A 
 
 COMPENDIUM. 
 
 OF 
 
 IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 BY 
 
 M. F. CUSACK, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 11 THE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF IRELAND," " THE LIFE OF 
 ST. PATRICK, APOSTLE OF IRELAND," " SKETCHES OF IRISH 
 HISTORY," ETC., ETC. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY PATRICK DONAHOE. 
 
 1871. 
 
 825 1 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 About a year since, I agreed with one of the most eminent 
 English Protestant publishers to write a Student's Manual of the 
 History of Ireland for the use of schools and colleges. The work 
 is now before the public, and extracts from some of the reviews 
 of the leading English and Irish papers will be found appended 
 to the present work, and will show that the volume has met 
 with an acceptance far beyond what I could have expected from 
 those differing from us in politics and religion. I have now 
 been asked by the well-known and respected publisher, whose 
 imprint is on the title-page of this volume, to write a work of a 
 similar kind for your grand old country so entirely associated i 
 with ours. 
 
 I have complied with his request, and have endeavored to pro- 
 duce a volume which, I hope, will find its way into every educa- 
 tional house on the continent of America. Irish Catholics who 
 do not thoroughly know their history are unworthy of the an- 
 cestry from which they have sprung. It is not enough to know 
 the battles fought and won, or fought and lost, in the cause of 
 Irish independence, they should also know the literary and so- " 
 cial state of ancient and modern Ireland. Of ancient Ireland, 
 especially, so famous for its devotion to learning, and its 
 learned men, — so famous for its schools of science and the- 
 ology. 
 
 No Irishman who knows the history of his country thoroughly 
 can ever be ashamed of it : if he is, he disgraces himself and not 
 his race — the race remains the same, but he has, unhappily, 
 degenerated. No doubt the shame of being ignorant of Irish 
 history rests mostly with those who teach the young. In Ire- 
 land, unfortunately, the national history is almost a forbidden 
 subject, but there is no excuse in America. To teach Irish his- 
 
 Ji. & 3 lJ <LJ % 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 tory, and to promote true Irish nationality, is, I would almost 
 say, a religious duty. 
 
 This may seem a strong expression ; but I know, unhappily, 
 too many instances in which being ashamed of being Irish, has 
 led to being ashamed of being Catholic. I do not doubt that 
 many American priests, who may honor me by reading these 
 pages, could corroborate my statements. 
 
 I regret to have known several Irish- American ladies who 
 told me they knew Irishmen who were ashamed of being of 
 Irish descent, but that they were, as might be expected, en- 
 tirely ignorant of Irish history. 
 
 I told these ladies they did well to be proud of their adopted 
 country : great are its hospitalities to the Irish race, in the char- 
 acter of its people, and even in its natural features ; but I told 
 them, also, that their ignorance of Irish history could alone 
 excuse their expressions of dislike to Ireland and everything 
 Irish. 
 
 They had been educated in an American convent, but I am 
 happy to say that I believe this convent to be a solitary excep- 
 tion—the nuns were not Irish, and therefore they could not be 
 expected to have much sympathy with Irish history. They are 
 therefore, excusable, and I know from frequent intercourse 
 with American convents and colleges, that the love of Ireland 
 burns as brightly in these holy fanes of learning and piety, as 
 the love of the religion to which Ireland has ever been true. 
 
 Still I think it right to urge strongly the necessity, the duty, 
 of instructing youth in the history of Ireland, and of incul- 
 cating respect for nationality, as well as for religion. I believe 
 a period is coming in which both nationality and religion will 
 be severely tested. 
 
 I would also press the study of Irish history, as a duty, on 
 every American, Protestant or Catholic. Historical ignorance 
 is inexcusable when a man has ordinary intellect, and ordinary 
 opportunities of education. Ignorance of the history of a great 
 people is most inexcusable. 
 
 You may, perhaps, question my assertion that the Irish are, 
 or ever have been, a great people, but I hope to prove it. 
 
 A people who have never been subdued, politically or relig- 
 iously, through the overwhelming force, persuasion, and moral 
 influence of a most powerful nation, which has done its utmost 
 to subdue them, must surely be called great; no candid person 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 V 
 
 can deny that the Irish nation have thus resisted, no matter 
 how averse their political or religious opinion may be to those 
 of the Irish Celt. It is only cowards or weak-minded men 
 who refuse to admire the valor or determination of those from 
 whom they differ. Numerically, also, I maintain that the Irish 
 are a great people, because they have extended themselves 
 with unparalleled rapidity over the continent of America ; and 
 even in Australia and India they form an important element in 
 the population. To be ignorant of the history of such a people 
 is an injustice to them, and an injustice to any educated man. 
 To learn their history from those who, from interested motives, 
 misrepresent it, only adds confusion to ignorance. 
 
 I offer, therefore, this work, the result of many years' labor 
 in the field of Irish literature, to the American public, in the 
 hope that it will be used as a class-book in colleges and schools, 
 as a book of reference in your study, and as a companion in 
 leisure hours. M. F. CUSACK. 
 
 Kenmare, Co. Kerry, Ireland, August 24, 1870. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD. — PRE- CHRISTIAN A GE. 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Traditionary Period 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Pagan Milesian Kings of Ireland 28 
 
 . CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Religion, Language, Laws, Architecture, Domestic Customs, 
 Food, Dress, Occupations, and Music of the Pagan Irish 44 
 
 SECOND, OR IRISH PENTARCHY PERIOD. 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Irish Pentarchy 57 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Mission of St. Patrick, and the Introduction of Christianity 
 into Ireland...., 63 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Milesian Christian Kings of the Pentarchy Period— Irish Saints 
 and Missionaries 73 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Religion, Laws, Architecture, Dress, and Social Customs of 
 the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Centuries 91 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 vii 
 
 THIRD, OR DANISH PERIOD. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 First Raid of the Danish Pirates, Etc 109 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Culmination of the Danish Power terminating with the Battle of 
 Clontarf 121 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Events Preceding the Norman Invasion 138 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Religion, Laws, Architecture, Dress, and Social Customs of the 
 Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Centuries K7 
 
 FOURTH, OR NORMAN PERIOD. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Invasion of Ireland "by the Normans 157 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 The First Century after the arrival of the Normans in Ireland. ... 178 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The Burkes and the Geraldines— Bruce Invades Ireland—The 
 Statute of Kilkenny and Its Effects , , 205 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Statute of Kilkenny— Visit of Richard II. to Ireland— Wars of 
 the Roses 225 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Religion, Laws, Architecture, Dress, and Social Customs of 
 the Norman Period 243 
 
viii 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 FIFTH PERIOD.— IRELAND UNDER THE TV- 
 DORS AND STUARTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Failure of the Attempt to Introduce the Reformation into Ireland. 255 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Revolts of the Irish Chieftains during the Reign of Queen Eliza- 
 
 beth 277 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 Viceroyalty of Essex, Etc 298 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The Confederation of Kilkenny— The Banishment to Connaught. 311 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Religion, Laws, Customs, Civilization, and Social State of Ire- 
 land in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries. 334 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 William of Orange in Ireland 346 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 Formation of a Catholic Association, Etc 378 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 The Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland 407 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 Ireland Since the Union » . 421 
 
FIRST PERIOD — PRE-CHRISTIAN AGE. 
 
 FIRST TABLE OF EVENTS. 
 
 FROM THE EARLIEST TRADITIONS TO A.D. 428. 
 
 PRINCIPAL EVENTS. 
 
 TRADITIONS OF EARLY COLONIZATION — LANDING OP PARTHOLAN 
 — THE FIVE INVASIONS OR TAKINGS OP IRELAND — THE 
 MILESIAN KINGS — QUEEN MACHA — QUEEN MEAV — THE 
 ORIGIN OF THE BOROMEAN TRIBUTE — DEATH OF KING 
 DATHI, A.D. 428. 
 
 d) 
 
COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 TRADITIONARY PERIOD. 
 
 B. C. 2520 TO B. C. 1015. 
 
 Synchronous Events: Astronomical Observations commenced at 
 Babylon— The Pelasgi people Greece — Hieroglyphics invented 
 by Altides — Keign of the Shepherd Kings in Egypt — Reign of 
 Ninus in Assyria, and Conquest of Babylon. 
 
 Irish History may be divided into six great Periods, 
 and such division has the advantage of facilitating the 
 remembrance of facts, and of giving clear ideas of 
 periods of history with their most remarkable events. 
 
 The First or Traditionary Period is full of matter of 
 the highest possible interest, not merely to the Irish 
 Celt, but to all who have the least interest in ancient 
 history, in archaeology, and in the traditions of the past. 
 For many centuries the early history of Ireland was 
 either ignored or treated with contempt by those who 
 wished to prove that the Irish were, and always had 
 been a barbarous people. While persuading them- 
 selves, and trying to persuade others, that the Irish 
 Celt stood low in the scale of civilization, they could 
 treat him as a barbarian or a slave. Contempt was 
 the natural consequence, and contempt was shown, in 
 every possible form, both to the people and to. the 
 religion to which they were ever faithful. 
 
 But the traditions of the race remained engraved on 
 the hearts of the people : long after the race of bards 
 had become extinct, long after the extinction of the 
 schools of history and philosophy in which the youth 
 of Pagan times were taught, the traditions remained ; 
 
 (3) 
 
4 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 they were scorned and questioned ; the credulity of 
 those who believed them was treated with the bitterest 
 contempt : but, for all that, our traditions were founded 
 on fact. Let it be remembered, that this is no mere 
 conjecture or assertion, but a statement which can be 
 proved. 
 
 At the time of the Danish invasion of Ireland, special 
 raids were made on every monument of learning. Mon- 
 asteries were destroyed, and the immense collection of 
 manuscripts of rare value which perished then, can be 
 justly estimated by the few priceless treasures which 
 still remain. If what the Danes destroyed were still 
 extant, there is not a nation on earth who could have 
 boasted of equally magnificent material for its ancient 
 history, but, happily, enough remains to prove this, and 
 even with the fragments of annals which are left, there 
 is enough evidence that the traditions of the people 
 were founded on fact, as indeed such traditions could 
 scarcely fail to be. 1 
 
 The ancient Irish names of places as preserved still 
 by the Irish speaking people, who are wholly ignorant 
 of written tradition, agree exactly with the names 
 given in these venerable records of the past. Perhaps 
 a stronger evidence of the truth of any tradition, either 
 oral or written, could not be obtained. 
 
 The sites where great battles took place, where 
 famous warriors were buried, where a great plague dec- 
 imated the population, are still shown, and the very 
 names of these sites actually commemorate the events. 
 Thus there is a small village near Dublin called Tal- 
 laght (Talla) : the name means a place where a number 
 of people died of plague, and were interred together, — 
 in fact, the "pit of the dead from plague. " Now the 
 Annals of the Four Masters inform us that nine thou 
 sand of Partholan's people died here in one week, and 
 were interred together. Surely no ancient people can 
 furnish correspondence between tradition and history 
 at all approaching to this. But the value and import- 
 ance of the Traditionary Period of Irish History is 
 
 1 A fac-simile page of two of our most ancient manuscripts will be 
 found in the Illustrated History of Ireland, by the author of this work, 
 at page 44. The work should be read after the Compendium in the 
 nigher classes at colleges and schools. 
 
THE PENTARCHY PERIOD. 
 
 5 
 
 by no means confined to historical facts. A volume 
 might be written on the remains of art which still 
 exist, to show the civilization and learning of the 
 ancient Irish. Such a volume would be of world-wide 
 interest, and, undoubtedly, would contribute eminently 
 to establish the claim of the early inhabitants of Ire- 
 land to a high degree of culture. 
 
 The poetry, the customs, and, above all, the laws of 
 the Traditionary Period of our History, are each sub- 
 jects of the highest interest, and as yet have never 
 been treated in detail, or with the ability and masterly 
 knowledge which should be brought to such a task. 
 The limits of the present volume will not permit an 
 expansion of these subjects, but a brief outline is given 
 of each. 
 
 The Second or Irish Pentarchy Period has also its 
 own special interest. It was the period of Ireland's 
 greatest glory. The Milesian Kings, who ruled before 
 the Danish invasion, were amongst her most famous 
 heroes ; and even the most sceptical or the most preju- 
 diced writers have not dared to question the authentic- 
 ity of the principal records of this age. As the most 
 famous hero therein, we have the brave and renowned 
 Nial of the Nine Hostages, whose eldest son succeeded 
 his uncle Dathi as Ard-Righ or chief monarch of Ire- 
 land, and whose reign is rendered still more memo- 
 rable by the advent of the great Apostle St. Patrick. 
 
 Under Dathi, expeditions were formed and carried 
 out to plunder in Gaul, and the Irish were as well 
 known by their military prowess in this age, as they 
 were by their religious zeal in the succeeding century. 
 
 The conversion of Ireland was indeed the great event 
 of the Pentarchy Period ; and Ireland was converted by 
 the most famous saint of ancient or modern times. 
 His name is venerated not only in Ireland, but in 
 almost every part of the Continent of Europe ; and with 
 the exodus of the race who owe so much to his zeal, 
 and who will be his eternal crown, his name has become 
 equally familiar in America and Australia. If there 
 were other continents for this nation to people, they 
 would take with them also the memory and the venera- 
 tion of their glorious Apostle. 
 
6 
 
 COMPENDIUM OP IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 The history of this period is also of special import- 
 ance, as it was during the time of the Irish Pentarchy 
 that the code known as the Brehon Laws was compiled. 
 The whole subject is one which would merit the careful 
 consideration of the reader. The Brehon Laws, or, at 
 least, a considerable portion of these laws have been 
 published, with some few notes and a translation, by order 
 of the English government. It is, perhaps, one of the 
 most significant signs which have been given within 
 the few last years, that Ireland is rising even in the 
 estimation of those who once despised her. 
 
 It would be impossible even for the most prejudiced 
 mind to study these laws without admiring the forensic 
 ability, the clear idea of justice, and its duties towards 
 the unprotected contained therein. "When it is remem- 
 bered that this code had been promulgated orally for 
 centuries before its embodiment in its present form, 
 and that this embodiment took place certainly in the 
 reign of Laeghaire, we can scarcely form too high an 
 idea of the national advancement. 
 
 It has been well observed, that ignorance is the 
 parent of prejudice ; and it may be remarked, that Irish- 
 men who are ashamed of their nationality, or mem- 
 bers of other nations who despise that nationality, are 
 equally influenced by ignorance, — not a matter to their 
 own credit certainly. But there- is another matter to 
 be considered : as eternal interests are very much 
 more important than temporal, this period affords a 
 special subject for national congratulation. It has not 
 been denied that the Irish people received the Gospel, 
 and were converted with a rapidity and completeness 
 unparalleled in the history of nations ; and that the 
 Continent of Europe at this very moment affords evi- 
 dence of their missionary zeal and their success. In 
 Germany, in France, in Italy, in Belgium, Irish priests 
 were the founders of some of the most famous mon- 
 asteries, and their memory is still revered and their 
 nationality remembered. The Irish priests of that age 
 did simply what the Irish priests of to-day are doing; 
 for, at the present day, there is scarcely a place where 
 the English tongue is spoken in which you cannot find 
 an Irish Ecclesiastic doing his Master's work, and ob- 
 
THE DANISH PERIOD, 
 
 1 
 
 taining in return only the mere necessaries of life, — so, 
 when the English tongue was as yet unformed, the 
 Irish priests were doing the same work, with the same 
 disinterestedness, in every part of Europe. 
 
 This age, too, is remarkable for the voyage of St. 
 Brendan, one of the most famous incidents of that or of 
 any age. It may be that he saw in spirit, when he vis- 
 ited the great and noble land across the wild Atlantic, 
 the vast multitude of Irish Celts who should one day 
 find their home and their prosperity in that glorious 
 country. 
 
 The Third or Danish Period is one of momentous 
 importance, and should be carefully studied by all who 
 would undertake to legislate for or govern the Irish 
 people. For every Irishman, also, it contains lessons 
 which, if only carefully understood, might save no little 
 misery in the future, and tend to the general good. 
 
 The prosperity of Ireland had reached its culminating 
 point when the Northern Yikings came rushing down 
 from their frozen seas in all the rude vigor of barbarian 
 power. Unquestionably the Irish ought to have been 
 able to meet them ; but the nation, though prosperous, 
 was divided ; and when did a divided people ever 
 obtain any advantage politically or socially ? or when 
 did they ever successfully resist foreign invasion ? No 
 amount of personal bravery could avail where combined 
 action was pre-eminently necessary. 
 
 The only successful attempts at freeing the country 
 from the invaders, were made when some kind of com- 
 bination was entered into between the petty kings. 
 But there was no firm basis of custom or right to sup- 
 port these combinations. They were broken, without 
 hesitation, at the caprice or convenience of individuals, 
 and, as a matter of course, the Danes became masters 
 of the country. Temporary successes only proved 
 what might have been won by mutual resistance ; but 
 even these temporary successes served only to excite 
 the enemy to new attempts on a larger scale. 
 
 This period of our history closes with the battle of 
 Clontarf, the most famous of our national events ; and 
 here again disunion in action and council had nearly 
 proved fatal to the Irish cause. 
 
8 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Malachy and Brian Boru had long been enemies. It 
 is quite impossible to attribute the blame to one side 
 more than to the other. The political divisions and 
 disunions of the early Irish were the normal state of 
 things ; no one could exactly be blamed for their contin- 
 uance, except in particular instances, as their origin lies 
 far back in the unknown ages of the past. While this 
 state of things existed, and existed as a national insti- 
 tution, there was always the temptation, and hence 
 always the danger that in a supreme moment a fatal 
 dissension might arise. It was so when all Ireland 
 was summoned for a last effort to expel the Danes. 
 Whoever was to blame, there was not that perfect union 
 of purpose between Malachy and Brian Boru, the two 
 great leaders of the people, which should have secured 
 something more than a mere victory, however glorious. 
 Malachy, though personally brave, was intellectually 
 incompetent ; and such persons are generally the most 
 unwilling to place themselves under the leadership of 
 another. The battle was fought and won, notwithstand- 
 ing the disadvantages of the situation ; but the results 
 were of little value in consequence of the situation. 
 This is a point of view which demands careful consider- 
 ation. Ireland was saved from the Danish power, but 
 it was not prepared to resist another and more system- 
 atically conducted invasion. 
 
 Personal valor won the battle of Clontarf, and drove 
 the Vikings from our seas forever ; but it needed more 
 than personal valor to preserve the independence of 
 the Island. Malachy succeeded Brian Boru, but his 
 inefficiency was more and more manifested. The cen- 
 tury which witnessed the Norman invasion was one 
 national scene of struggling for power, and, conse- 
 quently, of national divisions. 
 
 The Fourth or Norman Period of Irish history was 
 but a continuation of this state of affairs, with the ad- 
 ditional disadvantage of contention with an invading 
 force, which, though small, was efficient, and whose 
 commanders availed themselves most skilfully of the 
 national divisions. 
 
 If the Island had been united under one competent 
 head, the history of this period would bear a very 
 different character. But the Normans on landing in 
 
THE NORMAN PERIOD. 
 
 9 
 
 Ireland found no real authority except such as was 
 exercised independently by petty chieftains, who were 
 ready at any moment to prey upon each other rather 
 than upon the common foe. There was, in fact, a divi- 
 sion of interest rather than a division of nationality ; but 
 the two feelings should have been separated from each 
 other. 
 
 The circumstances which immediately preceded and 
 followed the Norman invasion are of marked import- 
 ance, and should be most carefully studied ; and it is 
 not a little remarkable, that an individual violation of 
 the laws of the Church was the immediate' and unques- 
 tionable cause of the loss of national prestige and 
 importance : while it is equally observable, that the 
 national adherence to the Catholic Faith is the real 
 reason why Ireland has never been amalgamated with 
 England, — why she still claims an independent position, 
 and is looked upon by Continental nations as a distinct 
 though oppressed nationality. 
 
 Dermot, the betrayer of his country, crowned his 
 career of infamy by an act of sacrilege at which even 
 the most dissolute men of the age stood aghast with 
 horror. Soon after his inauguration as king of Lein- 
 ster, he attacked the world-famous Monastery of Kil- 
 dare, and dragged the Abbess from her peaceful and 
 cloistered home. The people of the town, true to the 
 national devotion to the faith, and to those whose 
 lives were all given to Heaven, rallied round the spouse 
 of Christ, but in vain ; they could not resist the bar- 
 barous soldiers of a lawless prince, and he was left 
 to the judgment of God, having escaped the judg- 
 ment of men. Even should the historical student fail 
 to remark that a course of national crime is generally 
 inaugurated by a course of impiety, the man who 
 begins by being a traitor to his God and his faith, gen- 
 erally ends by being a traitor to his country and his 
 principles. 
 
 MacMurrough's next exploit was cruelty to some of 
 his own nobles ; but the crime which rilled the measure 
 of his iniquity was the abduction of Dervorgil, the wife 
 of Tiernan O'Rourke. The man who failed to respect a 
 religious, was not very likely to respect a wife. The 
 unfortunate woman was treated barbarously by her 
 
10 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 paramour; but we may hope she repented truly her 
 crime in the cloistered retreat which she eventually 
 sought. Dermot terminated his career by betraying 
 his country — an end worthy of his infamy. His object 
 now, as from the beginning, was purely selfish ; but he 
 obtained the reward of his treachery, and the traitor's 
 end. Deserted by all for his crimes, and, most of all, 
 deserted by those whose alliance he had treacherously 
 sought, he died a death of misery and utter degrada- 
 tion. 
 
 It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary to draw the atten- 
 tion of the reader to the Norman Period in greater 
 detail; but each portion of this period will repay 
 consideration. 
 
 The Fifth or Tudor and Stuart Period contains the 
 most important lessons, both political and religious. 
 When Henry VIII. ascended the English throne, and 
 attempted by mere force of arms to Protestantise Ire- 
 land, English power in that country still held on by a 
 most precarious tenure. Whether England should rule 
 Ireland, or leave Ireland to herself, was a question 
 which hung in the balance. A little touch, if a wise 
 one, either way might decide the matter. Many of 
 the Irish nobles had already intermarried with or in 
 some way bound themselves to the Norman nobles. 
 Hence there was some English influence at work even 
 amongst the national chieftains. But this influence 
 was not important, and one day, nay, one hour might 
 convert the most devoted ally of the Tudors into their 
 most implacable enemy. The long continuance of this 
 abnormal state of things was, perhaps, what told most 
 in favor of England. But an event was at hand which 
 changed dynasties, and has ever since maintained the 
 most powerful influence on the whole of Christendom. 
 
 Henry VIII. began his career of iniquity by sins 
 against the commands of the Church. It has been the 
 usual course of apostates in all ages, and yet, strangely 
 enough, this invariable feature in their apostasy has 
 scarcely been noticed as it deserves. The descent 
 down the path of ruin was swift and easy. The Eng- 
 lish nation followed their monarch with some rare and 
 honorable exceptions. The question of the period for 
 Ireland was, What Ireland would do ? We all know 
 
THE UNION PERIOD. 
 
 11 
 
 at least the outline of her grand and successful re- 
 sistance ; but all do not see how much her distinct 
 nationality depended upon the resistance. A Prot- 
 estant Ireland would have ceased to be a patriotic 
 Ireland. If the Irish of the sixteenth century had 
 accepted the so-called Reformation at the hand of a 
 king who, of all monarchs, most pre-eminently needed 
 reformation himself, she would have gradually but 
 surely united herself with, or would have been absorbed 
 into England, and would no longer have been known or 
 honored by continental nations as a people who main- 
 tained independence of spirit and character under the 
 chains of the most cruel oppression. 
 
 It has been said, indeed, that the hatred which the 
 Celt entertained for the Norman noble, — a hatred en- 
 gendered by injustice, — was a powerful motive in pre- 
 venting him from accepting the religion of his master. 
 We doubt this assertion, — more, we absolutely despise 
 it, for the facts of modern history have proved it to be 
 untrue. 
 
 In the famine year, every possible inducement was 
 held out to the nation to forsake the old faith, and 
 superadded to the inducement were the pangs of 
 starvation, of the dire and dreadful death from famine, 
 which few, indeed, even of the bravest, could meet 
 unmoved. A word in many cases would have served 
 the sufferer, but the sufferer preferred the old Faith, 
 and the martyr's reward. And in cases where the ter- 
 rible pressure of disease and the approach of d^ath 
 compelled all but the most heroic to yield, what was the 
 result ? A few weeks passed away, and the so-called 
 converts proved that they would have acted as their 
 forefathers had done, when tempted and hunted by the 
 English monarch. 
 
 Let us not fail, then, in studying this period of our 
 history, to see that fidelity to our faith, though it may 
 bring some temporal suffering, is very far from bringing 
 any national calamity. 
 
 The Last or Union Period of Irish history contains 
 also much which requires careful consideration. It 
 may, indeed, be said to be the history of our own times, 
 for the effects of the Union could not possibly be ascer- 
 tained for some years after it was carried out. The 
 
12 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 plan, certainly, has had a fair and impartial trial ; every- 
 thing that could be done by England for Irish pros- 
 perity, we must suppose, has been done : the result 
 certainly has not been promising. We must leave it to 
 a future historian to say what the effect shall be of the 
 Disestablishment of the Irish Church, and of the New 
 Land Bill. But, whatever may be the future of Ireland, 
 it is absolutely incumbent on all her sons, on all the 
 descendants of her children and on all who have the 
 least interest in one of the most remarkable nationalities 
 extant, to study her past history, that they may know 
 how best to forward her future interests. 
 
 The written materials for pre-Christian Irish history 
 may be divided into two classes, — the manuscripts still 
 in existence, many of which are compiled from much 
 older sources; and, secondly, the extracts in these 
 manuscripts from the lost books, some of which were 
 older and some coeval with those still preserved. As 
 a full list of these works is given in the Appendix, it 
 will only be necessary here to call the attention of the 
 student to a few of the more important. Some of these 
 manuscripts are at present in the library of Trinity 
 College, Dublin ; the remainder are in the library of 
 the Royal Irish Academy, and in continental libraries. 
 The principal historical documents now in existence 
 are : the " Annals of Tighernach " (Teernah), abbot of 
 the monasteries of Clonmacnois and Roscommon, who 
 died a. d. 1088 ; he compiled his annals with great 
 care and much erudition, from the manuscripts in his 
 monastery, which had been transmitted for several 
 previous centuries. The " Annals of Inis Fah-len," 
 compiled in the monastery of Insfallen, which was 
 founded in the sixth century ; these annals are contin- 
 ued down to the year 1215. The " Annals of Boyle," 
 compiled at the monastery of Boyle ; a number of 
 writers contributed to this compilation. The ' 'Annals 
 of Shanat MacManus," commonly called the ''Annals of 
 Ulster," compiled in the year 1498, and continued 
 down to the year 1604; these annals commence a. d. 
 43 i. The comparatively modern " Annals of the Pour 
 Masters " are published in seven quarto volumes, and 
 are compiled from ancient manuscripts, many of which 
 are not now in existence. The " Chronicum Scoto- 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 13 
 
 rum 99 is also comparatively modern ; it was compiled 
 by Duald MacFirbis a. d. 1650 ; but MacFirbis also 
 used manuscripts of great antiquity which cannot 
 now be discovered. 
 
 The most important of the lost books are, the " Sal- 
 tair of Tara," referred to by an Irish writer of the 
 tenth century ; this work is supposed to have been 
 compiled by Cormac MacArt, a. d. 266. The "Kin 
 Droma Snechta," quoted by Keating, the historian, as 
 being also called the " Book of the Invasions of Erin," 
 and supposed by the great Celtic scholar O'Curry to 
 have been compiled before a. d. 500. The great law 
 book, " Senchus Mor," still exists, and has been lately 
 printed with a translation; it will be fully described 
 under the Section referring to the laws of ancient Erin ; 
 this book was compiled in the fifth century. 
 
 A period comprising many centuries precedes the 
 five great invasions of Ireland, the accounts of which, 
 though purely traditionary, are, nevertheless, so gen- 
 erally and uniformly recorded in all the Bardic annals 
 of ancient Erin, as to render it necessary that they 
 should be mentioned here. According to the Bardic * ' 
 traditions, Erin was peopled before the flood by Kesar, 
 the granddaughter of Noah. But this statement is 
 generally qualified with the addition that it is an 
 improbable tale. The "Annals of the Four Masters," 
 and other most respectable authorities, record this 
 legend. The supposed site of Kesar's tomb is also 
 mentioned. The next traditional invasion is that of 
 Partholan ; he is said to have landed at Inver Scene, in 
 the Kenmare river, with a thousand followers ; and it 
 is averred that he came from Greece. The Four Mas- 
 ters enter his arrival a. m. 2520 ; they also say that he 
 was accompanied by his three sons and their wives. 
 The "Annals of Clonmacnoise " synchronize the ac- 
 count of Partholan with the twenty-first year of the 
 patriarch Abraham, and the twelfth year of* the reign 
 of Semiramis, Empress of Assyria. 
 
 According to the " Annals," Partholan's people 
 employed themselves actively in clearing plains, and 
 cutting down the tall pine forests with which Ireland 
 was then covered. Partholan died a. m. 2550, at a 
 place called the old plain of the flocks of Edar. His 
 
14 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 son Slainge died before hhn, and his cairn is still shown 
 on the summit of Slieve Drewe, where it forms a con- 
 spicuous object. It is, undoubtedly, a memorial to 
 some ancient hero, though the individual to whose 
 honor tradition has assigned it may never have existed. 
 The mountain also bore the traditional name of the old- 
 world chieftain for many centuries, until the erection 
 of a monastery by St. Domangart, when it obtained the 
 name of Slieve Donard, which it still bears. 
 
 It is said that Partholan's colony was destroyed by 
 plague a. m. 2820, after they had been three hundred 
 years in Ireland. According to the legendary accounts, 
 nine thousand persons died of this epidemic in one 
 week. The plague- destroyed race were buried in a 
 common grave at a place now called Tallaght, near 
 Dublin. The name Tallaght signifies a place where a 
 number of persons who had died of plague were buried 
 together. Some very ancient tumuli are still to be seen 
 there, which, with the name, has been taken in evidence 
 of the tradition, by some writers. 
 
 The Irish annalists agree in claiming a descent from 
 the Scythians for the Irish Celts, and say that they are 
 descended from Magog, the son of Japhet, the son of 
 Noah. Josephus says that Magog led out a colony 
 which from him were named Magoges, but by the 
 Greeks Scythians. Keating, the Irish historian of the 
 sixteenth century, writing from ancient records, indi- 
 cates the precise tribe of Scythians from which they 
 claim descent. He says it is from a tribe who had 
 established themselves in remote ages on the borders 
 of the Red Sea, at the town of Chiroth. Rabbi Simons, 
 writing b. c. 200, says that " certain Canaanites, near 
 the Red Sea, gave provisions to the Israelites ; and 
 because those Canaan kings gave Israel of their provi- 
 sions, God would not destroy their ships, but with an 
 east wind carried them down to the Red Sea." This 
 colony seftled in what was subsequently called Phoeni- 
 cia ; and here again confirmation is claimed for Celtic 
 traditions ab extra, for Herodotus says : " The Phoeni- 
 cians anciently dwelt, as thev allege, on the borders of 
 the Red Sea." 
 
 It is not known at what time this ancient nation 
 obtained the specific appellation of Phoenician. The 
 
PHOENICIAN TRADITIONS. 
 
 15 
 
 word is not found in Hebrew copies of the Scriptures, 
 but is used in the Maccabees, the original of which 
 is Greek, and in the New Testament. According to 
 the Greek myth, the name is referred to Phoenix, son 
 of Agenor and Telephassa, and brother of Europa and 
 Cadmus, to whom is assigned the invention of letters. 
 It may be noted that the Annals mention a king named 
 Phenius, who composed an alphabet, and the elements 
 of grammar. The Bardic historians describe the wan- 
 derings of the Phoenicians, whom they still designate 
 Scythians, much as they are described by other writ- 
 ers. The account of their route may differ in detail, 
 but the main incidents coincide. Nennius, an English 
 chronicler, who wrote in the seventh century, from the 
 oral testimony of Irish Celts, says, "If any one would 
 be anxious to learn how long Ireland was uninhabited 
 and deserted, he shall hear it as the most learned of 
 the Scots have related it to me. 1 When the children 
 of Israel came to the Red Sea, the Egyptians pursued 
 them and were drowned, as the Scripture records. In 
 the time of Moses there was a Scythian noble who had 
 been banished from his kingdom, and dwelt in Egypt 
 with a large family. He was there when the Egyp- 
 tians were drowned, but he did not join in the persecu- 
 tion of the Lord's people. Those who survived laid 
 plans to banish him, lest he should assume the govern- 
 ment, because their brethren were drowned in the 
 Red Sea; so he was expelled. He wandered through 
 Africa for forty-two years, and passed by the Lake of 
 Salinae to the altars of the Philistines, and between 
 Rusicada and the mountains Azure, and he came by the 
 river Mulon, and by sea to the Pillars of Hercules, and 
 through the Tuscan Sea, and he made for Spain, and 
 dwelt there many years, and he increased and multi- 
 plied, and his people were multiplied." 
 
 Herodotus gives an account of the circumnavigation 
 of Africa by the Phoenicians, which may have some 
 connection with this narrative. His only reason for 
 rejecting the tradition, which he relates at length, is 
 
 1 M Sic milii peritissimi Scotorum nunciaverunt." The Irish were 
 called Scots, although the appellative of Ierins or Ierne continued to 
 be given to the country down to the time of Claudius. By Roman 
 writers, Ireland was more usually termed Hibernia. Juvenal calls it 
 Juverna. 
 
IS 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 that he could not conceive how these navigators could 
 have seen the sun in a. position contrary to that in 
 which it is seen in Europe. The expression of his 
 doubt is a strong confirmation of the truth of his narra- 
 tive, which, however, is generally believed by modern 
 writers. 1 
 
 This navigation is said to have been performed about 
 seven centuries before the Christian era, and may by 
 some be taken as a proof not only that the maritime 
 power of the Phoenicians was established at an early 
 period, but that it was not impossible for them to have 
 extended their enterprises to Ireland. The accounts of 
 Celtic annalists may also be compared with the state- 
 ment of Solinus : "In the gulf of Boatica there is an 
 island, distant some hundred paces from the mainland, 
 which the Tyrians, who came from the Red Sea, called 
 Erythraea, and the Carthaginians, in their language, 
 denominate Gadir, i. e. the enclosure." 
 
 Spanish historians add their testimony, and claim the 
 Phoenicians as their principal colonizers. The " His- 
 pania Illustrata," a rare and valuable work, on which 
 no less than sixty writers were engaged, fixes the date 
 of the colonization of Spain by the Phoenicians at 764 
 a. c. De Bellegarde says : " The first of whom mention 
 is made in history is Hercules, the Phoenician, by some 
 called Melchart." It is alleged that he lived in the 
 time of Moses, and that he retired into Spain when 
 the Israelites entered the land of promise. This may 
 agree with old accounts, if faith can be placed in the 
 inscription of two columns, which were found in the 
 province of Tingitane, at the time of the historian Pro- 
 copius. A Portuguese historian, Emanuel de Faria y 
 Sousa, mentions the sailing of Gatelus from Egypt, 
 with his whole family, and names his two sons, Iberus 
 and Himerus, the first of whom, he says, "some will 
 have to have sailed into Ireland, and given the name 
 Hibernia to it." 
 
 There can be little doubt, that the Celtic race mi- 
 
 1 The circumnavigation of Africa by a Phoenician ship, in the 
 reign of Neco, about 610 b. c, is credited by Humboldt, Rennell, Hee- 
 ren, Grote, and Rawlinson, but entirely discredited by Sir Cornewall 
 Lewis. — Astronomy of the Ancients, ch. viii. § 8. Sir C. Lewis also 
 rejects the talcs or Phoenician voyages to Cornwall for tin, and to the 
 lialtic for amber. 
 
THE FIVE TAKINGS OF IRELAND 
 
 11 
 
 grated in successive waves from the high table-lands 
 of Asia, from whence the Aryan families came grad- 
 ually westward. The only subject for conjecture, is 
 the means by which each tribe reached its final destina- 
 tion in the little wooded island in the western sea. 
 
 The first traditional invasion, or, as the annalists call 
 it, " taking" of Ireland, was that of the (1) Neimhid- 
 hians ; the second that of the (2) Fomorians ; the third 
 that of the (3) Firbolgs ; the fourth that of the (4) Tua- 
 tha De Dananns ; the fifth that of the (5) Milesians. 
 
 The Neimhidhians landed in Ireland a. m. 2859, accord- 
 ing to the ''Annals of the Four Masters." They occu- 
 pied themselves in clearing plains and erecting forts, 
 but the precise years of these occurrences ''are not 
 found." Nemed died of plague, with three thousand 
 of his people. The Fomorians, according to the 
 "Annals of Clonmacnoise," li were a sept descended 
 from Cham, sonne of Noeh ; and lived by pyracie and 
 spoil of other nations, and were in those days very 
 troublesome to the whole world." They were cer- 
 tainly very " troublesome " to the Neimhidhians, with 
 whom they had a fierce battle, which resulted in the 
 flight or destruction of the former. 
 
 After this engagement, some of the Neimhidhians fled 
 into the interior of the island. Three bands were said 
 to have emigrated with their respective captains. One 
 party wandered into the north of Europe, and are 
 believed to have been the progenitors of the Tuatha De 
 Dananns ; others made their way to Greece, where they 
 were enslaved, and obtained the name of Firbolgs, or 
 bagmen. They are said to have been so called as be- 
 ing employed to erect the hanging gardens of Pindus 
 on Ffemus, each man being obliged to wear a leathern 
 bag, in which he carried up the soil necessary for the 
 work. The third section sought refuge in the north 
 of England, which is said to have obtained its name of 
 Britain from their leader, Briotan Maol. 
 
 According to O'Flaherty, the Fomorians were vikings 
 from Denmark, Norway, and Finland. Some of the 
 old annalists think that they were African vikings. 
 Their great stronghold was called Tir-Conainn, or Co- 
 nang's Tower. It was built on the present Torig 
 
18 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 island, on the north-west coast of Donegal. It was 
 here the great battle was fought in which they defeated 
 the Neimhidhians. The latter were at first victorious, 
 but the Fomorians obtained succor by sea, which ena- 
 bled them to conquer. Their name in Irish implies that 
 they were sea robbers ; and their memory is still pre- 
 served in the Celtic name of the Giant's Causeway, 
 which is Cloghan-na-Fomharaigh, or the stepping-stone 
 of the Fomorians. Neimhidh and his race remained in 
 Ireland for two hundred and sixteen years ; and, after 
 this, Ireland was a wilderness for two hundred years. 
 
 The Bardic Annals place the arrival of the Firbolgs 
 under the year 3266. They had multiplied rapidly in 
 Greece, where they were enslaved, and determined to 
 free themselves from their masters. The Firbolgs have 
 been called Belgse by some modern authorities, and 
 identified with the people of Belgic Gaul and the Bel- 
 gse and Dumnonii of North Britain. It is, at least, cer- 
 tain, that some monuments, still existing, are ascribed 
 to them by a uniform tradition, both written and oral. 
 The western isles of Arun contain the great stone for- 
 tresses of Dun Conor and Dun (Engus, built by their 
 chieftains. They were a dark -haired and dark-skinned 
 race, small in comparison with their conquerors, though 
 apparently all descendants of a common ancestor. 
 
 The Firbolg dynasty — if, indeed, it deserves so dig- 
 nified an appellation — is said to have lasted only for 
 half a century ; but, during this period, they divided Ire- 
 land into five provinces, governed by five brothers, the 
 sons of Dela MacLoich : — " Slane, the eldest brother, 
 had the province of Leynster for his part, which con- 
 taineth from Inver Colpe, that is to say, where the 
 river Boyne entereth into the sea, now called in Irish 
 Drogheda, to the meeting of the three waters, by 
 Waterford, where the three rivers, Suyre, Ffeoir, and 
 Barrow, do meet and together run into the sea. Gann, 
 the second brother's part, was South Munster, which 
 is a province extending from that place to Bealagh-Con- 
 glaissey. Sean gann, the third brother's part, was from 
 Beala^h-Conglaissey to Rossedahaileagh, now called 
 Limbriche, which is in the province of North Munster. 
 Geanaun, the fourth brother, had the province of Con- 
 
THE FIRBOLG DYNASTY. 
 
 19 
 
 nacht, containing from Limerick to Easroe. Rorye, the 
 fifth brother and youngest, from Easroe aforesaid to 
 Inver Colpe, which is in the province of' Ulster." 
 
 The fourth or (4) Tuatha De Danann "taking" of 
 Ireland is recorded under the year 3303, in the reign 
 of Eochaidh, son of Ere. According to the Annals, the 
 Tuatha De Denanns came from Greece, through Scan- 
 dinavia, following the course of the rivers which flow 
 into the Baltic. 
 
 The Firbolgian dynasty was terminated at the battle 
 of Magh Tuireadh. Eochaidh fled from the battle, and 
 was killed on the strand near Ballysadare, co. Sligo. 
 The cave where he was interred is still shown, and 
 there is a curious tradition that the tide can never 
 cover it. The Tuatha De Danann king, Nuada, lost 
 his hand in this battle, and obtained the name of Nuada 
 of the Silver Hand, his artificer, Credne Cert, having 
 made a silver hand for him with joints. The latter 
 acquisition would seem to have been the work of Mi- 
 och, the son of Diancecht, Nuada' s physician, as there 
 is a tradition that he " took off the hand and infused 
 feeling and motion into every joint and finger of it, as 
 if it were a natural hand." 1 
 
 It should be observed here, that the Brehon Laws 
 were probably then in force, for the <l blemish" of the 
 monarch appears to have deprived him of his dignity, 
 at least until the silver hand could make amends for 
 the defective limb. The Four Masters tell us briefly 
 that the Tuatha De Dananns gave the sovereignty to 
 Breas, son of Ealathan, " while the hand of Nuada 
 was under cure," and mention that Breas resigned the 
 kingdom to him in the seventh year after the cure of 
 his hand. 
 
 A detailed account of this affair may be found in one 
 of the ancient historic tales of the class called Catha 
 or Battles, which Professor O'Curry pronounces to be 
 " almost the earliest event upon the record of which we 
 may place sure reliance." It would appear that there 
 were two battles between the Firbolgs and Tuatha De 
 Dananns, and that, in the last of these, Nuada was slain. 
 According to this ancient tract, when the Firbolg king 
 
 1 The same story is told of Indra Savitar. — Max Muller, Lectures on 
 Language, 2nd series, viii. 
 
20 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 heard of the arrival of the invaders, he sent a warrior 
 named Sreng to reconnoitre their camp. The Tuatha De 
 Dananns were as skilled in war as in magic ; they had 
 sentinels carefully posted, and their videttes were as 
 much on the alert as a Wellington or a Napier could 
 desire. The champion Breas was sent forward to meet 
 the stranger. As they approached, each raised his 
 shield, and cautiously surveyed his opponent from 
 above the protecting segis. Breas was the first to 
 speak. The mother-tongue was as dear then as now, 
 and Sreng was charmed to hear himself addressed in 
 his own language, which, equally dear to the exiled 
 Nemedian chiefs, had been preserved by them in their 
 long wanderings through northern Europe. An exam- 
 ination of each other's armor next took place. Sreng 
 was armed with " two heavy, thick, pointless, but 
 sharply rounded spears ; " while Breas carried " two 
 beautifully shaped, thin, slender, long, sharp-pointed 
 spears." Perhaps, the one bore a spear of the same 
 class of heavy flint weapons, and the other the lighter 
 and more graceful sword, of which many specimens may 
 be seen in the collection of the Royal Irish Academy. 
 Breas then proposed that they should divide the island 
 between the two parties ; and, after exchanging spears 
 and promises of mutual friendship, each returned to his 
 own camp. 
 
 The Firbolg king, however, objected to this arrange- 
 ment ; and it was decided., in a council of war, to give 
 battle to the invaders. The Tuatha De Dananns were 
 prepared for this from the account which Breas gave of 
 the Firbolg warriors ; they therefore abandoned their 
 camp, and took up a strong position on Mount Bel- 
 gadan, at the west end of Magh Ma, a site near the 
 village of Cong, co. Mayo, 
 f* The Firbolgs marched from Tara to meet them ; but 
 Nuada, anxious for pacific arrangements, opened new 
 negotiations with King Eochaidh through the medium 
 of his bards. The battle which has been mentioned 
 before then followed. The warrior Breas, who ruled 
 during the disability of Nuada, was by no means popu- 
 lar. He was not hospitable, & sine qua non for king or 
 chief from the earliest ages of Celtic being ; he did 
 not love the bards, for the same race ever cherished 
 
BALOR OF THE EVIL EYE. 
 
 21 
 
 and honored learning, and he attempted to enslave the 
 nobles. Discontent came to a climax when the bard 
 Cairbre, son of the poetess Etan, visited the royal court, 
 and was sent to a dark chamber, without fire or bed, 
 and, for all royal fare, served with three small cakes of 
 bread. 
 
 The poet left the court next morning, but not until 
 he pronounced a bitter and withering satire on the 
 king — the first satire that had ever been pronounced 
 in Erin. It was enough. Strange effects are attrib- 
 uted to the satire of a poet in those olden times ; but 
 probably the} 7 could, in all cases, bear the simple and 
 obvious interpretation, that he on whom the satire was 
 pronounced was thereby disgraced eternally before his 
 people. For how slight a punishment would bodily suf- 
 fering or deformity be, in comparison to the mental 
 suffering of which a quick- souled people are eminently 
 capable ! 
 
 Breas was called on to resign. He did so with the 
 worst possible grace, as might be expected from such 
 a character. His father, Elatha, was a Pomorian sea- 
 king or pirate, and he repaired to his court. His 
 reception was not such as he had expected ; he there- 
 fore went to Balor of the Evil Eye, a Fomorian chief. 
 The two warriors collected a vast army and navy, and 
 formed a bridge of ships and boats from the Hebrides to 
 the north-west coast of Erin. Having landed their 
 forces, they marched to a plain in the barony of Tirer- 
 rill in Sligo, where they waited an attack or surrender 
 of the Tuatha De Danann army. But the magical 
 skill, or, more correctly, the superior abilities of this peo- 
 ple, proved them more than equal to the occasion. The 
 chronicler gives a quaint and most interesting account 
 of the Tuatha De Danann arrangements. Probably the 
 Crimean campaign, despite our nineteenth century 
 advancements in the art of war, was not prepared for 
 more carefully, or carried out more efficiently. 
 
 Nuada called what would now be termed a privy coun- 
 cil, and obtained the advice of the great Daghda ; of 
 Lug, the son of Cian, son of Diancecht, the famous phy- 
 sician ; and of Ogma Grian-Aineach (of the sun- like 
 face). But Daghda and Lug were evidently secretaries 
 of state for the home and war departments, and ar- 
 
22 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 ranged these intricate affairs with, perhaps, more honor 
 to their master, and more credit to the nation, than 
 many a modern and " civilized " statesman. They sum- 
 moned to their presence the heads of each department 
 necessary for carrying on the war. Each depart- 
 ment was, therefore, carefully pre-organized, in such 
 a manner as to make success almost certain, and to 
 obtain every possible succor and help form those en- 
 gaged in the combat, or those who had suffered from it. 
 The " smiths " were prepared to make and to mend the 
 swords, the surgeons to heal or staunch the wounds, 
 the bards and druids to praise or blame ; and each knew 
 his work, and what was expected from the department 
 which he headed before the battle, for the questions 
 put to each, and their replies, are on record. 
 
 A full account of this battle and of the preparations 
 for it, is given in a tract at present in the British Mu- 
 seum. It was copied by Gilla-Riabhach O'Clery, a. d. 
 1460, from an ancient manuscript. As an evidence of 
 the antiquity of the original, it may be remarked that 
 it is quoted by Cormac MacCullinan in his glossary. 
 Oormac was king of Munster in the year 885, and his 
 glossary was compiled to explain words which had 
 even then become obsolete. 
 
 The plain, on which this battle is said to have been 
 fought, retains the name of the Plain of the Towers (or 
 Pillars) of the Fomorians, and some very curious sepul- 
 chral monuments may still be seen on the ancient field. 
 
 In those days, as in the middle ages, ladies exercised 
 their skill in the healing art ; and we find honorable 
 mention made of the Lady Ochtriuil, who assisted the 
 chief physician (her father) and his sons in healing 
 the wounds of the Tuatha De Danann heroes. 
 
 Daghda received a wound in this engagement (the 
 battle of Moyture), from the effects of which he died, 
 although, from his long reign, his decease might seem 
 more likely to be a decay of nature. The erection of 
 the famous tomb on the banks of the Boyne, known as 
 the mound of New Grange, is attributed to him. 
 
 Daghda Mor, i. e. the Great Good Fire, is said to 
 have reigned for seventy years. His proper appella- 
 tion is Eochaidh Ollathar, but he is more frequently 
 mentioned by his sobriquet. His grandsons were 
 
DAGHDA AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 
 
 23 
 
 called MacColl, MacKeat, and MacGren^, because they 
 worshipped the hazel tree (Coll), the ploughshare 
 (Keact), and the sun (Grian). Their wives were 
 called Banba, Fola, and Eri ; and Ireland was called at 
 different times each of these names by the bardic his- 
 torians. 
 
 It is said that Daghda and his sons were buried at 
 Brugh-na-Boinne, a place on the river Boyne, near 
 Stacbrallen Bridge, where the mound called Sidh-na- 
 Brogha was raised over them as a monument. The 
 name is still familiar to the old inhabitants of Meath. 
 In many parts of Ireland, traditions of the Tuatha De 
 Dananns and their magical doings are related ; and the 
 reputation of their more than ordinary skill in science, 
 and such knowledge as the age could boast, has been 
 transmitted with unfailing accuracy. 
 
 The fair of Tailltean, now Teltown, in the county 
 Meath, was established by Hugh, a Tuatha De Danann 
 monarch, in remembrance of his foster-mother, Taillte, 
 the daughter of Maghmor, King of Spain, and wife of 
 Eochy, son of Ere, the last king of the Firbolgs. 
 
 It appears, from a very curious and ancient tract, 
 written in the shape of a dialogue between St. Patrick 
 and Caoilte MacRonain, that there were many places in 
 Ireland where the Tuatha De Dananns were then sup- 
 posed to live as sprites and fairies with corporeal and 
 material forms, but endued with immortality. From this 
 it may be inferred that the Tuatha De Dananns lin- 
 gered in the country for many centuries after their sub- 
 jugation by the Gaedhils, and that they lived in retired 
 situations, [[where they practised abstruse arts, from 
 which they obtained the reputation of being magicians. 
 
 The Tuatha De Dananns are also said to have brought " 
 the famous Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny, to Ireland. 
 It is said by some authorities, that this stone was car- 
 ried to Scotland when an Irish colony invaded North 
 Britain, and that it was eventually brought to England 
 by Edward I., in the year 1300, and deposited in West- 
 minster Abbey. It is supposed to be identical with 
 the large block of stone which may be seen there under 
 the coronation chair. Dr. Petrie, however, controverts 
 this statement, and believes it to be the present pillar 
 
24 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 stone over the Croppies' Grave in one of the raths of 
 Tara. 
 
 A Danann prince, called Oghma, is said to have 
 invented the occult form of writing called the Ogham 
 Craove, which, like the round towers, has proved so 
 fertile a source of doubt and discussion to antiquaries. 
 
 The fifth and last traditional taking of Ireland was 
 that of the (5) Milesians. This people, like each of 
 the preceding colonists, claims to be descended from 
 Japhet through Magog. But they arrived in Ireland 
 by a different route from that taken by their predeces- 
 sors, and are said to have journeyed by way of Scythia, 
 Egypt, and Spain. In the latter country they founded 
 the city of Brigantium, near the present Corunna, under 
 the leadership of Breogain. A famine obliged them to 
 seek a new home, and Ith, the son of Breogain, having 
 obtained, by conjecture or information, some idea of 
 the existence of the western isle, set out on a voyage 
 of discovery. On his arrival in Ireland he found it pos- 
 sible to converse with the inhabitants in the common 
 Celtic tongue. He professed to have landed merely 
 from stress of weather, but offered himself, and was 
 accepted, as umpire by Daghda's three grandsons, who 
 were quarreling among themselves. Having settled 
 the dispute, he made preparations for his return ; but 
 the Tuatha De Danann princes became alarmed, and fol- 
 lowed him to the shores of Lough Foyle, where he was 
 mortally wounded while bravely covering the retreat of 
 his followers to their ship. They contrived to escape, 
 and to carry his corpse to Spain, where his kinsmen, 
 the sons of Milidh, the grandson of Breogain, deter- 
 mined to avenge his death. 
 
 But the Annals give records of Milesian pedigree, 
 which, however improbable, may not be wholly unno- 
 ticed. According to these accounts, Fenias Farsaidh 
 came out of Scythia to Nimrod ; and, some time after 
 the building of the Tower of Babel, Niul, the son of 
 Fenias, travelled into Egypt, where Pharaoh gave him 
 his daughter Scota in marriage. Niul had a son named 
 Gaedhuil, and from him the Irish are called Gaedhil 
 (Gael) or Gaedelians ; from his mother, Scoti, or Scots, 
 and from his father Feni, or Fenians. The bards then 
 
THE MILESIANS AND THEIR PEDIGREE. 
 
 25 
 
 say that when Pharaoh pursued the Israelites, the chil- 
 dren of Niul refused to assist him, and subsequently 
 escaped by the Red Sea, in the deserted ships of the 
 pursuers. They eventually reached Scythia, and from 
 thence emigrated, after the lapse of many generations, 
 to Spain, where they built the city of Brigantium. An 
 eminent Irish antiquary, Sir W. Wylde, has identified 
 the town of Breogan with the Pharos of Corunna. 
 
 The Pour Masters thus relate the fifth, or Milesian, 
 taking of Ireland: — " The age of the world 3500. 
 The fleet of the sons of Milidh came to Ireland at the 
 end of this year, to take it from the Tuatha De a- 
 nanns, and they fought the battle of Sliabh Mis with 
 them on the third day after landing. In this battle 
 fell Scota, the daughter of Pharaoh, wife of Milidh ; 
 and the grave of Scota is (to be seen) between Sliabh 
 Mis and the sea. Therein also fell Fas, the wife of Un, 
 son of Uige, from whom is (named) Gleann Faisi. After 
 this the sons of Milidh fought a battle at Taillten 
 against the three kings of the Tuatha De Dananns, 
 MacCuill, MacCeacht, and MacGriene. The battle 
 lasted for a long time, until MacCeacht fell by Eirem- 
 hon, MacCuill by Eimheur, and MacGriene by Amher- 
 gin." 
 
 The grave of Scota is still shown in the valley of 
 Gleann- Scoithin, in the .county Kerry, and is marked on 
 the Ordnance map. Slieve Mish is the name of a moun- 
 tain in the same survey. 
 
 The Milesians, however, did not obtain a landing 
 without some difficulty. According to the Bardic 
 accounts, they landed at the mouth of the river Slainge, 
 or Slaney, in the present county of Wexford, unper- 
 ceived by the Tuatha De Dananns. From thence they 
 marched to Tara, the seat of government, and sum- 
 moned the three kings to surrender. A curious legend 
 is told of this summons and its results. The Tuatha 
 De Danann princes complained that they had been 
 taken by surprise, and proposed to the invaders to 
 re-embark, and to go out upon the sea, "the distance 
 of nine waves/ 7 stating that the country should be sur- 
 rendered to them if they could then effect a landing by 
 force. The Milesian chiefs assented"; but when the orig- 
 inal inhabitants found them fairly launched at sea, they 
 
26 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 raised a tempest by magical incantations, which en- 
 tirely dispersed the fleet. One part of it was driven 
 along the east coast of Erin, to the north, under the 
 command of Eremon, the youngest of the Milesian 
 brothers ; the remainder, under the command of Donn, 
 the elder brother, was driven to the south-west of the 
 island. 
 
 But the Milesians had druids also. As soon as they 
 suspected the agency which had caused the storm, 
 they sent a man to the topmast of the ship, to know 
 is if the wind was blowing at that height over the surface 
 of the sea." The druids then commenced practising 
 counter arts of magic, in which they soon succeeded, 
 but not until five of the eight brothers were lost. 
 Four, including Donn, were drowned in the wild Atlan- 
 tic, off the coast of Kerry. Colpa met his fate at the 
 mouth of the river Boyne, called from him Inver Colpa. 
 Eber Finn and Amergin, the survivors of the southern 
 party, landed in Kerry, and here the battle of Slieve 
 Mis was fought, which has been already mentioned. 
 
 The battle of Taillten followed ; and the Milesians, 
 having become masters of the country, the brothers, 
 Eber Finn and Eremon, divided it between them ; the 
 former taking all the southern part, from the Boyne 
 and the Shannon to Cape Clear, the latter taking all 
 the part lying to the north of these rivers. 
 
 This arrangement, however, was not of long contin- 
 uance. Each was desirous of unlimited sovereignty ; 
 and they met to decide their claims by an appeal to 
 arms at Geisill, a place near the present Tullamore, 
 in the King's County. Eber and his chief leaders fell in 
 this engagement, and Eremon assumed the sole govern- 
 ment of the island. 
 
 The scene of the battle is called " the causeway 
 between two plains," and is on the bank of the river 
 which runs through the town of Tullamore. The name 
 of the battle-field is still preserved in the name of the 
 townland of Ballintogher, in the parish and barony of 
 Geisill. In the sixth century, when the ancient topo- 
 graphical tract called the " Dinnseanchus " was com- 
 posed, the mounds and graves of the slain were still to 
 be seen. 
 
 Eremon took up his residence in Leinster, and, after 
 
THE CRUITHNEANS OR PlCTS. 
 
 27 
 
 a reign of fifteen years, died, and was buried in Argat 
 Boss. His rath still exists, and is now called Rath 
 Beagh. It is situated on the right bank of the river 
 Nore, near the present village of Ballyragget, county 
 Kilkenny. This is not narrated by the Four Masters, 
 but it is recorded in all the ancient copies of the " Book 
 of Invasions," and in the " Dinnseanchus." The Cruith- 
 neans or Picts are said to have fled from the oppression 
 of their king in Thrace, and to have passed into Gaul. 
 There they founded the city of Poictiers. From thence 
 they were again driven by an act of tyranny, and they 
 proceeded first to Britain, and then to Ireland. Crimh- 
 thann Sciath-bel, one of King Eremon ? s leaders, was at 
 Wexford when the new colony landed. He was occu- 
 pied in extirpating a tribe of Britons who had settled 
 in Fotharta, and were unpleasantly distinguished for 
 fighting with poisoned weapons. The Irish chieftain 
 asked the assistance of the new comers. A battle was 
 fought, and the Britons were defeated principally by the 
 skill of the Pictish Druid, who found an antidote for 
 the poison of their weapons. According to the quaint 
 account of Bede, the Celtic chiefs gave good advice to 
 their foreign allies in return for their good deeds, and 
 recommended them to settle in North Britain, adding 
 that they would come to their assistance should they 
 find any difficulty or opposition from the inhabitants. 
 The Picts took the advice, but soon found themselves 
 in want of helpmates. They applied again to their 
 neighbors, and were obligingly supplied with wives, on 
 the condition " that, when any difficulty should arise, 
 they should choose a king from the female royal race 
 rather than from the male." The Picts accepted the 
 terms and the ladies; "and the custom," says Bede, 
 " as is well known, is observed among the Picts to this 
 day." 
 
28 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE PAGAN MILESIAN KINGS OF IRELAND 
 
 B.C. 1015 TO A.D. 428. 
 
 Synchronous Events: Solomon, K ng of Israel— Revolt of the Ten 
 Tribes — Kingdom of Macedon founded — Foundation of Eome 
 — Sennacherib invades Judea —Termination of the Assyrian 
 Monarchy — Babylon taken by the Persians — Treaty between the 
 Romans and Carthaginians — Persia invaded by Alexander— 
 Punic wars — Death of Pompey — Murder of Caesar — P>irth of 
 Jesus Christ — Persecution of the Christians — Alaric besieges 
 Rome. , 
 
 A hundred and eighteen sovereigns are said to have 
 ruled in ancient Erin from the Milesian invasion to the 
 coming of St. Patrick. But authentic Irish history is 
 said to commence b. c. 116. Before that period, the 
 principal deeds recorded are the clearing of forests, 
 the enactment of laws, and the erection of forts. 
 
 Eremon divided Ireland during the year in which he 
 obtained the sole sovereignty of that country. He 
 gave the province of Ulster to Emhear, son of Ir ; 
 Munster to the five sons of Emhear Finn ; Connaught 
 to Un and Eadan ; and Leinster to Crimhthann, a 
 descendant of the Firbolgs. Eremon had married Tea, 
 the daughter of Lughaidh, son of Ith, in Spain ; and 
 she requested a-" choice hill " as her dower, where she 
 might be interred, and where every prince born of her 
 race might dwell. She selected the hill of Druim-Caein. 
 This was the name given by the Firbolg chieftains to 
 the eminence subsequently known as the hill of Team- 
 hair (Tara), mur in Irish, signifying a town or palace, 
 and being joined to Tea, gives its meaning, the house 
 or palace of Tea. Thus was founded the famous Tara, 
 the ruins of which remain to the present day. The 
 meaning of the name, however, has been variously ren- 
 dered, and the most generally received interpretation 
 is that Teamhair means a hill commanding a pleasant 
 prospect. Eremon died at Airget-Ros in the fifteenth 
 year of his reign. 
 
REIGN OF QUEEN MACHA. 
 
 29 
 
 About three hundred years before Christ, three 
 cousins, the sons of three brothers, claimed an equal 
 right to the throne, and it is at this period that the 
 authentic pre-Christian history of Ireland is supposed 
 to commence. These princes were named respectively 
 Hugh the Red, Dithorba, and Kimbay. A compact 
 was made, by which they agreed that each should 
 reign for seven years in turn, and their agreement was 
 confirmed by seven druids, seven poets, and seven 
 champions ; "the seven druids to crush them by their 
 incantations, the seven poets to lacerate them by 
 their satires, the seven young champions to slay and 
 burn them, should the proper man of them not receive 
 the sovereignty at the end of each seventh year." 
 This compact was observed till each had reigned twice, 
 for seven years, in turn. After Hugh the Red had 
 obtained his third septennial, he was drowned at Assa- 
 roe (Red Hugh's Cataract). Dithorba succeeded, and 
 then Kimbay ; but when it came to Hugh's turn again, 
 his daughter Macha claimed the throne. 
 
 The two princes refused to give the sovereign power 
 to a woman, and Macha had recourse to arms to enforce 
 her claim. She obtained the victory, and drove Dith- 
 orba and his sons into Connaught, where he was slain. 
 Having thus disposed of one of her opponents, she 
 married the other and allowed him to reign. When 
 the sovereignty had been settled, she marched into Con- 
 naught and captured Dithorba's sons, and brought them 
 back in fetters to Ulster, where she compelled them to 
 erect the fort of Emhain, that it might always be the 
 chief city of Ulster. A considerable portion of this 
 marvellous fortress is still in existence, and is now 
 called Navan Fort. It is situated near the present 
 town of Armagh. Macha survived her husband seven 
 years, and was slain by Rectaid ; but her death was 
 avenged by her foster-son, Ugaine Mor, whose long and 
 prosperous reign forms an important period in Irish 
 pagan records. Ugaine* Mor governed Ireland for 
 fifty years; and the annalists declare that his power 
 was acknowledged as far as the Mediterranean Sea. 
 Ugaine Mor (the Great) divided his kingdom between 
 his twenty-five children, of whom twenty-two were 
 sons ; and he exacted an oath from the people, " by the 
 
30 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 sun and moon, the sea, the dew, and the colors, and all 
 the elements visible and invisible," that the sover- 
 eignty of Erin should not be taken from his descend- 
 ants for ever. This mode of binding posterity seems to 
 have been a favorite one, for we find it again adopted 
 by Tuathal Techtmar, one of Ugain^'s descendants. 
 
 TJgain^ was succeeded by his son, Lore, who was 
 cruelly and treacherously killed by his brother, Cael. 
 Indeed, few monarchs lived out their time in peace 
 during this and the succeeding centuries. The assas- 
 sination of Laeghaire was another manifestation of the 
 old-world story of envy. The treacherous Cael feigned 
 sickness, which he knew would obtain a visit from his 
 brother. When the monarch stooped to embrace him, 
 he plunged a dagger into his heart. His next act was 
 to kill his nephew, Ailill Aine ; and his ill-treatment of 
 Aine's son, Maen, was the consummation of his cruelty. 
 The fratricide was at last slain by this very youth, who 
 had now obtained the appellation of " Lowry of the 
 Ships." 
 
 The " History of the Exile " is still preserved in the 
 Leabhar Buidhe Lecain, now in the Library of Trinity 
 College, Dublin. It is a highly romantic story, but evi- 
 dently founded on fact, and full of interest, as descrip- 
 tive of public and private life about three centuries 
 before Christ. It tells how Maen, though supposed to 
 be deaf and dumb, was, nevertheless, given in charge 
 of two officers of. the court to be educated ; that he 
 recovered, or rather obtained speech suddenly, in a 
 quarrel with another youth ; and that he was as sym- 
 metrical of form and noble of bearing as all heroes of 
 romance are bound to be. His uncle expelled him 
 from the kingdom, and he took refuge at the court of 
 King Scoriath. King Scoriath had a daughter, who 
 was beautiful, and of whom Maen became enamored. 
 The Lady Moriath's beauty had bewildered more heads 
 than that of the knight-errant ; but the Lady Moriath's 
 father and mother were determined their daughter 
 should not marry. 
 
 The harper Craftine came to the rescue, and, at last, 
 by his all-entrancing skill, so ravished the whole party 
 of knights and nobles, that the lovers were able to 
 enjoy a tete-a-tete, and pledged mutual vows. The 
 
REIGN OF CONOR MACNESSA. 
 
 31 
 
 parents yielded when they found it was useless to 
 resist ; and, no doubt, the poet Crafting, who nearly 
 lost his head in the adventure, was the most welcome 
 of all welcome guests at the nuptial feast. Indeed, he 
 appears to have been retained as comptroller of the 
 house, and confidential adviser long after ; for when 
 Maen was obliged to fly the country, he confided his 
 wife to the care of Craftine. On his return from France 1 
 he obtained possession of the kingdom, to which he 
 was the rightful heir, and reigned over the men of 
 Erin for eighteen years. 
 
 Another of the Historic Tales gives an account of the 
 destruction of the court at Da Derga, which the " An- 
 nals of the Four Masters" relate thus: " Conaire, the 
 son of Ederscel, after having been seventy years in the 
 sovereignty of Erin, was slain at Bringhean Da Dhear- 
 ga by the insurgents." Another prince Evehy Felia, 
 was noted for sighing. He rescinded the division of 
 Ireland into twenty -five portions, which had been made 
 by Ugaine Nor for the benefit of his numerous offspring, 
 and divided the island into five provinces, over each of 
 which he appointed a provincial king, under his obedi- 
 ence. Fergus, son of Leide, he made king of Ulster ; 
 Dearga, son of Lur, and his relative Tighernach, were 
 made kings of the two Munsters ; Rossa, a son of Fer- 
 gus, was made king of Leinster ; Oili oil, who was mar- 
 ried to a daughter of Eochy, the famous Meav, was 
 made king of Connaught. This division of Ireland, 
 alike fatal to its prosperity and independence, contin- 
 ued for many centuries. 
 
 Another of the Bardic poems, known as " Historic 
 Tales, " gives an account of the reign of King Conor 
 MacNessa. His succession to the throne, we are told, 
 was rather a fortuity than the result of hereditary claim. 
 Fergus MacNessa was rightfully king at the time ; but 
 Conor's father having died while he was yet an infant, 
 Fergus, then the reigning monarch, proposed marriage 
 to his mother when the youth was about fifteen, and 
 only obtained her consent, on the condition that he 
 should hand over the sovereignty of Ulster to her son 
 
 1 It is said that foreigners who came with him from Gaul were 
 armed with broad-headed lances (called in Irish laighne) } whence the 
 province of Leinster has derived its name. 
 
32 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 for a year. The monarch complied, and Conor, young 
 as he was, governed with such wisdom and discretion, 
 that when the assigned period had arrived, the Ulster 
 men positively refused to permit Fergus to resume his 
 rightful dignity. After much contention, the matter 
 was settled definitely in favor of the young monarch, 
 and Fergus satisfied himself with still retaining the 
 wife for whose sake he had willingly made such sacri- 
 fices. Conor continued to give ample proofs of the 
 wisdom of his people's decision. Under his government 
 the noble Knights of the Royal Branch sprang up in 
 Ulster, and made themselves famous both in field and 
 court. 
 
 It was usual in those barbarous times, whenever a 
 distinguished enemy was killed in battle, to cleave 
 open his head, and to make a ball of the brains by 
 mixing them with lime. One of these balls becomes 
 the subject of another legend, which, like most of the 
 events assigned to these early ages, can make no claim 
 to the character of history. It passed, it is said, into 
 the hands of a Connaught champion, who threw it at 
 Conor, while he was displaying himself, according to 
 the custom of the times, to the ladies of an opposing 
 army, who had followed their lords to the scene of 
 action. The ball lodged in the king's skull, and his 
 physicians declared that an attempt to extract it would 
 prove fatal. Conor was carried home ; he soon recov- 
 ered, but he was strictly forbidden to use any violent 
 exercise, and required to avoid all excitement or anger. 
 The king enjoyed his usual health by observing those 
 directions, until the very day of the Crucifixion. But 
 the fearful phenomena which then occurred attracted 
 his attention, and he inquired if Bacrach, his druid, 
 could divine the cause. The druid consulted his ora- 
 cles, and informed the king that Jesus Christ, the Son 
 of the living God, was, even at that moment, suffering 
 death at the hands of the Jews. " What crime has he 
 committed ? said Conor. " None/' replied the druid. 
 " Then are they slaying him innocently?" said Conor. 
 " They are," replied the druid. It was too great a 
 sorrow for the noble prince ; he could not bear that the 
 Son of God should die unmourned ; and rushing wildly 
 from where he sat to a neighboring forest, he began to 
 
THE CATTLE OF MEAV. 
 
 33 
 
 hew the young trees down, exclaiming: ''Thus would 
 I destroy those who were around my King at putting 
 Him to death." The excitement proved fatal ; and the 
 brave and good King Conor MacNessa died avenging, 
 in his own wild pagan fashion, the death of his God. 
 
 Meav's exploits are recorded in the Historic Tale of 
 " Tain bo ChuailgneV' which is to Celtic history what 
 the myth of the Argonautic Expedition, or of the Seven 
 against Thebes, is to Grecian. Meav was married first 
 to Conor; but the marriage was not a happy one, and 
 was dissolved, in modern parlance, on the ground 
 of incompatibility. In the meanwhile, Meav's three 
 brothers had rebelled against their father ; and though 
 his arms were victorious, the victory did not secure 
 peace. The men of Connaught revolted against him, 
 and to retain their allegiance he made his daughter 
 Queen of Connaught, and gave her in marriage to Ailill, 
 a powerful chief of that province. This prince, how- 
 ever, died soon after ; and Meav, determined for once, 
 at least, to choose a husband for herself, made a royal 
 progress to Leinster, where Ross Ruadh held his court 
 at Naas. She selected the younger son of this mon- 
 arch, who bore the same name as her former husband, 
 and they lived together happily as queen and king 
 consort for many years. On one occasion, however, 
 a dispute arose about their respective treasures, and this 
 dispute led to a comparison of their property. The 
 account of this, and the subsequent comparison, is 
 given at length in the "Tain," and is a valuable reper- 
 tory of archaeological information. They counted their 
 vessels, metal and wooden ; they counted their finger 
 rings, their clasps, their thumb rings, their diadems, 
 and their gorgets of gold. They examined their many- 
 colored garments of crimson and blue, of black and 
 green, yellow and mottled, white and streaked. All 
 were equal. They then inspected their flocks and 
 herds, swine from the forests, sheep from the pasture 
 lands, and cows — here the first difference arose. It 
 was one to excite Meav's haughty temper. There was 
 a young bull found among AilhTs bovine wealth : 
 it had been calved by one of Meav's cows ; but " not 
 deeming it honorable to be under a woman's control, " 
 it had attached itself to AilnTs herds. Meav was not 
 
. COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 a lady who could remain quiet under such provocation. 
 She summoned her chief courier, and asked him if he 
 could find a match for Finnbheannach (the white -horned). 
 The courier declared that he could find even a superior 
 animal ; and at once set forth on his mission suitably 
 attended. Meav had offered the most liberal rewards 
 for the prize she so much coveted ; and the courier soon 
 arranged with Dare, a noble of large estates, who pos- 
 sessed one of the valuable breed. A drunken quarrel, 
 however, disarranged his plans. One of the men 
 boasted that if Dare had not given the bull for payment, 
 he should have been compelled to give it by force. 
 Dare's steward heard the ill-timed and uncourteous 
 boast. He flung down the meat and drink which he 
 had brought for their entertainment, and went to tell 
 his master the contemptuous speech. The result may 
 be anticipated. Dare refused the much-coveted animal, 
 and Meav proceeded to make good her claim by force of 
 arms. But this is only the prologue of the drama ; the 
 details would fill a volume. It must suffice to say, that 
 the bulls had a battle of their own. Finnbheannach and 
 Donn Chuailgne (the Leinster bull) engaged in deadly 
 combat, which is described with the wildest flights of 
 poetic diction. The poor " white horn " was killed, 
 and Donn Chuailgne, who had lashed himself to mad- 
 ness, dashed out his brains. 
 
 Meav lived to the venerable age of a hundred. Ac- 
 cording to Tighernach, she died a. d. 70, but the chro- 
 nology of the Four Masters places her demise a hundred 
 years earlier. On this difference of calculation depends 
 the monarch who is to be assigned as reigning in Ire- 
 land at the birth of Christ. The following passage is 
 from the " Book of Bally mote," and is supposed to be 
 taken from the synchronisms of Flann of Monaster- 
 boice : — " In the fourteenth year of the reign of Con- 
 aire and of Conchobar, Mary was born; and in the 
 fourth year after the birth of Mary, the expedition 
 of the Tain bo Chuailgne took place. Eight years after 
 the expedition of the Tain, Christ was born." 
 
 According to the "Annals of the Four Masters," 
 the birth of Christ took place in the eighth year 
 of the reign of Crinsthann Niadhuair. Under the 
 heading of the age of Christ 9, there is an -account of 
 
PROPOSED INVASION OF IRELAND BY THE ROMANS. 35 
 
 a wonderful expedition of this monarch, and of all thfc 
 treasures he acquired thereby. His " adventures " is 
 among the list of Historic Tales in the " Book of Lein- 
 ster," but, unfortunately, there is no copy of this tract 
 in existence. It was probably about this time that a 
 recreant Irish chieftain tried to induce Agricola to 
 invade Ireland. But the Irish Celts had extended the 
 fame of their military prowess even to distant lands, 
 and the Roman general thought it better policy to keep 
 what he had. than to riskdts loss, and, perhaps, obtain 
 no compensation. Previous to Caesar's conquest of 
 Britain, the Irish had fitted out several expeditions for 
 the plunder of that country, but they do not appear to 
 have suffered from retaliation until the reign of Egbert. 
 It is evident, however, that the Britons did not con- 
 sider them their worst enemies, for we find mention of 
 several colonies flying to the Irish shores to escape 
 Eoman tyranny, and these colonies were hospitably 
 received. Tacitus refers thus to the proposed invasion 
 of Ireland by the Roman forces : " In the fifth year of 
 these expeditions, Agricola, passing over in the first 
 ship, subdued in frequent victories nations hitherto 
 unknown. He stationed troops along that part of 
 Britain which looks to Ireland, more on account of hope 
 than fear, since Ireland, from its situation between 
 Britain and Spain, and opening to the Gallic Sea, might 
 well connect the most powerful parts of the empire 
 with reciprocal advantage. Its extent, compared with 
 Britain, is narrower, but exceeds that of any islands of 
 our sea. The genius and habits of the people, and the 
 soil and climate do not differ much from those of Britain. 
 Its channels and ports are better known to commerce 
 and to merchants. Agricola gave his protection to one 
 of its petty kings, who had been expelled by faction ; 
 and with a show of friendship, he retained him for his 
 own purposes. I often heard him say, that Ireland 
 could be conquered and held with one legion and a 
 small reserve ; and such a measure would have its 
 advantages, even as regards Britain, if Roman power 
 were extended on every side, and liberty taken away, 
 as it were, from the view of the latter island. ;; 
 
 The proper name of the recreant "Regulus 7 ' has not 
 been discovered, so that his treachery must be trans- 
 
36 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 nritted anonymously to posterity. Sir John Davis, how- 
 ever, has well observed, " that, if Agricola had at- 
 tempted the conquest of Ireland with a far greater 
 army, he would have found himself deceived in his con- 
 jecture." William of Neuburg has also remarked, that 
 though the Romans harassed the- Britons for three cen- 
 turies after this event, Ireland never was invaded by 
 them, even when they held dominion of the Orkney 
 Islands, and that it yielded to no foreign power until 
 the year 1171. Indeed, the .Scots and Picts gave their 
 legions quite sufficient occupation defending the ram- 
 parts of Adrian and Antoninus, to • deter them from 
 attempting to obtain more, when they could so hardly 
 hold what they already possessed. 
 
 The insurrection of the Aitheach Tuatha, or Attacotti, 
 is the next event of importance in Irish history. Their 
 plans were deeply and wisely laid, and promised the 
 success they obtained. 
 
 According to one account, these Attacotti were the 
 "unfree" tribes, or plebeians, and mainly descended 
 from the Firbolgs. According to another account, they 
 were Milesians, that is, a part of the great tribe who 
 then possessed and mainly peopled Ireland ; but they 
 were of the lower classes, and cruelly oppressed by 
 their masters. The word Aitheach Tuatha means rent- 
 payers, or rent-paying tribes or people. 
 
 Another revolt of the Attacotti took place in the 
 reign of Fiacha of the White Cattle. He was killed by 
 the provincial kings, at the slaughter of Magh Bolg. 
 Elim, one of the perpetrators of this outrage, obtained 
 the crown, but his reign was singularly unprosperous ; 
 and " Ireland was without corn, without milk, without 
 fruit, without fish, and without any other great advan- 
 tage, since the Aitheach Tuatha had killed Fiacha Fin- 
 nolaidh in the slaughter of Magh Bolg, till the time of 
 Tuathal Teachtmar." 
 
 Tuathal was the son of a former legitimate monarch, 
 and had been invited to Ireland by a powerful party. 
 He was perpetually at war with the Attacotti, but at 
 last established himself firmly on the throne, by exact- 
 ing an oath from the people, " by the sun, moon, and 
 elements," that his posterity should not be deprived of 
 the sovereignty. This oath was taken at Tara, where 
 
THE B0R0MEAN TRIBUTE. 
 
 3f 
 
 he had convened a general assembly, as had been cus- 
 tomary with his predecessors at the commencement of 
 each reign ; but it was held by him with more than 
 usual state. His next act was to take a small portion 
 of land from each of the four provinces, forming what 
 is now the present county of Meath, and retaining it as 
 the mensal portion of the Ard-Righ, or supreme mon- 
 arch. On each of these portions he erected a palace for 
 the king of every province, details of which will be 
 given when we come to that period of our history which 
 refers to the destruction of Tara. Tuathal had at this 
 time two beautiful and marriageable daughters, named 
 Fithir and Dairine. Eochaidh, King of Leinster married 
 the younger daughter, Dairine, and carried her to his pal- 
 ace at Naas, in Leinster. Some time after, his people per- 
 suaded him that he had made a bad selection, and that 
 the elder was the better of the two sisters ; upon which 
 Eochaidh determined by stratagem to obtain the other 
 daughter also. For this purpose he shut the young 
 queen up in a secret apartment of his palace, and gave 
 out a report that she was dead. He then repaired, appar- 
 ently in great grief, to Tara, informed the monarch that 
 his daughter was dead, and demanded her sister in mar- 
 riage. Tuathal gave his consent, and the false king 
 returned home with his new bride. Soon after her 
 arrival at Naas, her sister escaped from her confine- 
 ment, and suddenly and unexpectedly encountered the 
 prince and Fithir. In a moment she divined the truth, 
 and had the additional anguish of seeing her sister, who 
 was struck with horror and shame, fall dead before her 
 face. The death of the unhappy princess, and the 
 treachery of her husband, was too much for the young 
 queen ; she returned to her solitary chamber, and in a 
 very short time died of a broken heart. 
 
 The insult offered to his daughters, and their untimely 
 death, roused the indignation of the pagan monarch, 
 and was soon bitterly avenged. At the head of a pow- 
 erful force, he burned and ravaged Leinster to its 
 utmost boundary, and then compelled its humbled and 
 terror-stricken people to bind themselves and their 
 descendants for ever to the payment of a triennial 
 tribute to the monarch of Erin, which, from the great 
 number of cows exacted by it, obtained the name of the 
 
88 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 "Boromean Tribute " — bo being the Irish for cow. 
 So runs the institutional legend. 
 
 The tribute is thus described in the old Annals : 
 
 The men of Leinster were obliged to pay 
 
 To Tuathal, and all the monarchs after him, 
 
 Three-score hundred of the fairest cows, 
 
 And three-score hundred ounces of pure silver, 
 
 And three-score hundred mantles richly woven, 
 
 And three score hundred of the fattest hogs, 
 
 And three-score hundred of the largest sheep, 
 
 And three-score hundred cauldrons strong and polished. 
 
 It is elsewhere described as consisting of five thou- 
 sand ounces of silver, five thousand mantles, five thou- 
 sand fat cows, five thousand fat hogs, five thousand 
 wethers, and five thousand vessels of brass or bronze 
 for the king's laving, with men and maidens for his 
 service. 
 
 The levying of the tribute was the cause of periodical 
 and sanguinary wars, from the time of Tuathal until 
 the reign of Fuinachta the Festive. It was abolished 
 about the year 680, at the entreaty of St. Moling. It 
 was, however, again revived and exacted by Brian 
 Boru in the eleventh century, to punish the Leinster 
 men for their adherence to the Danish cause. 
 
 Tuathal reigned for thirty years, and is said to have 
 fought no less than a hundred and thirty -three battles 
 with the Attacotti. He was at last slain by his suc- 
 cessor Nial, who, after a reign of four years, was slain 
 by TuathaPs son, Felemy, or the law-maker ; Felemy 
 having substituted the law of eric, or fine, for the law 
 of retaliation. 
 
 Felemy was succeeded by his son, Conn of the 
 (t Hundred battles." His exploits are a famous theme 
 with the bards, and a poem on his " Birth " forms part 
 of the " Liber Flavus Fergusorum," a manuscript vol- 
 ume of the fifteenth century. In his reign is also 
 recorded the completion of five great roads. One of 
 these highways, the Eiscir Riada, extended from the 
 declivity on which Dublin castle now stands, to the 
 peninsula of Marey, at the head of Galway Bay. It 
 divided Conn's half of Ireland from the half possessed 
 by Eoghan Mor, with whom he lived in the usual state 
 of internecine feud, which characterized the reigns of 
 this early period. One of the principal quarrels be- 
 tween these monarchs was caused by a complaint 
 
THE REIGN OP CORMAC. 
 
