds, but they were all, by the rebels, stripped naked; some bloodily wounded, even to death, but left alive languishing; their bellies being ripped, and guts issuing, cast upon dunghills; some butchered and cut into gobbets; some men, some women hanged, yea many hanged, or otherwise put to death by them, when they returned from some skirmishes with less.  
No degree of Laity, or of, or belonging to the Clergy spared; but Ladies, Gentlewomen, women great with child, yea, children, very infants and sucklings, as well as men, all robbed, and stripped naked, and exposed to extremity of wind and weather, in a cold winter season▪ and forced to lie on the cold earth in the fields, in their travel towards Dublin; over whom, being driven together in Herds and Flocks, the savages insulted, and upbraided them, saying, Now are ye wild Irish as well as we, and ye may go to Dublin, if ye will; but ye will find little succour there, for we are sure the Castle and City are taken. Whither thousands of them repairing from far, being fore smitten with hunger and cold before they came thither; many of them, after several reliefs upon the high way, having been thrice stripped by the unmerciful savages (it is true) found but slender succour; for indeed it is not there to be had, howsoever some particular men have been very bountiful in their Alms and contribution.  
For the one half of the City and Suburbs are Papists, and will not, or dare not relieve a Protestant for fear of Rome's curse, which is denounced against them, if they do relieve. Of the other half two parts of three, are poor, and not able to give; and half a third part are departed with their estates into England for safety; insomuch as the distressed poor robbed people die there on heaps, as before they did in the fields upon their travel.  
It is now little more than two months since this Rebellion burst out, during within, and since which time the Traitors and Rebels have so bestirred themselves, that they have not left an Englishman subsisting in any part of the Realm, except in the Province of Conhaught; where they are beholding the goodness, loyalty, ●nd fidelity of the noble Earl of Glenricard, and the care and vigilancy of the Right Honourable the precedent of the same Province, for their being: And in some parts of the Provinces of Munster and Ulster; the first whereof is in part planted with English, being the portion of the noble Earl of Cork, and the last with Scots, being the portion of divers noble and generous Scots (who have behaved themselves bravely, and stoutly against the Rebels; as also some of the English Chiefetains have, who (I doubt not) shall reap the due merit of their courage and valour;) and in some other few fortified Towns, Castles, and Forts, able for a while to defend themselves from the rage and fury of the multitude, who have dared to stop up all the highways and passages from Dublin to remote parts, thereby to prevent all postage of Letters, and messages from the State to any Town, City, or County, governor, lieutenant, or Commander, to lay ambushes for his highness' Forces, Men, Arms, and Ammunition, and to surprise the Arms, and slay the men, to rob and spoil all the English within two miles of the City of Dublin, and to bring up their forces so near, and to skirmish with his highness' Forces, they having gotten at least 3000, or 4000 Arms of his Majesties by force, or fpraud, but most by treachery.  
They have dared above a whole month to besiege his majesty's town of Drogheda, both by Sea and Land, the same being but twenty miles remote from Dublin; insomuch as both Towns are already straightened for victuals: Drogheda having had for all that time no market at all, and Dublin a very slender and thin market; therein appearing now scarcely either pound of fresh butter, or cheese, Turkey, Goose, Hen, Capon, Chick, egg, or pig, or any manner of Sea-foul; and little Fish; all which were wont to be very plentiful, and at cheap rates. It is supposed that most of the fishermen are become Rebels. The prices of Corn, Beife, Mutton, veal, and pork are already doubled to that they were at the b●gining of the Rebellion. For i● very deed the Rebels have surprised, or do detain from market, or are possessed of all the Corn and Cattle almost in the whole Realm.  
A 〈…〉 months' space after the Treason and Rebellion broke out; it seemed to be none other, but such as was plotted, stirred, and enterprised only by some malcontented old Irish, against the English; whose Ancestors and themselves h〈…〉 ss fled their Ancestors lands, and Revenues, and the cause not Romish, and universal; but it had been possible to have been conceived, that if the Castle of Dublin had been surprised; the cause would have proved not only discontent for disinheritance, but the Catholic Romish cause, a kingdom, and a new Catholic King.  