 39 
 
 which Eoghan made of the shipping arrangements in 
 Dublin. Conn's half (the northern side) was preferred, 
 and Eoghan demanded a fair division. They decided 
 their claims at the battle of Magh Lena. Eoghan was 
 assisted by a Spanish chief, whose sister he had mar- 
 ried. But the Iberian and his Celtic brother-in-law 
 were both slain, and the mounds are still shown which 
 cover their remains. 
 
 The five roads were named Slighe Asail, Slighe 
 Moyra, Slighe Cualann, Slighe Dula, and Slighe Mor. 
 These roads all branched out from Tara, then the seat 
 of Irish government. Slighe Asail went westward in 
 the direction of Lough Owel, near Mullingar in West- 
 meath. Slighe Moyra led into the north of Ireland, but 
 the exact line of direction has not been discovered. 
 Slighe Cualann has been identified as probably the same 
 as the present road from Tara to Dublin and Bray. 
 Slighe Mor, the great road, was a western line, deter- 
 mined by the position of the Eiscir Riada, a continuous 
 line of gravel hills, extending from Dublin to Claren- 
 bridge, in the county Gal way. Slighe Dula was the 
 great south-western road of ancient Ireland, extending 
 from the southern side of Tara Hill in the direction of 
 Ossory. 
 
 Conn was succeeded by Conaire II., the father of 
 the three Cairbres, who were progenitors of important 
 tribes. Cairbre Muse gave his name to six districts in 
 Munster. 
 
 The reign of Cormac MacAirt is unquestionably the 
 most celebrated of all the pagan monarchs. During 
 his early years he had been compelled to conceal him- 
 self among his mother's friends in Connaught ; but the 
 severe rule of the usurper MacCon excited a desire for 
 his removal, and the friends of the young prince were 
 not slow to avail themselves of the popular feeling. 
 He, therefore, appeared unexpectedly at Tara, and hap- 
 pened to arrive when the monarch was giving judg- 
 ment in an important case, which is thus related : 
 Some sheep, the property of a widow residing at Tara, 
 had strayed into the queen's private lawn, and eaten 
 the grass. They were captured, and the case was 
 brought before the king. He decided that the tres* 
 passers should be forfeited ; but Cormac exclaimed that 
 his sentence was unjust, and declared that as the sheep 
 
40 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 had only eaten the fleece of the land, they should oniy 
 forfeit their own fleece. The vox populi applauded the 
 decision. MacCon started from his seat, and exclaimed : 
 "That is the judgment of a king." At the same 
 moment he recognized the prince, and commanded that 
 he should be seized ; but he had already escaped. The 
 people now recognized their rightful king, and revolted 
 against the usurper, who was driven into Munster. 
 Cormac assumed the reins of government at Tara, and 
 thus entered upon his brilliant and important career, it 
 is said, a. d. 227. 
 
 Cormac commenced his government with acts of 
 'severity, which were, perhaps, necessary to consolidate 
 his power. This being once firmly established, he 
 devoted himself ardently to the task of regulating and 
 civilizing his dominions. He collected the national 
 laws, and formed a code which remained in force until 
 the English invasion, and was observed for many cen- 
 turies after outside the Pale. The bards dwell with 
 manifest unction on the "fruit and fatness" of the land 
 in his time, and describe him as the noblest and most 
 bountiful of all princes. 
 
 The compilation of the " Saltair of Tara" is attrib- 
 uted to this monarch, and even the Christian annalists 
 proclaim his praises. The poet Maelmura, who lived 
 in the eighth century, styles him, " Ceolach," or " the 
 Musical," and Kenneth O'Hartigan, who died a. d. 973, 
 gives a glowing description of his magnificence, and of 
 his royal palace at Tara. O'Flaherty quotes a poem, 
 which he says contains an account of three schools, 
 instituted by Cormac at Tara ; one for military disci- 
 pline, one for history, and the third for jurisprudence. 
 The Four Masters say : "It was this Cormac, son of 
 Art, also, that collected the chronicles of Ireland to 
 Teamhair (Tara), and ordered them to write the chron- 
 icles of Ireland in one book, which was named the 
 " Saltair of Teamhair." In that book were (entered) 
 the coeval exploits and synchronisms of the kings 
 of Ireland with the kings and emperors of the world, 
 and of the kings of the provinces with the monarchs 
 of Ireland. In it was also written what the monarchs of 
 Ireland were entitled to (receive) from the provincial 
 kings, and the rents and dues of the provincial kings 
 from their subjects, from the noble to the subaltern. 
 
FINN MACCOOLE. 
 
 41 
 
 In it, also, were (described) the boundaries and mears 
 of Ireland from shore to shore, from the provinces to 
 the cantred, from the cantred to the townland, from the 
 townland to the traighedh of land." Although the 
 " Saltair of Tara" has disappeared from the national 
 records, a law tract, called the "Book of Acaill," is 
 still in existence, which is attributed to this king. It 
 is always found annexed to a Law Treatise by Cennfae- 
 lad the Learned, who died a. d. 677. In an ancient 
 MS. in Trinity College, Dublin (Class, H. L. 15, p. 
 149), it is stated that it was the custom, at the inaugu- 
 ration of Irish chiefs, to read the "Instructions of the 
 Kings" (a work ascribed to Cormac) and his Laws. 
 
 There is a tradition that Cormac became a Christian 
 before his death. In the thirty- ninth year of his reign, 
 one of his eyes was thrust out by a spear, and he 
 retired in consequence to one of those peaceful abodes 
 of learning which were so carefully fostered in ancient 
 Erin. The Brehon Law required that the king should 
 have no personal blemish ; and Cormac accordingly 
 vacated the throne. He died a. d. 266, at Cleitach, 
 near Stackallen Bridge, on the south bank of the 
 Boyne. It is said that he was choked by a salmon 
 bone, and that this happened through the contrivances 
 of the druids, who wished to avenge themselves on him 
 for his rejection of their superstitions. 
 
 The reign of Cormac was made still more remarkable 
 by the exploits of his son-in-law, the famous Finn Mac- 
 Coole. Finn was famous, both as a poet and warrior. 
 Indeed, poetical qualifications were considered essential 
 to obtain a place in the select militia of which he was 
 the last commander. The courtship of the poet-warrior 
 with the princess Ailbhe, Cormac's daughter, is related 
 in one of the ancient Historic Tales called " Toch- 
 marca," or Courtships. The lady is said to have been 
 the wisest woman of her time, and the wooing is 
 described in the form of conversations, which savor 
 more of a trial of skill in ability and knowledge, than of 
 the soft utterances which distinguish such narratives 
 in modern days. It is supposed that the Fenian force 
 which he commanded was modelled after the fashion 
 of the Roman legions ; but its loyalty is more question- 
 able, for it was eventually disbanded for insubordina- 
 tion, although the exploits of its heroes are a favorite 
 
42 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 topic with the bards. The Fenian poems on which 
 Macpherson founded his celebrated forgery, are as- 
 cribed to Finn's sons, Oi'sin and Fergus the Eloquent, 
 and to his kinsman Caeilte, as well as to himself. Five 
 poems only are ascribed to him, but these are found in 
 manuscripts of considerable antiquity. The poems of 
 Oisin were selected by the Scotch writer for his grand 
 experiment. He gave a highly poetical translation of 
 what purported to be some ancient and genuine com- 
 position, but, unfortunately, for his veracity, he could 
 not produce the original. Some of the real composi- 
 tions of the Fenian hero are, however, still extant in 
 the " Book of Leinster," as well as other valuable 
 Fenian poems. There are also some Fenian tales in 
 prose, of which the most remarkable is that of the 
 " Pursuit of Diarmaid and Grainne" — a legend which 
 has left its impress in every portion of the island to the 
 present day. Finn, in his old age, asked the hand 
 of Grainne, the daughter of Cormac MacAirt ; but 
 the lady being young, preferred a younger lover. To 
 effect her purpose, she drugged the guest-cup so 
 effectually, that Finn, and all the guests invited with 
 him, were plunged into a profound slumber after they 
 had partaken of it. Oisin and Diarmaid alone escaped, 
 and to them the lady Grianne confided her grief. As true 
 knights, they were bound to rescue her from her dilemma. 
 Oisin could scarcely dare to brave his father's ven- 
 geance, but Diarmaid at once fled with the lady. A 
 pursuit followed, which extended all over Ireland, dur- 
 ing which the young couple always escaped. So deeply 
 is the tradition engraven in the popular mind, that 
 some cromlechs are still called the "Beds of Diarmaid 
 and Grainne/' and shown as the resting-places of the 
 fugitive lovers. 
 
 Some romantic stories are also related of Cormac 
 himself. It is said that when a young man he was wan- 
 dering through the woods near Cennanus, the present 
 Sligo, and that he met there a fair young damsel called 
 Ethni. She was the foster-child o.f a Leinster exile, 
 who had exhausted all his wealth in hospitality, until 
 his flocks were so reduced that he had only seven cows 
 and one bull left. Ethni devoted herself to the care of 
 these animals in the retirement which her foster-parents 
 had chosen, and the king watched her fulfilling her 
 
C0RMAC 7 S STATE AT TARA. 
 
 43 
 
 domestic duties unperceived. The conversation be- 
 tween Cormac and the lady is given at considerable 
 length, and it is also recorded that, after their marriage, 
 Cormac bestowed considerable wealth upon his wife's 
 foster-father. Cormac had ten daughters, two of whom, 
 Grainne and Ailbhe, have been already mentioned. 
 Cox*mac bestowed the latter upon Finn MacCumhaili 
 in marriage when Grianne fled with his lieutenant. 
 
 Cormac maintained a princely retinue and royal state 
 at Tara. In the great hall which he erected, one hun- 
 dred and fifty warriors stood in his presence when he 
 sat down to the banquet. One hundred and fifty cup- 
 bearers also attended, with as many cups of silver and 
 gold. The latter part of this account might be deemed 
 legendary, were there not so many remains to prove the 
 highly ornamental character and the rich quality of 
 early Irish art. Cormac also ordained that a prince 
 of the royal blood, abrehon, a druid, a physician, a bard, 
 a historian, a musician, and three stewards, should 
 attend every Irish monarch. His entertainments also 
 were on a scale of princely liberality. 
 
 Nial of the Nine Hostages, and Dathi, are the last 
 pagan monarchs who demand special notice. In the 
 year 322, Fiacha was slain by the three Collas, and a 
 few short-lived monarchs succeeded In 378, Crimh- 
 tharin was poisoned by his sister, who hoped that her 
 eldest son, Brian, might obtain the royal power. Her 
 attempt failed, although she sacrificed herself for its 
 accomplishment, by taking the poisoned cup to remove 
 her brother's suspicions ; and Nial of the Nine Host- 
 ages, the son of her husband by a former wife, suc- 
 ceeded to the coveted dignity. This monarch distin- 
 guished himself by predatory warfare against Albion 
 and Gaul. The "groans" of the Britons testify to his 
 success in that quarter ; and the Latin poet, Claudian, 
 gives evidence that troops were sent by Stilicho, the 
 general of Theodosius the Great, to repel his successful 
 forays. His successor, Dathi, was killed by lightning 
 at the foot of the Alps. Donald MacFirbis states, from 
 the records of his ancestors, that the body was carried 
 home to Ireland and buried at Rathcorghan, where his 
 grave was marked by a red pillar-stone 
 
44 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE RELIGION, LANGUAGE, LAWS, ARCHITECTURE, 
 DOMESTIC CUSTOMS, FOOD, DRESS, OCCUPATIONS, 
 AND MUSIC OF THE PAGAN IRISH. 
 
 FROM THE EARLIEST TRADITIONS TO A. D. 428. 
 
 There is considerable difficulty in ascertaining pre- 
 cisely what form of religious belief prevailed in pagan 
 Ireland. As St. Patrick and his disciples carefully 
 destroyed all vestiges of idolatry, whether written or 
 graven, information can be obtained only by inductions 
 drawn from the few well-authenticated accounts. The 
 earliest traditions represent the Irish Celt as a sun- wor- 
 shipper, and indicate an Eastern origin for this purest 
 form of paganism. The frequent erection of pillar- 
 stones also points in the same direction. Hence, 
 probably, the uniform tradition that the Lia Fail, or 
 Stone of Destiny, which the late Dr. O'Donovan, and 
 many of the most careful Irish antiquarians believe still 
 to exist at Tara, is identical with the stone which 
 Jacob used as a pillow when he beheld the vision of 
 the angels. It is quite possible that the stone may 
 have been an object of reverence or worship, and that 
 the first colonists brought it with them from the East. 
 Whether they brought the tradition of its origin, or 
 whether it was put forward in Christian times, is quite 
 another question. 
 
 There is unquestionable proof that fire-worship was 
 continued until the time of St. Patrick, and that some 
 kind of idol- worship had been introduced some centu- 
 ries before, and was also practised when the Christian 
 missionaries first visited Ireland. The indications of 
 fire-worship remain in the Celtic name for the first day 
 of summer, Beltinne, which is thus explained : — <l Bel- 
 tinne, the lucky fire, that is, two fires which used to be 
 made by the law-givers, or druids, with great incanta- 
 
THE RELIGION OF THE PAGAN IRISH. 
 
 45 
 
 tions, and they used to drive the cattle between them, 
 to guard against the diseases of each year. Bel was the 
 name of an idol god. It was on that day that the first- 
 lings of every kind of cattle used to be exhibited as in 
 the possession of Bel. 1 
 
 When St. Patrick visited Tara the pagan king was 
 celebrating some fire festival, though, according to the 
 best authorities, this festival was not the principal one, 
 known as the Beltinne. The season in which that cere- 
 mony was performed has not yet been discovered, as no 
 special time is named in the old annals ; but it was 
 probably the first of May, for that day is still called La 
 Bealtinne by the Irish-speaking Celt. In the neighbor- 
 hood of Dublin, fires are lighted on that day, as well as 
 on the twenty-fourth of June, the day on which the old 
 pagan custom is generally observed throughout the 
 island. 
 
 Certain groves and trees were also reverenced, 
 though there is no evidence to show any special wor- 
 ship of the oak or mistletoe. In the " Brehon Laws" 
 a certain fine is mentioned for injuring the trees of 
 sacred groves ; and in an ancient manuscript glossary 
 the name Nemed, given to a poet, is said to be akin 
 to the Latin Nemus, a grove, as it was in Fidnemeds 
 (sacred groves) that the poets composed their works. 
 
 The rowan and blackthorn trees were deemed espec- 
 ially sacred ; and one of the Celtic druidical ordeals 
 on record requires a woman, who wishes to clear her 
 character, to rub her tongue upon a brass adze, which 
 should be heated and reddened in a fire made of the 
 rowan tree or the blackthorn. 
 
 A number of curious restrictions are also on record, 
 by which the Irish pagan kings were bound to observe 
 certain practices, and to avoid certain circumstances. 
 Such restrictions are not without parallels in the observ- 
 ances of other nations, and many maxims of a similar 
 nature are scrupulously observed, even by the educated 
 classes, in our own times. Thus, the monarch of Ire- 
 land was forbidden to alight on a Wednesday in Magh 
 Breagh, to go on a Monday into North Teabltha, or to 
 go in a ship upon the water on the day of the Bealtinne. 
 
 1 See The Book of Bights, edited by Dr. O'Donovan, for the Celtic 
 Society, and Petrie's Antiquities of Tara Hill. 
 
46 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 The classical reader will recall observances of a like 
 nature, as frequently mentioned by the Latin poets. 
 
 The Irish Celts also had their stone circles, resem- 
 bling those of Stonehenge in England, Carnac in Brit- 
 tany, and Rutzlingen in Hanover. It is not, however, 
 as yet quite certain whether these mystic circles in Ire- 
 land were sepulchral enclosures surrounding tumuli or 
 cromlechs, or were used for other purposes. They 
 will, therefore, be referred to the section treating of 
 this subject. 
 
 Funeral rites were observed with great care, and 
 much respect was shown to the remains of deceased 
 heroes. A warrior and a hero were in those days con- 
 vertible terms. Mortuary urns are among the most 
 numerous class of remains which have been discovered 
 in Ireland, and exhibited various kinds and degrees of 
 artistic skill. They have been found singly in small 
 Cists, or stone chambers, or collectively in earthen 
 mounds ; sometimes, under such circumstances, even 
 to the amount of one hundred. The positions vary in 
 which these urns are found — some are placed erect, 
 and some inverted. They contain fragments of bones, 
 which have been evidently subject to the action of fire, 
 and as charred wood and vitrified stones are frequently 
 found in the cromlechs, it is probable that cremation 
 took place upon the spot. Cremation, however, was 
 not a rule, for there is evidence that some bodies were 
 buried clothed in the costume of the period, and deco- 
 rated with the ornaments and weapons suitable to their 
 rank. The posture was either sitting or recumbent. 
 Soon after the introduction of Christianity, it is recorded 
 that the body of Laeghaire was interred with his shield 
 of silver in the royal bath at Tara, with his face to the 
 south, as if fighting with the Leinster men. 
 
 The Celtic dialects belong to the great Indo-Ger- 
 manic, or Aryan, family of languages. As each suc- 
 cessive migration departed from the parent stock, it 
 took with it the parent language in the form into which 
 it had been altered by modification or development 
 during the period which had elapsed from the preceding 
 migration. The migration which preceded would there- 
 fore have some slight difference in its forms of speech, 
 and would also have had its language acted upon more 
 
THE CELTIC LANGUAGE AND LETTERS. 47 
 
 or less from without, for the waves of varied tongues 
 act on each other as the ocean wave on the boulder by 
 the sea-shore. Each swarm from the parent hive took 
 with it the parent language, and' preserved it in the 
 main, so that certain great families of languages can 
 be traced at once, by (1) marking the common words 
 which express domestic occupations and the names of 
 articles in ordinary use ; and (2) by removing the ter- 
 minations or inflections of nouns, and the tenses of 
 verbs, and reducing words to their roots, when a com- 
 mon form will be discovered. The influence of other 
 families of languages on the Celtic dialects, in conse- 
 quence of intercommunication, is evidenced in the fact 
 that the Irish Celtic has greater affinity with the Latin, 
 the Welsh Celtic with the Greek, while the Celtic 
 itself is a still older branch of the undiscovered mother 
 tongue ; for the Sanscrit, allowed, until lately, to claim 
 this honor, is now relegated to the place of a congener 
 to the other classes of the Aryan family. It takes, how- 
 ever, the lead in philological importance, partly from its 
 presumed close resemblance to the unknown primitive 
 tongue, and partly from the regularity of its structure. 
 
 Pritchard observes that a great number of Celtic 
 words, if not the greater number, may be reduced to 
 monosyllabic words, if stripped of their affixes and suf- 
 fixes, and that these words, always verbs, are closely 
 connected with roots found in Sanscrit. Modern phi- 
 lologists have placed the science on its true basis by 
 resting their inductions and classifications on grammat- 
 ical forms, and discarding the old and most imperfect 
 method of merely observing phonic affinities. 
 
 Professor Max Miiller remarks that the Celts were the 
 first of the Aryans who arrived in Europe, and Pritch- 
 ard dates the first separation at about three thousand 
 years before the Christian era. 
 
 The Irish alphabet consists of seventeen letters, 
 which, like the Hebrew, have distinctive names, and 
 bear also a meaning apart from their, use as the nomen- 
 clature of each letter. But whereas the Hebrew names 
 of letters bear, as a series, no special signification, 
 there is a marked significance in the Celtic, the name 
 of each letter being also the name of some tree indige- 
 nous to Ireland. Hence it has been supposed that the 
 
48 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 trees were named by early colonists after the letters. 
 The whole subject is, however, too much open to con- 
 jectures which may be false, and conclusions whose 
 premises may be some day proved to be untenable, 
 to admit of any definite statements. The letters were 
 named thus : — 
 
 1. B. Beith 
 
 2. L. Luis 
 
 3. F. Fearn 
 
 4. S. Suil 
 
 5. N. Nion 
 
 6. D. Duir 
 
 7. T. Teine 
 
 8. C. Coll. 
 
 9. M. Muin 
 
 Birch 
 
 Mountain Ash 
 
 Alder 
 
 W r illow 
 
 Ash 
 
 Oak 
 
 Hazel 
 Vine 
 
 10. G. Govt 
 
 11. P. Peth 
 
 12. R. Ruis 
 
 13. A. Aihn 
 
 14. O. Onn 
 
 15. U. Ur 
 
 16. E. Eadha 
 
 17. I. Eaya 
 
 Ivy- 
 Elder 
 Fir Tree 
 Broom. 
 Heath 
 Aspen 
 lew. 
 
 Some authorities add the letter H, but it is used merely 
 to indicate the aspirated form of other letters, and 
 never as an independent radical letter. The chief 
 distinctive characteristics of the Celtic language are 
 (1) a euphonic principle which modifies the vowels 
 of a word ; (2) each consonant has a twofold sound, 
 broad and slender. The Irish rule of " slender to slen- 
 der, and broad to broad, " is very similar to the law of 
 vocal harmony in the Finnic-Tartarian, or northern fam- 
 ily of languages. The slender vowels are i, e, and the 
 broad a, o, u. 
 
 The present spoken Irish language has changed so 
 considerably in pronunciation, and especially in gram- 
 matical structure, by the addition of case endings to 
 nouns, that a modern Irish-speaking person would 
 not understand the ancient written language, and- the 
 pure ancient Celtic manuscripts cannot be read by an 
 ordinary Celtic scholar. But the value of these manu- 
 scripts to the philologist has been most promptly recog- 
 nized by German scholars, of which abundant evidence 
 is given by Zeiiss in his " Grammatica Celtica," and by 
 Bopp in his " Glossarium Comparativum Linguae San- 
 scritae," 
 
 The Ogham alphabet is supposed to have been in use 
 amongst the Pagan Irish Celts, by those who believe 
 that they had some knowledge of writing in pre-Chris- 
 tian times. 
 
 It corresponds in the names and in the numbers of 
 the letters with the Celtic alphabet already described ; 
 but, instead of letters, lines or groups of lines are used, 
 which are arranged with reference to a single stem 
 
THE CELTIC LANGUAGE AND LETTERS. 
 
 49 
 
 line, or the sharp edge of any substance on which they 
 may be engraved. Ogham inscriptions in general be- 
 gin from the bottom, and are read upwards from left to 
 right. They are generally merely indications of the 
 name and family of some deceased hero, and are in- 
 scribed on his pillar-stone. The greater number of these 
 inscriptions are found in Cork and Kerry, but a few 
 have been noticed in Wales and Scotland, and one in 
 Shetland. 
 
 Pliny says that tablets of wood were in use before the 
 time of Homer ; Plutarch and Diogenes Laertius inform 
 us that the laws of Solon were inscribed on tables of 
 wood. Thus before the use of Papyrus was discovered, 
 stone and wood were universally employed to preserve 
 records of public events ; and even in our own times, 
 when it is a special object to ensure the permanence 
 of an inscription, it is recorded on some solid, and, as 
 far as may be, imperishable material. 
 
 The laws of ancient Erin demand full and special 
 notice, which shall be given at a later period, when 
 they come historically under notice at the time of their 
 revision by St. Patrick. Some customs will, however, 
 be mentioned here, as many of them are referable to 
 the earliest period of Celtic history. 
 
 According to Dr. O'Donovan, an eminent authority, 
 the pagan Irish divided the year into four quarters, 
 each of which began with a stated day. These quar- 
 ters were named respectively Earrach, Samhradh, Fogh- 
 mhar and Geimhridh. These are, unquestionably, pure 
 Celtic words, and have not been in any way derived 
 from the Latin through Christian teachers, an evident 
 proof of the antiquity of this division. Bealtinne was 
 the first day of the summer season (Samhradh), and 
 fires were lighted to celebrate its advent. On the first 
 day of harvest (Foghmhar) games were celebrated at 
 Taillte, and fires were lighted at Tlachtgha. . The be- 
 ginning of spring (Earrach) was called Ormelc, which 
 is derived from oi, ewe, and melc, milk. 
 
 According to the ancient Annals, the Irish had many 
 roads, which were cleaned and repaired regularly 
 according to law. These are described with great 
 minuteness. It is further specified, that they should 
 be cleaned at special times, and that they should be 
 3 
 
50 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 kept free from brushwood, water and weeds ; an in- 
 dication that roads, even in the most populous dis- 
 tricts, were by no means as frequently traversed then 
 as now. 
 
 A remarkable resemblance has been noticed between 
 the pagan military architecture of Ireland, and the 
 early Pelasgian monuments in Greece. They consist 
 of enclosures, generally circular, of massive clay walls, 
 built without any kind of mortar or cement, from six to 
 sixteen feet thick. These forts or fortresses are usually 
 entered by a narrow doorway, wider at the bottom than 
 at the top, and are of Cyclopean architecture. Indeed, 
 some of the remains in Ireland can only be compared 
 to the pyramids of Egypt, so massive are the blocks of 
 stone used in their construction. As this stone is fre- 
 quently of a kind not to be found in the immediate 
 neighborhood, the means used for their transportation 
 are as much a matter of surprise and conjecture, as 
 those by which they were placed in the position in 
 which they are found. The most remarkable of these 
 forts may still be seen in the Isles of Arran, on the 
 west coast of Gal way ; there are others in Donegal, 
 Mayo, and in Kerry. Some of these erections have 
 chambers in their massive walls, and in others stairs 
 are found round the interior of the wall ; these lead to 
 narrow platforms, varying from eight to forty -three 
 feet in length, on which the warriors or defenders stood. 
 The fort of Dunmohr, in the middle island of Arran, 
 is supposed to be at least 2,000 years old. Besides 
 these forts, there was the private house, a stone habita- 
 tion, called a clochann, in which an individual or family 
 resided ; the large circular dome-roofed buildings, in 
 which probably a community lived ; and the rath, in- 
 trenched and stockaded. 
 
 But stone was not the only material used for places 
 of defence or domestic dwellings. The most curious 
 and interesting of ancient Irish habitations is the cran- 
 noge, a name whose precise etymology is uncertain, 
 though there is little doubt that it refers in some way 
 to the peculiar nature of the structure. 
 
 The crannoges were formed on small islets or shal- 
 lows of clay or marl in the centre of a lake, probably 
 dry in summer but submerged in winter. These little 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 51 
 
 islands, or mounds, were used as a foundation for this 
 singular habitation. Piles of wood, or heaps of stone 
 and bones driven into or heaped on the soil, formed the 
 support of the crannoge. They were used as places of 
 retreat or concealment, and are usually found near the 
 ruins of such old forts or castles as are in the vicinity 
 of lakes or marshes. Sometimes they are connected 
 with the mainland by a causeway, but usually there is 
 no appearance of any ; and a small canoe has been, 
 with but very few exceptions, discovered in or near 
 each crannoge. 
 
 Since the investigation of these erections in Ireland, 
 others have been discovered in the Swiss lakes of 
 a similar kind, containing, or rather formed on, the 
 same extraordinary accumulation of bones between the 
 wooden piles. 
 
 The cromlechs, pillar-stones, and large stone circles 
 all belong to sepulchral rites, and the more or less orna- 
 mented urns in which the remains of the dead were 
 deposited. The Irish keen (caoine) may still be heard 
 in Algeria and Upper Egypt, even as Herodotus heard 
 it chanted by Lybian women. This wailing for the 
 deceased is a most ancient custom ; and if antiquity 
 imparts dignity, it can hardly be termed barbarous. 
 The Romans employed keeners at their funerals, an 
 idea which they probably borrowed from the Etruscans, 
 with many others incomparably more valuable, but 
 carefully self-appropriated. The Irish wake also may 
 have had an identity of origin with the funeral feasts of 
 the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans, whose customs 
 were all probably derived from a common source. 
 
 The peculiar objects called celts, and the weapons 
 and domestic utensils of this or an earlier period, are a 
 subject of scarcely less interest. 
 
 Among primitive nations, the tool and the weapon 
 differed but little. The hatchet which served to fell 
 the tree, was as readily used to cleave open the head 
 of an enemy. The knife, whether of stone or hard 
 wood, carved the hunter's prey, or gave a death-stroke 
 in battle. Such weapons or implements have, however, 
 frequently been found with metal articles, under cir- 
 cumstances which leave little doubt that the use of 
 the former was continued long after the discovery 
 
52 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 of the superior value of the latter. Probably, even while 
 the Tuatha De Danann artificers were framing their 
 more refined weapons for the use of nobles and knights, 
 the rude fashioner of flint-arrows and spear-heads still 
 continued to exercise the craft he had learned from his 
 forefathers, for the benefit of poorer or less fastidious 
 warriors. 
 
 The collection of antiquities in the Royal Irish Acad- 
 emy furnishes abundant evidence that the pagan Irish 
 were well skilled in the higher arts of working in 
 metals. If the arbitrary division of the ages of stone, 
 bronze, and iron, can be made to hold good, we must 
 either suppose that the Irish Celt was possessed of 
 extraordinary mental powers, by which he developed 
 the mechanical arts gradually, or that, with successive 
 immigrations, he obtained an increase of knowledge 
 from exterior sources. The bardic annals favor the 
 latter theory. 
 
 The principal weapons of the Pagan Celt were first, 
 in the stone age, flint knives, some of which were 
 formed with great care and considerable skill, and sling- 
 stones, which are mentioned constantly in the early 
 annals as doing deadly service on the field of battle. 
 Stones were also used as a very effective missile for the 
 destruction of birds, and every warrior carried in his 
 belt or girdle a stone called Lia Miledh; but it is not 
 known whether this stone was used with a sling or 
 merely thrown by hand. Arrow-heads of flint are also 
 found in great numbers, and spears of the same mate- 
 rial. The spears are carefully polished ; the arrow- 
 heads are rough, but well-formed. Serrated flint imple- 
 ments are rare, though very abundant in Scandinavian 
 finds. Stone celts are found in great abundance, and 
 some are remarkable for their beauty and polish. It is 
 doubtful whether the celt was a tool or weapon ; prob- 
 ably it -was used for both purposes. Stone hammers 
 and axes have also been found. Stone moulds for cast- 
 ing bronze celts and arrows are also amongst some of 
 the most interesting remains in the collection of the 
 Royal Irish Academy. 
 
 The principal domestic utensils were stone-cups, flint 
 knives, and grain-rubbers, for triturating corn. The 
 Irish were, from the earliest ages, an agricultural peo- 
 
DRESS OF THE PAGAN CELT. 
 
 53 
 
 pie. It is a well-established fact that grain, and par- 
 ticularly wheal;, both white and red, with oats and 
 rye, were grown abundantly in Ireland before the Chris- 
 tian era. The quern, a step beyond the mere grain -rub- 
 ber, which must be of extreme antiquity, is also well 
 represented. Querns are still used in some remote dis- 
 tricts in Ireland. 
 
 The earliest dress was undoubtedly skins of animals, 
 and civilization has only advanced as far from the orig- 
 inal costume as it has, by advanced skill, improved in 
 preparing it. A skin dress, or at least a portion of it, 
 still remains, evidencing the use of that material. Por- 
 tions of the seams still remain, which are sewn with fine 
 gut, and with remarkable neatness. A careful exam- 
 ination of the surface shows that the material is deer 
 skin. The use of leathern clothes is mentioned at a 
 comparatively late period of Irish history. 
 
 Shoes and boots, of great antiquity, have also been 
 found. Some of them are made of a single piece of 
 leather. 
 
 Woollen garments were undoubtedly in use at a very 
 early period, and particular colors were worn as an 
 indication of rank. A deep yellow — called in Celtic 
 crock, and by the English settlers saffron — was for 
 many centuries the prevailing hue of Irish garments. 
 
 The bards were allowed to wear some distinctive 
 dress of birds' feathers, and mention is made on several 
 occasions of this peculiar costume. 
 
 One of the oldest lists of the animals of the British 
 Isles is contained in an Irish poem in the Library of the 
 Royal Irish Academy, the original of which was writ- 
 ten in the ninth century ; but there are a few references 
 to this subject in the Annals. The brown bear — in 
 Irish, mathghamhain — was one of the largest of the 
 carnivora. The great cave bear coexisted with the 
 mammoth ; and the gigantic Irish elk ( Gervus Megace- 
 ros), for which there is no Irish name, is the tallest ani- 
 mal of its class, but palaeontologists are doubtful of its 
 coexistence with man. The wolf — in Irish, cir allinek, 
 or the wild hound, and sometimes also called mactire, 
 or the son of the soil — existed until the beginning of 
 the last century. The Irish greyhound, cir, has also 
 become extinct. Besides these more noticeable ani- 
 
54 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 mals, there were the fox, the red dog % the otter, the 
 badger, the martin, the stoat and weasel, and the wild 
 and domestic cat. The seal also abounded upon the 
 sea coasts. 
 
 For domestic purposes, there were the sheep and 
 goat, and the red deer, fiodh ruadh, the chief object of 
 the chase. The horse was coexistent with the elephant 
 in pre-historic times, and the wild boar abounded in the 
 woods until a recent period. The hare, called in Irish 
 gearr-fiodh (the short-eared), and the rabbit, were also 
 numerous ; but the great wealth of the Pagan herds- 
 man was his cattle, and some of the most sanguinary 
 feuds recorded in the Annals were simply raids, in 
 which the victorious party marched off triumphantly 
 with the cattle of his enemies. Barter was also carried 
 on by exchange of sheep and oxen, and the annalists 
 carefully recorded the many epidemics by which their 
 flocks were decimated. 
 
 Pish was abundant, and much used as an article 
 of food, especially salmon. Bees were carefully and 
 extensively cultivated, and a large portion of the Bre- 
 hon Laws is devoted to regulating this article of com- 
 merce. 
 
 From the earliest period, Ireland was richly wooded ; 
 hence the Annals were full of records of "plain clear- 
 ings, " as one of the first and most important occupa- 
 tions of each new tribe of immigrants. It was always 
 an Emerald Isle, in verdure and fertility, and the com- 
 paratively recent bog deposits have preserved abun- 
 dant remains of its ancient flora. Hazel, oak, yew, and 
 pine, of gigantic growth, have been found beneath the 
 deepest beds of this desiccative substance, now denom- 
 inated turf, and composed of mosses, heath and grasses, 
 compressed into solid form. Three species of pine 
 have been discovered, and the Annals mention hazel 
 nuts, acorn, beech nuts, and crab-apples in their list of 
 edibles 
 
SECOND. OR IRISH PENTARCHY PERIOD. 
 
 FROM A.D. 428 TO A. D 795. 
 
 PKINCIPAL EVENTS. 
 
 THE REIGN OF KING LAEGHAIRE — THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MIS- 
 SIONS TO IRELAND — THE CAPTIVITY AND MISSION OF ST. 
 PATRICK — THE FOUNDATION OF THE KINGDOM OF SCOT- 
 LAND BY THE DALARADIANS — THE CONVERSION OF CONTI- 
 NENTAL NATIONS BY IRISH MISSIONARIES — THE FOUNDA- 
 TION OF NUMEROUS COLLEGES AND MONASTIC SCHOOLS 
 IN IRELAND — THE THREE ORDERS OF IRISH SAINTS — THE 
 MISSIONS OF ST. COLUMBA IN SCOTLAND, AND OF ST. COL- 
 UMBANUS ON THE CONTINENT. 
 
THE IRISH PENTARCHY. 
 
 57 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE IRISH PENTARCHY". 
 
 A. D. 428 TO A.D. 458. 
 
 Synchronous Events: Valentian III., Emperor of the West— Theo- 
 dosius the Great, Emperor of the East — Pharamond, King of 
 the Franks — Britain abandoned by the Romans— Invasion of 
 the Saxons — Spain under the Vandals — General Council of Ephe- 
 sus — St. Augustine, Bishop of HipiDO — Pontificate of St. Celes- 
 tine. 
 
 Nial of the Nine Hostages had fourteen sons, eight 
 of whom left issue. The eldest, Laeghaire, succeeded 
 his uncle Dathi as Ard-Righ, or chief monarch of Ire- 
 land. His descendants had the tribe name of Hy-Niall ; 
 but the families of his twin sons Eoghan and Conall 
 Gulban are distinguished as the northern Hy-Niall. 
 Another son, Conall Crivan, is the progenitor of the 
 southern Hy-Nialls. This branch of the family, how- 
 ever, never attained the same importance as the north- 
 ern sept. 
 
 In the second year of Laeghaire' the Four Masters 
 have the following record : " In this year, Pope Celes- 
 tinus the First sent Palladius to Ireland, to propagate 
 the faith among the Irish ; and he landed in the county 
 of Leinster with a company of twelve men. Dathi, son 
 of Garchu, refused to admit him ; but he baptized a few 
 persons in Ireland, and three wooden churches were 
 erected by him, namely, Cell-Fine, Teach-na-Romhan, 
 and Domhnach-Arta. At Cell-Fine he left his books, 
 and a shrine, with the relics of Paul and Peter and 
 many martyrs besides. He left these four in those 
 churches — Augustinus, Benedictus, Silvester, and Soli- 
 nus. Palladius, on his returning back to Rome (as he 
 did not receive respect in Ireland), contracted a dis- 
 ease in the country of the Crinthuigh, and died there- 
 of." 
 
 There are many authorities for this brief account of 
 
58 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 the earliest Christian mission to Ireland, but the prin- 
 cipal authority apart from the Irish Annals is the 
 " Chronicle " of Prosper. He thus records this import- 
 ant event : " Palladius was consecrated by Pope Celes- 
 tine, and sent as the first bishop to the Irish believing 
 in Christ." The words ad Scotos in Christum ere- 
 denies evidence an opinion that there were some con- 
 verts already in Ireland. This, doubtless, was the 
 result of occasional intercourse with Britain, where 
 Tertullian informs us that as early as the second cen- 
 tury parts of the country not yet visited by the Romans 
 were already subject to Christ. But little is known of 
 the early history of Palladius. Prosper states that 
 through his intervention Pope Celestine sent Germanus, 
 the world-famous Bishop of Auxerre, in his own place 
 (vice sua) to root out heresy, and to direct the Britons to 
 the Catholic faith, for Agricola, a Pelagian, son of Sever- 
 ianus, a Pelagian bishop, had corrupted the churches 
 of Britain, "by insinuation of his doctrine." 
 
 The Irish writers, and especially Muircha-Macca- 
 Mactheni, in the " Book of Armagh," style him chief 
 deacon of St. Celestine. This was an important posi- 
 tion in the Roman Church. The Popes were frequently 
 chosen from the ranks of the Roman Deacons, on whom 
 during the vacancy of the See, or the captivity of a 
 pontiff, the administration devolved. 
 
 The sites of two of the churches which Palladius 
 erected have been identified. They were situated in 
 the territory of Hy-Garrchon, on the river Inver Dee, 
 in the east of the present county of Wicklow. The 
 site of Cell-Fine is doubtful, but may be the present 
 Dunlavin. Teach-na-Romhan, or the House of the 
 Romans, has been identified as Tigwin, and Domhnach- 
 Arta as Dunard, near Redcross. 
 
 The reign of Laeghaire has few events of interest 
 apart from ecclesiastical history. Under the age of 
 Christ, a. d. 431, the Annals record the ordination of 
 St. Patrick by Pope Celestine, and in the following 
 year they mention his arrival in Ireland, thus: "The 
 fourth year of Laeghaire. Patrick came to Ireland this 
 year, and proceeded to baptize and bless the Irish — j 
 men, women, sons, and daughters, except a few who 
 did not consent to receive faith and baptism from him, j 
 
COMPILATION OF THE BREHON LAW. 
 
 59 
 
 as his Life relates." As the introduction of Christian- 
 ity into any nation leads to the most important changes 
 socially and politically, a detailed account of St. Pat- 
 rick's life and mission will be given in a separate 
 section. 
 
 In the tenth year of King Laeghaire, the " writ- 
 ings and old books " of Ireland were collected by the 
 request of St. Patrick, and under the direction of the 
 king, to one place, that they might be carefully exam- 
 ined and revised. The works thus collected are called 
 the Seanchus and Feinechus, the History and Laws. 
 From these the great law-book called the Senchus Mor 
 was compiled. According to the account given in the 
 Senchus itself, nine persons were engaged in the com- 
 pilation : "Laeghaire, Core, Dairi, the hardy; Patrick, 
 Benen, Cairnech, the priests ; Rossa, Dubhthach, Fer- 
 gus, with science ; these were the nine pillars of the 
 Senchus Mor." The authority for the authorship, with 
 an account of the work, will be given in the section on 
 the Laws of Ancient Ireland. 
 
 Laeghaire' died a Pagan, after a reign of thirty years. 
 Pie had attempted to reimpose the Boromean tribute, 
 and for this purpose he engaged in war with the Hein- 
 ster men. In 453 he gained a victory over them, but 
 in 457 he was defeated and captured at Ath-dara, on 
 the river Barrow. Before his release he was obliged 
 to swear, by the old Pagan oath, that he would not 
 again demand tribute from them. The following year 
 he broke this solemn pledge, and as he was struck dead 
 by lightning, or in some sudden manner, when return- 
 ing home from battle, the bards attributed his death to 
 the agency of the " gods," whose honor he had violated 
 by breaking the oath made " by the sun and moon." 
 
 Before entering on the history of the Roman missions 
 for the conversion of Pagan Ireland, and the wonderful 
 success of St. Patrick, it will be necessary to take a 
 brief glance at the five great divisions or kingdoms of 
 Ireland ; their origin, their mode of government, and 
 the principal governing families and clans of each prov- 
 ince. 
 
 The four provinces into which Ireland is divided at' 
 present correspond in some respects with the ancient 
 divisions. The kingdom of Meath, though the small- 
 
60 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 est, was the most important portion of the ancient pen- 
 tarehy. The plain of Meath, which includes the greater 
 part of the present counties of Meath and Dublin, was 
 known by the name of Magh Breagh, the great or mag- 
 nificent plain. Part of this kingdom, at a later period, 
 was called Fingal, from the Danes or Norwegians who 
 planted a colony there, and were denominated by the 
 Irish Fine Gall, or the tribe of foreigners. The plain 
 of Brigra, or the Brigantes, so called from being pos- 
 sessed by the Brigantes, extendednorthward from Dublin 
 to Drogheda, and thence to Kells, including Tara, Trim, 
 Navan, Athboy, &c. Another great division of an- 
 cient Meath was called Tebtha (Tenia). It comprised 
 the present county Meath, with part of Longford, and 
 the King's Oouuty. 
 
 The Irish chief monarch, or Ard-Righ, was generally 
 selected from amongst the kings of Meath. From the 
 earliest historical period to the fifth century, the Ard- 
 Righ was chosen occasionally from the descendants of 
 Eber, Eremon or Ir ; but from the fifth century to the 
 eleventh century the O'Neils, of the race of Eremon, held 
 the chief regal power. In 1002, however, Brian Boru, 
 King of Munster, who was of the race of Eber, dethroned 
 Malachy and became monarch of Ireland. The kings 
 of Meath had their chief residence at Dun-na Sciath, or 
 the Fortress of the Shields, situated on the banks of 
 Lough Ainnim, now Lough Ennell, near Mullingar. 
 
 Murtagh O'Malaghlin wa's King of Meath at the time 
 of the Norman invasion, and his kingdom was trans- 
 ferred to Hugh de Lacy by a grant of Henry II. He 
 was the last independent king of Meath. The family 
 has become now almost extinct, though it was one of 
 the five royal Milesian families eligible for the chief 
 sovereignty. The other families were the O'Neils, 
 kings of Ulster ; the O'Conors, kings of Connaught ; 
 the O'Brians, kings of Munster ; and the MacMurraghs, 
 kings of Leinster, now represented by the O'Cavenaghs, 
 Each of these great families have still noble representa- 
 tives. 
 
 In 1172 Hugh de Lacy was appointed Lord Palatine 
 by Henry II., and dispossessed all these princes as far 
 as he could, to distribute the land amongst his follow- 
 ers. The following are the names of a few of the prin- 
 
TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS. 
 
 61 
 
 cipal Anglo-Norman settlers : The Plunketts, who be- 
 came Earls of Fingal ; the Gormanstons ; the Barons of 
 Trimblestown ; the Bellews, the Davies, the Cusacks, 
 and the Darceys. 
 
 The kingdom of Munster is said to have derived its 
 name from a pagan Irish king, whose existence even 
 is doubtful. Ancient Munster comprised the present 
 counties of Tipperary, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Limer- 
 ick, and part of Kilkenny. It was divided into Tuadh 
 Mumhan, anglicized Thomond ; Des Mumhan, anglicized 
 Desmond ; Oirmhumha, anglicized Ormond ; and West 
 Munster, known as Iar Mumhain. These districts 
 should be carefully remembered, and noted, as they 
 will be frequently mentioned at a later period. Mun- 
 ster, it is said, was governed by the Milesians of the 
 race of Eber ; and from this race many Ard-Righs were 
 elected. In early times the descendants of Ith, son of 
 Breogan, and uncle of Milesius, possessed considerable 
 portions of this territory. 
 
 The ancient kingdom of Luighen, now Leinster, com- 
 prised the present counties of Wexford, Wicklow, Car- 
 low, and Queen's County, with part of Kilkenny, King's 
 County, Kildare, and that part of the county Dublin 
 south of the river Liffey. In the reign of Queen Eliza- 
 beth the old kingdom of Meath was added to Leinster, 
 with the county of Louth, which until then formed a 
 part of the kingdom of Ulster. 
 
 The MacMurroughs were kings of Leinster previous 
 to the English invasion, and maintained their inde- 
 pendence for several centuries. They were represented 
 by the O'Cavenaghs at a later period. The O'Tooles 
 were the most important of the Leinster chieftains. 
 
 The principal Anglo-Norman settlers in Leinster were 
 the Talbots, Butlers, Keatings, Esmondes, Howards, 
 Eustaces, &c. Some of the most important famiilies 
 settled in this part of Ireland partly because it was 
 nearest to the English coast, and partly because, for the 
 same reason, it was the most easily subdued. 
 
 The kingdom of Uladh, or Ulster, comprised the coun- 
 ties of Louth, Monaghan, Armagh, Down, Antrim, Ty- 
 rone, Deny, Donegal, and Fermanagh. The county 
 Cavan, which was part of Brefney, belonged to Con- 
 naught, but was afterwards added to Ulster. The 
 
62 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 county Louth, which was part of ancient Ulster, was 
 added to Leinster. The divisions of this province are 
 frequently mentioned in Irish history, and should be 
 carefully remembered. 
 
 Tir Eogain comprised the present counties of Tyrone 
 and Deny, with part of Donegal. The kings of Ulster 
 resided at the celebrated fortress of Grinan, situated on 
 a hill of the same name. The ruins indicate a structure 
 of great extent and Cyclopean architecture. Tir Eogain 
 obtained its name from Owen, son of Nial, of the Nine 
 Hostages, and was anglicized into Tyrone. 
 
 The name of Meath, originally applied to the whole 
 province of Ulster, was at a later period confined to a 
 large territory comprising the present county Down 
 and part of Antrim. This district was also called Dala- 
 riada, from dal, a part or portion, and Ariada, a king of 
 Ulster in the third century. The chief clans were : the 
 Dunlevys, heads of the famous military race of the Red- 
 branch Knights ; the MacGuires ; the O'Flynns ; and 
 the MacGowans. In the fourteenth century Hugh Boy 
 O'Neil took possession of the northern part of Dalariada, 
 and from him it obtained the name of Claneboy. 
 
 The chief Norman settlers here were: John de 
 Courcy ; the De Lacys, who expelled him, as he had 
 expelled the native princes ; and the De Burgos now 
 took the name of Burke, and became earls of Ulster. 
 
 The territory of Dalariada was divided into two large 
 districts — the Glynns, so called from its having several 
 large glens, and the Reuta. The MacDonalds of this 
 district were created earls of Antrim. 
 
 The kingdom of Connaught, in Irish Conacht, com- 
 prised the present counties of Galway, Mayo, Sligo, 
 Roscommon, Leitrim, and Cavan ; the latter county 
 was added in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The prin- 
 cipal district was Ui Fiachrach, called after a celebrated 
 warrior named Fiachra, whodied a. d. 402 of wounds re- 
 ceived in battle. He was the father of Dathi, who was 
 killed by lightning on the Alps. Amalgaidh, another 
 son of Fiachra, was king of Connaught ; and the terri- 
 tory of Tirawley, in Mayo, obtained its name from him. 
 
st. Patrick's life and labors. 
 
 63 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE MISSION OF ST. PATRICK AND THE INTRODUC- 
 TION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO IRELAND. 
 
 The sixth century was an age of missionary enterprise. 
 The rapid extension of the Roman conquests for several 
 centuries after the birth of Christ was a providential 
 means for facilitating the conversion of many nations. 
 England, Gaul, and many parts of Germany were thus 
 gradually civilized and enlightened ; and missionaries 
 were soon found amongst the new converts as zealous 
 in spreading the knowledge of the true Faith as their 
 teachers had been in imparting that knowledge. The 
 principal events in the life of the apostle of Ireland are 
 recorded in well-authenticated and ancient documents. 
 But some minor, and, for the present work, unimpor- 
 tant details are, and must always remain, undecided. 
 The birthplace of the saint is included in this category, 
 and has been contended for by several nationalities. 
 The more probable opinion, and that which at present 
 prevails, is that he was born in the neighborhood of 
 Boulogne. In his " Confession," a work still preserved, 
 he says that his family had a farm near the town of 
 Bonaven Tabernice, and that he was made captive there. 
 St. Patrick was made captive in his sixteenth year, and 
 when brought to Ireland was sold as a slave to a north- 
 ern chieftain named Milcho, whose possessions were in 
 that part of Dalariada now comprised in the present 
 county Antrim. 
 
 St. Patrick's father was a deacon, who had resigned 
 the office of a decurio to devote himself to missionary 
 work. His mother, Conchessa, was either a sister or 
 a niece of the famous St. Martin of Tours. The earli- 
 est biography of the saint was written by his disciple 
 Fiacc, who had been a pupil of the bard Dubtach, and 
 who was converted and ordained bishop by St. Patrick. 
 
64 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Hence there is both early and authentic material for the 
 life of the saint. 
 
 St. Patrick has himself recorded the harshness of his 
 captivity, and the cruelty of his masters, who kept him 
 day and night exposed to the severity of the weather, 
 feeding" sheep and swine upon the mountains. The 
 careful religious education which he had received in 
 his father's house, proved at once his safeguard and his 
 consolation. A hundred times in the day, and a hun- 
 dred times in the night, he informs us, he prayed to the 
 God of the captive and the slave, and after six years' 
 bondage he was delivered. While watching in the 
 night he heard a voice which commanded him to hasten 
 to a certain port, where he would find a ship ready to 
 take him to his own country. He thus describes his 
 escape : " And I came in the power of the Lord, who 
 directed my course towards a good end ; and I was 
 under no apprehension until I arrived where the ship 
 was. It was then clearing out, and I called for a pas- 
 sage. But the master of the vessel got angry, and said 
 to me, ' Do not attempt to come with us.' On hearing 
 this I retired, for the purpose of going to the cabin 
 where I had been received as a guest. And, on my 
 way thither, I began to pray ; but before I had finished 
 my prayer, I heard one of the men crying out with a 
 loud voice after me, ? Come, quickly ; for they are call- 
 ing you,' and immediately I returned. And they said 
 to me, ' Come, we receive thee on trust. Be our 
 friend, just as it may be agreeable to you.' We then 
 set sail, and after three days reached land." The two 
 breviaries of Rheims and Fiacc's Hymn agree in stating 
 that the men with whom Patrick embarked were mer- 
 chants from Gaul, and that they landed in a place 
 called Treguir, in Brittany, some distance from his 
 native place. Their charity, however, was amply re- 
 paid. Travelling through a desert country, they had 
 surely perished with hunger, if the prayers of the saint 
 had not, we are told, obtained them a miraculous sup- 
 ply of food. 
 
 It is said that St. Patrick suffered a second captivity, 
 which, however, only lasted sixty days ; but of this little 
 is known. After a short residence at the famous mon- 
 astery of St. Martin, near Tours, founded by his saintly 
 
VISION OF ST. PATRICE. 
 
 65 
 
 relative, he placed himself (probably in his thirtieth 
 year) under the direction of St. Germain of Auxerre. 
 
 It was about this period that he was favored with the 
 remarkable vision relating to his Irish apostolate. He 
 thus describes it in his " Confession : " — 
 
 "I saw, in a nocturnal vision, a man named Victori- 
 ous, coming as if from Ireland, with a large parcel of 
 letters, one of which he handed to me. On reading the 
 beginning of it, I found it contained these words : 'The 
 voice of the Irish ; ; and while reading it I thought I 
 heard, at the same moment, the voice of a multitude of 
 persons near the Wood of Foclut, which is near the 
 western sea ; and they cried out, as if with one voice, 
 1 We entreat thee, holy youth, to come and henceforth walk 
 amongst us.' And I was greatly affected in my heart, 
 and could read no longer ; and then I awoke. " 
 
 St. Patrick retired to Italy after this vision, and there 
 spent many years. During this period he visited Lerins 
 and other islands in the Mediterranean. Lerins was 
 even then called the insulabeata, from the number of holy 
 men who dwelt there, or who came thither forinstruction. 
 St. Honoratus, the founder of this famous school and 
 monastery, was then living, and many persons of note 
 were assembled there at the time of St. Patrick's visit. 
 Amongst others we find the names of St. Hilary of 
 Aries, St. Lupus of Troyes, and St. Vincent of Lerins. 
 
 But the most important event in the life of the saint 
 was his visit to Eome, where he received authority from 
 Pope Celestine to undertake his mission, since without 
 this authorization his labors would have been useless, 
 because they would have wanted the divine benediction. 
 St. Germanus, the earliest friend of the saint, sent one 
 of his own priests with him to testify to his character, 
 and for companionship. St. Patrick's devotion to the 
 Holy See was but what might be expected from a 
 Saint, and was manifested in the strongest manner 
 throughout his life. 
 
 There is some doubt as to the time and place of his 
 episcopal consecration, but there is no doubt that he 
 obtained the special blessing of the Pope upon his work. 1 
 
 1 Full details will "be found in the Life of St. Patrick just published 
 by the author of the work. May we request our readers to procure it, 
 and promote the circulation. It is sold for us by the Catholic Publi* 
 cation Society, 9 Warren street, ISew York. 
 
66 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 In the year 432 St. Patrick landed in Ireland. It 
 was the first year of the pontificate of St. Sixtus III., 
 the successor ox Celestine ; the fourth year of the reign 
 of Laeghaire, son of Nial of the Nine Hostages, King of 
 Ireland. It is generally supposed that the saint landed 
 first at a place called Inbher De, believed to be the 
 mouth of the Bray river, in Wicklow. Here he was 
 repulsed by the inhabitants — a circumstance which can 
 be easily accounted for from its proximity to the terri- 
 tory of King Nathi, who had so lately driven away his 
 predecessor, Palladius. 
 
 St. Patrick returned to his ship, and sailing towards 
 the north, landed at the little island of Holm Patrick, 
 near Skerries, off the north coast of Dublin. After a 
 brief stay he proceeded still further northward, and 
 finally entering Strangford Lough, landed with his com- 
 panions in the district of Magh-Inis, in the present 
 barony of Lecale. Having penetrated some distance 
 into the interior, they were encountered by Dicho, the 
 lord of the soil, who, hearing of their embarkation, and 
 supposing them to be pirates, had assembled a formida- 
 ble body of retainers to expel them from his shores. 
 But it is said that the moment he perceived Patrick, his 
 apprehensions vanished. After some brief converse, 
 Dicho invited the saint and his companions to his house, 
 and soon after received himself the grace of holy bap- 
 tism. Dicho was St. Patrick's first convert, and the 
 first who erected a Christian church under his direction. 
 The memory of this event is still preserved in the name 
 Saull, the modern contraction of Sabhall Padruic, or 
 Patrick's Barn. The saint was especially attached to 
 the scene of his first missionary success, and frequently 
 retired to the monastery which was established there 
 later. 
 
 After a brief residence with the new converts, Patrick 
 set out for the habitation of his old master Milcho. It 
 is said that when Milcho heard of the approach of his 
 former slave, he became so indignant, that, in a violent 
 fit of passion, he set fire to his house, and perished him- 
 self in the flames. The saint returned to Saull, and from 
 thence journeyed by water to the mouth of the Boyne, 
 where he landed at a small port called Colp. Tara was 
 his destination; but on his way thither he stayed a night 
 
ST. PATRICK AT TAR A. 
 
 67 
 
 at the house of a man of property named Seschnan. 
 This man and his whole family were baptized, and one 
 of his sons received the name of Benignus from St. Pat- 
 rick, on account of the gentleness of his manner. 
 
 On Holy Saturday St. Patrick arrived at Slane, where 
 he caused a tent to be erected, and lighted the paschal 
 fire at nightfall, preparatory to the celebration of the 
 Easter festival. The princes and chieftains of Meath 
 were, at the same time, assembled at Tara, where King 
 Laeghaire was holding a great pagan festival. The 
 object of this meeting has been disputed, some authori- 
 ties saying that it was convoked to celebrate the Bel- 
 tinne, or fire of Bal or Baal ; others, that the king was 
 commemorating his own birthday. On the festival of 
 Beltinne, it was forbidden to light any fire until a flame 
 was visible from the top of Tara Hill. Laeghaire was 
 indignant that this regulation should have been in- 
 fringed ; and probably the representation of his druids, 
 regarding the mission of the great apostle, did not tend 
 to allay his wrath. Determined to examine himself 
 into the intention of these bold strangers, he set forth, 
 accompanied by his bards and attendants, to the place 
 where the sacred fire had been kindled, and ordered the 
 apostle to be brought before him, strictly commanding, 
 at the same time, that no respect should be shown to 
 him. 
 
 Notwithstanding the king's command, Ere, the son 
 of Dego, rose up to salute him, obtained the grace of 
 conversion, and was subsequently promoted to the epis- 
 copate. The result of this interview was the appoint- 
 ment of a public discussion, to take place the next day 
 at Tara, between St. Patrick and the pagan bards. 
 
 It was Easter Sunday — a day ever memorable for 
 this event in the annals of Erin. Laeghaire and his 
 court sat in state to receive the ambassador of the 
 Eternal King. Treacherous preparations had been 
 made, and it was anticipated that Patrick and his com- 
 panions would scarcely reach Tara alive. The saint 
 was aware of the machinations of his enemies ; but life 
 was of no value to him, save as a means of performing 
 the great work assigned him, and the success of that 
 work was in the hands of God. The old writers love to 
 dwell on the meek dignity of the apostle during this day 
 
68 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 of trial and triumph. He set forth with his companions, 
 from where he had encamped, in solemn procession, 
 singing a hymn of invocation which he had composed, 
 in the Irish tongue, for the occasion, and which is still 
 preserved, and well authenticated. He was clothed, as 
 usual, in white robes ; but he wore his mitre, and car- 
 ried in his hand the Staff of Jesus. Eight priests at- 
 tended him, robed also in white, and his youthful con- 
 vert, Benignus, the son of Seschnan. 
 
 Thus, great in the arms of meekness and prayer, the 
 Christian hosts faced the array of pagan pomp and 
 pride. Again the monarch had commanded that no 
 honor should be paid to the saint, and again he was 
 disobeyed. His own chief poet and druid, Dubtach, 
 rose up instantly on the entrance of the strangers, and 
 saluted the venerable apostle with affection and respect. 
 The Christian doctrine was then explained by St. Pat- 
 rick to his wondering audience, and such an impression 
 was made, that although Laeghaire lived and died an 
 obstinate pagan, he nevertheless permitted the saint to 
 preach where and when he would, and to receive all 
 who might come to him for instruction or holy baptism. 
 
 On the following day St. Patrick repaired to Taillten, 
 where the public games were commencing ; and there 
 he remained for a week, preaching to an immense con- 
 course of people. Here his life was threatened by 
 Cairbre, a brother of King Laeghaire ; but the saint 
 was defended by another of the royal brothers, named 
 Conall Creevan, who was shortly after converted. The 
 church of Donough Patrick, in Meath, was founded by 
 his desire. It is said that all the Irish churches which 
 begin with the name of Donough were founded by the 
 saint, the foundation being always marked out by him 
 on a Sunday, for which Domhnach is the Gaedhilic 
 term. 
 
 Having preached for some time in the western part 
 of the territory of Meath, the saint proceeded as far 
 as Magh Slecht, where the great idol of the nation 
 Ceann (or Crom) Cruach was solemnly worshipped. 
 The legend of its destruction, as given in the oldest 
 annals, is singularly interesting. We give a brief 
 extract from Professor 7 Curry's translation : " When 
 Patrick saw the idol from, the water, which is named 
 
st. Patrick's missionary labors. 
 
 69 
 
 Guthard (loud voice — i. e. he elevated his voice) ; and 
 when he approached near the idol, he raised his arm to 
 lay the Staff of Jesus on him, and it did not reach him ; 
 he bent back from the attempt upon his right side, for 
 it was to the south his face was ; and the mark of the 
 staff lies in his left side still, although the staff did not 
 leave Patrick's hand ; and the earth swallowed the 
 other twelve idols to their heads ; and they are in that 
 condition in commemoration of the miracle. And he 
 called upon all the people cum rege Laeghuire ; they it 
 was that adored the idol. And all the people saw him 
 (<. e. the demon), and they dreaded their dying if Pat- 
 rick had not sent him to hell." 
 
 After this glorious termination of Easter week, the 
 saint made two other important converts. He set out 
 for Oonnaught ; and when near Rath Cruaghan, met the 
 daughters of King Laeghaire, the princesses Ethnea 
 and Fethlimia, who were coming, in patriarchal fashion, 
 to bathe in a neighboring well. These ladies were under 
 the tuition of certain druids, or magi ; but they will- 
 ingly listened to the instruction of the saint, and were 
 converted and baptized. 
 
 The interview took place at daybreak. The royal 
 sisters heard the distant chant of the priests, who were 
 reciting matins as they walked along; and when they 
 approached and beheld them in their white garments, 
 singing, with books in their hands, it was naturally 
 supposed that they were not beings of earth. 
 
 " Who are ye ? " they inquired of the saint and his 
 companions. " Are ye of the sea, the heavens, or the 
 earth?" 
 
 St. Patrick explained to them such of the Christian 
 mysteries as were most necessary at the moment, and 
 spoke of the one only true God. 
 
 " But where," they asked, "does your God dwell? 
 Is it in the sun or on earth, in mountains or in valleys, 
 in the sea or in rivers ? " 
 
 Then the apostle told them of his God — the Eternal, 
 the Invisible — and how He had indeed dwelt on earth 
 as man, but only to suffer and die for their salvation. 
 As the maidens listened to his words, their hearts were 
 kindled with heavenly love, and they inquired further 
 what they could do to show their gratitude to this 
 
70 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 great King. In that same hour they were baptized ; 
 and in a short time they consecrated themselves to 
 Him, the story of whose surpassing charity had so 
 moved their young hearts. 
 
 After the conversion of the princesses Ethnea and 
 Fethlimia, St. Patrick traversed almost every part of 
 Connaught, and is said to have proved his mission by 
 the exercise of miraculous powers. 
 
 The saint's greatest success was in the land of Tiraw- 
 ley, near the town of Foclut, from whence he had heard 
 the voice of the Irish even in his native land. As he 
 approached this district, he learned that the seven sons 
 of King Amalgaidh were celebrating a great festival. 
 Their father had but lately died, and it was said these 
 youths exceeded all the princes of the land in martial 
 courage and skill in combat. St. Patrick advanced in 
 solemn procession even into the very midst of the 
 assembly, and for his reward obtained the conversion 
 of the seven princes and twelve thousand of their fol- 
 lowers. It is said that his life was at this period in 
 some danger, but that Endeus, one of the converted 
 princes, and his son Conall, protected him. After seven 
 years spent in Connaught, he passed into Ulster ; there 
 many received the grace of holy baptism, especially in 
 that district now comprised in the county Monaghan. 
 
 It was probably about this time that the saint 
 returned to Meath, and appointed his nephew, St. 
 Secundinus or Sechnal, who was bishop of the place 
 already mentioned as Domhnach Sechnail, to preside 
 over the northern churches during his own absence in 
 the southern part of Ireland. 
 
 The saint then visited those parts of Leinster which 
 had been already evangelized by Palladius, and laid the 
 foundation of many new churches. He placed one of 
 his companions, bishop Auxilius, at Killossy, near 
 Naas, and another, Isserninus, at Kilcullen, both in the 
 present county of Kildare. At Leix, in the Queen's 
 County, he obtained a great many disciples, and from 
 thence he proceeded to visit his friend, the poet Dubtach, 
 who, it will be remembered, paid him special honor at 
 Tara, despite the royal prohibition to the contrary. Dub- 
 tach, lived in that part of the country called Hy-Kinsal- 
 lagh, now the county Carlow. It was here the poet Piacc 
 
DEATH OF ST. PATRICK. 
 
 71 
 
 was first introduced to the saint, whom he afterwards 
 so faithfully followed. Fiacc had been a disciple of 
 Dubtach, and was by profession a bard, and a member 
 of an illustrious house. He was the first Leinster man 
 raised to episcopal dignity. It was probably at this 
 period that St. Patrick visited Munster, and the touch- 
 ing incident already related occurred at the baptism of 
 Aengus. This prince was singularly devout, as indeed 
 his conduct during the administration of the sacrament 
 of regeneration could not fail to indicate. 
 
 The saint's mission in Munster was eminently suc- 
 cessful. Lonan, the chief of the district of Ormonde, 
 entertained him with great hospitality, and thousands 
 embraced the faith. Many of the inhabitants of Oorca 
 Baiscin crossed the Shannon in their hide-covered boats 
 (curaghs) when the saint was on the southern side, in 
 Hy-Figeinfe, and were baptized by him in the waters 
 of their magnificent river. At their earnest entreaty, 
 St. Patrick ascended a hill which commanded a view of 
 the country of the Dalcassians, and gave his benedic- 
 tion to the whole territory. This hill is called Findine 
 in the ancient lives of the saint ; but this name is now 
 obsolete. Local traditions and antiquarian investiga- 
 tion make it probable that the favored spot is that now 
 called Onoc Patrick, near Foyngs Island. 
 
 The saint's next journey was in the direction of Kerry, 
 where he prophesied that " St. Brendan, of the race of 
 Hua Alta, the great patriarch of monks and star of the 
 western world, would be born, and that his birth would 
 take place some years after his own death. " 
 
 The See of Armagh was founded about the year 455, 
 towards the close of the great apostle's life. The royal 
 palace of Emania, in the immediate neighborhood, was 
 then the residence of the kings of Ulster. A wealthy 
 chief, by name Daire, gave the saint a portion of land 
 for the erection of his cathedral on an eminence called 
 Druim-Sailech, the Hill of Sallows. This high ground 
 is now occupied by the city of Armagh (Ard-Macha). 
 Religious houses for both sexes were established near 
 the church, and soon were filled with ardent and de- 
 voted subjects. 
 
 The saint's labors were now drawing to a close, and 
 he was warned, as many holy men have been of his 
 
72 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 approaching end. He wished to die at Armagh, where 
 he had founded the Episcopal See, which remains to the 
 present day as a monument of the fidelity of the Irish 
 race to the faith of their fathers. But his desire, 
 though, no doubt, most pure and holy, was not to be 
 fulfilled. An angel appeared to him, and desired him 
 to return to Saull. Here he died on the 17th of March, 
 a. d. 465, after having received the Holy Viaticum and 
 the last anointing from Bishop Tassach. 
 
DEATH OF ST. B RIGID. 
 
 73 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MILESIAN CHRISTIAN KINGS OF THE PENTAHCHY 
 PERIOD. — IRISH SAINTS AND MISSIONARIES. 
 
 A.D.503TO A.D. 778. 
 
 Contemporary Events:— Death of Clo vis— Justinian proclaimed 
 Emperor — Belisarius retakes Rome — Foundation of the King- 
 dom of Lombardy — Phocas proclaimed Emperor — Chosroes 
 conquers Mesopotamia — Heraclius invades Persia— Mohammed 
 commences his career — Theodosius retires into a monastery — 
 Leo, Emperor — Charlemagne visits Rome — Commencement of 
 the age of Chivalry. 
 
 After Lughaidh, son of Laeghaire, had governed Ire- 
 land for twenty-five years, he was killed at Ashadh-far- 
 cha by lightning, a. d. 503. The foundation of the 
 kingdom of Scotland by a colony from Ireland is set 
 down by most chronologists under this date. During 
 the reign of Conaire II., at the close of the second cen- 
 tury of the Christian era, a colony was led into Scotland 
 by Carbry Kiada, from whom the Dalariadians of both 
 Antrim and Scotland took their name. They held their 
 ground in their new country, notwithstanding the op- 
 position of the Picts, until the commencement of the 
 sixth century. The Picts now made a vigorous effort 
 to expel the intruders, and would have succeeded if 
 the colony had not obtained assistance from Ireland. 
 Loarn, Angus, and Feargus, the sons of Ere, went to 
 the scene of combat with a strong reinforcement of 
 Dalariadians, and Fergus obtained the sovereignty of 
 Scotland. 
 
 He is said to have obtained from his cousin, Murker- 
 tach, then king of Ireland, the famous Lia Fail, that he 
 might secure the Scottish throne to the Irish race for 
 ever. 
 
 St. Brigid, the celebrated abbess of the monastery of 
 Kildare, died during this reign. She was of noble birth, 
 4 
 
COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 and descended from Conn of the Hundred Battles. 
 But she ennobled her life by charities, incomparably 
 greater than any merely inherited honor. Her fame is 
 chiefly connected with her monastery at Kildare, — in 
 Irish, Cell Dare, or the Church of the Oak. She trav- 
 ersed the whole country at different periods, and every- 
 where left monuments of her humility and zeal. St. 
 Brigid died, at an advanced age, on February 1, 525. 
 She was reverenced in Scotland as well as in Ireland ; 
 and the western isles, Hy Brides, are said to have their 
 name from her. 
 
 In the year 543, Ireland was desolated by one of those 
 mysterious pestilences which defy all calculation as to 
 their cause. This plague is called by Irish writers the 
 Blefed, or the Grom Chonaill ; the latter term indicates a 
 sickness which produced a yellow color in the skin. It 
 originated in the East ; and in Ireland was preceded by 
 famine, and followed by leprosy. 
 
 Diarmaid, son of Fergus, head of the southern Hy- 
 Nial race was Ard-Righ during this period. He reigned 
 for twenty years, and is much praised by the annalists 
 for his integrit}^. Domestic dissensions, the curse of 
 Ireland from her earliest existence to the present time, 
 were not suspended even during this fearful visitation. 
 Diarmaid was at war with Guaire, king of Connaught, ac- 
 cording to one account to chastise an act of injustice, 
 according to another to enforce payment of a tribute. 
 The cause probably mattered little, for a casus belli was 
 seldom wanted in those ages. 
 
 Diarmaid was the last Ard-Righ who resided at Tara ; 
 and the last convention of the Irish Pentarchy was 
 p held there by him a. d. 554. Soon after, St. Rodanus 
 of Lothra, in Tipperary, pronounced a solemn maledic- 
 tion on the place, in punishment for violation of the 
 saint's sanctuary by the king. The royal hill was 
 deserted; no monarch dared to reside there ; and so 
 complete was the desolation, that in 915 it is described 
 as a desert grown over with weeds. Enough, however, 
 still remains to give ample evidence of its former great- 
 ness and extent. From this period, the Ard-Righs of 
 Ireland resided in different places. The monarchs of 
 the northern Hy-Nial race lived at the ancient fortress 
 of Aileach, near Derry. The monarchs of the southern 
 
ST. COLUMBA. 
 
 T5 
 
 Hy-Nials lived at one time at the Rath, near Castlepol- 
 lard, and subsequently at Dun~na-Sciath, near Mullin- 
 gar. 
 
 The latter part of Diarmaid's reign was disturbed by 
 dissensions with St. Columba, the great apostle of the 
 Picts. St. Columba's father, Fedhlime, was a grandson 
 of Conall Gulban, son of Nial of the Nine Hostages. 
 His mother, Erca, was descended directly from Loarn, 
 one of the founders of the Dalariadic colony in Scotland. 
 Hence the saint was necessarily connected with many 
 of the political disturbances of the times. 
 
 The immediate subject of dispute was a book, and 
 the right of sanctuary. In that age, the subjects were 
 of considerable importance. A book was considered of 
 almost as much value as one of the many petty king- 
 doms into which the country was divided ; the right 
 of sanctuary, apart from all religious considerations, 
 was one of the greatest social blessings of an age of 
 frequent violence and injustice. 
 
 St. Columba had borrowed a book from St. Pinnen, 
 and had copied some portions of the Sacred Scriptures 
 from it, without his friend's permission. A discussion 
 arose upon the merits of the case, and Diarmaid was 
 chosen arbitrator. He decided against Columba, and 
 even required that he should give up the copy which he 
 had made, assigning as a ground for his unjust judg- 
 ment the Irish proverb, that "the calf should follow 
 the cow," and so the copy should follow the book, 
 of sanctuary. The young son of the King of Con- 
 
 The breach was still further widened by a violation 
 naught killed the son of Diarmaid's steward acciden- 
 tally, while engaged in a game of hurling at Tara. This 
 was precisely one of the cases for which sanctuary was 
 provided, and in which its privileges should have been 
 deemed most sacred. Diarmaid commanded the unfor- 
 tunate youth to be put to death, and he was torn from 
 the very arms of St. Columba, and executed without 
 mercy. Columba threatened the king with vengeance 
 from his powerful race, and Diarmaid placed a guard 
 over him to prevent his escape. But, according to the 
 Annals, " the justice of God threw a veil of unrecogni- 
 tion" around him, and he escaped. As he traversed 
 the lonely plains between Tara and his native Tyrcon- 
 
76 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 nell, he composed and chanted one of the most noble 
 and . sublime canticles on record, which commences 
 thus : — 
 
 Alone am I upon the mountain, 
 
 O King of Heaven, prosper my way; 
 
 And then nothing need I fear, 
 
 More than if guarded by six thousand men. 
 
 The outrage on sanctuary was amply chastised by 
 Columba's kindred. Aedh, king" of Connaught, and 
 father of the unfortunate youth, was joined by the 
 Hy-Nials, and the Cinel Owen, and Cinel Conaill, St. 
 Columba's relatives. A fierce battle was fought at 
 Cuildrevne, near Sligo, a. d. 561, where Diarmaid and 
 his clans were defeated. 
 
 The copy of the Psalms, which was the original cause 
 of dispute, still exists. It consists of fifty -eight leaves 
 of fine vellum, written in a small uniform hand, with 
 some slight attempt at illumination. The caligraphy 
 indicates a work completed in considerable haste. 
 
 The first great convention of the Irish States, after 
 the abandonment of Tara, was held at Drumceat, a. d. 
 573, in the reign of Hugh, son of Ainmire. St. Co- 
 lumba and the leading members of the Irish clergy 
 attended. Precedence was given to the saint by the 
 prelates of North Britain, to honor his capacity of apos- 
 tle or founder of the Church in that country. 
 
 Two important subjects were discussed on this occa- 
 sion, and on each the opinion of St. Columba was 
 accepted as definitive. The first referred to the long- 
 vexed question, whether the Scottish colony of Alba 
 should still be considered dependent on the mother 
 country. The saint, foreseeing the annoyances to 
 which a continuance of this dependence must give rise, 
 advised that it should be henceforth respected as an in- 
 dependent state. The second question was one of less 
 importance in the abstract, but far more difficult to 
 settle satisfactorily. The bards, or more probably per- 
 sons who wished to enjoy their immunities and priv- 
 ileges without submitting to the ancient laws which 
 obliged them to undergo a long and severe course of 
 study before becoming licentiates, if we may use the 
 expression, of that honorable calling, had become so 
 numerous and troublesome, that loud demands were 
 made for their entire suppression. The king, who prob- 
 
ASSASSINATION OF SWEENE MEN. 
 
 ably suffered from their insolence as much as any of 
 his subjects, was inclined to comply with the popular 
 wish, but yielded so far to the representations of St. 
 Columba as merely to diminish their numbers, and 
 place them under stricter rules. 
 
 Hugh Ainmire was killed while endeavoring to exact 
 the Boromean Tribute. The place of his death was 
 called Dunbolg, or the Fort of the Bags. The Leinster 
 king, Bran Dubh, had recourse to a stratagem, from 
 whence the name was derived. Finding himself unable 
 to cope with the powerful army of his opponent, he en- 
 tered his camp disguised as a leper, and spread a report 
 that the Leinster men were preparing to submit. 
 
 In the evening, a number of bullocks, laden with 
 leathern bags, were seen approaching the royal camp. 
 The drivers, when challenged by the sentinels, said that 
 they were bringing provisions ; and this so tallied with 
 the leper's tale, that they were permitted to deposit 
 their burdens without further inquiry. In the night, 
 however, an armed man sprang from each bag, and, 
 headed by their king, whose disguise was no longer 
 needed, slaughtered the royal army without mercy, 
 Hugh himself falling a victim to the personal bravery 
 of Bran Dubh. 
 
 The northern and southern Hy-Nials had long held 
 rule in Ireland; but while the northern tribe were ever 
 distinguished, not only for their valor, but for their 
 chivalry in field or court, the southern race fell daily 
 lower in the estimation of their countrymen. Their dis- 
 grace was completed when two kings, who ruled Erin 
 jointly, were treacherously slain by Conall Guthvin. 
 For this crime, the family were excluded from regal 
 honors for several generations. 
 
 In 623 Congal Caech, king of Ulster, assassinated the 
 reigning sovereign, Sweene Men, while he was playing 
 chess on the green before his royal residence. He 
 ? was vanquished in battle the following year by Sweene's 
 successor, and obliged to fly from the country into 
 Britain, where he remained nine years. During his 
 exile he contrived to ingratiate himself with Saxons and 
 Britons, Picts and Scots, and to prepare for a hostile 
 invasion of Ireland. He returned to his native land in 
 634, and encountered the forces of the Ard-Righ, at 
 
78 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Magh Rath, now Moira, in the county Down, where he 
 was slain, and his foreign and native auxiliaries were 
 completely routed. This engagement is one of consid- 
 erable note in the early annals of Ireland. 
 
 In the year 656 Ireland was again visited by the fatal 
 Grom Ghonaill. Many orphans were, of necessity, 
 thrown on the mercy of those to whom charity was ■ 
 their only claim. Nor was the call unheeded. The 
 venerable bishop of Ardbraccan, St. Ultan, whom we 
 may perhaps term the St. Vincent of Ireland, gathered 
 these hapless little ones into a safe asylum, and there, 
 with a thoughtfulness which in such an age could 
 scarcely have been expected, sought to supply by arti- 
 ficial means the natural nourishment of which they had 
 been deprived. 
 
 Bede, mentioning this pestilence, gives honorable tes- 
 timony to the charity of the Irish, not only to their own 
 people, but even to strangers. He says: "This pes- 
 tilence did no less harm in the island of Ireland. Many 
 of the nobility, and of the lower ranks of the English 
 nation, were there at that time, who, in the days of 
 bishop Finan and Colman, forsaking their native land, 
 retired thither, either for the sake of divine studies, or 
 for a more continent life. The Scots willingly received 
 them all, and took care to supply them with food, as 
 also to furnish them with books to read and their teach- 
 ing gratis/ 7 
 
 In 673 Finnachta Fleadhach, or the Hospitable, began 
 his reign. He yielded to the entreaties of St. Moling, 
 and remitted the Boromean Tribute, after he had forced 
 it from the Leinster men in a bloody battle. In 687 he 
 abdicated, and embraced the monastic state. In 684 
 the Irish coasts were devastated, and even the churches 
 pillaged, by the soldiers of Egfrid, the Saxon king of 
 Northumbria. Bede attributes his subsequent defeat 
 and death, when fighting against the Picts, to the judg- 
 ment of God. St. Adamnan was sent to Northumbria, 
 after the death of this prince, to obtain the release of 
 the captives. His mission was successful, and he was 
 honored there as the worker of many miracles. 
 
 The generosity of Finnachta failed to settle the 
 vexed question of tribute. Comgal, who died in 708, 
 ravaged Leinster as fiercely as his predecessors, and 
 
DEFEAT OF THE LEINSTER MEN. 
 
 79 
 
 Fearghal, his successor, invaded it ''five times in one 
 year." Three wonderful showers are said to have 
 fallen in the eighth year of his reign (a. d. 716 accord- 
 ing to the Four Masters) — a shower of silver, a shower 
 of honey, and a shower of blood. These were, of 
 course, considered portents of the awful Danish inva- 
 sions. Fearghal was killed at the battle of Almhain 
 (Allen, near Kildare), in 118. In this engagement, the 
 Leinster men numbered only nine thousand, while their 
 opponents numbered twenty-one thousand. The Lein- 
 ster men, however, made up for numbers by their valor ; 
 and it is said that the intervention of a hermit, who 
 reproached Fearghal with breaking the pacific promise 
 of his predecessor, contributed to the defeat of the 
 northern forces. Another battle took place in 733, 
 when Hugh Allan, king of Ireland, and Hugh, son of 
 Colgan, king of Leinster, engaged in single combat. 
 The latter was slain, and the Leinster men " were killed, 
 slaughtered, cut off, and dreadfully exterminated. " 
 In fact, the Leinster men endured so many " dreadful 
 exterminations, " that one almost marvels how any of 
 their brave fellows were left for future feats of arms. 
 The " northerns were joyous after this victory, for they 
 had wreaked their vengeance and their animosity upon 
 the Leinster men," nine thousand of whom were slain. 
 St. Samhthann, a holy nun, who died in the following 
 year, is said to have predicted the fate of Aedh, Com- 
 gaPs son, if the two Aedhs (Hughs) met, Aedh Allan 
 commemorated her virtues in verse, and concludes 
 thus : — 
 
 In the bosom of the Lord, with a pure death, Samhthann passed 
 from her sufferings. 
 
 Indeed, the Irish kings of this period manifested their 
 admiration of peaceful living, and their desire for holy 
 deaths, in a more practical way than by poetic enco- 
 miums on others. In 704 Beg Boirche "took a pil- 
 grim's staff, and died on his pilgrim age. " In 729 Fla- 
 hertach renounced his regal honors, and retired to 
 Armagh, where he died. In 758 Donal died on a pil- 
 grimage at Iona, after a reign of twenty years ; and in 
 765 his successor, Nial Frassagh, abdicated the throne, 
 and became a monk at Iona. Here he died in 778, and 
 was buried in the tomb of the Irish kings in that island. 
 
80 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 An Irish poet who died in 742, is said to have played 
 a clever trick on the " foreigners " of Dublin. He com- 
 posed a poem for them, and then requested payment 
 for his literary labors. The Galls, who were probably 
 Saxons, refused to meet his demand, but Rumrann said 
 he would be content with two pinguins (pennies) from 
 every good man, and one from each bad one. The 
 result may be anticipated. Rumrann is described as 
 "an adept in wisdom, chronology, and poetry ; " we 
 might, perhaps, add, and in knowledge of human nature. 
 In " The Book of Ballymote " he is called the Virgil of 
 Ireland. A considerable number of Saxons were now 
 in the country ; and it is said that a British king, named 
 Constantine, who had become a monk, was at that time 
 Abbot of Rahen, in the King's County, and that at Cell- 
 Belaigh there were seven streets of those foreigners. 
 Gallen, in the King's County, was called Galin of the 
 Britons, and Mayo was called Mayo of the Saxons, from 
 the number of monasteries therein, founded by members 
 of these nations. 
 
 The entries during the long reign of Domhnall contain 
 little save obituaries of abbots and saints. The first 
 year of the reign of Nial Frassagh is, like the eighth of 
 Fearghal, distinguished by a triple shower — of silver, 
 of wheat, and of honey. The Annals of Clonmacnois 
 say that there was a most severe famine throughout 
 the whole kingdom during the early part of his reign, 
 so much that the king himself had very little to live 
 upon. Then the king prayed very fervently to God, 
 being in company with seven holy bishops ; and he 
 asked that he might die rather than see so many of his 
 faithful subjects perishing, while ' he was helpless to 
 relieve them. At the conclusion of his prayer, the 
 " three showers " fell from heaven; and then the king 
 and the seven bishops gave great thanks to the Lord. 
 
 But a more terrible calamity than famine was even 
 then impending, and, if we may believe the old chron- 
 iclers, not without marvellous prognostications of its 
 approach. In the year 761 there occurred a most fear- 
 ful storm of thunder and lightning with "terrific and 
 horrible signs.' ' It would appear that the storm took 
 place while a fair was going on, which obtained the 
 name of the " Fair of the clapping of hands." " Fear 
 
NATIONAL CONVERSION OF IRELAND. 
 
 81 
 
 and horror seized the men of Ireland, so that their 
 religious seniors ordered them to make two fasts, 
 together with fervent prayer, and one meal between 
 them, to protect and save them from a pestilence, pre- 
 cisely at Michaelmas/ 7 Another fearful thunderstorm 
 is recorded in the Annals for 799. This happened on 
 the eve of St. Patrick's Day. It is said that a thou- 
 sand and ten persons were killed on the coast of Clare. 
 The island of Fitha (now Mutton Island) was partly 
 submerged, and divided into three parts. There was 
 also a storm in 783 — ".thunder, lightning, and wind- 
 storms" — by which the monastery of Clonbroney was 
 destroyed. 
 
 1 The researches of philologists are daily confirming 
 the statements of hagiographers as to the extent and 
 importance of the missionary zeal of the Irish monks 
 during the fifth and sixth centuries. Their literary 
 attainments are evinced by the number of manuscripts 
 which they have left, and the exquisite skill in illumi- 
 nation which these manuscripts display. Their devotion 
 to their great work of evangelizing the heathen is 
 recorded by their biographers, and proved by the rev- 
 erence still offered to their memory in foreign countries. 
 
 These Irish saints have been divided into three orders, 
 in an old catalogue published by Usher. The first 
 order were the immediate contemporaries of St. Patrick, 
 and are described as if enveloped in flame, so great was 
 their purity and zeal. The second order, of which St. 
 Columba of the Celts is the head, were the successors 
 of St. Patrick, and they were described as mountains on 
 fire. The third order are compared to bright lamps 
 glimmering in the valley. 
 
 There can be no reasonable doubt as to the complete 
 national conversion of Ireland by St. Patrick, though 
 for several centuries some pagans remained, and much 
 paganism continued in national customs and modes of 
 expression, always difficult to eradicate. The Christian 
 missionaries adopted the prudent course of attracting 
 rather than compelling. Thus, where pagans had 
 erected an altar to a false god, they led them gradually 
 to the service of "Him whom they ignorantly wor- 
 shipped," and then taught them to build a temple in 
 His honor. Pagan customs were absolutely forbidden 
 
82 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 when absolutely sinful, but where it was possible to 
 turn the current of demotion to its true source, it was 
 thus turned, and not rudely stopped. Thus in Ireland 
 the pagan custom of invoking the gods or making some 
 aspirations to avert their wrath on certain occasions, 
 was at once and easily Christianized by introducing the 
 use of Christian aspirations instead of pagan. 
 
 St. Kieran of Saighir is called by his biographer " the 
 first-born of the Saints of Ireland." His church at 
 Cape Clear is said to have been the earliest Christian 
 church erected in Ireland ; its ruins still remain. He 
 afterwards established the monastery of Seir-Kieran in 
 the King's County. This saint is supposed to have 
 ended his life in Cornwall, and to be identical with St. 
 Piran, whose little church at Piranzabuloe is well known. 
 
 Another St. Kieran founded the magnificent church 
 and monastery of Clonmacnois on the Shannon a. d. 548. 
 The ruins of this religious establishment still remain, 
 and amply attest its former greatness. Kings, saints, 
 and scholars lived and died within its peaceful walls, 
 where their burial-places may still be identified. The 
 southern Hy-Nial princes were usually interred in the 
 cemetery of Clonmacnois, where also may be seen the 
 tomb of one of the three learned Irishmen who visited 
 King Alfred in the year 891, and is said to have as- 
 sisted at the foundation of the university of Oxford. 
 
 St. Finnain of Clonard belonged to the second order 
 of saints. He established his celebrated school a. d. 
 530, where St. Columba, the missionary of the Picts, 
 was educated. Aran of the saints, as the western 
 islands off Galway Bay were then termed, was peopled 
 by monks and recluses from the fifth to the seventh cen- 
 turies. St, Enda, son of the prince of Orgiall, who had 
 distinguished himself as a warrior, renounced the bat- 
 tle-axe for the cowl, and established himself in one of 
 the largest of the three islands. In 580 he travelled to 
 Rome, and returned accompanied by one hundred and 
 fifty monks, all of whom lived and died in his monastery. 
 Intercourse with Rome was frequent even at that early 
 period, and Ireland attracted continental monks, no 
 doubt by the learning and sanctity of those who visited 
 the tombs of the apostles, and the greater centre of 
 Catholic unity. A tomb still remains at Klbrecan in 
 
st. Brendan's voyages. 
 
 83 
 
 the north part of Cavan, inscribed to the memory of 
 the " seven Romans." In the litany of St. Aengus, 
 hundreds of foreign saints are invoked, each grouped 
 according to their nationality. " The oldest tract, or 
 collection of the pedigrees of the saints of Erinn," says 
 Professor O'Curry, u of which we have now any recog- 
 nizable copy remaining, is that which is ascribed to 
 Aengus Ceile De, commonly called Aengus the Culdee. 
 The genuineness of this composition is admitted by all 
 writers of modern times, Protestant and Catholic, by 
 Usher and Ware, as well as by Colgan." 
 
 Aengus wrote about the year 798. He was descended 
 from the illustrious chieftains of Dalariada, and com- 
 pleted his education in the monastery of Cluain Eidh- 
 neach, in the present Queen's County. The remains 
 of a church he founded at Disert Aengusa, near Ballin- 
 garry, in the county of Limerick, may still be seen. 
 
 The well-known monastic establishment at Glenda- 
 lough, in the county Wicklow, was founded by St. 
 Kieran, who died in 618. One of the most noticeable 
 and best-known saints of this period was St. Brendan, 
 whose voyage across the Atlantic in search of the mys- 
 terious island of Hy-Brasail became one of the most 
 favorite subjects of mediaeval romances and poets. His 
 early youth was passed under the care of St. Ita, a 
 lady of the princely family of the Desii. By divine 
 command she established the convent of Cluain Cred- 
 huil, in the present county of Limerick, and there, it 
 would appear, she devoted herself specially to the care 
 of youth. When Brendan had attained his fifth year, 
 he was placed under the protection of bishop Ercus, 
 from whom he received such instruction as befitted his 
 advancing years. But Brendan's tenderest affection 
 clung to the gentle nurse of his infancy ; and to her, in 
 after years, he frequently returned, to give or receive 
 counsel and sympathy. 
 
 The legend of his western voyage, if not the most 
 important, is at least the most interesting part of his 
 history. Kerry was the native home of the enterpris- 
 ing saint; and as he stood on its bold and beautiful 
 shores, his naturally contemplative mind was led to 
 inquire what boundaries chained that vast ocean, whose 
 grand waters rolled in mighty wafes beneath his feet. 
 
84 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 His thoughtful piety suggested that where there might 
 be a country, there might be life — human life and 
 human souls dying day by day, and hour by hour, 
 and knowing of no other existence than that which 
 at best is full of sadness and decay. 
 
 Traditions of a far-away land had long existed on the 
 western coast of ancient Erin. The brave Tuatha De 
 Dananns were singularly expert in naval affairs, and 
 their descendants were by no means unwilling to impart 
 information to the saint. 
 
 The venerable St. Enda, the first abbot of Arran, 
 was then living, and thither St. Brendan journeyed for 
 counsel. Probably he was encouraged in his design 
 by the holy abbot; for he proceeded along the coast of 
 Mayo, inquiring as he went for traditions of the west- 
 ern continent. On his return to Kerry, he decided to 
 set out on the important expedition. St. Brendan's 
 Hill still bears his name ; and from the bay at the foot 
 of this lofty eminence he sailed for the "far west." 
 Directing his course towards the southwest, with a 
 few faithful companions, in a well-provisioned bark, he 
 came, it is said, after some rough and dangerous navi- 
 gation, to calm seas, where, without aid of oar or sail, 
 he was borne along for many weeks. It is thought that 
 he had entered the great Gulf Stream, which brought 
 his vessel ashore somewhere on the Virginian coasts. 
 He landed with his companions, and penetrated into the 
 interior, until he came to a large river flowing from 
 east to west, supposed to be that now known as the 
 Ohio. Here, according to the legend, he was accosted 
 by a man of venerable bearing, who told him that he 
 had gone far enough ; that further discoveries were 
 reserved for other men, who would in due time come 
 and Christianize that pleasant land. 
 
 After an absence of seven years, the saint returned 
 once more to Ireland, and lived not only to tell of the 
 marvels he had seen, but even to found a college of 
 three thousand monks at Clonfert. This voyage took 
 place in the year 545, according to Colgan ; but as St. 
 Brendan must have been at that time at least sixty 
 years old, an earlier date has been suggested. 1 
 
 1 The legend of St. Brendan was widely diffused in the Middle 
 Ages. In the Mbliotheque*Imperiale f at Paris, there are no less than 
 
ST. COLUMBANUS. 
 
 85 
 
 St. Columba, or Columcille — that is, Columba of the 
 cells or churches — has already been mentioned in con- 
 nection with the political history of the period. The 
 most beautiful manuscript of western Europe known, 
 is the " Book of Kells," and now preserved in the 
 Library of Trinity College, Dublin, is ascribed to him. 
 The " Book of Durrow," another Irish manuscript of 
 great antiquity, is also believed to be one of his pro- 
 ductions. 
 
 St. Columba died at Iona, on the 9th of June, 597. 
 His biography has been written in detail by his succes- 
 sor, St. Adamnan. 
 
 The first of Irish missionary laborers on the Conti- 
 nent was another saint of similar name. St. Columba- 
 nus was born about the year 539. The care of his 
 education was confided to the venerable Senile, who 
 was eminent for his sanctity and knowledge of the 
 Holy Scriptures. It was probably through his influ- 
 ence that the young man resolved to devote himself to 
 the monastic life. For this purpose, he placed himself 
 under the direction of St. Comgall, who then governed 
 the great monastery of Banchorr (Bangor). 
 
 It was not until he entered his fiftieth year that he 
 decided on quitting his native land, so that there can 
 be no reason to doubt that his high intellectual attain- 
 ments were acquired and perfected in Ireland. 
 
 With the blessing of his superior, and the compan- 
 ionship of twelve faithful monks, he set forth on his 
 arduous mission ; and arduous truly it proved to be. 
 The half-barbarous Franks, then ruled by Thierry or 
 Theodoric, lived more a pagan than a Christian life, and 
 
 eleven manuscripts of the original Latin legend, the dates of which 
 vary from the eleventh to the fourteenth century. In the old French 
 and Romance dialects there are abundant copies in most public 
 libraries in France; while versions in Irish, Dutch, German, Italian, 
 Spanish, and Portuguese, abound in all parts of the Continent. 
 Traces of ante-Columbian voyages to America are continually crop- 
 ping up. But the appearance, in 1837, of the Antiquitates Americance 
 sive ita Scriptores Scptentrionales rerum ante-Columbiarum, in America, 
 edited by Professor Ram, at Copenhagen, has given final and con- 
 clusive evidence on this interesting subject. Even in 1833 a Japan- 
 ese junk was wrecked upon the coast of Oregon. Humboldt believes 
 that the Canary Isles were known, not only to the Phoenicians, but 
 " perhaps even to the Etruscans." There is a map in the library of 
 St. Mark, at Venice, made in the year 1436, where an island is, delin- 
 eated and named Antillia. (See Trans, li. I. A., vol. xiv.) A distin- 
 guished modern poet of Ireland, Denis Florence MacCarthy, Esq., M. 
 R.I. A., has made the voyage of St. Brendan the subject of one of 
 the most beautiful of his poems. 
 
86 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 could ill brook the stern lessons of morality which they 
 heard from, and saw practised by, their new teacher. 
 The saint did not spare the demoralized court, and the 
 Queen-Dowager Brunehalt became his bitterest foe. 
 He had already established two monasteries : one at 
 Luxovium, or Luxeuil, in a forest at the foot of the 
 Vosges ; the other, on account of its number of springs, 
 was called Ad-fontanas (Fontaines). Here the strict 
 discipline of the Irish monks was rigidly observed, and 
 the coarsest fare the only refection permitted to the 
 religious. 
 
 For a time they were allowed to continue their daily 
 routine of prayer and penance without molestation ; 
 but the relentless Brunehalt, who, from the basest mo- 
 tives, had encouraged the young king in every vice, 
 could no longer brave either the silent preaching of the 
 cloister, or the bold denunciations of the saint. As 
 Columbanus found that his distant remonstrances had 
 no effect on the misguided monarch, for whose eternal 
 welfare he felt the deep interest of true sanctity, he 
 determined to try a personal interview. For a brief 
 space his admonitions were heard with respect, and 
 even the haughty queen seemed less bent on her career 
 of impiety and deceit. But the apparent conversion 
 passed away as a summer breeze, and once more the 
 saint denounced and threatened in vain. 
 
 Strict enclosure had been established in the monas- 
 teries professing the Columbanian rule ; and this af- 
 forded a pretext for the royal vengeance. Theodoric 
 attempted to violate the sanctuary in person, but was 
 sternly repelled by the saint. The king withdrew, but 
 eventually Columbanus was torn from the sanctuary by 
 force. His Irish subjects were allowed to accompany 
 him into exile ; and after many journeys and privations, 
 he at last settled at Milan, where he was hospitably 
 received by the Lombard king, a. d. 612. On his jour- 
 ney thither he had evangelized Austrasia, then gov- 
 erned by Theodebert. This prince, though a brother 
 of the monarch by whom he had been expelled, enter- 
 tained him with the utmost courtesy. At Mentz, the 
 bishop, vainly endeavored to detain him. Zeal for the 
 conversion of souls led the saint to desire a less culti- • 
 vated field of labor. As he passed along the Lake of 
 
IRISH MONKS ON THE CONTINENT. 
 
 8T 
 
 Zurich, and in the canton of Zug, he reaped a rich har- 
 vest ; from thence he directed his course to Bregentz, 
 then inhabited by an idolatrous people. 
 
 Here he was repulsed by those who most needed his 
 apostolic labors ; but, undaunted, he retired to the 
 neighboring county, where he secured a band of zealous 
 converts. Surrounded by these, and attended by his 
 faithful monks, he once more entered the idolatrous 
 city, and proceeded boldly to the temple where their 
 false gods were enshrined. Here he invoked the Holy 
 Name, and by its power the idols are said to have been 
 miraculously overthrown, and a multitude of the people 
 were converted, including in their number some of the 
 principal inhabitants of Bregentz. 
 
 The theological controversy known as that of the 
 " Three Chapters/' was now prevalent in northern Italy. 
 A letter is still extant which St. Columbanus addressed 
 to Pope Boniface on this subject, in which, while he 
 uses the privilege of free discussion on questions not 
 defined by the Church, he is remarkably explicit as to 
 his belief in papal supremacy. 
 
 " For we (Scoti) Irish are disciples of St. Peter and 
 St. Paul, and of all the divinely inspired canonical wri- 
 ters, adhering constantly to the evangelical and apos- 
 tolical doctrine. Amongst us neither Jew, heretic, nor 
 schismatic can be found ; but the Catholic faith, entire 
 and unshaken, precisely as we have received it from 
 you, who are the successors of the holy Apostles. For, 
 as I have already said, we are attached to the chair of 
 St. Peter ; and although Rome is great and renowned, 
 yet with us it is great and distinguished only on ac- 
 count of that apostolic chair. Through the two Apos- 
 tles of Christ you are almost celestial, and Rome is 
 the head of the churches of the world." 
 
 In the year 613 St. Columbanus founded the world- 
 famed monastery of Bovium, or Bobbio, on the Apen- 
 nines, and an oratory dedicated to the Mother of God. 
 The saint died there on the 21st of November, 615, at 
 the age of seventy -two years. His name is still pre- 
 served in the town of St. Columbano, and his memory 
 is venerated in France and Italy. 
 
 While the saint was evangelizing in Switzerland, one 
 of his disciples became seriously ill, and was unable to 
 
88 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 travel farther. It was a providential sickness for the 
 Helvetians. The monk was an eloquent preacher, and 
 well acquainted with their language, which was a dia- 
 lect of that of the Franks. He evangelized the country, 
 and the town of St. Gall still bears the name of the 
 holy Irishman, while his abbey contains many valuable 
 relics of the literature and piety of his native land. St. 
 Gall died on the 16th of October, 645, at a very ad- 
 vanced age. The monastery was not erected till after 
 his decease, and it was not till the year 1798 that the 
 abbey lands were aggregated to the Swiss Confedera- 
 tion as one of the cantons. 
 
 Another Irish saint, who converted multitudes in 
 Prance, was St. Fiacre. He erected a monastery to 
 the Blessed Virgin, in a forest near Meaux. The fame 
 of his sanctity became so great, and the pilgrimage to 
 his tomb so popular, that the French hackney coaches 
 [fiacre) obtained their name from their constant employ- 
 ment in journeys to his shrine. 
 
 About the same period St. Fursey founded a monas- 
 tery near Burgh Castle, in Suffolk, where he was kindly 
 received by Sigbert, king of the East Angles. From 
 thence he proceeded to Lagny, in France, where his mis- 
 sionary zeal was long remembered. His brothers, St. 
 Foillan and St. Altan, were his constant companions. 
 St. Fursey died on the 16th of January, 650, at Ma- 
 cerius. His remains were subsequently translated to 
 Peronne, in Picardy. The evangelic labors of many of 
 his Irish disciples are matter of history in the Gallic 
 Church. It is said that the fame of the Irish for their 
 skill in music was so well known on the Continent at 
 this period, that St. Gertrude, daughter of king Pepin, 
 and abbess of Nivelle, in Brabant, invited the brothers 
 of St. Fursey to instruct her community in sacred 
 music. They complied with her request, and soon 
 after erected a monastery at Fosse, near Nivelle. Nor 
 were the Scoti without their missionary martyrs, 
 amongst whom the great St. Kilian holds a distin- 
 guished place. He had sought and obtained permission 
 from the Holy See to evangelize Franconia, and his bold 
 rebuke of the open scandal given by the conduct of 
 the ruling prince, was the immediate cause of his mar- 
 tyrdom. He was assassinated at midnight, while sing- 
 
usher's DIVISION OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 89 
 
 ing the Divine Office with two of his faithful compan- 
 ions. Their remains were interred in the church of 
 Wurtzburg, where St. Kilian is still revered as its 
 patron and apostle. 
 
 Amongst a host of lesser luminaries we find St. Mail- 
 duf, from whom Malmsbury has been named ; St. Livin, 
 who converted the inhabitants of Flanders and Brabant ; 
 St. Cataldus and his brother, St. Donatus, the former 
 patron of the metropolitan see of Tarentum, whose 
 name is still preserved in the little town of San Cataldo, 
 the latter, bishop of Lecce, in the kingdom of Naples ; 
 St. Virgilius, called in the ancient annals, " Ferghil, the 
 Geometer/ 7 and by Latin writers Soli vagus, or the 
 " solitary wanderer," who died bishop of Saltzburg ; 
 St. Fridolin tl the traveller/ 7 son of an Irish king, who 
 evangelized Thuringia, and was appointed by the pope 
 bishop of Buraburgh, near Fritzlar, in the year 741 ; 
 St. Sedulius the younger, who wrote commentaries on 
 Holy Scripture, and assisted at a council held in Rome, 
 in the year 721, under Gregory II. It is noticeable 
 that this saint was consecrated bishop of Oreto, in 
 Spain, while in Rome. When he entered on the mis- 
 sion thus confided to him, he wrote a treatise to prove 
 that, being Irish, he was of Spanish descent ; thus 
 showing that at this period the idea of a Milesian ori- 
 gin was common to men of learning in Ireland. 
 
 Usher observes, that the saints of this period might be 
 grouped into a fourth order. Bede says : " That many 
 of the Scots (Irish) came daily into Britain, and with 
 great devotion preached the word and administered bap- 
 tism. . . The English, great and small, were, by their 
 Scottish (Irish) masters, instructed in the rules and 
 observances of regular discipline/' Eric of Auxerre 
 writes thus to Charles the Bald : " What shall I say 
 of Ireland, which, despising the dangers of the deep, 
 is migrating with her whole train of philosophers to our 
 coast ? " Rency, after describing the poetry and litera- 
 ture of ancient Erin as perhaps the most cultivated of all 
 Western Europe, adds, that Ireland " counted a host 
 of saints and learned men, venerated in England and 
 Gaul ; for no country had furnished more Christian mis- 
 sionaries/ 7 It is said that three thousand students, 
 collected from all parts of Europe, attended the schools 
 
90 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 of Armagh ; and, indeed, the regulations which were 
 made for preserving scholastic discipline are almost 
 sufficient evidence on this subject. 
 
 The discussions of the Irish and English ecclesiastics 
 on the time of keeping Easter, with their subsequent 
 decision, and all details concerning domestic regulations 
 as to succession to office and church lands, are more 
 properly matters for the ecclesiastical historian. 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL REGULATIONS. 
 
 91 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE RELIGION, LAWS, ARCHITECTURE, DRESS, AND 
 SOCIAL CUSTOMS OF THE FIFTH, SIXTH, AND 
 SEVENTH CENTURIES. 
 
 A considerable number of the early converts to Chris- 
 tianity devoted themselves to the religious life. Hav- 
 ing placed themselves under the guidance of a superior, 
 they employed in active missionary labors or in literary 
 work the time not given to the immediate service of 
 God in prayer. The missionary labors of the Irish 
 clergy have been detailed as fully as circumstances 
 would admit ; hence it only remains to record their 
 other occupations. One important duty which devolved 
 on the heads of religious houses, who were generally 
 bishops, and which of necessity occupied the episco- 
 pacy still more, was the framing of ecclesiastical regu- 
 lations or canons. Fortunately, some of these canons 
 are still preserved, as well as many of the literary 
 works of the monks. 
 
 The earliest canons are referred to the time of St. 
 Patrick, and are found in the 11 Book of Armagh," and 
 in that portion of it which is said to have been copied 
 from an older manuscript written by the saint himself. 
 The authenticity and antiquity of the " Book of Ar- 
 magh" have never been questioned. These canons 
 refer specially to the settlement of questions of difficulty 
 which might arise in ecclesiastical administration, and 
 require that all local disputes should be referred to 
 " the see of the chief bishop of the Irish " — that is, 
 the see of Armagh. And if cases arose which could 
 not be decided by that see, they should be sent to the 
 apostolic see, that is, to the chair of the apostle Peter." 
 In the synod of Magh-Rene, a.d. 630, St. Cummian, 
 who presided, in his letter on the paschal computation, 
 
92 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 says : " In accordance with the canonical decree that 
 if questions of grave moment arise, they shall be re- 
 ferred to the heads of cities, we sent such as we knew 
 were wise and humble men to Rome." In 700 a collec- 
 tion of canons was also made for the Irish church, 
 wherein the same subject is mentioned, and referred to 
 as a ''decree of St. Patrick." Patrick defines, should 
 any " grave controversies arise in this island, they shall 
 be referred to the apostolic see." Copies of these 
 canons are preserved in the Imperial Library at Paris, 
 at Darmstadt, at St. Gall, in Switzerland, and in the 
 Cottonian Codex of the eighth century. 
 
 A curious canon in verse is also preserved. The 
 archbishop of Armagh and his clergy had refused to 
 attend Hugh Oirdindhe in one of his military expedi- 
 tions, as was then usual. The king asked the opinion 
 of his poet and chief adviser, who, according to the 
 custom of the times, recorded his decision in rhyme. 
 
 This decision obtained the name of a canon, and 
 henceforth its author was distinguished as Fothadh na 
 Canoine, or Fothadh of the Canons. 
 
 Besides the valuable collections of synods and canons, 
 there are a number of liturgical treatises, principally 
 referring to the manner of celebrating Mass, and to the 
 devotion which should be paid to the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment. In the well-known Stowe missal, which Dr. 
 Todd observes " may well be deemed older than the 
 sixth century," the Mass is given in full, and agrees 
 precisely with the present Roman *canon down to the 
 memento for the dead. The manuscript also contains a 
 Mass for the dead, and several other occasional Masses. 
 There are also treatises on church vestments, peniten- 
 tials, rules of religious orders, and a number of Latin 
 hymns of great beauty, all referable to this early period. 
 
 It must not be supposed, however, that the literary 
 labors of the Irish monks, at home and in the con- 
 tinental monasteries founded by them, were entirely 
 confined to theology. The collection of the Royal 
 Irish Academy contains several works written on vel- 
 lum, with treatises of history, science, laws, and com- 
 merce, which have been pronounced by competent 
 authorities to be written in the purest style that the 
 ancient Gaedhilic language ever attained. There are 
 
LITERARY LABORS OF THE IRISH MONKS. 
 
 03 
 
 also a considerable number of translations from Greek, 
 Latin, and other languages. These are of considerable 
 importance, as they enable the critical student of the 
 language to determine the meaning of many obscure or 
 obsolete words or phrases, by reference to the originals ; 
 nor are they of less value as indicating the high state 
 of literary culture which prevailed in Ireland during the 
 early Christian and the Middle Ages. Poetry, mythol- 
 ogy, history, and the classic literature of Greece and 
 Rome, may be found amongst these translations ; so 
 that, as O'Curry well remarks, "anyone well read in 
 the comparatively few existing fragments of our Gaed- 
 hilic literature, and whose education had been confined 
 solely to this source, would find that there are but 
 very few indeed of the great events in the history of 
 the world with which he was not acquainted. 77 He 
 then mentions, by way of illustration of classical sub- 
 jects, Celtic versions of the "Argonautic Expedition/ 7 
 the "Siege of Troy/ 7 the "Life of Alexander the 
 Great; 77 and of such subjects as cannot be classed 
 under this head, the " Destruction of Jerusalem ; ,; the 
 "Wars of Charlemagne/ 7 including the " History of 
 Eoland the Brave ; 77 the " History of the Lombards, and 
 the almost contemporary translation of the " Travels of 
 Marco Polo/ 7 
 
 There is also a large collection cf manuscripts in the 
 British Museum, and a few volumes in the Bodleian 
 Library at Oxford, besides the well-known, though inac- 
 cessible, Stowe collection. 
 
 The Louvain collection, formed chiefly by fathers 
 Hugh Ward, John Colgan, and Michael O'Clery, be- 
 tween the years 1620 and 1640, was widely scattered 
 at the French Revolution. The most valuable portion 
 is in the college of St. Isidore in Rome. The Burgun- 
 dian Library at Brussels also possesses many of these 
 treasures. A valuable resume of the manuscripts which 
 p are preserved there was given by Mr. Bindon, and 
 printed in the " Proceedings of the Royal Irish Acad- 
 emy/ 7 in the year 1847. There are also many Latin 
 manuscripts with Irish glosses, which have been largely 
 used by Zeuss in his " Grammatica Celtica. 77 The 
 date of one of these — a codex containing some of Ven- 
 erable Bede's works — is fixed by an entry of the death 
 
94 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 of Aed, king of Ireland, in the year 817. This most 
 important work belonged to the Irish monastery of 
 Reichenau, and is now preserved at Carlsruhe. A 
 codex is also preserved at Cambray, which contains a 
 fragment of an Irish sermon, and the canons of an Irish 
 council held a. d. 684. 
 
 The extraordinary skill evinced in the art of illumin- 
 ating might be more properly treated in the section on 
 art. It may, however, be remarked here, as an evi- 
 dence of the high value set on literature by the Irish 
 monks, that in each monastery certain small rooms or 
 cells, called scriptoria, were set apart for those who 
 required to study or write alone, and who therefore 
 could not use the common scriptorium or large apart- 
 ment occupied by those monks whose occupations 
 could be carried on together. In the early Christian 
 and Middle Ages, estates were often bequeathed to the 
 scriptoria of monasteries, by those who knew and prac- 
 tically appreciated the merit of the works executed in 
 them. 
 
 Even at this early period we find Irish nuns also 
 devoting themselves to the promotion of literature and 
 education. St. Ita notably is mentioned in this way, 
 and St. Briget appears to have been a woman of consid- 
 erable intellectual attainments. 
 
 Law was administered in Ireland long before the 
 Christian era, and until the seventeenth century, ac- 
 cording to a well-established and well-defined code 
 known as the Brehon Laws. These Brehon laws are 
 the decisions of certain distinguished Brehons or judges, 
 whose enactments became law, and were transmitted to 
 posterity orally, in a quasi-metrical form, until the art 
 of writing was known. These laws were carefully col- 
 lected and written down soon after the arrival of St. 
 Patrick in Ireland, and during the reign of king Laeg- 
 haire. A considerable portion of this compilation has 
 been published by Government, with a careful trans- 
 lation. The portion published is called the Seanchus 
 Mor. Several copies of the original code were used and 
 compared. One of these copies has a note written in it 
 on Christmas Night, a. d. 1350, by Hugh MacEgan, who 
 says the book belonged to his father. The MacEgans 
 of Connaught were hereditary Brehons ; and no doubt 
 
COMPILATION OF THE BREHON LAWS. 
 
 this copy of the ancient laws had been in their posses- 
 sion for some years, if not for some centuries, previous. 
 
 The best Celtic scholars are now agreed that there is 
 no improbability in the statement made in the com- 
 mencement of the Seanchus Mor, that these laws were 
 revised and written down under the special direction of 
 St. Patrick. Nine persons are said to have assisted on 
 the work, or, in the words of the Seanchus itself : 
 
 /'Nine persons were appointed to arrange this book, 
 viz., Patrick, and Benen, and Cairnech, three bishops; 
 Laeghaire, and Con, and Daire, three kings ; Rosa, i. e. 
 MacTrechim ; and Dubhthach, t. e. a doctor of the Berla 
 Feini ; and Fergus, i. e. a poet. 
 
 " Nofis, therefore, is the name of this book which 
 they arranged, i. e. the knowledge of nine persons, and 
 we have proof of this above. 
 
 "This is the Cain Patraic, and no human Brehon of 
 the Gaedlic is able to abrogate anything that is found 
 in the Seanchus Mor." 
 
 Benen, or St. Benignus, the disciple of St. Patrick, 
 who succeeded him as bishop of Armagh, probably 
 acted as his secretary. He was the original compiler 
 of the " Book of Rights." St. Cairnech is still remem- 
 bered as the patron saint of Dulane in the county Meath. 
 A memoir of his life is preserved in the Cottonian Li- 
 brary, where he is said to have been a Cornishman, 
 and that his works were read in Ireland through the 
 whole country, as the miracles of St. Peter were read 
 at Rome. Laeghaire was then Ard-Righ of Ireland. 
 Con was king of Cashel, and is celebrated as a man 
 " who practised no evil deeds." There were two 
 Daires contemporary with St. Patrick, but the Daire 
 who assisted in the compilation of the laws was proba- 
 bly the king of Ulster. These laws were written in 
 the Berla Feini, a dialect used for legal purposes. 
 
 The Seanchus Mor does not give any information as 
 to when the compilation commenced, but the defect is 
 supplied by the Annals of the Four Masters, who give 
 this record : 4 'The age of Christ 438. The tenth year 
 of Laeghaire. The Seanchus and Feinchus of Ireland 
 were purified and written." There is, however, men- 
 tion of the place, or, rather, places where the work was 
 carried on. " It was at Teamhair (Tara) in the summer 
 
96 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 and autumn, on account of its clearness and pleasant- 
 ness during these seasons ; and at Ruth-guthiard (prob- 
 ably the fort now called Lisanawer) in the winter and 
 spring, on account of its nearness to firewood." The 
 ancient description of these places quite coincides with 
 their present state. 
 
 The compilation of the Brehon laws originated in a 
 question that arose as to how the murderer of Odran, 
 Patrick's charioteer, should be punished. The saint 
 was allowed to select whatever Brehon he pleased to 
 give judgment. He chose Dubhthach ; and the result 
 of his decision was the compilation of these laws, as it 
 was at once seen that a purely pagan code would not 
 suit Christian teaching. 
 
 The sixth century was a marked period of legal 
 reform. The Emperor Justinian, by closing the schools 
 of Athens, gave a death-blow to Grecian philosophy 
 and jurisprudence. But Grecian influence had already 
 acted on the formation of Roman law, and, probably, 
 much of the Athenian code was embodied therein. The 
 origin of Roman law is involved in the same obscurity 
 as the origin of the Brehon code. In both cases, the 
 mist of ages lies like a light, but impenetrable veil, 
 over all that could give certainty to conjecture. Be- 
 fore the Era of the Twelve Tables, mention is made of 
 laws enacted by Romulus respecting what we should 
 now call civil liabilities. Laws concerning religion are 
 ascribed to Numa, and laws of contract to Servius Tul- 
 lius, who is supposed to have collected the regulations 
 made by his predecessors. The Twelve Tables are said 
 to have been formed on the legal enactments of Greece. 
 The cruel severity of the law for insolvent debtors 
 forms a marked contrast to the milder and more equita- 
 ble arrangements of the Brehon code. By the Roman 
 enactments, the person of the debtor was at the mercy 
 of his creditor, who might sell him for a slave beyond 
 the Tiber. The Celt allowed only the seizure of goods, 
 and even this was under regulations most favorable to 
 the debtor. The legal establishment of Christianity by 
 Constantine, or, we should rather say, the existence 
 of Christianity, necessitated a complete revision of all 
 ancient laws : hence we find the compilation of the 
 Theodosian code almost synchronizing with the revision 
 
THE BREHON LAWS. 
 
 01 
 
 of the Brehon laws. The spread of Christianity, and 
 the new modes of thought and action which obtained 
 thereby, necessitated the reconstruction of ancient juris- 
 prudence in lands as widely distant geographically, and 
 as entirely separated politically, as Italy and Ireland. 
 
 The Salic law was also drawn up about the begin- 
 ning of the fifth century, and was subsequently revised 
 after the baptism of Clovis, that its enactments might 
 be suitable for a Christian country. It is possible that 
 St. Patrick, who was a Roman citizen, and whose 
 father was a magistrate, .was well acquainted with the 
 modifications of the Pagan laws made by Theodosius 
 at Constantinople, and Valentinian at Rome. 
 
 The subject-matter of the portions of the Seanchus 
 Mor which have been translated, is the law of distress. 
 Two points are noticeable in this : First, the careful 
 and accurate administration of justice which is indicated 
 by the details of these legal enactments ; second, the 
 custom therein sanctioned of the creditor fasting upon 
 the debtor, a custom which still exists in Hindostan. 
 Hence, in some cases, the creditor fasts on the debtor 
 until he is compelled to pay his debt, lest his creditor 
 should die at the door ; in other cases, the creditor not 
 only fasts himself, but also compels his debtor to fast, 
 by stopping his supplies. Elphinstone describes this as 
 used even against princes, and especially by troops to 
 procure payment of arrears. 
 
 One of the most noticeable peculiarities of the Brehon 
 law is the compensation for murder, called eric. This, 
 however, was common to other nations. Its origin is 
 ascribed to the Germans, but the institution was proba- 
 bly far more ancient. We find it forbidden in the old- 
 est code of laws in existence ; hence the eric must have 
 been in force at an early period of the world's civil 
 history. 
 
 The law of succession, called tanaisteacht, or tanistry, 
 is one of the most peculiar of the Brehon laws. The 
 eldest son succeeded the father to the exclusion of all 
 collateral claimants, unless disqualified by deformity, 
 imbecility, or crime. In after ages, by a compact be- 
 tween parents, or mutual agreement, the succession 
 was sometimes made alternate in two or more families. 
 The eldest son, being recognized as presumptive heir, 
 5 
 
08 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 was denominated tanaiste, that is minor, or second ; 
 while the other sons, or persons eligible in case of fail- 
 ure, were termed righdhamhua, which literally means 
 king-material, or king-makings. The tanaiste had a 
 separate establishment and distinct privileges. The 
 primitive intention was, that the "best man" should 
 reign ; but, practically, it ended in might being taken 
 for right, and often for less important qualifications. 
 
 The possession and inheritance of landed property 
 was regulated by the law called gavelkind (gavail- 
 kinne), an ancient Celtic institution, but common to 
 Britons, Anglo-Saxons and others. By this law, inher- 
 ited or other property was divided equally between the 
 sons, to the exclusion of the daughters (unless, indeed, 
 in default of heirs male, when females were permitted 
 a life interest). The tanaiste, however, was allotted the 
 dwelling-house and other privileges. 
 
 The tenure of land was a tribe or family right ; and, 
 indeed, the whole system of government and legislation 
 was far more patriarchal than Teutonic — another indi- 
 cation of an eastern origin. All the members of a tribe 
 or family had an equal right to their proportionate 
 share of the land occupied by the whole. This system 
 created a mutual independence and self-consciousness 
 of personal right and importance, strongly at variance 
 with the subjugation of the Germanic and Anglo-Nor- 
 man vassal. 
 
 In the doubt which exists as to the use and the time 
 at which the Round Towers were erected, they may be 
 classed under the head of ecclesiastical architecture. 
 There are about seventy of these singular structures 
 still remaining, and many have been destroyed by time, 
 and by the vandalism of modern improvers. The most 
 ancient Irish churches were of cyclopean architecture, 
 although lime cement was used in some cases. They 
 were of small size, rarely exceeding eighty feet in 
 length, excepting the great church or cathedral of 
 Armagh, which was a hundred and forty feet. Their 
 form is very nearly that of the Roman basilica. They 
 were lighted by small windows, opening inwards, but 
 never glazed, though parchment or horn appears to 
 have been used in some places as a substitute for glass. 
 
 There was only one entrance, placed in the west end, 
 
•MILITARY ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 99 
 
 and in all cases the sides of the windows and doorways 
 incline like the doorways in the oldest remains of 
 cyclopean buildings. The roofs were generally con- 
 structed of stone, and this method of roofing was con- 
 tinued until the introduction of the Gothic style. 
 
 The early Irish ecclesiastics of note were usually 
 either skilled themselves in such arts as enabled them 
 to advance the style of architecture, century by cen- 
 tury, from its original primitive form to a higher ideal, 
 or they were assisted by artificers who could execute 
 such works as their taste or piety might suggest. The 
 stone crosses which still remain, with their rich and 
 beautiful carvings, attest the superior ability of those 
 who erected them ; and there is ample evidence that 
 the shrines of saints were richly and beautifully adorned, 
 and even painted, a custom continued from the times 
 of the early Christians, who thus adorned the shrines of 
 the martyrs in the catacombs. These shrines were also 
 adorned with costly gems, and ornaments of gold and 
 silver ; hence the impiety and barbarism of the Danes, 
 in robbing and destroying them, are frequently recorded 
 in the Annals. 
 
 The style of military architecture varied but little 
 from its primitive form until after the Norman invasion. 
 According to the account of the eminent Irish anti- 
 quary, Sir W. Wylde, the Pagan military architecture 
 of Ireland exhibits an amount of skill, both in structure 
 and in engineering, which is only equalled by the earli- 
 est monuments in Greece, and which induces the infer- 
 ence of a similarity of people. These forts consist of 
 circular enclosures of massive clay walls, from six to 
 sixteen feet thick, entered through a narrow gateway, 
 of sloping sides. Some few have surrounding ram- 
 parts, or outworks and flights of stairs in the inner wall, 
 leading to terraces on the top. The most remarkable 
 of these remains are found in the isles of Arran, par- 
 ticularly that of Dun-iEngus, the greatest monument 
 of the kind extant ; Dun-Ogliu, Dun-Caher, and Dun- 
 Conor; also the Grianan of Aileach, in Donegal; Cul- 
 cashel, in Mayo ; and Staigue Fort, in Kerry, in which 
 the construction of the staircases inside are still perfect. 
 This monument of the past is supposed to have been 
 at least 2,000 ye^rs in existence. 
 
100 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 The only copper implements of great antiquity are some 
 celts., battle-axes, sword-blades, etc. These weapons 
 probably immediately succeeded those which were used 
 in the stone age. Copper and bronze weapons were 
 also used about the same period. Some of these weap- 
 ons evince great artistic skill. Gold was used in some 
 cases for shields and helmets ; and the magnificent gold 
 diadems preserved in the collection of the Royal Irish 
 Academy, which probably belonged to the provincial 
 kings and queens of the Irish Pentarchy, far surpass 
 any ornaments of the kind of a similar age discovered 
 in North-western Europe. 
 
 Dress. — The lunettes — in Irish, minne — were the 
 principal gold ornaments of the period. Their exact 
 use has not been determined ; it is probable they were 
 worn on the head. Diadems, of thin plates of gold, 
 semi-oval in form, and most magnificently chased and 
 embossed, were also in use. Gorgets, or neck-collars, 
 beads, necklaces, ear-rings, and brooches of gold were 
 generally worn. Bracelets and armillae adorned the 
 arms of every lady of rank, and were frequently given 
 by the fair wearers as rewards to the poets and histo- 
 rians of the age. The accuracy of the bardic descrip- 
 tions of costume are continually verified by discoveries 
 of articles which they have described the existence of, 
 which would otherwise have been credited to Celtic 
 imagination. One writer described a torque which had 
 " two apples or balls of gold at the end." A torque 
 has lately been found precisely answering to this 
 description. A Fleasc, or bracelet, was worn as an 
 indication of rank on the arms of chieftains. One of 
 the most celebrated ornaments which still remain is 
 the Tara brooch, which certainly belongs to the earliest 
 part of the Christian era, if not to Pagan times. It 
 would be impossible to give a short description which 
 would convey any idea of the artistic beauty, delicacy, 
 and skill displayed in this ornament. 
 
 There is no record of the first introduction of flax and 
 hemp. The variegated and glowing colors, combined 
 with the gorgeous decorations of dress and the brilliancy 
 of arms, rendered the Celtic costume of the eighth and 
 ninth centuries very attractive. Cloaks, called in Irish 
 • cochall, were the chief article of dress. It was evidently 
 
ARTS AND SOCIAL LIFE. 
 
 101 
 
 the analogue of the sagum of the Celtic Gauls, described 
 by Plutarch as parti-colored ; the thick woollen lsena of 
 the Belgse ; the Roman toga ; and the Greek chlamys, 
 A cloak called brat was one of the chief tributes paid 
 by the different states of the Pentarchy ; they are 
 described in the " Book of Rights " in immense varie- 
 ties. The matal was a small decorated cloak. The 
 tunic, ima?% is also one of the tributes. The leann, or 
 mantle, was a white woollen garment probably a loose 
 Bhirt. 
 
 Food. — The great antiquity of corn in Ireland is gen- 
 erally admitted by archaeologists ; and flesh, fish, and 
 grain were the usual condiments from an early period. 
 Casks of butter have been found of undoubted age ; 
 and large masses of cheese have also been preserved 
 and discovered in bogs. The cheese differs in shape 
 from the butter, and was simply placed in the bog 
 without any protection. Mead was used as drink at a 
 very early period, and was chiefly made from honey. 
 Bees were attended with special care, and some of the 
 enactments of the Brehon laws refer especially to them. 
 
 Money. — Gold rings were used as a medium of bar- 
 ter, and were given as rewards to poets and men of 
 learning ; the Irish ladies, even as early as the first 
 century, are said to have worn them on their arms in 
 great abundance for the purpose of distribution. The 
 high respect paid to learning, and the ample rewards 
 bestowed upon those who devoted themselves to the 
 preservation of the national Annals, are a sufficient rea- 
 son for the care with which they were recorded. 
 
 The Danes probably learned the art of coining money 
 from the Irish ; it is at least certain, that the Irish had 
 bracteate coins at an early period, which were used as 
 a circulating medium, as well as rings or ingots. Both 
 rings and ingots have been found, of certain fixed 
 weights. From a very remote age the Irish had a reg- 
 ular scale of barter, by which the value of animals and 
 property was regulated. 
 
 The art of illuminating manuscripts attained an extra- 
 ordinary perfection soon after the introduction of Chris- 
 tianity. The monks, not content with occupying them- 
 selves in compiling new works and in copying such as 
 already existed, aimed also at the advancement of their 
 
102 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 productions. However admirable the skill which they 
 displayed, it must be remembered that they were not 
 altogether without models. The Celtic style of art, 
 peculiar to itself, and inimitable of its kind, had already 
 been inaugurated, even in the pagan ages of Celtic 
 history, by the workers in gold and other metals, whose 
 artistic designs are only equalled by their skill in work- 
 manship. Transcribing was, in fact, a trade, for the 
 monks obtained support for their monasteries by the 
 payment received for copying works for those who 
 wished to possess them, or to present them to other 
 religious houses. There were three distinct branches 
 of copyists — the illuminators, the notarii or public 
 scribes, and the librarii antiquarii. Mr. Westwood has 
 observed that, "from the fifth to the end of the eighth 
 century, a style of art was established in Ireland abso- 
 lutely distinct from that of all other parts of the civil- 
 ized world, which obtained a perfection almost marvel- 
 lous." He thus describes this style : " It consists, (1) 
 of one or more narrow ribbons, diagonally but symmet- 
 rically interlaced, forming an endless variety of patterns ; 
 
 (2) one, two, or three slender spiral lines, coiling one 
 within another, till they meet within the centre of the 
 circle, their opposite ends going off to other circles ; 
 
 (3) a vast variety of lacertine animals and birds, coiled 
 one within another, their tails, tongues, and top knots 
 prolonged and irregularly interlaced ; (4) diagonal lines 
 forming Chinese-like patterns. The Irish missionaries 
 brought their style of art with them from Iona to Lin- 
 disfarne in the seventh century, with their bold and 
 characteristic caligraphy ; these were adopted by the 
 Anglo-Saxons, and hence the name of Anglo-Saxon was 
 given to this style of art, which is, in reality, Celtic. 
 In delicacy of handling and minute but faultless execu- 
 tion, the whole range of palaeography offers nothing 
 comparable to the early Celtic manuscripts, and those 
 produced in the same style in England." 
 
 It has been already observed, that the monks by 
 no means confined themselves to religious treatises or 
 copies of Scripture ; hence such science as the age 
 could boast was fairly and popularly disseminated in 
 Ireland with considerable knowledge of classical sub- 
 jects. Versification, from the earliest ages, had been 
 
MUSIC AND POETRY. 
 
 103 
 
 an important means of imparting and preserving knowl- 
 edge, and' this art was at once employed in the Divine 
 service by the early converts. The hymns of the Cath- 
 olic Church, which are unequalled for sublimity of sen- 
 timent and beauty of composition, are modelled on the 
 hymns composed by Irish monks. 
 
 The phonetic framework of the poetry of each nation 
 is founded on different principles of harmony, or appre- 
 ciation of sound. Greek and Latin poetry is composed 
 by the recurrence of similar quantities. Hebrew poetry 
 requires parallelism. The Swedes and Norse require 
 alliteration. The English, French, and Italians require 
 metre. The ancient Irish poetry required assonance, 
 measure, alliteration, and, if the assonance was perfect, 
 rhyme necessarily followed. Rhyme is therefore a qual- 
 ity of Irish verse ; and Zeuss has shown that the word 
 rhyme is itself of Irish origin ; " Simplex Hibernicum 
 substantivum rim, inde derivatur rimire, compilator." 
 — Gram. Geltica, p. 912. Zeuss also affirms that the 
 Gaulish-Celtic form of composing odes was transferred 
 to the composition of Christian hymns. Hence we find 
 the Irish author Sedulius writing the hymn — 
 
 A soh's ovtus cardine 
 Ad usque terrce limitem, 
 Christum canamus principewj, 
 Natwm Maria Virgitie. 
 
 And St. Ambrose the ferial hymn for Monday — 
 
 Somno refectis artubws, aperto cubili surgimws; 
 Nobis, pater, canentibws. adesse te deposciwms. 
 
 With the " Jam lucis orto sidere," and many other 
 hymns, which, although composed in iambic tetrameter, 
 have the assonant and other qualities considered essen- 
 tial by the Celtic bards. Many other examples might 
 be given, but even a mere list of the hvmns composed 
 by Irish monks would occupy a considerable space. 
 
 Music. — The subject of Celtic music would require a 
 much greater development than can be given to it at 
 present. The form of the harp has been incorrectly 
 represented on our coins. It was first assumed in the 
 national arms about the year 1540. When figured on 
 the coins of Henry VIII., the artist seems to have 
 taken the Italian harp of twenty-four strings for his 
 model ; but in the national arms sketched on the map 
 of Ireland in the State Papers, executed in the year 
 
104 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 1567, the form is more correct. That the Irish pos- 
 sessed this musical instrument in pre-Christian times, 
 cannot be doubted. The ornamental cover of an Irish 
 manuscript, which Mr. Ferguson considers to date 
 prior to a. d. 1064, contains five examples of the harp 
 of that period. This, and the sculptured harp at Nieg, 
 in Ross- shire, are believed to be the earliest delinea- 
 tions of the perfect harp. Dr. Bunting gives a sketch 
 of a harp and harper, taken from one of the compart- 
 ments of a sculptured cross atUllard, county Kilkenny. 
 This is a remarkable example. The cross is supposed to 
 be older than that of Monasterboice, which was erected 
 a. d. 830, and this is believed to be the first specimen 
 of a harp without a fore pillar that has been discovered 
 out of Egypt. If the Irish harp be really a variety of 
 the cithara, derived through an Egyptian channel, it 
 would form another important link in the chain of evi- 
 dence, which leads us back to colonization from Egypt 
 through Scythia. Captain Wilford observes, that there 
 may be a clue to the Celtic word bard in the Hindoo 
 bdrddtri; but the Irish appellation appears to be of 
 comparatively modern use. It is, however, a notice- 
 able fact, that the farther we extend our inquiries, the 
 more forcibly we are directed to the East as the cradle 
 of our music. Several recent travellers have mentioned 
 the remarkable similarity between Celtic airs and those 
 which they heard in different parts of Asia. Sir W. 
 Ouseley observed, at the close of the last century, that 
 many Hindoo melodies possessed the plaintive simplic- 
 ity of the Scotch and Irish. 
 
 A German scholar has written a work, to prove that 
 the pentatonic scale was brought over by the Celts 
 from Asia, and that it was preserved longer in Scotland 
 than elsewhere,*on account of the isolated position of 
 that country. The Phoenicians are supposed to have 
 invented the kinnor, trigonon, and several other of the 
 most remarkable instruments of antiquity. Their skill 
 as harpists, and their love of music, are indicated by 
 the prophetic denunciation, where the ceasing of songs 
 and the sound of the harp are threatened as a calamity 
 they were likely specially to feel. 
 
 Mr. 0' Curry gives the names of all the ancient Irish 
 musical instruments as follows : — Cruit, a harp ; Tim- 
 
MUSIC AND DRESS. 
 
 105 
 
 pan, a drum, or tambourine ; Corn, a trumpet ; Stoc, a 
 clarion ; Pipai, the pipes ; Fidil, the riddle. He adds, 
 "all those are mentioned in an ancient poem in the 
 'Book of Leinster/ a manuscript of about the year 
 1150, now in the Library of Trinity College. The first 
 four are found in various old tales and descriptions of 
 battles/ 7 
 
 The principal Irish instruments were the harp, the 
 trumpet and the bagpipe. The harp in the Museum of 
 Trinity College, Dublin, usually known as Brian Bo- 
 roimhe's harp, is supposed, by Dr. Petrie, to be the 
 oldest instrument of the kind now remaining in Europe. 
 It had but one row of strings, thirty in number ; the 
 upright pillar is of oak, and the sound-board of red sal- 
 low. The minute and beautiful carving on all parts of 
 the instrument attests a high state of artistic skill, at 
 whatever period it was executed. As the harp is only 
 thirty-two inches high, it is supposed that it was used 
 by ecclesiastics in the church services. Cambrensis 
 mentions this custom ; and there is evidence of it hav- 
 ing existed from the first introduction of Christianity. 
 Harps of this description are figured on the knees of 
 ecclesiastics on several of our ancient stone crosses. 
 
 The amusements of the pre-Christian Celt were, 
 undeniably, intellectual. Chess has already been men- 
 tioned more than once in this work as a constant occu- 
 pation of princes and chieftains. Indeed, they appear 
 to have sat down to a game with all the zest of a mod- 
 ern amateur. A few specimens of chessmen have been 
 discovered : a king, elaborately carved, is figured in 
 the Introduction to the " Book of Rights. " It belonged 
 to Dr. Petrie, and was found, with some others, in a 
 bog in the county Meath. The chessmen of ancient 
 times appear to have been rather formidable as weapons. 
 In the " Tain bo Chuailgne," Cuchullain is represented 
 as having killed a messenger, who told him a lie, with 
 a chessman " which pierced him to the centre of his 
 brain. " English writers speak of the use of chess 
 immediately after the Conquest, and say that the Sax- 
 ons learned the game from the Danes. The Irish were 
 certainly acquainted with it at a much earlier period ; 
 if we are to credit the Annals, it was well known long 
 before the introduction of Christianity. 
 
THIRD, OR DANISH PERIOD 
 
 FROM A.D. 795 TO A.D 116d. 
 
 PKINCIPAL EVENTS. 
 
 FIRST RAID OF THE DANES — PLUNDER OF THE MONASTERIES, 
 AND DESTRUCTION OF THE CHURCHES — ILLUMINATED MAN- 
 USCRIPTS AND WORKS OF ART — TURGESIUS, THE DANISH 
 PRINCE, ESTABLISHES HIS HEAD QUARTERS IN ARMAGH — 
 THE DANES DIVIDED INTO TWO PARTIES, CALLED BLACK 
 AND WHITE GENTILES — REIGN OF CORMAC — WAR WITH 
 KING OF CASHEL — ATTEMPT OF MUIRCHEARTACH TO SUB- 
 JUGATE THE DANES — THE DANES OBTAIN POSSESSION OF 
 THE SEA -COAST TOWNS — THE BATTLE OF DUNDALK — MAL- 
 ACHY AND BRIAN BORU — REMOTE CAUSES OF THE BATTLE 
 OF CLONTARF — THE BLOCKADE OF DUBLIN — THE BATTLE 
 OF CLONTARF — DEFEAT OF THE DANES, AND DECLINE OF 
 THE DANISH POWER IN IRELAND. 
 
 I 
 
 (107) 
 
FIRST RAID OF THE DANES. 
 
 109 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 A.D.795TO A.D.954, 
 
 Contemporary Events :— Charlemagne, Emperor of the West— Leo 
 III. Pope — Alfred the Great — Succeeded "by Edward the Elder — 
 England ravaged by the Danes — The Universities of Oxford and 
 Cambridge founded — Foundation of the Capet dynasty in France 
 — The Picts subdued and repelled by Kenneth II— The Saxon 
 Code of Laws framed. 
 
 The first raid of the Danish pirates is recorded thus : 
 " The age of Christ 790 (recte 795). The twenty-fifth 
 year of Donnehadh. The burning of Reachrainn by 
 plunderers ; and its shrines were broken and plun- 
 dered. " They had already attacked the English coasts, 
 " whilst the pious King Bertric was reigning over its 
 western division." Their arrival was sudden, and so 
 unexpected that the king's officer took them for mer- 
 chants, paying with his life for the mistake. A Welsh 
 chronicle, known by the name of " Brut y Tywyso- 
 gion/' or the Chronicle of the Chieftains, has a corre- 
 sponding record under the year 790 : " Ten years with 
 fourscore and seven hundred was the age of Christ 
 when the pagans went to Ireland." Three manuscripts 
 add, " and destroyed Rechren." Another chronicle 
 mentions, that the black pagans, who were the first of 
 their nation to land in Ireland, had previously been 
 defeated in Glamorganshire, and after their defeat they 
 had invaded Ireland, and devastated Rechru. 
 
 The Irish gave the generic name of Gaill to all stran- 
 gers who spoke a foreign language, probably because 
 they confounded them with the Galli, or Gauls, the for- 
 eigners with whom they were most intimate. Hence 
 the Danes obtained the name of Gaill, and the wars 
 with the Danes are termed Gogadh Gaedhil re Gallaidh 
 — the wars of the Irish with the foreigners. After 
 the twelfth century the term Gall was applied to the 
 English ; and the Highlanders of Scotland now employ 
 
110 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 it to designate the Lowlanders. The Danes, according 
 to the Irish chroniclers, were divided into two classes : 
 the " azure Gentiles," or Lochlanns, and the tl Danaes," 
 or Danes proper. The exact meaning of these terms 
 has not been ascertained, but they indicate two classes 
 of pirates : the white or fair-haired Norwegians and 
 Swedes ; and the dark or " black 99 pagans, most dreaded 
 of all. who were Danes. The two nations were hostile 
 to each other, though, or perhaps because, equally bent 
 on plunder. At a later period the word Dane was used 
 generally to signify a barbarian or robber, without dis- 
 tinction of race. The Danes are also called Duv Galls, 
 or Black Gentiles, and Finn Galls or White Gentiles. 
 
 As plunder was the principal object of these Vikings, 
 they first attacked the monastic establishments on the 
 Irish coasts, which had been richly endowed by the 
 piety and liberality of the Irish Milesian kings and 
 princes. In T98 they invaded the Isle of Man, and on 
 their return took " spoils of the sea between Erinn and 
 Alba." Finding but little resistance, they were em- 
 boldened to attack the mainland, and in 807, the tenth 
 year of Hugh Oirnidhe, they made a raid on the south- 
 west coast of Ireland, and, after burning the island of 
 Finshunneay, proceeded to Eoscommon. During the 
 years 812 and 813 they made raids in Connaught and 
 Munster, but not without encountering stout resistance 
 from the native forces. After this predatory and inter- 
 necine warfare had continued for about thirty years, 
 Turgesius, a Norwegian prince, established himself as 
 sovereign of the Vikings, and made Armagh his head- 
 quarters, a. d. 830. If the Irish chieftains had united 
 their forces, and acted in concert, the result would have 
 been the expulsion of the intruders ; but, unhappily, 
 this unity of purpose in matters political has never 
 existed. The Danes made and broke alliances with the 
 provincial kings at their own convenience, while these 
 princes gladly availed themselves of even temporary 
 assistance from their cruel foes, while engaged in do- 
 mestic wars, which should never have been undertaken. 
 Still the Northmen were more than once driven from 
 the country by the bravery of the native commanders, 
 and they often paid dearly for the cruel wrongs they 
 inflicted on their hapless victims. Sometimes the Dan- 
 
THE PIRACIES OF THE DANES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 ish chiefs mustered all their forces, and left the island 
 for a brief period, to ravage the shores of England or 
 Scotland ; but they soon returned to inflict new barbar- 
 ities on the unfortunate Irish. 
 
 Burning churches or destroying monasteries was a 
 favorite pastime of these pirates, wherever they could 
 obtain a landing on Christian shores ; and the number 
 of religious houses in Ireland afforded them abundant 
 means of gratifying their barbarous inclinations. But 
 when they became so far masters as to have obtained 
 some permament settlement, this mode of proceeding 
 was considered either more troublesome or less profita- 
 ble than that of appropriating to themselves the abbeys 
 and churches. Turgesius, it is said, placed an abbot of 
 his own in every monastery ; and as he had already 
 conferred ecclesiastical offices on himself and on his 
 lady, we may presume he was not very particular in his 
 selections. Each village, too, was placed under the 
 rule of a Danish captain ; and each family was obliged 
 to maintain a soldier of that nation, who made himself 
 master of the house, using and wasting the food for 
 lack of which the starving children of the lawful owner 
 were often dying of hunger. 
 
 All education was strictly forbidden ; books and man- 
 uscripts were burned and drowned ; and the poets, his- 
 torians, and musicians imprisoned and driven to the 
 woods and mountains. Martial sports were interdicted, 
 from the lowest to the highest rank. Even nobles and 
 princes were forbidden to wear their usual habiliments, 
 the cast-off clothes of the Danes being considered suffi- 
 ciently good for slaves. 
 
 The clergy, who had been driven from their monas- 
 teries, concealed themselves as best they could, contin- 
 uing still their prayers and fasts, and the fervent recital 
 of the Divine Office. The Irish, true to their faith in 
 every trial, were not slow to attribute their deliverance 
 to the prayers of these holy men. 
 
 In 831 Nial Caille led an army against them, and 
 defeated them at Derry ; but, in the meanwhile, Felim, 
 king of Cashel, with contemptible selfishness, marched 
 into Leinster to claim tribute, and plundered everyone, 
 except the Danes, who should have been alone consid- 
 ered as enemies at such a time. Even the churches 
 
112 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTOk*\ 
 
 were not spared by him, for he laid waste the termon- 
 lands of Clonmacnois, " up to the church door." After 
 his death a brave and good king came to the rescue 
 of his unfortunate country. While still king of Meath, 
 Meloughlin had freed the nation from Turgesius, one of 
 its worst tyrants, by drowning him in Lough Owel. 
 
 The name Turgesius, or Turgeis, is the Latin form of 
 the Scandinavian name Thorgils, or Thorkils, which 
 occurs frequently in the northern Sagas. Snorro 
 Sturleston probably intends the Turgesius of Irish his- 
 tory when he mentions that Thorgils, the son of Harold 
 Harfagr, was sent on an expedition to Scotland, Ireland, 
 and Britland (Britain) by his father. His brother Frode 
 was poisoned in Dublin ; and Thorgils, after a long 
 reign, " fell into a snare of the Irish and was killed." 
 This looks like an identity of person, but the date given 
 by Snorro shows that he was mistaken in his chronology. 
 Turgesius has also been identified with Ragnar Lodbrok, 
 king of Denmark and Norway;* but there are more 
 serious difficulties in the way of this identification. 
 
 Turgesius was drowned a. d. 845. His death was a 
 signal for a general revolt against the oppressors. In 
 846 they were defeated at Skeen, and on another occa- 
 sion at Kildare. New fleets, however, were continually 
 arriving, and supplying the place of the slain, or afford- 
 ing reinforcements to the already powerful strangers. 
 A fleet settled at Lough Neagh, and plundered all 
 round the country as far as Armagh. Another party 
 selected the Liffey for their anchorage, and another 
 detachment landed at the south of Athcliadh, as Dublin 
 was then called, and plundered it. There is considera- 
 ble confusion in the Annals of this period, occasioned 
 possibly by different persons giving different accounts 
 of these raids, which, at a later period, were supposed 
 to be different accounts of different expeditions. But, 
 on the whole, the course pursued by the invaders can 
 be ascertained with tolerable exactitude. 
 
 The first northern invaders of Ireland are distin- 
 guished by the annalists as the Finngall, White or 
 Azure Gentiles. They were Norwegians, and their 
 power lasted until the death of Turgesius. In 852 the 
 more formidable Black Gentiles made their appearance, 
 and contested the country with the former invaders. 
 
INVASION OF THE BLACK GENTILES. 113 
 
 Their first attack was made on the fortress which the 
 White Gentiles had erected at Dublin. This they plun- 
 dered, routing the White Gentiles with great slaughter. 
 The Norwegians then sent out a fleet of eightscore 
 ships, and gave battle to the Danes at the present Car- 
 lingford. The engagement lasted three days and three 
 nights, and the Danes were again victorious. One of 
 the Norwegian leaders, Stam, escaped by flight ; the 
 other, Iercne, was captured and beheaded. 
 
 A curious account of these contests is given by Don- 
 ald MacFirbis, in his "Fragments of Annals." It is 
 very characteristic of the times. According to this 
 account, the " Black Galls fought with the White Galls 
 for three days and nights, and were finally victorious. 
 They take the ships they have captured to Dublin, and 
 deprive the Lochlanns (White Galls) of all the spoil 
 they had so cruelly and unjustly acquired from the 
 f shrines and sanctuaries of the saints of Erinn ; ; which 
 the annalist naturally considers a judgment on them 
 for their sins. They make another struggle, and gain 
 the victory. But the Danish general, Horm, advises 
 his men to put themselves under the protection of St. 
 Patrick, and to promise the saint ' honorable alms for 
 gaining victory and triumph ' over enemies who had 
 plundered his churches. They comply with this advice ; 
 and though greatly inferior in numbers, they gain the 
 victory, * on account of the tutelage of St. Patrick.' " 
 It is, however, extremely doubtful whether St. Patrick's 
 people were any better for the victory, whether gained 
 through his " tutelage " or not. Limerick was already 
 in possession of the first comers : and was probably 
 founded by them ; indeed, the principal Irish seaports 
 owe their origin to the Danes, who naturally selected 
 the most convenient landing-places, and then fortified 
 themselves as best they could on the nearest site. 
 
 Soon after the famous conflict between the Black 
 and White Gentiles, both parties combined, under the 
 leadership of AmiafF or Olaf. Several dates are given 
 for this event ; the most probable is a. d. 853. This prince 
 was the AmiafF or Olaf Huita (the White) of Scandina- * 
 vian history, and is said in the " Landnamabok " to 
 have "seized Dublin in Ireland and the Dublin shire" 
 (or Dyflinnarskiri), where he was made king. He is 
 
114 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 described as a pirate, and the records of his exploits 
 fully bear out the character, though probably it was not 
 intended as any reproach. lie signalized his advent 
 by drowning Coobar, " heir apparent of Tara ; " by slay- 
 ing all the chieftains of the Deisi ; by killing the son of 
 Clennfaedadh, king of Muskerry ; by smothering Mach- 
 daighren in a cave ; and by the destruction of Caitill 
 Find (Ketill the White) and his whole garrison. The 
 death of Maelgualai, son of Dungaile, king of Munster, 
 whose head was broken by a stone, is next recorded, 
 but there is no special mention as to whether Amlaff 
 was the instigator or perpetrator of this barbarism. 
 This occurred in 857, according to the chronology of 
 the Four Masters. The next clause asserts that they 
 were all " killed by the men of Munster/' but the reason- 
 ing is not very clear, and perhaps, as general slaugh- 
 tering was the order of the day, not very important. 
 Ketill the White was probably a Norseman ; and his 
 followers are called the Gaill-Gaedhil, a name applied 
 only to apostate Irish who joined the Danish ranks. 
 
 Oisill is the next chief of importance ; and he "suc- 
 ceeded in plundering the greatest part of Ireland." It 
 is not recorded how long he was occupied in perform- 
 ing this exploit, but he was eventually slain, and his 
 army cut off. The deaths of several Danish chieftains 
 occurred about this period, and are referred to the 
 vengeance of certain saints whose shrines they had des- 
 ecrated. In a. d. 864 according to the Four Masters, 
 867 according to O'Flaherty, the Danes were defeated 
 at Lough Foyle, by Hugh Finnliath, king of Ireland. 
 Soon after, Leinster and Munster were plundered by a 
 Scandinavian chief, named Baraid, who advanced as far 
 as Kerry : " And they left not a cave underground that 
 they did not explore ; and they left nothing, from Lim- 
 erick to Cork, that they did not ravish." 
 
 The "caves" or cairns which have been recently 
 examined bear ample evidence of this plundering ; the 
 loss to the archaeologists can only be estimated by a 
 full knowledge of what has been spared. Unfortunately 
 these barbarians had a passion for wanton destruction 
 as well as for illegal possession, and not only carried 
 off gold torques, chalices, and costly shrines, but also 
 mutilated, burned, and even drowned the memorable 
 
THE DANES PLUNDER KERRY AND CORK. 115 
 
 Annals, which must have existed in immense numbers, 
 if we may judge by what still remains. Even richly 
 illuminated manuscripts were specially the objects of 
 their wanton barbarity, and the monks were fain to be 
 thankful if they escaped with their lives, even at the 
 price of their most precious treasures. 
 
 The native princes were chiefly, if not entirely to 
 blame for all this destruction. Had they combined 
 against the common enemy, there can be but little 
 doubt of the result. During the reign of Amlaff, a 
 great meeting of Irish ecclesiastics was convened at 
 Rathugh, for the purpose of reconciling the Irish chief- 
 tains. They succeeded to some extent, for the northern 
 Hy-Nials alone remained belligerent. The other kings 
 and chieftains pronounced against them ; and Hugh 
 Finnlaith formed an alliance with Amlaff, and with his 
 aid overran the kingdom of Meath. 
 
 Meloughlin died, after a reign of sixteen years, a. d. 
 860. The annalists mention an embassy from him to 
 Charles the Bald, to inform that monarch of victories 
 gained over the northern pirates, and to obtain his per- 
 mission for the Irish kings to pass through France on a 
 pilgrimage to Rome. Hugh Finnliath succeeded Me- 
 loughlin, broke his treaty with Amlaff, which had been 
 only one of convenience, and turned his arms vigorously 
 against the foreigners. This prince was married to a 
 daughter of Kenneth M' Alpine, the first sole monarch 
 of Scotland. After the death of the Irish prince, his 
 wife married his successor, Flann, who, according to the 
 alternate plan of succession, came of the southern Hy- 
 Nial family, and was a son of Meloughlin, once the for- 
 midable opponent of the lady's former husband. Dur- 
 ing the reign of Flann, Cormac MacCullinan, a prelate 
 distinguished for his learning and sanctity, was obliged 
 to unite the office of priest and king. This unusual 
 combination, however, was not altogether without pre- 
 cedent. The archbishopric of Cashel owes its origin 
 remotely to this great man ; as from the circumstance 
 of the city of Cashel having been the seat of royalty in 
 the south, and the residence of the kings of Munster, it 
 was exalted, in the twelfth century, to the dignity of an 
 archiepiscopal see. Cormac's history is one of consid- 
 
116 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 erable interest, and it forms an important episode in the 
 Annals of the ninth century. 
 
 The Pour Masters thus record the accession of Cor- 
 mac to£the royal dignity: "A change of kings at Cais- 
 eal (Cashel), i.e. Cormac, son of Ciuleannan, in the 
 place of Cenughegan, i. e. Fiuguine." Keating, 1 how- 
 ever, gives full details, probably because he took a spe- 
 cial interest in the good ecclesiastic, as one of his own 
 order. Fiuguine was slain, after a reign of six years, 
 by his own people ; and as Cormac was next in succes- 
 sion, he was obliged to assume the government, al- 
 though he had embraced the ecclesiastical state. There 
 is no doubt that the early part of his reign was singu- 
 larly prosperous, and* that the part of Ireland which he 
 governed enjoyed an uninterrupted tranquillity, which 
 Keating thus describes : " Great was the prosperity of 
 Ireland during his reign ; for the land became filled 
 with the Divine grace, and with every prosperity, and 
 with public peace in those days; so that the cattle 
 needed no cowherd and the flocks no shepherd, as long 
 as he was king. The shrines of the saints were then 
 protected, and many temples and monasteries were 
 built ; public schools were established for the purpose 
 of giving instruction in letters, law, and history ; many 
 were the tilled fields, numerous the bees, and plenteous 
 the beehives, under his rule ; frequent was fasting and 
 prayer, and every other work of piety ; many houses 
 of public hospitality were built, and many books writ- 
 ten at his command. And, moreover, whenever he 
 exacted the performance of any good work from others, 
 he was wont to set them the example himself by being 
 the first to practise it, whether it was a deed of alms, or 
 benevolence, or prayer, or attending Mass, or any other 
 virtuous deed." 
 
 The absence of the Danes from Ireland at this period 
 s no doubt contributed to the general tranquillity, and the 
 rest may be credited to Cormac's prudence and piety. 
 But this happy state was not of very long continuance. 
 On one occasion, when Cormac was celebrating the Feast 
 
 1 Keating wrote his History of Ireland in the seventeenth century, 
 ■when he had access to many manuscripts now lost or destroyed. He 
 was a Catholic priest of holy life, and considerable intellectual 
 ability. 
 
REIGN OF CORMAC MAC CULLINAN. H? 
 
 of Easter at Cashel, he asked for " food and treasures 99 
 from the Eoghanists. The motive which led to this de- 
 mand is not very clear. The rights of Irish kings and 
 chiefs were plainly defined, and the king of Cashel had 
 no claim whatever upon this clan. The tribute, or 
 present — for it is by no means certain in which sense 
 the demand was made — having been refused, Cormac 
 asked for jewels and other valuables. Some presents 
 were sent, but the gifts were as insulting as a refusal, 
 for they consisted of the worst arms and goods which 
 the Eoghanists possessed. The Dalcassians on both 
 occasions made presents to Cormac, in compensation or 
 atonement for the conduct of the Eoghanists. 
 
 There was a turbulent and unruly ecclesiastic in 
 Cormac's court, who was continually urging him to 
 avenge this insult ; and another circumstance occurred 
 soon after which proved a still more plausible pretext. 
 The territory of Lorcan, king of Thomond, was invaded 
 by the king of Connaught. Flann, the ard-righ, took 
 part in the quarrel. By the advice of the abbot Flaher- 
 tach, Cormac made two campaigns against these united 
 forces, and in both he was victorious. Soon after, 
 another war was proposed by the abbot, and the pre- 
 text was, a demand for tribute from the Leinster men. 
 Cormac was most unwilling to undertake this expedi- 
 tion, having a presentiment that he should be slain in 
 battle. But Flahertach, and the counsel of his other 
 chiefs, prevailed. Before he set out he made his will, 
 bequeathing considerable property to different churches 
 and monasteries, 
 
 Flann headed the opposing army, and they obtained 
 an easy victory. Cormac was killed by his horse roll- 
 ing over him down a hill made slippery by the blood 
 of the slain. A common soldier, who recognized his 
 remains, cut off his head, and brought it as a trophy 
 to Flann ; but the monarch bewailed the death of the 
 good and great prince, and reproved the indignity with 
 which his remains had been treated. This battle was 
 fought at a place called Ballaghmoon, in the county of 
 Kildare, a few miles from the town of Carlow. 
 
 Flahertach survived the battle, and, after some years 
 spent in a monastery, became once more minister, and 
 ultimately kin^ of Munster. As he advanced in years, 
 
118 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 he learned to love peace, and his once irascible temper 
 became calm and equable. The Rock of Cashel, and the 
 ruins of a small, but once beautiful chapel, still preserve 
 the memory of the bishop-king. His literary fame also 
 has its memorials. His " Rule " is contained in a poem 
 of fourteen stanzas, written in the most pure and ancient 
 style of Gaedhilic, of which, as well as of many other 
 languages, the illustrious Cormac was so profound a 
 master. This " Rule ,; is general in several of its incul- 
 cations ; but it appears to have been written particu- 
 larly as an instruction to a priest, for the moral and 
 spiritual direction of himself and his flock. He was also 
 skilled in the Ogham writings, as may be gathered from 
 a poem written by a contemporary, who, in paying com- 
 pliments to many of the Irish kings and chiefs, ad- 
 dresses the following stanza to Cormac : — 
 
 Cormac of Cashel, with his champions, 
 Minister is his, — may he long enjoy it ! 
 Around the King of Eaith- Bicli are cultivated 
 The letters and the trees. 
 
 The battle in which Cormac lost his life took place 
 a. d. 903. Under the year 901, the death of King 
 Alfred is thus recorded : — "a. d. 900 (recte 901) : Al- 
 fred, the king who instituted the laws and ordinances 
 of the Saxons, and who was the most distinguished for 
 prowess, wisdom, and piety, of the Saxon kings, died." 
 
 Flann's last years were disturbed by domestic dis- 
 sensions. His sons, Donough and Conor, both rebelled 
 against him; but Nial Glunduv (of the black knee), a 
 northern Hy-Nial chief, led an army against them, and 
 compelled them to give hostages to their father. Flann 
 died the following year, a. d. 914, and was succeeded 
 by the prince who had so ably defended him. 
 
 A fresh body of Northmen landed in Ireland about 
 this time, and the native princes made a brave but 
 ineffectual attempt to expel them. An engagement 
 took place at Confey, near the present Leixlip, in which 
 the Irish were repulsed with great slaughter, a. d. 915. 
 Two years later, another attempt was made to dislodge 
 the intruders ; but the results were even more disas- 
 trous. Nial and his chieftains attacked the outskirts 
 of the Danish camp at Eathfarnham, near Dublin, and 
 drove them nearly into their fortress of Ath-Cliath. 
 
MURTAGH'S CIRCUIT OF IRELAND. 
 
 119 
 
 Here, however, the brave Nial was slain, and his forces 
 totally routed. 
 
 Donough, son of Flann, succeeded to the chief sover- 
 eignty. His character is not depicted in very flatter- 
 ing terms by the annalists. Muirkertach, son of Nial, 
 the preceding monarch, was next heir to the throne, 
 and, as such, took an important part in public affairs. 
 He was a brave and generous-minded chieftain, and 
 more than once yielded to the innovations of Donough, 
 to prevent further dissensions in his already distracted 
 country. He was the most formidable opponent whom 
 the Danish invaders had as yet encountered ; but his 
 efforts were continually frustrated by Oallaghan of 
 Cashel, king of Munster, a brave chief also, but thor- 
 oughly selfish in all his policy. He kept up the hered- 
 itary feud which distracted and disgraced Ireland for so 
 many centuries, and, as it suited his convenience, 
 allied himself with or against the Danes. In 934, he 
 pillaged Clonmacnoise, which had suffered the same 
 treatment from the Danes a few months previously ; and 
 in 937 he united with them in invading Meath and 
 Ossory. 
 
 In 939 Murtagh attacked the Norsemen in the Heb- 
 rides, and on his return prepared for his historically 
 famous circuit of Ireland. 1 He assembled an army, com- 
 posed of a thousand soldiers, renowned for valor, and, 
 at their head, commenced his journey. As his soldiers 
 were supplied with leathern cloaks, to protect them from 
 the cold at night, he obtained the sobriquet of Murtagh 
 of the Leathern Cloaks. Besides overawing and subdu- 
 ing the Danes, this prince intended to take hostages 
 from all the native princes, to compel them, if possible, 
 to keep peace. He marched first to Dublin, "keeping 
 the sea on his left hand," where he seized Sitric, broth- 
 er, of Godfred, the Danish king. The Leinster men at 
 first made some show of resistance, and assembled in 
 great numbers to intercept his course at Glen-Mama, 
 near Dunlaven. They had encamped at night ; but 
 when they saw the powerful host by which Murtagh 
 was attended, discretion seemed the best part of valor, 
 
 1 A contemporary account of this circuit was written in verse by 
 Cormacan the poet, who died a.d.948. It has "been translated intoEng 
 lish, with valuable notes, for the Irish Archaeological Society by the 
 late Dr. O'Donovao 
 
 / 
 
120 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 and they retired, leaving the northern chieftain to pur- 
 sue his victorious course. 
 
 At the fortress of Aillinn he seized and fettered Lor- 
 can, king of Leinster. He then marched into Munster, 
 and " put a fetter" upon Callaghan, king of Cashei. 
 In Connaught, Conor, son of the king of that province 
 offered himself as hostage, and was not fettered. The 
 circuit being completed, Murtagh returned to his for- 
 tress at Aileach, where he entertained his unwilling 
 captives for five months, and each was served "as a 
 monarch should be attended." At the conclusion of 
 this period, he transferred the hostages to the care of 
 Donough, the then monarch of Ireland. 
 
 Two years later the hero was slain by Blacaire, a 
 son of the Danish monarch at Ardee. Callaghan of 
 Cashei, who had been restored to his kingdom, died ten 
 years after. Donough, who was styled monarch of 
 Tara — a title given to the ard-righ for many centuries 
 after the desertion of that place — was succeeded by 
 Congallach. He was killed by the Danes in 954, and 
 Donnell O'Neilj son of Murtagh, obtained the royal 
 dignity 
 
BRIAN BORU. 
 
 121 
 
 CHAPTER IS. 
 
 CULMINATION OP THE DANISH POWER TERMINAT- 
 ING WITH THE BATTLE OF CLONTARF. 
 
 A.D.954 TO A. D. 1014. 
 
 Contemporary Events :— Otho I. crowned Emperor of Germany by 
 the Pope — Extinction of the Carlovingian Dynasty— The Danes 
 obtain great p'ower in England— Legalization of Tournaments — 
 Invention of Musical Notes. 
 
 The Danes are said to have been converted to Chris- 
 tianity about the middle of the tenth century ; but, as 
 they continued to plunder shrines and burn churches 
 as before, their conversion must have been merely nom- 
 inal. The divisions of the native Irish — which, from 
 wanting a competent and acknowledged head, seem, 
 rather to have increased than to have lessened — tended 
 to consolidate the Danish power. The northern and 
 southern Hy-Nials alternated the sovereignty with tol- 
 erable fairness ; but as the southern Hy-Nials were far 
 inferior in power to their northern relations, when it 
 came to their turn to rule, much weakness, and, conse- 
 quently, much dissension was inevitable. 
 
 The government of Munster had also been settled 
 on the alternate principle, between the Dalcassians, or 
 northern Munster race, and the Eoghanists, or south- 
 erns. This rule, however, was not regularly observed, 
 and for a long time the Desmonds, who belonged to 
 the southern clan, kept the right of succession from the 
 northerns. Cormac MacCuilennan wished to restore 
 the ancient arrangement, and managed so that Lorcan, 
 king of Thomond, should obtain his turn. In 942 his 
 son Kennedy, the father of the famous Brian Boru, con- 
 tested the kingdom with an Eoghanist prince, Callahan, 
 but yielded his claims, and joined his opponent in fight- 
 ing against the Danes. In 960 Mahoun, the eldest son 
 of Kennedy, obtained the crown of Munster, his brother 
 5 
 
122 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Brian being the heir apparent. The exploits of these 
 two chieftains and brothers form an important and in- 
 teresting episode in the history of the period, and are 
 detailed at considerable length. The Danes and the 
 Connaught men, who had invaded Thomond, afforded 
 ample occupation for their military prowess, and a guer- 
 illa war was carried on for some time in the woods of 
 Thomond, in which no quarter was given on either side, 
 and wherein it was " woe to either party to meet the 
 other." Mahoun at last proposed a truce, but Brian 
 refused to consent to this arrangement. He continued 
 the war until he found his army reduced to fifteen men. 
 Mahoun then sent for him. An interview took place, 
 which is described in the form of a poetic dialogue, 
 between the two brothers. Brian reproached Mahoun 
 with cowardice ; Mahoun reproached Brian with impru- 
 dence. Brian hints broadly that Mahoun had interested 
 motives in making this truce, and declares that neither 
 Kennedy their father, nor Lorcan their grandfather, 
 would have been so quiescent towards the foreigners 
 for the sake of wealth, nor would they have given them 
 even as much time as would have sufficed to play a game 
 of chess 1 on the green of Mogadare. Mahoun kept his 
 temper, and contented himself with reproaching Brian 
 for his recklessness, in sacrificing the lives of so many 
 of his faithful followers to no purpose. Brian replied 
 that he would never abandon his inheritance, without a 
 contest, to "such foreigners as Black Grim Gentiles." 
 