As soon as those of the vicinity of Dublin, Lords, knights and Gentlemen of the Pale, the old English, had by their cautelous insinuations, and protestations of loyalty and fidelity to the King, and crown, soverally obtained from the Right Honourable, the Lords, Justices, several Arms and Ammunition out of his highness' Store house, in his Castle of Dublin, for their pretended private defence against the Rebels: and had afterwards declared themselves, by laying aside those several Arms and Ammunition together, for a public offence against our sovereign Lord the King, his crown and dignity, to be their confederates, than it apperred manifestly that the cause was not only private discontent of some particular men, but universal, Romish, and devilish, even for a Kingdom. For what did, or could the last Committee of Parliament crave of his highness for enlargement of their jurisdictions, immunities, and liberties, which was not liberally of his free Grace granted. Let the whole World behold, and see the free Grace, and bounty, of a royal, Virtuous, and pious King; and the disloyal ingratitude, and heathenish immanity, of a perfidious, and Rebellious people, who have so traitorously requited his kinglike clemency and benignity. For they have not only destroyed, and made desolate his kingdom in two months, which hath been forty years implanting since the last civil Wars; but they have also robbed him of his Rents, Revenues, and customs, and part of those Subsidies which themselves had helped to confirm by Act of Parliament, and robbed, spoiled, and murdered many of his Liege-people, which should, and would have cheerfully paid those Subsidies. For they have destroyed all merchandise and Trade throughout the Realm, whereby even many of themselves, and their impious faction, must of necessity sh●●er infinitely; millions of gold will not countervail the damage on all sides. One thing more in particular, touching those of the Pale near the City of Dublin, and the confines is worthy to be related, videlicet, that when some of them had obtained Arms, and Ammunition for 500 men, with pretence to resist the Rebels: besides those a forementioned for their private defence, they returned answer, that they could not levy so many men, who would fight against the Rebels: and therefore they would return the Arms, and Ammunition, and so did, but not to the Castle of Dublin, whence they received them, but to the Town Droghedath, which is now besieged, between which and Dublin, the some men now lie with an Arm., expecting doubtless, shortly to have all those Arms again.  
For the best of them, who appeared most in getting forth chose arms, have since refused to come in upon Proclamation, they have joined themselves with the Rebels, they have taken the King's Subjects prisoners, they have again r●leased them, and given them passes from the Irish Army, coloured with pretended authority in the King's Name, with their ●wn names, and a Romish Priests, or friars subscribed. Was not this a neat Romish trick? Let all these conveyances, and occurrences be laid together, and then let all the Princes, and Nations of Europe judge, and censure, whether Religion can warrant such fraud, and treachery, treason, and rebellion, robbery, spoil, rapine, bloody cruelty, and murders.  
The primitive persecutions were exquisite torments of divers kinds full of tyranny, and cruelty; but they were short, and made a speedy end of life; but this new found way of persecution by cold, and hunger, much more terrible, and exceedeth them all, because it is a long lingering, and languishing torment, and so much the more cruel, because exercised on women, yea women great with child, Infants, and Sucklings.  
These tyrants, and bloody minded men, certainly are not Kings, nor governors; by what authority then exercise they such cruelty upon their fellow Subjects? What can they say for themselves, if they should answer before their King? If they pretend religion, though there be a mulct of ninepences, each Sabbath upon every person of competent age absenting himself from Divine Service by a Statute Law enacted in the Realm, they cannot allege that it was put in execution, or that they had not freedom for their Romish superstitions, which to endeavour to convince them of by argument is but folly. For their pretended Catholic cause, which already appeareth to be the mother of treason, and rebellion, the sin of witchcraft, murder, and all other abominations, and will shortly appear, even to themselves to be the daughter of Antichrist, and Antichristianism, must by an inevitable div●ned cree, be convinced by fire, and sword. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give the glory, for thy loving mercy, and for thy truth's sake.  