 The result was a conference of the tribe, who voted 
 for war, and marched into the country of the Eoghanists 
 (the present county Kerry), who at once joined the 
 standard of the Dalcassians. The Danes suffered severe- 
 ly in Munster. This aroused the Limerick Danes ; and 
 their chieftain, Ivar, attacked the territory of Dal-Cais, 
 an exploit in which he was joined, to their eternal 
 shame, by several native princes and tribes, amongst 
 whom were Molloy, son of Braun, king of Desmond, and 
 Donovan, son of Cathal, king of Carbry. The result 
 was a fierce battle at Sulcoit, near Tipperary, wherein 
 
 1 Flann Sionna, monarch of Ireland, had encamped on this plain 
 and ostentatiously commenced a ?ame of chess as a mark or con- 
 tempt for the chieftains whose country he had invaded. His folly 
 met its just punishment, for he was ignominiously defeated.— See 
 Wars of the Gaedhil, p. 113, note. 
 
DEFEAT OF THE DANES. 
 
 123 
 
 the Danes were gloriously defeated. The action was 
 commenced by the Northmen. It continued from sun- 
 rise till midday, and terminated in the rout of the for- 
 eigners, who fled " to the ditches, and to the valleys, 
 and to the solitudes of the great sweet flower plain," 
 where tbey were followed by the conquerors, and mas- 
 sacred without mercy. 
 
 The Dalcassians now obtained possession of Limerick, 
 with immense spoils of jewels, gold and silver, foreign 
 saddles, " soft, youthful, bright girls, blooming silk-clad 
 women, and active, well-formed boys." The active 
 boys were soon disposed of, for we find that they col- 
 lected the prisoners on the hillocks of Saingel, where 
 " every one that was fit for war was put to death, and 
 every one that was fit for a slave was enslaved." This 
 event is dated a. d. 968. 
 
 Mahoun was now firmly established on the throne, 
 but his success procured him many enemies. A con- 
 spiracy was formed against him under the auspices of 
 Ivar of Limerick and his son Dubhcenn. The Eoghan- 
 ist clans basely withdrew their allegiance from their 
 lawful sovereign, allied themselves with the Danes, and 
 became principals in the plot of assassination. Their 
 motive was as simple as their conduct was vile. The 
 two Eoghanist families were represented by Donovan 
 and Molloy. They were descendants of Oilioll Oluim, 
 from whom Mahoun was also descended, but his family 
 were Dalcassians. Hitherto the Eoghanists had suc- 
 ceeded in depriving the tribes of Dal-Cais of their fair 
 share of alternate succession to the throne of Munster ; 
 they became alarmed at and jealous of the advancement 
 of the younger tribe, and determined to do by treachery 
 what they could not do by force. With the usual head- 
 long eagerness of traitors, they seem to have forgotten 
 Brian, and quite overlooked the retribution they might 
 expect at his hands for their crime. There are two dif- 
 ferent accounts of the murder, which do not coincide in 
 detail. On the main facts, however, we may rely. 
 Mahoun was entrapped in some way to the house of 
 Donovan, and there he was basely murdered, in viola- 
 tion of the rights of hospitality, and in defiance of the 
 safe-conduct of the bishop, which he secured before his 
 visit. 
 
124 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 The traitors gained nothing by their treachery ex- 
 cept the contempt of posterity. Brian was not slow in 
 avenging his brother. "He was not a stone in place 
 of an egg, nor a wisp of hay in place of a club ; but he 
 was a hero in place of a hero, and valor after valor. " 
 
 Public opinion was not mistaken in its estimate of his 
 character. Two years after the death of Mahoun, Brian 
 invaded Donovan's territory, drove off his cattle, took 
 the fortress of Cathair Ouan, and slew 'Donovan and 
 his Danish ally, Harolt. He next proceeded to settle 
 accounts with Molloy. Cogaran is sent to the whole 
 tribe of Ui Eachach, to know "the reason why " they 
 killed Mahoun, and to declare that no cumhal or fine 
 would be received, either in the shape of hostages, 
 gold, or cattle, but that Molloy himself must be given 
 up. Messages were also sent to Molloy, both general 
 and particular. The general message challenged him 
 to battle at Belach-Lechta ; the particular message, 
 which in truth he hardly deserved, was a challenge to 
 meet Murrough, Brian's son, in single combat. The 
 result was the battle of Belach-Lechta, where Molloy 
 was slain, with twelve hundred of his troops, both 
 native and foreign. Brian remained master of the field 
 and of the kingdom, a. d. 978. 
 
 Brian was now undisputed king of Munster. In 984, 
 he was acknowledged monarch of Leth Mogha, the 
 southern half of Ireland. Meanwhile, Malachy, who 
 governed Leth Cuinn, or the northern half of Ireland, 
 had not been idle. He fought a battle with the 
 Danes in 979, near Tara, in which he defeated their 
 forces, and slew Raguall, son of Amlaif, king of Dublin. 
 Amlaif felt the defeat so severely that he retired to Iona, 
 where he died of a broken heart. Donough O'Neill, 
 son of Murtagh, died this year, and Malachy obtained 
 the regal dignity. Emboldened by his success at Tara, 
 he resolved to attack the foreigners in Dublin ; he 
 therefore laid siege to that city, and compelled it to 
 surrender after three days, liberating two thousand 
 prisoners, including the king of Leinster, and took 
 abundant spoils. At the same time, he issued a proc- 
 lamation, freeing every Irishman then in bondage to 
 the Danes, and stipulating that the race of Nial should 
 henceforth be free from tribute to the foreigners 
 
FEUD BETWEEN BRIAN AND MALACHY. 125 
 
 It is probable that Brian had already formed designs 
 for obtaining the royal power. The country resounded 
 with the fame of his exploits, and Malachy became 
 aware at last that he must either have him for an ally 
 or an enemy. He prudently chose the former alterna- 
 native, and in the nineteenth year of his reign (99T 
 according to the Pour Masters), he made arrangements 
 with Brian for a campaign against the common enemy. 
 Malachy surrendered all hostages to Brian, and Brian 
 agreed to recognize Malachy as sole monarch of north- 
 ern Erin, " without war or trespass/ 7 This treaty was 
 absolutely necessary, in order to offer effective resist- 
 ance to the Danes. The conduct of the two kings 
 towards each other had not been of a conciliatory 
 nature previously. In 981 Malachy had invaded the 
 territory of the Dalcassians, and uprooted the great 
 oak-tree of Magh Adair, under which its kings were 
 crowned — an insult which could not fail to excite bit- 
 ter feelings both in prince and people. In 989 the 
 monarch occupied himself fighting the Danes in Dublin, 
 to whom he laid siege for twenty nights, reducing the 
 garrison to such straits that they were obliged to drink 
 the salt water when the tide rose in the river. Brian 
 then made reprisals on Malachy, by sending boats up 
 the Shannon, burning the royal rath of Dun Sciath. 
 Malachy, in his turn, recrossed the Shannon, burned 
 Nenagh, plundered Ormonde, and defeated Brian him- 
 self in battle. He then marched again to Dublin, and 
 once more attacked " the proud invader." It was on 
 this occasion that he obtained the " collar of gold," 
 which Moore has immortalized in his world-famous 
 " Melodies." 
 
 When the kings had united their forces, they obtained 
 another important victory at Glen-Mama. Harolt, son 
 of Olaf Cuaran, the then Danish king, was slain, and 
 four thousand of his followers perished with him. The 
 victorious army marched at once to Dublin. Here they 
 obtained spoils of great value, and made many slaves 
 and captives. According to some accounts, Brian re- 
 mained in Dublin until the feast of St. Brigid (February 
 1); other annalists say that he remained only from 
 Great Christmas to Little Christmas. Meanwhile there 
 can be but little doubt that Brian had in view the ac« 
 
126 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 quisition of the right to be called sole monarch of Ire- 
 land. It is a blot on an otherwise noble character — an 
 ugly spot in a picture of more than ordinary interest. 
 Sitric, another son of Olaf s, fled for protection to Aedh 
 and Eochaidh, two northern chieftains ; but they gave 
 him up, from motives of fear or policy, to Brian's sol- 
 diers, and after due submission, he was restored to his 
 former position. Brian then gave his daughter in mar- 
 riage to Sitric, and completed the family alliance by 
 espousing Sitric's mother, Gormflaith, a lady of rather 
 remarkable character, who had been divorced from her 
 second husband, Malachy. Brian now proceeded to 
 depose Malachy. The account of this important trans- 
 action is given in so varied a manner by different writ- 
 ers, that it seems almost impossible to ascertain the 
 truth. The southern annalists are loud in their asser- 
 tions of the incapacity of the reigning monarch, and 
 would have it believed that Brian only yielded to the 
 urgent entreaties of his countrymen in accepting the 
 proffered crown. But the warlike exploits of Malachy 
 have been too faithfully recorded to leave any doubt as 
 to his prowess in the field ; and we may probably class 
 the regret of his opponent, in accepting his position, 
 with similar protestations made under circumstances in 
 which such regret was as little likely to be real. 
 
 The poet Moore, with evident partiality for the sub- 
 ject of his song, declares that the magnanimous charac- 
 ter of Malachy was the real ground of peace under such 
 provocation, and that he submitted to the encroach- 
 ments of his rival rather from motives of disinterested 
 desire for his country's welfare, than from any reluc- 
 tance or inability to fight his own battle. 
 
 But Brian had other chieftains to deal with, cf less 
 amiable or more warlike propensities. The proud ITy- 
 Nials of the north were long in yielding to his claims ; 
 but even these he at length subdued, compelling the 
 Cinel-Eoghain to give him hostages, and carrying off 
 the lord of Cinel-Connaill bodily to his fortress at Kin- 
 cora. Here he had assembled a sort of " happy fam- 
 ily/' consisting of refractory princes and knights, who, 
 refusing hostages to keep the peace with each other, 
 were obliged to submit to the royal will and pleasure, 
 and at least to appear outwardly in harmony 
 
CAUSES OF THE BATTLE OF CLONTARF. 
 
 12T 
 
 These precautionary measures, however summary, 
 and the energetic determination of Brian to have peace, 
 kept either by sword or law, have given rise to the 
 romantic ballad of the lady perambulating Ireland with 
 a gold ring and white wand, and passing unmolested 
 through its once belligerent kingdoms. 
 
 Brian now turned his attention to the state of religion 
 and literature, restoring the churches and monasteries 
 which had been plundered and burnt by the Danes. 
 He is said also to have founded the churches of Killaloe 
 and Iniscealtra, and to have built the round tower of 
 Tomgrany, in the present county Clare, A gift of 
 twenty ounces of gold to the church of Armagh — a 
 large donation for that period — is also recorded 
 amongst his good deeds. 
 
 There is some question as to the precise year in 
 which Brian obtained or usurped the authority and po- 
 sition of Ard-Righ : a. d. 1002, however, is the date most 
 usually accepted. He was probably about sixty-ono 
 years of age, and Malachy was then about fifty-three. 
 
 It will be remembered that incessant, though often 
 ineffectual, efforts to drive out the Danes had been made 
 by Irish princes and chiefs from time to time. On some 
 occasions the enemy was expelled for a time, and the 
 few settlers who were not, or could not be driven out, 
 were powerless to work any harm, and thankful for per- 
 mission to remain on sufferance. But the Danes never 
 absented themselves in great numbers for any consid- 
 erable period, and after each partial expulsion they 
 returned in still greater force, and with a yet stronger 
 determination to make themselves masters of the coun- 
 try. The Irish, on their side, were always anxious to 
 make a continued effort to drive them out finally. Such 
 an effort was made and perfected by the superior gen- 
 eralship and bravery of the famous Brian .Boru. But 
 Brian's wife, Gormflaith, was the means of exciting 
 the immediate cause of the quarrel which ended in the 
 final expulsion of the Danes. This lady had been mar- 
 ried three times. Her first husband was a Dane, Olaf 
 Cuaran : her second husband was the then chief mon- 
 arch of Ireland, Malachy ; and her third husband was 
 Brian Boru. The best authorities have admitted it to 
 be impossible to explain her matrimonial arrangements 
 
128 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 clearly ; and as her three husbands were all living at the 
 same time, the difficulty is easily accounted for. In Dr. 
 Dascent's version of " Burnt Njal," he makes Brian her 
 first husband ; but this is evidently a mistake. Brian 
 married another wife after he had repudiated Gormflaith, 
 but she lived with him at his palace of Kincora after the 
 death of this lady. 
 
 Gormflaith's three marriages are described in the 
 Annals as " three jumps*, which a woman should never 
 jump ; " a hint that her matrimonial arrangements had 
 not the sanction of canon law. She was remarkable 
 for her beauty as well as for her proud and violent tem- 
 per, which was probably the reason why she was repu- 
 diated by Malachy and Brian. Her brother Maelmurra 
 was king of Leinster. He had been established on his 
 throne by the Danes, and was, therefore, to a certain 
 extent, their vassal. But Maelmurra was also subject 
 to Brian, and obliged to pay him certain tributes. 
 While his sister Gormflaith was at Kincora, he came 
 there also with a tribute, of which pine masts for ship- 
 building formed a principal part. The trees had been 
 cut in the great pine forest at Feegile, near the present 
 town of Portarlington. Two other tribes were bringing 
 their tributes at the same time, and a dispute occurred 
 for precedency as they crossed the mountains. To set- 
 tle the dispute, Maelmurra assisted in carrying the 
 trees of the Ui Failens. 
 
 But the king of Ireland was also obliged to give cer- 
 tain, " rights ,; or presents to his tributaries; and amongst 
 these rights we find mention of " fine-textured clothes/ 7 
 which the ard-righ was bound to bestow upon the king 
 of Leinster. Maelmurra wore a tunic of silk with a gold 
 brocade and silver buttons, which Brian had given him. 
 In lifting the tree, one of the buttons was torn off, and 
 on his arrival at Kincora, he asked his sister to mend it 
 for him. But the haughty lady flung the garment into 
 the fire, and reproached her brother bitterly with con- 
 descending to accept a token of vassalage, and so fired 
 his pride, that he was prepared for any outrage. An 
 occasion of offence soon arose. Brian had three sons 
 by Mor, his first wife*. While the eldest, Murrogh, was 
 playing chess with his cousin Conaing, Maelmurra was 
 looking on ; and suggested a move by which Murrogh 
 
MAELMURRA QUARRELS WITH BRIAN. 
 
 129 
 
 lost the game. The youth turned on Maelmurra and 
 exclaimed, "That was like the advice you gave to the 
 Danes, which lost them Glen-Mama." The other an- 
 swered, " I will give them advice now, and they shall 
 not again be defeated." Murrogh retorted, "Then 
 you had better remind them to prepare a yew tree for 
 your reception." This was a keen insult, and in it- 
 self quite sufficient to give rise to a serious quarrel. 
 At the battle of Glen-Mama, Maelmurra had fought 
 with the Danes against Brian, hoping thereby to secure 
 the crown of Leinster for himself. But when victory 
 declared for Brian, Maelmurra hid himself in a yew tree, 
 where he was discovered and captured by the very 
 youth who now taunted him with his cowardice. When 
 Brian made alliance himself with the Danes he joined 
 Maelmurra in the treaty, and assisted him in attaining 
 the object of his ambition. 
 
 Early on the following morning, Maelmurra left Kin- 
 cora in a rage, " without permission and without taking 
 leave." Brian despatched a messenger after him, to 
 pacify him and to entreat him to return, but the angry 
 chief, for all reply, " broke all the bones in his head." If 
 civil war was Gormflaith's object, she certainly attained 
 her end. Maelmurra proceeded homewards rapidly ; 
 and detailed accounts of his journey, of considerable 
 topographical interest, are given. His clan were soon 
 roused to avenge the insults offered to their chief. The 
 O'Rourkes, O'Niels, O'Flahertys, and Kearys all prom- 
 ised to assist him. O'Niel ravaged Meath ; O'Rourke 
 attacked Malachy and slew his grandson Drumale, the 
 heir-apparent. But Malachy amply repaid these out- 
 rages, and defeated his assailants soon after in a bloody 
 engagement. He then divided his forces into three 
 parties, and plundered Leinster as far as Meath. Repri- 
 sals were made on each side with varying success, until 
 Malachy found that the Danes and Leinster men, united, 
 were too many for him, and sent messengers to Brian 
 demanding the protection to which he was entitled as 
 his vassal. 
 
 Brian obeyed the summons promptly. After ravag- 
 ing Ossory successfully, he marched to Dublin, where 
 he was joined by his son Murrogh, who had devastated 
 Wicklow, burning, destroying, and carrying off cap- 
 
130 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 lives, until he readied Kilraainham. Here the two 
 armies united, and stockaded Dublin, where they re- 
 mained encamped "from the festival of St. Ciaran in 
 Harvest (Sept. 9) until Christmas Day." Want of pro- 
 visions obliged them then to raise the siege. 
 
 During the depth of winter all parties remained inac- 
 tive, but as spring approached formidable preparations 
 were made on every side. Gormflaith, who, according 
 to the Annals, was " grim " against Brian, had joined 
 her brother Maelmurra and her son Sitric. It would 
 appear that this lady was not very well received by 
 Brian, on her return to Kincora, and hence the " grim- 
 ness " which left no efforts unused to avenge itself. 
 
 The storm was now gathering in earnest, and the 
 most active preparations were made on both sides for 
 a mighty and decisive conflict. Ambassadors were 
 despatched in all directions to obtain reinforcements. 
 Brodir, the earl, and Amlaif, son of the king of Loch- 
 lann, "the two earls of Cair, and of all the north of 
 Saxon land," came at the head of two thousand men; 
 "and there was not one villain of that two thousand 
 who had not polished, strong, triple-plated armor of 
 refined iron, or of cooling, uncorroding brass, encasing 
 their sides and bodies from head to foot." Moreover, 
 the said villains " had no reverence, veneration, or 
 respect, or mercy for God or man, for church or for 
 sanctuary ; they were cruel, ferocious, plundering, 
 hard-hearted, wonderful Dannarbrians, selling and hir- 
 ing themselves for gold and silver, and other treasure as 
 well." 
 
 Gormflaith was evidently one of the most efficient 
 agents on the occasion, for we find wonderful accounts 
 of her zeal and efforts in collecting forces. " Other 
 treasure " may possibly be referred to that lady's hand, 
 of which she appears to have been very liberal on all 
 occasions. She despatched her son, Sitric, to Siguard, 
 earl of the Orkneys, who promised his assistance, but 
 he required the hand of Gormflaith as payment for his 
 services, and that he should be made king of Ireland. 
 Sitric gave the required promise, and found, on his 
 return to Dublin, that it met with his mother's entire 
 approbation. She then despatched him to the Isle of 
 Man, where there were two vikings, who had thirty 
 
PREPARATIONS FOB THE BATTLE OF CLONTARF. 131 
 
 ships, and she desired him to obtain their co-operation 
 at any price. They were the brothers Ospak and Bro- 
 dir. The latter demanded the same conditions as the 
 earl Siguard, which were promised quite as readily by 
 Sitric, only he charged the viking to keep the agree- 
 ment secret, and, above all, not to mention it to Siguard. 
 
 Brodir, 1 according to the Saga, was an apostate 
 Christian, who had thrown off his faith, and become 
 God's dastard. He was both tall and strong, and his 
 long black hair, which he wore tucked under his belt, 
 perhaps gained him the reputation of being a magician. 
 
 The viking Ospak, however, refused to fight against 
 the good king Brian, whom he found at Kincora, where 
 he made profession of Christianity and was baptized. 
 The description of Brodir is taken from the Saga, the 
 man being especially noteworthy as the slayer of Brian 
 after the battle of Clontarf. 
 
 The author of the Wars of the Gael gives a formida- 
 ble list of the other auxiliaries who were invited by the 
 Danes of Dublin, and the Annals of Loch Ce also give 
 an account of the fleet which they assembled and its 
 chosen leader. Maelmurra was too near the restless 
 and revengeful Gormflaith to remain inactive, even had 
 he been so inclined. He had mustered a formidable 
 force within the city of Dublin, which he divided into 
 three battalions. The Leinster men all followed his 
 standard, and he was also joined by the Wexford men. 
 
 Meanwhile, Brian had been scarcely less successful, 
 and probably not less active. He now marched towards 
 Dublin, "with all that obeyed him of the men of 
 Ireland." These were the provincial troops of Mun- 
 ster and Connaught, and the men of Meath. His march 
 is thus described in the Wars of the Gael: — "Brian 
 looked out behind him, and beheld the battle phalanx 
 — compact, huge, disciplined, moving in silence, 
 mutely, bravely, haughtily, unitedly, with one mind, 
 traversing the plain towards them ; three score and ten 
 banners over them — of red, and of yellow, and of 
 green, and of all kinds of colors." 
 
 1 It has been suggested that this was not his real name. He was 
 Ospak's brother, and Brodir may have been mistaken for a proper 
 name. There was a Danish viking named Gutring, who was an 
 apostate deacon, and who may have been the Brodir of Irish his- 
 tory 
 
130 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 tives, until he reached Kilmainham. Here the two 
 armies united, and stockaded Dublin, where they re- 
 mained encamped "from the festival of St. Ciaran in 
 Harvest (Sept. 9) until Christmas Day." Want of pro- 
 visions obliged them then to raise the siege. 
 
 During the depth of winter all parties remained inac- 
 tive, but as spring approached formidable preparations 
 were made on every side. Gormflaith, who, according 
 to the Annals, was " grim " against Brian, had joined 
 her brother Maelmurra and her son Sitric. It would 
 appear that this lady was not very well received by 
 Brian, on her return to Kincora, and hence the " grim- 
 ness " which left no efforts unused to avenge itself. 
 
 The storm was now gathering in earnest, and the 
 most active preparations were made on both sides for 
 a mighty and decisive conflict. Ambassadors were 
 despatched in all directions to obtain reinforcements. 
 Brodir, the earl, and Amlaif, son of the king of Loch- 
 lann, "the two earls of Cair, and of all the north of 
 Saxon land," came at the head of two thousand men ; 
 u and there was not one villain of that two thousand 
 who had not polished, strong, triple-plated armor of 
 refined iron, or of cooling, uncorroding brass, encasing 
 their sides and bodies from head to foot." Moreover, 
 the said villains " had no reverence, veneration, or 
 respect, or mercy for God or man, for church or for 
 sanctuary ; they were cruel, ferocious, plundering, 
 hard-hearted, wonderful Dannarbrians, selling and hir- 
 ing themselves for gold and silver, and other treasure as 
 well." 
 
 Gormflaith was evidently one of the most efficient 
 agents on the occasion, for we find wonderful accounts 
 of her zeal and efforts in collecting forces. " Other 
 treasure " may possibly be referred to that lady's hand, 
 of which she appears to have been very liberal on all 
 occasions. She despatched her son, Sitric, to Siguard, 
 earl of the Orkneys, who promised his assistance, but 
 he required the hand of Gormflaith as payment for his 
 services, and that he should be made king of Ireland. 
 Sitric gave the required promise, and found, on his 
 return to Dublin, that it met with his mother's entire 
 approbation. She then despatched him to the Isle of 
 Man, where there were two vikings, who had thirty 
 
PREPARATIONS FOB THE BATTLE OF CLONTARF. 131 
 
 ships, and she desired him to obtain their co-operation 
 at any price. They were the brothers Ospak and Bro- 
 dir. The latter demanded the same conditions as the 
 earl Siguard, which were promised quite as readily by 
 Sitric, only he charged the viking to keep the agree- 
 ment secret, and, above all, not to mention it to Siguard. 
 
 Brodir, 1 according to the Saga, was an apostate 
 Christian, who had thrown off his faith, and become 
 God's dastard. He was both tall and strong, and his 
 long black hair, which he wore tucked under his belt, 
 perhaps gained him the reputation of being a magician. 
 
 The viking Ospak, however, refused to fight against 
 the good king Brian, whom he found at Kincora, where 
 he made profession of Christianity and was baptized. 
 The description of Brodir is taken from the Saga, the 
 man being especially noteworthy as the slayer of Brian 
 after the battle of Clontarf. 
 
 The author of the Wars of the Gael gives a formida- 
 ble list of the other auxiliaries who were invited by the 
 Danes of Dublin, and the Annals of Loch Ce also give 
 an account of the fleet which they assembled and its 
 chosen leader. Maelmurra was too near the restless 
 and revengeful Gormflaith to remain inactive, even had 
 he been so inclined. He had mustered a formidable 
 force within the city of Dublin, which he divided into 
 three battalions. The Leinster men all followed his 
 standard, and he was also joined by the Wexford men. 
 
 Meanwhile, Brian had been scarcely less successful, 
 and probably not less active. He now marched towards 
 Dublin, "with all that obeyed him of the men of 
 Ireland. " These were the provincial troops of Mun- 
 ster and Connaught, and the men of Meath. His march 
 is thus described in the Wars of the Gael: — "Brian 
 looked out behind him, and beheld the battle phalanx 
 — compact, huge, disciplined, moving in silence, 
 mutely, bravely, haughtily, unitedly, with one mind, 
 traversing the plain towards them ; three score and ten 
 banners over them — of red, and of yellow, and of 
 green, and of all kinds of colors. ;; 
 
 1 It has been suggested that this was not his real name. He was 
 Ospak's brother, and Brodir may have been mistaken for a proper 
 name. There was a Danish viking named Gutring, who was an 
 apostate deacon, and who may have been the Brodir of Irish his- 
 tory 
 
134 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 with the crucifix in one hand, and a sword in the other. 
 He reminded them of all they had suffered from their 
 enemies, of their tyranny, their sacrilege, their innu- 
 merable perfidies ; and then, holding the crucifix aloft, 
 he exclaimed, " The great God has at length looked 
 down upon our sufferings, and endued you with the 
 power and the courage this day to destroy forever the 
 tyranny of the Danes, and thus to punish them for their 
 innumerable crimes and sacrileges by the avenging 
 power of the sword. Was it not on this day that Christ 
 Himself suffered death for you ? " 
 
 According to the account in the Njal Saga, " Brian 
 would not fight on a fast day ; and so a shield ring (a 
 ring of iron holding their shields locked together) was 
 thrown around him, and his host was drawn away in 
 front of it. ;; According to the Irish Annals, he retired 
 to his tent to pray, being persuaded by his people not 
 to engage in the combat, on account of his age and 
 infirmities. 
 
 Prodigies of valor were performed on both sides, 
 each party being fully aware that the result of the en- 
 gagement would probably decide their future fate irrev- 
 ocably. ' Murrough, Brian's eldest son, is said to have 
 fought with two swords, one in each hand. Even the 
 Danish historians admit that he fought his way to their 
 standard, and cut down two successive bearers of it. 
 
 The mailed armor of the Danes seems to have been a 
 source of no little dread to their opponents. But the 
 Irish battle-axe might well have set even more secure 
 protection at defiance. It was wielded with such skill 
 and force that frequently a limb was lopped off with a 
 single blow, despite the mail in which it was encased ; 
 while the short lances, darts, and slinging-stones proved 
 a speedy means of decapitating or stunning a fallen 
 enemy. 
 
 The Dalcassians surpassed themselves in feats of 
 arms. They hastened from time to time to refresh 
 their thirst and cool their hands in a neighboring brook ; 
 but the Danes soon filled it up, and deprived them of 
 this resource. It was a conflict of heroes — a hand-to- 
 hand fight. Bravery was not wanting on either side, 
 and for a time the result seemed doubtful. Towards 
 the afternoon, as many of the Danish leaders were cut 
 
THE BATTLE OF CLONTARF. 
 
 135 
 
 down, their followers began to give way, and the Irish 
 forces prepared for a final effort. At this moment, 
 the Norwegian prince, Anrud, encountered Murrough, 
 whose arms were paralyzed from fatigue ; he had still 
 physical strength enough to seize his enemy, fling him 
 on the ground, and plunge his sword into the body of 
 his prostrate foe. But even as he inflicted the death- 
 wound, he received a mortal blow from the dagger of 
 the Dane, and the two chiefs fell together. 
 
 In such a battle as this, no individual incident, how- 
 ever important in itself, could have much effect. The 
 northmen and their allies were flying hard and fast, the 
 one towards their ships, the others towards the city. But 
 as they fled across the Tolka, they forgot that it was 
 now swollen with the incoming tide, and thousands 
 perished by water who had escaped the sword. The 
 body of Brian's grandson, the boy Turlough, was found 
 in the river after the battle, with his hands entangled in 
 the hair of two Danish warriors, whom he had held 
 down until they were drowned. Sitric and his wife 
 had watched the combat from the battlements of Dub- 
 lin. It looked like a multitude of reapers cutting a 
 field of oats ; and the Dane attributed the slaughter to 
 the valor of his people. " Well do the foreigners reap 
 the field, " he exclaimed to his wife, who, it will be 
 remembered, was Brian's daughter ; " many a sheaf do 
 they cut from them." But she replied, " The result 
 will be seen at the end of the day." And so it was. 
 In a very brief space, the flight of the Danes was undeni- 
 able, and Brian's daughter, whose interest seems to have 
 been wholly with her father's followers, called her hus- 
 band's attention to it, saying, " It seems to me that the 
 foreigners have gained their patrimony." Her husband 
 inquired roughly what she meant. She replied, " Are 
 they not rushing into the sea, which is their natural 
 inheritance ? " Sitric, maddened beyond control, gave 
 her a blow which knocked out one of her teeth. 
 
 Meanwhile, the old king was praying in his tent. 
 When the forces met, he began his devotions, and said 
 to his attendant : " Watch thou the battle and the com- 
 bats, whilst I say the psalms." After he had recited 
 fifty psalms, fifty collects, and fifty paternosters, he 
 desired the man to look out and inform him how the 
 battle went, and the position of Murrough's standard. 
 
136 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 He replied that the strife was close and vigorous, and 
 the noise was as if seven battalions were cutting' down 
 To mar's wood ; but the standard was safe. Brian then 
 said fifty more psalms and repeated his inquiry. The 
 attendant replied that all was in confusion, but that 
 Murrough's standard still stood erect, and moved west- 
 ward towards Dublin. " As long as the standard 
 remains erect/ 7 replied Brian, " it shall go well with 
 the men of Erin." Then he betook himself to his pray- 
 ers again, saying for the third time fifty psalms and 
 collects ; and this concluded, he again asked intelli- 
 gence of the field. His attendant replied: "They 
 appear as if Tomar's wood was on fire, and its brush- 
 wood all burned down ; " meaning that the private sol- 
 diers of both armies were nearly all slain, and only 
 a few of the chiefs had escaped ; adding the most 
 grievous intelligence of all, that Murrough's standard 
 had fallen. "Alas ! ,; replied Brian, "Erin has fallen 
 with it : why should I survive such losses, even should 
 I attain the sovereignty of the world ? " His attend- 
 ant then urged him to fly, but Brian replied that flight 
 was useless, for he had been warned of his fate by 
 Aibinn (the banshee of his family), and that he knew 
 his^eath was at hand. He then gave directions about 
 his will and his funeral, leaving two hundred and forty 
 cows to the "successor of Patrick." Even at this 
 moment the danger was impending. A party of Danes 
 approached, headed by Brodir. The king sprang up 
 from the cushion where he had been kneeling, and 
 unsheathed his sword. At first, Brodir did not know 
 him, and thought he was a priest from finding him at 
 prayer ; but one of his followers informed him that it 
 was the monarch of Ireland. In a moment the fierce 
 Dane had opened his head with his battle-axe. It is 
 said that Brian had time to inflict a wound on the vik- 
 ing ; but the details of this event are so varied, that it 
 is impossible to decide which account is most reliable. 
 The Saga states that Brodir knew Brian, and, proud of 
 his exploit, held up the monarch's reeking head, ex- 
 claiming, " Let it be told from man to man that Brodir 
 felled Brian. " All accounts agree in stating that the 
 viking was slain immediately, if not cruelly, by Brian's 
 guards, who thus revenged their own neglect of their 
 master. 
 
DEATH OF BRIAN BORU. 
 
 137 
 
 The Annals state that both Brian and his son, Mur- 
 rough, lived to receive the rites of the Church, and that 
 their remains were conveyed by the monks to Swords, 
 and from thence, through Duleek and Louth, to Armagh, 
 by archbishop Maelmuire, the " successor of St. Pat- 
 rick." Their obsequies were celebrated with great 
 splendor, for twelve da}^s and nights, by the clergy, 
 after which the body of Brian was deposited in a sto'ne 
 coffin, on the north side of the high altar, in the cathe- 
 dral. Murrough was buried on the south side. Tur- 
 lough was interred in the old churchyard of Kilmain- 
 ham, where the shaft of an ancient cross still marks the 
 site. 
 
 After the battle the Munster clans assembled their 
 surviving chieftains and men, and encamped on the 
 green of Dublin, waiting the arrival of Donough, who 
 had been sent to plunder Leinster. He returned on the 
 evening of Easter Sunday with a considerable cattle 
 prey, which were immediately devoted to the use of the 
 men. Sitric sent to demand a share, but, although his 
 request was refused, he did not carry out his threat of 
 attacking the camp. 
 
 On Easter Monday the survivors were employed in 
 burying the dead and attending to the wounded. The 
 remains of more than thirty chieftains were borne off 
 to their respective territorial churches for interment. 
 But even on that very night dissension arose in the 
 camp. The chieftains of Desmond, seeing the broken 
 condition of the Dalcassian force, renewed their claim 
 to the alternate succession. When they had reached 
 Rath Maisten (Mullaghmast, near A thy) they claimed 
 the sovereignty of Munster, by demanding hostages. 
 A battle ensued, in which even the wounded Dalcas- 
 sians joined. Their leader desired them to be placed in 
 the fort of Maisten ; but they insisted on being fastened 
 to stakes firmly planted in the ground to support them, 
 and stuffing their wounds with moss, they awaited the 
 charge of the enemy. The men of Ossory, intimidated 
 by their bravery, feared to give battle. But many of 
 the wounded men perished from exhaustion — a hundred 
 and fifty swooned away, and never recovered conscious- 
 ness again. The majority were buried where they stood ; 
 a few of the more noble were carried to their ancestral 
 resting-places. 
 
138 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 EVENTS PRECEDING THE NORMAN INVASION. 
 
 A. D. 1014 TOA.D. 1168. 
 
 Con temporary Events : — The Norman Conquest of England — - Elec- 
 tion of Hildebrand as Pope Gregory VII. — The First and Second 
 Crusades — Completion of the Doomsday Book — Philip the Fair, 
 King of France — Stephen and Henry II., Kings of England — 
 Louis VII. of France— Remarkable Ecclesiastics: St. Malachy 
 and St. Bernard of Clairveaux. 
 
 Malachy has been credited by some authors with 
 having been secretly in league with the Danes. It is 
 probable that truth lies between the statements of his 
 partisans and his enemies. While he hoped to retain 
 his position as ard-aigh by courting their favor, he 
 only acted as every other Irish prince would have done. 
 When he was obliged to resign he did so with a fair 
 grace, and assisted his rival against the common enemy. 
 
 Upon the death of Brian the troops under his com- 
 mand dispersed, and each clan returned to its own terri- 
 tory. But Malachy was tacitly recognized monarch, and 
 replaced without opposition on the throne. Indeed, 
 one of the principal annalists of the period includes 
 the twelve years during which Brian reigned in the 
 term alloted to Malachy. But the events of the last 
 few years had made most important changes in the 
 government of the country. The success which at- 
 tended Brian's usurpation, and his reputation, made an 
 important precedent for arbitrary changes. The old 
 rule which required that the ard-righ should be elected 
 exclusively from the descendants of Nial of the Nine 
 Hostages was hotly disputed, although it could claim 
 a prescriptive right of five centuries. The provincial 
 kings all claimed a share in the honor, Brian's assump- 
 tion being their precedent, and his success their en- 
 couragement. During the century which preceded the 
 Norman invasion of Ireland, there was a continual strug- 
 
DOMESTIC FEUDS. 
 
 139 
 
 gle for ascendency between the Leinster chieftains and 
 the O'Neils, O'Connors, and O'Brians. 
 
 In the following year, 1015, Malachy made a vigor- 
 ous and successful effort to complete the work of sub- 
 jugating the Danes, or at least of rendering their power 
 innocuous for the future. Assisted by the northern 
 O'Neils, he led an army to Dublin, where he besieged 
 the Danish fortress and all the houses outside. He 
 then invaded Wexford, plundering the whole country, 
 and carried off many thousand captives. The power of 
 the Norsemen was thus entirely subdued ; they contin- 
 ued to hold the great seaports, where, indeed, they 
 were almost naturalized, but the idea of a complete 
 conquest of Ireland was now finally abandoned. Bish- 
 oprics were founded soon after in the Danish towns of 
 Dublin, Waterford, and Limerick, at the request of the 
 Danes themselves, and from this period they appear to 
 have renounced paganisnventirely. 
 
 The Annals of Clonmacnois state that Malachy was 
 the last king, of Ireland of Irish blood, that held the 
 crown ; but that there were seven kings after, without 
 crowns, before the coming of the English. Malachy 
 died in Meath, a. d. 1022, in the seventy-third year of 
 his age. A month before his death he gained an im- 
 portant victory over the Danes at Athbry. An interreg- 
 num of twenty years followed, during which the coun- 
 try was governed by two wise men, Cuan O'Lochlann, 
 a poet, and Corcran Cleirach, an anchoret. 
 
 After the death of Brian Boru, his son Donough ob- 
 tained the undisputed sovereignty of Munster. He 
 married an English princess, Driella, the daughter of 
 earl Godwin, and sister of Harold, afterwards king of 
 England. During the rebellion of Godwin and his sons 
 against Edward the Confessor, Harold was obliged to 
 take refuge in Ireland, and remained there "all the 
 winter on the king's security/' 
 
 Donough had recourse to treachery to establish him- 
 self more firmly on his throne, and was the instigator of 
 the death of his brother Teigue, who was treacherously 
 slain at his suggestion by the people of Ely 0' Carroll, 
 a. d. 1023. After the death of his brother Teigue, he 
 marched northwards, and took hostages from Meath, 
 Bregin, Ossory, and Leinster, as a step towards assert- 
 
140 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 ing his claim to the sovereignty of all Ireland ; but he 
 had a formidable opponent in Dermod Mac Mael-na-mbo, 
 king* of Leinster. Strange to say, though he had the 
 guilt of fratricide on his conscience, he assembled the 
 clergy and chieftains of Munster at Killaloe, in the year 
 1050, to pass laws for the protection of life and prop- 
 erty, — a famine which occurred at this time making 
 such precautions of the first necessity. In 1063 his 
 nephew Turlough avenged the death of Teigue in a 
 battle, wherein Donough was defeated. After his 
 reverse he went on a pilgrimage to Rome, where he 
 died in the following year, after doing penance for his 
 brother's murder. The Annals say that " he died under 
 the victory of penance, in the monastery of Stephen the 
 Martyr." Dermod Mac Mael-na-mbo was killed in 
 battle by the king of Meath, a. d. 1072, and Turlough 
 O'Brien, consequently, was regarded as his successor 
 to the monarchy of Ireland. Turlough, as usual, com- 
 menced by taking hostages, but he found serious oppo- 
 sition from the northern Hy-Nials. His principal op- 
 ponents were the MacLoughlins of Aileach, and the 
 O'Melaghlins of Meath. In 1079 O'Brien invaded the 
 territory of Roderic O'Connor, king of Connaught, 
 expelled him from his kingdom, and plundered it as far 
 as Croagh Patrick. Next year he led an army to Dub- 
 lin, and received the submission of the men of Meath, 
 appointing his son Murtough lord of the Danes of Dub- 
 lin. The Annals of the Four Masters give a curious 
 account of O'Brien's death. They say that the head of 
 Connor O'Melaghlin, king of Meath, was taken from the 
 church of Clonrnacnois and brought to Thomond by his 
 order. When the king took the head in his hand a 
 mouse ran out of it, and the shock was so great that 
 "he fell ill of a sore disease by the miracles (interven- 
 tion) of St. Ciaran." This happened on the night of 
 Good Friday. The day of the resurrection (Easter Sun- 
 day) the head was restored, with two rings of gold as 
 a peace offering. But Turlough never recovered from 
 the effects of his fright, and lingered on in bad health 
 until the year 1086, when he died. He is called the 
 "modest Turlough" in the Annals, for what special 
 reason does not appear. It is also recorded, that he 
 performed " intense penance for his sins," — a grace 
 
DESTRUCTION OF THE GRIANAN AILEACH. 141 
 
 which the kings and princes of Ireland seem often to 
 have needed, and, if we may believe the Annals, always 
 to have obtained. 
 
 A period of anarchy ensued, during which several 
 princes contended for royal honors. This compliment 
 was finally awarded to O'Loughlin, king of Aileach, and 
 a temporary peace ensued. Its continuance was brief. 
 In 1095 there was a pestilence all over Europe, " and 
 some say that the fourth part of the men of Ireland died 
 of the malady." A long list is given of its victims, lay 
 and ecclesiastical. Several severe winters are recorded 
 as having preceded this fatal event ; probably they 
 were its remote cause. In the year 1096, the festival 
 of St. John Baptist fell on Friday. This event caused 
 general consternation, in consequence of some old 
 prophecy. A synod of the clergy of Ireland, with the 
 successor of St. Patrick 1 at their head, enjoined a 
 general abstinence from Wednesday to Sunday every 
 month, with other penitential observances; and "the 
 men of Ireland were saved for that time from the fire 
 of vengeance." 
 
 But the most important event of the period was the 
 contention between the northern and southern Hy- 
 Nials. Murtough was planning, with great military 
 ability, to obtain the supreme rule. The archbishop 
 of Armagh and the clergy strove twice to avert hostili- 
 ties, but their interference was almost ineffectual. A 
 year's peace was all they could obtain. In the year 
 1100, Murtough brought a Danish fleet against the 
 northerns, but they were cut off by O'Loughlin, by 
 killing or drowning. He also assembled an army at 
 Assaroe, near Ballyshannon, with the choice part of 
 the men of Ireland, but the Cinel-Connaill defended 
 their country bravely, and compelled him to retire 
 "without booty, without hostages, without pledges." 
 In 1101, when the twelvemonths' truce obtained by the 
 clergy had expired, Murtougli collected a powerful 
 army, and devastated the north, without opposition. 
 He demolished the palace of the Hy-Nials, called the 
 Grianan of Aileach, near Londonderry. This was an 
 act of revenge for a similar raid, committed a few years 
 
 1 This expression occurs frequently in the Annals, from the earli- 
 est period, whenever the primate of Ireland is mentioned. 
 
142 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 before, on tlie stronghold of the O'Briens, at Kincora, 
 by O'Loughlin. So determined was he on devastation, 
 that he commanded a stone to be carried away from the 
 building in each of the sacks which had contained pro- 
 visions for the army. He then took hostages of Ulidia, 
 and returned to the south, having completed the cir- 
 cuit of Ireland in six weeks. The expedition was 
 called " the circuitous hosting." His rather original 
 method of razing a palace is commemorated in the fol- 
 lowing quatrain : — 
 
 I never heard of the billeting of grit stones, 
 Though I heard (sic J of the billeting of companies, 
 Until the stones of Aileach were billeted 
 On the horses of the king of the west. 
 
 Murtough appears to have been a not unusual com- 
 pound of piety and profanity. We read in one place 
 of his reckless exploits in burning churches and dese- 
 crating shrines, and in others of his liberal endowments 
 of the same. 
 
 The Danes had now settled quietly in the mercantile 
 towns which they had mainly contributed to form, and 
 expended all their energies on commerce instead of 
 war ; but the new generation of Northmen, who had 
 not yet visited Ireland, could not so easily relinquish 
 the old project of conquering it. About the year 1101, 
 Magnus planned an expedition to effect this purpose. 
 He arrived in Dublin the following year; a "hosting 
 of the men of Ireland came to oppose him ; " but they 
 made peace with him for one year, and Murtough gave 
 his daughter in marriage to his son Sigurd " with many 
 jewels and gifts." The year 1103 was distinguished 
 for sanguinary conflicts. Murtagh Drun was killed on 
 a predatory excursion in Moycova. Raynal O'Hagan, 
 lawgiver of Felach Og, was slain by the men of Moyitha. 
 There was a " great war 1 ' between the Cinel-Eoghain 
 and the Ulidians ; and % Murtough O'Brien, with the 
 men of Munster, Leinster, and Ossory, the chiefs of 
 Connaught, and the men of Meath and their kings, pro- 
 ceeded to Moycova, now Donaghmore, co. Down, to 
 relieve the Ulidians. When the men of Munster " were 
 wearied/ 7 Murtough proceeded to Armagh, and left 
 eight ounces of gold upon the altar, and promised eight- 
 score cows. The northern Hy-Nials then attacked the 
 
DEATH OF MURTOUGH ? BRIEN. 
 
 143 
 
 camp of the Leinster men, and a spirited battle was 
 fought. The Cinel-Eoghain and Cinel-Connaill returned 
 victoriously and triumphantly to their forts, with valu- 
 able jewels and much wealth, together with the royal 
 tent, the standard, and jewels. 
 
 Magnus, king of Lochlann and the Isles, was slain by 
 the Ulidians this year. 
 
 When Harold returned to England, his brother-in-law, 
 Donough, lent him nine ships ; and we find the Irish 
 affording assistance in several other feuds of the Anglo- 
 Saxons of this period. A deputation of the nobles 
 of Man and other islands visited Dublin, and waited 
 on Murtough O'Brien to solicit a king. He sent his 
 nephew, Donnell ; but he was soon expelled on ac- 
 count of his tyranny. Another Donnell O'Brien, his 
 cousin, was, at the same time, lord of the Danes in Dublin. 
 In 1114 Murtough O'Brien was obliged to resign the 
 crown, in consequence of ill-health ; the Annals say 
 that he became a living skeleton. His brother, Der- 
 mod, took advantage of this circumstance to declare 
 himself king of Munster. This obliged Murtough to 
 resume the reins of government, and put himself at the 
 head of his army. He succeeded in making Dermod 
 prisoner, but eventually he was obliged to resign the 
 kingdom to him, and retired into the monastery of Lis- 
 more, where he died in 1119. The Annals call him the 
 prop of the glory and magnificence of the western 
 world. In the same year Nial Mac Lochlann, royal 
 heir of Aileach and of Ireland, fell by the Cinel-Moain, 
 in the twenty-eighth year of his age. He was the 
 " paragon of Ireland, for personal form, sense, hospital- 
 ity, and learning. ?; The chief Ollav of Ireland was 
 killed by the men of Lug and Tooragh, with his wife, 
 "two very good sons," and five-and- thirty persons in 
 one house, on the Saturday before Little Easter. The 
 cause of the outrage is not mentioned. The Annals of 
 the Four Masters and the Annals of Ulster record the 
 same event, and mention that he was distinguished for 
 charity, hospitality, and universal benevolence. 
 
 Donnell O'Loughlin died in 1121, in the monastery of 
 St. Columba, at Deny. He is styled king of Ireland, 
 although the power of his southern rival preponderated 
 during the greater part of his reign. In 1118 Rory 
 
144 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 O'Connor died in the monastery of Clonmacnois. He 
 bad been blinded some years previously by the O'Fla- 
 herties. This cruel custom was sometimes practised to 
 prevent the succession of an obnoxious person, as free- 
 dom from every blemish was a sine qua non in Ireland 
 for a candidate to royal honors. Teigue MacCarthy, 
 king of Desmond, died, " after penance," at Cashel, a. d. 
 1124. From the time of Murtough O'Brien's illness, 
 Turlough O'Connor, son of the prince who had been 
 blinded, comes prominently forward in Irish history. 
 His object was to exalt the Eoghanists or Desmonian 
 family, who hard been virtually excluded from the suc- 
 cession since the time of Brian Boru. In 1116 he plun- 
 dered Thomond as far as Limerick. In 1118 he led an 
 army as far as Glanmire (county Cork), and divided 
 Munster, giving Desmond to MacCarthy, and Thomond 
 to the sons of Dermod O'Brien. He then marched to 
 Dublin, and took hostages from the Danes, releasing 
 Donnell, son of the king of Meath, whom they had in 
 captivity. The following year he sailed down the Shan- 
 non with a fleet, and destroyed the royal palace of 
 Kincora, hurling its stones and timber beams into the 
 river. He then devoted himself to wholesale plunder- 
 ing, and expelled his late ally and father-in-law from 
 Meath, ravaging the country from Tralee to the sanc- 
 tuary lands of Lismore. In 1126 he bestowed the king- 
 dom of Dublin upon his son Cormac. In 1127 he drove 
 Cormac MacCarthy from his kingdom, and divided 
 Munster into three parts. In fact there was such a storm 
 of war throughout the whole country, that St. Celsus 
 was obliged to interfere. He spent a month and a year 
 trying to establish peace, and promulgating rules and 
 good customs in every district, among the laity and 
 clergy. His efforts to teach " good rules and manners " 
 seem to have been scarcely effectual, for we find an 
 immediate entry of the decapitation of Euaidhri, after he 
 had made a" treacherous prey " in Aictheara. In 1128 
 St. Celsus made a year's peace between the men of 
 Munster and Connaught. In 1129 the great church of 
 Clonmacnois was robbed of some of its greatest treas- 
 ures. Amongst these was a model of Solomon's Tem- 
 ple, presented by a prince of Meath, and a silver chalice 
 burnished with gold, which had been engraved by a 
 
DERMOT MAC MURROUGH. 
 
 145 
 
 sister of king 1 Turlough O'Connor — an evidence that 
 the ladies of Ireland were by no means behind the age 
 in taste and refinement. 
 
 After the death of Donnell O'Loughlin, Turlough had 
 full scope for the exercise of his ambitious projects ; but 
 in 1131 he found serious opposition from Connor O'Brien, 
 who had succeeded his father, Dermod, on the throne of 
 Munster. Connor now carried off hostages from Lein- 
 ster and Meath, and defeated the cavalry of Connaught. 
 The following year he sent a fleet to the western coast 
 of Ireland. Eventually, Turlough 0' Connor was glad 
 to make a truce with his opponents. In 1134 the con- 
 secration of a church at Cashel was celebrated. This 
 is still known as Cormac's Chapel, and was long sup- 
 posed to have been erected by the more ancient monarch 
 of that name. But the good king was soon after treach- 
 erously slain in his own house, by Turlough O'Connor 
 and the two sons of the O'Connor of Kerry. Turlough 
 was unquestionably somewhat Spartan in his severities, 
 if not Draconian in his administration of justice. In 
 1136 he put out the eyes of his own son Hugh, and in 
 the same year he imprisoned another son named Rod- 
 eric. The nature of their offences is not manifest ; but 
 Eoderic was liberated through the interference of the 
 clergy. Some years after, he was again imprisoned for 
 violation of the most solemn pledges and guarantees. 
 
 The history of Dermot MacMurrough is one of special 
 interest and importance, being so directly connected 
 with the English invasion. This prince was king of 
 Leinster, and signalized himself by acts of treachery 
 and sacrilege from the very commencement of his reign. 
 In the year 1135 he took the abbess of the famous mon- 
 astery of Kildare from her cloisters to please one of his 
 followers. The people of the town came to the rescue 
 of the religious, but without success, for a hundred and 
 fifty of them were killed by Derrnot's soldiers. His 
 next exploit was a barbarous attack on some of his 
 own nobles who had attempted to resist his tyrannies. 
 He killed Donnell, lord of Hy Faclin, and Murtough 
 O'Toole, and put out the eyes of Muirkertach, chief of 
 Wicklow, and seventeen other lords, and performed 
 the same act of barbarity on many persons of lesser 
 rank. 
 
 6 
 
146 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 All the petty kings and princes of Ireland were 
 engaged in war at this period, either with each other or 
 with their own clans. Conor O'Brien died at Killaloe 
 in 1142, and was succeeded by his brother Murtough, 
 who at once commenced his reign by a war with Tur- 
 lough 0' Conor and an invasion of Leinster. The his- 
 tory of this period is, indeed, a simple chronicle of feuds 
 between the native princes, and the most impartial his- 
 torian would find it difficult to say which of the bellig- 
 erents was the least guilty. 
 
 In 1152 Meath was divided by the ard-righ O'Lough- 
 lin between the O'Melaghlins, and Tiernan O'Rourke, 
 lord of Breffny, was dispossessed of his territory. 
 About the same time his wife, Dervorgil, was carried 
 off by Mac Murrough, king of Leinster. There is some 
 question as to the exact date of her abduction, but 
 there is no doubt that it was the % immediate cause of the 
 English invasion. Dervorgil was encouraged in her 
 flight by her brother, the king of Meath. She took the 
 cattle which had formed her dowry with her ; but in 
 the following year she was compelled to return to her 
 family by Turlough 0' Conor. 
 
 Dermot Mac Murrough was generally detested, and 
 is said to have treated Dervorgil very harshly before 
 her elopement. On the death of O'Loughlin, Roderic 
 O'Conor obtained the sovereign power, such as it was. 
 He was a warm ally of Dermot's old enemy, O'Rourke, 
 who, as he had anticipated, formed an alliance against 
 him, and, with the aid of several other princes and chief- 
 tains, obliged him to fly the country. 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS. 
 
 147 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 RELIGION— LAWS— ARCHITECTURE— DRESS AND SO- 
 CIAL CUSTOMS OF THE EIGHTH, NINTH, TENTH 
 AND ELEVENTH CENTURIES. 
 
 The Danes having plundered and destroyed most of 
 the Irish monasteries, a great falling off in piety and 
 learning is the principal characteristic of this period. 
 Some attempts, however, were made at reform during 
 the two centuries immediately preceding the Norman 
 invasion. 
 
 Early in the tenth century some Irish monks settled 
 at Glastonbury, where they devoted themselves to the 
 instruction of youth, and where St. Dunstan became 
 one of their most illustrious pupils. St. Maccallin, who 
 founded a school in France ; and Duncan, who gov- 
 erned the monastery of St. Remigius at Rheims, wrote 
 books which are still preserved. Marianus Scotus, 
 whose chronicles are considered the most perfect com- 
 positions of their times, was teaching at Cologne. St. 
 Fingen, who succeeded St. Cadroe as abbot of the mon- 
 astery of St. Felix at Metz, was invested with the gov- 
 ernment of the monastery of St. Symphorian in that 
 city. It was then ordered by the bishop that none but 
 Irish monks should be received into his house, unless 
 their supply failed. In 975 the monastery of St. Mar- 
 tin, near Cologne, was made over to the Irish monks 
 in perpetuity. The obituaries of several saints also 
 occur at the close of the tenth and commencement of 
 the eleventh centuries. Amongst these we find St. 
 Duncheadh, abbot of Clonmacnois, who is said to have 
 been the last Irish saint who raised the dead. St. 
 Aedh (Hugh) died in the year 1004, " after a good life, 
 at Ard-Macha, with great honor and veneration." And 
 in the year 1018 we have the mortuary record of St. 
 
148 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Gormgal, of Ardvilean, the remains of whose humble 
 oratory and Cloghan cell are still to be seen on that 
 rocky island, amid the surges of the Atlantic off the 
 coast of Connemara. 
 
 In the year 1111 a synod was convened at Fidh Aen- 
 gussa, or Aengus Grove, near the Hill of Uisneach, in 
 Westmeath. It was attended by fifty bishops, three 
 hundred priests, and three thousand religious. Mur- 
 tough O'Brien was also permitted to be present, and 
 some of the nobles of his province. The object of the 
 synod was to institute rules of life and manners for 
 the clergy and people. St. Celsus, the archbishop of 
 Armagh, and Maelmuire (the servant of Mary), arch- 
 bishop of Cashel, were present. 
 
 Lanfranc, the great archbishop of Canterbury, had 
 already noticed the state of the Irish church. He was 
 in constant communication with the Danish bishops, 
 who had received consecration from him ; and their ac- 
 counts were probably true in the main, however colored 
 by prejudice. He wrote an earnest epistle to Turlough 
 O'Brien, whom he addresses respectfully as king of 
 Ireland, and whose virtues as a Christian prince he 
 highly commends, nis principal object appears to have 
 been to draw the king's attention to an abuse, of which 
 the Danes had informed him, 'with regard to the sacra- 
 ment of matrimony. This subject shall be noticed 
 again. Pope Gregory VII. also wrote to Turlough, but 
 principally on the temporal authority of the Holy See. 
 
 The synod had four special subjects for consideration : 
 (1) First, to regulate the number of bishops — which 
 had been unduly multiplied from the custom of creating 
 chor-episcopi or rural bishops. It was now decided 
 that there should be but twenty -four dioceses — twelve 
 for the northern and twelve for the southern half af Ire- 
 land. Cashel was also recognized as an archiepiscopal 
 see, and the successor of St. Jarlath was sometimes 
 called archbishop of Connaught. The custom of lay 
 appropriations, which had obtained in some places, was 
 also firmly denounced. This was an intolerable abuse. 
 St. Celsus, the archbishop of Armagh, though himself a 
 member of the family who had usurped this office, made 
 a special provision in his will that he should be suc- 
 ceeded by St. Malachy. This saint obtained a final 
 
ST. MALACHY. 
 
 149 
 
 victory over the sacrilegious innovators, but not with- 
 out much personal suffering. 
 
 The (2) second abuse which was now noticed, re- 
 ferred to the sacrament of matrimony. The Irish were 
 accused of abandoning their lawful wives and taking 
 others, of marrying within the degrees of consanguin- 
 ity, and it was said that in Dublin wives were eren 
 exchanged. Usher, in commenting on the passage in 
 Lanfranc's letter which refers to these gross abuses, 
 observes that the custom of discarding wives was prev- 
 alent among the Anglo-Saxons and in Scotland. The 
 canons of St. Patrick, which were always respected by 
 the native Irish, forbade such practices ; and the synod, 
 therefore, had only to call on the people to observe the 
 laws of the Church more strictly. 
 
 Two other subjects, (3) one regarding the consecra- 
 tion of bishops, the other (4) referring to the ceremo- 
 nies of baptism, were merely questions of ecclesiastical 
 discipline, and as such were easily arranged by compe- 
 tent authority. St. Anselm, in his correspondence 
 with the prelates of the south of Ireland, passes a high 
 eulogium on their zeal and piety, while he deplores 
 certain relaxations of discipline, which they were as 
 anxious to reform as he could desire. 
 
 St. Celsus appointed St. Malachy his successor in 
 the archiepiscopal see of Armagh. Malachy had been 
 educated by the abbot Imar O'Hagan, who presided 
 over the great schools of that city ; and the account 
 given of his early training sufficiently manifests the 
 ability of his gifted instructor, and the high state of 
 intellectual culture which existed in Ireland. While 
 still young, St. Malachy undertook the restoration of 
 the famous abbey of Bangor. Here he erected a small 
 oratory of wood, and joined himself to a few devoted 
 men who desired the perfection of a religious life. He 
 was soon after elected bishop of Connor. With the 
 assistance of some of his faithful monks, he restored 
 what war and rapine had destroyed ; and was proceed- 
 ing peacefully and successfully in his noble work, when 
 he was driven from his diocese by a hostile prince. He 
 now fled to Cormac Mac Carthy, king of Desmond, but 
 he was not permitted to remain there long. After he 
 had compelled the lay intruders to leave the diocese 
 
150 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 of Armagh he was permitted to resign, and was suc- 
 ceeded by Gelasius, then abbot of the great Columbian 
 monastery of Derry. 
 
 St. Malachy was now appointed bishop of Down, to 
 which his old see of Connor was united. He had long 
 a desire to visit Rome, as such devotional pilgrimages 
 were usual with the Irish from the earliest period ; and 
 he was specially anxious to obtain a formal recog- 
 nition of the archiepiscopal sees in Ireland, by the 
 granting of palliums. On his way to the Holy City he 
 visited St. Bernard at Clairvaux, and thus commenced 
 and cemented the friendship which forms so interesting 
 a feature in the lives ot the French and Irish saints. It 
 is probable that his account of the state of the Irish 
 Church took a tinge of gloom from the heavy trials he 
 had endured in his efforts to remove its temporary 
 abuses. St. Bernard's ardent and impetuous character, 
 even his very affectionateness, would lead him also to 
 look darkly on the picture : hence the somewhat over- 
 colored accounts he has given of its state at that 
 eventful period. St. Malachy returned to Ireland after 
 an interview with the reigning pontiff, Pope Innocent 
 II. His Holiness had received him with open arms, 
 and appointed him apostolical legate ; but he declined 
 to give the palliums, until they were formally demanded 
 by the Irish prelates. 
 
 In virtue of his legatine power, the saint assembled 
 local synods in several places. He rebuilt and restored 
 many churches ; and in 1142 he built the famous Cis- 
 tercian abbey of Mellifont, near Drogheda. This mon- 
 astery was liberally endowed by O'Carroll, king of 
 Oriel, and was peopled by Irish monks, whom St. Mal- 
 achy had sent to Clairvaux, to be trained in the Bene- 
 dictine rule and observances. But his great act was 
 the convocation of the synod of Inis Padraig. It was 
 held in the year 1148. St. Malachy presided as legate 
 of the Holy See ; fifteen bishops, two hundred priests, 
 and some religious were present at the deliberations, 
 which lasted for four days. The members of the synod 
 were unwilling that Malachy should leave Ireland 
 again ; but Eugene III., who had been a Cistercian 
 monk, was visiting Clairvaux, and it was hoped that he 
 might grant the favor there. The pope had left the 
 
ST. LAURENCE o'TOOLE. 
 
 151 
 
 abbey before the arrival of the saint, who, in a few days 
 after, was seized with mortal sickness, and died on the 
 2nd of November, 1148. His remains were interred at 
 Clairvaux. His feast was changed from the 2nd of 
 November, All Souls, to the 3rd, by "the seniors/ 7 
 that he might be the more easily revered and honored. 
 
 In 1151 cardinal Paparo arrived in Ireland with the 
 palliums which had been solicited by St. Malachy. 
 The insignia of dignity were conferred the following 
 year, at the council of Kells. Tithes were then intro- 
 duced for the first time in Ireland, but they were not 
 enforced until after the English invasion. 
 
 In 1157 a synod was held in the abbey of Mellifont, 
 attended by the bishop of Lismore, legate of the Holy 
 See, the primate, and seventeen other bishops. Mur- 
 tough O'Loughlin, the monarch of Ireland, and several 
 other kings, were also present. The principal object of 
 this meeting was the consecration of the abbey church, 
 and the excommunication of Donough O'Melaghlin, who 
 had become the common pest of the country. He 
 was, as might be expected, the particular friend and 
 ally of Dermot Mac Murrough. His last exploit was 
 the murder of a neighboring chief, despite the most sol- 
 emn pledges. In an old translation of the Annals of 
 Ulster he is termed, with more force than elegance, *' a 
 cursed atheist." After his excommunication, his brother 
 Dermod was made king of Meath in his place. 
 
 At this synod several rich gifts were made to the ab- 
 bey. 0' Carroll, prince of Oriel, presented sixty ounces 
 of gold. O'Loughlin made, a grant of lands, gave one 
 hundred and forty cows, and sixty ounces of gold. 
 
 In 1162 St. Laurence O'Toole was chosen to succeed 
 Greine, or Gregory, the Danish archbishop of Dublin. 
 He belonged to one of the most noble ancient families 
 of Leinster. His father was chieftain of the district of 
 Hy-Muirahy, a portion of the present county Kildare. 
 St. Laurence had chosen the ecclesiastical state early 
 in life ; at the age of twenty -five he was chosen abbot 
 of St. Kevin's monastery, at Glendalough. The Dan- 
 ish bishop of Dublin had been consecrated by the arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, but the saint received the epis- 
 copal office from the successor of St. Patrick. A synod 
 was held at Clane the year of his consecration ; it was 
 
152 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 attended by twenty -six prelates and many other eccle- 
 siastics. The college of Armagh was then virtually 
 raised to the rank of a university, as it was decreed 
 that no one, who had not been an alumnus of Armagh, 
 should be appointed lector or professor of theology in 
 any of the diocesan schools in Ireland.' 
 
 The Brehon laws still continued in force ; they have 
 been described already. The ceremony of inaugurating 
 the principal chieftain of each province was practised 
 from so early a period that the origin of the custom has 
 never been clearly ascertained. If its origin could be 
 traced, it would probably throw considerable light upon 
 the subject of the early colonization of Ireland. A sim- 
 ilar custom is said to have existed in Carinthia. The 
 office of chieftain, or head of the clan, was conferred 
 electively on the "best and worthiest of the clan." 
 Each tribe had a special site where, from time imme- 
 morial, the ceremony of inauguration was performed. A 
 chair of rock, rudely placed together, showed the antiq- 
 uity of the custom. In this the chieftain was enthroned, 
 and certain men of the tribe had the exclusive right 
 of performing the necessary ceremonies ; such as the 
 placing of a shoe or sandal on the foot of the chieftain, 
 and the presentation to him of a white rod. The white 
 rod was symbolical of the chieftain's power, and sup- 
 posed to indicate the facility with which he should be 
 able to govern his tribe. The placing of the sandal on 
 his foot by the next in rank to him was indicative of the 
 submission of the people. This sandal was in turn 
 placed on the foot of the Ard-Righ, a chief monarch, 
 at some subsequent period, by the new chieftain. 
 Anciently these ceremonies are said to have been 
 superintended by the Druids; at a later period the 
 priests were generally present, and recited litanies 
 and prayers. It will be remembered, that it was 
 customary with the Jews to draw off or put on a shoe 
 as a legal act, and also that the Judges were distin- 
 guished by the use of white wands. The custom is 
 unquestionably of eastern origin. The celebrated hill 
 fort of Tullaghogue, where the O'Neils were inaugu- 
 rated, is still in existence, but the stone chair of state, 
 on which the ceremony was performed, was destroyed 
 by Sir Arthur Chichester in 1602. 
 
COINAGE, TRADE, AND SOCIAL CUSTOMS. 153 
 
 There was probably but little change in the domestic 
 architecture of the native Irish up to this period. The 
 Annals make frequent mention of the pits and crannoges 
 as the ordinary habitations of the people. The Danes, 
 however, had built or enlarged several of the seaport 
 towns. They also erected towers for the protection of 
 their cities, and notably that called Reginald's Tower, in 
 "Waterford, which is still in existence. 
 
 Stone churches began to be erected at the beginning 
 of the tenth century, and the use of lead for roofing was 
 also introduced ; but this subject will be treated of 
 more fully at the close of the Norman period. The art 
 of statuary was generally practised, but the Irish did 
 not excel in this department. 
 
 It has been disputed whether the Irish coined money 
 or not previous to the Danish invasion. The earliest 
 Danish coins struck in Ireland, as far as we at present 
 know, are those of Filric III., a. d. 989, but there are 
 coins attributed to Donald O'Neil in 956, and others 
 attributed to Ered, king of Meath, in 922. The pennies 
 of the Irish were bracteate pieces of seven grains' 
 weight, and the name penning or pinginn applied to 
 them appears to have been derived from the Saxons, 
 though the Celtic coin differed in weight and thickness 
 from the Saxon penning. Cattle were, however, the 
 great medium of barter, and occasionally gold rings*, 
 which were also used as bracelets. Dress, food, and 
 domestic customs probably continued much the same 
 until after the Norman invasion, when different customs 
 were introduced amongst the upper classes. 
 
FOURTH, OR NORMAN PERIOD. 
 
 FROM A.D. 1168 TO A.D. 1509. 
 
 PRINCIPAL EVENTS. 
 
 DERMOT MAC MURROUGH SEEKS THE ASSISTANCE OF HENRY II. 
 TO ENABLE HIM TO RECOVER HIS KINGDOM — ARRIVAL OF 
 STRONGBOW — HIS MARRIAGE WITH EVA MAC MURROUGH 
 — VISIT OF PRINCE JOHN TO IRELAND — GRADUAL ESTAB- 
 LISHMENT OF THE ANGLO-NORMAN NOBLES IN IRELAND — 
 THE NATIVE PRINCES DRIVEN GRADUALLY FROM THEIR 
 POSSESSIONS — FEUDS BETWEEN THE BURKES OR DE BUR- 
 GOS, AND THE GERALDINES OR FITZGERALDS — RISE OF 
 THE BUTLER FAMILY — THE FAMOUS EARL OF KILDARE 
 VISITS HENRY VH. 
 
 (155) 
 
 / 
 
THE NORMAN INVASION. 
 
 157 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A.D. 1168 TO A.D. 1176. 
 INVASION OF IRELAND BY THE NORMANS. 
 
 The period of Irish History, of which we now treat at 
 present, is most important and full of interest, because 
 here we find the first link in the chain by which Ireland 
 was united to the British dominions. When Dermot 
 fled to Henry II. for assistance, no one could have fore- 
 seen what great results would follow. Still,. there is evi- 
 dence that, for some short time previous to this event, 
 the English monarchs had looked anxiously across the 
 Channel, and hoped at some time to annex the island, 
 which lay so near them, to their other dominions. 
 
 Henry II. inherited Anjou and Lorraine from his 
 father, and Normandy and Maine from his brother. He 
 had married Eleanor, the divorced wife of Louis of 
 France. Through her he acquired seven provinces ; 
 hence he possessed more territorial authority in France 
 than the monarch of that country. At the very com- 
 mencement of his reign he had obtained a Bull from 
 Pope Adrian IY. granting him the right " to enter the 
 island of Ireland, to subject its people to obedience of 
 laws, to eradicate the seeds of vice, and also to make 
 every house pay the annual tribute of one penny to the 
 blessed Peter, and preserve the rights of the Church of 
 that land whole and entire. " There can be no doubt 
 whatever of the authenticity of this Bull. It is quite 
 evident, however, that the state of Ireland at that period 
 was represented in the very worst light to the Holy See, 
 for the purpose of obtaining it. But there can be no 
 question that, both morally and religiously, the state 
 of the people had deteriorated greatly. Many of the 
 monastic houses had been destroyed by the Danes, and 
 many more had been destroyed by the Irish chiefs 
 themselves in their domestic wars. These wars also 
 
158 
 
 COMPENDIUM OP IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 were, as such wars must always be, a source of national 
 deterioration. 
 
 Henry was too much occupied with his own affairs to 
 attempt an invasion of Ireland, and it is impossible to 
 conjecture how long this attempt might have been de- 
 ferred, if Dermot had not appealed to him for assistance. 
 The Bull was granted in a. d. 1155. In the t year 1168 
 Dermot fled from Ireland to Bristol, where he hoped to 
 find Henry, but the king was then in Aquitaine, and 
 thither the Irish chieftain followed. Dermot only asked 
 for assistance to recover his kingdom, from which he 
 had been expelled, and it cannot be ascertained how 
 much or how little he told the English monarch of the 
 circumstances. Henry granted his request without a 
 moment's hesitation, and in return for the subjoined let- 
 ter, in which he took him " into the bosom of his grace 
 and benevolence/' he only required that he should pay 
 a vassal's homage for his own estates. The royal letter 
 ran thus : — " Henry, king of England, duke of Nor- 
 mandy and Aquitaine, and earl of Anjou, to all his 
 liegemen, English, Norman, Welsh and Scotch, and to 
 all the nation under his dominion, sends greeting. As 
 soon as the present letter shall come to your hands, 
 know that Dermot, prince of Leinster, has been re- 
 ceived into the bosom of our grace and benevolence ; 
 wherefore, whosoever, within the ample extent of our 
 territories, shall be willing to lend aid towards this 
 prince as our faithful and liege subject, let such person 
 know that we do hereby grant to him for said purpose 
 our license and favor." It is remarkable that there is 
 no allusion in this letter to the Bull of Adrian, and in 
 whatever light we may view this omission, it is cer- 
 tainly inexplicable. 
 
 For some time Dermot failed in his efforts to obtain 
 assistance. After some fruitless negotiations with the 
 needy and lawless adventurers who thronged the port 
 of Bristol, he applied to the earl of Pembroke, Richard 
 de Clare. This nobleman had obtained the name of 
 Strongbow, by which he is more generally known, from 
 his skill in archery. Two other young men of rank 
 joined the party ; they were the sons of the beautiful 
 and infamous Nesta, once the mistress of Henry I., but 
 now the wife of Gerald, governor of Pembroke and lord 
 
LANDING OP THE ANGLO-NORMANS. 
 
 159 
 
 of Carew. The knights were Maurice PitzGerald and 
 Eobert FitzStephen. Dermot had promised them the 
 city of Wexford and two cantreds of land as their 
 reward. Strongbow was to succeed him on the throne 
 of Leinster, and to receive the hand of his young and 
 beautiful daughter, Eva, in marriage. 
 
 There is considerable uncertainty as to the real date 
 and the precise circumstances of Dermot's arrival in Ire- 
 land. According to one account, he returned at the 
 close of the year 1168, and concealed himself during 
 the winter in a monastery of Augustinian canons at 
 Ferns, which he had founded. The two principal 
 authorities are Giraldus Cambrensis and Maurice Be- 
 gan ; the latter was Dermot Mac Murrough's secretary. 
 According to his account, Robert FitzStephen landed 
 at Bannow, near Waterford, in May, 1169, with an army 
 of three hundred archers, thirty knights, and sixty men- 
 at-arms. A second detachment arrived the next day, 
 headed by Maurice de Prendergast, a Welsh gentleman, 
 with ten knights and sixty archers. Dermot at once 
 assembled his men, and joined his allies. He could 
 only muster five hundred followers ; but with their 
 united forces, such as they were, the outlawed king and 
 the needy adventurers laid siege to the city of Wexford. 
 The brave inhabitants of this mercantile town at once 
 set forth to meet them ; but, fearing the result if at- 
 tacked in open field by well-disciplined troops, they 
 fired the suburbs, and entrenched themselves in the 
 town. Next morning the assaulting party prepared for 
 a renewal of hostilities, but the clergy of Wexford 
 advised an effort for peace : terms of capitulation were 
 negotiated, and Dermot was obliged to pardon, when he 
 would probably have preferred to massacre. It is said 
 that FitzStephen burned his little fleet, to show his 
 followers that they must conquer or die. Two cantreds 
 of land, comprising the present baronies of Forth and 
 Bargy, were bestowed upon him, and thus the first 
 English colony was established in Ireland. 
 
 The Irish princes at first took but little notice of the 
 new comers. The Annals say they "set nothing by 
 the Flemings. " Roderic, the reigning monarch, was 
 not the man either to foresee danger, or to meet it 
 when foreseen ; though we might pardon even a more 
 
160 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY, 
 
 sharp-sighted and vigilant warrior, for overlooking the 
 possible consequence of the invasion of a few mercenary 
 troops, whose only object appeared to be the reinstate* 
 ment of a petty king. 
 
 Dermot Mac Murrough soon found himself at the 
 head of three thousand men, and as he did not meet 
 with any opposition, he determined to act on the offen- 
 sive. He marched into the adjoining territory of Os- 
 sory, and made war on its chief, Donough FitzPatrick ; 
 and, after a brave but unsuccessful resistance, it sub- 
 mitted to his rule. The Irish monarch was at length 
 aroused to some degree of apprehension. He sum- 
 moned a hosting of the men of Ireland at Tara ; and 
 with the army thus collected, assisted by the lords of 
 Meath, Oriel, Ulidia, Breffni, and some northern chief- 
 tains, he at once proceeded to Dublin. Dermot was 
 alarmed, and retired to Ferns. Eoderic pursued him 
 thither. But dissension had already broken out in the 
 Irish camp : the Ulster chiefs returned home ; the con- 
 tingent was weakened ; and, either through fear, or 
 from the natural indolence of his pacific disposition, he 
 agreed to acknowledge Mac Murrough's authority. 
 Mac Murrough gave his son Cormac as hostage for 
 the fulfilment of the treaty. A private agreement was 
 entered into between the two kings, in which Dermot 
 pledged himself to dismiss his foreign allies as soon as 
 possible, and to bring no more strangers into the coun- 
 try. It is more than probable that he had not the 
 remotest idea of fulfilling his promise ; it is at least cer- 
 tain that he broke it the first moment it was his interest 
 to do so. Dermot's object was simply to gain time, 
 and in this he succeeded. 
 
 Maurice FitzGerald arrived at Wexford a few clays 
 after, and the recreant king at once proceeded to meet 
 him ; and with this addition to his army, marched to 
 attack Dublin. The Dano-Celts, who inhabited this city, 
 had been so cruelly treated by him, that they dreaded a 
 repetition of his former tyrannies. They had elected 
 a governor for themselves, but resistance was useless. 
 After a brief struggle, they were obliged to sue for peace 
 — a favor which probably would not have been granted 
 without further massacres and burnings, had not Dermot 
 wished to bring his arms to bear in another quarter 
 
STRONGBOW INVADES IRELAND. 
 
 161 
 
 Donnell O'Brien, prince of Thomond, who had mar- 
 ried a daughter of Dermot, had just rebelled against 
 Eoderic, and the former was but too willing to assist 
 him in his attempt. Thus encouraged where he should 
 have been treated with contempt, and hunted down 
 with ignominy, his ambition became boundless. He 
 played out the favorite game of traitors ; and no doubt 
 hoped, when he had consolidated his own power, that 
 he could easily expel his foreign allies. Strongbow 
 had not yet arrived, though the winds had been long 
 enough "at east and easterly." 
 
 Giraldus Cambrensis takes to himself the credit of 
 having advised the despatch of a letter to him. He 
 gives a copy of this document, which was probably his 
 own composition, as it is written in the bombastic style 
 in which he wrote the praises of his own family. The 
 letter commences thus: " We have watched the storks 
 and swallows ; the summer birds have come and gone/' 
 etc. It is not likely that Dermot knew how to write ; 
 and if he did, he would scarcely have written in this 
 fashion. 
 
 Strongbow's position was a critical one, and this was 
 the real cause of his delay. Henry and his barons 
 were never on very good terms, and there were some 
 special reasons why he should prove no exception to 
 this rule. 
 
 The first member of - the earl's family who had settled 
 in England was Kichard, son of the Norman earl, Brien, 
 a direct descendant of Robert "the Devil/' duke of 
 Normandy, father of William the Conqueror. In return 
 for services at the battle of Hastings, and general as- 
 sistance in conquering the English, this family obtained 
 a large grant of land in England, and took the title of 
 earl of Clare from one of their ninety-five lordships in 
 Suffolk. The Strongbow family appears to have inher- 
 ited from their viking ancestors a passion for making 
 raids on neighboring lands. Strongbow's father had 
 obtained his title of earl of Pembroke, and his property 
 in the present county of that name, from his successful 
 marauding expedition in Wales, in 1138. But as he 
 revolted against Stephen, his lands were seized by 
 that king; and after his death, in 1148, his son suc- 
 ceeded to his very numerous titles, without any prop- 
 
162 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 erty commensurate thereto. Richard was not in favor 
 with his royal master, who probably was jealous of the 
 earl, despite his poverty ; but as Strongbow did not 
 wish to lose the little he had in England, or the 
 chance of obtaining more in Ireland, he proceeded at 
 once to the court, then held in Normandy, and asked 
 permission for his new enterprise. Henry's reply was 
 so carefully worded, that he could declare afterwards 
 he either had or had not given the permission, which 
 ever version of the interview might eventually prove 
 most convenient to the royal interests. Strongbow 
 took the interpretation which suited his own views, 
 and proceeded to the scene of action with as little 
 delay as possible. He arrived in Ireland, according to 
 the most generally received account, on the vigil of 
 St. Bartholomew, a. d. 1170, and landed at Dundonnell, 
 near Waterford. His uncle, Hervey de Montmarisco, 
 had already arrived, and established himself in a tempo- 
 rary fort, where he had been attacked by the brave cit- 
 izens of Wexford. But the besieged maintained their 
 position, killed five hundred men, and made prisoners 
 of seventy of the principal citizens of Waterford. Large 
 sums of money were offered for their ransom, but in 
 vain. They 'were cruelly murdered by the English sol- 
 diers, who first broke their limbs, and then hurled them 
 from a precipice into the sea. 
 
 Meanwhile, Strongbow had been collecting forces in 
 South Wales ; but, as he was on the very eve of de- 
 parture, he received a peremptory order from Henry, 
 forbidding him to leave the kingdom. After a brief 
 hesitation he determined to bid defiance to the royal 
 mandate, and set sail for Ireland. The day after his 
 arrival he laid siege to Waterford. The citizens behaved 
 like heroes, and twice repulsed their assailants ; but 
 their bravery could not save them in the face of overpow- 
 ering numbers. A breach was made in the wall ; the 
 besiegers poured in ; and a merciless massacre followed. 
 Dermot arrived while the conflict was at its height, and 
 for once lie has the credit of interfering on the side of 
 mercy. Reginald, a Danish lord, and OThelan, prince 
 of the Deisi, were about to be slain by their captors, 
 but at his request they were spared, and the general 
 carnage was suspended. For the sake of common 
 
MARRIAGE OF EVA AND STR0NGB0W. 
 
 163 
 
 humanity one would wish to think that this was an act 
 of mercy But unfortunately for his character, we are 
 obliged to refer his interference to very different mo- 
 tives. He had already arranged a marriage between 
 his daughter Eva and the Norman earl, and he was 
 anxious that the nuptials should be solemnized with as 
 little delay as possible. This connection, indeed, was 
 the only security which he had for himself, since, with- 
 out this bond of union, Strongbow might not have kept 
 faith with him when his authority became established 
 in Ireland. 
 
 The' ceremony was performed in Waterford on the 
 day after the massacre, and the wedding cortege passed 
 over the bleeding bodies of the d^ing and the dead. 
 Immediately after the ceremony, the army set out for 
 Dublin. Koderic had collected a large force near Clon- 
 dalkin, and Hosculf, the Danish governor of the city, en- 
 couraged by their presence, had again revolted against 
 Dermot. The English army having learned that the 
 woods and defiles between Wexford and Dublin were 
 well guarded, had made forced marches along the 
 mountains, and succeeded in reaching the capital long 
 before they were expected. Their decision and military 
 skill alarmed the inhabitants — they might also have 
 heard reports of the massacres at Wexford ; be this as 
 it .may, they determined to negotiate for peace, and 
 commissioned their illustrious archbishop, St. Laurence 
 O'Toole, to make terms with Dermot. While the dis- 
 cussion was pending, two of the English leaders, Kay- 
 mond le Gros and Miles de Cogan, obtained an entrance 
 into the city, and commenced a merciless butchery of 
 the inhabitants. When the archbishop returned, he 
 heard cries of misery and groans of agony in all quar- 
 ters, and it was not without difficulty that he succeeded 
 in appeasing the fury of the soldiers, and the rage of the 
 people who had been so basely treated. 
 
 The Four Masters accuse the people of Dublin of hav- 
 ing attempted to purchase their own safety at the ex- 
 pense of the national interests, and say that " a miracle 
 was wrought against them " as a judgment for their 
 selfishness. Hosculf, the Danish governor, fled to the 
 Orkneys with some of the principal citizens, and Rod- 
 eric withdrew his forces to Meath, to support O'Rourke, 
 
164 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 upon whom he had bestowed a portion of that territory. 
 Miles de Cogan was invested with the government of 
 Dublin, and Dermot marched to Meath, to attack Rod- 
 eric and O'Rourke, against whom he had an old grudge 
 of the worst and bitterest kind. He had injured him 
 by carrying off his wife, Dervorgil, and men generally 
 hate most bitterly those whom they have injured most 
 cruelly. 
 
 Meanwhile, MacCarthy of Desmond had attacked and 
 defeated the English garrison at Waterford, but without 
 any advantageous results. Roderick weakness now led 
 him to perpetrate an act of cruelty, although it could 
 scarcely be called unjust according to the ideas of the 
 times. It will be Remembered that he had received host- 
 ages from Dermot for the treaty of Ferns. That treaty 
 had been openly violated, and the king sent ambassadors 
 to him to demand its fulfilment, by the withdrawal of the 
 English troops, threatening, in case of refusal, to put 
 the hostages to death. Dermot laughed at the threat. 
 Under any circumstances he was not the man who 
 would hesitate to sacrifice his own flesh and blood to 
 his ambition. Roderic was as good as his word ; and 
 the three royal hostages were put to death at Athlone. 
 
 Dermot Mac Murrough died at Ferns, a. d. 1111, on 
 the 4th of May The annalists declare that he died of 
 a painful and loathsome malady, and that his miserable 
 end was a judgment on him for his crimes. Strongbow 
 at once proclaimed himself king of Leinster, claiming 
 the province in right of Eva, his wife. All appeared 
 to promise well for the object of his ambition, when he 
 received a sudden summons from Henry to return' to 
 England. The barons of that monarch, always turbu- 
 lent, had now a new ground for aggression, in the 
 weakness to which he had exposed himself by his vir- 
 tual sanction of the murder of St. Thomas of Canter- 
 bury, and he was fain to content himself with a strong 
 injunction commanding all his English subjects then in 
 Ireland to return immediately, and forbidding any fur- 
 ther reinforcements to be sent to that country. Strong- 
 bow was alarmed, and at once despatched Raymond le 
 Gros with apologies and explanations, offering the king 
 all the lands he had acquired in Ireland. Henry does 
 not appear to have taken the slightest notice of these 
 
THE IRISH ATTEMPT TO EXPEL THE NORMANS. 165 
 
 communications, and the earl determined to risk his 
 displeasure, and remain in Ireland. 
 
 But he soon found serious embarrassments in his 
 career. His Irish adherents forsook him on the death of 
 Dermot ; Dublin was besieged by a Scandinavian force, 
 which Hosculf had collected in the Orkneys, and which 
 was conveyed in sixty vessels, under the command of 
 Johan le Deve (the Furious). Miles de Cogan repulsed 
 this formidable attack successfully, and captured the 
 leaders. Hosculf was put to death ; but he appears to 
 have brought his fate on himself by a proud and incau- 
 tious boast. 
 
 An attempt was now made by the Irish to expel the 
 Norman nobles. The archbishop of Dublin, who was 
 revered as a saint, and respected as a councillor, made 
 earnest efforts to unite the national chieftains and rally 
 the national arrm\ His words appeared to have some 
 effect. Messengers were sent to ask assistance from 
 Godfred, king of the Isle of Man, and other island war- 
 riors. Strongbow became aware of his danger, and 
 threw himself into Dublin ; but he soon found himself 
 landlocked by an army, and enclosed at sea by a fleet. 
 Roderic O'Connor commanded the national forces, sup- 
 ported by Tiernan O'Rourke and Murrough 0' Carroll. 
 St. Laurence O'Toole remained in the camp, and strove 
 to animate the men by his exhortations and example. 
 The Irish army contented themselves with a blockade, 
 and the besieged were soon reduced to extremities from 
 want of food. Strongbow offered terms of capitulation 
 through the archbishop, proposing to hold the kingdom 
 of Leinster as Rodericks vassal ; but the Irish monarch 
 demanded the surrender of the towns of Dublin, Wex- 
 ford and Waterford, and required the English invaders 
 to leave the country by a certain day. 
 
 While these negotiations were pending, Donnell Cav- 
 anagh, son of the late king of Leinster, got into the 
 city in disguise, and informed Strongbow that Fitz- 
 Stephen was closely besieged in Wexford. It was 
 then at once determined to force a passage through 
 the Irish army. Raymond le Gros led the van, Miles 
 de Cogan followed ; Strongbow and Maurice FitzGer- 
 ald, who had proposed the sortie, with the remainder 
 of their force, brought up the rear. The Irish army 
 
166 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 were totally unprepared for this sudden move ; they fled 
 in panic, and Roderic, who was bathing in the Liffey, 
 escaped with difficulty. 
 
 Strongbow again committed the government of Dub- 
 lin to Miles de Cogan, and set out for Wexford. On 
 his way thither he was opposed by O'Regan, prince of 
 Idrone. An action ensued, which might have termi- 
 nated fatally for the army, had not the Irish prince 
 received his death-wound from an English archer. His 
 troops took to flight, and Strongbow proceeded on his 
 journey. But he arrived too late. Messengers met 
 him on the way, to inform him that the fort of Carrig 
 had fallen into the hands of the Irish, who are said to 
 have practised an unjustifiable stratagem to obtain pos- 
 session of the place. As usual, there are two versions 
 of the story. One of these versions, which appears 
 not improbable, is that the besieged had heard a false 
 report of the affair in Dublin ; and believing Strongbow 
 and the English army to have been overthrown, they 
 surrendered on the promise of being sent in safety to 
 Dublin. On their surrender, the conditions were vio- 
 lated, FitzStephen was imprisoned, and some of his 
 followers killed. The charge against the besiegers is, 
 that they invented the report as a stratagem to obtain 
 their ends, and that the falsehood was confirmed in a 
 solemn manner by the bishops of Wexford and Kildare. 
 
 As soon as the Wexford men had heard of Strong- 
 bow's approach, they set fire to the town, and fled to 
 Beg-Erin, a stockaded island, at the same time sending 
 him a message, that, if he attempted to approach they 
 would kill all their prisoners. The earl withdrew to 
 Waterford in consequence of this threat, and here he 
 learned that his presence was indispensable in England ; 
 he therefore set off at onc^ to plead his own cause with 
 his royal master. A third attack had been made on 
 Dublin, in the meantime, by the lord of Breffni, but it 
 was repulsed by Miles. With this exception, the Irish 
 made no attempt against the common enemy, and do- 
 mestic wars were as frequent as usual. 
 
 Henry had returned to England, and was now in 
 Newenham, in Gloucestershire, making active prepara- 
 tions for his visit to Ireland. He received Strongbow 
 coldly, and at first refused to grant him a personal in- 
 
ARRIVAL OF HENRY II. IN IRELAND. 
 
 161 
 
 terview. After a proper delay, however, he admitted 
 him to his presence, and graciously accepted the earl's 
 offer of u all the lands he had won in Ireland. " Thus, 
 Irish land became, for the first time, the property of an 
 English king. In return for this extorted donation, 
 Henry restored Strongbow's Welsh estates ; but with 
 consummate hypocrisy and villany, he seized the estates 
 of the Welsh lords, whom he hated for their vigorous 
 and patriotic opposition, and punished them for allow- 
 ing the expedition, which he had just sanctioned, to 
 sail from their coasts unmolested. 
 
 It is probable that Henry was prompted to undertake 
 this expedition by policy as much as by the desire of 
 increasing his dominions. He was doubtless glad of 
 any arrangement which, by occupying public attention, 
 might draw the notice of his barons from home affairs, 
 and give them some employment which would prevent 
 them from dwelling upon their discontents. 
 
 Henry landed in Ireland on the 18th of October, 1171, 
 at Crook, in the county of Waterford. He was accom- 
 panied by Strongbow, William FitzAldelm, Humphrey 
 de Bohun, Hugh de Lacy, Robert FitzBarnard, and 
 many other lords. His whole force, which, according 
 to the most authentic English accounts, was distributed 
 in four hundred ships, consisted of five hundred knights, 
 and four thousand men-at-arms. It would appear that 
 the Irish had not the least idea of his intention to claim 
 the kingdom as his own, and rather looked upon him as 
 a powerful potentate who had come to assist the native 
 administration of justice, than as a new claimant for 
 kingly authority. 
 
 It must ever be regretted, that, at this important 
 period, there was no statesman of sufficient ability to 
 provide for the future, no leading mind to give its im- 
 press to some masterly policy by which the two nations 
 might have been really united at once and forever. 
 Ireland had long been distracted and desolated by do- 
 mestic dissensions, and needed a firm and powerful 
 hand to consolidate its various dependencies into one. 
 Unhappily, this was precisely what the English settlers 
 failed to do. They looked on the country as a land to 
 be conquered ; on the people, as a race who, if they' 
 could not be exterminated, should at least be, as far 
 
168 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 as possible, enslaved. The mistake was a grave one, 
 and has led to the most deplorable results; but it must 
 be remembered that at this period we could scarcely 
 expect much statesmanship or consideration. Each of 
 the nobles who followed Henry was naturally anxious 
 for his personal aggrandizement, and sought that only. 
 The petty chieftains were set against each other, in 
 order to weaken their opposition to the invaders ; and 
 the conduct of both parties was equally selfish and un- 
 wise. 
 
 MacCarthy, of Desmond, was the first Irish prince 
 who did homage to the English king. His example 
 was followed by Donnell O'Brien, king of Thomond, 
 who swore fealty at Cashel, and afterwards surrendered 
 Limerick. Other princes followed the example. They 
 had been accustomed for centuries to an Ard-Righ, or 
 chief monarch, who had a nominal authority over the 
 lesser potentates, but who seldom interfered with them. 
 It is probable that the majority of those who submitted 
 to Henry looked upon him in this light. They cer- 
 tainly never contemplated being themselves ejected by 
 the Norman nobles from their own territories. 
 
 The northern princes still held aloof; but Roderic 
 had received Henry's ambassadors personally, and paid 
 the usual deference which one king owed to another 
 who was considered more powerful. Henry determined 
 to spend his Christmas in Dublin, and resolved on a 
 special display of royal state. It is to be presumed 
 that he wished to make up for deficiency in stateliness 
 of person by stateliness of presence ; for, like most of 
 the descendants of Duke Robert "the Devil" and the 
 daughter of the Falaise tanner, his appearance was not 
 calculated to inspire respect. His grey bloodshot eyes 
 and tremulous voice were neither knightly nor kingly 
 qualifications ; his savage and ungovernable temper 
 made him appear at times rather like a demon than a 
 man. He was charged with having violated the most 
 solemn oaths when it suited his convenience. A cardi- 
 nal had pronounced him an audacious liar. Count Thie- 
 bault of Champagne had warned an archbishop not to 
 rely on any of his promises, however sacredly made. 
 He and his sons spent their time in quarrelling with 
 each other, when not occupied in quarrelling with their 
 
HENRY SPENDS CHRISTMAS IN DUBLIN. 
 
 169 
 
 subjects. His eldest son, Kichard, thus graphically 
 sketched the family characteristics: "The custom in 
 our family is, that the son shall hate the father ; our 
 destiny is to detest each other; from the devil we came, 
 to the devil we shall go. ;; It certainly could scarcely 
 be expected that the rule of such a family would prove 
 beneficial. 
 
 A special residence was erected for the court of Dub- 
 lin, on part of the ground now occupied by the Southern 
 side of Dame Street. The whole extent of Dublin at 
 that time, was, in length, from Corn Market to the 
 Lower Castle Yard ; and, in breadth, from the Liffey, 
 then covering Essex Street, to Little Sheep Street, now 
 Ship Street, where a part of the town wall is yet stand- 
 ing. The only edifices in existence on the southern 
 side of Dame Street, even at the commencement of the " 
 seventeenth century, were the church of St. Andrew, 
 and the King's Mills. College Green was then quite in 
 the country, and was known as the village of LeHogges, 
 a name -derived apparently from the Teutonic word Hoge, 
 which signifies a small hill or sepulchral mound. Here 
 there was a nunnery called St. Mary le Hogges, which 
 had been erected and endowed not many years before 
 Henry's arrival, and a place called Hoggens Butt, where 
 the citizens exercised themselves in archery. Here, 
 during the winter of 1171, the Celt, the Englishman, and 
 the Norman, may have engaged in peaceful contests and 
 pleasant trials of skill. 
 
 When the Christmas festivities had passed, Henry 
 turned his attention to business, if, indeed, the same 
 festivities had not also been a part of his diplomatic 
 plans, for he was not deficient in kingcraft. In a synod 
 at Cashel he attempted to settle ecclesiastical affairs. 
 In a Curia Regis held at Lismore, he imagined he had 
 arranged temporal affairs. These are subjects which de- 
 mand our best consideration. It is an historical fact, 
 that the popes claimed and exercised great temporal 
 power in the Middle Ages ; it is admitted also that they 
 used this power, in the main, for general good ; 1 and 
 that, as monks and friars were the preservers of litera- 
 
 1 M. Guizot says : " She (the Church) alone resisted the system of 
 castes; she alone maintained the principle of equality of compe- 
 tition; she alone called all legitimate superiors to possession oi 
 power." Hist, Gen. de la Civilization en Europe, Lect. 5. 
 
 8 
 
170 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 ture, so popes and bishops were the protectors of the 
 rights of nations, as far as was possible in such turbu- 
 lent times, It does not belong to our present subject 
 to theorize on the origin or the grounds of this power ; 
 it is sufficient to say that it had been exercised repeat- 
 edly both before and after Adrian granted the famous 
 Bull, by which he conferred the kingdom of Ireland on 
 Henry II. The Merovingian dynasty was changed on 
 the decision of Pope Zachary. Pope Adrian threatened 
 Frederick I., that if he did not renounce all pretensions 
 to ecclesiastical property in Lornbardy, he should for- 
 feit the crown, " received from himself and through his 
 unction. ,; When Pope Innocent III. pronounced sen- 
 tence of deposition against Lackland in 1211, and con- 
 ferred the kingdom of England on Philip Augustus, the 
 latter instantly prepared to assert his claim, though he 
 had no manner of title, except the Papal grant. In 
 fact, at the very moment when Henry was claiming 
 the Irish crown in right of Adrian's Bull, 2 given some 
 years previously, he was in no small trepidation at the 
 possible prospect of losing his English dominions, as an 
 excommunication and an interdict were even then hang- 
 in g over his head. 
 
 It has been already shown that the possession of Ire- 
 land was coveted at an early period by the Norman 
 rulers of Great Britain. When Henry II. ascended the 
 throne in 1154, he probably intended to take the matter 
 in hand at once. An Englishman, Adrian IV., filled the 
 papal chair. The English monarch would naturally find 
 him favorable to his own country. John of Salisbury, 
 then chaplain to the archbishop of Canterbury, was com- 
 missioned to request the favor. No doubt he repre- 
 sented his master as very zealous for the interests of 
 religion, and made it appear that his sole motive was 
 the good, temporal and spiritual, of the barbarous Irish ; 
 
 2 It is generally admitted that there is no doubt of the authenticity 
 of this document. Baronius published it from the Codex Vaticanus; 
 John XXII. has annexed it to his Brief addressed to Edward II. ; and 
 John of Salisbury states distinctly, in his Metalogicus, that he obtained, 
 this Bull from Adrian. He grounds the right of donation on the sup- 
 posed gift of the island by Constantine. As the question is one of in- 
 terest and importance, we subjoin the original: "Ad preces meas 
 illustri Kegi Anglorum Henrico II. concessit (Adrianus) et dedit Hi- 
 bernian jure haereditariopossidendam, sicut literse ipsius testantur in 
 hodiernum diem. Nam omnes insula) de jure antiquo ex donatione 
 Con stan tini, qui earn fundavit et dotavit, dicuntur ad Rornanam 
 Ecclesiam pertinere." — Metalogicus i i.4. 
 
pope Adrian's bull. 
 
 in 
 
 at least, this is plainly implied in Adrian's Bull. The 
 pope could have no motive except that which he ex- 
 pressed in the document itself. He had been led to 
 believe that the state of Ireland was deplorable ; he 
 naturally hoped that a wise and good government would 
 restore what was amiss. There is no doubt that there 
 was much which required amendment, and no one was 
 more conscious of this, or strove more earnestly to effect 
 it, than St. Laurence O'Toole, the prelate who governed 
 the archiepiscopal see of Dublin at the time of Henry's 
 arrival in Ireland. The Irish clergy had already made 
 the most zealous efforts to remedy whatever needed cor- 
 rection ; but it was an age of lawless violence. Keform 
 was quite as much wanted both in England and in the 
 Italian States ; but Ireland had the additional disadvan- 
 tage of having undergone three centuries of ruthless 
 plunder and desecration of her churches and shrines, and 
 the result told fearfully on that land which had once been 
 the home of saints. 
 
 Henry's great object was to represent himself as one 
 who had come to redress grievances rather than to claim 
 allegiance ; but however he may have deceived princes 
 and chieftains, he certainly did not succeed in deceiving 
 the clergy. The synod of Cashel, which he caused to be 
 convened, was not attended as numerously as he had ex- 
 pected, and the regulations made thereat were simply a 
 renewal of those which had been made previously. 
 
 Henry did not succeed much better with his admin- 
 istration of secular affairs. In his Curia Regis, at Lis- 
 more, he modelled Irish administration on Norman pre- 
 cedents, apparently forgetting that a kingdom and a 
 province should be differently governed. Strongbow 
 was appointed earl marshal ; Hugh de Lacy, lord con- 
 stable ; Bertram de Verdun, seneschal ; Theobald Wal- 
 ter, chief butler; and De Wellesley, royal standard- 
 bearer. It was also arranged that, on the demise of a 
 chief governor, the Norman nobles were to elect a suc- 
 cessor, who should have full authority, until the royal 
 pleasure could be known. Henry did not then attempt 
 to style himself King or Lord of Ireland ; his object 
 seems to have been simply to obtain authority in the 
 country through his nobles, as Wales had been subdued 
 in a similar manner. English laws and customs were 
 
172 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 also introduced for the benefit of English settlers ; the 
 native population still adhered to their own legal observ- 
 ances. Henry again forgot that laws must be suited 
 to the nation for whom they are made, and that English 
 laws were as little likely to be acceptable to the Celt, as 
 his Norman tongue to an English-speaking people. 
 
 Dublin was now made over to the inhabitants of Bris- 
 tol. Hugh de Lacy, its governor, has been generally 
 considered in point of fact the first viceroy for Ireland. 
 He was installed in the Norman fashion, and the sword 
 and cap of maintenance were made the insignia of the 
 dignity. Waterford and Wexford were also bestowed on 
 royal favorites, or upon such knights as were supposed 
 most likely to hold them for the crown. Castles were 
 erected throughout the country, which were portioned 
 out among Henry's needy followers ; and any Irishman 
 who persisted in asserting a right to his own property 
 was denounced as a rebel. 
 
 The winter had been so stormy that there was little 
 communication with England ; but early in spring the 
 king received the portentous intelligence of the arrival 
 of papal legates in Normandy, and learned that they 
 threatened to place his dominions under an interdict, if 
 he did not appear immediately to answer for his crime. 
 Queen Eleanor and his sons were also plotting against 
 him, and there were many who boldly declared that the 
 murder of the archbishop of Canterbury would yet be 
 fearfully avenged. Henry determined at once to sub- 
 mit to the Holy See, and to avert his doom by a real or 
 pretended penitence. He therefore sailed for England 
 from Wexford harbor, on Easter Monday, the 17th of 
 April, 1172, and arrived the same day at Port Finnen, in 
 Wales. 
 
 Giraldus Cambrensis, who had either accompanied 
 Strongbow to Ireland, or preceded him as his secretary, 
 has given ample details of the state of Ireland at this 
 period. He was certainly no friend to the inhabitants, 
 whom he describes as barbarians ; but, nevertheless, he 
 writes very severely of the evils which resulted from the 
 Norman invasion. <l The clergy are reduced to beggary 
 in the island ; the cathedral churches mourn, having been 
 deprived, by the aforesaid persons (the leading adven- 
 turers), and others along with them, or who came over 
 
GOVERNMENT OF THE NORMAN NOBLES. 
 
 173 
 
 after them, of the lands and ample estates which had 
 been formerly granted to them faithfully and devoutly. 
 And thus the exalting of the Church has been changed 
 into the despoiling or plundering of the Church. " Nor 
 is his account of the temporal state of the kingdom any 
 better. He informs us that Dermot Mac Murrough, 
 the originator of all those evils, " oppressed his nobles, 
 exalted upstarts,' was a calamity to his countrymen, 
 hated by the strangers, and, in a word, at war with the 
 world. " Of the Anglo-Norman nobles, many of whom 
 were his own relatives, and of their work, he writes 
 thus: "This new and bloody conquest was defiled by 
 an enormous effusion of blood, and the slaughter of a 
 Christian people. And again : " The lands even of 
 the Irish who stood faithful to our cause, from the first 
 descent of FitzStephen and the earl, you have, in viola- 
 tion of a treaty, made over to your friends. ;; His char- 
 acter of Henry is, that he was more given to "hunting 
 than to holiness." 
 
 Tiernan O'Rourke, the lord of BrefFni, had been one 
 of Henry's favored guests at his Christmas festivities. 
 He possessed the territory of East Meath, and this ter- 
 ritory Henry had coolly bestowed upon Hugh de Lacy. 
 The rightful owner was not quite so dazzled by the 
 sunshine of royal favor as to be willing to resign his 
 property without a struggle. The Irish chieftain was 
 persuaded to hold a conference with the English intruder 
 at the hill of Tara, near Athboy. Both parties were 
 attended by armed men. A dispute ensued. The inter- 
 preter was killed by a blow aimed at De Lacy, who fled 
 precipitately ; O'Rourke was killed by a spear-thrust as 
 he mounted his horse, and vengeance was wreaked on his 
 dead body, for the crime of wishing to maintain his rights, 
 by subjecting it to decapitation. His head was impaled 
 over the gate of Dublin castle, and afterwards sent as a 
 present to Henry II. His body was gibbeted, with the 
 feet upwards, on the northern side of the same building. 
 The Four Masters say that O'Rourke was treacherously 
 slain. From the account given by Cambrensis, it would 
 appear that there was a plot to destroy the aged chieftain, 
 but for want of clearer evidence we may give his ene- 
 mies the benefit of the doubt. 
 
 Strongbow was now employing himself by depredat- 
 
1U 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 ing the territories which had been conferred upon him. 
 He took an army of one thousand horse and foot into 
 Offaly, to lay waste O'Dempsey's territory, that prince 
 having also committed the crime of wishing to keep his 
 ancestral estates. He met with no opposition until he 
 was about to return with the spoils ; then, as he passed 
 through a defile, the chieftain set upon him in the rear, 
 and slew several of his knights, carrying off the Norman 
 standard. Robert de Quincey, who had just married 
 a daughter of Strongbow's by a former marriage, was 
 amongst the slain. The earl had bestowed a large ter- k 
 ritory in Wexford upon him. 
 
 Henry was, at that time, suffering from domestic 
 troubles in Normandy ; he therefore summoned De Clare 
 to attend him there. It would appear that he performed 
 good service for his royal master, for he received fur- 
 ther .grants of lands and castles, both in Normandy and 
 in Ireland. On his return to the latter country, he found 
 that the spoilers had quarrelled over the spoil. Ray- 
 . mond le Oros had contrived to ingratiate himself with the 
 soldiers, and they demanded that the command should be 
 transferred from Hervey de Montmarisco, Strongbow's 
 uncle, to the object of their predilection. The earl was 
 obliged to comply. Their object was simply to plunder. 
 The new general gratified them ; and, after a raid on the 
 unfortunate inhabitants of Offaly and Munster, they col- 
 lected their booty at Lismore, intending to convey it by 
 water to Waterford. 
 
 The Ostmen of Cork attacked them by sea, but failed 
 to conquer. By land the Irish suffered another defeat. 
 Raymond encountered MacOarthy of Desmond on his 
 way to Cork, and plundered him, driving off a rich cat- 
 tle spoil, in addition to his other ill-gotten goods. Ray-, 
 mond now demanded the appointment of constable of 
 Leinster, and the hand of Strongbow's sister, Basilia. 
 But the earl refused ; and the general, notwithstanding 
 his successes, retired to Wales in disgust. 
 
 Hervey now resumed the command, a. d. 1174, and 
 undertook an expedition against Donneli O'Brien, which 
 proved disastrous to the English. Roderic once more 
 appears in the field. The battle took place at Thurles, 
 and seventeen hundred of the English were slain. In 
 consequence of this disaster, the earl proceeded in sor- 
 
RAYMOND LE GROS. 
 
 175 
 
 row to his house in Waterford. This great success was 
 a signal for revolt amongst the native chieftains. Don- 
 ald Oavanagh claimed his father's territory, and Gilla- 
 mochalmog and other Leinster chieftains rose up against 
 their allies. Koderic O'Connor at the same time invaded 
 Meath, and drove the Anglo-Normans from their castles 
 at Trim and Duleek. Strongbow was obliged to despatch 
 messengers at once to invite the return of Raymond le 
 Gros, and to promise him the offices he had demanded, 
 and his sister's hand in marriage. 
 
 Eaymond came without a moment's delay, accompa- 
 nied by a considerable force. His arrival was most 
 opportune for the English cause. The Northmen of 
 Waterford were preparing to massacre the invaders, 
 and effected their purpose when the earl left the town 
 to join the new reinforcements at Wexford. The nup- 
 tials were celebrated at Wexford with great pomp ; but 
 news was received, on the following morning, that Rod- 
 eric had advanced almost to Dublin ; and the mantle and 
 tunic of the nuptial feast were speedily exchanged for 
 helmet and coat-of-mail. Unfortunately Roderic's army 
 was already disbanded. The English soon repaired the 
 injuries which had been done to their fortresses ; and 
 once more the Irish cause was lost, even in the moment 
 of victory, for want of combination and a leader. 
 
 Henry now considered it time to produce the papal 
 Bulls, a. d. 1175. He therefore despatched the prior 
 of Wallingford, and William FitzAldelm to Waterford, 
 where a synod of the clergy was assembled to hear 
 these important documents. The English monarch had 
 contrived to impress the Holy See with wonderful ideas 
 of his sanctity, by his penitential expiations of his share 
 in the murder of St. Thomas a Becket. It was there- 
 fore easy for him to procure a confirmation of Adrian's 
 Bull from the then reigning pontiff, Alexander III. The 
 pope also wrote to Christian, the legate, to the Irish 
 archbishops, and to the king. Our historians have not 
 informed us what was the result of this meeting. Had 
 the papal donation appeared a matter of national import- 
 ance, there can be little doubt that it would have excited 
 more attention. 
 
 Raymond now led an army to Limerick, to revenge 
 himself on Donnell O'Brien, for his defeat at Thurlea, 
 
176 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 He succeeded in his enterprise. Several engagements 
 followed, in which the Anglo-Normans were always vic- 
 torious. Roderic now sent ambassadors to Henry II. 
 The persons chosen were Catholicus, archbishop of 
 Tuam ; Concors, abbot of St. Brendan's, in Clonfert; 
 and St. Laurence O'Toole, styled quaintly, in the old 
 Saxon manner, " Master Laurence/ 7 The king and 
 council received them at Windsor. The result of their 
 conference was, that Roderic consented to pay homage 
 to Henry, by giving him a hide from every tenth head of 
 cattle ; Henry, on his part, bound himself to secure the 
 sovereignty of Ireland to Roderic, excepting only Dublin, 
 Meath, Leinster, Waterford, and Dungarvan. In fact, 
 the English king managed to have the best share, and 
 made a favor of resigning what he never possessed, and 
 of not keeping what he could never have held. This 
 council took place on the octave of the feast of St. 
 Michael, a. d. 1175. By this treaty Henry was simply 
 acknowledged as a superior feudal sovereign; and had 
 Ireland been governed with ordinary justice, the arrange- 
 ment might have been advantageous to both countries. 
 
 Roderic was still a king, both nominally and ipso facto. 
 He had power to judge and depose the petty kings, and 
 they were to pay their tribute to him for the English 
 monarch. Any of the Irish who, fled from the territo- 
 ries of the English barons, were to return ; but the king 
 of Connaught might compel his own subjects to remain 
 in his own land. Thus the English simply possessed a 
 colony in Ireland ; and this colony, in a few years, be- 
 came still more .limited, while throughout the rest of 
 the country the Irish language, laws, and usages, pre- 
 vailed as they had hitherto done. 
 
 Henry now appointed Augustin, an Irishman, to the 
 vacant see of Waterford, and sent him, under the care 
 of St. Laurence, to receive consecration from the arch- 
 bishop of Cashel, his metropolitan. For a century pre- 
 vious to this time, the bishops of Waterford had been 
 consecrated by the Norman archbishops of Canterbury, 
 with whom they claimed kindred. 
 
 While Raymond was still in Limerick, Strongbow died 
 in Dublin. As it was of the highest political importance 
 that his death should be concealed until some one was 
 present to hold the reins of government, his sister, 
 
STRONGBOW'S DEATH. 
 
 m 
 
 Basilia, sent an enigmatical letter 1 to her husband, which 
 certainly does no small credit to her diplomatic skill. 
 The messenger was not acquainted with the earl's death ; 
 and such of the Anglo-Normans in Dublin as were aware 
 of it, had too much prudence to betray the secret. Ray- 
 mond at once set out on his journey. Immediately after 
 his arrival, Fitz-Gislebert, earl de Clare, was interred in 
 the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, now called Christ's 
 Church. 
 
 Strongbow has not obtained a flattering character, 
 either from his friends or his enemies. Even Cambren- 
 sis admits that he was obliged to be guided by the plans 
 of others, having neither originality to suggest, nor tal- 
 ent to carry out any important line of action. 
 
 The Irish annalists call him the greatest destroyer 
 of the clergy and laity that came to Ireland since the 
 times of Turgesius ("Annals of Innisfallen " ). The 
 Four Masters record his demise thus: "The English 
 earl (i. e. Richard) died in Dublin of an ulcer which had 
 broken out in his foot, through the miracles of SS. 
 Brigid and Colum-cille, and of all the other saints whose 
 churches had been destroyed by him. He saw, he 
 thought, St. Brigid in the act of killing him." Pem- 
 bridge says he died on the 1st of May, and Cambrensis 
 about the 1st of June. His personal appearance is not 
 described in very flattering terms ; and he has the credit 
 of being more of a soldier than a statesman, and not very 
 knightly in his manner or bearing. 
 
 The earl de Clare left only one child, a daughter, as 
 heir to his vast estates. She was afterwards married to 
 William Marshal, earl of Pembroke. Although Strong- 
 bow was a " destroyer " of the native clergy, he appears 
 to have been impregnated with the mediaeval devotion 
 for establishing religious houes. He founded a priory 
 at Kilmainham for the Knights of the Temple, with an 
 almshouse and hospital. He was also a liberal benefac- 
 tor to the church of the Holy Trinity, where he was 
 buried. 
 
 1 " To Raymond, her most loving lord and husband, his own Basilia 
 wishes health as to herself. Know you, my dear lord, that the great 
 tooth in my jaw, which was wont to ache so much, is now fallen out : 
 wherefore, if you have any love or regard for me or of yourself, you 
 will delay not to hasten hither with all speed."— Gilbert's Viceroys, p. 
 40. It is said that this letter was read for Raymond by a cleric of his 
 train, so it is presumable that reading and writing were not made a 
 part of his education. 
 
COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A.D. 1176 TO A.D. 1271. 
 
 THE EIRST CENTURY AFTER THE ARRIVAL OF THE 
 NORMANS IN IRELAND. 
 
 Contemporary Events : —Third and fourth Crusades— Latin Empire 
 of Constantinople founded— Mahommedan power overthrown in 
 Spain— Magna Charta signed— Fifth and sixth Crusades— The Han- 
 seatic League founded— English House of Commons established — 
 Bacon Lectures at Oxford— Death of St. Louis of France. 
 
 Henry II. was holding his court of Valognes, in Nor- 
 mandy, when the news of Strongbow's death was com- 
 municated to him. He at once nominated his sene- 
 schal, FitzAldelmde Burgo, viceroy of Ireland, a.d. 1176. 
 The new governor was accompanied by John de Courcy, 
 Eobert FitzEstevene, and Miles de Cogan. Raymond 
 had assumed the reins of government after the death of 
 Strongbow, but Henry appears always to have regarded 
 him with jealousy, and gladly availed himself of every 
 opportunity of lessening the power of one who stood so 
 high in favor with the army. The viceroy was received 
 at Wexford by Raymond, who prudently made a merit 
 of necessity, and resigned his charge. It is said that 
 FitzAldelm was much struck by his retinue and numer- 
 ous attendants, all of whom belonged to the same fam- 
 ily ; and that he then and there vowed to effect their 
 ruin. From this moment is dated the distrust so fre- 
 quently manifested by the English government towards 
 the powerful and popular Geraldines. 
 
 The new viceroy was not a favorite with the Anglo- 
 Norman colonists. He was openly accused of partiality 
 to the Irish, because he attempted to demand justice for 
 them. It is not known whether this policy was the 
 result of his own. judgment, or a compliance with the 
 wishes of his royal master. His conciliatory conduct, 
 whatever may have been its motive, was unhappily coun- 
 
CARDINAL VIVIAN HOLDS A SYNOD. 179 
 
 teracted by the violence of De Courcy. This noble- 
 man asserted that he had obtained a grant of Ulster 
 from Henry II. ; on what grounds, it would be indeed 
 difficult to ascertain. He proceeded to make good his 
 claim ; and, in defiance of the viceroy's prohibition, set 
 out for the north, with a small army of chosen knights 
 and soldiers. His friend, Sir Almaric Tristram de Saint 
 Lawrence, was of the number. He was De Courcy's 
 brother-in-law, and they had made vows of eternal friend- 
 ship in the famous cathedral of Rouen. De Courcy is 
 described as a man of extraordinary physical strength, 
 of large proportions, shamefully penurious, rashly impet- 
 uous, and, despite a fair share in the vices of the age, 
 full of reverence for the clergy, at least if they belonged 
 to his own race. Cambrensis gives a glowing descrip- 
 tion of his valor, and says that " any one who had seen 
 Jean de Courci wield his sword, lopping off heads and 
 arms, might well have commended the might of this 
 warrior/ ; 
 
 De Courcy arrived in Downpatrick in four days. The 
 inhabitants were taken by surprise; and the sound of 
 his bugles at daybreak was the first intimation they 
 received of their danger. Cardinal Yivian, who had come 
 as legate from Alexander III., had but just arrived at 
 the port. He did his best to promote peace. But 
 neither party would yield ; and as the demands of the 
 Norman knights were perfectly unreasonable, Yivian 
 advised Dunlevy, the chieftain of Ulidia, to have recourse 
 to arms. A sharp conflict ensued, in which the English 
 gained the victory, principally through the personal 
 bravery of their leader. This battle was fought about 
 the beginning of February ; another engagement took 
 place on the 24th of June, in which the northerns were 
 again defeated. 
 
 Cardinal Vivian now proceeded to Dublin, where he 
 held a synod. The principal enactment referred to the 
 right of sanctuary. During the Anglo-Norman wars, 
 the Irish had secured their provisions in the churches ; 
 and it is said that, in order to starve out the enemy, they 
 even refused to sell at any price. It was now decreed 
 that sanctuary might be violated to obtain food ; but a 
 fair price was to be paid for whatever was taken. It is 
 to be feared these conditions were seldom complied with. 
 
180 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 The abbey of St. Thomas the Martyr was founded in Dub- 
 lin about this time, by FitzAldelm, at the command of 
 Henry II., one of his many acts of reparation. The site 
 was the place now called Thomas Court. The viceroy 
 endowed it with a carucate of land, in the presence of the 
 legate and St. Laurence O'Toole. After the settlement 
 of these affairs, cardinal Vivian passed over to Chester, 
 on his way to Scotland. 
 
 One of Roderic O'Connor's sons, Murrough, having 
 rebelled against him, Miles de Cogan went to his assist- 
 ance — a direct and flagrant violation of the treaty of 
 Windsor. At Roscommon the English were joined by 
 the unnatural rebel, who guided them through the prov- 
 ince. The king was in Iar-Connaught, and the allies 
 burned and plundered without mercy, as they passed 
 along to Trim. Here they remained three nights ; but 
 as the people had fled with their cattle and other mova- 
 ble property into the fastnesses, they had not been able 
 to procure any spoil on their march. Roderic soon 
 appeared to give them battle ; but they were defeated 
 without considerable loss. Murrough was taken pris- 
 oner by his father, and his eyes were put out as a pun- 
 ishment for his rebellion, and to prevent a repetition of 
 his treachery. 
 
 Another violation of the treaty of Windsor was also 
 perpetrated this year, a.d. 1177. Henry II. summoned 
 a council of his prelates and barons at Oxford, and sol- 
 emnly conferred the title of King of Ireland on his young- 
 est son John, then a mere child. A new grant of Meath 
 to Hugh de Lacy was made immediately after, in the 
 joint names of Henry II. and John. Desmond was also 
 granted to Miles de Cogan, with the exception of the 
 city of Cork, which the king reserved to himself. Tho- 
 mond was offered to two English nobles, who declined 
 the tempting but dangerous favor. It was then pre- 
 sented to Philip de Bresosa ; but though the knight was 
 no coward, he fled precipitately, when he discovered, on 
 coming in sight of Limerick, that the inhabitants had set 
 it on lire, so determined was their resistance to foreign 
 rule. The territory of Waterford was granted to Roger 
 le Poer ; but, aa usual, the city was reserved for the 
 royal benefit. In fact, Sir John Davies well observed, 
 that "all Ireland was by Henry II. cantonized among. 
 
IRISH BISHOPS ATTEND THE COUNCIL OF LATERAN. 181 
 
 ten of the English nation ; and though they did not gain 
 possession of one-third of the kingdom, yet in title they 
 were owners and lords of all, as nothing was left to be 
 granted to the natives." Meanwhile De Courcy was 
 plundering the northern provinces. His wife, Affreca, 
 was a daughter of Godfrey, king of Man, and thus he 
 could secure assistance by sea as well as by land. But 
 the tide of fortune was not always in his favor. After 
 he had plundered in Louth, he was attacked, in the vale 
 of Newry river, by O'Carroll of Oriel and Dunlevy of 
 Ulidia. On this occasion he lost four hundred men, 
 many of whom were drowned. Soon after, he suffered 
 another defeat in Antrim, from O'Flynn. The Four 
 Masters say he fled to Dublin ; Dr. O'Donovan thinks 
 that we should read Downpatrick. The latter part of 
 the name cannot be correctly ascertained, as the paper 
 is worn away. 
 
 The Irish were, as usual, engaged in domestic dissen- 
 sions, and the English acted as allies on whichever side 
 promised to be most advantageous to themselves. 
 
 In 1179 Henry gave the office of viceroy to De Lacy, 
 and recalled FitzAldelm. The new governor employed 
 himself actively in erecting castles and oppressing the 
 unfortunate Irish. Cambrensis observes, that he " amply 
 enriched himself and his followers by oppressing others 
 with a strong hand." Yet he seems to have had some 
 degree of popularity, even with the native Irish, for he 
 married a daughter of Roderic 0' Connor as his second 
 wife. This alliance, for which he had not asked permis- 
 sion, and his popularity, excited the jealousy of the Eng- 
 lish king, who deprived him of his office. But he was 
 soon reinstated, although the bishop of Shrewsbury, with 
 the name of counsellor, was set as a spy on his actions. 
 These events occurred a. d. 1181. De Lacj^s old com- 
 panion, Hervey de Montmarisco, became a monk at 
 Canterbury, after founding the Cistercian monastery of 
 Dunbrody, in the county of Wexford, and died in his 
 seventy- fifth year at the English house. 
 
 In 1 179 several Irish bishops were summoned by Alex- 
 ander III. to attend the third general council of Lateran. 
 These prelates were, St. Laurence of Dublin, O'Duffy of 
 Tuam, O'Brien of Killaloe, Felix of Lismore, Augustine 
 of Waterford, and Brictius of Limerick. Usher says 
 
182 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 several other bishops were summoned ; it is probable 
 they were unable to leave the country, and hence their 
 names have not been given. The real state of the Irish 
 Church was then made known to the Holy See ; no liv- 
 ing man could have described it more accurately and 
 truthfully than the holy prelate who had sacrificed him- 
 self for so many years for its good. Even as the bish- 
 ops passed through England, the royal jealousy sought 
 to fetter them with new restrictions ; and they were 
 obliged to take an oath that they would not sanction any 
 infringements on Henry's prerogatives. St. Malachy 
 was now appointed legate by the pope, with jurisdiction 
 over the five suffragans, and the possessions attached to 
 his see were confirmed to him. 
 
 In 1183 the unfortunate Irish monarch, Roderic, had 
 retired to the abbey of Cong, and left such empty titles 
 as he possessed to his son Connor. De Lacy and De 
 Courcy had occupied themselves alternately in plunder- 
 ing and destroying the religious houses which had so 
 long existed, and in founding new monasteries with a 
 portion of their ill-gotten gains. It would appear that 
 De Lacy built so far on his popularity with the Anglo- 
 Normans, as to have aspired to the sovereignty of Ire- 
 land, — an aspiration which his master soon discovered, 
 and speedily punished. He was supplanted by Philip of 
 Worcester, who exceeded all his predecessors in rapac - 
 ity and cruelty to the native Irish. 
 
 It is probable, when Henry II. conferred the title of 
 King of Ireland on his favorite son John, that he intended 
 him to govern that country as viceroy, and probably 
 supposed that some such arrangement would be made 
 for the future by his successors. But even if his sons 
 had been less turbulent and unruly than they were, it 
 was obvious that this would be a dangerous experiment. 
 A prince who held such a position would be likely soon 
 to claim the power as well as the title of king, and Ire- 
 land might have to be regained from the new settlers 
 themselves. The visit of Prince John was probably an 
 experiment : it proved in every way singularly unsuc- 
 cessful. 
 
 The prince was very unwilling to undertake the expe- 
 dition. As he was on the eve of his departure, Eraclius, 
 patriarch of Jerusalem, arrived in England, to enjoin the 
 
PRINCE JOHN IN IRELAND. 
 
 183 
 
 fulfilment of the king's vow to undertake a crusade to 
 Palestine. As Henry had got out of his difficulties, he 
 declined to fulfil his solemn engagement, and refused 
 permission to his son John, who threw himself at his 
 father's feet, and implored leave to be his substitute. 
 Eraclius then poured forth his indignation upon Henry, 
 with all the energetic freedom of the age. He informed 
 him that God would punish his impieties — that he was 
 worse than any Saracen ; and hinted that he might have 
 inherited his wickedness from his grandmother, the coun- 
 tess of Anjou, who was reported to be a witch, and of 
 whom it was said that she had flown through the win- 
 dow during the most solemn part of Mass, though four 
 squires attempted to hold her ! 
 
 Henry, however, was firm, and Prince John sailed 
 from Milford haven on the evening of Easter Wednesday, 
 a. d. 1185. He landed with his troops at Waterford 
 on the following day. The famous Cambrensis, Gerald 
 Barry, was appointed his tutor, in conjunction with 
 Eamsey de Glanville. These men were both notoriously 
 prejudiced against the Irish, and looked on them as a race 
 of savages, who only existed to be plundered and scoffed 
 at by the new settlers. Under such tuition it is little 
 wonder that the young prince treated the Celtic chief- 
 tains with contempt and scorn. His followers openly 
 ridiculed their dress, and especially their peculiar method 
 of wearing their hair, and even went so far as to pull the 
 beards of Leinster men. 
 
 It is said that all this was encouraged by De Lacy, 
 who naturally looked on the prince as an interloper, and 
 wished to keep the government of Ireland in his own 
 hands. But his efforts were not necessary. The inso- 
 lence of the courtiers, and the folly of the youth himself, 
 were quite sufficient to ruin more promising prospects. 
 In addition to other outrages, the Irish had seen their few 
 remaining estates bestowed upon the new comers ; and 
 even the older Anglo-Norman and Welsh settlers were 
 expelled to make room for the prince's favorites — an 
 instalment of the fatal policy which made them event- 
 ually " more Irish than the Irish." When the colony 
 was on the verge of ruin, the young prince returned to 
 England. He threw the blame of his failure on Hugh de 
 Lacy ; but the Norman knight did not live long enough 
 
184 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 after to suffer from the accusation. De Lacy was killed 
 while inspecting a castle which he had just built on the 
 site of St. Columbkille's monastery at Durrow, in the 
 Queen's County. He was accompanied by three Eng- 
 lishmen ; as he was in the act of stooping, a youth of 
 an ancient and noble family, named O'Meyey, gave him 
 his death-blow, severed his head from his body, and then 
 fled with such swiftness as to elude pursuit. It is said 
 that he was instigated to perform this deed by Sumagh 
 O'Caharnay (the Fox), with whom he now took refuge. 
 
 The Annals mention this as a "revenge of Columb- 
 kille ; " they also say that " all Meath was full of his 
 English castles, from the Shannon to the sea. ;; Henry 
 at once appointed his son John to the Irish viceroyalty, 
 but domestic troubles prevented his plans from being 
 carried out. Archbishop Comyn held a synod in Dub- 
 lin during this year, 1187 ; and on the 9th of June the 
 relics of SS. Patrick, Columba, and Brigid were discov- 
 ered, and solemnly entombed anew under the direction 
 of cardinal Vivian, who came to Ireland to perform this 
 function. During the year 1198 the Irish continued their 
 usual fatal and miserable dissensions ; still they contrived 
 to beat the common enemy, and O'Muldony drove De 
 Courcy and his troops from Ballysadare. He was again 
 attacked in crossing the Curlieu Mountains, and escaped 
 to Leinster with considerable loss and difficulty. 
 
 In 1189 Henry II. died at Chinon, in Normandy. He 
 expired launching anathemas against his sons, and espec- 
 ially against John, as he had just discovered that he 
 had joined those who conspired against him. In his last 
 moments he was stripped of his garments and jewels, 
 and left naked and neglected. 
 
 During the reign of Richard I. all the public affairs of 
 the Anglo-Norman colony were transacted in the name 
 of " John, lord of Ireland, earl of Montague." But Pal- 
 grave observes that John never claimed to be king of 
 the Irish, just as Edward wrote himself simply lord of 
 Scotland, and acknowledged Baliol to be king of the 
 Scots. 
 
 Richard was too much occupied about foreign affairs 
 to attend to his own kingdom. He was a brave soldier, 
 and as such merits our respect ; but he can scarcely be 
 credited as a wise king. Irish affairs were committed to 
 
ACCESSION OF KING JOHN. 
 
 185 
 
 the care of -John, who does not appear to have profited 
 by his former experience. He appointed Hugh de Lacy 
 lord justice, to the no small disgust of John de Oourcy ; 
 but it was little matter to whom the government of that 
 unfortunate country was confided. There were nice dis- 
 tinctions made about titles, but there were no nice 
 distinctions about property ; for the rule seemed to be, 
 that whoever could get it should have it, and whoever 
 could keep it should possess it. 
 
 In 1189 Rodericks son, Connor Moinmoy, fell a victim 
 to a conspiracy of his own chieftains, — a just retribution 
 for his rebellion against his father. He had, however, 
 the reputation of being brave and generous.- At his 
 death, Connaught was once more plunged into civil war, 
 and, after some delay and difficulty, Roderic resume^ the 
 government. In 1192 the brave king of Thomond again 
 attacked the English invaders. But, after his death, in 
 1194, the Anglo-Normans had little to apprehend from 
 native valor. His obituary is thus recorded : " Donnell, 
 son of Turlough O'Brien, king of Munster, a burning 
 lamp in peace and war, and the brilliant star of the 
 hospitality and valor of the Momonians, and of all Leth- 
 Mogha, died." Several other " lamps" went out at 
 this period; one of these was Crunce (VFlynn, who had 
 defeated De Courcy in 1178, and O'Carroll, prince of 
 Oriel, who had been hanged by the English the year 
 before, after the very unnecessary cruelty of putting 
 out his eyes. 
 
 The affairs of the English colony were not more pros- 
 perous. New lords justices followed each other in quick 
 succession. One of these governors, Hamon de Valois, 
 attempted to replenish his coffers from church property, 
 — a proceeding which provoked the English archbishop 
 Comyn. As this ecclesiastic failed to obtain redress in 
 Ireland, he proceeded to England with his complaints ; 
 but he could not obtain a hearing. After an appeal in 
 person to king Richard and prince John, he was placed 
 in confinement in Normandy, and only released by the 
 interference of the Holy See. 
 
 John ascended the English throne in 1199. He ap- 
 pointed Meiller Fitzllenri governor of Ireland. It has 
 been conjectured that if John had not obtained the sove- 
 reignty, he and his descendants might have claimed the 
 
186 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 " Lordship of Ireland." There can be no doubt that he 
 and they might have claimed it ; but whether they could 
 have held it is quite another consideration. It is gen- 
 erally worse than useless to speculate on what might 
 have been. In this case, however, we may decide with 
 positive certainty, that no such condition of things could 
 have continued long. The English kings would have 
 looked with jealousy even on the descendants of their 
 ancestors, if they kept possession of the island ; and the 
 descendants would have become, as invariably happened, 
 Hibernis ipsis Hibernior, and therefore would have shared 
 the fate of the " common enemy. " 
 
 Meanwhile the O'Connors were fighting in Kerry. 
 Cathal Oarragh obtained the services of FitzAldelm, and 
 expelled Cathal Crovderg. He, in his turn, sought the 
 assistance of Hugh O'Neill, who had been distinguish- 
 ing himself by his valor against De Courcy and the Eng- 
 lish. They marched into Connaaght, but were obliged 
 to retreat with great loss. The exiled prince now sought 
 English assistance, and easily prevailed on De Courcy 
 and young De Lacy to help him. But misfortune still 
 followed him. His army was again defeated ; and as 
 it fled to the peninsula of Rindown, on Lough Ree, it 
 was so closely hemmed in, that no way of escape re- 
 mained, except to cross the lake in boats. In attempt- 
 ing to do this a great number were drowned. The An- 
 nals of Kilronan and Clonmacnois enter these events 
 under the year 1200 ; the Four Masters under the year 
 1199. The former state that " C ah all Carragh was taken 
 deceitfully by the English of Meath," and imprisoned 
 until he paid a ransom; and that De Courcy, " after 
 slaying of his people," returned to Ulster. 
 
 Cathal Crovderg now obtained the assistance of the 
 lord justice who plundered Clonmacnois. He also pur- 
 chased the services of FitzAldelm, and thus deprived his 
 adversary of his best support. The English, like the 
 mercenary troops of Switzerland and the Netherlands, 
 appear to have changed sides with equal alacrity, when 
 it suited their convenience ; for, if they were well paid, 
 it mattered little to them against whom they turned their 
 arms. In 1201 Cathal Crovderg marched from Limerick 
 to Roscommon, with his new ally and the sons of Don- 
 nell O'Brien and Florence MacCarthy. They took up 
 
DOWNFALL OF DE COURCY. 
 
 18T 
 
 their quarters at Boyle, and occupied themselves in wan- 
 tonly desecrating the abbey. Meanwhile, Cathal Car- 
 ragh, king of Connaught, had assembled his forces, and 
 came to give them battle. Some skirmishes ensued, 
 in which he was slain, and thus the affair was ended. 
 FitzAldelm, or De Burgo, as he is more generally called 
 now, assisted by 'Flaherty of West Connaught, turned 
 against Oathal when they arrived at Cong to spend the 
 Easter. It would appear that the English were billeted 
 on the Irish throughout the country ; and when De Bur- 
 go demanded wages for them, the Connacians rushed 
 upon them and slew six hundred men. For once his 
 rapacity was foiled, and he marched off to Munster with 
 such of his soldiers as had escaped the massacre. Three 
 years after he revenged himself by plundering the whole 
 of Connaught, lay and ecclesiastical. 
 
 During this period Ulster was desolated by civil war. 
 Hugh O'Neill was deposed, and Connor O'Loughlin ob- 
 tained rule : but the former was restored after a few 
 years. 
 
 John de Courcy appears always to have been regarded 
 with jealousy by the English court. His downfall was 
 at hand, a. d. 1204 ; and to add to its bitterness, his old 
 enemies, the De Lacys, were chosen to be the instruments 
 of his disgrace. It is said that he had given mortal of- 
 fence to John, by speaking openly of him as a usurper 
 and the murderer of his nephew ; but even had he not 
 been guilty of this imprudence, the state he kept, and 
 the large tract of country which he held, was cause 
 enough for his ruin. He had established himself at 
 Downpatrick, and was surrounded in almost regal state 
 by a l Ltiff of officers, including his constable, seneschal, 
 and chamberlain ; he even coined money in his own 
 name. Complaints of his exactions were carried to the 
 king. The De Lacys accused him of disloyalty. In 1202 
 the then viceroy, Hugh de Lacy, attempted to seize him 
 treacherously, at a friendly meeting. He failed to ac- 
 complish this base design ; but his brother, Walter, suc- 
 ceeded afterwards in a similar attempt, and De Courcy 
 was kept in durance until the devastations which his 
 followers committed in revenge obliged his enemies to 
 release him. 
 
 In 1204 he defeated the viceroy in a battle at Down. 
 
188 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 lie was aided in this by the O'Neills, and by soldiers 
 from Man and the Isles. It will be remembered that he 
 could always claim assistance from the latter, in conse- 
 quence of his connection by marriage. But this did not 
 avail him. He was summoned before the council in 
 Dublin, and some of his possessions were forfeited. 
 Later in the same year (a. d. 1204) he received a safe- 
 conduct to proceed to the king. It is probable that he 
 was confined in the Tower of London for some time ; 
 but it is now certain that he revisited Ireland in 1210, 
 if not earlier, in the service of John, who granted him 
 an annual pension. 1 It is supposed that he died about 
 1219 ; for in that year Henry III. ordered his widow, 
 Affreca, to be paid her dower out of the lands which her 
 late husband had possessed in Ireland. 
 
 Cambrensis states that De Courcy had no children ; 
 but the barons of Kinsale claim to be descended from 
 him ; and even so late as 1821 they exercised the privi- 
 lege of appearing covered before George IV. — a favor 
 said to have been granted to De Courcy by king John, 
 after his recall from Ireland — as a reward for his prowess. 
 Dr. Smith states, in his History of Cork, that Miles de 
 Courcy was a hostage for his father during the time 
 when he was permitted to leave the Tower to fight the 
 French champion. In a pedigree of the MacCarthys of 
 Cooraun Lough, county Kerry, a daughter of Sir John 
 de Courcy is mentioned. The Irish annalists, as may 
 be supposed, were not slow to attribute his downfall to 
 his crimes. 
 
 Another English settler died about this period, and 
 received an equal share of reprobation ; this was Fitz- 
 Aldelm, more commonly known as Mac William Burke 
 
 1 One hundred pounds per annum. Orders concerning it are still 
 extant on the Close Rolls of England.— Rot. Lit. Clau. 1833, 144. It is 
 curious, and should be carefully noted, how constantly proofs are ap- 
 pearing that the Irish bards and chroniclers, from the earliest to the 
 latest period, were most careful as to the truth of their facts, though 
 they may have sometimes colored them highly. Dr. O'Donovan has 
 devoted some pages in a note (Four Masters, vol. iii. p. 139) to the 
 Tales in the Book of Howth which record the exploits of De Courcy, 
 and appeared satisfied that they were " invented in the fifteenth or 
 sixteenth century." Yet Mr. Gilbert has since ascertained that they 
 were placed on record as early a3 1300, in Pembridge's Annals. As 
 they are merely accounts of personal valor, we do not reproduce 
 them here. He also gives an extract from Hoveden's Annals, p. 823, 
 which further supports the Irish account. Rapin gives the narrative 
 as history. Indeed, there appears nothing very improbable about it. 
 The Howth family were founded by Sir Almario St. Laurence, who 
 married De Gourcy's sister, 
 
FEUDS BETWEEN DE LACY AND MARISCO. 189 
 
 (de Burgo), and the ancestor of the Burke family in Ire- 
 land. 
 
 King John was now obliged to interfere between his 
 English barons in Ireland, who appear to have been 
 quite as much occupied with feuds among themselves as 
 the native princes. In 1201 Philip of Worcester and 
 William de Braosfe laid waste the greater part of Mun- 
 ster in their quarrels. John had sold the lands of the 
 former, and of Theobald Walter to the latter, for four 
 thousand marks — Walter redeemed his property for five 
 hundred marks ; Philip obtained his at the point of the 
 sword. De Braose had large property both in Normandy 
 and in England. He had his chancellor, chancery, and 
 seal, recognizances of all pleas, not even excepting 
 those of the crown, with judgment of life and limb. His 
 sons and daughters had married into powerful families. 
 His wife Matilda was notable in domestic affairs, and 
 a vigorous oppressor of the Welsh. A bloody war was 
 waged about the same time between De Lacy, De Mar- 
 isco, and the lord justice. Cathal Crovderg and O'Brien 
 aided the latter in besieging Limerick, while some of 
 the English fortified themselves in their castles and plun- 
 dered indiscriminately. 
 
 In 1205 the earldom of Ulster was granted to Hugh 
 de Lacy. The grant is inscribed on the charter roll 
 of the seventh year of king John, and is the earliest 
 record, now extant, of the creation of an Anglo-Norman 
 dignity in Ireland. England was placed under an inter- 
 dict in 1207, in consequence of the violence and wick- 
 edness of its sovereign. He procured the election of 
 John de Gray to the see of Canterbury, a royal favorite, 
 and if only for this reason, unworthy of the office. 
 Another party who had a share in the election chose 
 Eeginald, the sub-prior of the monks of Canterbury. 
 But when the choice was submitted to Pope Innocent 
 III., he rejected both candidates, and fixed on an Eng- 
 lish cardinal, Stephen Langton, who was at once elected, 
 and received consecration from the pope himself. John 
 was highly indignant, as might have been expected. He 
 swore his favorite oath, that he would cut off the nose 
 and pluck out the eyes of any priest who attempted to 
 carry the pope's decrees against him into England. But 
 some of the bishops, true to their God and the Church, 
 
190 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 promulgated the interdict, and then fled to France to 
 escape the royal vengeance. It was well for them they 
 did so ; for Geoffrey, archdeacon of Norwich, was seized, 
 and enveloped, by the royal order, in a sacerdotal vest- 
 ment of massive lead, and thus thrown into prison, where 
 he was starved to death beneath the. crushing weight. 
 It was an age of violence, and men seem seldom to have 
 considered the severity of the punishments they inflicted 
 on others, unless, by a just retribution, they were them- 
 selves subjected to similar tortures. It was centuries 
 before the duty of considering the most merciful means 
 of repressing crime became a subject of consideration. 
 But we have not yet heard all the refinements of cruelty 
 which this same monarch exercised. Soon after, John 
 was excommunicated personally. When he found that 
 Philip of France was prepared to seize his kingdom, and 
 that his crimes had so alienated him from his own peo- 
 ple that he could hope for little help from them, he 
 cringed with the craven fear so usually found in cruel 
 men, and made the most abject submission. In the inter- 
 val between the proclamation of the interdict and the 
 fulmination of the sentence of excommunication, a. d. 
 1210, John visited Ireland. 
 
 He extorted money for the expenses of his journey 
 from the Jews at Bristol, and landed at Crook, near 
 Waterford, on the 20th June. 
 
 A quarter of a century had elapsed since his first visit 
 to Ireland. In the interval he had grown grey in prof- 
 ligacy, but he had not grown wiser or better with ad- 
 vancing years. His army wa§ commanded by the earl 
 of Salisbury, son to Henry I. by Fair Rosamond. De 
 Braose fled to England when he heard of the king's 
 movements. Here he endeavored to make peace with 
 his master, but failing to do so, he carefully avoided put- 
 ting himself in his power, and took refuge in France. His 
 wife was not so fortunate. After John's return to Eng- 
 land, Matilda and her son were seized by his command, 
 and imprisoned at Corfe Castle, in the isle of Pembroke. 
 Here they were shut up in a room, with only a sheaf of 
 wheat and a piece of raw bacon for their provision. 
 When the prison door was opened, on the eleventh day, 
 they were both found dead. 
 
 De Lacy also fled before the king's visit ; John took 
 
PRINCE JOHN IN IRELAND. 
 
 191 
 
 Carrickfergus castle from his people, and stationed a 
 garrison of his own there. Several Irish princes paid 
 homage to him ; amongst others, we find the names of 
 Cathal Crovderg and Hugh O'Neill. The Norman lords 
 were also obliged to swear fealty, and transcripts of 
 their oaths were placed in the Irish exchequer. Ar- 
 rangements were also made for the military support of 
 the colony, and certain troops were to be furnished with 
 forty days' ration by all who held lands by " knight's 
 service." The Irish princes who lived in the southern 
 and western parts of Ireland appear to have treated the 
 king with silent indifference ; they could afford to do 
 so, as they were so far beyond the reach of his ven- 
 geance. 
 
 John remained only sixty days in Ireland. He re- 
 turned to Wales on the 26th of August, 1210, after con- 
 fiding the government of- the colony to John de Grey, 
 bishop of Norwich, whose predilection for secular affairs 
 had induced the Holy See to reject his nomination to the 
 archbishopric of Canterbury. The most important act 
 of his viceroyalty was the erection of a bridge and cas- 
 tle at Ath-Luain (Athlone). He was succeeded in 1213 
 by Henry of London, who had been appointed to the 
 see of Dublin during the preceding year. This prelate 
 was one of those who were the means of obtaining Mag- 
 na Charta. His name appears second on the list of 
 counsellors who advised the grant ; and he stood by the 
 king's side, at Runnymede, when the barons obtained 
 the bulwark of English liberty. Indeed, the clergy were 
 the foremost to demand it, and the most persevering in 
 their efforts to obtain it. 
 
 The archbishop was now sent to Rome by the king to 
 plead his cause there, and to counteract, as best he 
 might, the serious complaints made against him by all his 
 subjects — a. d. 1215. In 1213 Walter de Lacy obtained 
 the restoration of his father's property in Wales and 
 England. Two years later he recovered his Irish lands ; 
 but the king retained his son, Gislebert, as hostage, and 
 his castle of Droicead-Atha (Drogheda). 
 
 The Irish chieftains made some stand for their rights 
 at the close of this reign. Cormac O'Melaghlin wrested 
 Delvin, in Meath, from the English. O'Neill and O'Don- 
 nell composed their difference pro tern., and joined in 
 
192 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 attacking the invaders. In the south there was a war 
 between Dermod and Connor Carthy, in which the An- 
 glo-Normans joined, and, as usual, got the lion's share, 
 obtaining such an increase of territory as enabled them 
 to erect twenty new castles in Cork and Kerry. 
 
 The Four Masters give a curious story under the year 
 1213. O'Donnell More sent his steward to Connaught 
 to collect his tribute. On his way, he visited the poet 
 Murray O'Daly, and began to wrangle with him, " al- 
 though his lord had given him no instructions to do so." 
 The poet's ire was excited. He killed him on the spot 
 with a sharp axe — an unpleasant exhibition of literary 
 justice — and then fled into Clanrickarde for safety. 
 O'Donnell determined to revenge the insult, until Mac 
 William (William de Burgo) submitted to him. But the 
 poet had been sent to seek refuge in Thomond. The 
 chief pursued him there also, and laid siege to Limer- 
 ick. The inhabitants at once expelled the murderer, 
 who eventually fled to Dublin. After receiving tribute 
 from the men of Connaught, O'Donnell marched to Dub- 
 lin, and compelled the people to banish Murray to Scot- 
 land. Here he remained until he had composed three 
 poems in praise of O'Donnell, imploring peace and for- 
 giveness. He was then pardoned, and so far received 
 into favor as to obtain a grant of land and other posses- 
 sions. 
 
 The Irish bishops were, as usual, in constant inter- 
 course with Rome. Several prelates attended the fourth 
 general council of Lateran, in 1215. The Annals give 
 the obituaries of some good men, whose lives redeemed 
 the age from the character for barbarity, which its sec- 
 ular literature would seem to justify. Amongst these 
 we find the obituary of Catholicus O'Duffy, in 1201 ; of 
 TJaireirghe, " one of the noble sages of Clonmacnois, a 
 man full of the love of God and of every virtue ; of Conn 
 O'Melly, bishop of Annaghdown, " a transparently bright 
 gem of the Church ; " of Donnell O'Brollaghan, " a 
 prior, a noble senior, a sage illustrious for his intelli- 
 gence ; " and of many others. A great number of mon- 
 asteries were also founded, especially by the Anglo-Nor- 
 mans, who appear to have had periodical fits of piety 
 after periodical temptations to replenish their coffers out 
 of their neighbors' property. 
 
* ACCESSION OF HENRY in. 
 
 193 
 
 Henry III. succeeded his father, John, while only in 
 his tenth year. William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, 
 was appointed protector of the kingdom and the king, 
 The young monarch was hastily crowned at Gloucester, 
 with but little of the usual ceremony. Had the wise 
 and good earl lived to administer affairs for a longer 
 period, it would have been a blessing to both countries. 
 Geoffrey de Marisco still continued governor of Ireland. 
 Affairs in England were in an extremely critical position. 
 The profligate Isabella had returned to her first husband, 
 Hugh of Lusignan, whom she had before forsaken for 
 king John. Gloucester, London, and Kent, were in the 
 hands of the Dauphin of France. Some few acts of jus- 
 tice to Ireland were the result ; but when justice is only 
 awarded from motives of fear or interest, it becomes 
 worse than worthless as a mode of conciliation. Such 
 justice, however, as was granted, only benefited the An- 
 glo-Norman settlers ; the "mere Irish" were a race 
 devoted to plunder and extermination. 
 
 In- consequence of complaints from the English barons 
 in Ireland, a modified form of Magna Charta was granted 
 to them, and a general amnesty was proclaimed, with 
 special promises of reparation to the nobles whom John 
 had oppressed. Hugh de Lacy was also pardoned and 
 recalled ; but it was specially provided that the Irish 
 should have no share in such favors ; and the viceroy 
 was charged to see that no native of the country ob- 
 tained cathedral preferment. This piece of injustice was 
 annulled through the interference of Pope Honorius III. 
 
 In 1217 the young king, or rather his advisers, sent 
 the archbishop of Dublin to that city to levy a " tallage " 
 or tax for the royal benefit. The archbishop and the jus- 
 ticiary were directed to represent to the "Kings of Ire- 
 land," and the barons holding direct from the crown, 
 that their liberality would not be forgotten ; but neither 
 the politeness of the address nor the benevolence of the 
 promise were practically appreciated, probably because 
 neither were believed to be sincere, and the king's cof- 
 fers were not much replenished. 
 
 Arrangements were now made defining the powers of 
 the viceroy or justiciary. The earliest details on the 
 subject are embodied in an agreement between Henry 
 III. and Geoffrey de Marisco, sealed at Oxford, in March 
 9 
 
194 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 1220, in presence of the papal legate, the archbishop of 
 Dublin, and many of the nobility. 
 
 By these regulations the justiciary was bound to ac- 
 count in the exchequer of Dublin for all taxes and aids 
 received in Ireland for the royal purse. He was to de- 
 fray all expenses for the maintenance of the king's cas- 
 tles and lands out of the revenues. In fact, the people 
 of the country were taxed, either directly or indirectly, for 
 the support of the invaders. The king's castles were to 
 be kept by loyal and proper constables, who were obliged 
 to give hostages. Indeed, so little faith had the English 
 kings in the loyalty of their own subjects, that the jus- 
 ticiary himself was obliged to give a hostage as security 
 for his own behavior. Neither does the same viceroy 
 appear to have benefited trade, for he is accused of ex- 
 acting wine, clothing, and victuals, without payment, 
 from the merchants of Dublin. 
 
 In 1221 the archbishop of Dublin, Henry of London, 
 was made governor. He obtained the name of " Scorch 
 Villain/' from having cast into the fire the leases of the 
 tenants of his see, whom he had cited to produce these 
 documents in his court. The enraged landholders at- 
 tacked the attendants, and laid hands on the archbishop, 
 who was compelled to do them justice, from fear of per- 
 sonal violence. When such was the mode of government 
 adopted by English officials, we can scarcely wonder that 
 the people of Ireland have not inherited very ardent feel- 
 ings of loyalty and devotion to the crown and constitu- 
 tion of that country. 
 
 Such serious complaints were made of the unjust gov- 
 ernor, that Henry was at last obliged to check his rapac- 
 ity. Probably he was all the more willing to do so, in 
 consequence of some encroachments on the royal prerog- 
 ative. 
 
 After the death of the earl of Pembroke, who had ob- 
 tained the pardon of Hugh de Lacy, a feud arose between 
 the latter and the son of his former friend. In conse- 
 quence of this quarrel, all Meath was ravaged, Hugh 
 O'Neill having joined De Lacy in the conflict. 
 
 Some of the Irish chieftains now tried to obtain pro- 
 tection from the rapacity of the Anglo-Norman barons, by 
 paying an annual stipend to the crown ; but the crown, 
 though graciously pleased to accept anything which 
 
CONNAUGHT BESTOWED ON DE BURGO. 195 
 
 might be offered, still held to its royal prerogative of 
 disposing of Irish property as appeared most convenient 
 to royal interests. Though Cathal Crovderg had made 
 arrangements with Henry III., at an immense sacrifice, 
 to secure his property, that monarch accepted his money, 
 but, nevertheless, bestowed the whole province of Con- 
 naught shortly after upon Richard de Burgo. 
 
 Crovderg had retired into a Franciscan monastery at 
 Knockmoy, which he had founded, and there he was 
 interred nobly and honorably. After his death there 
 were no less than three claimants for his dignity. De 
 Burgo claimed it in right of the royal gift ; Hugh Cathal 
 claimed it as heir to his father, Crovderg; Turlough 
 claimed it for the love of fighting, inherent in the Celtic 
 race ; and a general guerilla warfare was carried on by 
 the three parties, to the utter ruin of each individual. 
 For the next ten years the history of the country is the 
 history of deadly feuds between the native princes, care- 
 fully fomented by the English settlers, whose interest it 
 was to make them exterminate each other. 
 
 The quarrel for the possession of Connaught began in 
 the year 1225. The Anglo-Normans had a large army 
 at Athlone, and Hugh Cathal went to claim their assist- 
 ance. The lord justice put himself at the head of the 
 army ; they marched into Connaught, and soon became 
 masters of the situation. Rodericks sons at once submit- 
 ted, but only to bide their time. During these hostilities 
 the English of Desmond, and O'Brien, a Thomond prince, 
 assisted by the Sheriff of Cork, invaded the southern part 
 of Connaught for the sake of plunder. In the previous 
 year, 1224, "the corn remained unreaped until the fes- 
 tival of St. Brigid (1st Feb.), when the ploughing was 
 going on." A famine also occurred, and was followed 
 by severe sickness. Well might the friar historian ex- 
 claim : " Woeful was the misfortune which God permit- 
 ted to fall on the west province of Ireland at that time ; 
 for the young warriors did not spare each other, but 
 preyed and plundered to the utmost of their power. 
 Women and children, the feeble and the lowly poor, 
 perished by cold and famine in this year." 
 
 O'Neill had inaugurated Turlough at Carnfree. He 
 appears to have been the most popular claimant. The 
 northern chieftains then returned home. As soon as 
 
196 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 the English left Connaught, Turlough again revolted. 
 Hugh Cathal recalled his allies ; and the opposite party, 
 finding their cause hopeless, joined him in such numbers 
 that Rodericks sons fled for refuge to Hugh O'Neill. 
 The Annals suggest that the English might well respond 
 when called on, " for their spirit was fresh, and their 
 struggle trifling. " Again we find it recorded that the 
 corn remained unreaped until after the festival of St. 
 Brigid. The wonder is, not that the harvest was not 
 gathered in, but that there was any harvest to gather. 
 
 Soon after these events, Hugh O'Connor was captured 
 by his English allies, and would have been sacrificed to 
 their vengeance on some pretence, had not earl Marshall 
 rescued him by force of arms. He escorted him out of 
 the court, and brought him safely to Connaught ; but 
 his son and daughter remained in the hands of the Eng- 
 lish. Hugh soon found an opportunity of retaliating. 
 A conference was appointed to take place, near Athlone, 
 between him and William de Marisco, son of the lord 
 justice. When in sight of the English knights, the Irish 
 prince rushed on William, and seized him, while his 
 followers captured his attendants, one of whom, the 
 constable of Athlone, was killed in the fray. Hugh then 
 proceeded to plunder and burn the town, and to rescue 
 his son and daughter, and some Connaught chieftains. 
 
 At the close of the year 1227, Turlough again took 
 arms. The English had found it convenient to change 
 sides, and assisted him with all their forces. Probably 
 they feared the brave Hugh, and were jealous of the very 
 power they had helped him to obtain. Hugh Roderic 
 attacked the northern districts, with Richard de Burgo. 
 Turlough Roderic marched to the peninsula of Rindown, 
 with the viceroy. Hugh Crovderg had a narrow escape 
 near the Curlieu mountains, where his wife was captured 
 by the English. The following year he appears to have 
 been reconciled to the lord deputy, for he was killed in 
 his house by an Englishman, in revenge for a liberty he 
 had taken with a woman. 
 
 After the death of Hugh O'Connor, the brothers who 
 had first fought against him now began to fight with 
 each other. The English helped to foment the discord, 
 on the principle of dividing the national forces as the 
 best method of advancing their own power. The lord 
 
FEUDS OF THE IRISH CHIEFTAINS. 
 
 19T 
 
 justice took part with Hugh, the younger brother, who 
 was supported by the majority of the Oonnaught men, 
 although Turlough had already been inaugurated by 
 O'Neill. A third competitor now started up ; this was 
 Felim, brother to Hugh O'Connor. Some of the chief- 
 tains declared that they would not serve a prince who 
 acknowledged English rule, and obliged Hugh to re- 
 nounce his allegiance. But this question was settled 
 with great promptitude. Kichard de Burgo took the 
 field, desolated the country — if, indeed, there was any- 
 thing left to desolate — killed Donn Oge Mageraghty, 
 their bravest champion, expelled Hugh, and proclaimed 
 Felim. 
 
 The reign of this prince was of short duration. In 
 1231 he was taken prisoner at Meelick, despite the most 
 solemn guarantees, by the very man who had so lately 
 enthroned him. Hugh was reinstated, but before the 
 end of the year Felim was released. He now assembled 
 his forces again, and attacked Hugh, whom he killed, 
 with several of his relations, and many English and Irish 
 chieftains. His next exploit was to demolish the castles 
 of Galway ; Dunannon, on the river Suck, Roscommon ; 
 Hag's Castle, on Lough Mask; and Castle Rich, on 
 Lough Corrib ; all of which had been erected by Rod- 
 eric's sons and their English allies. But the tide of for- 
 tune soon turned. The invincible De Burgo entered 
 Oonnaught once more, and plundered without mercy. 
 In a pitched battle the English gained the day, princi- 
 pally through the skill of their cavalry and the protec- 
 tion of their coats-of-mail. 
 
 Felim fled to the north, and sought refuge with O'Don- 
 nell of Tir-Connell. O'Flaherty, who had always been 
 hostile to Felim, joined the English, and, by the help of 
 his boats, they were able to lay waste the islands of 
 Clew Bay. Nearly all the inhabitants were killed or 
 carried off. The victorious forces now laid siege to a 
 castle on the rock of Lough Key, in Roscommon, which 
 was held for O'Connor by Mac Dermod. They succeeded 
 in taking it, but soon lost their possession by the quick- 
 witted cleverness of an Irish soldier, who closed the gates 
 on them when they set out on a plundering expedition. 
 The fortress was at once demolished, that it might not 
 fall into English hands again 
 
198 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 When William Pembroke died, a. d. 1231 , he be- 
 queathed his offices and large estates in England and Ire- 
 land to his brother, Richard, who is described by the 
 chroniclers as a model of manly beauty. Henry III. 
 prohihited his admission to the inheritance, and charged 
 him with treason. The earl escaped to Ireland, and 
 took possession of the lands and castles of the family, 
 waging war upon the king until his rights were acknowl- 
 edged. In 1232 Henry had granted the justiciary of 
 England and of Ireland, with other valuable privileges, to 
 Hubert de Burgo. Earl Richard supported him against 
 the adventurers from Poitou and Bretagne, on whom 
 the weak king had begun to lavish his favors. The Par- 
 liament and the barons remonstrated, and threatened to 
 dethrone Henry, if he persevered in being governed by 
 foreigners. And well they might ; for one of these needy 
 men, Pierre de Rivaulx, had obtained a grant for life of 
 nearly every office and emolument in Ireland ; amongst 
 others, we find mention of "the vacant sees, and the 
 Jews in Ireland/ 7 Henry did his best to get his own 
 views carried out ; but earl Richard leagued with the 
 Welsh princes, and expelled the intruders from the towns 
 and castles in that part of the country. 
 
 The king's foreign advisers determined to destroy their 
 great enemy as speedily as possible. Their plan was 
 deeply laid. They despatched letters to Ireland, signed 
 by twelve privy councillors, requiring the viceroy and 
 barons to seize his castles, bribing them with a promise 
 of a share in his lands. The wily Anglo-Normans de- 
 manded a charter, specifying which portion of his prop- 
 erty each individual should have. They obtained the 
 document, signed with the royal seal, which had been 
 purloined for the occasion from the chancellor. The 
 Anglo-Normans acted with detestable dissimulation. 
 Geoffrey de Marisco tried to worm himself into the con- 
 fidence of the man on whose destruction he was bent. 
 On the 1st of April, 1232, a conference was arranged to 
 take place on the Curragh of Kildare. The viceroy was 
 accompanied by De Lac}', De Burgo, and a large num- 
 ber of soldiers and mercenaries. The earl was attended 
 by a few knights and the false De Marisco. He declined 
 to comply with the demands of the barons, who refused to 
 restore his castles. The treacherous De Marisco with- 
 
TREACHEROUS DEATH OF THE EARL OF PEMBROKE. 199 
 
 drew from him at this moment, and he suddenly found 
 himself overpowered by numbers. With the thoughtful- 
 ness of true heroism, he ordered some of his attendants 
 to hasten away with his young brother, Walter. Nearly 
 all his retainers had been bribed to forsake him in the 
 moment of danger ; and now that the few who obeyed 
 his last command were gone, he had to contend single- 
 handed with the multitude. His personal bravery was 
 not a little feared, and the coward barons, who were 
 either afraid or ashamed to attack him individually, urged 
 on their soldiers, until he was completely surrounded. 
 The earl laid prostrate six of his foes, clove one knight 
 to the middle, and struck off the hands of another, before 
 he was captured. At last the soldiers aimed at the feet 
 of his spirited steed, until they were cut off, and by this 
 piece of cruelty brought its rider to the ground. A 
 treacherous stab from behind, with along knife, plunged 
 to the haft in his back, completed the bloody work. 
 
 The earl was borne off, apparently lifeless, to one of 
 his own castles, which had been seized by the viceroy. 
 It is said that even his surgeon was bribed to prevent 
 his recovery. Before submitting his wounds to the nec- 
 essary treatment, he prepared for death, and received the 
 last sacraments. He died peacefully, clasping a crucifix, 
 on Palm Sunday, the sixteenth day after his treacherous 
 capture. And thus expired "the flower of chivalry/' 
 and the grandson of Strongbow, the very man to whom 
 England owed so much of her Irish possessions. 
 
 It could not fail to be remarked by the Irish annalists, 
 that the first Anglo-Norman settlers had been singularly 
 unfortunate. They can scarcely be blamed for suppos- 
 ing that these misfortunes were a judgment for their 
 crimes. Before the middle of this century (the thirteenth) 
 three of the most important families had become extinct. 
 De Lacy, lord of Meath, died in 1241, infirm and blind ; 
 his property was inherited by his grand-daughters, in 
 default of a male heir. Pembroke died from wounds 
 received at a tournament. Walter, who succeeded him, 
 also died without issue. The property came at length 
 to Anselm, a younger brother, who also died childless ; 
 and it was eventually portioned out among the females 
 of the family. 
 
 It is said Henry III. expressed deep grief when he 
 
200 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 heard of earl Richard's unfortunate end, and that he en- 
 deavored to have restitution made to the family. Geof- 
 frey de Marisco was banished. His son, William, con- 
 spired against the king, and even employed an assassin 
 to kill him. The man would have probably accomplished 
 his purpose, had he not been discovered accidentally by 
 one of the queen's maids, hid under the straw of the 
 royal bed. The real traitor was eventually captured, 
 drawn at horses' tails to London, and hanged with the 
 usual barbarities. 
 
 His miserable father, who had been thrice viceroy of 
 Ireland, and a peer of that country and of England, died 
 in exile, {i pitifully, yet undeserving of pity, for his own 
 treason against the unfortunate earl Hi chard, and his 
 son's treason against the king." Such were the men 
 who governed Ireland in the thirteenth century. 
 
 Treachery seems to have been the recognized plan of 
 capturing an enemy. In 1236 this method was attempted 
 by the government, in order to get Felim O'Connor into 
 their power. He was invited to attend a meeting in 
 Athlone, but, fortunately for himself, he discovered the 
 designs of his enemies soon enough to effect his escape. 
 He was pursued to Sligo. From thence he fled to Tir- 
 Connell, which appears to have been the Cave of Adullam 
 at that period ; though there were so many discontented 
 persons, and it was so difficult to know which party any 
 individual would espouse continuously, that the Adul- 
 lamites were tolerably numerous. Turlough's son, Brian 
 O'Connor, was now invested with the government of 
 Connaught by the English, until some more promising 
 candidate should appear. But even their support failed 
 to enable him to keep the field. Felim returned the 
 following year, and, after defeating the soldiers of the 
 lord justice, made Brian's people take to flight so effect- 
 ually, that none of Roderic's descendants ever again 
 attempted even to possess their ancestral lands. 
 
 The Four Masters have the following graphic entry 
 under the year 1236 : " Heavy rains, harsh weather, and 
 much war prevailed in this year." The Annals of Kilro- 
 nan also give a fearful account of the wars, the weather, 
 and the crimes. They mention that Brian's people burned 
 the church of Imlagh Brochada over the heads of 
 O'Flynn's people, while it was full of women, children, 
 
CATTLE RAIDS. 
 
 201 
 
 and nuns, and had three priests in it, There were so 
 many raids on cows, that the unfortunate animals must 
 have had a miserable existence. How a single cow 
 survived the amount of driving hither and thither they en- 
 dured, considering their natural love of ease and contem- 
 plative habits, is certainly a mystery. In the year 1238, 
 the Annals mention that the English erected castles in 
 Connaught, principally in the territory from which the 
 O'Flahertys had been expelled. This family, however, 
 became very powerful in that part of the country in 
 which they now settled. 
 
 As Connaught had been fairly depopulated, and its 
 kings and princes nearly annihilated, the English turned 
 their attention to Ulster, where they wished to carry out 
 the same policy. The lord justice and Hugh de Lacy 
 led an army thither, and deposed MacLoughlin, giving 
 the government to O'Neill's son ; but MacLoughlin ob- 
 tained rule again, after a battle fought the following year 
 at Carnteel. 
 
 In 1240 the king of Connaught went to England to 
 complain personally of De Burgo's oppressions and 
 exactions ; but his mission, as might be expected, was 
 fruitless, although he was received courteously, and the 
 king wrote to the lord justice " to pluck out by the root 
 that fruitless sycamore, De Burgo, which the earl of 
 Kent, in the insolence of his power, hath planted in 
 these parts.' 1 However, we find that Henry was thank- 
 ful to avail himself of the services of the " fruitless syc- 
 amore " only two years after, in an expedition against 
 the king of France. He died on the voyage to Bordeaux, 
 and was succeeded by his son, Walter. In 1241 More 
 O'Donnell, lord of Tir-Connell, died in Assaroe, in the 
 monastic habit. In 1244 Felim O'Connor, and some Irish 
 chieftains accompanied the then viceroy, Fitzgerald, to 
 Wales, where Henry had requested their assistance. 
 