For if the Lord himself had not been on our side, now may we, that survive since the day of discovery of their abominable treason, and rebellion, say, when they rose up against us; they had swallowed us up quick, they were so wrathfully displeased at us. Pr●ised be the Lord, which hath not given us over as a prey unto their teeth. The snare is broken, and we are delivered. It may be collected that King David, in these precedent words of his, prophesied of these later times, and the Romish persecution. For how were the snares broken, and we delivered, when there was but ten hours left unrun out from catching us in their snare? Merely by the providence of God, as the many formerly mentioned deliverances were. It appeareth manifestly, that the conspiracy had been long in batching, and contriving with true Romish secrecy. For the honestman Owen O-Connely, the discoverer being an Irish man, but a Protestant (as he hath declared to divers of his familiar friends) having observed by discourse among the Irish, that there was some enterprise in hand prayed for, at their Masses, in furtherance, and good success of the Catholic cause, Although he had dissembled his Religion, and frequented their Masses in places remote from his habitation, where he was not known, could never obtain a true discovery of the particular, until the very evening of the two and twentieth day of October, when Hugh Mac-Moghan, one of the conspirators, intending to express his love to Owen O Connely, and to rescue him out of the approaching danger, and to that end having invited him by Letters, and an express Messenger to ride with him a long journey to Dublin, upon earnest affairs, they with the rest being thither come; opening his mind to Owen, told him what the enterprise was, videlicet, the surprisal of the Castle of Dublin, and Massacre of the Protestants, and enjoined him secrecy, and fidelity.  
Owen could do no less for his own safeties sake, then give consent, and promise fidelity, and secrecy. But withal he dissuaded Hugh Mac-Moghan from the enterprise, but did not prevail. For Hugh Mac-Moghan answered, that it was too far gone, he was so deeply engaged, that he had vowed perseverance, or to that effect. If it be so, replied Owen, let us go on, I will do my best, or to that effect.  
Notwithstanding his verbal consent, the good man moved with the fear of God, love of his King and Country, and commiseration of his fellow Subjects, Christians, and Protestants, whom he well saw, and knew were sure to be lost, and ruined if the plot succeeded, wisely reserving to himself his compunction of heart, and loyal affection, kept company with the traitors, and reveled with them in Taverns, until he had drunk too much; but in the end watching his opportunity, slipped away, from them, into one of the Lords Justices houses, and discovered unto the Lord Justice the conspiracy; to which the Lord Justice gave little credence at first, because he perceived that Owen had d●●●k too much. But the vehemency, and importunity of Owen, moved him to embrace, and take the information to heart, and immediately it being then late in the night to go to council with his Peers, and to take course for prevention of that wicked, and damnable Treason, and for apprehension of the conspirators, who were eight or nine of them attached, within eight or nine hours after; a little before the prefixed hour of their intended mischief, and the Lord Macguire about the midst of the same day.  
For every particular of the manner of dise very, it is not material to set out; Owen O Conn●y best can, and hath already told his own tale.  
Herein is given only a brief touch of it, whereout may be gathered, that the finger of God was in it, in framing the heart of Hugh Mac Moghan towards Owen O Connely, and to discover that to him in the very point of time, which he had so busily, and industriously long sought alter. Therefore let glory be given to God the principal discoverer.  

Dated at Dublin the fourth of January. 1641.  
Worthy Sir,  
By the last weeks P●ste I writ unto you, certifying you of our lamentable condition, craving your favourable advice, and charitable help in our affairs; whereof I doubt not, it being God's cause and our dear Countries, for which we all suffer. I h●●● herein sent a Letter from a very good friend of mine, and kinsman, Master Dean Jones, of Kilmore, who hath miraculously escaped with life: Of which I humbly crave the careful delivery to our worthy K. Attorney.  
As for our affairs in general, or otherwise, here is no difference or amendment since my last; only, I thought meet to write unto you a short relation of our late skirmish. On monday night last, we sent out a Party of about 2000 foot, and 200 horse, to a Town called Swords, eight miles off; where they came about six of the clock next morning, and found the enemy, being a thousand men, entrenched in the Town, on whom they shot for the space of half an hour; and at last broke in upon the Trenches, but found strong opposition. But our Division or Party coming another may upon them, put them to flight; and pursuing them about half a mile, reterned, plundered the Town. Our new English soldiers spared neither man, woman, or child therein, they got store of good booty; among which, about 400 cows, a great part whereof should that morning have been killed for the rogue's breakfast, they expecting a supply: Our men also took four Colours, and flew in the town and pursuit 179 men, besides those the Enemy conveyed away during the fight, on horseback, and otherwise, whose number or quality is not yet known: The Town also was burnt, and great store of Corn unthrashed. But alas! our victory is nothing, if we consider the loss of a brave Spirit on our part, Sir Lorenzo Cary, brother to the Lord Falkland, who with three more were killed in the fight on our part. Until we have a good supply we are able to do little, which God send unto us speedily, and preserve us till then, and evermore.  
Laus Deo. In Dublin, Ian. 1641. Your humble and affectionate servant, P. G.    
FINIS.