 The king was nearly starved out, the Irish reinforce- 
 ments were long in comingover, and the delay was visited 
 on the head of the unfortunate justiciary, who was de- 
 prived of his office. John de Marisco was appointed in 
 his place. 
 
 In 1257 there was a fierce conflict between the Irish, 
 under Godfrey O'Donnell, and the English, commanded 
 by Maurice FitzGerald. The conflict took place at Cread- 
 
202 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 rankille, near Sligo. The leaders engaged in single 
 combat, and were both severely wounded : eventually 
 the invaders were defeated and expelled from Lower 
 Connaught. Godfrey's wound prevented him from fol- 
 lowing up his success, and soon after the two chieftains 
 died. The death of O'Donnell is' a curious illustration 
 of the spirit of the times. During his illness, Brian 
 O'Neill sent to demand hostages from the Cinel-Connaill. 
 The messengers fled the moment they had fulfilled their 
 commission. For all reply, O'Donnell commanded his 
 people to assemble, to place him on his bier, and to bear 
 him forth at their head. And thus they met the enemy. 
 The battle took place on the banks of the river Swilly, 
 in Donegal. O'Donnell's army conquered. The hero's 
 bier was laid down in the street of a little village at Con- 
 nal, near Letterkenny, and there he died. 
 
 O'Neill again demanded hostages ; but while the men 
 deliberated what answer they should give, Donnell Oge 
 returned from Scotland, and though he was but a youth 
 of eighteen, he was elected chieftain. The same year the 
 long-disused title of Monarch of Ireland was conferred 
 upon O'Neill by some of the Irish kings. After a con- 
 ference at Caol Uisge, O'Neill and O'Connor turned their 
 forces against the English, and a battle was fought near 
 Downpatrick, where the Irish were defeated. O'Neill 
 was killed, with fifteen of the O'Kanes and many other 
 chieftains, a. d. 1260. The English were commanded by 
 the then viceroy, Stephen Longespe, who was murdered 
 soon after by his own people. 
 
 In the south the English suffered a severe reverse. 
 The Geraldines were defeated by Connor O'Brien in Tho- 
 mond, and ^gain at Kilgarvan, near Kenmare, by Fineen 
 MacCarthy. The Annals of Innisfallen give long details 
 of this engagement, the site of which is still pointed out 
 by the country people. John FitzThomas, the founder 
 of the Dominican monastery at Tralee, was killed. The 
 MacCarthys immediately proceeded to level all the cas- 
 tles which had been erected by the English ; they were 
 very numerous in that district. Soon after, the hero of 
 the fight was killed himself by the De Courcys. 
 
 After the defeat narrated above, Hanmer says, " the 
 Geraldines dared not put a plough into the ground in 
 Desmond." The next year, 1262, Mac William Burke 
 
NEW ROSS FORTIFIED. 
 
 203 
 
 marched with a great army as far as Elphin. He was 
 joined by the lord justice and John de Verdun. They 
 marked out a place for a castle at Roscommon, and plun- 
 dered all that remained after Hugh O'Connor in Con- 
 $ naught. He, in his turn, counterburned and plundered 
 so successfully, that the English were glad to ask for 
 peace. The result was a conference at the ford of Doire- 
 Chuire. A peace was concluded, after which Hugh 
 O'Connor and Mac William Burke slept together in the 
 one bed, cheerfully and happily ; and the English left the 
 country on the next day, after bidding farewell to O'Con- 
 nor. 
 
 After this fraternal demonstration, Burke led an army 
 into Desmond, and an engagement took place with Mac- 
 Carthy on the side of Mangerton mountain, where both 
 English and Irish suffered great losses. Gerald Roche, 
 who was said to be the third best knight of his time 
 in Ireland, was slain by MacCarthy. Burke was soon 
 after created earl of Ulster. He and FitzGerald waged 
 war against each other in 1264, and desolated the coun- 
 try with their raids. The lord justice sided with Fitz- 
 Gerald, who succeeded in taking all Burke's castles in 
 Connaught. 
 
 The quarrels of the invaders now became so general 
 that even the lord justice was seized at a conference by 
 FitzMaurice FitzGerald, and was detained prisoner, with 
 several other nobles, for some time. During the wars 
 between De Burgo (or Burke) and FitzGerald, the good 
 people of Ross threateneed to defend their town from 
 all invaders ; and to effect this purpose the council com- 
 manded all the citizens to assist in erecting the neces- 
 sary fortifications. Even the ladies and clergy took 
 part in the works, which were soon and successfully com- 
 pleted. 
 
 An Anglo-Norman poet commemorated this event in 
 verse, and celebrates the fame of Rose, a lady who con- 
 tributed largely to the undertaking, both by her pres- 
 ence. and her liberal donations. He informs us first of 
 the reason for this undertaking. It was those two 
 troublesome knights, " sire Morice e sire Wauter," who 
 would not permit the world to be at peace. He assures 
 us that the citizens of New Ross were most anxious for 
 peace, because they were merchants, and had an exten- 
 
204 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 sive trade, which was quite true ; but he adds that they 
 were determined to defend their rights if attacked, which 
 was also true. 
 
 Felim O'Connor died in 1265. The Pour Masters give ' 
 his obituary thus : " Felim, son of Cathal Crovderg * 
 O'Connor, the defender and supporter of his own prov- 
 ince, and of his friends on every side, the expeller and 
 plunderer of his foes ; a man full of hospitality, prowess, 
 and renown ; the exalter of the clerical orders and men of 
 science ; a worthy materies (sic) of a king of Ireland for 
 his nobility, personal shape, heroism, wisdom, clemency, 
 and truth ; died, after the victory of unction and pen- 
 ance, in the monastery of the Dominican friars at Ros- 
 common, which he had himself granted to God and that 
 order." 
 
 He was succeeded by his son, Hugh, " who committed 
 his regal depredation in Offaly." It appears to have 
 been considered a customary thing for a new sovereign 
 to signalize himself, as soon as possible, by some dis- 
 play of this description. He succeeded so well in this 
 same depredation, that the lord justice was alarmed, and 
 came to assist De Burgo. The latter proposed a confer- 
 ence at Carrick-on-Shannon ; but Hugh O'Connor sus- 
 pected treachery, and contrived to get the earl's brother, 
 William Oge, into his hands before the conference com- 
 menced. The earl " passed the night in sadness and sor- 
 row." At daybreak a fierce conflict ensued. Turlough 
 O'Brien, who was coming to assist the Connacians, was 
 met on his way, and slain in single combat by De Burgo. 
 But his death was fearfully avenged ; great numbers of 
 the English were slain, and immense spoils were taken 
 from them. De Burgo died the following year, in Gal- 
 way castle, after a short illness, a. d. 1271. 
 
DEATH OF HENRY III. 
 
 205 
 
 JHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A. D.127I TO A.D. 1367. 
 
 THE BURKES AND THE GERALDINES. — BRUCE IN- 
 VADES IRELAND. — THE STATUTE OE KILKENNY 
 AND ITS EFEECTS. 
 
 Contemporary Events :— Rodolph of Hapsburg Emperor of Germany 
 —The Sicilian Vespers— Wales annexed to England — Robert 
 Bruce crowned King of Scotland — Knights Templars established 
 — Murder of Edward II.— Benedict XII. Pope — Edward III. in- 
 vades France— Battles of Crecy and Poictiers— Wickliflfe preaches 
 in England. 
 
 The Anglo-Normans had now held possession of a 
 small portion of Ireland for nearly a century. But their 
 rule had not been beneficial either to themselves or to 
 the Irish. The latter, already but too willing to engage 
 in petty wars with each other, had a new opportunity 
 of exercising this propensity. The former never made 
 • themselves sufficiently popular to secure the affections 
 of the people, and hence were obliged to suffer all the 
 disadvantages of living in a continual state of apprehen- 
 sion. 
 
 Henry III. died in 12T2, after a reign of fifty-six 
 years. He was succeeded by his son, Edward I., who 
 was in the Holy Land at the time of his father's death. 
 In 1257 his father had made him a grant of Ireland, with 
 the express condition that it should not be separated 
 from England. It would appear as if there had been 
 some apprehensions of such an event since the time of 
 prince John. The English monarchs apparently wished 
 the benefit of English laws to be extended to the native 
 population, but their desire was invariably frustrated by 
 such of their nobles as had obtained grants of land in 
 Ireland, and whose object appears to have been the ex- 
 
206 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 termination, or, if this was not possible, the depression 
 of the Irish race. 
 
 Ireland was, at this time, convulsed by domestic 
 dissensions. Sir Robert D'Ufford, the justiciary, was 
 accused of fomenting the discord ; but he appears to 
 have considered that he only did his duty to his royal 
 master. When sent for into England to account for his 
 conduct, he " satisfied the king that all was not true 
 that he was charged withal ; and for further content- 
 ment yielded this reason, that in policy he thought it 
 expedient to wink at one knave cutting off another, and 
 that would save the king's coffers, and purchase peace 
 to the land. Whereat the king smiled, and bid him 
 return to Ireland. " The saving was questionable ; for 
 to prevent an insurrection by timely concession, is incom- 
 parably less expensive than to suppress it when it has 
 arisen. The "purchase of peace" was equally vision- 
 ary ; for the Irish never appear to have been able to sit 
 down quietly under unjust oppression, however hopeless 
 resistance might be. 
 
 As the viceroys were allowed a handsome income, 
 they were naturally anxious to keep their post. The 
 first mention of salary is that granted to Geoffrey de 
 Marisco. By letters patent, dated at Westminster, July 
 4th, 1226, he was allowed an annual stipend of 580Z. 
 This was a considerable sum for times when wheat was 
 only 2s. a quarter, fat hogs 2s. each, and French wine 2s. 
 a gallon. 
 
 Hugh O'Connor renewed hostilities in 1272, by de- 
 stroying the English castle of Roscommon. He died soon 
 after, and his successor had but brief enjoyment of his 
 dignity. In 1277 a horrible act of treachery took place, 
 which the unfortunate Irish specially mention in their 
 remonstrance to Pope John XXII., as a striking instance 
 of the double-dealing of the English and the descendants 
 of the Anglo-Normans then in Ireland. Thomas de 
 Clare obtained a grant of Thomond from Edward I. It 
 had already been secured to its rightful owners, the 
 O'Briens, who probably paid, as was usual, an immense 
 fine for liberty to keep their own property. The English 
 earl knew he could only obtain possession by treachery ; 
 he therefore leagued with Roe O'Brien, "so that they 
 entered into gossipred with each other, and took vows 
 
TREACHERY OF EARL DE CLARE. 
 
 20T 
 
 by bells and relics to retain mutual friendship ; " or, as 
 the Annals of Clonmacnois have it, " they swore to each 
 other all the oaths in Munster, as bells, relics of saints, 
 and bachalls, to be true to each other forever." 
 
 The unfortunate Irish prince little suspected all the 
 false oaths his friend had taken, or all the villany he 
 premeditated. There was another claimant for the 
 crown as usual, Turlough O'Brien. He was defeated, 
 but nevertheless the earl turned to his side, got Brian 
 Roe into his hands, and had him dragged to death be- 
 tween horses. The wretched perpetrator of this diabol- 
 ical deed gained little by his crime, for O'Brien's sons 
 obtained a victory over him the following year. At one 
 time he was so hard pressed as to be obliged to surren- 
 der at discretion, after living on horseflesh for several 
 days. In 1281 the unprincipled earl tried the game of 
 dissension, and set up Donough, the son of the man he 
 had murdered, against Turlough, whom he had supported 
 just before. But Donough was slain two years after, 
 and Turlough continued master of Thomond until his 
 death, in 1306. De Clare was slain by the O'Briens, in 
 1286. 
 
 In 1280 the Irish who lived near the Anglo-Norman 
 settlers presented a petition to the English king, pray- 
 ing that they might be admitted to the privileges of the 
 English law. Edward issued a writ to the then lord 
 justice, D'UfFord, desiring him to assemble the lords spir- 
 itual and temporal of the "land of Ireland," to deliber- 
 ate on the subject, but the writ was not attended to ; and 
 even if it had been, the lords " spiritual and temporal 79 
 appear to have decided long before, that the Irish should 
 not participate in the benefit of English laws. 
 
 Hugh Boy O'Neill was slain in 1283. He is styled 
 "the head of the liberality and valor of the Irish ; the 
 most distinguished in the north for bestowing jewels and 
 riches ; the most formidable and victorious of his tribe ; 
 and the worthy heir to the throne of Ireland." The last 
 sentence is observable, as it shows that the English 
 monarch was not then considered king of Ireland. In 
 1285 Theobald Butler died at Berehaven. After his 
 death a large army was collected by lord Geoffrey Gene- 
 ville, and some other English nobles. They marched 
 into Offaly, where the Irish had just seized the castle of 
 
208 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Leix. Here they had a brief triumph, and seized upon 
 a great prey of cows ; but the native forces rallied imme- 
 diately, and, with the aid of Carbry O'Melaghlin, routed 
 the enemy completely. Theobald de Verdun lost both his 
 men and his horses, and Gerald FitzMaurice was taken 
 prisoner the day after the battle, it is said, through the 
 treachery of his own followers. The Four Masters do not 
 mention this event, but it is recorded at length in the 
 Annals of Clonmacnois. They add : " There was a great 
 snow this year, which from Christmas to St. Brigid's day 
 continued. ;; 
 
 In order to understand Irish history thoroughly, it 
 is necessary to call the attention of the reader to the 
 peculiar complications of interests which rendered gov- 
 ernment so difficult for centuries, and which have, un- 
 happily, left their impress for evil on that country to 
 the present day. 
 
 Before the arrival of the Normans, Ireland was .gov- 
 erned by an Ard-Righ, or chief monarch, and four pro- 
 vincial kings. The Ard-Righ was monarch merely in 
 name, and his authority was barely acknowledged b} 7 the 
 payment of certain "rights," chiefly in kind, such as 
 cattle, garments of different kinds, &c. He in his turn 
 was obliged to bestow certain rights upon his dependen- 
 cies. But there was a further complication of govern- 
 ment which arose from the independence of petty chief- 
 tains, who occupied large territories under the provincial 
 kings, and were for all practical purposes as independent 
 of them as they were of the Ard-Righ. The Danish 
 invasion caused a further division of interest, but that 
 had passed away at the period which now occupies our 
 attention. The Danish settlers were naturalized, and 
 principally occupied the maritime towns, where they 
 devoted themselves to commerce. 
 
 Constant war between the provincial kings and the 
 petty chieftains was the result of this mode of govern- 
 ment. A powerful and able monarch, like Brian Boru, 
 might have consolidated these various interests, and 
 made the nation one. But at a time when communica- 
 tion was so difficult, and half Munster might be invaded 
 and sacked before it could be known to the Ard-Righ in 
 Leinster, prosperity could only have been attained under 
 the government of one sole monarch. 
 
IRISH FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 209 
 
 It might be supposed that the English invasion of Ire- 
 land would have effected this most desirable end. But 
 this was far from being the case: it only added three- 
 fold to the complications already existing. The English 
 kings were too much occupied at one time with their 
 French possessions, and at another period with domestic 
 difficulties, to give any steady attention to forming a 
 proper government in Ireland. They governed by vice- 
 roys, or justiciaries, as they were at first denominated. 
 If the viceroy had been intrusted with absolute power, 
 and if he had had a large army at his command, he might 
 have effected some reform. But these officers were 
 appointed more as a matter of convenience than of pol- 
 icy, and were so frequently changed, that they were a 
 mere nominal power in the state. Hence they soon fell 
 into the custom of the country, and merely used their 
 office as a pretext for plunder, without the slightest re- 
 gard to the interests of either country. 
 
 The real rulers of Ireland, after the native kings had 
 lost their power and prestige, were the descendants of 
 the Norman nobles who had come over with Strongbow. 
 Of these, the principal, because the most powerful, were 
 the De Burgos, who after a time took the Celtic appel- 
 lation of Burkes, and the Fitzgeralds, or Geraldines. 
 Unfortunately for the prosperity of the country, these 
 two families were perpetually at war, or, if not at war, 
 undermining each other's influence by diplomacy. Under 
 such circumstances no country could prosper. The 
 viceroy and the nobles agreed only on one subject : to 
 harass the native Irish, and to extort from them all they 
 possibly could. From the commencement, the Irish, by 
 degrees, joined the standard of one or other of the most 
 powerful nobles, but for several centuries after the Nor- 
 man invasion they did this merely as a matter of conven- 
 ience, and at any moment were ready to transfer their 
 allegiance to others. 
 
 J ohn FitzThomas FitzGerald was the immediate founder 
 of the two great branches of the Geraldines ; but the fam- 
 ily came to Ireland with Strongbow, and were descended 
 from Raymond le Gros, who soon assumed considerable 
 state, and obtained great influence. It will be remem- 
 bered that, when FitzAldelm was sent to Ireland as jus- 
 ticiary by Henry II. ; after the death of Strongbow, he 
 
210 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 at once determined to curb the power of his rival. Fitz- 
 Aldelm was the head of the family of De Burgo. In 
 1224 Henry III. gave the whole of Connaught to Rich- 
 ard de Burgo, called the great earl of Connaught. But 
 the gift was merely nominal, for in that part of Ireland 
 no settlement could be kept, except at the point of the 
 sword. In 1240 the lord justice was ordered by the 
 same king to 11 pluck him out by the root/ 7 he had caused 
 so much dissension among the Norman nobles ; but it 
 was easier to issue such a mandate than to enforce it. 
 In 1286 the power of the De Burgos culminated. Rich- 
 ard de Burgo, commonly known as the Red Earl, led his 
 armies through the country as sovereign lord, and even 
 in official documents his name was placed before that of 
 the viceroy. 
 
 This nobleman was the direct descendant of Fitz- 
 Aldelm de Burgo, who had married Isabella, a natural 
 daughter of Richard Coeur de Lion, and widow of Lle- 
 wellyn, prince of Wales. Walter de Burgo became earl 
 of Ulster in right of his wife, Maud, daughter of the 
 younger Hugh de Lacy. The Red Earl's grandson, 
 William, who was murdered, in 1333, by the English of 
 Ulster, and whose death was most cruelly revenged, 
 was the third and last of the De Burgo earls of Ulster. 
 The Burkes of Connaught are descended from William, 
 the younger brother of Walter, the first earl. In 1543 
 Mac William de Burgo was created earl of Clanrickard. 
 He was known by the sobriquet of Ulick-na-'gceann, or 
 Ulick of the Heads, from the number of persons whom 
 he had decapitated in his wars. 
 
 In 1290 John FitzThomas FitzGerald, who had been 
 created baron of Offaly, obtained large grants of land 
 from Edward I., including the lordships of Kildare and 
 Rathangan. One of his sons, John, was subsequently 
 created earl of Kildare ; the other, Maurice, earl of Des- 
 mond. Further particulars will be given as we proceed ; 
 the present object being merely to give a general idea of 
 the rise and power of those important families. 
 
 In 1286 De Burgo laid claim to that portion of Meath 
 which Theobald de Verdun held in right of his mother, 
 the daughter of Walter de Lacy. He besieged De Ver- 
 dun in his castle of Athlone, a. d. 1288, but the result 
 has not been recorded. De Toleburne, justiciary of Ire- 
 
ENGLISH POSSESSIONS IN IRELAND. 
 
 211 
 
 land, died this year ; the king seized on all his property, 
 to pay debts which he owed to the crown. It appears 
 he was possessed of a considerable number of horses. 
 
 Jean de Samford, archbishop of Dublin, administered 
 the affairs of the colony until 1290, when he was suc- 
 ceeded by Sir William de Vesci, a Yorkshire man, and a 
 royal favorite. 
 
 In 1289 Carbry O'Melaghlin possessed a considerable 
 amount of power in Meath, and was therefore extremely 
 obnoxious to the English settlers. An army was col- 
 lected to overthrow his government, headed by Richard 
 Tuite (the Great Baron) and assisted by O'Connor, king 
 of Connaught. They were defeated, and " Tuite, with 
 his kinsmen, and Siccus O'Kelly, were slain. ,; 
 
 Immediately after the arrival of the new lord justice, 
 a quarrel sprung up between him and Fitzgerald, baron 
 of Offaly. They both appeared before the Council ; and 
 if Hollinshed's account may be credited, they used lan- 
 guage which would scarcely be tolerated in Billingsgate. 
 FitzGerald proposed an appeal to arms, which was ac- 
 cepted by his adversary. Edward summoned both par- 
 ties to Westminster. FitzGerald came duly equipped for 
 the encounter, but De Vesci had fled the country. He 
 was, however, acquitted by Parliament, on the ground 
 of informality, and the affair was referred to the royal 
 decision. According to Hollinshed's account, the king 
 observed that, "although De Vesci had conveyed his 
 person to France, he had left his land behind him in 
 Ireland ; " and bestowed the lordships of Kildare and 
 Rathangan upon his adversary. 
 
 Wogan was viceroy during the close of this century, 
 and had ample employment in pacifying the Geraldines 
 and Burkes — an occupation in which he was not always 
 successful. Thomas FitzMaurice, " of the ape," father 
 of the first earl of Desmond, had preceded him in the 
 office of justiciary. This nobleman obtained his cogno- 
 men from the circumstance of having been carried, when 
 a child, by a tame ape round the walls of a castle, and 
 then restored to his cradle without the slightest injury. 
 
 The English possessions in Ireland at the close of this 
 century consisted of the " Liberties " and ten counties — 
 Dublin, Louth, Kildare, Waterford, Tipperary, Cork, 
 Limerick, Kerry, Roscommon, and part of Connaught. 
 
212 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 The " Liberties " were those of Connaught and Ulster, 
 under De Burgo ; Meath, divided between De Mortimer 
 and De Verdun ; Wexford, Carlow, and Kilkenny, under 
 the jurisdiction of the respective representatives of the 
 Marshal heiresses ; Thomond, claimed by De Clare ; and 
 Desmond, partly controlled by the FitzGeralds. Sir 
 William Davies says : " These absolute palatines made 
 barons and knights ; did exercise high justice in all 
 points within their territories ; erected courts for crim- 
 inal and civil cases, and for their own revenues, in the 
 same forms as the king's courts were established at 
 Dublin ; made their own judges, sheriffs, coroners, and 
 escheators, so as the king's writ did not run in these 
 counties (which took up more than two parts of the 
 English colonies), but only in the church lands lying 
 within the same, which were called the Cross, wherein 
 the king made a sheriff ; and so in each of these counties-, 
 palatine there were two sheriffs, one of the Liberty, and 
 another of the Cross. These undertakers were not tied 
 to any form of plantation, but all was left to their dis- 
 cretion and pleasure ; and although they builded castles 
 and made freeholds, yet there were no tenures or ser- 
 vices reserved to the crown, but the lords drew all the 
 respect and dependency of the common people unto 
 themselves." Hence the strong objection which the 
 said lords had to the introduction of English law ; for had 
 this been accomplished, it would have proved a serious 
 check to their own advancement for the present time, 
 though, had they wisdom to have seen it, in the end it 
 would have proved their best safeguard, and consol- 
 idated their power. The fact was, these settlers aimed 
 at living like the native princes, oblivious or ignorant of 
 the circumstance that these princes were as much amen- 
 able to law as the lowest of their subjects, and that they 
 governed by a prescriptive right of centuries. If they 
 made war, it was for the benefit of the tribe, not for 
 their individual aggrandizement ; if they condemned to 
 death, the sentence would be in accordance with the 
 Brehon Law, which the people knew and revered. The 
 settlers owned no law but their own will ; and the un- 
 happy people whom they governed could not fail to see 
 that their sole object was their own benefit, and to at- 
 tain an increase of territorial possessions at any cost. 
 
SIR JOHN WOGAN SUMMONS A PARLIAMENT. 213 
 
 On the lands thus plundered many native septs existed, 
 whom neither war nor famine could quite exterminate. 
 Their feelings towards the new lord of the soil can easily 
 be understood; it was a feeling of open hostility, of 
 which they made no secret. They considered the 
 usurper's claim unjust; and to deprive him of the pos- 
 sessions which he had obtained by force or fraud, was 
 the dearest wish of their hearts. 
 
 Such portions of the country as lay outside the land 
 of which the Anglo-Normans had possessed themselves, 
 were called " marches." These were occupied by troops 
 of natives, who continually resisted the aggressions of 
 the invader, always anxious to add to his territory. These 
 troops constantly, made good reprisals for what had been 
 taken, by successful raids on the castle or the garrison. 
 Thus occupied for several centuries, they acquired a 
 taste for this roving life ; and they can scarcely be re- 
 proached for not having advanced in civilization with the 
 age, by those who placed such invincible obstacles to 
 their progress. 
 
 The most important royal castles, after Dublin, were 
 those of Athlone, Roscommon, and Randown. They 
 were governed by a constable, and supplied by a garri- 
 son paid out of the revenues of the colony. The object 
 of these establishments was to keep down the natives, 
 who were accordingly taxed to keep the garrisons. 
 
 It will be remembered that Sir John Wogan had been 
 appointed viceroy at the close of the thirteenth century. 
 He brought about a two years 7 truce between the Ger- 
 aldines and the Burkes (De Burgos), and then sum- 
 moned a Parliament at Kilkenny, a. d. 1295. The roll 
 of this Parliament contains only twenty-seven names. 
 Richard, earl of Ulster, is the first on the list. The 
 principal acts passed were : one for revising king John's 
 division of the country into counties ; another for pro- 
 viding a more strict guard over the marches, so as to 
 " keep out the Irish." The Irish were not permitted to 
 have any voice in the settlement of the affairs of their 
 country, and it was a rebellious symptom if they de- 
 murred. Nevertheless, in 1303, king Edward was gra- 
 ciously pleased to accept the services of Irish soldiers 
 in his expedition against Scotland. It is said that, in 
 1299, his army was composed princioally of Welsh and 
 
214 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Irish, and that on this occasion they were royally feasted 
 at Roxburgh castle. 
 
 The O'Connors of Offaly were for nearly two centu- 
 ries the most heroic, and therefore the most dangerous 
 of the " Irish enemies. ;; Maurice O'Connor Faly and 
 his brother Calvagh, were the heads of the sept. The 
 latter had obtained the soubriquet of " the great rebel," 
 from his earnest efforts to free his country. He had 
 defeated the English in a battle, in which Meiller de 
 Exeter and several others were slain ; he had taken the 
 castle of Kildare ; and, as he could not be taken him- 
 self by fair means, treachery was employed. 
 
 The chiefs of Offaly were invited to dinner on Trinity 
 Sunday, a. d. 1315, by Sir Pierce MacFeorais (Peter Ber- 
 mingham). As they rose up from table they were 
 cruelly massacred, one by one, with twenty -four of their 
 followers. This black deed took place at Bermingham's 
 own castle of Carbury, county Kildare. Bermingham 
 was arraigned before king Edward, but no justice was 
 ever obtained for this foul murder. 
 
 In the year 1308, Piers Gaveston, the unworthy favor- 
 ite of Edward II., was appointed viceroy. The English 
 barons had long been disgusted by his insolence, and 
 jealous of his influence. He was banished to France — 
 or rather a decree to that effect was issued — but Ire- 
 land was substituted, for it was considered a banishment 
 to be sent to that country. Gaveston, with his usual 
 love of display, was attended by a magnificent suite, 
 and commenced his viceroyalty in high state. He was 
 accompanied by his wife, Marguerite, who was closely 
 connected with the royal family. 
 
 Edward appears to have had apprehensions as to the 
 kind of reception his favorite was likely to receive from 
 the powerful earl of Ulster ; he therefore wrote him a 
 special letter, requesting his aid and counsel for the 
 viceroy. But De Burgo knew his own power too well ; 
 and instead of complying with the royal request, he 
 marched off to Drogheda, and then to Trim, where he 
 employed himself in giving sumptuous entertainments, 
 and conferring the honor of knighthood upon his adher- 
 ents. The favorite was recalled to England at the end of a 
 year. Edward had accompanied him to Bristol, on his 
 way to Ireland ; he now went to meet him at Chester on 
 
BRUCE's CAMPAIGN IN IRELAND. 
 
 215 
 
 his return. Three years later he paid the forfeit of his 
 head for all these condescensions. 
 
 In 1309 De Wogan was again appointed governor. 
 The exactions of the nobles had risen to such a height, 
 that some of their number began to fear the effects would 
 recoil on themselves. High food rates and fearful pov- 
 erty then existed, in consequence of the cruel exactions 
 of the Anglo-Normans on their own dependants. They 
 lived frequently in their houses, and quartered their sol- 
 diers and followers on them, without offering them the 
 smallest remuneration. A statute was now made which 
 pronounced these proceedings "open robbery/ 7 and 
 accorded the right of suit in such cases to the crown. 
 But this enactment could only be a dead letter. We 
 have already seen how the crown dealt with the most 
 serious complaints of the natives ; and even had justice 
 been awarded to the complainant, the right of eviction 
 was in the hands of the nearest noble, and the unfortu- 
 nate tenant would have his choice between starvation in 
 the woods or marauding on the highways. 
 
 The viceroy had abundant occupation in suppressing 
 the feuds both of the Irish and the colonists. Civil war 
 raged in Thomond, but the quarrels between the Anglo- 
 Norman settlers in the same provinca appear to have been 
 more extensive and less easily appeased. In a note to 
 the Annals of Clonmacnois, MacGeoghegan observes, 
 that " there reigned more dissentions, strife, warrs, and 
 debates between the Englishmen themselves, in the be- 
 ginning of the conquest of this kingdom, than between 
 the Irishmen ; as by perusing the warrs between the 
 Lacies of Meath, John Coursey, earle of Ulster, William 
 Marshal, and the English of Meath and Munster, Mac 
 Gerald, the Burke, Butler, and Oogan, may appear." 
 
 Edward Bruce landed in Ireland on the 16th of May, 
 a. d. 1315. He brought with him an army of six thou- 
 sand men, the heroes of Bannockburn. Multitudes of 
 the Irish flocked around his standard, hoping that he 
 would deliver them from the oppression under which 
 they had so long groaned ; and in order to obtain the 
 sanction of the Holy See, the Irish chieftain, Donneli 
 O'Neill, king of Ulster, in union with the other princes 
 of the province, wrote a spirited but respectful remon- 
 strance to the pope, on the part of the nation, explain- 
 
216 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 ing why they were anxious to transfer the kingdom to 
 Bruce. 
 
 In this document the remonstrants first state, simply 
 and clearly, that the holy father was deceived ; that 
 they were persuaded his intentions were pure and up- 
 right ; and that his holiness only knew the Irish through 
 the misrepresentations of their enemies. They state 
 their wish " to save their country from foul and false 
 imputations/ 7 and to give a correct idea of their state. 
 They speak "truthfully and mournfully, "of the sad 
 remains of a kingdom, which has groaned so long be- 
 neath the tyranny of English kings, of their ministers 
 and their barons ; and they add, " that some of the lat- 
 ter, though born in the Island, continued to exercise the 
 same extortions, rapine, and cruelties, as their ancestors 
 inflicted. " They remind the pontiff that "it is to Mile- 
 sian princes, and not to the English, that the Church is 
 indebted for those lands and possessions of which it has 
 been stripped by the sacrilegious cupidity of the Eng- 
 lish. 7; They boldly assert that "it was on the strength 
 of false statements " that Adrian transferred the sover- 
 eignty of the country to Henry II., "the probable mur- 
 derer of St. Thomas a Beckett Details are then given 
 of English oppression, to some of which we have already 
 referred. They state that the people have been obliged 
 to take refuge, " like beasts, in the mountains, in the 
 woods, marshes, and caves. Even there we are not safe. 
 They envy us these desolate abodes. " They contrast 
 the engagements made by Henry to the Church, and his 
 fair promises, with the grievous failure in their fulfil- 
 ment. They give clear details of the various enactments 
 made by the English, one of which merits special atten- 
 tion, as an eternal refutation of the false and base chafge 
 against the Irish of having refused to accept English 
 laws, because they were a lawless race. They state (1) 
 " that no Irishman who is not a prelate can take the law 
 against an Englishman, but every Englishman may take 
 the law against an Irishman. " (2) That any English- 
 man may kill an Irishman, "falsely and perfidiously, as 
 often happened, of whatsoever rank, innocent or guilty, 
 and yet he cannot be brought before the English tribu- 
 nals : and, further, that the English murderer can seize 
 the property of his victim. " When such was the state 
 
BRUCE'S IRISH CAMPAIGN. 
 
 217 
 
 of Ireland, as described calmly in an important docu- 
 ment'still extant, we cannot be surprised that the peo- 
 ple eagerly sought the slightest hope of redress, or the 
 merest chance of deliverance from such oppression. In 
 conclusion, the Irish princes inform the pope, "that in 
 order to obtain their object the more speedily and se- 
 curely, they had invited the gallant Edward Bruce, to 
 whom, being descended from their most noble ancestors, 
 they had transferred, as they justly might, their own 
 right- of royal domain." 1 
 
 A few years later Pope John wrote a letter to Edward 
 III., in which he declares that the object of Pope xldrian's 
 Bull had been entirely neglected, and that the "most 
 unheard-of miseries and persecutions had been inflicted 
 on the Irish." He recommends that monarch to adopt 
 a very different policy, and to remove the cause of com- 
 plaint, " lest it might be too late hereafter to apply a 
 remedy, when the spirit of revolt had grown stronger." 
 
 The accounts of Bruce's Irish campaign have not been 
 very clearly given. The Four Masters mention it briefly, 
 notwithstanding its importance ; the fullest account is 
 contained in the Annals of Clonmacnois, which agree 
 with the Annals of Connaught. Dundalk, Ardee, and 
 some other places in the north were taken in rapid suc- 
 cession, and a good supply of victuals and wine was 
 obtained from the former place. The viceroy, Sir Ed- 
 mund le Botiller, marched to attack the enemy ; but the 
 proud earl of Ulster refused his assistance, and probably 
 the justiciary feared to offend him by offering to remain. 
 Meanwhile, Felim, king of Connaught, who had hitherto 
 been an ally of the Red Earl, came over to the popular 
 side ; and the English forces suffered a defeat at Connor, 
 in which William de Burgo and several knights were 
 taken prisoners. This battle was fought on the 10th of 
 September, according to Grace's Annals, and the battle 
 of Dundalk on the 29th of July. 
 
 After the battle of Connor, the earl of Ulster fled to 
 Connaught, where he remained a year; the remainder of 
 his forces shut themselves up in Carrickfergus. Brace 
 was proclaimed king of Ireland, and marched southward 
 
 1 The original Latin is preserved by Fordun. Translations may be 
 found in the Abbe MacGeoghgegan's History of Ireland, p. 323, and in 
 Plowden's Historical Review, 
 
 10 
 
218 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 to pursue his conquests. The earl of Moray was sent 
 to Edinburgh, to invite king Robert over, and the Scotch 
 armies prepared to spend the winter with the De Lacys 
 in Westmeath. 
 
 When the Christmas festivities were concluded, Bruce 
 again took the field, and defeated the viceroy at Ard- 
 scull, in the county Kildare. In the month of February 
 some of the chief nobles of the English colony met in 
 Dublin, and signed a manifesto, in which they denounced 
 the traitorous conduct of the Scotch enemy, in trying to 
 wrest Ireland from their lord " Monsieur Edward/' tak- 
 ing special care to herald forth their own praises for 
 loyalty, and to hint at the compensation which might be 
 required for the same. 
 
 But the Irish were again their own enemies ; and to 
 their miserable dissensions, though it can never justify 
 the cruelties of their oppressors, must be attributed 
 most justly nearly all their misfortunes. Had the Irish 
 united against the invaders, there can be no doubt that, 
 with the assistance of the Scotch army, they would have 
 obtained a complete and glorious victory, though it may 
 be doubtful whether any really beneficial results would 
 have accrued to the country, should disunion continue. 
 When Felim O'Connor joined Bruce, Rory O'Oonnor and 
 his clan commenced depredations on his territory. Felim 
 returned to give him battle, and defeated him with ter- 
 rible slaughter. Thus men and time were lost in useless 
 and ignoble strife. Rory was slain in this engagement 
 — a fate he richly merited ; and Felim was once more 
 free to fight for his country. He was joined by the 
 O'Briens of Thomond, and they marched together to 
 attack Athenry, which was defended by Burke and Ber- 
 mingham. A fierce conflict ensued. The Irish fought 
 with their usual valor ; but English coats-of-mail were 
 proof against their attacks, and English cross-bows 
 mowed down their ranks. 
 
 The brave young Felim was slain, with eleven thou- 
 sand of his followers, and the Irish cause was irretrieva- 
 bly injured, perhaps more by the death of the leader 
 than by the loss of the men. This disaster took place 
 on the 10th of August, 1316. 
 
 Still the Irish were not daunted. The O'Tooles and 
 O'Byrnes rose in Wicklow, the O'Mores in Leix. Ed- 
 
BRUCE RETURNS TO SCOTLAND. 
 
 219 
 
 ward Bruce again appeared before Carrickfergus. The 
 siege was protracted until September, when Robert 
 Bruce arrived, and found the English so hard pressed 
 that they ate hides, and fed on the bodies of eight Scots, 
 whom they had made prisoners. In the year 1317 the 
 Scottish army was computed at twenty thousand men, 
 besides their Irish auxiliaries. After Shrovetide, king 
 Eobert and his brother crossed the Boyne, and inarched 
 to Castleknock, near Dublin, where they took Hugh Tyr- 
 rell prisoner, and obtained possession of the fortress. 
 There was no little fear in Dublin castle thereupon, for 
 the Anglo-Normans distrusted each other. And well 
 they might. The De Lacys had solemnly pledged their 
 fidelity, yet they were now found under the standard of 
 Bruce. Even De Burgo was suspected; for his daugh- 
 ter, Elizabeth, was the wife of the Scottish king. When 
 the invading army approached Dublin, he was seized 
 and confined in the castle. 
 
 Dublin had been more than once peopled by the citi- 
 zens of Bristol. They were naturally in the English 
 interest, and disposed to offer every resistance. They 
 fortified Dublin so strongly, even at the expense of burn- 
 ing the suburbs and pulling down churches, that Bruce 
 deemed it more prudent to avoid an encounter, and with- 
 drew towards the Salmon Leap, whence he led his forces 
 southward as far as Limerick, without encountering any 
 serious opposition. 
 
 But a reverse was even then at hand. An Anglo- Irish 
 army was formed, headed by the earl of Kildare ; famine 
 added its dangers ; and on the 1st of May, Robert Bruce 
 returned to Scotland, leaving his brother, Edward, with 
 the earl of Moray, to contend, as best they could, against 
 the twofold enemy. In 1318a good harvest relieved the 
 country in some measure from one danger ; two cardi- 
 nals were despatched from Rome to attempt to release 
 it from the other. On the 14th October, in the same year, 
 the question was finally decided. An engagement took 
 place at Faughard, near Dundalk. On the one side was 
 the Scotch army, headed by Bruce, and assisted (from 
 what motive it is difficult to determine) by the De Lacys 
 and other Anglo-Norman lords ; on the other side the 
 English army, commanded by lord John Bermingham. 
 The numbers on each side have been differently esti- 
 
220 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 mated ; but it is probable the death of Edward Bruce 
 was the turning point of the conflict. He was slain by 
 a knight named John Maupas, who paid for his valor 
 with his life. Bermingham obtained the earldom of 
 Louth, and the manor of Ardee as a reward for Bruce's 
 head ; and the unfortunate Irish were left to their usual 
 state of chronic resistan ce to English oppression. The 
 head of the Scottish chieftain was " salted in a chest/' 
 and placed unexpectedly, with other heads, at a banquet 
 before Edward II. The English king neither swooned 
 nor expressed surprise ; but the Scotch ambassadors, 
 who were present, rushed horror-stricken from the apart- 
 ment. The king, however, was " right blyth," and glad 
 to be delivered so easily of a " felon foe." John de 
 Lacy and Sir Robert de Coulragh, who had assisted the 
 said " felon," paid dearly for their treason. They were 
 starved to death in prison, 11 on three morsels of the worst 
 bread, and three draughts of foul water on alternate days, 
 until life became extinct." 
 
 The Butler family now appear prominently in Irish his- 
 tory for the first time. It would appear from Carte, that 
 the name was originally Gaultier, Butler being an addi- 
 tion distinctive of office. The family was established 
 in Ireland by Theobald Walter (Gaultier), an Anglo- 
 Norman of high rank, who received extensive grants of 
 land from Henry II., together with the hereditary office 
 of " Pincerna," Boteler, or Butler, in Ireland, to the 
 kings of England. In this capacity he and his successors 
 were to- attend these monarchs at their coronation, and 
 present them with the first cup of wine. In return they 
 obtained many privileges. On account of the quarrels 
 between this family and the De Burgos, De Berming- 
 hams, Le Poers, and the southern Geraldines, royal let- 
 ters were issued, commanding them, under pain of for- 
 feiture, to desist from warring on each other. The result 
 was a meeting of the factious peers in Dublin, at which 
 they engaged to keep the "king's peace." On the fol- 
 lowing day they were entertained by the earl of Ulster ; 
 the next day, at St. Patrick's, by Maurice FitzThomas ; 
 and the third day by the viceroy and his fellow Knights 
 Hospitallers, who had succeeded the Templars at Kil- 
 mainham. The earldoms of Ormonde and Desmond were 
 now created. The heads of these families long occupied 
 
DEATH OF WALTER DE BUEGO. 
 
 221 
 
 an important place in Irish affairs. Butler died on his 
 return from a pilgrimage to Compostella, and was suc- 
 ceeded by his eldest son, James — "a liberal, friendly, 
 pleasant, and stately youth " — who was married this 
 year to king Edward's cousin, Eleanor, daughter of the 
 earl of Essex. The Desmond peerage was created in 
 1329, when the county palatine of Kerry was given to 
 that family. 
 
 The quarrels of these nobles seemed to have originated, 
 or rather to have culminated, in an insulting speech 
 made by Poer to FitzGerald, whom he designated as a 
 "rhymer." The "king's peace " did not last long ; 
 and in 1330 the lord justice was obliged to imprison both 
 Desmond and Ulster, that being the only method in which 
 they could be " bound over to keep the peace." The fol- 
 lowing year Sir Anthony de Lucy was sent to Ireland, as 
 he had a reputation for summary justice. He summoned 
 a Parliament in Dublin : but as the barons did not con- 
 descend to attend, he adjourned it to Kilkenny. This 
 arrangement also failed to procure their presence. He 
 seized Desmond, who had been placed in the care of the 
 sheriff of Limerick, and conveyed him to Dublin castle. 
 Several other nobles were arrested at the same time. Sir 
 William Bermingham was confined with his son in the 
 keep of Dublin castle, which still bears his name. He 
 was hanged there soon after. De Lucy was recalled 
 to England, probably in consequence of the indignation 
 which was excited by this execution. 
 
 The years 1333 and 1334 were disgraced by fearful 
 crimes, in which the English and Irish equally partici- 
 pated. In the former year the earl of Ulster seized Wal- 
 ter de Burgo, and starved him to death in the Green 
 Castle of Innishowen. The sister of the man thus cruelly 
 murdered was married to Sir Richard Mandeville, and 
 she urged her husband to avenge her brother's death. 
 Mandeville took the opportunity of accompanying the 
 earl with some others to hear Mass at Carrickfergus, 
 and killed him as he was fording a stream: The young 
 earl's death was avenged by his followers, who slew 
 three hundred men. His wife, Maud, fled to England 
 with her only child, a daughter, named Elizabeth, who 
 was a year old. The Burkes of Connaught, who were 
 the junior branch of the family, fearing that she would 
 
222 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 soon marry again, and transfer the property to other 
 hands, immediately seized the Connaught estates, de- 
 clared themselves independent of English law, and 
 renounced the English language and customs. They 
 were too powerful to be resisted with impunity ; and 
 while the ancestor of the Clanrickardes assumed the 
 Irish title of Mac William Oughter, or the Upper, Edmund 
 Burke, the progenitor of the viscounts of Mayo, took the 
 appellation of Mac William Fighter, or the Lower. This 
 was not the last time when English settlers identified 
 themselves, not merely from policy, but even from incli- 
 nation, with the race whom they had once hated and 
 oppressed. 
 
 In 1334 the English and Irish marched into Munster to 
 attack MacNamara, and added the guilt of sacrilege 
 to their other crimes, by burning a church, with one hun- 
 dred and eighty persons and two priests in it, none of 
 whom were permitted to escape. Another outrage was 
 committed by the settlers, who appear to have been 
 quite as jealous of each other's property as the Irish 
 clans ; for we find that one Edmund Burke drowned 
 another of the same name in Lough Mask, and as usual 
 a war ensued between the partisans of each family. 
 After a sanguinary struggle, Turlough O'Connor drove 
 the murderer out of the province. But this prince soon 
 after ruined himself by his wickedness. He married 
 Burke's widow, and put away his own lawful wife ; from 
 which it may be concluded that he had avenged the crime 
 either from love of this woman, or from a desire to pos- 
 sess himself of her husband's property. His immoral 
 conduct alienated the other chieftains, and after three 
 years' war he was deposed. 
 
 Edward had thrpwn out some hints of an intended 
 visit to Ireland, probably to conceal his real purpose of 
 marching to Scotland. Desmond was released on bail 
 in 1333, after eighteen months' durance, and repaired 
 with some troops to assist the king at Halidon Hill. 
 Soon after we find him fighting in Kerry, while the earl 
 of Kildare was similarly occupied in Leinster. In 1339 
 twelve hundred Kerry men were slain in one battle. 
 The Anglo-Norman, FitzNicholas, was among the num- 
 ber of prisoners. He died in prison soon after. This 
 gentleman, on one occasion, dashed into the assize court 
 
VICEROYALTY OF SIR RALPH UFFORD. 223 
 
 at Tralee, and killed Dermod, the heir of the MacCarthy 
 More, as he sat with the judge on the bench. As Mac- 
 Carthy was Irish, the crime was suffered to pass without 
 further notice. 
 
 In 1341 Edward took sweeping measures for a general 
 reform of the Anglo-Norman lords, or, more probably, 
 he hoped, by threats of such measures, to obtain sub- 
 sidies for his continental wars. The colonists, however, 
 were in possession, and rather too powerful to brook 
 such interference. Sir John Morris was sent over to 
 carry the royal plans into execution, but though he took 
 prompt measures, the affair turned out a complete fail- 
 ure. The lords refused to attend his Parliament, and 
 summoned one of their own, in which they threw the 
 blame of maladministration on the English officials sent 
 over from time to time to manage Irish affairs. 
 
 In 1343 Sir Ralph Ufford, who had married Maud Plan- 
 tagenet, the widow of the earl of Ulster, was appointed 
 justiciary of Ireland. He commenced with a high hand, 
 and endeavored especially to humble the Desmonds. 
 The earl refused to attend the Parliament, and assembled 
 one of his own at Callan ; but the new viceroy marched 
 into Leinster with an armed force, seized his lands, farmed 
 them out for the benefit of the crown, got possession of 
 the strongholds of Castleisland and Inniskisty in Kerry, 
 and hanged Sir Eustace Poer, Sir William Grant, and 
 Sir John Cottrell, who commanded these places, on the 
 charge of illegal exactions of coigne and livery. The 
 viceroy also contrived to get the earl of Kildare into his 
 power ; and it is probable that his harsh measures would 
 have involved England in an open war with her colony 
 and its English settlers, had not his sudden death put an 
 end to his summary exercise of justice. 
 
 It is said that his wife, Maud, who could scarcely for- 
 get the murder of her first husband, urged him on to 
 many of these violent acts ; and it was .remarked, that 
 though she had maintained a queenly state on her first 
 arrival in Ireland, she was obliged to steal away from 
 that country, with Ufford's remains enclosed in a leaden 
 coffin, in which her treasure was concealed. Her second 
 husband was buried near her first, in the convent of Poor 
 Clares, at Camposey, near Ufford, in Suffolk. 
 
 The Black Death broke out in Ireland in the year 1348. 
 
224 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 The annalists give fearful accounts of this visitation. It 
 appeared in Dublin first, and so fatal were its effects, 
 that four thousand souls are said to have perished there 
 from August to Christmas. It was remarked that this 
 pestilence attacked the English specially, while the 
 " Irish-born " — particularly those who lived in the 
 mountainous parts of the country — escaped its ravages. 
 We have already mentioned the account of this calam- 
 ity given by Friar Clynn, who himself fell a victim to 
 the plague, soon after he had recorded his mournful fore- 
 bodings. Several other pestilences, more or less severe, 
 visited the country at intervals during the next few 
 years. 
 
 Lionel, the third son of Edward III., who, it will be 
 remembered, was earl of Ulster in right of his wife, Isa- 
 bella, was now appointed viceroy. He landed in Dub- 
 lin, on the 15th of September, 1360, with an army of 
 one thousand men. From the first moment of his ar- 
 rival he exercised the most bitter hostility to the Irish, 
 and enhanced the invidious distinction between the Eng- 
 lish by birth and the English by descent. Long before 
 his arrival the "mere Irishman" was excluded from the 
 offices of mayor, bailiff, or officer, in any town within the 
 English dominions, as well as from all ecclesiastical pro- 
 motion. Lionel carried matters still further, for he forbid 
 any "Irish by birth to come near his army." But he 
 soon found that he could not do without soldiers, even 
 should they have the misfortune to be Irish, and as a 
 hundred of his best men were killed soon after this in- 
 sulting proclamation, he was graciously pleased to allow 
 all the king's subjects to assist him in his war against 
 f the enemy." He soon found it advisable to make 
 friends with the colonists, and obtained the very sub- 
 stantial offering of two years' revenue of their lands, as 
 a return for his condescension. 
 
ENACTMENT OF THE STATUTE OF KILKENNY. 225 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A. D. 1367 TO A. D. 1509. 
 
 THE STATUTE OE KILKENNY. — VISIT OF RICHARD II. 
 TO IRELAND. — WARS OF THE ROSES. 
 
 Contemporary Events :— The Stuart dynasty established in Scotland 
 — Accession of Richard II.— Crusade against the Turks — Battle 
 of Agincourt— Invention of Printing — The English deprived of 
 their French dominions — Battle of Bosworth Field — Discovery 
 of America — Death of Charles VIII. of France — League of Cam- 
 bray— Death of Henry VII. and Accession of Henry VIII. 
 
 The enactment of the Statute of Kilkenny is one of 
 the most important events in Irish history. Lionel re- 
 turned to England in 1364, when he was created duke of 
 Clarence, and twice during the three following }?ears he 
 was appointed justiciary. In the year 1367 he held a 
 Parliament at Kilkenny, when this statute was passed. 
 It is said that one of the principal motives which sug- 
 gested this statute was the suppression, or even exter- 
 mination, of the descendants of the original settlers, 
 who, in process of time, had become almost naturalized 
 by intermarriage with the Irish. It was the policy of 
 the English government, at that time, to keep the two 
 races distinct and at variance, to preserve a sort of bal- 
 ance of power. It is obvious that, if any considerable 
 number of these powerful nobles of English descent 
 •united with the Irish against the new arrivals who were 
 continually coming to claim a share in the land, they 
 would have a poor chance of success. . 
 
 This statute enacts — (1) that any alliance with the 
 Irish by marriage, nurture of infants, or gossipred (stand- 
 ing sponsors), should be punishable as high treason; 
 (2) that any man of English race taking an Irish name, 
 or using the Irish language, apparel, or customs, should 
 forfeit all his lands; (3) that to adopt or submit to the 
 Brehon Law was treason ; (4) that the English should not 
 
226 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 make war upon the natives without the permission of 
 goverment; (5) that the English should not permit the 
 Irish to pasture or graze upon their lands, nor admit 
 them to any ecclesiastical benefices or religious houses, 
 nor entertain their minstrels or rhymers. (6) It was 
 also forbidden to impose or cess any soldiers upon the 
 English subjects against their will, under pain of felony ; 
 and some regulations were made to restrain the abuse 
 of sanctuary, and to prevent the great lords from-laying 
 heavy burdens upon gentlemen and freeholders. 
 
 The fourth clause might have been beneficial to the 
 Irish if it had been strictly observed. The other enact- 
 ments were observed ; but this, which required the con- 
 sent of the government to make war on the natives, was 
 allowed to remain a dead letter. In any case, the gov- 
 ernment would seldom have refused any permission which 
 might help to lessen the number of the "Irish enemy." 
 
 On the retirement of the duke of Clarence, in 1367, 
 the viceroyalty was accepted by Gerald, fourth earl of 
 Desmond, styled " the poet." He was one of the most 
 learned men of the day, and thereby, as usual, obtained 
 the reputation of practising magic. 
 
 Sir Richard Pembridge refused the office of viceroy in 
 1369. He was stripped of all his lands and offices held 
 under the crown, as a punishment for his contumacy, 
 but this appears to have had no effect upon his deter- 
 mination. It was decided legally, however, that the king 
 could neither fine nor imprison him for this refusal, since 
 no man could be condemned to go into exile. High 
 prices were now offered to induce men to bear this intol- 
 erable punishment. Sir William de Windsor asked some- 
 thing over 11,000Z. per annum for his services, which Sir 
 John Davis states exceeded the whole revenue of Ireland. 
 The salary of a lord justice before this period was 500Z. per 
 annum, and he was obliged to support a small standing 
 army. The truth was, that the government of Ireland 
 had become every day more difficult and less lucrative. 
 The natives were already despoiled of nearly all their 
 possessions, and the settlement of the feuds of the Anglo- 
 Norman nobles was neither a pleasant nor a profitable 
 employment. In addition to this, Edward was levying 
 immense subsidies in Ireland, to support his wars in 
 France and Scotland. At last the clergy were obliged 
 
RICHARD II. VISITS IRELAND. 
 
 221 
 
 to interfere. The archbishop of Cashel opposed these 
 unreasonable demands, and solemnly excommunicated 
 the king's collector, and all persons employed in raising 
 the obnoxious taxes. 
 
 Richard II. succeeded his grandfather, a. d. 1377. As 
 he was only in his eleventh 3 r ear, the government was 
 carried on by his uncles. The earl of March was sent 
 to Ireland as justiciary, with extraordinary powers. 
 He had married Philippa, daughter of Lionel, duke of 
 Clarence, by his first wife, and in her right became earl 
 of Ulster. One of the Irish princes who came to his 
 court was treacherously arrested and thrown into prison. 
 The injustice was resented, or, perhaps, we should rather 
 say, feared by the English nobles, as well as the Irish 
 chieftains, who took care to keep out of the way of such 
 adventures, by absenting themselves from the viceregal 
 hospitalities. Roger Mortimer succeeded his father, and 
 was followed by Philip de Courtenay, the king's cousin. 
 He was granted the office for ten years, but, in the inter- 
 val, was taken into custody by the Council of Regency 
 for his peculations. 
 
 There was war in Connaught between the O'Connors, 
 in 1384, and fierce hostility continued for years after 
 between the families of the O'Connor Don (Brown) and 
 the O'Connor Roe (Red). Richard II. had his favorites, 
 as usual ; and in a moment of wild folly he bestowed the 
 sovereignty of Ireland upon the earl of Oxford, whom he 
 also created marquis of Dublin. His royal master accom- 
 panied him as far as Wales, and then, determining to 
 keep the earl near his person, despatched Sir John Syd- 
 ney to the troublesome colony. 
 
 On the 2nd of October, a. d. 1394, Richard II. landed on 
 the Irish shores. The country was in its normal state 
 of partial insurrection and general discontent ; but no 
 attempt was made to remove the chronic cause of all 'this 
 unnecessary misery. There was some show of submis- 
 sion from the Irish chieftains, who were overawed by 
 the immense force which attended the king. Art Mac- 
 Murrough, the heir of the ancient Leinster kings, was 
 the most formidable of the native nobles ; and from his 
 prowess and success in several engagements, was some- 
 what feared by the invaders. He refused to defer to 
 anyone but Richard, and was only prevailed on to make 
 
228 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 terms when he found himself suddenly immured in Dub- 
 lin castle, during* a friendly visit to the court. 
 
 The king's account of his reception shows that he had 
 formed a tolerably just opinion of the political state 
 of the country. He mentions, in a letter from Dublin, 
 that the people might be divided into three classes — the 
 "wild Irish, or enemies," the Irish rebels, and the English 
 subjects ; and he had just enough discernment to see 
 that the " rebels had been made such by wrongs, and by 
 want of close attention to their grievances," though he 
 had not the judgment or the justice to apply the neces- 
 sary remedy. His next attempt was to persuade the 
 principal Irish kings to receive knighthood in the Eng- 
 lish fashion. They submitted with the worst possible 
 grace, having again and again repeated that they had 
 already received the honor according to the custom of 
 their own country. 
 
 The customs of the Irish nobles were again made a 
 subject of ridicule, as they had been during the visit of 
 prince John, though we might have supposed that an 
 increased knowledge of the world would have led to a 
 wiser policy, if not to an avoidance of that ignorant crit- 
 icism, which at once denounces everything foreign as 
 inferior. Richard returned to England in 1395, after 
 nine months of vain display. He appointed Roger Mor- 
 timer his viceroy. Scarcely had the king and his fleet 
 sailed from the Irish shores, when the real nature of the 
 proffered allegiance of seventy-two kings and chieftains 
 became apparent. The O'Byrnes rose up in Wicklow, 
 and were defeated by the viceroy and the earl of Or- 
 monde ; the MacCarthys rose up in Munster, and bal- 
 anced affairs by gaining a victory over the English. 
 The earl of Kildare was captured by Calvagh O'Connor, 
 of Offaly, in 1398 ; and, in the same year, the O'Briens 
 and O'Tooles avenged their late defeat, by a great vic- 
 tory, at Kenlis, in Ossory 
 
 In 1399 king Richard paid another visit to Ireland. 
 His exactions and oppressions had made him very un- 
 popular in England, and it is probable that this expedi- 
 tion was planned to divert the minds of his subjects. 
 If this was his object, it failed signally ; for the unfor- 
 tunate monarch was deposed by Parliament the same 
 year, and was obliged to perform the act of abdication 
 
VICEROYALTY OF THOMAS LANCASTER. 
 
 229 
 
 with the best grace he could. His unhappy end belongs 
 to English history. Richard again landed in state at 
 Waterford, and soon after marched against the indom- 
 itable MacMurrough, who had contrived to keep the 
 English settlers in continual alarm. The Irish chief, 
 however, was not easih r subdued, and as Richard's army 
 was on the verge of starvation, he was obliged to break 
 up his camp and march to Dublin. Upon his arrival there, 
 MacMurrough made overtures for peace, which were 
 gladly accepted, and the earl of Gloucester proceeded 
 at once to arrange terms with him. But no reconciliation 
 could be effected, as both parties refused to yield. When 
 Richard heard the result, " he flew into a violent passion, 
 and swore by St. Edward he would not leave Ireland 
 until he had MacMurrough in his hands, dead or alive. " 
 How little he imagined, when uttering the mighty boast, 
 that his own fate was even then sealed ! War had al- 
 ready begun between York and Lancaster, and for years 
 England was a prey to home dissensions which left those 
 thus occupied but little time for foreign affairs. On the 
 accession of Henry IV., his second son, Thomas, duke 
 of Lancaster, was made viceroy, and landed at Bullock, 
 near Dalkey, on Sunday, November 13, 1402. As the 
 youth was but twelve years of age, a Council was 
 appointed to assist him. Soon after his arrival, the said 
 Council despatched a piteous document from " Le Naas," 
 in which they represent themselves and their youthful 
 ruler as on the very verge of starvation, in consequence 
 of not having received remittances from England. In 
 conclusion, they gently allude to the possibility — of 
 course carefully deprecated — of " peril and disaster" 
 befalling their lord if further delay should be permitted. 
 The king, however, was not in a position to tax his Eng- 
 lish subjects ; and we find the prince himself writing to 
 his royal father on the same matter, at the close of the 
 year 1402. He mentions also that he had entertained 
 the knights and squires with such cheer as could be pro- 
 cured under the circumstances, and adds: "I, by the 
 advice of my Council, rode against the Irish, your ene- 
 mies, and did my utmost to harass them." 
 
 John Duke, the then mayor of Dublin, obtained the 
 privilege of having the sword borne before the chief 
 magistrate of that city, as a reward for his services in 
 
230 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 routing the O'Byrnes of Wicklow. About the same 
 time John Dowdall, sheriff of Louth, was murdered in 
 Dublin, by Sir Bartholomew Vernon and three other 
 English gentlemen, who were outlawed for this and 
 other crimes, but soon after received the royal pardon. 
 In 1404 the English were defeated in Leix. In 1405 Art 
 MacMurrough committed depredations at Wexford and 
 elsewhere, and in 1406 the settlers suffered a severe re- 
 verse in Meath. 
 
 Sir Stephen Scroope had been appointed deputy for 
 the royal viceroy, and he led an army against MacMur- 
 rough, who was defeated after a gallant resistance. In 
 1412 the O'Neills desolated Ulster with their feuds, and 
 about the same time the English merchants of Dublin and 
 Drogheda armed to defend themselves against the Scotch 
 merchants, who had committed several acts of piracy. 
 Henry V. succeeded his father in 1413, and appointed 
 Sir John Stanley lord deputy. He signalized himself by 
 his exactions and cruelties, and, according to the Irish 
 account, was "rhymed to death " by the poet, Niall 
 O'Higgin, of Usnagh, whom he had plundered in a foray. 
 Sir John Talbot was the next governor. He began his 
 career with a series of exploits against "the enemy," 
 which won golden opinions from the inhabitants of " the 
 Pale." Probably the news of his success induced his 
 royal master to recall him to England, that he might have 
 his assistance in his French wars. 
 
 His departure was a general signal for "the enemy " 
 to enact reprisals. O'Connor despoiled the Pale, and the 
 invincible Art MacMurrough performed his last military 
 exploit at Wexford (a. d. 1416), where he took three 
 hundred and forty prisoners in one day. He died the fol- 
 lowing year, and Ireland lost one of the bravest and best 
 of her sons. The Annals describe him as " a man who 
 had defended his own province against the English and 
 Irish from his sixteenth to his sixtieth year ; a man full 
 of hospitality, knowledge, and chivalry." It is said that 
 he was poisoned by a woman at New Ross, but no mo- 
 tive is mentioned for the crime. His son Donough, who 
 has an equal reputation for valor, was made prisoner 
 two } 7 ears after by the lord deputy, and imprisoned in 
 the Tower of London. O'Connor of Offaly, another chief- 
 tain who had also distinguished himself against the Eng- 
 
POSITION OF THE IRISH OF ENGLISH DESCENT. 231 
 
 lish, died about this time. He had entered the Francis- 
 can monastery of Killeigh a month before his death. 
 
 The Irish of English descent were made to feel their 
 position painfully at the close of this reign, and this 
 might have led the new settlers to reflect, if capable of 
 reflection, that their descendants would soon find them- 
 selves in a similar condition. The commons presented 
 a petition, complaining of the extortions and injustices 
 practised by the deputies, some of whom had left enor- 
 mous debts unpaid. They also represented the injustice 
 of excluding Irish law students from the Inns of Court 
 in London. A few years previous (a. d. 1417), the set- 
 tlers had presented a petition to Parliament, praying that 
 no Irishman should be admitted to any office or benefice 
 in the Church, and that no bishop should be permitted 
 to bring an Irish servant with him when he came to at- 
 tend Parliament or Council. This petition was granted ; 
 and soon after an attempt was made to prosecute the 
 archbishop of Cashel, who had presumed to disregard 
 some of its enactments. 
 
 Henry VI. succeeded to the English throne while still 
 a mere infant, and, as usual, the " Irish question " was 
 found to be one of the greatest difficulties of the new 
 administration. The O'Neills had been carrying on a 
 domestic feud in Ulster ; but they had just united to 
 attack the English, when Edward Mortimer, Earl of 
 March, assumed the government of Ireland (a. d. 1425). 
 He died of the plague the following year ;• but his suc- 
 cessor in office, lord Furnival, contrived to capture a 
 number of the northern chieftains, who were negotiating 
 peace with Mortimer at the very time of his death. 
 Owen O'Neill was ransomed, but the indignation excited 
 by this act served only to arouse angry feelings ; and 
 the northerns united against their enemies, and soon 
 recovered any territory they had lost. 
 
 Donough MacMurrough was released from the Tower 
 in 1428, after nine years' captivity. It is said the Lein- 
 ster men paid a heavy ransom for him. The young 
 prince's compulsory residence in England did not lessen 
 his disaffection, for he made war on the settlers as soon 
 as he returned to his paternal dominions. The great 
 family feud between the Houses of York and Lancaster 
 had but little effect on the state of Ireland; Different 
 
232 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 members of the two great factions had held the office of 
 lord justice in that country, but, with one exception, 
 they did not obtain any personal influence there. In- 
 deed, the viceroy of those days, whether an honest man 
 or a knave, was sure to be unpopular with some party. 
 
 The Yorkists and Lancastrians were descended directly 
 from Edward III. The first duke of York was Edward's 
 fifth son, Edmund Plantagenet ; the first duke of Lancas- 
 ter was John of Gaunt, the fourth son of the same mon- 
 arch. Richard II. succeeded his grandfather, Edward 
 III., as the son of Edward the Black Prince, so famedin 
 English chivalry. His arrogance and extravagance soon 
 made him unpopular ; and, during his absence in Ireland, 
 the duke of Lancaster, whom he had banished, and treated 
 most unjustly, returned to England, and fomented the 
 fatal quarrel. The king was obliged to return immedi- 
 ately, and committed the government of the country to 
 his cousin, Roger de Mortimer, who was next in succes- 
 sion to the English crown, in right of his mother, Philippa, 
 the only child of the duke of Clarence, third son of Ed- 
 ward III. The death of this nobleman opened the way 
 for the intrusion of the Lancastrians, the duke of Lan- 
 caster having obtained the crown during the lifetime of 
 Richard, to the exclusion of the rightful heir-apparent, 
 Edmund, earl of March, son to the late viceroy. 
 
 The feuds of the earl of Ormonde and the Talbots in 
 Ireland proved nearly as great a calamity to that nation 
 as the disputes about the English succession. A Par- 
 liament was held in Dublin in 1441, in which Richard 
 Talbot, the English archbishop of Dublin, proceeded to 
 lay various requests before the king, the great object of 
 which was the overthrow of the earl, who, by the inter- 
 marrying of his kinsmen with the Irish, possessed great 
 influence among the native septs contiguous to his own 
 territory. The petitioners pray that the government may 
 be committed to some " mighty English lord ; " and they 
 moderately request that the said " mighty lord " may be 
 permitted to create temporal peers. They hint at the 
 earl's age as an objection to his administration of justice, 
 and assert that " the lieutenant should be a mighty, 
 courageous, and laborious man, to keep the field and 
 make resistance against the enemy. " But the great 
 crime alleged against him is that " he hath ordained and 
 
sir giles Thornton's report. 
 
 233 
 
 made Irishmen, and grooms and pages of his household, 
 knights of the shire." These representations, however, 
 had but little weight in the quarter to which they were 
 addressed, for Ormonde was a stout Lancastrian ; and 
 if he had sinned more than his predecessors, his guilt 
 was covered by the ample cloak of royal partiality. 
 However, some appearance of justice was observed. Sir 
 Giles Thornton was sent, over to Ireland to make a 
 report, which was so very general that it charged no 
 one in particular, but simply intimated that there was 
 no justice to be had for any party, and that discord and 
 division prevailed amongst all the king's officers. The 
 system of appointing deputies for different offices was 
 very properly condemned, and the rather startling an- 
 nouncement made, that the annual expenses of the vice- 
 roy and his officers exceeded all the revenues of Ireland 
 for that year by 4,456Z. In fact, it could not be other- 
 wise ; for every official, lay and ecclesiastical, English 
 and Anglo-Irish, appear to have combined in one vast 
 system of peculation, and, when it was possible, of 
 wholesale robbery. Even the loyal burghers of Lim- 
 erick, Cork, and Galway had refused to pay their debts 
 to the crown, and the representatives of royalty were 
 not in a position to enforce payment. The Talbot party 
 seems to have shared the blame quite equally with the 
 Ormondes, and the churchmen in power were just as 
 rapacious as the seculars. After having ruined the 
 "mere Irish," the plunderers themselves were on the 
 verge of ruin ; and the Privy Council declared that unless 
 an immediate remedy was applied, the law courts should 
 be closed, and the royal castles abandoned. Further 
 complaints were made in 1444 ; and Robert Maxwell, a 
 groom of the royal chamber, was despatched to Ireland 
 with a summons to Ormonde, commanding him to appear 
 before the king and Council. 
 
 The earl at once collected his followers and adherents 
 in Drogheda, where they declared, in the presence of 
 the king's messenger, as in duty bound, that their lord 
 had never been guilty of the treasons and extortions 
 with which he was charged, and that they were all thank- 
 ful for " his good and gracious government : " further- 
 more, they hint that he had expended his means in de- 
 fending the king's possessions. However, the earl was 
 
234 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 obliged to clear himself personally of these charges in 
 London, where he was acquitted with honor by his royal 
 master. 
 
 His enemy, Sir John Talbot, known better in English 
 history as the earl of Shrewsbury, succeeded him, in 
 1446. This nobleman had been justly famous for his 
 valor in the wars with France, and it is said that even 
 mothers frightened their children with his name. His 
 success in Ireland was not at all commensurate with his 
 fame in foreign warfare, for he only succeeded so far 
 with the native princes as to compel O'Connor Faly to 
 make peace with the English government, to ransom his 
 sons, and to supply some beeves for the king's kitchen. 
 Talbot held a Parliament at Trim, in which, for the first 
 time, an enactment was made about personal appearance, 
 which widened the fatal breach still more between Eng- 
 land and Ireland. This law declared that every man 
 who did not shave his upper lip should be treated as an 
 " Irish enemy; " and the said shaving was to be per- 
 formed once, at least, in every two weeks. 
 
 In the year 1447 Ireland was desolated by a fearful 
 plague, in which seven hundred priests are said to have 
 fallen victims, probably from their devoted attendance on 
 the sufferers. In the same year Felim O'Reilly was taken 
 prisoner treacherously by the lord deputy ; and Finola, 
 the daughter of Calvagh O'Oonnor Faly, and wife of 
 Hugh Boy O'Neill, " the most beautiful and stately, the 
 most renowned and illustrious woman of all her time in 
 Ireland, her own mother only excepted, retired from this 
 transitory world, to prepare for eternal life, and assumed 
 the yoke of piety and devotion in the monastery of Cill- 
 Achaidh." 
 
 This lady's mother, Margaret O'Connor, was the daugh- 
 ter of O'Carroll, king of Ely, and well deserved the com- 
 mendation bestowed upon her. She was the great pat- 
 roness of the literati of Ireland, whom she entertained 
 at two memorable feasts. The first festival was held at 
 Killeigh, in the King's County, on the feast-day of Da 
 Sinchell (St. Seanchan, March 26). All the chiefs, bre- 
 hons, and bards of Ireland and Scotland were invited, 
 and two thousand seven hundred guests are said to have 
 answered the summons. The lady Margaret received 
 them clothed in cloth of gold, and seated in queenly 
 
LADY MARGARET (^CONNOR. 
 
 235 
 
 state. She opened the "congress" by presenting two 
 massive chalices of gold on the high altar of the church 
 — an act of duty towards God ; and then took two 
 orphan children to rear and nurse — an act of charity to 
 her neighbor. Her noble husband, who had already 
 distinguished himself in the field, on many occasions, 
 remained on his charger outside the church, to welcome 
 his visitors as they arrived. The second entertainment 
 was given on the Feast of the Assumption in the same 
 year, and was intended to include all who had not been 
 able to accept the first invitation. The chronicler con- 
 cludes his account with a blessing on lady Margaret, and 
 a curse on the disease which deprived the world of so 
 noble an example : " God's blessing, the blessing of 
 all the saints, and every blessing be upon her going to 
 heaven ; and blessed be he that will hear and read this, 
 for blessing her soul." It is recorded of her, also, that 
 she was indefatigable in building churches, erecting 
 bridges, preparing highways, and providing Mass-books. 
 It is a bright picture on a dark page ; and though there 
 may not have been many ladies so liberal or so devoted 
 to learning at thatperiod in Ireland, still the general state 
 of female education could not have been neglected, or 
 such an example could not have been found or appreci- 
 ated. Felim O'Connor, her son, died in the same year as 
 his mother ; he is described as " a man of great fame and 
 renown." He had been ill of decline for a long time, and 
 only one night intervened between the death of the 
 mother and the son, a. d. 1451. Calvagh died in 1458, 
 and was succeeded by his son, Con, who was not un- 
 worthy of his noble ancestry. 
 
 In 1449 the duke of York was sent to undertake the 
 viceregal office in Ireland. His appointment is attributed 
 to the all-powerful influence of queen Margaret, and its 
 object was to deprive the English Yorkists of his power- 
 ful support and influence. In Ireland he soon became 
 popular, and appears to have been one of the few vice- 
 roys who attempted any thing like a conciliatory policy 
 in that country. 
 
 The cities of Cork, Kinsale, and Youghal, now sent 
 in petitions to him, f omplaining bitterly of the way in 
 which the English noblemen "fall at variance among 
 
236 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 themselves, 99 so that the whole country was desolated. 
 The settlers of Waterford and Wexford made similar 
 complaints against an Irish chieftain, O'Driscoll, whom 
 they describe as " an Irish enemy to the king and to all 
 his liege people of Ireland." The duke pacified all par- 
 ties, and succeeded in attaching the majority of the na- 
 tion more and more to his person and his interests. His 
 English friends, who looked on his residence in Ireland 
 as equivalent to banishment and imprisonment, were 
 actively employed in promoting his return. The dis- 
 graceful loss of the English possessions in France, and 
 probably still more the haughty and unconciliatory pol- 
 icy adopted by the queen, had strengthened the Yorkist 
 party, and emboldened them to action. The duke was 
 requested to return to England, where the insurgents in 
 Kent had already risen under the leadership of the fa- 
 mous Jack Cade, whose origin is involved in hopeless 
 obscurity, and whose character has been so blackened 
 by writers on the Lancastrian side that it is equally in- 
 comprehensible. He called himself John Mortimer, and 
 asserted that he was cousin to the viceroy. A proclam- 
 ation, offering one thousand marks for his person, " quick 
 or dead, 7 ' described him as born in Ireland. In conse- 
 quence of the non-payment of the annuity which had been 
 promised to the duke during his viceroyalty, he had 
 been obliged to demand assistance from the Irish, who 
 naturally resisted so unjust a tax. After useless appeals 
 to the king and parliament, he returned to England sud- 
 denly, in September, 1450, leaving Sir James Butler, the 
 eldest son of the earl of Ormonde, as his deputy. 
 
 The history of the Wars of the Roses does not belong 
 to our province ; it must, therefore, suffice to say, that 
 when his party was defeated in England for a time, he 
 fled to Ireland, where he was enthusiastically received, 
 and exercised the office of viceroy at the very time that 
 an act of attainder was passed against him and his fam- 
 ily. He soon returned again to his own country ; and 
 there, after more than one brilliant victory, he was slain 
 at the battle of Wakefield, on the 31st of December, 1460. 
 Three thousand of his followers are said to have perished 
 with him, and among the number # were several Irish 
 chieftains from Meath and Ulster. The Geraldines sided 
 
THE EARLS OF KILDARE AND DESMOND. 237 
 
 with the house of York, and the Butlers with the Lan- 
 castrians : hence members of both families fell on this 
 fatal field on opposite sides. 
 
 The earl of Kildare was lord justice on the accession 
 of Edward IV., who at once appointed his unfortunate 
 brother, the duke of Clarence, to that dignity. The earls 
 of Ormonde and Desmond were at war (a. d. 1462), and 
 a pitched battle was fought at Pilltown, in the county 
 Kilkenny, where the former was defeated with consider- 
 able loss. His kinsman, MacRichard Butler, was taken 
 prisoner ; and we may judge of the value of a book, and 
 the respect for literature in Ireland at that period, from 
 the curious fact that a manuscript was offered and ac- 
 cepted for his ransom. 
 
 The eighth earl of Desmond, Thomas, was made vice- 
 roy in 1462. He was a special favorite with the king. 
 In 1466 he led an army of the English of Meath and 
 Leinster against O'Connor Faly, but he was defeated 
 and taken prisoner in the engagement. Teigue O'Con- 
 nor, the earl's brother-in-law, conducted the captives to 
 Carbury castle, in Kildare, where they were soon liber- 
 ated by the people of Dublin. The Irish were very suc- 
 cessful in their forays at this period. The men of Offaly 
 devastated the country from Tara to Naas ; the men of 
 BrefTni and Oriel performed similar exploits in Meath. 
 Teigue O'Brien plundered Desmond, and obliged the 
 Burkes of Clanwilliam to acknowledge his authority, 
 and only spared the city of Limerick for a consideration 
 of sixty marks. 
 
 The earl of Desmond appears to have exerted himself • 
 in every way for the national benefit. He founded a 
 college in Youghal, with a warden, eight fellows, and 
 eight choristers. He obtained an act for the establish- 
 ment of a university at Drogheda, which was to have 
 similar privileges to that of Oxford. He is described by 
 native annalists — almost as loud in their praises of 
 learning as of valor — as well versed in literature, and 
 a warm patron of antiquaries and poets. But his liber- 
 ality proved his ruin. He was accused of making alli- 
 ances and fosterage with the king's Irish enemies ; and 
 perhaps he had also incurred the enmity of the queen 
 (Elizabeth Woodville), for it was hinted that she had 
 some share in his condemnation. It is at least certain 
 
238 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 that he was beheaded at Drogheda, on the 15th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1467, by the command ofTyptoft, earl of Worces- 
 ter, who was sent to Ireland to take his place as viceroy, 
 and to execute the unjust sentence. The earl of Kildare 
 was condemned at the same time, but he escaped to 
 England, and pleaded his cause so well with the king 
 and Parliament, that he obtained his own pardon, and a 
 reversal of the attainder against the unfortunate earl of 
 Desmond. 
 
 The English power in Ireland was reduced at this time 
 to the lowest degree of weakness. This power had 
 never been other than nominal beyond the Pale ; within 
 its precincts it was on the whole all powerful. But now 
 a few archers and spearmen were its only defence ; and 
 had the Irish combined under a competent leader, there 
 can be little doubt that the result would have been fatal 
 to the colony. It would appear as if Henry VII. hoped 
 to propitiate the Yorkists in Ireland, as he allowed the 
 earl of Kildare to hold the office of lord deputy ; his 
 brother, Thomas FitzGerald, that of chancellor ; and his 
 father-in-law, FitzEustace, that of lord treasurer. After 
 a short time, however, he restored the earl of Ormonde 
 to the family honors and estates, and thus a Lancastrian 
 influence was secured. The most important events of 
 this reign, as far as Ireland is concerned, are the plots 
 of Simnel and Perkin Warbeck, and the enactments of 
 Poyning's Parliament. A contemporary Irish chronicler 
 says : "The son of a Welshman, by whom the battle of 
 Bosworth field was fought, was made king ; and there 
 lived not of the royal blood, at that time, but one youth, 
 who came the next year (1486) in exile to Ireland." 
 
 The native Irish appear not to have had the least 
 doubt that Simnel was what he represented himself to be. 
 The Anglo-Irish nobles were nearly all devoted to the 
 House of York ; but it is impossible now to determine 
 whether they were really deceived, or if they only made 
 the youth a pretext for rebellion. His appearance is 
 admitted by all parties to have been in his favor ; but 
 the king asserted that the real earl of Warwick was then 
 confined in the tower, and paraded him through London 
 as soon as the pseudo-noble was crowned in Ireland. 
 
 In 1488 Sir Richard Edgecumbe was sent to Ireland 
 to exact new oaths of allegiance from the Anglo-Norman 
 
THE PLOT OF PERKIN WARBECK. 
 
 239 
 
 lords, whose fidelity Henry appears to have doubted, and 
 not without reason. The commissioner took up his lodg- 
 ings with the Dominican friars, who appear to have 
 been more devoted to the English interests than their 
 Franciscan- brethren ; but they did not entertain the 
 knight at their own expense, for he complains grievously 
 of his " great costs and charges. " A papal Bull had 
 been procured, condemning all who had rebelled against 
 the king. This was published by the bishop of Meath, 
 with a promise of absolution and royal pardon for all 
 who should repent. Edgecumbe appears to have been 
 at his wit's end to conciliate the " rebels," and informs 
 us that he spent the night in " devising as sure an oath 
 as he could." The nobles at last came to terms, and 
 took the proffered pledge in the most solemn manner. 
 This accomplished, the knight returned to England ; and 
 on his safe arrival, after a stormy passage, made a pil- 
 grimage to Saint Saviour's, in Cornwall. It is quite im- 
 possible now to judge whether these solemn oaths were 
 made to be broken, or whether the temptation to break 
 them proved stronger than the resolution to keep them. 
 It is at least certain that they were broken, and that in a 
 year or two after the earl of Kildare had received his par- 
 don under the great seal. In May, 1492, the Warbeck plot 
 was promulgated in Ireland, and an adventurer landed 
 on the Irish shores, who declared himself to be Richard, 
 duke of York, the second son of Edward IV., who was 
 supposed to have perished in the Tower. His stay in 
 Ireland, however, was brief, although he was favorably 
 received. The French monarch entertained him with the 
 honors due to a crowned head ; but this, probably, was 
 purely for political purposes, as he was discarded as 
 soon as peace had been made with England. He next 
 visited Margaret, the dowager duchess of Burgundy, 
 who treated him as if he were really her nephew. 
 
 Henry now became seriously alarmed at the state of 
 affairs in Ireland, and sent over Sir Edward Poyning, a 
 privy councillor and a knight of the garter, to the trou- 
 blesome colony. He was attended by some eminent 
 English lawyers, and what was of considerably greater 
 importance, by a force of a thousand men. 
 
 The first step was to hunt out the abettors of War- 
 beck's insurrection, who had taken refuge in the north ; 
 
240 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 but the moment the deputy marched against them, the 
 earl of Kildare's brother rose in open rebellion, and seized 
 Carlow castle. The viceroy was, therefore, obliged to 
 make peace with O'Hanlon and Magennis, and to return 
 south. After recovering the fortress, he held a Parlia- 
 ment at Drogheda, in the month of November, 1494. 
 In this Parliament the celebrated statute was enacted, 
 which provided that henceforth no Parliament should be 
 held in Ireland until the chief governor and council had 
 first certified to the king, under the great seal, as well 
 the causes and considerations as the Acts they designed 
 to pass, and till the same should be approved by the king 
 and council. This Act obtained the name of "Poyning's 
 Law." It became a serious grievance when the whole 
 of Ireland was brought under English government ; but 
 at the time of its enactment it could only affect the in- 
 habitants of the Pale, 1 who formed a very small portion 
 of the population of that country ; and the colonists re- 
 garded it rather favorably as a means of protecting them 
 against the legislative oppressions of the viceroys. 
 
 The general object of the Act was nominally to reduce 
 the people to " whole and perfect obedience." The at- 
 tempt to accomplish this desirable end had been contin- 
 ued for rather more than two hundred years, and had not 
 yet been attained. The Parliament of Drogheda did not 
 succeed, although the viceroy returned to England after- 
 wards under the happy conviction that he had perfectly 
 accomplished his mission. Acts were also passed that 
 ordnance should not be kept in fortresses without the 
 viceregal license ; that the lords spiritual and temporal 
 were to appear in their robes in Parliament, for the Eng- 
 lish lords of Ireland had, " through penuriousness, done 
 away the said robes to their own great dishonor, and the 
 rebuke of all the whole land ; 77 that the " many damna- 
 ble customs and uses," practised by the Anglo-Norman 
 .lords and gentlemen, under the names of " coigne, livery, 
 and pay," should be reforined ; that the inhabitants on 
 the frontiers of the four shires should forthwith build and 
 maintain a double ditch, raised six feet above the ground 
 on the side which "meared next unto the Irishmen," 
 
 1 The word " Pale " came to be applied to that part of Ireland occu- 
 pied by the English, in consequence of one of the enactments ot 
 Poyning's Parliament, which required all the colonists to "pale "in 
 or enclose that portion of the country possessed by the English. 
 
THE EARL OF KILDARE TRIED FOR TREASON. 241 
 
 bo that the said Irishmen should be kept out ; that all 
 subjects were to provide themselves with cuirasses and 
 helmets, with English bows and sheaves of arrows ; that 
 every parish should be provided with a pair of butts, and 
 the constables were ordered to call the parishioners 
 before them on, holidays, to shoot at least two or three 
 games. 
 
 The Irish war cries, which had been adopted by the 
 English lords, were forbidden, and they were commanded 
 to call upon St. George or the king of England. The 
 statutes of Kilkenny were confirmed, with the exception 
 of the one which forbade the use of the Irish language. 
 As nearly all the English settlers had adopted it, such 
 an enactment could not possibly have been carried out. 
 Three of the principal nobles of the country were absent 
 from this assembly: Maurice, earl of Desmond, was in 
 arms on behalf of Warbeck ; Gerald, earl of Kildare, was 
 charged with treason ; and Thomas, earl of Ormonde, 
 was residing in England. The earl of Kildare was sent 
 to England to answer the charges of treason which were 
 brought against him. Henry had discovered that Poyn- 
 ing's mission had not been as successful as he expected, 
 and, what probably influenced him still more, that it had 
 proved very expensive. He has the credit of being a 
 wise king in many respects, notwithstanding his avari- 
 ciousness ; and he at once saw that Kildare would be 
 more useful as a friend, and less expensive, if he ceased 
 to be an enemy. The result was the pardon of the 
 " rebel," his marriage with the king's first cousin, Eliz- 
 abeth St. J ohn, and his restoration to the office of deputy. 
 His quick-witted speeches, when examined before the 
 king, took the royal fancy. He was accused of having 
 burned the cathedral of Cashel, to revenge himself on the 
 archbishop, who had sided with his enemy, Sir James 
 Ormonde. There was a great array of witnesses pre- 
 pared to prove the fact ; but the earl excited shouts of 
 laughter by exclaiming, " I would never have done it 
 had it not been told me the archbishop was within." 
 
 The archbishop was present, and one of his most ac- 
 tive accusers. The king then gave him leave to choose 
 his counsel, and time to prepare his defence: Kildare 
 exclaimed that he doubted if he should be allowed to 
 choose the good fellow whom he should select. Henry 
 
242 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 gave him his hand as an assurance of his good faith. 
 "Marry," said the earl, "I can see no better man in 
 England than your highness, and will choose no other." 
 The affair ended by his accusers declaring that " all Ire- 
 land could not rule this earl ; " to which Henry replied : 
 "Then, in good faith, shall this earl rule all Ireland." 
 
 In August, 1489, Kildare was appointed deputy to 
 prince Henry, who was made viceroy. In 1498 he was 
 authorized to convene a Parliament, which should not 
 sit longer than half a year. This was the first Parlia- 
 ment held under Poyning's Act. Sundry regulations 
 were made " for the increasing of English manners and 
 conditions within the land, and for diminishing of Irish 
 usage." In 1503 the earl's son, Gerald, was appointed 
 treasurer for Ireland by the king, who expressed the 
 highest approval of his father's administration. He 
 married the daughter of lord Zouch of Codnor during 
 this visit to England, and then returned with his father 
 to Ireland. Both father and son were treated with the 
 utmost consideration at court, and the latter took an 
 important part in the funeral ceremonies for the king's 
 eldest son, Arthur. The earl continued in office during 
 the reign of Henry VII. An interesting letter, which he 
 wrote in reply to an epistle from the Gherardini of Tus- 
 cany, is still extant. In this document he requests them 
 to communicate anything they can of the origin of their 
 house, their numbers, and their ancestors. He informs 
 them that it will give him the greatest pleasure to send 
 them hawks, falcons, horses, or hounds, or anything that 
 he can procure which they may desire. He concludes : 
 " God be with you ; love us in return. 
 
 " Gerald, chief in Ireland of the family of Gherar- 
 dini, earl of Kildare, viceroy of the most se- 
 rene kings of England in Ireland." 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS, 
 
 243 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 RELIGION, LAWS, ARCHITECTURE, DRESS, AND SOCIAL 
 CUSTOMS OF THE NORMAN PERIOD. 
 
 The Normans appear to have divided their attention 
 to ecclesiastical affairs with tolerable impartiality, be- 
 tween the occupation of destroying Irish monasteries, 
 and erecting new establishments of the same kind. The 
 Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, and Cistercians, 
 were all introduced into Ireland about the same time, 
 and some of the most beautiful ecclesiastical ruins in that 
 country date from this period. 
 
 The abbey of Mellifont was founded a. d. 1142, for 
 Cistercian monks, by Donough O'Carroll, king of Oriel. 
 It was the most ancient monastery of the order in Ire- 
 land, and was supplied with monks by St. Bernard, direct 
 from Clairvaux, then in all its first fervor. The date of 
 the erection of St. Mary's abbey in Dublin has not been 
 correctly ascertained, but it is quite certain that the Cis- 
 tercians were established here in 1139, although it was 
 probably built originally by the Danes. The abbots of 
 this monastery, and of the monastery at Mellifont, sat as 
 barons in Parliament. There were also houses at Bectiff, 
 county Meath ; Baltinglass, county Wicklow ; Moray, 
 county Limerick ; Ordorney, county Kerry (quaintly and 
 suggestively called Kyrie Eleison), at Newry, Permoy, 
 Boyle, Monasterevan, Ashro, and Jerpoint. The supe- 
 riors of several of these houses sat in Parliament. Their 
 remains attest their beauty and the cultivated tastes of 
 their founders. The ruins of the abbey of Holy Cross, 
 Tipperary, founded in 1182, by Donald O'Brien, are of 
 unusual extent and magnificence. But the remains of 
 Dunbrody, in the county of Wexford, are, perhaps, the 
 largest and the most picturesque of any in the kingdom. 
 It was also richly endowed, for these establishments were 
 
244 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 erected by the founders, not merely as an act of piety to 
 God during their lifetime, but with the hope that prayers 
 should be offered there for the repose of their souls after 
 death. Tintern Abbey was founded in the year 1200, by 
 the earl of Pembroke. When in danger at sea he made 
 a vow that he would erect a monastery on whatever place 
 he should first arrive in safety. He fulfilled his promise, 
 and brought monks from Tintern, in Monmouthshire, 
 who gave their new habitation the name of their old 
 home. In 1224 the Cistercians resigned the monastery 
 of St. Saviour, Dublin, which had been erected for them 
 by the same earl, to the Dominicans, on condition that 
 they should offer a lighted taper on the feast of the na- 
 tivity, at the abbey of St. Mary, as an acknowledgment 
 of the grant. The mayor of Dublin, John Decer (a. d. 
 1380), repaired the church, and adorned it with a range 
 of massive pillars. The friars of this house were as 
 distinguished for literature as the rest of their brethren ; 
 and in 1421 they opened a school of philosophy and 
 divinity on Usher's Island. 
 
 The Dominican convent of St. Mary Magdalene at 
 Drogheda was founded in 1224, by John Netterville, 
 archbishop of Armagh. Richard II. and Henry IV. were 
 great benefactors to this house. Four general chapters 
 were also held here. The Black Abbey of Kilkenny was 
 erected by the younger William, earl of Pembroke. Four 
 general chapters were also held here, and it was consid- 
 ered one of the first houses of the order in Ireland. 
 
 The Franciscan order, however, appears to have been 
 the most popular, if we may judge by the number of its 
 houses. Youghal was the first place where a convent 
 of this order was erected. The founder. Maurice Fitz- 
 Gerald, was lord justice in the year 1229, and again in 
 1232. He was a patron of both orders, and died in the 
 Franciscan habit, on the 20th May, 1257. Indeed, some 
 of the English and Irish chieftains were so devout to the 
 two saints, that they appear to have had some difficulty 
 in choosing which they would have for their special 
 patron. In 1649 the famous Owen O'Neill was buried 
 in a convent of the order at Cavan. When dying he 
 desired that he should be clothed in the Dominican habit, 
 and buried in the Franciscan monastery. 
 
 Some curious particulars are related of the foundation 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS. 
 
 245 
 
 at Youghal. The earl was building a mansion for his 
 family in the town, about the year 1231. While the 
 workmen were engaged in laying the foundation, they 
 begged some money, on the eve of a great feast, that 
 they might drink to the health of their noble employer. 
 FitzGerald willingly complied with their request, and 
 desired his eldest son to be the bearer of his bounty. 
 The young nobleman, however, less generous than his 
 father, not only refused to give them the money, but had 
 angry words with the workmen. It is not mentioned 
 whether the affair came to a more serious collision ; but 
 the earl, highly incensed with the conduct of his son, 
 ordered the workmen to erect a monastery instead of a 
 castle, and bestowed the house upon the Franciscan 
 fathers. The following year he took their habit, and 
 lived in the convent until his death. This house was com- 
 pletely destroyed during the persecutions in the reign of 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 The convent of Kilkenny was founded immediately 
 after. Its benefactor was the earl of Pembroke, who was 
 buried in the church. Here was a remarkable spring, 
 dedicated to St. Francis, at which many miraculous cures 
 are said to have been wrought. The site occupied by 
 this building was very extensive ; its ruins only remain 
 to tell how spacious and beautiful its abbey and church 
 must have been. It was also remarkable for the learned 
 men who there pursued their literary toil, among whom 
 we may mention the celebrated annalist Clynn. He was 
 at first guardian of the convent of Carrick-on-Suir ; but, 
 about 1338, he retired to Kilkenny, where he compiled 
 the greater part of his Annals. It is probable that he 
 died about 1350. His history commences with the Chris- 
 tian era, and is carried down to the year 1349. At this 
 time the country was all but depopulated by a fearful 
 pestilence. The good and learned brother seems to have 
 had some forebodings of his impending fate, for his last 
 written words run thus : — " And, lest the writing should 
 perish with the writer, and the work should fail with the 
 workman, I leave behind me parchment for continuing 
 it ; if any man should have the good fortune to survive 
 this calamity, or any one of the race of Adam should es- 
 cape this pestilence, and live to continue what I have 
 
246 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 begun." This abbey was also one of the great literary 
 schools of Ireland, and had its halls of philosophy and 
 divinity, which were well attended for many years. 
 In Dublin the Franciscans were established by the munif- 
 icence of their great patron, Henry III. Ralph le Porter 
 granted a site of land in that part of the city where 
 the street still retains the name of the founder of the 
 Seraphic order. In 1308 John le Decer proved a great 
 benefactor to the friars, and erected a very beautiful 
 chapel, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, in which he was 
 interred. 
 
 But the convent of Multifarnha'm was the great glory 
 of this century. It was erected in 1236, by lord Dela- 
 mere ; and from its retired situation, and the powerful 
 protection of its noble patrons, escaped many of the 
 calamities which befel other houses of the order. The 
 church and convent were built t4 in honor of God and St. 
 Francis." The monastery itself was of unusual size, and 
 had ample accommodation for a number of friars. Hence, 
 in times of persecution, it was the usual refuge of the 
 sick and infirm, who were driven from their less favored 
 homes. The church was remarkable for its beauty and 
 the richness of its ornaments. Here were the tombs of 
 its noble founders and patrons, and the south-eastern 
 window was gorgeous with their heraldic devices. The 
 convent was situated on Lake Derravaragh, and was 
 endowed with many acres of rich land, through which 
 flow the Inny and the Gaine. Such a position afforded 
 opportunity for mills and agricultural labors, of which 
 the friars were not slow to avail themselves. 
 
 JUven a list of the number of religious houses founded 
 at this period would occupy more space than could fairly 
 be given to this subject. Details, however interesting, 
 belong rather to an ecclesiastical history. It will, how- 
 ever, be necessary to remark, that in the reign of Henry 
 VIII. all this property, however vested, and whether con- 
 sisting of lands, buildings, or church possessions, was 
 transferred by the crown to the use of the Protestant 
 church. The lands belonging to the monasteries, or epis- 
 copal sees, were called " Herenagh lands," or " termon 
 lands," and were granted by the chieftains or Norman 
 lords for the support of the monks and clergy belonging 
 
STATUTE OF KILKENNY. 
 
 24T 
 
 to those churches, and for the decent maintenance of 
 the necessary ecclesiastical functions. In some places 
 fisheries, or tolls, were granted for a similar purpose. 
 
 The English settlers in Ireland naturally introduced 
 English laws and customs, but they made the fatal mis- 
 take of not extending their benefits to the native Irish. 
 Hence there were two different, and, in some respects, 
 contradictory, codes enforced, and, necessarily, both con- 
 fusion and injustice were the practical result. The first 
 Convention in Ireland which at all resembled a Parlia- 
 ment, was held at Kilkenny, a. d. 1367 ; but it could not, 
 strictly speaking, be called a Parliament, in the modern 
 acceptation of the term. There is no list extant of the 
 members who composed this assembly, but it is gen- 
 erally supposed to have only represented the English 
 settlers ; indeed, the enactments of the statute are a suf- 
 ficient evidence of this. The object of the statute was 
 to check the gradual amalgamation of the Celts and Nor- 
 mans, an amalgamation which had already commenced. 
 
 The English settlers frequently intermarried with the 
 Irish chieftains, in orderto secure themselves from attack, 
 or to ally themselves to those who would then assist 
 in defending the property which they held by such a 
 precarious tenure. Thus an adoption of Irish laws, 
 manners, dress, and customs became imminent ; and it 
 appeared not unlikely that the descendants of the Norman 
 nobles would eventually become masters of the country, 
 and resist the English government as strongly and more 
 effectually than the Irish themselves had ever done. This 
 became evident after the death of William Burke, who 
 possessed immense property in Ulster and Connaught. 
 He was killed by his own people, and left one daughter, 
 who married Lionel, duke of Clarence; but the next 
 male heirs of the deceased earl had seized his extensive 
 territories in Connaught, and divided them amongst them- 
 selves according to Irish law, because Lionel was pre- 
 sumably interested in the enactment of a statute which 
 should protect his claims. 
 
 The statute or statutes of Kilkenny consist of thirty- 
 four distinct acts besides the conclusion. The preamble 
 states the reason of their enactment, and runs thus : 
 "Whereas . . . many English of the said land (Ireland), 
 forsaking the English language, manners, mode of living, 
 
248 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 laws and usages, live and govern themselves according 
 to the manners, fashion, and language of the Irish ene- 
 mies, and who have made divers marriages and alliances 
 between themselves and the Irish enemies aforesaid. " 
 
 Then follow the enactments. Some of these have been 
 already briefly enumerated. The object was simply to 
 restrain the English from any kind of connection with 
 the Irish. The statutes werer skilfully framed, and only 
 needed one thing to ensure their success — that they 
 should be efficiently carried out. The utter impossi- 
 bility of so doing is obvious at a glance. No. 2 required 
 that the English should neither intermarry with nor be 
 fostered by the Irish. The result was frequent applica- 
 tions to legalize fostering, and eventually the statute 
 was entirely disregarded. No 3 required the exclusive 
 use of the English language ; but clearly Norman-French 
 was thereby intended, for the statute is written in that 
 language ; and clearly the language of a whole nation 
 could not be altered by a legal enactment. However, 
 the statute was passed at Shrovetide, and the defaulters 
 were given a " respite to learn English and provide sad- 
 dles until the feast of St. Michael next ensuing. ?7 
 
 It is evident from No. 4 that ill-feeling had already 
 been created between the English born in Ireland and the 
 English born in England, for they were forbidden to call 
 each other " English hobbe " or V Irish dog." No. 13 for- 
 bids any Irish born person to be received into any relig- 
 ious house, but persons of English descent born in Ire- 
 land were not exempted. 
 
 The animus of the whole statute will be sufficiently 
 clear from these extracts. They failed, because it was 
 impossible to enforce them ; but the attempt to do so led 
 to the most injurious effects. Although this statute was 
 frequently abrogated for the benefit of individuals, and 
 utterly disregarded by all who could possibly escape 
 its enactments, it was confirmed by most of the numer- 
 ous Parliaments held during the succeeding century. 
 These Parliaments were held in "the hows called Ghristes 
 church, scituate in the highe plase of the same, like as 
 Poules in London, where the comen congregations of 
 Parliamentes and greate Counsailles hathe bene used to 
 be selebrated" (Slate Papers, p. Ill, col. ii.). In the 
 Parliament held in a. d. 1475 enactments were made that 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 249 
 
 no knights, citizens, or burgesses should be returned for 
 any place unless they resided there, and that they should 
 have a freehold of forty shillings by the year. Knights 
 of the shire were paid for their attendance. There 
 was considerable difficulty in making the enactments of 
 these Parliaments known before the invention of print- 
 ing : copies were generally sent to the sheriffs, who were 
 obliged to see that they were made known to the people. 
 
 There is sufficient evidence to prove that the Irish 
 erected churches, or, as they are more generally denom- 
 inated, oratories, of stone, at a very early period, but it 
 has not yet been satisfactorily ascertained when they 
 began to build them on a larger scale, and with lime 
 cement. There is mention in the year 1145 of the erec- 
 tion of an immense limekiln by Gelasius, archbishop of 
 Armagh, for repairing churches, which shows that this 
 kind of cement was then in general use. 
 
 In the smaller churches of oblong form without chan- 
 cels, the roofs were constructed of stone, and this con- 
 tinued, with rare exceptions, until the introduction of 
 the pointed or Gothic style. In the larger churches the 
 roofs were generally of wood. Shrines of gold and 
 silver, richly carved, were placed in all the principal 
 churches, and at this period crowns were frequently sus- 
 pended over the shrines of saints. It is probable that 
 St. Patrick introduced this custom into the Irish church, 
 as St. Paulinus describes a crown, which hung over the 
 tomb of St. Martin of Tours, and the practice is also 
 mentioned by Gregory of Tours. 
 
 The beautiful and well-known stone-roofed church on 
 the Rock of Cashel, called Cormac's chapel, is consid- 
 ered one of the most curious and perfect churches of the 
 Norman style in the British empire. In general plan it 
 exhibits many points of resemblance to the early stone- 
 roofed churches of the Irish. Externally the walls are 
 ornamented with blank arcades of semicircular arches ; 
 internally there are similar arcades, which spring from 
 square pilasters in the nave. These pilasters are or- 
 namented with mouldings characteristic of the Norman 
 style. The capitals of the great northern doorway give 
 an interesting example of the intersecting semicircular 
 arches which, by forming acute arches, were supposed 
 by Irish architects to have suggested the pointed style. 
 
250 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Some very beautiful cornices are still in existence 
 which evince the skill of the Irish artist in metal work. 
 Windows of painted glass were in use before 1318, for 
 we find that the cathedral church of Kilkenny, erected at 
 that date, possessed an east window containing the his- 
 tory of Christ from His birth to His ascension, which was 
 so highly esteemed that the pope's nuncio, Rinuccini, 
 who visited Ireland in 1645, offered seven hundred 
 pounds for it. His offer, unfortunately, was not accepted, 
 and it was wantonly destroyed by Cromwell's soldiers. 
 In the fifteenth century the arts of sculpture and metal 
 work declined, and ceased to exhibit any traces of Celtic 
 design. 
 
 Military Architecture. — The Anglo-Normans were 
 obliged to erect castles for defence and protection of 
 their property, as soon as they had obtained any settle- 
 ments in Ireland, but the Irish nobles appear to have 
 anticipated their plan. The Annals record the erection 
 of four castles in Galway between a. d. 1129 and 1134. 
 Roderick O'Conor, the last native monarch of Ireland, 
 erected the castle of Tuam, which was generally known 
 as the Warderford castle, from its novel construction and 
 great strength ; it was, in fact, built on the plan of the 
 castles of the continental feudal lords. It consisted of 
 a strong keep with an extensive courtyard, surrounded 
 by outworks. Towers stood at the angles, and it was 
 protected by a deep fosse, into which the waters of a 
 neighboring river were forced to flow. 
 
 Domestic architecture probably remained much the 
 same as that described at an earlier period. The castle 
 was the home as well as the defence of the higher classes ; 
 the wooden hut, or the securer lake habitation, was the 
 home of those who were obliged to depend on their own 
 valor for protection. 
 
 There are, fortunately, several manuscripts extant 
 from which correct descriptions of the dress and social 
 customs of the Irish at this period (a.d. 1309) may be 
 obtained. In one of these manuscripts we find an ac- 
 count of the dress which a chieftain wore when going 
 into battle. His cassock was of red cloth, his tunic was 
 a gold-bordered garment (the material is not mentioned) 
 that reached from his neck to his knees. Over this he 
 wore a parti-colored coat of mail, " ornamented with 
 
SOCIAL CUSTOMS. 
 
 251 
 
 curious devices of exquisite workmanship." His belt 
 of war was saffron-colored, and ornamented with jewels. 
 He wore a lance " cased in a tubic sheath," a dagger 
 fixed in his belt, a polished spherical helmet, a sharp- 
 pointed sword, a dart in his right hand, and a spear in 
 his left. 
 
 The Irish did not use mail armor before the twelfth 
 century, and probably adopted it gradually from having 
 seen its efficacy in their conflicts with the Danes. The 
 chronic state of war in which the nation was kept from 
 the time of the Danish invasion was a serious and effec- 
 tual hindrance to social advancement. It would appear 
 that wood tablets were used by schoolmasters for record- 
 ing their lessons, and that the Irish character was used 
 even when Latin was the medium of communication or 
 the subject of study. A curious specimen of these tab- 
 lets is preserved in the Royal Irish Academy. The cover 
 and leaves are pine wood, coated to within a quarter of 
 an inch of the edge with wax. The writing is referred 
 by competent caligraphers to the fourteenth century, 
 though it is admitted that such tablets were in use at a 
 much earlier period. 
 
 The Danes, as we have already observed, were the 
 founders of the Irish maritime towns and of Irish export 
 trade. Frequent mention is made in the Sagas of their 
 trading voyages. Before the Anglo-Norman invasion 
 of Ireland a slave trade was carried on between that 
 country and England. William of Malmesbury, in his 
 Life of Wulstan, bishop of Worcester, who died a. d.1095, 
 informs us that Bristol was the great mart for this infa- 
 mous traffic. It was discontinued for a time, in conse- 
 quence of the energetic exertions of the holy bishop. 
 The Irish bartered their cattle for English slaves, whom 
 they employed in tending their herds. The value of each 
 is expressed in the " Doomsday Book," where we find 
 that the toll of the market at Lewes in Suffolk was four- 
 pence for a slave — not a serf, adscriptus glebce, but an 
 unconditional bondsman — and one penny for a cow. 
 The Irish clergy at the synod of Armagh, a. d. 1172, 
 declared that the English invasion was a judgment on 
 their nation for this slave trade, which they were com- 
 manded to discontinue. They were also required to 
 release all the English boys whom they had purchased. 
 
252 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 The principal home manufacture at the time of the 
 Norman invasion was cloth made of black wool, which 
 did not require to be dyed, and parti-colored cloth used 
 for trimmings. Javelins, lances, and battle-axes were 
 also manufactured from iron. The Danes or Ostmen of 
 Wexford imported wine and corn from Brittany, as num- 
 bers of these merchants fled from Dublin at the period 
 of the English invasion. Henry II. peopled it as far as 
 possible with traders from Bristol, to whom he granted 
 a charter, and special privileges. They had considera- 
 ble shipping at an early period, and we find in Rymer's 
 Foedera that in 1242 Henry III. ordered the mayor and 
 burgesses of Dublin to assist him with transport vessels 
 for his war with France. 
 
 In 1272 there was a considerable trade done in cloth, 
 which was exported to England. Indeed, this cloth was 
 famous on the continent at an earlier period, for it is 
 mentioned in the Dita Mundi of Bonifagio's "Uberti," 
 as used in Italy about a. d. 1364. In 1300 a considera- 
 ble trade was carried on in hogs, but whether living or 
 dead the barbarous Latin in which they are described as 
 baconebus makes it impossible to determine. 
 
 There are many notices of Irish chiefs being employed 
 in the French wars by the kings of England. In 1353 
 Edward III. passed the celebrated ordinance known as 
 the staple. The staple goods were wools, wool-fells, 
 hides, and lead, and the staples were certain towns in 
 England, and Dublin, Waterford, Cork, and Drogheda 
 in Ireland. The exportation of staple goods was pro- 
 hibited under penalty of death, but the Irish were allowed 
 to take their staple goods for sale to any staple town in 
 England. 
 
 The Normans, who were notoriously luxurious livers, 
 no doubt introduced many requirements of gastronomy 
 into Ireland. The use of cranes' flesh was learnt from 
 them, and herons, peacocks, swans, and wild geese were 
 also brought to table, and dressed in a way that was then 
 considered the acme of cookery. 
 
FIFTH PERIOD 
 
 IRELAND UNDER THE TUDORS AND STUARTS. 
 FROM A.D. 1513 TO A.D. 1800. 
 
 PRINCIPAL EVENTS. 
 
 FAILURE OF THE ATTEMPT TO INTRODUCE THE REFORMATION 
 INTO IRELAND — THE REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH — RINUC- 
 CINI IS SENT BY THE POPE TO EFFECT A UNION BETWEEN 
 THE IRISH PRINCES — HE FALLS TO ACCOMPLISH THIS, AND 
 RETURNS TO ITALY — CROMWELL'S CAMPAIGN IN IRELAND — 
 BATTLE OF THE BOYNE — INSURRECTION OF 1798 — THE ACT 
 OF UNION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND PASSED 
 A. D. 1800. 
 
 ) 
 
 (253) 
 
LUTHER AND THE REFORMATION. 
 
 255 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A.D. 1513 TO A.D. 1561. 
 
 FAILURE OF THE ATTEMPT TO INTRODUCE THE 
 REFORMATION INTO IRELAND. 
 
 Contemporary Events :— Charles V. obtains the Spanish Crown- 
 Landing of Cortez in Mexico— Luther Excommunicated by the 
 Pope— Circumnavigation of the Globe by Magellan— Capture of 
 Rhodes by the Turks— Francis I. taken Prisoner at Pavia— He signs 
 a Treaty with the Emperor Charles V.— Vienna besieged by the 
 Turks— Henry VIII. proclaimed Head of the Protestant Church in 
 England— The Council of Trent assembled— Death of Henry VIII. 
 of England and Francis I. of France— Abdication of Charles V. 
 
 The so-called Reformation was, unquestionably, the 
 great event of the sixteenth century. It could not be 
 otherwise, since the effects produced by it were of such 
 momentous importance. We are not at present con- 
 cerned with the history of this rebellion against the au- 
 thority of the church in foreign countries, but it is quite 
 impossible to understand Irish history of this period with- 
 out some explanation of the rise and origin of the schism. 
 That it had its beginning in Germany, and that its imme- 
 diate author was an apostate monk named Martin Lu- 
 ther, is generally known, though his miserable career of 
 impiety has been, as far as possible, ignored even by those 
 who boast most loudly of his success. 
 
 Personal pique, and jealousy of the privileges granted 
 to another order were clearly tne first motives by which 
 Luther was actuated. The love of celebrity and a desire 
 for fame, with probably a strong natural inclination to 
 self-will and the gratification of animal passions, were 
 the second and most powerful motives. With such a 
 character, opposition only fed the flame of discontent. 
 Even if individual members of the church had needed 
 reform, revolt against the church could never effect any 
 good end, — as well might you smite the father for the 
 sins of the child. But though Luther boasted loudly 
 
256 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 of his desire to reform both the manners and doctrines 
 of Catholics, he certainly made no attempt to reform his 
 own, and even his best defenders were obliged to admit 
 with pain and shame that he lived a dissolute life, and 
 that he could, and did on many occasions, scoff' at all 
 religion. He himself has left it on record, that he disbe- 
 lieved and despised some portions of Scripture which 
 were admitted even by Protestants to have been inspired 
 by God. 
 
 The new religion, if religion it could be called, soon 
 came to the knowledge of the English king, and it came 
 just at the moment when there was the greatest tempta- 
 tion to adopt it. No unprejudiced person, no person 
 of ordinary historical information can deny that Henry 
 VIII. was only too glad to avail himself of the schism, in 
 order to obtain an excuse for gratifying his sinful incli- 
 nations. Until he wished to be free to repudiate his 
 wives as often as he pleased, he prided himself on being 
 called 11 Defender of the Faith; " when he found that 
 he could not live as he pleased without censure from the 
 church, his ardor soon cooled, and he determined to take 
 the law into his own hands. Unfortunately, as he was 
 a king, it was necessary for him to compel or induce his 
 subjects to follow him. In England the matter was easy ; 
 we are about to record how difficult it was in Ireland, — 
 how, in fact, his attempts failed there entirely. 
 
 Henry VIII. succeeded his father in the year 1509. 
 He was the second son of Henry VII. who had married 
 Elizabeth of York. Henry VIII. had an elder brother, 
 Arthur, who died in 1502. Arthur had married a Span- 
 ish princess, Catherine of Arragon, in November, 1501. 
 The young prince died in April, 1502, — thus his union 
 with the young Spanish princess had only lasted six 
 f months. Catherine had brought an immense fortune to 
 England, and Henry VII. was very unwilling to allow it 
 to leave the country ; but it was necessary, in order to 
 obtain his end, that Catherine should remain in England, 
 and the only possible method of securing her person, was 
 to arrange a marriage between her and the heir to the 
 English throne. Henry was only fourteen when this 
 contract was made, June, 1502, exactly three months 
 after the death of prince Arthur. 
 
 Henry VII., with consummate craft, advised his son 
 to make a secret protest against the marriage, so that 
 
HENRY VIII. 
 
 251 
 
 he might refuse to carry it out when he came of age. 
 But Henry of his own free will did marry Catherine in the 
 most solemn and public manner, seven years after, June 
 24, 1509; and he lived to all appearance very happily 
 with his queen for seventeen years after. The appear- 
 ance of Anne Boleyn at court was the immediate cause 
 of Henry's apostasy. The rare beauty of the lady at- 
 tracted his attention, and he determined to make her 
 his queen. While Catherine lived, the attainment of his 
 vile object seemed impossible. But as he allowed him- 
 self freely to give way to evil desires, the next down- 
 ward step was easily taken. His object now was to get 
 rid of his wife and to marry Anne Boleyn. He could 
 not use violence against Catherine of Arragon as he did 
 against his future queens, as her family were so powerful, 
 therefore the only way in which he could accomplish his 
 purpose was by obtaining a dispensation from the Holy 
 See. 
 
 Henry was at this time a Catholic, at least, in name ; 
 but it should be remembered, and remembered carefully, 
 that when a man sets the commands of God and the 
 church at defiance by living in constant sin, and absent- 
 ing himself from the sacraments, he becomes in great 
 danger of losing his faith. God may withdraw that 
 great grace from him if he proves himself unworthy of 
 it. Henry probably knew this very well: he was clever, 
 and, it would appear, highly educated. He had even de- 
 fended the Holy See against the attacks of Martin Luther, 
 and wrote a work on the Seven Sacraments, which he 
 published in 1521, and for which he obtained the title of 
 " Defender of the Faith.' J But while he was himself despis- 
 ing and contemning the sacraments, it was little use for 
 him to write in their defence. How little he really cared 
 for the sacraments is shown by the way in which he vio- 
 lated the solemn engagements of the sacrament of matri- 
 mony. 
 
 He had already obtained a dispensation to marry Cath- 
 erine. Although it was believed that her marriage with 
 his brother Arthur had never been consummated, yet this 
 dispensation was necessary, as she was legally his sister- 
 in-law. Now, however, he pretended that his conscience 
 would not allow him to live with her any longer ; and 
 this was the excuse he made to the Pope for wanting the 
 
258 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 dispensation. His conscience, however, did not prevent 
 him from living with Anne Boleyn for three years before 
 he married her, and her child, afterwards Queen Eliza- 
 beth, was, in consequence, illegitimate. 
 
 It is probable the Pope was very well aware of the 
 whole state of affairs. Henry knew that he was a very 
 powerful monarch, and he hoped to terrify the Pope 
 into complying with his desires. He had yet to learn 
 that Popes can neither be frightened nor cajoled, and 
 that they would give up their lives and their liberties, 
 were it possible, fifty times over, rather than yield to 
 the wicked will of any king or prince. 
 
 The Pope, however, very wisely sent a legate to Eng- 
 land to inquire into the matter, as this mark of respect 
 was due to Henry. But the Pope's advisers saw plainly 
 the great injustice of the whole proceedings, and that 
 Henry only wished to gratify his passions. Cardinal 
 Wolsey died soon after, and the Pope's legate found that 
 he had only been summoned to England to give judgment 
 in the king's favor, and that if he refused to do it, the 
 king was determined to take his own course. 
 
 Already many German princes had become Protestants 
 and followed Martin Luther's example of profligacy ; not 
 even to save the whole kingdom of England from becom- 
 ing Protestants, would the Pope sanction crime. 
 
 After Wolsey's death, Henry got a new adviser, Crom- 
 well. This Cromwell was a follower of Anne Boleyn's 
 family, and naturally anxious that she should become 
 queen. He had spent many years on the continent, 
 where he had served as a common soldier ; and he had 
 learned the new doctrines taught by Martin Luther 
 and his followers. He now came to the assistance of 
 Henry, and suggested that he should set the Pope at 
 defiance ; that he should declare himself head of the 
 Church ; and then as head of the Church he could legal- 
 ize the sin which the Pope's authority would not allow. 
 Henry at once acted on the advice, as he was very 
 anxious to get rid of his wife. 
 
 Cromwell was ordered to make the necessary arrange- 
 ments, which may be simply explained thus : — The Eng- 
 lish kings, though some of them had been really good 
 Catholics, were always desirous of obtaining an increase 
 of power, and particularly wished to get some kind of 
 
CRAFTINESS OF HENRY VIII. 
 
 259 
 
 control over the bishops and clergy. They made laws 
 at different times to try and effect this object. One of 
 these laws was called the statute of praemunire. This 
 statute made it necessary, under certain circumstances, 
 for ecclesiastics to obtain a patent from the crown before 
 exercising the office of papal legate. 
 
 When Cardinal Wolsey was appointed papal legate he 
 was granted this patent to enable him to exercise his of- 
 fice ; but when Henry turned against him, he had him 
 accused of having accepted the office without obtaining 
 the necessary permission. Of course, this permission 
 had nothing whatever to do' with the spiritual power of 
 ecclesiastics ; for no English king, however wicked, 
 thought of assuming to himself any spiritual power until 
 Henry VIII. made himself head of the Church. Wol- 
 sey pleaded guilty of the crime against the State, al- 
 though he knew very well that he was not guilty ; but 
 he thought that by pleading guilty the king would have 
 mercy on him. Henry, however, was too cruel and too 
 selfish to show him any consideration. The Cardinal 
 was now dead, and Henry, or his minister, Cromwell, 
 thought of this very able device to attain his evil ends. 
 He now proceeded to charge the clergy with having rec- 
 ognized Wolsey's authority and thus infringed the stat- 
 ute. Wolsey had not been guilty of this offence against 
 the law of the land, therefore they were not guilty. 
 This, however, was nothing to the king, and the unfor- 
 tunate clergy knew only too well with whom they had 
 to deal. 
 
 The clergy at once consulted together, and offered the 
 king the enormous sum of one hundred thousand pounds 
 if he would forgive their pretended offence. It would 
 have been far better had they resisted the king ; and had 
 they united in so doing, they would probably have car- 
 ried the day. 
 
 Henry graciously accepted the money, but refused to 
 forgive the clergy unless they introduced a clause into 
 the preamble of their grant acknowledging him as " Pro- 
 tector and only Supreme Head of the Church and Clergy 
 of England." The clergy were not a little astonished 
 at this demand ; they did not know, then, what was the 
 real object which Henry had in prosecuting them ; and 
 they probably never foresaw, or even suspected, the fear- 
 
260 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 ful consequences which the admission of his claim would 
 involve. The clergy debated the matter for three days 
 in convocation, and at last agreed to do what the king 
 wished, provided he would allow them to insert the clause 
 "in so far as the law of Christ will allow." This, of 
 course, quite did away with the meaning intended by 
 the king in his clause ; for both the clergy and the king 
 knew very well that Christ's laws had made St. Peter 
 and the popes, his successors, the heads of His Church, 
 and that the place and authority could never be given to 
 any king, or prince, or layman. 
 
 The king, however, accepted the money and the clause. 
 He feared to press the clergy too far, and hoped that the 
 clause, even as it stood, would become generally known 
 amongst the people of England, and that they would 
 get used to the idea of his being called the head of the 
 Church. This, then, was the commencement of what has 
 been so foolishly called the " Glorious Reformation. " 
 
 We must, however, return once more to secular his- 
 tory before relating the manner in which unsuccessful 
 attempts were made to Protestantize Ireland. 
 
 Henry VIII. succeeded his father in the year 1509. 
 The earl of Kildare was continued in his office as deputy ; 
 but the king's minister, Wolsey, virtually ruled the 
 nation, until the youthful monarch had attained his ma- 
 jority ; and he appears to have devoted himself with con- 
 siderable zeal to Irish affairs. He attempted to attach 
 some of the Irish chieftains to the English interest, and 
 seems in some degree to have succeeded. Hugh O'Don- 
 nell, lord of Tir-Connell, was hospitably entertained at 
 Windsor, as he passed through England on his pilgrim- 
 age to Rome. It is said that O'Donnell subsequently 
 prevented James IV. of Scotland from undertaking his 
 intended expedition to Ireland ; and in 1521 we find him 
 described by the then lord deputy as the best disposed 
 of all the Irish chieftains " to fall into English order." 
 
 Gerald, the ninth and last Catholic earl of Kildare, suc- 
 ceeded his father as lord deputy in 1513. But the heredi- 
 tary foes of his family were soon actively employed in 
 working his ruin ; and even his sister, who had married 
 into that family, proved not the least formidable of his 
 enemies. He was summoned to London ; but either the 
 charges against him could not be proved, or it was 
 
REPORT ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. 
 
 261 
 
 deemed expedient to defer them, for we find him attend- 
 ing Henry for four years, and forming one of his retinue 
 at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Kildare was permitted 
 to return to Dublin again in 1523 ; but he was tracked 
 by Wolsey's implacable hatred to his doom. In 1533 he 
 was confined in the Tower for the third time. The 
 charges against him were warmly urged by his enemies. 
 Two of his sisters were married to native chieftains; 
 and he was accused with playing fast and loose with the 
 English as a baron of the Pale — with the Irish as a warm 
 ally. Two English nobles had been appointed to assist 
 him, or, rather, to act the spy upon his movements, at 
 different times. One of these, Sir Thomas Skeffington, 
 became his most dangerous enemy. 
 
 In 1515 an elaborate report on the state of Ireland was 
 prepared by the royal command. It gives a tolerably 
 clear idea of the military and political condition of the 
 country. According to this account, the only counties 
 really subject to English rule, were Louth, Meath, Dub- 
 lin, Kildare, and Wexford. Even the residents near the 
 boundaries of these districts were obliged to pay " black 
 mail " to the neighboring Irish chieftains. The king's 
 writs were not executed beyond the bounds described ; 
 and within thirty miles of Dublin the Brehon Law was 
 in full force. This document, which is printed in the 
 first volume of the u State Papers " relating to Ireland, 
 contains a list of the petty rulers of sixty different states 
 or " regions/' some of which ''areas big as a shire; 
 some more, some less." The writer then gives various 
 opinions as to the plans which might be adopted for im- 
 proving the state of Ireland, which he appears to have 
 taken principally from a curious old book, called " Salus 
 Popidi." Both writers were of opinion that war to the 
 knife was the only remedy for Ireland's grievances. It 
 was at least clear that if dead men could tell no tales, 
 neither could dead men rebel against oppression ; and the 
 writer of the report concludes, " that if the king were 
 as wise as Solomon the Sage, he shall never subdue the 
 wild Irish to his obedience without dread of the sword." 
 Even this he admits may fail : for he adds, " so long as 
 they may resist and save their lives, they will never obey 
 the king." He then quotes the 11 Salus Populi," to show 
 the advantages which England might derive if the Irish 
 
262 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 united with her in her wars on foreign countries, and 
 observes, "that if this land were put once in order as 
 aforesaid, it would be none other but a very paradise, 
 delicious of all pleasaunce, in respect and regard of any 
 other land in this world ; inasmuch as there never was 
 stranger nor alien person, great or small, that would 
 leave it willingly, notwithstanding the said misorder, if 
 he had the means to dwell therein honestly." 
 
 It cannot now be ascertained whether Kildare had in- 
 cited the Irish chieftains to rebellion or not. In 1520, 
 during one of his periods of detention in London, the 
 earl of Surrey was sent over as deputy with a large force. 
 It would appear as if a general rising were contemplated 
 at that time, and it was then the earl wrote the letter 1 
 already mentioned to 0' Carroll. The new viceroy was 
 entirely ignorant of the state of Ireland, and imagined 
 he had nothing to do but conquer. Several successful 
 engagements confirmed him in this pleasing delusion ; 
 but he soon discovered his mistake, and assured the king 
 that it was hopeless to contend with an enemy who were 
 defeated one day and rose up with renewed energy the 
 next. Asa last resource he suggested the policy of 
 conciliation, which Henry appears to have adopted, as 
 he empowered him to confer the honor of knighthood on 
 any of the Irish chieftains to whom he considered it de- 
 sirable to offer the compliment, and he sent a collar of 
 gold to O'Neill. About the same time Surrey wrote to 
 inform Wolsey that Cormac Oge MacCarthy and Mac- 
 Carthy Reagh were " two wise men, and more conform- 
 able to order than some English were ; 99 but he was still 
 careful to keep up the old policy of fomenting discord 
 among the native princes, for he wrote to the king that 
 "it would be dangerful to have them both agreed and 
 joined together, as the longer they continue in war, the 
 better it should be for your grace's poor subjects here." 
 
 Surrey became weary at last of the hopeless conflict, 
 and at his own request he was permitted to return to 
 England and resign his office, which was conferred upon 
 
 1 The deposition accusing Kildare is printed in the State Papers, 
 part iii. p. 45. The following is an extract from the translation which 
 it gives of his letter to O'Carroll. The original was written in. Irish : 
 " Desiring you to kepe good peas to English men tyll an English Dep- 
 utie come there; and when any English Deputie shall come thydder, 
 dooyour beste to make warre upon English men there, except suche 
 as bee towardes mec, whom you know well your silt'." 
 
MURDER OF ARCHBISHOP ALLEN. 
 
 263 
 
 his friend, Pierse Butler, of Carrick, subsequently earl 
 of Ormonde. The Scotch had begun to immigrate to 
 Ulster in considerable numbers, and acquired large ter- 
 ritories there ; the Pale was almost unprotected ; and 
 the Irish Privy Council applied to Wolsey for six ships- 
 of-war, to defend the northern coasts, a. d. 1522. The 
 dissensions between the O'Neills and O'Donnells had 
 broken out into sanguinary warfare. 
 
 The earl of Kildare left Ireland, for the third and last 
 time, in February, 1534, Before his departure he sum- 
 moned a council at Drogheda, and appointed his son 
 Thomas to act as deputy in his absence. On the earl's 
 arrival in London he was at once seized and imprisoned 
 in the Tower. A false report was carefully circulated 
 in Ireland that he had been beheaded, and that the de- 
 struction of the whole family was even then impending. 
 
 The unfortunate earl had advised his son to pursue a 
 cautious and gentle policy ; but lord Thomas' fiery tem- 
 per could ill brook such precaution, and he was but too 
 easily roused by the artful enemies who incited him to 
 rebellion. The reports of' his father's execution were 
 confirmed. His proud blood was up, and he rushed 
 madly on the career of self-destruction. On the 11th of 
 June, 1534, he flung down the sword of state on the table 
 of the council-hall at St. Mary's Abbey, and openly re- 
 nounced his allegiance to the English monarch. Arch- 
 bishop Cromer implored him with tears to reconsider his 
 purpose, but all entreaties were vain. Even had he been 
 touched by this disinterested counsel, it would probably 
 have failed of its effect ; for an Irish bard commenced 
 chanting his praises and his father's wrongs, and thus 
 his doom was sealed. An attempt was made to arrest 
 him, but it failed. Archbishop Allen, his father's bitter- 
 est enemy, fled to the Castle, with several other nobles, 
 and here they were besieged by FitzGerald and his fol- 
 lowers. The archbishop soon contrived to effect his 
 escape. He embarked at night in a vessel which was 
 then lying at Dame's Gate ; but the ship was stranded 
 near Clontarf, either through accident or design, and the 
 unfortunate prelate was seized by lord Thomas' people, 
 who instantly put him to death. The young nobleman 
 is said by some authorities to have been present at the 
 murder, as well as his two uncles : there is at least no 
 
264 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 doubt of his complicity in the crime. The sentence of 
 excommunication was pronounced against him and those 
 who assisted him, in its most terrible form. 
 
 Ecclesiastical intervention was not necessary to com- 
 plete his ruin. He had commenced his wild career of 
 lawless violence with but few followers, and without any 
 influential companions. The castle of Maynooth, the 
 great stronghold of the Geraldines, was besieged and 
 captured by his father's old enemy, Sir William Skeffing- 
 ton. In the meanwhile the intelligence of his son's 
 insurrection had been communicated to the earl, and the 
 news of his excommunication followed quickly. The 
 unfortunate nobleman succumbed beneath the twofold 
 blow, and died in a few weeks. Lord Thomas surren- 
 dered himself in August, 1535, on the guarantee of lord 
 Leonard and lord Butler, under a solemn promise that 
 his life should be spared. 1 But his fate was in the hands 
 of one who had no pity, even where the tenderest ties 
 were concerned. Soon after the surrender of " Silken 
 Thomas/' his five uncles were seized treacherously at a 
 banquet ; and, although three of them had no part in the 
 rebellion, the nephew and the uncles were all executed 
 together at Tyburn, on the 3rd of February, 1537. If the 
 king had hoped by this cruel injustice to rid himself of 
 the powerful family, he was mistaken. Two children 
 of the late earl still existed. They were sons by his 
 second wife, lady Elizabeth Grey. The younger, still 
 an infant, was conveyed to his mother in England. The 
 elder, a youth of twelve years of age, was concealed by 
 his aunts, who were married to the chieftains of Olfaly 
 and Donegal, and was soon conveyed to France, out of 
 the reach of the enemies who eagerly sought his destruc 
 tion. 
 
 The first attempt made by Henry VIII. to introduce 
 the Reformation was the appointment of Dr. Browne to 
 the see of Dublin. He was an Augustinian friar, and 
 had joined the reforming party in England. He was a 
 man of considerable energy and determination, and the 
 
 1 It is quite evident from the letter of the Council to Henry VIII. 
 {State Papers, ciii.), that a promise was made. Henry admits it, and 
 regrets it in his letter to Skeffington (S. P. cvi.) : " The doyng where- 
 of (FitzGerald's capture), albeit we accept it thankfully, yet if he bad 
 been apprehended after such sorte at was convenable to his deserv- 
 ynges, the same had been nioch more thankfull and better to our 
 contentacion." 
 
OPPOSITION TO THE REFORMATION. 265 
 
 king naturally supposed that he would easily accomplish 
 his wishes. Soon after his arrival in Ireland he received 
 an official letter from Cromwell, containing directions for 
 his conduct there. He is informed it is " the royal will 
 and pleasure of his majesty, that his subjects in Ireland, 
 even as those in England, should obey his commands in 
 spiritual matters as in temporal, and renounce their alle- 
 giance to the see of Rome." But Dr. Browne soon found 
 that it was incomparably easier for Henry to issue com- 
 mands in England than for him to enforce them in Ire- 
 land. He therefore wrote to Cromwell, from Dublin, on 
 "the 4th of the Kal. of December, 1535, " and informed 
 him that he "had endeavored, almost to the danger and 
 hazard of my temporal life, to procure the nobility and 
 gentry of this nation to due obedience in owning of his 
 highness their supreme head, as well spiritual as tempo- 
 ral ; and do find much oppugning therein, especially by 
 my brother Armagh, who hath been the main oppugner, 
 and so hath withdrawn most of his suffragans and clergy 
 within his see and diocese. He made a speech to them, 
 laying a curse on the people whosoever should own his 
 highness' supremacy, saying, that isle — as it is in their 
 Irish chronicles, insula sacra — belongs to none but the 
 bishop of Rome, and that it was the bishop of Rome that 
 gave it to the king's ancestors." Dr. Browne then pro- 
 ceeds to inform his correspondent that the Irish clergy 
 had sent two messengers to Rome. He states " that the 
 common people of this isle are more zealous in their 
 blindness than the saints and martyrs were in truth ; " 
 and he advises that a Parliament should at once be sum« 
 moned, " to pass the supremacy by act ; for they do not 
 much matter his highness' commission, which your lord- 
 ship sent us over." 
 
 The Parliament was summoned in 1536 ; but, as a re- 
 mote preparation, the lord deputy made a " martial cir- 
 cuit " of Ireland, hoping thereby to overawe the native 
 septs, and compel their submission to the royal will and 
 pleasure. " This preparation being made," writes Sir 
 John Davies, " he first propounded and passed in Parlia- 
 ment these lawes, which made the great alteration in the 
 state ecclesiastical, namely, the act which declared king 
 Henry VIII. to be supreme head of the Church of Ireland ; 
 the act prohibiting apeales to the Church of Rome ; the 
 12 
 
266 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 act for first fruites and twentieth part to be paid to the 
 king ; and lastly, the act that did utterly abolish the 
 usurped authoritie of the pope. Next, for the increase 
 of the king's revenew. By one act he suppressed sun- 
 dry abbayes and religious houses, and by another act 
 resumed the lands of the absentees. " 
 
 The Anglo-Norman nobles and gentlemen were easily 
 persuaded to enact whatever laws the king wished, but 
 the ecclesiastics were by no means so pliable. Every 
 division had the privilege of sending two proctors to 
 Parliament, and these proctors so vehemently opposed 
 the royal supremacy in matters spiritual, that lords Grey 
 and Brabazon were obliged to prorogue the Parliament, 
 and write to Crcm well to state that they had been obliged 
 to do so in consequence of the " forwardness and obsti- 
 nacy of the proctors, of the clergy, and of the bishops 
 and abbots ; " and they suggest that " some means 
 should be devised, whereby they should be brought to 
 remember their duty better," or that " means may be 
 found which shall put these proctors from a voice in 
 Parliament." The means were easily found — the proc- 
 tors were forbidden to vote. The act was passed. 
 
 As it was now evident that the Irish nation would not ac- 
 cept Henry's supremacy, an expedient was prepared for 
 their utter extirpation. It would be impossible to believe 
 that the human heart could be guilty of such cruelty, if 
 we had not evidence of the fact in the u State Papers." 
 By this diabolical scheme it was arranged to kill or carry 
 away their cattle, and to destroy their corn while it was 
 green. " The very living of the Irishry," observes the 
 writer, "doth clearly consist in two things; and take 
 away the same from them, and they are past power to 
 recover, or yet to annoy any subject in Ireland. Take 
 first from them their corn — burn and destroy the same ; 
 and then have their cattle and beasts, which shall be 
 the most hardest to come by, and yet, with guides and 
 policy, they be often had and taken." Such was the 
 arrangement ; and it was from no want of inclination 
 that it was not entirely carried out, and the " Irishry" 
 starved to death in their own land. 
 
 Dr. Browne still kept up an active correspondence 
 with his royal master, in which we find evidence of his 
 miserable servility, and the spirit by which he was actu- 
 
DR BROWNE. 
 
 26T 
 
 ated in promoting the Reformation in Ireland. In a let- 
 ter, dated 27th September, 1537, he commences by in- 
 forming his most excellent highness that he had received 
 his most gracious letter on the 7th September, and that 
 "it made him tremble in body for fear of incurring his 
 majesty's displeasure/ 7 which was doubtless the most 
 truthful statement. He mentions all his zeal and efforts 
 against popery, which, he adds, " is a thing not little 
 rooted among the inhabitants here." He assures the 
 king of his activity in securing the twentieth part and 
 first fruits for the royal use, and states what, indeed, 
 could not be denied, that he was the " first spiritual man 
 who moved " for this to be done. He concludes with 
 the fearful profanity of " desiring of God, that the ground 
 should open and swallow him up the hour or minute that 
 he should declare the Gospel of Christ after any sort 
 than he had done heretofore, in rebuking the papistical 
 power, or in any other point concerning the advancement of 
 his grace' s affairs" 
 
 Such a tissue of profanity and absurdity was seldom , 
 penned, even in an age when the boldest and bravest 
 trembled before the Tudor frown. 
 
 Dr. Browne and the lord deputy now rivalled each 
 other in their efforts to obtain the royal approbation, by 
 destroying all that the Irish people held most sacred, 
 determined to have as little cause as possible for "the 
 trembling in body n which the king's displeasure would 
 effect. They traversed the land from end to end, de- 
 stroying cathedrals, plundering abbeys, and burning 
 relics. However full of painful interest these details 
 may be, as details they belong to the province of the 
 ecclesiastical historian. 
 
 In January, 1539, they set out on a " visitation " of 
 the four counties of Carlow, Wexford, Waterford, and 
 Tipperary, in which the church militant was for the nonce 
 represented' by the church military. They transmitted 
 an account of their expedition, and the novel fashion in 
 which they attempted to propagate the gospel, to Eng- 
 land, on the 18th of January. One brief extract must 
 suffice as a specimen of their proceedings. " The day 
 following we kept the sessions there (at Wexford). 
 There was put to execution four felons, accompanied 
 with another, a friar, whom we commanded to be hanged 
 
268 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 in his habit, and so to remain upon the gallows for a 
 mirror to all his brethren to live truly. " 
 
 The church lands were now sold to the highest bidder, 
 or bestowed as a reward upon those who had helped to 
 enrich the royal coffers by sacrilege. Amongst the rec- 
 ords of the sums thus obtained, we find 326Z. 2s. lid., 
 the price of divers pieces of gold and silver, of precious 
 stories, silver ornaments, &c. ; also 20Z., the price of one 
 thousand pounds of wax. The sum of 1,710Z. 2s. was 
 realized from the sale of sacred vessels belonging to 
 thirty-nine monasteries. The profits on the spoliation 
 of St. Mary 's, Dublin, realized 385Z. The destruction of 
 the Collegiate Church of St. Patrick must have procured 
 an enormous profit, as we find that Cromwell received 
 601. for his pains in effecting the same. 1 It should also 
 be remembered that the value of a penny then was equal 
 to the value of a shilling now, so that we should multi- 
 ply these sums at least by ten to obtain an approximate 
 idea of the extent of this wholesale robbery. 
 
 The spoilers now began to quarrel over the spoils. 
 The mqst active or the most favored received the largest 
 share ; and Dr. Browne grumbled loudly at not ob- 
 taining all he asked for. But we need not record the 
 disedifying history of their quarrels. The next step was 
 to accuse each other. In the report of the commission- 
 ers appointed in 1538 to examine into the state of the 
 country, we find complaints made of the exaction of 
 undue fees, extortions for baptisms and marriages, &c. 
 They also (though this was not made an accusation by 
 the commissioners) received the fruits of benefices in 
 which they did not officiate, and they were accused of 
 taking wives and dispensing with the sacrament of matri- 
 mony. The king, whatever personal views he might have 
 on this subject, expected his clergy to live virtuously ; 
 and in 1542 he wrote to the lord deputy, requiring an 
 act to be passed "for the continency of the clergy/ ' 
 and some '* reasonable plan to be devised for the avoid- 
 ing of sin." However, neither the act nor the "rea- 
 
 1 28th Henry VIII. cap. xvi. In Shirley's Original Letters, p. 31, we 
 find the following order from the lord protector Somerset, to the 
 dean of St. Patrick's : " Being advertised that one thousand ounces 
 of plate, of crosses, and such like things remaineth in the hands of 
 you, we require you to deliver the same to be employed to his majes* 
 ty's use," &c. He adds that the dean is to receive 44 201. in ready mon- 
 ey " for the safe keeping of the same. 
 
EDWARD AND MARY. 
 
 269 
 
 sonable plan" appears to have succeeded. In 1545 Dr. 
 Browne writes: " Here reigneth insatiable ambition; 
 here reigneth continually coigne and livery, and callid 
 extortion." Five years later, Sir Anthony St. Leger, 
 after piteous complaints of the decay of piety and the 
 increase of immorality, epitomizes the state of the coun- 
 try thus : "I never saw the land so far out of good 
 order." 
 
 On the 28th of January, 1547, Edward VI. was crowned 
 king of England. The council of regency appointed by 
 Henry was set aside, and Seymour, duke of Somerset, 
 appointed himself protector. St. Leger was continued 
 in the office of lord deputy in Ireland ; but Sir Edward 
 Bellingham was sent over as captain-general, with a 
 considerable force, to quell the ever-recurring disturb- 
 ances. His energetic character bore down all opposi- 
 tion, as much by the sheer strength of a strong will as 
 by force of arms. In 1549 the earl of Desmond refused 
 to attend a council in Dublin, on the plea that he wished 
 to keep Christmas in his own castle. Bellingham, who 
 had now replaced St. Leger as lord deputy, set out at 
 once, with a small party of horse, for the residence of 
 the refractory noble, seized him as he sat by his own fire- 
 side, and carried him off in triumph to Dublin. 
 
 In 1548 O'Connor and O'More were expelled from Of- 
 faly and Leix, and their territory usurped by an English- 
 man named Francis Bryan. Cahir Roe O'Connor, one 
 of the sept, was executed in.Dublin, and a number of 
 the tribe were sent to assist in the Scotch wars. The 
 political cabals in England consequent on the youth of 
 the king, who nominally governed the country, occa- 
 sioned frequent changes in the Irish administration. 
 
 In 1551 the lord deputy, Crofts, who succeeded Sir 
 Thomas Cusack, led an army into Ulster against the 
 Scotch settlers, who had long been regarded with a jeal- 
 ous eye by the English government; but he was de- 
 feated both at this time and on a subsequent occasion. 
 No Parliament was convened during this short reign, 
 and the affairs of the country were administered by the 
 Privy Council. Dr. Browne and Dr. Staples were lead- 
 ing members. The chancellor, Read, and the treasurer, 
 Brabazon, were both English. The Irish members were 
 Aylmer, Luttrell, Bath, Howth, and Cusack, who had 
 
270 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 all recently conformed, at least exteriorly, to the new- 
 religion. 
 
 The most important native chieftain of the age was 
 Shane O'Neill. His father, Con, surnamed Baccagh 
 ("the lame"), had procured the title of baron of Dun- 
 gannon, and the entail of the earldom of Tyrone, from 
 Henry VII., for his illegitimate son, Ferdoragh. He now- 
 wished to alter this arrangement; but the ungrateful 
 youth made such charges against the old man, that he 
 was seized and imprisoned by the deputy. After his 
 death Shane contended bravely for his rights. The 
 French appear to have made some attempt about this 
 period to obtain allies in Ireland, but the peace which 
 ensued between that country and England soon termi- 
 nated such intrigues. 
 
 All efforts to establish the royal supremacy during 
 this reign were equally unsuccessful. On Easter Sun- 
 day, a. d. 1551, the liturgy was read for the first time in 
 the English tongue in Christ Church Cathedral. As a 
 reward for his energy in introducing the reform in gen- 
 eral, and the liturgy in particular, Edward VI. annexed 
 the primacy of all Ireland to the see of Dublin by act of 
 Parliament. There was one insuperable obstacle, how- 
 ever, in the way of using the English tongue, which was 
 simply that the people did not understand it. Even the 
 descendants of the Anglo-Normans were more familiar 
 with the Celtic dialect, and some attempt was made at 
 this time to procure a Latin translation of the Protestant 
 communion service. 
 
 When Mary ascended the throne of England, in 1553, 
 the Irish were naturally much elated, hoping for a time 
 of peace. This they certainly obtained, as far as the 
 permission to exercise their religion unmolested was 
 concerned, but they failed to secure any temporal ad- 
 vantages. 
 
 A synod was held at Dundalk, where the very few 
 prelates and priests who had conformed under Henry 
 VIII. were deprived of their offices. The number was 
 so small that the necessary arrangements were easily 
 made. The only prelates that were removed were 
 Browne, of Dublin ; Staples, of Meath ; Lancaster, of 
 Kildare ; and Travers, of Leighlin. Goodacre died a 
 few months after his intrusion into the see of Armagh ; 
 
SHANE O'NEILL. 
 
 271 
 
 Bale, of Ossory, fled beyond the seas ; Casey, of Limer- 
 ick followed his example. All were English except the 
 latter, and all, except Staples, were professing Protes- 
 tants at the time of their appointment to their respective 
 sees. Bale, who owed the Kilkenny people a grudge, for 
 the indignant and rather warm reception with which they 
 greeted him on his intrusion into the see, gives a graphic 
 account of the joy with which the news of Edward's 
 death was received. The people " flung up their caps 
 to the battlements of the great temple ; " set the bells 
 ringing ; brought out incense and holy water, and formed 
 once more a Catholic procession, chanting the Sancta 
 Maria, ora pro nobis, as of old. In fact, " on the acces- 
 sion of Mary to the throne, so little had been done in the 
 interest of the Reformation, that there was little or noth- 
 ing to undo. She issued a license for the celebration 
 of Mass in Ireland, where no other service was or had 
 been celebrated worth mentioning, and where no other 
 supreme head had been ever in earnest acknowledged 
 but the pope." 
 
 In the year 1553 Gerald and Edward, the sons of the 
 late earl of Kildare, returned from exile, and were re- 
 stored to the family honors and possessions. The Four 
 Masters say that " there was great rejoicing because 
 of their arrival, for it was thought that not one of the 
 descendants of the earls of Kildare or of the O'Connors 
 Faly would ever again come to Ireland," They also 
 mention that Margaret, a daughter of O'Connor Faly, 
 went to England, " relying on the number of her friends 
 and relatives there, and her knowledge of the English 
 language, to request queen Mary to restore her father 
 to her." Her petition was granted, but he was soon 
 after seized again by the English officials and cast into 
 prison. 
 
 Shane O'Neill made an unsuccessful attempt to recover 
 his paternal dominions, in 1557. The following year his 
 father died in captivity, 1 in Dublin, and he procured the 
 
 1 Lord chancellor Cusack addressed a very curious Book on the State 
 of Ireland to the duke of Northumberland, in 1552, in which he men- 
 tions the fearful condition of the northern counties. He states that 
 " the cause why the earl was retained (in Dublin castle) was for the 
 wasting and destroying of his county." This work is one of consid- 
 erable interest, and gives important and reliable details, both of pub- 
 lic affairs and of the private feuds which tended so much to compli- 
 cate the politics of the period. It would well repay the student for a 
 careful perusal. 
 
272 
 
 COMPENDIUM OP IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 murder of Ferdoragh, so that he was able to obtain his 
 wishes without opposition. Elizabeth had now ascended 
 the English throne (a. d. 1558), and, as usual, those in 
 power, who wished to retain office, made their religion 
 suit the views of the new ruler. The earl of Sussex 
 still continued viceroy, and merely reversed his previous 
 acts. Sir Henry Sidney also made his worldly interests 
 and his religious views coincide. A Parliament was 
 held in Dublin, in 1560, on the 12th of January. It was 
 composed of seventy-six members, the representatives 
 of ten counties, the remainder being citizens and bur- 
 gesses of those towns in which the royal authority was 
 predominant. " It is little wonder," observes Leland, 
 " that, in despite of clamor, and opposition, in a session 
 of a few weeks, the whole ecclesiastical system of queen 
 Mary was entirely reversed." Every subject connected 
 with this assembly and its enactments demands the most 
 careful consideration, as it has been asserted by some 
 writers — who, however, have failed to give the proofs 
 of their assertion — that the Irish Church and nation fol- 
 lowed the example of England. This certainly was not 
 the opinion of the government officials, who were ap- 
 pointed by royal authority to enforce the act, and who 
 would have been only too happy could they have reported 
 success to their mistress. 
 
 The official list of the members summoned to this Par- 
 liament has been recently published by the Irish Archae- 
 ological Society. More than two-thirds of the upper 
 house were persons of whose devotion to the Catholic 
 faith there has been no question ; there were but few 
 members in the lower house. No county in Ulster was 
 allowed a representative, and only one of its borough 
 towns, Carrickfergus, was permitted to elect a member. 
 Munster furnished twenty members. No county mem- 
 bers were allowed in Connaught, and it had only two 
 boroughs, Galway and Athenry, from which it could send 
 a voice to represent its wishes. The remaining fifty 
 members were chosen from a part of Leinster. In fact, 
 the Parliament was constituted on the plan before men- 
 tioned. Those who were considered likely to agree 
 with the government were allowed to vote ; those of 
 whose dissent there could be no doubt were not allowed 
 a voice in the affairs of the nation. 
 
PARLIAMENTARY TREACHERY. 
 
 2T3 
 
 It might be supposed that, with the exception of a 
 few members of the upper house, such a Parliament 
 would at once comply with the queen's wishes ; but the 
 majority made no secret of their intention to oppose the 
 change of religion, and the penal code which should be 
 enacted to enforce it. The deputy was in an unpleasant 
 position. Elizabeth would not easily brook the slight- 
 est opposition to her wishes. The deputy did not feel 
 prepared to encounter her anger, and he determined to 
 avoid the difficulty, by having recourse to a most unwor- 
 thy stratagem. First, he prorogued the house from the 
 11th of January to the 1st of February, 1560 ; and then 
 took advantage of the first day of meeting, when but 
 few members were present, to get the act passed ; sec- 
 ondly, he solemnly swore that the law should never be 
 carried into execution, and by this false oath procured 
 the compliance of those who still hesitated. I shall give 
 authority for these statements. 
 
 The letter of Elizabeth, with her positive instructions 
 to have the law passed, was dated October 18, 1559, 
 and may be seen in extenso in the Liber Munerum Hiber- 
 nicBy vol. i., p. 113. There are several authorities for 
 the dishonest course pursued by the lord deputy. The 
 author of Cambrensis Eversus says : " The deputy is 
 said to have used force, and the speaker treachery. I 
 heard that it had been previously announced in the house 
 that Parliament would not sit on that very day on which 
 the laws against religion were enacted ; but, in the mean- 
 time, a private summons was sent to those who were 
 well known to be favorable to the old creed. " Father 
 George Dillon, who died in 1650, a martyr to his charity 
 in assisting the plague-stricken people of Waterford, 
 gives the following account of the transaction : " J ames 
 Stanihurst, lord of Corduff, who was speaker of the lower 
 house, by sending private summons to some, without 
 any intimation to the more respectable Irish who had a 
 right to attend, succeeded in carrying that law by sur- 
 prise. As soon as the matter was discovered, in the 
 next full meeting of Parliament, there was a general pro- 
 test against the fraud, injustice, and deliberate treachery 
 of the proceeding; but the lord justice having solemnly 
 sworn that the law would never be carried into execu- 
 tion, the remonstrants were caught in the dexterous 
 
2U 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 snare, and consented that the enactment should remain 
 on the statute-book." 
 
 The Loftus manuscript, in Marsh's Library, and Sir 
 James Ware, both mention the positive refusal of the 
 Parliament to pass this law, and the mission of the earl 
 of Sussex to consult her majesty as to what should be 
 done with the refractory members. If he then proposed 
 the treachery which he subsequently carried out, there 
 is no reason to suppose that Elizabeth would have been 
 squeamish about it, as we find she was quite willing to 
 allow even more questionable methods to be employed 
 on other occasions. 
 
 The Loftus manuscript mentions a convocation of 
 bishops which assembled this year, " by the queen's com- 
 mand, for establishing the Protestant religion." The 
 convocation was, if possible, a greater failure than the 
 Parliament. 1 
 
 Notwithstanding the solemn promise of the lord dep- 
 uty, the penal statutes against Catholics were carried 
 out. In 1563 the earl of Essex issued a proclamation, 
 by which all priests, secular and regular, were forbidden 
 to officiate, or even to reside in Dublin. Fines and 
 penalties were strictly enforced for absence from the 
 Protestant service ; before long, torture and death were 
 inflicted. 
 
 Curry gives some account of those who suffered for 
 the faith in this reign. He says : M Among many other 
 Eoman Catholic bishops and priests, there were put to 
 death, for the exercise of their function in Ireland, 
 Globy 0'Bo}'le, abbot of Boyle, and Owen O'Mulkeran, 
 abbot of the monastery of the Holy Trinity, hanged and 
 quartered by lord Grey, in 1580. John Stephens suf- 
 fered the same punishment from lord Burroughs, for say- 
 ing Mass in 1597 ; Thady O'Boyle was slain in his own 
 
 1 Mr. Froude remarks, in his History of England, vol. x. p. 480: 
 " There is no evidence that any of the bishops in Ireland who were 
 in office at queen Mary's death, with the exception of Curwin, either 
 accepted the Reformed Prayer Book, or abjured the authority of the 
 pope." He adds, in a foot-note : " I cannot but express my astonish- 
 ment at a proposition maintained by bishop Mant and others, that 
 the whole hierarchy of Ireland went over to the Reformation with 
 the Government. In a survey of the country supplied by Cecil in 1571, 
 after death and deprivation had enabled the government to fill sev- 
 eral sees, the arehbishops of Armagh, Tuam, andCashel, with almost 
 every one of the bishops of the respective provinces, are described 
 as Catholici ct Confederati. The archbishop of Dublin, with the bishops 
 of Kilciare, Ossory, and Ferns, are alone returned as 1 Protestants n 
 
PERSECUTION OF THE CATHOLICS. 275 
 
 monastery at Donegal; six friars were slain at Moynihi- 
 gan ; John O'Calyhor and Bryan O'Freeor were killed 
 at their monastery in Ulster, with Felimy O'Hara, a lay 
 brother. Eneus Penny was massacred at the altar of his 
 own parish church, Killagh. Fourteen other priests died 
 in Dublin castle, either from hard usage or the violence 
 of torture/ ' 
 
 Dr. Adam Loftus, the Protestant archbishop of Ar- 
 xnagh, was one of the most violent persecutors of the 
 Catholics. In his first report to the queen, dated May 
 17th, 1565, he describes the nobility of the Pale as all 
 devoted to the ancient creed ; and he recommends that 
 they should be fined, "in a good round sum," which 
 should be paid to her majesty's use, and " sharply dealt 
 withal." On September 22, 1590, after twenty-five years 
 had been spent in the fruitless attempt to convert the 
 Irish, he writes to lord Burleigh, detailing the causes 
 of the general decay of the Protestant religion in Ire- 
 land, and suggesting " how the same may be remedied." 
 He advises that the ecclesiastical commission should 
 be put in force, " for the people are poor, and fear to be 
 fined." He requests that he and such commissioners as 
 are " well affected in religion, may be permitted to im- 
 prison and fine all such as are obstinate and disobedient ; " 
 and he has no doubt, that " within a short time they 
 will be reduced to good conformity." 
 
 Even Sir J ohn Perrot, who has the name of being one 
 of the most humane of the lord deputies, could not 
 refrain from acts of cruelty where Catholics were con- 
 cerned. On one occasion he killed fifty persons, and 
 brought their heads home in triumph to Kilmallock, 
 where he arranged them as a trophy round the cross 
 in the public square. In 1582 he advised her majesty 
 u that friars, monks, Jesuits, priests, nuns, and such 
 like vermin, who openly uphold the papacy, should be 
 executed by martial law." The officers of the troops 
 sent to put down popery seem to have rivalled each other 
 in acts of cruelty. One is said to have tied his victim 
 to a maypole, and then punched out his eyes with his 
 thumbs. Others amused themselves with flinging up 
 infants into the air, and catching them on the points of 
 their swords. Francis Crosby, the deputy of Leix, used 
 to hang men, women, and children on an immense tree 
 
276 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 which grew before his door, without any crime being 
 imputed to them except their faith, and then to watch 
 with delight how the unhappy infants hung by the long 
 hair of their martyred mothers. 
 
REVOLTS OF THE IRISH CHIEFTAINS. 
 
 an 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 A. D. 1561 TO A.D. 1599. 
 
 REVOLTS OF THE IRISH CHIEFTAINS DURING THE 
 REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. 
 
 Contemporary Events : —Marriage of Mary Queen of Scots and Lord 
 Darn ley— Pius V. Pope— Battle of Lepanto— Massacre of St. Bar- 
 tholomew's Day— Portugal united to Spain— Execution of Mary 
 Queen of Scots— Destruction of the Spanish Armada— Death of 
 Philip III. of Spain. 
 
 The exploits of Shane O'Neill, and his gallant resist- 
 ance to English rule in Ireland, belong almost to the 
 romance of history. He was an Ulster chieftain of the 
 old race, and had not only held his own territory, but 
 also added to it by conquest, so that he ruled the whole 
 of Ulster. 
 
 Even his letters are signed, if not written, in royal 
 style. He dates one Ex finibus de Tirconail, when 
 about to wage war with the neighboring sept of O'Don- 
 nelPs; he dates another, Ex Silvis meis ; when, in pur- 
 suance of his Celtic mode of warfare, he hastened into 
 his woods to avoid an engagement with the English sol- 
 diers, he signs himself Misi O'Neill — Me, the O'Neill. 
 
 In 1561 Sussex returned from England with reinforce- 
 ments for his army, and marched to Armagh, where he 
 established himself in the cathedral. From thence he 
 sent out a large body of troops to plunder in Tyrone, 
 but they were intercepted by the redoubtable Shane 
 O'Neill, and suffered so serious a defeat as to alarm the 
 inhabitants of the Pale, and even the English nation. 
 Fresh supplies of men and arms were hastily despatched 
 from England, and the earls of Desmond, Ormonde, Kil- 
 dare, Thomond and Clanrickarde assembled around the 
 viceregal standard to assist in suppressing the formida- 
 ble foe. And well might they fear the lion-hearted 
 
2*8 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 chieftain ! A few years later, Sidney describes him as 
 the only strong man in Ireland. The queen was warned 
 that, unless he were speedily put down, she would lose 
 Ireland, as her sister had lost Calais. He had gained 
 all Ulster by his sword, and ruled therein with a far 
 stronger hand, and on a far firmer foundation, than ever 
 any English monarch had obtained in any part of Ire- 
 land. Ulster was his terra clausa; and he would be a 
 bold, and perhaps a rash man, who dare intrude in these 
 dominions. He could muster seven thousand men in 
 the field ; and though he seldom hazarded a general 
 engagement, he i 1 slew in divers conflicts three thousand 
 jve hundred soldiers, and three hundred Scots of Sid- 
 ney's army." The English chronicler, Hooker, who 
 lived in times when the blaze and smoke of houses and 
 haggards, set on fire by Shane, could be seen even from 
 Dublin castle, declares that it was feared he intended to 
 make a conquest of the whole land. 
 
 As this man was too clever to be captured, and too 
 brave to be conquered, a plan was arranged, with Eliz- 
 abeth's free concurrence, to get rid of him by poison or 
 assassination. The evidence of the royal complicity is 
 preserved in the records of the State Paper Office. 
 
 The proposal for this diabolical treachery, and the 
 arrangements made for carrying it out, were related by 
 Sussex to the queen. He writes thus: "In fine, I 
 brake with him to kill Shane, and bound myself by my 
 oath to see him have a hundred marks of land to him and 
 to his heirs for reward. He seemed desirous of serving 
 your highness, and to have the land, but fearful to do 
 it, doubting his own escape after. I told him the ways 
 he might do it, and how to escape after with safety; 
 which he offered and promised to do." The earl adds a 
 piece of information, which, no doubt, he communicated 
 to the intended murderer, and which, probably, decided 
 him on making the attempt: "I assure your highness 
 he may do it without danger if he will; and if he will 
 not do what he may in your service, there will be done 
 to him what others may." 
 
 Her majesty, however, had a character to support ; 
 and whatever she may have privately wished and com- 
 manded, she was obliged to disavow complicity pub- 
 licly. In two despatches from court she expresses her 
 
ATTEMPT TO POISON O'NEILL. 
 
 279 
 
 V displeasure at John Smith's horrible attempt to poison 
 Shane O'Neill in his wine." In the following spring 
 John Smith was committed to prison, and "closely 
 examined by lord chancellor Cusake." What became 
 of John is not recorded, but it is recorded that " lord 
 chancellor Cusake persuaded O'Neill to forget the poi- 
 soning." His clan, however, were not so easily per- 
 suaded, and strongly objected to his meeting the vice- 
 roy in person, or affording him an opportunity which he 
 might not live to forget. About this time O'Neill de- 
 spatched a document to the viceroy for his consideration, 
 containing a list of " other evill practices devised to other 
 of the Irish nation within ix or tenn yeares past." The 
 first item mentions that Donill O'Breyne and Morghe 
 O'Breyne, his son, " required the benefit of her majesty's 
 laws, by which they required to be tried, and thereof 
 was denied ; " and that when they came to Limerick 
 under the protection of the lord deputy, they were pro- 
 claimed traitors, and their lands and possessions taken 
 from them. Several other violations of protection are 
 then enumerated, and several treacherous murders are re- 
 corded, particularly the murder of Art Boy Cavanagh, 
 at Captain Hearn's house, after he had dined with him, 
 and of Randall Boye's two sons, who were murdered, 
 one after supper, and the other in the tower, by Brere- 
 ton, "who escaped without punishment." 
 
 In October, 1562, Shane was invited to England, and 
 was received by Elizabeth with marked courtesy. His 
 appearance at court is thus described by Camden, a. d. 
 1562: "From Ireland came Shane O'Neill, who had 
 promised to come the year before, with a guard of axe^ 
 bearing galioglasses, their heads bare, their long curling 
 hair flowing on their shoulders, their linen garments dyed 
 with saffron, with long open sleeves, with short tunics, 
 and furry cloaks, whom the English wondered at as much 
 as they do now at the Chinese or American aborigines." 
 Shane's visit to London was considered of such import-* 
 ance that we find a memorandum in the State Paper 
 Office, by " secretary Sir W. Cecil, March, 1562," of 
 the means to be used with Shane O'Neill, in which the 
 first item is that " he be procured to change his gar- 
 ments, and go like an Englishman." But this was pre- • 
 cisely what O'Neill had no idea of doing. Sussex appears 
 
280 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 to have been O'Neill's declared and open enemy. There 
 is more than one letter extant from the northern chief to 
 the deputy. In one of these he says : "I wonder very 
 much for what purpose your lordship strives to destroy 
 me." In another, he declares that his delay in visiting 
 the queen had been caused by the " amount of obstruc- 
 tion which Sussex had thrown in his way, by sending a 
 force of occupation into his territory without cause ; 
 for as long as there shall be one son of a Saxon in my 
 territory against my will, from that time forth I will not 
 send you either settlement or message, but will send my 
 complaint through some other medium to the queen." 
 In writing to the Baron of Slane, he says that " nothing 
 will please him (the deputy) but to plant himself in my 
 lands and my native territory, as I am told every day 
 that he desires to be styled earl of Ulster." 
 
 The lord chancellor Cusack appears, on the contrary, 
 to have constantly befriended him. On January 12, 
 1568, he writes of O'Neill's " dutifulness and most com- 
 mendable dealing with the Scots ; " and soon after three 
 English members of the Dublin government complain 
 that Cusack had entrapped them into signing a letter to 
 the unruly chieftain. There is one dark blot upon the 
 escutcheon of this remarkable man. He had married the 
 daughter of O'Donnell, lord of one of the Hebrides. 
 After a time he and his father-in-law quarrelled, and 
 Shane contrived to capture O'Donnell and his second 
 wife. He kept this lady for several years as his mis- 
 tress ; and his own wife is said to have died of shame and 
 horror at his conduct, and at his cruel treatment of her 
 father. 
 
 After many ineffectual attempts at assassination, Shane 
 at last fell a victim to treachery. Sir William Piers, the 
 governor of Carrickfergus, invited some Scotch soldiers 
 over to Ireland, and then persuaded them to quarrel 
 with him and kill him. They accomplished their purpose 
 by raising a disturbance at a feast, when they rushed on 
 the northern chieftain, and despatched him with their 
 swords. His head was sent to Dublin, and his old ene- 
 mies took the poor revenge of impaling it on the castle 
 walls. 
 
 The earl of Sussex was recalled from Ireland in 1564, 
 p and Sir Henry Sidney was appointed viceroy. The earls 
 
SIDNEY'S VICEROY ALTY. 
 
 281 
 
 of Ormonde and Desmond had again quarrelled, and in 
 1562 both earls were summoned to court by the queen. 
 Elizabeth was related to the Butlers through her mother's 
 family, and used to boast of the loyalty of the house of 
 Ormonde. The Geraldines adhered to the ancient faith, 
 and suffered for it. A battle was fought at Affane, near 
 Cappoquin, between the two parties, in which Desmond 
 was wounded and made prisoner. The man who bore 
 him from the field asked, tauntingly : Where is now 
 the proud earl of Desmond ? " He replied, with equal 
 pride and wit: "Where he should be; upon the necks 
 of the Butlers." 
 
 At the close of the month of January, 1567, the lord 
 deputy set out on a visitation of Munster and Connaught. 
 In his official account he writes thus of Munster : " Like 
 as I never was in a more pleasant country in all my life, 
 so never saw I a more waste and desolate land. Such 
 horrible and lamentable spectacles are there to behold 
 — as the burning of villages, the ruin of churches, the 
 wasting of such as have been good towns and castles ; 
 yea, the view of the bones and skulls of the dead sub- 
 jects, who, partly by murder, partly by famine, have 
 died in the fields — as, in truth, hardly any Christian 
 with dry eyes could behold." He declares that in the 
 territory subject to the earl of Ormonde he witnessed " a 
 want of justice and judgment." He describes the earl 
 of Desmond as "a man devoid of judgment to govern, 
 and of will to be ruled." The earl of Thomond, he says, 
 " had neither wit of himself to govern, nor grace nor 
 capacity to learn of others." The earl of Clanrickarde 
 he describes as " so overruled by a putative wife, as oft- 
 times, when he best intendeth, she forceth him to do the 
 worst ; " and it would appear that neither he nor his 
 lady could govern their own family, for their sons were 
 so turbulent that they kept the whole country in disturb- 
 ance. In Galway he found the people trying to protect 
 themselves as best they might from their dangerous 
 neighbors; and at Athenry there were but four respect- 
 able householders, who presented him with the rusty 
 keys of their town — "a pitiful and lamentable present ; " 
 and they requested him to keep those keys, for ** they 
 were so impoverished by the extortions of the lords 
 
282 
 
 COMPENDIUM OP IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 about them, as they were no longer able to keep that 
 town." 
 
 Nor was the state of religious affairs at all more prom- 
 ising. The deputy describes the kingdom as " over- 
 whelmed by the most deplorable immorality and irre- 
 ligion ; " the Privy Council, in their deliberations, give 
 a similar account. "As for religion, there was but small 
 appearance of it ; the churches uncovered, and the clergy 
 scattered. " .An act of Parliament was then passed to 
 remedy the evils which acts of Parliament had created. 
 In the preamble (11th Elizabeth, sess. iii. cap. 6.) it men- 
 tions the disorders which Sidney had found, and com- 
 plains of " the great abuse of the clergy in getting into 
 the said dignities by force, simony, friendship, and other 
 corrupt means, to the great overthrow of God's holy 
 Church ; 99 and for remedy, the act authorizes the lord 
 deputy to appoint for ten years, to all the ecclesiastical 
 benefices of these provinces, with the exception of the 
 cathedral churches of Waterford, Limerick, Cork, and 
 Cashel. 
 
 But it was soon evident that acts of Parliament could 
 not effect ecclesiastical reforms, though they might en- 
 force exterior conformity to a new creed. In 1576 Sid- 
 ney again complains of the state of the Irish church, 
 and addresses himself, with almost blasphemous flattery, 
 to the head of that body, i ' as to the only sovereign salve- 
 giver to this your sore and sick realm, the lamentable 
 state of the most noble and principal limb thereof — the 
 Church I mean — as foul, deformed, and as cruelly 
 crushed as any other part thereof, only by your gracious 
 order to be cured, or at least amended. I would not 
 have believed, had I not, for a greater part, viewed the 
 same throughout the whole realm. 99 He then gives a 
 detailed account of the state of the diocese of Meath, 
 which he declares to be the best governed and best peo- 
 pled diocese in the realm ; and from his official report of 
 the state of religion there, he thinks her majesty may 
 easily judge of the spiritual condition of less favored dis- 
 tricts. He says there are no resident parsons or vicars, 
 and only a very simple or sorry curate appointed to 
 serve them ; of them, only eighteen could speak English, 
 the rest being "Irish ministers; or rather Irish rogues, 
 
PLANTATION OF ULSTER. 
 
 283 
 
 having very little Latin, and less learning or civility." 
 The fact was, that the Irish people, whose minds had 
 been long imbued with the deepest hatred to everything 
 English, abhorred the adoption of a religion which came 
 to them from those whom they considered as their 
 oppressors. They saw the ancient monasteries and 
 churches, which had once been the pride of their coun- 
 try, desolated and in ruins. They could not be expected 
 to repair them when they knew that they would be no 
 longer used by the priests of their own faith ; and these 
 same priests generally remained concealed in the woods 
 nearest to their old parish churches, and whence they 
 came forth at night to administer the sacraments to the 
 people, who faithfully guarded their retreat. 
 
 Sidney returned to England in 1567, where his pres- 
 ence was absolutely necessary for his own interests, as 
 his enemies were taking advantage of his absence to 
 discredit his government with the queen. He was, how- 
 ever, permitted to return in 1568, when he landed at Car- 
 rickfergus, and received the submission of Turlough 
 O'Neill, who had been elected chieftain after the death 
 of Shane. His first public act was to assemble a Parlia- 
 ment, in which all constitutional rules were simply set 
 at defiance (January 17th, 1569). Mayors and sheriffs 
 returned themselves ; members were sent up for towns 
 not incorporated, and several Englishmen were elected 
 as burgesses for places they had never seen. One of 
 these men, Hooker, who was returned for Athenry, has 
 left a chronicle of the age. He had to be protected by 
 a guard in going to his residence. Popular feeling was 
 so strongly manifested against this gross injustice, that 
 the judges were consulted as to the legality of proceed- 
 ings, of whose iniquity there could be no doubt. The 
 elections for non-corporate towns, and the elections of 
 individuals by themselves, were pronounced invalid ; 
 but a decision was given in favor of non-resident Eng- 
 lishmen, which still gave the court a large majority. In 
 this Parliament — if, indeed, it could be called such — 
 acts were passed for attainting Shane O'Neill, for sup- 
 pressing the name, and for annexing Tyrone to the royal 
 possessions. Charter schools were to be founded, of 
 which the teachers should be English and Protestants ; 
 and the law before-mentioned, for permitting the lord 
 
284 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 deputy to appoint persons to ecclesiastical benefices for 
 ten years, was passed. 
 
 Sidney now attempted a plan of local government by 
 appointing* presidents to rule different provinces ; but 
 this arrangement simply multiplied the number of li- 
 cense.! oppressors. Sir Edward Fitton was appointed 
 president of Connaught, and Sir J ohn Perrot, ofMunster. 
 Both of these gentlemen distinguished themselves by 
 " strong measures," of which cruelty to the unfortunate 
 natives was the predominant feature. Perrot boasted 
 that he would lt hunt the fox out of his hole," and devoted 
 himself to the destruction of the Geraldines. Fittou ar- 
 rested the earl of Clanrickarde, and excited a general 
 disturbance. In 1570 the queen determined to la} 7 claim 
 to the possessions in Ulster, graciously conceded to her 
 by the gentlemen who had been permitted to vote ac- 
 cording to her royal pleasure in the so-called Parliament 
 of 1569. She bestowed the district of Ards, in Down, 
 upon her secretary, Sir Thomas Smith. It was described 
 as " divers parts and parcels of her highness' earldom 
 of Ulster that lay waste, or else was inhabited with a 
 wicked, barbarous, and uncivil people." 
 
 The tract of country thus unceremoniously bestowed 
 upon an English adventurer was in the possession of Sir 
 Rowland Savage, a descendant of one of the early An- 
 glo-Norman settlers. Thus it was proved in many cases, 
 that it was no special enmity to the native Irish which 
 caused them to be so frequently dispossessed of their 
 lands, since the English settlers who had been any length 
 of time in the country were liable to similar treatment. 
 It was, in fact, the culmination of a system of govern- 
 ment as unwise as it was unjust, by which the rights of 
 property in Ireland were never respected, and as a natu- 
 ral result there could be no national prosperity. 
 
 The first State Paper notice of this enterprise is in a 
 letter, dated February 8, 1572, from Captain Piers to the 
 lord deputy, stating that the country is in an uproar " at 
 Mr. Smith's coming over to plant in the north." The 
 uproar ended by Mr. Smith's " being intercepted and 
 slain by a wild Irishman." In fact, one of the men 
 whom he had expelled from the land on which he had 
 lived for centuries, took the law into his own hands, and 
 effectually enforced his claim to his ancestral property. 
 
INJUSTICE OP THE PLANTATIONS. 
 
 285 
 
 Before his assassination Smith had written an account 
 of his proceedings to his father, in which he says that 
 " envy had hindered him more than the enemy, " and that 
 he had been ill -handled by some of his own soldiers, ten 
 of whom he had punished. He also expresses some fear 
 of the native Irish, whom he had tried to drive out of 
 their lands, as he says they sometimes lay " wait to 
 intrap and murther the maister himself." Each planta* 
 tion, which will be recorded afterwards, was carried out 
 on the same plan. The object of the Englishman was to 
 obtain a home and a fortune ; to do this he was obliged 
 to drive the natives out of their homes, and to deprive 
 them of their wealth, whether greater or less. The ob- 
 ject of the Irishman was to keep out the intruder; and, 
 if he could not be kept out, to get rid of him by fair 
 means or foul. 
 
 It is probable that the attempt of Smith was intended 
 by government principally as an experiment to ascertain 
 whether the plantation could be carried out on a larger 
 scale. The next attempt was made by Walter Deve- 
 reux, earl of Essex, who received part of the signories 
 of Clannaboy and Ferney, provided he could expel the 
 " rebels " who dwelt there. Essex mortgaged his estates 
 to the queen to obtain funds for the enterprise. He was 
 accompanied by Sir Henry Kenlis, lord Dacres, and lord 
 Norris's three sons. 
 
 Sir William FitzGerald, the then lord deputy, com- 
 plained loudly of the extraordinary powers granted to 
 Essex ; and some show of deference to his authority was 
 made by requiring the earl to receive his commission from 
 him. Essex landed in 1573, and the usual career of 
 tyranny and treachery was enacted. The native chief- 
 tains resisted the invasion of their territories, and endeav- 
 ored to drive out the men whom they could only con- 
 sider as robbers. The invaders, when they could not 
 conquer, stooped to acts of treachery. Essex soon found 
 that the conquest of Ulster was not quite so easy a task 
 as he had anticipated. Many of the adventurers who 
 had assumed his livery, and joined his followers, deserted 
 him ; and Brian O'Neill, Hugh O'Neill, and Turlough 
 O'Neill rose up against him. Essex then invited Conn 
 O'Donnell to his camp ; but, as soon as he secured him, 
 
286 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 he seized his castle of Lifford, and sent the unfortunate 
 chieftain a prisoner to Dublin. 
 
 In 1574 the earl and Brian O'Neill made peace. A 
 feast was prepared by the latter, to which Essex and his 
 principal followers were invited ; but after this entertain- 
 ment had lasted for three days and nights, " as they 
 were agreeably drinking and making merry, Brian, his 
 brother, and his wife were seized upon by the earl, and all 
 his people put unsparingly to the sword — men, women, 
 youths, and maidens — in Brian's own presence. Brian 
 was afterwards sent to Dublin, together with his wife 
 and brother, where they were cut in quarters. Such was 
 the end of their feast. This wicked and treacherous 
 murder of the lord of the race of Hugh Boy O'Neill, the 
 head and the senior of the race of Eoghan, son of Nial 
 of the Nine Hostages, and of all the Gaels, a few only 
 excepted, was a sufficient cause of hatred and dispute to 
 the English by the Irish. " 
 
 Essex visited England in 1575, and tried to induce the 
 queen to give him further assistance in his enterprise. 
 On her refusal he retired to Ireland, and died in Dublin, 
 September 22, 1576. It was rumored that he had died 
 of poison, and that the poison was administered at the 
 desire of the earl of Leicester, who soon after divorced 
 his own wife, and married the widow of his late rival. 
 Essex complained bitterly in his letter to Sir Henry Sid- 
 ney, of the way in which he had been treated in his pro- 
 jected plantation of Clonnaboy, and protested against the 
 injustice which had been done through him on O'Donnell, 
 MacMahon, and others, who were always peaceable and 
 loyal, but " whom he had, on the pledged word of the 
 queen undone with fair promises. 77 Probably, only for 
 his own " undoing," he would have had but scant pity 
 for others. 
 
 Sir Henry Sidney returned to Ireland in 1575. He 
 tells us himself how he took on him " the third time, that 
 thanklesse charge ; and so taking leave of her majesty, 
 sissed her sacred hands, with most gracious and com- 
 fortable wordes, departed from her at Dudley castell, 
 passed the seas, and arrived thexiii of September, 1575, 
 as nere the city of Dublin as I could saufly ; for at that 
 time the city was greevously infested with the contagion 
 
SIDNEY RETURNS TO IRELAND. 
 
 287 
 
 of the pestilence." He then proceeded to Tredagh 
 (Drogheda), where he received the sword of the then 
 deputy. He then marched northward, and attacked Sor- 
 ley Boy and the Scotch, who were besieging Carrickfer- 
 gus ; and after he had conquered them, he received the 
 submission of Turlough O'Neill and other Ulster chief- 
 tains. Turlough's wife, the lady Agnes O'Neill, nee 
 McDonnell, was aunt to the earl of Argyle, and appears . 
 to have been very much in favor with the lord deputy. 
 
 In the " depe of wynter" he went to Cork, where he 
 remained from Christmas to Candlemas. He mentions 
 his entertainment at Barry's Court with evident zest, 
 and says 11 there never was such a Christmas kept in the 
 same." In February he visited Thomond, and subdued 
 " a wicked generation, some of whom he killed, and some 
 he hanged by order of law," — a nice distinction, which 
 could hardly have been appreciated by the victims. 
 The earl of Clanrickarde caused "his two most bade and 
 rebellious sonnes " to make submission, " whom I would 
 to God I had then hanged." However, he kept them 
 close prisoners, and " had a sermon made of them and 
 their wickedness in the chief church of the town." John 
 seems to have been the principal delinquent. Some time 
 after, when they had been set at liberty, they rebelled 
 again ; and he records the first " memorable act " which 
 one of them had done, adding, " which I am sure was 
 John." 
 
 Sidney then marched into the west, and had an in- 
 terview with the famous Grace O'Malley, or Granuaile, 
 which he describes thus: "There came to me also a 
 most famous femynyne sea captain, called Granuge 
 FMally, and offered her services unto me wheresoever I 
 would command her, with three galleys and two hundred 
 fighting men. She brought with her her husband, for 
 she was as well by sea as by land more than master's- 
 mate with him. He was of the nether Burkes, and 
 called by nickname Richard in Iron. This was a noto- 
 rious woman in all the coasts of Ireland. This woman 
 did Philip Sidney see, and speak with ; he can more at 
 large inform you of her." Grana, or Grace O'Malley, 
 was the daughter of a chieftain of the same patronymic. 
 Her paternal clan were strong in galleys and ships. 
 
 4 
 
288 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 They owned a large territory on the sea-coast, besides 
 the islands of Arran. Her first husband was Donnell 
 O'Flaherty. His belligerent propensities could scarcely 
 have been less than hers, for he is termed Aith Chogaid, 
 or " of the wars." Her second husband, Sir Richard 
 Burke, or Richard an larainn, is described by the Four 
 Masters as a " plundering, warlike, unjust, and rebellious 
 • man." He obtained his sobriquet from the circumstance 
 of constantly appearing in armor. It would appear from 
 this account that Sidney's statement of the lady Grana 
 being " more than master's-mate with him," must be 
 taken with some limitations, unless, indeed, he who ruled 
 his foes abroad, failed to rule his wife at home, which 
 is quite possible. One of her castles still remains ; it 
 is situated near the lake of Borrishoole, in the county 
 Mayo. The ruins are very striking, and show that it 
 was once a fortress of considerable strength. 
 
 In 1577 serious complications were threatened, in con- 
 sequence of the pecuniary difficulties of the crown. An 
 occasional subsidy had been granted hitherto for the sup- 
 port of the government and the army ; an attempt was 
 now made to convert this subsidy into a tax. On pre- 
 vious occasions there had been some show of justice, 
 however little may have been the reality, by permitting 
 the Parliament to pass the grant ; a scheme was now 
 proposed to empower the lord deputy to levy assess- 
 ments by royal authority, without any reference to 
 Parliament. For the first time the Pale opposed the 
 government, and resisted the innovation. But their op- 
 position was speedily and effectually silenced. The 
 deputies whom they sent to London to remonstrate were 
 committed to the Tower, and orders were despatched to 
 Ireland that all who had signed the remonstrance should 
 be consigned to Dublin castle. . 
 
 The earl of Desmond wrote an elaborate and well- 
 digested appeal to lord Burleigh, complaining of military 
 abuses, and assuring his lordship that if he had " sene 
 them (the poor who were burdened with cess) he would 
 rather give them charitable alms than burden them with 
 any kind of chardge." He mentions specially the cru- 
 elty of compelling a poor man to carry for five, eight, or 
 ten miles, on his back, as many sheaves as the "horse- 
 
o'more's exploits. 
 
 289 
 
 boies" choose to demand of him; and if he goes not a 
 " good pace, though the poor soule be overburdened, he 
 is all the waye beaten outt of all measure. " 
 
 Cess was also commanded to be delivered at the 
 " queen's price, " which was considerably lower than the 
 market price. Even Sidney was supposed to be too 
 lenient in his exactions ; but eventually a composition 
 of seven years' purveyance, payable by instalments, was 
 agreed upon, and the question was set at rest. The 
 queen and the English Council naturally feared to alien- 
 ate the few nobles who were friendly to them, as well as 
 the inhabitants of the Pale, who were as a majority in 
 their interest. 
 
 The Pale was kept in considerable alarm at this period 
 by the exploits of the famous outlaw, Rory Oge O'More. 
 In 1577 he stole into Naas with his followers, and set 
 the town on fire ; after this exploit he retired, without 
 taking any lives. He continued these depredations for 
 eighteen years. In 1578 he was killed by one 6f Mac- 
 Gillapatrick's men, and the Pale was relieved from a 
 most formidable source of annoyance. But the same 
 year in which this brave outlaw terminated his career is 
 signalized by one of the most fearful acts of bloodshed 
 and treachery on record. The heads of the Irish fami- 
 lies of Offaly and Leix, whose extirpation had long been 
 attempted unsuccessfully, were invited in the queen's 
 name, and under the queen's protection, to attend a con- 
 ference at the great rath on the hill of Mullach-Maistean 
 (Mullamast). As soon as they had all assembled, they 
 were surrounded by a treble line of the queen's garrison 
 soldiers, and butchered to a man in cold blood. 
 
 This massacre was performed with the knowledge and 
 approval of the deputy, Sir Henry Sidney. The soldiers 
 who accomplished the bloody work were commanded 
 by captain Francis Crosby, to whom the chief command 
 of all the kerne in the queen's pay was committed. 
 
 Sir Henry Sidney retired from office finally on May 
 26, 1578. He dates his Memoir from " Ludlow Castell, 
 with more payne than harte, the 1st of March, 1582." 
 In this document he complains bitterly of the neglect 
 of his services by government, and bemoans his losses 
 in piteous strains. He describes himself as " fifty -four 
 yeres of age, toothlesse and trembling, being five thou- 
 13 
 
290 
 
 COMPENDIUM OP IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 sand pounds in debt." He says he shall leave his sons 
 twenty thousand pounds worse off' than his father left 
 him. In one place he complains that he had not as much 
 ground as would " feede a mutton/' and he evidently 
 considers his services were worth an ampler remunera- 
 tion ; for he declares : " I would to God the country was 
 yet as well as I lefte it almost fyve yeres agoe." If he 
 did not succeed in obtaining a large grant for his ser- 
 vices, it certainly was not for want of asking it ; and if 
 he did not succeed in pacifying the country, it was not 
 for lack of summary measures. Even in his postscript 
 he mentions how he hanged a captain of Scots, and he 
 thinks " very nere twenty of his men." 
 
 Exaggerated rumors were now spread throughout 
 Munster of the probability of help from foreign sources 
 — a. d. 1579. James FitzMaurice had been actively 
 employed on the Continent in collecting troops and as- 
 sistance for the Irish Catholics. In France his requests 
 were politely refused, for Henry III. wished to continue 
 on good terms with Elizabeth. Philip II. of Spain 
 referred him to the pope. In Rome he met with more 
 encouragement ; and at the solicitation of the Franciscan 
 bishop of Killaloe; Cornelius CTMullrain, Dr. Allen, and 
 Dr. Saunders, he obtained a Bull, encouraging the Irish 
 to fight for the recovery of religious freedom, and for the 
 liberation of their country. An expedition was fitted out 
 at the expense of the Holy See, and maintained event- 
 ually by Philip of Spain. At the earnest request of Fitz- 
 Maurice, an English adventurer, named Stukeley, was 
 appointed admiral. The military command was bestowed 
 upon Hercules Pisano, a soldier of some experience. 
 
 Stukeley was reported to be an illegitimate son of 
 Henry VIII. He was a wild and lawless adventurer, 
 and entirely unfitted for such a command. At Lisbon 
 he forsook his squadron, and joined the expedition which 
 Sebastian, the romantic king of Portugal, was preparing 
 to send to Morocco. FitzMaurice had travelled through 
 France to Spain, from whence he proceeded to Ireland 
 with a few troops. He had three small vessels besides 
 his own, and on his way he captured two English ships. 
 He was accompanied by Dr. Saunders, as legate, the 
 bishop of Killaloe, and Dr. Allen. They were entirely 
 ignorant of Stukeley's desertion until their arrival in Ire- 
 
stukeley's EXPEDITION FROM SPAIN. 291 
 
 land. The squadron reached Dingle on the 17th of July, 
 157.9. Eventually they landed at Smerwick harbor, and 
 threw themselves into the Fort del Ore, which they for- 
 tified as best they could. If the earl of Desmond had 
 joined his brother at once, the expedition might have 
 ended differently ; but he stood aloof, fearing to involve 
 himself in a struggle, the issue of which could scarcely 
 be doubtful. 
 
 John Geraldine allied himself with the movement from 
 its commencement. A second expedition was fitted out 
 in Spain, which reached Ireland on the 13th of Septem- 
 ber, 1580. It was commanded by Colonel Sebastian San 
 Jos<$, who proved eventually so fearful a traitor to the 
 cause he had volunteered to defend. Father Mathew de 
 Oviedo, a member of the Franciscan order, was the prin- 
 cipal promoter of this undertaking. lie was a native 
 of Spain, and had been educated in the college of Sala- 
 manca, then famous for the learning and piety of its stu- 
 dents. The celebrated Florence Conry, subsequently 
 archbishop of Tuam, was one of his companions ; and 
 when he entered the Franciscan novitiate, he had the 
 society of eleven brethren who were afterwards elevated 
 to the episcopate. Oviedo was the bearer of a letter 
 from the Roman Pontiff, Gregory XIII., granting indul- 
 gences to those who joined the army. 
 
 On the 18th of August, scarcely a month after he had 
 landed in Ireland, James FitzMaurice was killed by The- 
 obald and Ulick Burke, his own kinsmen. Their father, 
 Sir William Burke, was largely rewarded for his loyalty 
 in opposing the Geraldines ; and, if Camden is to be be- 
 lieved, he died of joy in consequence of the favors heaped 
 upon him. The death of FitzMaurice was a fatal blow 
 to the cause. J ohn Geraldine, however, took the com- 
 mand of the force ; but the earl hastened to Kilmallock 
 to exculpate himself as best he could with the lord 
 deputy. His apologies were accepted, and he was per- 
 mitted to go free on leaving his only son, James, then 
 a mere child,. as hostage with Drury. The Geraldines 
 were successful soon after in an engagement with the 
 English ; and Drury died in Waterford at the end of Sep- 
 tember. Ecclesiastical historians say that he had been 
 cited by the martyrs of Kilmallock to meet them at 
 Christ's judgment, and answer for his cruelties. 
 
292 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Sir Nicholas Malby was left in command of the army, 
 and Sir William Pelham was elected lord deputy in Dub- 
 lin. The usual career of burning and plundering was 
 enacted — "the country was left one level plain, with- 
 out corn or edifices." Youghal was burned to the 
 ground, and the mayor was hanged at his own door. 
 James Desmond was hanged and quartered, by St. Leger 
 and Raleigh, in Cork. Pelham signalized himself by 
 cruelties, and executed a gentleman who had been blind 
 from his birth, and another who was over a hundred 
 years of age. 
 
 But the crowning tragedy was at hand. The expe- 
 dition commanded by San Jos^ now arrived in Ireland. 
 The Fort del Ore was once more occupied and strength- 
 ened ; the courage of the insurgents was revived. Mean- 
 while lord Grey was marching southward with all pos- 
 sible haste. He soon reached the fort, and, at the same 
 time, admirals Winter and Bingham prepared to attack 
 the place by sea. In a few days the courage of the Span- 
 ish commander failed, and he entered into treaty with 
 the lord deputy. A bargain was made that he should 
 receive a large share of the spoils. He had obtained a 
 personal interview in the viceroy's camp, and the only 
 persons for whom he made conditions were the Span- 
 iards who had accompanied him on the expedition. The 
 English were admitted to the fortress on the following 
 day, and a feast was prepared for them. All arms and 
 ammunition were consigned to the care of the English 
 soldiers, and, this accomplished, the signal for massacre 
 was given ; and, according to lord Grey's official account, 
 six hundred men were slain in cold blood. So univer- 
 sal was the reprobation of this fearful tragedy, that Sir 
 Richard Bingham tried to make it appear that it had not 
 been premeditated. Grey's official despatch places the 
 matter beyond question, and Dr. Saunders' letter sup- 
 plies the details on authority which cannot be disputed. 
 
 Three persons who had been treacherously given up 
 to the viceroy were spared for special torments ; those 
 were — a priest named Lawrence, an Englishman named 
 William Willick, and Oliver Plunkett. They were offered 
 liberty if they would renounce the faith ; but on their 
 resolute refusal, their legs and arms were broken in three 
 places, and after they had been allowed to pass that night 
 
ASSASSINATION OF THE EARL OF DESMOND. 293 
 
 and the next day in torment, they were hanged and quar- 
 tered. The " State Papers" confirm the account given 
 by Saunders of these barbarities. 
 
 Immense rewards were now offered for the capture of 
 the Geraldine leaders, but their faithful followers would 
 not be bribed. John was at length seized, through the 
 intervention of a stranger. He was wounded in the 
 struggle, and died immediately after; but his enemies 
 wreake4 their vengeance on his remains, which were 
 gibbeted at Cork. The earl of Desmond was assassin- 
 ated on the 11th of November, 1583, and the hopeless 
 struggle terminated with his death. He had been hunted 
 from place to place like a wild beast, and, according to 
 Hooker, obliged to dress his meat in one place, to eat it 
 in another, and to sleep in a third. He was surprised, 
 on one occasion, while his soldiers were cooking their 
 midday meal, and five-and-twenty of his followers were 
 put to the sword ; but he escaped, and fled to Kerry, 
 where he was apprehended and slain. His head was 
 sent to Elizabeth, andimpaled on London bridge, accord- 
 ing to the barbarous practice of the time. 
 
 The severity of lord Grey's administration was com- 
 plained of so bitterly, even by English subjects, that he 
 was recalled. The administration was confided to Lof- 
 tus, the Protestant archbishop of Dublin, and Sir Henry 
 Wallope. In 1584, Sir John Perrot was under-deputy, 
 and in 1585 he held a Parliament in Dublin, the principal 
 object of which appears to have been the confiscation of 
 Desmond's estates. This was opposed by many of the 
 members ; but the crown was determined to have them, 
 and the crown obtained them. Thus lands to the extent 
 of 574,628 acres were ready for new adventurers. The 
 most tempting offers were made to induce Englishmen 
 to plant ; estates were given for twopence an acre ; rent 
 was only to commence after three years. No Irish 
 families were to be admitted as tenants, though their 
 labors might be accepted or compelled. English fam- 
 ilies were to be substituted in certain proportions ; and 
 on these conditions, Raleigh, Hatton, Norris, St. Leger, 
 and others, obtained large grants. 
 
 Meanwhile Sir Richard Bingham was opposing the 
 conciliatory policy of the deputy, and hanged seventy 
 persons atone session in Gal way, in January, a. d. 1586. 
 
294 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Perrot interfered ; but the Burkes, who had been mad- 
 dened by Bingham's cruelties, broke out into open rebel- 
 lion ; and he pointed to the revolt which he had himself 
 occasioned, as a justification of his former conduct. The 
 Scotch now joined the Burkes, but were eventually de- 
 feated by the president, the Irish annalists say, with 
 the loss of two thousand men. Another bloody assize 
 was held in Galway, where young and old alike were 
 victims. 
 
 p Hugh O'Neill, the head of the O'Neill clan in Ulster, 
 had fought under the English standard during the Ger- 
 aldine war, but he now began to manifest symptoms of 
 independence which alarmed the government. He had 
 taken his seat in Parliament as earl of Tyrone, and by a 
 judicious mixture of flattery and deference had obtained 
 letters patent under the great seal from Elizabeth, secur- 
 ing his titles and estates, with the permission to keep up 
 a standing army of six companies. O'Neill had married 
 a daughter of Sir Hugh O'Donnell, and Sir Hugh had 
 refused to admit an English sheriff into his territory. 
 This increased the fears of the lord deputy, who deter- 
 mined to get some of the northern chieftains into his 
 possession as a hostage. The treachery was accom- 
 plished thus : a vessel, laden with Spanish wine, was 
 sent to Donegal on pretence of traffic. It anchored at 
 Rathmullen, where it had been ascertained that Hugh 
 Roe O'Donnell, O'Neill's- nephew, was staying with his 
 foster-father, MacS weeny. The wine was distributed 
 plentifully to the country people; and when MacSweeny 
 sent to make purchases, the men declared there was 
 none left for sale, but if the gentlemen came on board, 
 they should have what was left. Hugh and his compan- 
 ions easily fell into the snare. They were hospitably 
 entertained, but their arms were carefully removed, the 
 hatches were shut down, the cable cut, and the ship 
 stood off to sea. The guests who were not wanted were 
 put ashore, but the unfortunate youth was taken to Dub- 
 lin, and confined in the castle. 
 
 ~" In 1588 Sir John Perrot was succeeded by Sir William 
 Fitz William, a nobleman of the most opposite character 
 and disposition. Perrot was generally regretted by the 
 native Irish, as he was considered one of the most hu- 
 mane of the lord deputies. The wreck of the Spanish 
 
CRUELTY OP SIR WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM. 295 
 
 Armada occurred during this year, and was made at once 
 an excuse for increased severity towards the Catholics, 
 and for acts of grievous injustice. Even loyal persons 
 were accused of harboring the shipwrecked men, as it 
 was supposed they might have obtained some treasure 
 in return for their hospitality. Fitz William, according 
 to Ware, wished to " finger some of it himself," and 
 invaded the territories of several Irish chieftains. A 
 complete history of Fitz William's acts of injustice, and 
 the consummate cruelty with which they were perpe- 
 trated, would be so painful to relate, that they can 
 scarcely be recorded in detail. He farmed out the -*| 
 country to the highest bidders, who practised every 
 possible extortion on the unfortunate natives. The fa- 
 vorite method of compelling them to yield up their lands 
 without resistance, was to fry the soles of their feet in 
 boiling brimstone and grease. When torture did not 
 succeed, some unjust accusation was brought forward, 
 and they were hanged. A tract preserved in Trinity 
 College, Dublin, gives details of these atrocities, from 
 which I shall only select one instance. A landlord was 
 anxious to obtain the property of one of his tenants, an 
 Irishman, who had lived " peaceably and quietly, as a 
 good subject," for many years. He agreed with the 
 sheriff to divide the spoil with him, if he would assist in 
 the plot. The man and his servant were seized ; the 
 latter was hanged, and the former was sent to Dublin 
 castle, to be imprisoned on some pretence. The gentle- 
 man and the sheriff at once seized the tenant's property, 
 and turned his wife and children out to beg. After a 
 short time, " they, by their credit and countenance, be- 
 ing both English gentlemen, informed the lord deputy 
 so hardly of him, as that, without indictment or trial, 
 they executed him." 
 
 In 1590, Hugh of the Fetters, an illegitimate son of | 
 the famous Shane O'Neill, was hanged by the earl of 
 Tyrone, for having made false charges against him to the 
 lord deputy. This exercise of authority excited consid- 
 erable fear, and the earl was obliged to clear himself of 
 blame before Elizabeth. After a brief detention in Lon- 
 don, he was permitted to return to Ireland, but not until, 
 he had signed certain articles in the English interest, 
 which he observed precisely as long as it suited his con- 
 
296 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 venience. About this time his nephew, Hugh O'Don- 
 nell, made an ineffectual attempt to escape from Dublin 
 castle, but he was recaptured and more closely guarded. 
 This again attracted the attention of government to the 
 f family ; but a more important event was about to follow, 
 O'Neill's wife was dead, and the chieftain was captivated 
 by the beauty of Sir Henry Bagnal's sister. How they 
 contrived to meet and to plight their vows is not known, 
 though State Papers have sometimes revealed as roman- 
 tic particulars. It has been discovered, however, from 
 that invaluable source of information, that Sir Henry was 
 furious, and cursed himself and his fate that his " bloude, 
 which had so often been spilled in reppressinge this re- 
 bellious race, should now be mingled with so traitorous 
 a stocke and kindred." He removed the lady from 
 Newry, to the house of her sister, the wife of Sir Pat- 
 rick Barnwell, near Dublin. The earl followed Miss Bag- 
 nal thither. Her brother-in-law received him courteously ; 
 and while the O'Neill engaged the family in conversa- 
 tion, a confidential friend rode off with the lady, who 
 ^was married to O'Neill immediately after. 
 
 Hugh Roe O'Donnell made another attempt to escape 
 at Christmas, a. d. 1592, and succeeded. As soon as he 
 had recovered from the hardships which he endured dur- 
 ing his flight, he commenced incursions on the territo- 
 ries occupied by the English : but as the earl of Tyrone 
 was anxious to prevent a premature rebellion, he induced 
 the lord deputy to meet him at Dundalk, where he ob- 
 tained a full pardon for his escape from Dublin castle, 
 and a temporary pacification was arranged. 
 
 In 1593 he collected another army ; Turlough Luin- 
 each resigned his chieftaincy to the earl of Tyrone ; and 
 Ulster became wholly the possession of its old chieftains 
 — the O'Neill and O'Donnell. An open rebellion broke 
 out soon after, in consequence of the exactions of two 
 English officers on the territories of Oge O'Rourke and 
 Maguire. Several trifling engagements took place. The 
 earl of Tyrone was placed in a difficult position. He was 
 obliged to join the English side, while his inclinations 
 were with his own people. Meanwhile O'Neill played 
 fast and loose, and did his utmost to keep up appearances 
 with the government, offering even to prove his loyalty 
 
PERSECUTION OF THE CLERGY. 
 
 297 
 
 by single combat with Bagnal, who declined the encoun- 
 ter. 
 
 While these events were happening the indignation of 
 the Irish was constantly excited by cruel executions 
 of Catholic priests. Some were hung, some were cruelly 
 flogged, and in several places Franciscan friars were tied 
 together by their cords and flung down steep precipices 
 into the sea before the exasperated and weeping multi- 
 tude. 
 
 One of the most eminent of the clergy who suffered at "*! 
 this period was archbishop O'Hurley, a man of more than 
 ordinary learning, and distinguished for his refined and 
 cultivated tastes. He was brought before the Protestant 
 archbishop Loftus and the deputy Wallope. As he stead- 
 fastly refused to renounce his faith, he was sentenced to 
 torture and death. He was chained to a tree, and his 
 feet and legs were encased in long boots filled with oil, 
 turpentine, and pitch, and then stretched upon an iron 
 grate, under which a slow fire was kindled. This cru- 
 elty was continued until the flesh was burned to the bone. 
 He was then cast into prison until morning, and at early 
 dawn on Friday, May 6, 1584, he was carried out to the 
 place now called Stephen's Green, where what remained 
 of human life was quickly extinguished, first by putting * 
 him again to torture, and then by hanging. 
 
 As the news of this barbarity spread through the coun- 
 try it excited the people more and more. The govern- 
 ment was placed in a difficult position. The prestige 
 of O'Neill and O'Donnell was becoming every day 
 greater. On the 7th of June, 1598, the earl laid siege 
 to the fort of the Blackwater, then commanded by cap- 
 tain Williams, and strongly fortified. Reinforcements 
 were sent to the besieged from England, but they were 
 attacked en route by the Irish, and lost four hundred 
 men at Dungannon. At last the earl of Ormonde and 
 Bagnal took the field. The former marched against the 
 Leinster insurgents, the latter against his old enemy 
 and brother-in-law. An engagement took place -at the 
 Yellow Ford, near Armagh, where Bagnal was shot, and 
 O'Neill obtained a signal victory. 
 
298 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 A.D.1599TO A. D. 1643, 
 
 Contemporary Events : —Discovery of the Gunpowder Plot— Acces- 
 sion of Charles I. of England— Execution of the Earl of Strafford— 
 Commencement of the Civil War in England, 
 
 Essex was now despatched in haste to Ireland with 
 twenty thousand foot and two thousand horse, — the best- 
 equipped force ever sent into the country. He at once 
 issued a proclamation, offering pardon to all the insur- 
 gents who should submit, and he despatched reinforce- 
 ments to the northern garrison towns, and to Wicklow 
 and Naas. He then marched southward, not without 
 encountering a sharp defeat from Rory CTMore. He 
 attacked the Geraldines, without much success, in Fer- 
 moy and Lismore, having on the whole lost more than 
 he had accomplished by the expedition. An engage- 
 ment took place between O'Donnell and Sir Conyers 
 Clifford, in the pass of Balloghboy, on the 16th of 
 August, in which Conyers was killed, and his army de- 
 feated. His body was recognized by the Irish, towards 
 whom he had always acted honorably, and they interred 
 the remains of their brave and noble enemy with the 
 respect which was justly due to him. 
 
 Essex wrote to England for more troops, and his ene- 
 mies were not slow to represent his incapacity, and to 
 demand his recall : but he had not yet lost grace with 
 his royal mistress, and his request was granted. The 
 viceroy now marched into the northern provinces. When 
 he arrived at the Lagan, where it bounds Louth and Mon- 
 aghan, O'Neill appeared on the opposite hill with his 
 army, and sent the O'Hagan, his faithful friend and 
 attendant, to demand a conference. The interview took 
 place on the following day ; and O'Neill, with chival- 
 rous courtesy, dashed into the river on his charger, and 
 
SIEGE OF KINSALE. 
 
 299 
 
 there conversed with the English earl, while he remained 
 on the opposite bank. It was supposed that the Irish 
 chieftain had made a favorable impression on Essex, and 
 that he was disposed to conciliate the Catholics. He 
 was obliged to go to England to clear himself of these 
 charges ; and his subsequent arrest and execution would 
 have excited more sympathy, had he been as amiable in 
 his domestic relations as he is said to have been in his 
 public life. 
 
 Ulster enjoyed a brief period of rest under the govern- 
 ment of its native princes. In 1600 O'Neill proceeded 
 southward, laying waste the lands of the English settlers, 
 but promoting the restoration of churches and abbeys, 
 and assisting the clergy and the native Irish in every 
 possible way. Having lost Hugh Maguire, one of his 
 best warriors, in an accidental engagement with St. 
 Leger, the president of Munster, he determined to return 
 to Ulster. A new viceroy had just arrived in Ireland, 
 and he attempted to cut off his retreat ineffectually. 
 
 O'Neill had now obtained a position of considerable 
 importance, and one which he appears to have used inva- 
 riably for the general good. But peace could not be 
 expected to continue long when such powerful interests 
 were in opposition. 
 
 Attempts were made to assassinate O'Neill in 1601. 
 Two thousand pounds was offered to any one who would 
 capture him alive ; one thousand pounds was offered for 
 his head ; but none of his people could be found to play 
 the traitor even for so high a stake. The " Sugane earl 79 
 was treacherously captured about the end of August, 
 and was sent to London in chains, with Florence Mac- 
 Carthy. But the long-expected aid from Spain had at 
 last arrived. The fleet conveyed a force of three thou- 
 sand infantry, and entered the harbor of Kinsale on Sep- 
 tember 23, under the command of Don Juan d'Aquila. 
 It would appear as if Spanish expeditions were not des- 
 tined to succeed on Irish soil, for only part of the expe- 
 dition arrived safely, and they had the misfortune to land 
 in the worst situation, and to arrive after the war had 
 ceased. The northern chieftains set out at once to meet 
 their allies when informed of their arrival ; and O'Don- 
 nell, with characteristic impetuosity, was the first on the 
 road. Carew attempted to intercept him, but despaired 
 
300 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 of coming up with " so swift-footed a general/' and left 
 him to pursue his way unmolested. 
 
 The lord deputy was besieging Kinsale, and Carew 
 joined him there. The siege was continued through the 
 month of November, during which time fresh reinforce- 
 ments came from Spain ; and on December 21, O'Neill 
 arrived with all his force. Unfortunately, the Spanish 
 general had become thoroughly disgusted with the en- 
 terprise ; and although the position of the English was 
 such that the lord deputy had serious thoughts of raising 
 the siege, he insisted on decisive measures ; and O'Neill 
 was obliged to surrender his opinion, which was entirely 
 against this line of action. A sortie was agreed upon 
 for a certain night ; but a youth in the Irish camp, who 
 had been in the president's service formerly, warned him 
 of the intended attack. This was sufficient in itself to 
 cause the disaster which ensued. But there were other 
 misfortunes. O'Neill and O'Donnell lost their way ; and 
 when they reached the English camp at dawn, found the 
 soldiers under arms, and prepared for an attack. Their 
 cavalry at once charged, and the new comers in vain 
 struggled to maintain their ground, and a retreat which 
 they attempted was turned into a total rout. 
 
 A thousand Irish were slain, and the prisoners were 
 hanged without mercy. The loss on the English side 
 was but trifling. It was a fatal blow to the Irish cause. 
 Heavy were the hearts and bitter the thoughts of the 
 brave chieftains on that sad night. O'Neill no longer 
 hoped for the deliverance of his country; but the more 
 sanguine O'Donnell proposed to proceed at once to Spain, 
 to explain their position to king Philip. He left Ireland 
 in a Spanish vessel three clays after the battle — if battle 
 it can be called ; and O'Neill marched rapidly back to 
 Ulster with Rory O'Donnell, to whom Hugh Roe had 
 delegated the chieftaincy of Tir-Connell. 
 
 D'Aquila submitted to Mountjoy, it is said bribed by 
 English gold, as he was placed under arrest on his return 
 to Spain. Meanwhile, O'Sullivan Beare escaped to his 
 famous castle of Dunboy, where he was at once besieged 
 by Carew. This fortress was supposed to be impregna- 
 ble, but the garrison consisted only of one hundred and 
 forty-three fighting men with a few pieces of cannon. 
 The besieging army was three thousand strong, and they 
 
o'neill and o'donnell. 
 
 301 
 
 were well supplied with artillery. When the castle was 
 nearly battered down the garrison offered to submit if 
 allowed to depart with their arms, but Carew'sonly reply 
 was to hang their messenger. They then retreated to a 
 cellar, where one of them attempted to blow up the place 
 just as the English soldiers had succeeded in forcing 
 an entrance. Fifty-eight of the unfortunate men were 
 hanged on the spot, and the rest were executed soon 
 after. One of the prisoners, Father Collins, was ta*ken 
 to Youghal, his native town, that he might suffer there — 
 a most unwise proceeding, for his fate was sure to ex- 
 cite double sympathy, and hence to promote double dis- 
 affection, in the place where he was personally known. 
 
 War was now over for a time. The fall of Dunboy was 
 a fatal blow to the Irish cause. O'Donnell died of grief 
 in Spain, and O'Neill submitted to the viceroy a few 
 days after the death of queen Elizabeth, which event was 
 carefully concealed from him until he had made terms 
 with Sir Garret More. 
 
 O'Neill and O'Donnell may be justly considered the 
 last of the independent native chieftains. When the 
 latter died in exile, and the former accepted the coronet 
 of an English earl, the glories of the olden days of 
 princes, who held almost regal power, had passed away 
 for ever. The proud title of " The O'Neill ;? became 
 extinct ; his country was made shire ground ; he accepted 
 patents, and held his broad acres'* in fee ; " sheriffs 
 were admitted ; judges made circuits ; king's commis- 
 sioners took careful note of place, person, and property ; 
 and such a system of espionage was established that 
 Davies boasts, " it was not only known how people lived, 
 and what they do, but it is foreseen what they purpose 
 and intend to do ; which latter species of clairvoyance 
 seems to have been largely practised by those who were 
 waiting until all suspicions were lulled to rest, that they 
 might seize on the property, and imprison the persons 
 of those whose estates they coveted. 
 
 When James the First of England and Sixth of Scot- 
 land ascended the throne of England, the Irish Catholics, 
 always sanguine, hoped for a time of peace, if not for 
 special compensations for past sufferings. But they 
 were soon undeceived. King James drank " to the 
 eternal damnation of the Papists ;; solemnly at a pub- 
 
302 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 lie dinner, no doubt to convince the sceptical of his 
 Protestantism ; and he divided his time very equally 
 between persecuting the Puritans and the Catholics, 
 when not occupied with his pleasures or quarrelling with 
 his Parliament. The Puritans, however, had the advan- 
 tage ; popular opinion in England was on their side ; 
 they were sufficiently wealthy to emigrate if they pleased : 
 while the Catholics were not only unpopular, but hated, 
 and utterly impoverished by repeated fines and exac- 
 tions. 
 
 James's conduct on his accession was sufficiently plain. 
 He was proclaimed in Dublin on the 28th of September, 
 1605. A part of his proclamation ran thus : " We here- 
 by make known to our subjects in Ireland, that no toler- 
 ation shall ever be granted by us. This we do for the 
 purpose of cutting off all hope that any other religion 
 shall be allowed save that which is consonant to the 
 laws and statutes of this realm. " The penal statutes 
 were renewed, and enforced with increased severity. 
 Several members of the corporation and some of the prin- 
 cipal citizens of Dublin were sent to prison ; similar 
 outrages on religious liberty were perpetrated at Water- 
 ford, Ross, and Limerick. In some cases these gentle- 
 men were only asked to attend the Protestant church 
 once, but they nobly refused to act against their con- 
 science even once, though it should procure them free- 
 dom from imprisonment, or even from death. The vicar- 
 apostolic of Waterford and Lismore wrote a detailed 
 account of the sufferings of the Irish nation for their faith 
 at this period to cardinal Baronius. His letter is dated 
 " Waterford, 1st of May, 1606." He says : " There is 
 scarcely a spot where Catholics can find a safe retreat. 
 The impious soldiery, by day and night, pursue the 
 defenceless priests, and mercilessly persecute them. Up 
 to the present they have only succeeded in seizing three : 
 one is detained in Dublin prison, another in Cork, and 
 the third, in my opinion, is the happiest of all, triumph- 
 ing in heaven with Christ our Lord ; for in the excess of 
 the fury of the soldiery, without any further trial or 
 accusation, having expressed himself to be a priest, he 
 was hanged upon the spot." 
 
 He then narrates the sufferings of the Catholic laity, 
 many of whom he says are reduced to 11 extreme poverty 
 
CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE IRISH CHIEFTAINS. 303 
 
 and misery;" "if they have any property, they are 
 doubly persecuted by the avaricious courtiers." 
 
 In the month of May, 1603, O'Neill visited London, 
 accompanied by lord Mountjoy and Rory O'Donnell. 
 They were graciously received ; and it was on this occa- 
 sion that O'Neill renounced his ancient name for his new 
 titles. O'Donnell was made earl of Tyrconnel at the 
 same time. The first sheriffs appointed for Ulster were 
 Sir Edward Pelham and Sir John Davies. The latter 
 has left it on record, as his deliberate opinion, after many 
 years' experience, " that there is no nation of people 
 under the sun that doth love equal and indifferent jus- 
 tice better than the Irish, or will rest better satisfied 
 with the execution thereof, although it be against them- 
 selves, so that they may have the protection and benefits of 
 the law, when, upon just cause, they do desire it." 
 
 A plot was now got up to entrap O'Neill and O'Don- 
 nell. This conspiracy is thus related by a learned English 
 divine, Dr. Anderson, in his " Royal Genealogies," 
 printed in London, 1736 : " Artful Cecil employed one 
 St. Lawrence to entrap the earls of Tyrone and Tyrcon- 
 nell, the lord Delvin, and other Irish chiefs, into a sham 
 plot, which had no evidence but his." 
 
 The next movement was to drop an anonymous letter 
 at the door of the council-chamber, mentioning a design 
 as then in contemplation, for seizing the castle of Dub-* 
 lin, and murdering the lord deputy. No names were 
 mentioned, but it was publicly stated that government 
 had information in their possession which fixed the guilt 
 of the conspiracy on the earl of Tyrone. His flight, which 
 took place immediately after, was naturally considered 
 as an acknowledgment of his guilt. It is more probable 
 that the expatriation was prompted by his despair. 
 
 The Four Masters give a touching account of their 
 departure, and exclaim : " Woe to the heart that medi- 
 tated, woe to the mind that conceived, woe to the coun- 
 cil that decided on the project of their setting out on the 
 voyage ! " The exiles left Rathmullen on September 
 14, 1607. O'Neill had been with the lord deputy 
 shortly before ; and one cannot but suppose that he had 
 then obtained some surmise of premeditated treachery, 
 for he arranged his flight secretly and swiftly, pretending 
 that he was about to visit London. O'Neill was accom- 
 
304 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 parried by his countess, his three sons, O'Donnell, and 
 other relatives. They first sailed to Normandy, where 
 an attempt was made by the English government to 
 arrest them, but Henry IV. would not give them up. In 
 Rome they were received as confessors exiled for the 
 faith, and were liberally supported by the pope and the 
 king of Spain. They all died in a few years after their 
 arrival, and their ashes rest in the Franciscan church of 
 St. Peter-in-Montorio. 
 
 The Red Hand of the O'Neills had hitherto been a pow- 
 erful protection to Ulster. The attempts il to plant " 
 there had turned out failures ; but now that the chiefs 
 were removed, the people became an easy prey. 
 O'Dogherty, chief of Innishowen, was insulted by Sir 
 George Paulett, in a manner which no gentleman could 
 be expected to bear without calling his insulter to ac- 
 count ; and the young chieftain took fearful vengeance 
 for the rude blow which he had received from the Eng- 
 lish sheriff. He got into Culmore fort at night by strat- 
 agem, and then marched to Derry, killed Paulett, mas- 
 sacred the garrison, and burned the town. Some other 
 chieftains joined him, and kept up the war until July, 
 when O'Dogherty was killed, and his companions-in- 
 arms imprisoned. Sir Arthur Chichester received his 
 property in return for his suggestions for the plantation 
 • of Ulster, of which we must now make brief mention. 
 
 There can be little doubt, from Sir Henry Docwra's 
 own account, that O'Dogherty was purposely insulted, 
 and goaded into rebellion. He was the last obstacle to 
 the grand scheme, and he was disposed of. Ulster was 
 now at the mercy of those who chose to accept grants 
 of land ; and the grants were made to the highest bid- 
 ders, or to those who had paid for the favor by previous 
 services. Sir Arthur Chichester evidently considered that 
 he belonged to the latter class, for we find him writing 
 at considerable length to the earl of Northampton, then a 
 ruling member of king James's cabinet, to request that 
 he may be appointed president of Ulster. He commences 
 his epistle by stating how deeply he is indebted to his 
 lordship for his comfortable and kind letters, and the 
 praise he has given him in public and private. He then 
 bestows an abundant meed of commendation upon his jus- 
 tice in return. He next explains his hopes and desires. 
 
Chichester's parliament. 
 
 305 
 
 He declares that he wishes for the presidency of Ulster, 
 " more for the service he might there do his majesty, than 
 for the profit he expects, " a statement which the earl no 
 doubt read exactly as it was intended ; and he says that 
 he only mentions his case because " charitie beginnes 
 with myeselfe," which, indeed, appears to have been the 
 view of that virtue generally taken by all planters and 
 adventurers. He concludes with delicately informing 
 his correspondent, that if he can advance any friend of 
 his in any way he will be most happy to do so. This 
 letter is dated from the Castle of Dublin, 7th of February, 
 160T." The date should read, according to the change 
 of style, 1608. The lord deputy knew well what he was 
 asking for. During the summer of the preceding year, 
 he had made a careful journey through Ulster, with Sir 
 John Davies ; and Carte has well observed, " that nobody 
 knew the territories better to be planted ; " and he might 
 have added, that few persons had a clearer eye to their 
 own advantage in the arrangements he made. 
 
 The plan of the plantation was agreed upon in 1609. 
 It was the old plan which had been attempted before, 
 though with less show of legal arrangement, but with 
 quite the same proportion of legal iniquity. The sim- 
 ple object was to expel the natives, and to extirpate 
 the Catholic religion. The six counties to be planted 
 were Tyrone, Derry, Donegal, Armagh, Fermanagh, and 
 Cavan. These were parcelled out into portions varying 
 from two thousand to four thousand acres, and the 
 planters were obliged to build bawns and castles. 
 
 Chichester now proposed to call a Parliament. The 
 plantation of Ulster had removed some difficulties in the 
 way of its accomplishment. The Protestant university 
 of Dublin had obtained three thousand acres there, and 
 four hundred thousand acres of tillage land had been par- 
 titioned out between English and Scotch proprietors. 
 It was expressly stipulated that their tenants should be 
 English or Scotch and Protestants ; the Catholic owners 
 of the land were, in some cases, as a special favor, per- 
 mitted to remain, if they took the oath of supremacy, if 
 they worked well for their masters, and if they paid 
 double the rent fixed for the others. Sixty thousand 
 acres in Dublin and Waterford, and three hundred and 
 eighty-five thousand acres in Westnieath, Longford, 
 
306 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 King's County, Queen's County, and Leitrim, had been 
 portioned out in a similar manner. A Presbyterian min- 
 ister, whose father was one of the planters, thus describes 
 the men who came to establish English rule, and root 
 out popery : " From Scotland came many, and from Eng- 
 land not a few ; yet all of them generally the scum of 
 both nations, who, from debt, or making and fleeing from 
 justice, or seeking shelter, came hither, hoping to be 
 without fear of man's justice, in a land where there was 
 nothing or but little as yet of the fear of God. . . Most 
 of the people were all void of godliness. ... On all 
 hands atheism increased, and disregard of God ; iniquity 
 abounds, with contention, fighting, murder, and adul- 
 tery." 
 
 It was with such persons as these that the lower house 
 was filled. The upper house was composed of the Prot- 
 estant bishops and English aristocracy, who were, of 
 course, unanimous in their views. Chichester obtained 
 ample powers to arrange the lower house. Forty new 
 boroughs were formed, many of them consisting merely 
 of a few scattered houses ; some of them were not incor- 
 porated until after the writs were issued. The Catho- 
 lics were taken by surprise, as no notice had been given 
 either of the Parliament or the laws intended to be en- 
 acted. Six Catholic lords of the Pale remonstrated with 
 the king, but he treated them with the utmost contempt. 
 The house assembled ; there was a struggle for the 
 speaker's chair. The Catholic party proposed Sir John 
 Everard, who had just resigned his position as justice of 
 the King's Bench sooner than take the oath of suprem- 
 acy ; the court party insisted on having Sir John Davies. 
 The Catholics protested, and sent a deputation to James, 
 who first lectured them to show his learning, and then 
 imprisoned them to show his power. Some kind of com- 
 promise was eventually effected. A severe penal law 
 was withdrawn ; a large subsidy was voted. In truth, 
 the Irish party acted boldly, considering their peculiar 
 circumstances, for one and all refused to enter the old 
 cathedral, which their forefathers had erected, when 
 Protestant service was read therein on the day of the 
 opening of Parliament ; and even lord Barry retired when 
 he laid the sword of state before the lord deputy. We 
 may excuse them for submitting to the attainder of 
 
Charles's graces. 
 
 307 
 
 O'Neill and O'Donnell, for there were few national mem- 
 bers who had not withdrawn before the vote was passed. 
 
 Chichester retired from the government of Ireland in 
 1616. In 1617 a proclamation was issued for the expul- 
 sion of the Catholic clergy, and the city of Waterford 
 was deprived of its charter in consequence of the spirited 
 opposition which its corporation offered to the oath of 
 spiritual supremacy. In 1622 viscount Falkland came 
 over as deputy, and Usher, who was at heart a Puritan, 
 preached a violent sermon before him, in which he sug- 
 gested a very literal application of the text "He bear- 
 eth not the sword in vain." 
 
 On the accession of Charles I., in 1625, it was so gen- 
 erally supposed he would favor the Catholic cause, that 
 the earliest act of the new Parliament in London was 
 to vote a petition, begging the king to enforce the laws 
 against recusants and popish priests. The viceroy, lgrd 
 Falkland, advised the Irish Catholics to propitiate him 
 with a voluntary subsidy. They offered the enormous sum 
 of 120,O00Z., to be paid in three annual instalments, and 
 in return he promised them certain " graces." The con- 
 tract was ratified by royal proclamation, in which the 
 concessions were accompanied by a promise that a Par- 
 liament should be held to confirm them. The first instal- 
 ment of the money was paid, and the Irish agents re- 
 turned home to find themselves cruelly deceived and 
 basely cheated. Falkland was recalled by the Puritan 
 party, on suspicion of favoring the Catholics ; viscount 
 Ely and the earl of Cork were appointed lords justices ; 
 and a reign of terror was at once commenced. 
 
 Wentworth assembled a Parliament in July, 1634, the 
 year after his arrival in Ireland. Its subserviency was 
 provided for by having a number of persons elected who 
 were in the pay of the crown as military officers. The 
 " graces " were asked for, and the lord deputy declared 
 they should be granted if the supply was readily voted. 
 "Surely," he said, "so great a meanness cannot enter 
 your hearts as once to suspect his majesty's gracious re- 
 gards of you, and performance with you, when you affix 
 yourself upon his grace." This speech so took the hearts 
 of the people, that all were ready to grant all that might be 
 demanded ; and six subsidies of50,000Z. each were voted, 
 though Wentworth only expected 30,OO0Z. In the mean- 
 
308 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 while neither Wentwovth nor the king had the slightest 
 idea of gran ting the " graces ; " and the atrocious duplic- 
 ity and incomparable " meanness 77 of the king is placed 
 eternally on record, in his own letter to his favorite, in 
 which he thanks him "for keeping off the envy (odium) 
 of a necessary negative from me, of those unreasonable 
 graces the people expected from me. 77 Wentworth him* 
 self describes how two judges and Sir John Radcliffe 
 assisted him in the plan, and how a positive refusal was 
 made to recommend the passing of the " graces 77 into 
 law at the next session. 
 
 One of the " graces 77 was to make sixty years of undis- 
 puted possession of property a bar to the claims of the 
 crown ; and certainly if there ever was a country where 
 such a demand was necessary and reasonable, it was 
 surely Ireland. There had been so many plantations, 
 it was hard for anything to grow ; and so many settle- 
 ments, it was hard for anything to be settled. Each new 
 monarch, since the first invasion of the country by Henry 
 II., had his favorites to provide for and his friends to 
 oblige. The island across the sea was considered " no 
 man's land, 77 as the original inhabitants were never taken 
 into account, and were simply ignored, unless, indeed, 
 when they made their presence very evident by open 
 resistance to this wholesale robbery. It was no wonder, 
 then, that this " grace 77 should be specially solicited. It 
 was one in which the last English settler in Ulster had 
 quite as great an interest as the oldest Celt in Connemara. 
 The Burkes and the Geraldines had suffered almost as 
 much from the rapacity of their own countrymen as the 
 natives, on whom their ancestors had inflicted such cruel 
 wrongs. No man's property was safe in Ireland, for the 
 tenure was depending on the royal will ; and the caprices 
 of the Tudors were supplemented by the necessities of 
 the Stuarts. 
 
 But the " grace 77 was refused, although, probably, 
 there was many a recent colonist who would have will- 
 ingly given one-half of his plantation to have secured 
 the other to his descendants. The reason of the refusal 
 was soon apparent. As soon as Parliament was dis- 
 solved, a commission of " defective titles 77 was issued 
 for Connaught. Ulster had been settled, Leinster had 
 been settled, Munster had been settled ; there remained 
 
WHOLESALE CONFISCATIONS. 
 
 309 
 
 only Connaught, hitherto so inaccessible, now, with ad- 
 vancing knowledge of the art of war, and new means of 
 carrying out that art, doomed to the scourge of desola- 
 tion. 
 
 The process was extremely simple. The lawyers were 
 set to work to hunt out old claims for the crown ; and, 
 as Wentworth had determined to invalidate the title to 
 every estate in Connaught, they had abundant occupa- 
 tion. Roscommon was selected for a commencement. 
 The sheriffs were directed to select jurors' who would 
 find for the crown. The jurors were made clearly to 
 understand what was expected from them, and what the 
 consequences would be if they were "contumacious.'' 
 The object of the crown was, of course, the general gooa 
 of the country. The people of Connaught were to be 
 civilized and enriched ; but, in order to carry out this 
 very desirable arrangement, the present proprietors were 
 to be replaced by new landlords, and the country was to 
 be placed entirely at the disposal of the sovereign. 
 
 It was now discovered that the lands and lordships of 
 De Burgo, adjacent to the castle of Athlone, and, in fact, 
 the whole remaining province belonged to the crown, 
 It would be useless here to give details of the special 
 pleading on which this statement was founded ; it is an 
 illustration of what has been observed before, that the 
 tenure of the English settler was quite as uncertain as 
 the tenure of the Celt. The jury found for the king; 
 and, as a reward, the foreman, Sir Lucas Dillon, was 
 graciously permitted to retain a portion of his own lands. 
 Lowther, chief justice of the Common Pleas, got four 
 shillings in the pound of the first year's rent raised under 
 the commission of "defective titles.- ' The juries of 
 Mayo and Sligo were equally complacent; but there 
 was stern resistance made inGalway, and stern reprisals 
 were made for the resistance. The jurors were fined 
 4,000Z. each, and wereimprisoned, and their estates seized 
 until that sum was paid. The sheriff was fined 1,000/., 
 and, being unable to pay that sum, he died in prison. 
 
 The property of the earl of Ormonde was next attacked, 
 but he made a prudent compromise, and was too pow- 
 erful to be resisted. A Court of Wards was now estab- 
 lished to have all heirs to estates brought up in the Prot- 
 estant religion ; and a High Commission Court was 
 
310 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 instituted, which rivalled the exactions of the English 
 Star Chamber. 
 
 In 1641 Wentworth fell a victim himself to the Puritan 
 interest, and a new insurrection was formed in Ireland 
 soon after his execution, headed by Sir Phelin O'Neill, 
 and assisted by the Irish who had been exiled to the 
 continent after the flight of the earls. O'Neill assumed 
 the title of " Lord General of the Catholic army in Uls- 
 ter ; " and this was, in fact, the inauguration of the cel- 
 ebrated Confederation of Kilkenny. 
 
THE CONFEDERATION OF KILKENNY. 
 
 311 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A.D. 1642 TO A.D. 1689. 
 
 THE CONFEDERATION OP KILKENNY — THE BANISH- 
 MENT TO CONNAUGHT. 
 
 Contemporary Events :— Execution of Charles I.— Protectorate of 
 Cromwell— Charles X. king of Sweden—Capture of Dunkirk— Res- 
 toration of Charles II.— Titus Oates's Plot— The names of Whig 
 and Tory applied to Political Parties— English Revolution— Land- 
 ing of William of Orange at Torbay , and Flight of James II. 
 
 On March 22, 1641, the archbishop of Armagh con- 
 vened a provincial synod at Kells, which pronounced the 
 war undertaken by the Catholics of Ireland lawful and 
 pious, but at the same time denounced murders and usur- 
 pations. Arrangements were then made for a national 
 synod to be held at Kilkenny the following year. This 
 synod met at Kilkenny, on May 10, 1642. It was at- 
 tended by the archbishops of Armagh, Cashel, and 
 Tuam, and the bishops of Ossorv-, Elphin, Waterford, 
 and Lismore, Kildare, Clonfert, and Down, and Connor. 
 Proctors attended for the archbishop of Dublin, and for 
 the bishops of Limerick, Emly and Killaloe. There were 
 present, also, sixteen other dignitaries and heads of 
 religious orders. They issued a manifesto explaining 
 their conduct, and, forming a provisional government, 
 concluded their labors, after three days spent in careful 
 deliberation. 
 
 Owen Roe O'Neill and Colonel Preston arrived in Ire- 
 land in July, 1642, accompanied by a hundred officers, 
 and well supplied with arms and ammunition. Sir Phe- 
 lim O'Neill went at onCe to meet O'Neill, and resigned 
 the command of the army ; and all promised fairly for 
 the national cause. The Scots, who had kept up a war 
 of their own for some time, against both the king and 
 the Catholics, were wasting Down and Antrim ; and 
 
312 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 O'Neill was likely to need all his military skill and all his 
 political wisdom in the position in which he was placed. 
 
 Preston had landed in Wexford, and brought a still 
 larger force ; while all the brave expatriated Irishmen 
 in foreign service hastened home the moment there ap- 
 peared a hope that they could strike a blow with some 
 effect for the freedom of their native land. 
 
 The General Assembly projected by the national synod 
 in Kilkenny held its first meeting on October 14, 1642, 
 — eleven spiritual and fourteen*temporal peers, with 226 
 commoners, representing the Catholic population of Ire- 
 land. The house used was in the market-place. The 
 peers and commoners sat together ; but a private room 
 was allotted for the lords to consult in. Dr. Patrick 
 Darcy, an eminent lawyer, represented the chancellor 
 and the judges, Mr. Nicholas Plunket was chosen as 
 speaker ; the Rev. Thomas O'Quirk, a learned Domini- 
 can friar, was appointed chaplain to both houses. 
 
 The Assembly at once declared that they met as a 
 provisional government, and not as a Parliament. The 
 preliminary arrangements occupied them until the 1st of 
 November. From the 1st until the 4th, the committee 
 were engaged in drawing up a form for the confederate 
 government ; on the 4th it was sanctioned by the two 
 houses. Magna Charta, and the common and statute 
 law of England, in all points not contrary to the Catholic 
 religion, or inconsistent with the liberty of Ireland, were 
 made the basis of the new government. The adminis- 
 trative authority was vested in a supreme council, which 
 was then chosen, and of which lord Mountgarret was 
 elected president. 
 
 There were six members elected for each province. 
 For Leinster, the archbishop of Dublin, lords Gormans- 
 town and Mountgarret, Nicholas Plunket, Richard Bel- 
 ling, and James Cusack. For Ulster, the archbishop of 
 Armagh, the bishop of Down, Philip O'Reilly, colonel 
 MacMahon, Heber Magennis, and Turlough O'Neill. For 
 Munster, viscount Roche, Sir Daniel O'Brien, Edmund 
 FitzMaurice, Dr. Fennell, Robert Lambert, and George 
 Oomyn. For Connaught, the archbishop of Tuam, vis- 
 count Mayo, the bishop of Clonfert, Sir Lucas Dillon, 
 Geoffrey Browne, and Patrick Darcy. The earl of Cas- 
 tlehaven, who had just escaped from his imprisonment 
 
THE CONFEDERATION OP KILKENNY. 
 
 818 
 
 in Dublin, was added as a twenty-fifth member. Gen- 
 erals were appointed to take the command of the forces 
 — Owen Roe O'Neill, for Ulster ; Preston, for Leinster ; 
 Barry, for Munster ; and Burke, for Connaught. A seal 
 was made, a printing-press set up, and a mint established. 
 Money was coined and levied for the necessary expenses ; 
 and a levy of thirty-one thousand seven hundred men 
 was prepared to be drilled by the new officers. Envoys 
 were sent to solicit assistance from the Catholic courts . 
 of Europe ; and the famous and learned Franciscan, 
 father Luke Wadding, applied himself to the cause with 
 unremitting earnestness. Father John Talbot was em- 
 ployed in a similar manner in Spain. 
 
 The Assembly broke up on January 9, 1643, after 
 sending a remonstrance to the king, declaring their loy- 
 alty, and explaining their grievances. 
 
 Charles sent the marquis of Ormonde and some other 
 noblemen to make terms with the Confederates. But 
 even then they were divided into two parties, — the de- 
 scendants of the English settlers who were willing to 
 have peace on almost any terms ; and the native Irish 
 lords and chiefs, anxious for a complete freedom from 
 English rule. 
 
 Ormonde was well aware of the men with whom, and 
 the opinions with which, he had to deal, and he acted 
 accordingly. In the various engagements which oc- 
 curred, the Irish were on the whole successful. They 
 had gained an important victory near Fermoy, princi- 
 pally through the headlong valor of a troop of mere boys, 
 who dashed down with wild impetuosity on the English, 
 and showed what metal there was still left in the coun- 
 try. Envoys were arriving from foreign courts, and Ur- 
 ban VIII. had sent father Scarampi with indulgences 
 and a purse of thirty thousand dollars, collected by 
 father Wadding. It was, therefore, most important that 
 the movement should be checked in some way ; and, as 
 it could not'be suppressed by force, it was suppressed 
 by diplomacy. 
 
 On September 15, 1643, a cessation of arms for one 
 year was agreed upon. The Irish observed the truce 
 honorably. The Puritan party professed to regard the 
 cessation of hostilities as a crime, and therefore did not 
 consider themselves bound to observe it. Charles was 
 14 
 
314 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 now besieged with petitions and counter-petitions. The 
 Confederates asked for liberty of conscience ; the Puri- 
 tans demanded a stern enforcement of the penal laws. 
 Complaints were made on both sides of the infringement 
 of the cessation ; but Monroe was the chief offender; and 
 Owen O'Neill was summoned to consult with the supreme 
 council at Kilkenny. Lord Castlehaven, who was utterly 
 incompetent for such an appointment, was given the 
 command of the army; and O'Neill, though he felt hurt 
 at the unjust preference, submitted generously. 
 
 In August, 1644, the cessation was again renewed by 
 the General Assembly until December, and subsequently 
 for a longer period. Thus precious time, and, what was 
 still more precious, the fresh energies and interests of 
 the Confederates, were hopelessly lost. The king's gen- 
 erals, rather it should be said the Parliamentary officers, 
 observed or held these engagements at their convenience, 
 and made treaties of their own : thus Inchiquin and Pur- 
 cell made a truce between themselves in the south. As 
 the king's affairs became daily more complicated, and 
 his position more perilous, he saw the necessity for 
 peace with his Irish subjects, and for allying himself 
 with them, if possible^ Ormonde received ample powers 
 to grant every concession, but it was too late for the 
 Irish to be of any assistance to the unhappy monarch. 
 A compact was, however, made, which proved equally 
 useless to both parties. The Irish were promised lib- 
 erty of conscience ; they, in their turn, promised to send 
 ten thousand armed men, under the command of lord 
 Herbert, to assist the king in England. 
 
 In the meantime Belling, the secretary of the supreme 
 council, was sent to Rome, and presented to Innocent 
 X., by father Wadding, as the envoy of the Confederate 
 Catholics, in February, 1645. On hearing his report, the 
 pope sent John Baptist Rinuccini, archbishop of Fermo, 
 to Ireland as nuncio-extraordinary. This prelate set out 
 immediately ; and, after some detention at St. Germains, 
 for the purpose of conferring with the English queen, 
 who had taken refuge there, he purchased the frigate of 
 San Pietro at Rochelle, stored it with arms and ammu- 
 nition, and, after some escapes from the Parliamentary 
 cruisers, landed safely in Kenmare bay, on October 21, 
 1645. He was soon surrounded and welcomed by the 
 
REPORT OF JOHN BAPTIST RINUCCINI. 
 
 315 
 
 peasantry ; and after celebrating Mass in a poor hut, he 
 at once proceeded to Limerick. Here he celebrated the 
 obsequies of the archbishop of Tuam, and then passed on 
 to Kilkenny. He entered the old city in state, attended 
 by the clergy. At the entrance to the cathedral he was 
 met by the bishop of Ossory, who was unable to walk in 
 the procession. When the Te Deum had been sung, he 
 was received in the castle by the General Assembly, and 
 addressed them in Latin. After this he returned to the 
 residence prepared for him. 
 
 This prelate was undoubtedly a man of considerable 
 ability and remarkable penetration. He soon discerned 
 the difficulties of his position. The following extract 
 from his private report to the Holy See will show how 
 thoroughly he was master of the situation in a diplomatic 
 point of view : " From time immemorial two adverse par- 
 ties have always existed among the Catholics of Ireland. 
 The first are called the ' old Irish.' They are most 
 numerous in Ulster, where they seem to have their head- 
 quarters ; for even the earl of Tyrone placed himself at 
 their head, and maintained a protracted war against Eliz- 
 abeth. The second may be called the 1 old English * — 
 a race introduced into Ireland in the reign of Henry II., 
 the fifth king in succession from William the Conqueror, 
 so called to distinguish them from the 1 new English/ 
 who have come into the kingdom along with the modern 
 heresy. These parties are opposed to each other princi- 
 pally on the following grounds : the old Irish, entertain- 
 ing a great aversion for heresy, are also averse to the 
 dominion of England, and have refused, generally speak- 
 ing, to accept the investiture of church property of- 
 fered to them since the apostasy of the kings of Eng- 
 land from the Church. The others, on the contrary, 
 enriched with the spoils of the monasteries, and thus 
 bound to the king by obligation, no less than by interest, 
 neither seek nor desire anything but the exaltation of the 
 crown, esteem no laws but those of the realm, are thor- 
 oughly English in their feelings, and, from their constant 
 familiarity with heretics, are less jealous of differences 
 of religion. n 
 
 The nuncio then goes on to state how even the military 
 command was divided between these two parties — 
 O'Neill belonging to the old Irish interest, and Prestoa 
 
316 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 to the new. He also mentions the manner in which this 
 difference of feeling extended to the lower classes, and 
 particularly to those who served in the army. 
 
 The Confederates now began to be distinguished into 
 two parties, as Nuncionists and Ormondists. Two sets 
 of negotiations were carried on, openly with Ormonde, 
 and secretly with Glamorgan. The nuncio, from the first, 
 apprehended the treachery of Charles, and events proved 
 the correctness of his forebodings. Glamorgan produced 
 his credentials, dated April 30, 1645, in which the king 
 promised to ratify whatever terms he might make ; and 
 he further promised that the Irish soldiers, whose assist- 
 ance he demanded, should be brought back to their own 
 shores, if these arrangements were not complied with by 
 his master. Meanwhile a copy of this secret treaty was 
 discovered on the archbishop of Tuam, who had been 
 killed at Sligo. It was used as an accusation against 
 the king. Glamorgan was arrested in Dublin, and the 
 whole scheme was defeated. 
 
 The General Assembly met in Kilkenny in January, 
 1646, and demanded the release of Glamorgan. He was 
 bailed out; but the king disowned the commission, 
 as Rinuccini had expected, and proved himself thereby 
 equally a traitor to his Catholic and Protestant subjects. 
 Ormonde took care to foment the division between the 
 Confederate party, and succeeded so well that a middle 
 party was formed, who signed a treaty consisting of 
 thirty articles. This document only provided for the 
 religious part of the question, that Roman Catholics 
 should not be bound to take the oath of supremacy. An 
 act of oblivion was passed, and the Catholics were to 
 continue to hold their possessions until a settlement could 
 be made by act of Parliament. Even in a political point 
 of view this treaty was a failure ; and one would have 
 thought that Irish chieftains and Anglo-Irish nobles had 
 known enough of acts of Parliament to have prevented 
 them from confiding their hopes to such an uncertain 
 future. 
 
 The division of the command in the Confederate army 
 had been productive of most disastrous consequences. 
 The rivalry between O'Neill, Preston, and Owen Roe 
 increased the complication ; but the nuncio managed to 
 reconcile the two O'Neills, and active preparations were 
 
cromwell's campaigns in Ireland. Bill 
 
 made by Owen Eoe for his famous northern campaign. 
 The Irish troops intended for Charles had remained in 
 their own country ; the unfortunate monarch had com- 
 mitted his last fatal error by confiding himself to his 
 Scotch subjects, who sold him to his own people for 
 400,0002. Ormonde now refused to publish the treaty 
 which had been just concluded, or even to enforce its 
 observance by Monroe, although the Confederates had 
 given him 3,000Z. to get up an expedition for that pur- 
 pose. 
 
 In the beginning of June, a. d. 164G, Owen Roe O'Neill 
 marched against Monroe, with five thousand foot and 
 five hundred horse. Monroe received notice of his 
 approach ; and, although his force was far superior to 
 O'Neill's, he sent for reinforcements of cavalry from his 
 brother, colonel George Monroe, who was stationed at 
 Coleraine. But the Irish forces advanced more quickly 
 than he expected ; and on the 4th of J une they had 
 crossed the Blackwater, and encamped at Benburb. 
 Here, on the 5th of June, a. d. 1646, he won a victory, 
 which is considered famous in the annals of Irish warfare. 
 For a time the party who adhered to the nuncio kept the 
 upper hand. But theif triumph was of brief continuance. 
 The spirit of disunion, which seems an essential charac- 
 teristic of the Celt, soon confounded the best-laid plans. 
 The generals of the Confederate army could not agree ; 
 Preston was even suspected of treachery. The Puritans 
 were every day growing stronger, and more united, 
 while the confederated Catholics were as steadily losing 
 power and influence. O'Neill seemed to be the only prop 
 of a falling cause. One party were trying to make terms 
 with Ormonde. Rinuccini, as a lastresource, had recourse 
 to ecclesiastical intervention, and excommunicated those 
 who joined this party. The treaty was, however, made 
 and signed ; but the ink was scarcely dry when the exe- 
 cution of Charles I. made it absolutely useless. Rinuc- 
 cini embarked in the San Pietro once more, and returned 
 to Italy, February 23, 1649. 
 
 Charles II. was at the Hague, and, with the usual 
 fatuity of a Stuart, equally unwilling to risk a visit to 
 Ireland, or a bold appeal to his English subjects. 
 
 Cromwell had been made lieutenant-general of the 
 English army in Ireland, but as yet he had been una- 
 
318 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 ble to take the command in person. His position was 
 precarious ; and he wished to secure his influence still 
 more firmly in his own country, before he attempted the 
 conquest of another. He had succeeded so far in the 
 accomplishment of his plans, that his departure and his 
 journey to Bristol were undertaken in royal style. He 
 left the metropolis early in June, in a coach drawn by 
 six gallant Flanders mares, and concluded his progress 
 at Milford haven, where he embarked, reaching Ireland 
 on the 14th of August, 1649. He was attended by some 
 of the most famous of the Parliamentary generals — his 
 son Henry, the future lord deputy ; Monck, Blake, Ire- 
 ton, Waller, Ludlow, and others. He brought with him, 
 for the propagation of the Gospel and the Commonwealth, 
 200,OOOZ. in money, eight regiments of foot, six of horse, 
 several troops of dragoons, a large supply of Bibles, and 
 a corresponding provision of ammunition and scythes. 
 The Bibles were to be distributed amongst his soldiers, 
 and to be given to the unfortunate natives, who could not 
 understand a word of their contents. The scythes and 
 sickles were to deprive them of all means of living, and 
 to preach a ghastly commentary on the conduct of the 
 men who wished to convert them to the new Gospel, 
 which certainly was not one of peace. Cromwell now 
 issued two proclamations : one against intemperance, for 
 he knew well the work that was before him, and he could 
 not afford to have a single drunken soldier in his camp. 
 The other proclamation prohibited plundering the coun- 
 try people : it was scarcely less prudent. His soldiers 
 might any day become his masters, if they were not kept 
 under strict control ; and there are few things which 
 so effectually lessen military discipline as permission to 
 plunder : he also wished to encourage the country people 
 to bring in provisions. His arrangements all succeeded. 
 
 Ormonde had garrisoned Drogheda with three thousand 
 of his choicest troops. They were partly English, and 
 were commanded by a brave loyalist, Sir Arthur Aston. 
 This was really the most important town in Ireland ; and 
 Cromwell, whose skill as a military general cannot be 
 disputed, at once determined to lay siege to it. After 
 a brave resistance its defenders yielded on a promise of 
 quarter; but the quarter was not given, and five days 
 were spent in butchering men, women, and children, in 
 
MASSACRE AT WEXFORD. 
 
 319 
 
 cold blood. Cromwell's theory was, that extermination 
 was the most merciful policy, and there can be no doubt 
 that he carried it out. His savage butcheries had their 
 effect, and even to the present day his name is uttered 
 with curses and imprecations by the lower classes. His 
 next massacre was perpetrated at Wexford ; the people 
 made what he termed M a stiff resistance. ;; The garri- 
 son amounted to about three thousand men, under the 
 command of colonel Sinnott, a brave loyalist. After 
 some correspondsnce on both sides, a conference took 
 place between four of the royalists and Cromwell, at 
 which he contrived to bribe captain Stafford, the gov- 
 ernor of the castle. The conditions asked, preparatory 
 to surrender, were liberty of conscience, and permission 
 to withdraw in safety, and with military honors. Crom- 
 well's idea of liberty of conscience was as peculiar as 
 his idea of honor. He wrote to the governor of Ross to 
 say that he would not tl meddle with any man's con- 
 science ; ,; but adds : " If by liberty of conscience you 
 mean a liberty to exercise the Mass, I judge it best to use 
 plain dealing, and to tell you now, where the Parliament 
 of England have power, that will not be allowed of; " 
 which, in plain English, meant that he professed liberty 
 of conscience, but allowed it only to such as agreed with 
 himself. Of his estimation of honor, his dealings at 
 Wexford afford a fair sample. As soon as he had found 
 that Stafford could be bribed, he denounced the pro- 
 posals of the garrison as abominable and impudent. The 
 traitor opened the castle gates, and the parliamentary 
 troops marched in. The massacre of Drogheda was re- 
 newed with all its horrors, and the treacherous general 
 held in his hand all the time the formal offer of surrender 
 which had been made by the townspeople, and his own 
 reply. He informs the Parliament that he did not intend 
 to destroy the town, but his own letter reveals his treach- 
 ery ; and he congratulates his correspondents on the 
 " unexpected providence 99 which had befallen them. 
 Soon after, the Parliament recalled Cromwell to England, 
 where the royalists had also to be crushed, and, if possi- 
 ble, exterminated. He left the command of the army in 
 Ireland to his son-in-law, Ireton. 
 
 Charles II. landed in Scotland on June 28, 1650, and 
 soon after signed the Covenant, and a declaration in 
 
320 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 which he stated the peace with Ireland to be null and void, 
 adding, with equal untruthfulness and meanness, that 
 "he was convinced in his conscience of the sinfulness 
 and unlawfulness of it, and of allowing them (the Cath- 
 olics) the liberty of the popish religion ; for which he did 
 from his heart desire to be deeply humbled before the 
 Lord." Ormonde declared, what was probably true, 
 that the king had been obliged to make these statements, 
 and that they meant nothing ; but neither his protes- 
 tations nor his diplomacy could save him from general 
 contempt ; and having appointed the marquis of Clan- 
 rickarde to administer the government of Ireland for 
 the king, he left the country accompanied by some of the 
 leading royalists, and, after a stormy passage, arrived 
 at St. Malo, in Brittany, early in the year 1651. The 
 Irish again sacrificed their interests to their loyalty, and 
 refused favorable terms offered to them by the parlia- 
 mentary party, they even attempted to mortgage the 
 town of Galway, to obtain money for the royal cause, 
 and an agreement was entered into with the duke of Lor- 
 raine for this purpose ; but the disasters of the battle of 
 Worcester, and the triumphs of the republican faction, 
 soon deprived them of every hope. 
 
 The siege of Limerick by Ireton is the next event of 
 general interest in the history of the civil war in Ireland. 
 The entry into the devoted city was accomplished by the 
 treachery of the governor. Twenty-four persons were 
 exempt from quarter, and amongst these were several 
 priests and a Dominican prelate of considerable reputa- 
 tion, Dr. Jerome O'Brien. It is said that as he was be- 
 ing led to execution he turned to Ireton and commanded 
 him to answer at God's judgment-seat for his cruelties. 
 It is certain that Ireton died eight days after, raVing 
 wildly of the men whom he had executed, November 26, 
 1651. 
 
 Ludlow now took the command, and marched to assist 
 Coote, who was besieging Galway. This town surren- 
 dered on the 12th of May, 1652. The few Irish officers 
 who still held out against the Parliament made the best 
 terms they could for themselves individually ; and there 
 was a brief peace, the precursor of yet more terrible 
 storms. 
 
 Fearful as are the records given by Spenser of 1580, 
 
IRISH SOLDIERS ENTER FOREIGN SERVICE. 321 
 
 when neither the lowing of a cow nor the voice of a 
 herdsman could be heard from Dunquin in Kerry to 
 Cashel in Munster, there seems to have been a deeper 
 depth of misery after Cromwell's massacres. In 1653 
 the English themselves were nearly starving, even in 
 Dublin ; and cattle had to be imported from Wales. There 
 was no tillage, and a license was required to kill lamb. 
 The Irish had fled into the mountains, the only refuge 
 left to them now ; and the Parliamentary officers were 
 obliged to issue proclamations inviting their return, and 
 promising them safety and protection. But the grand 
 object of the revolutionary party was still to carry out 
 the wild scheme of unpeopling Ireland of the Irish, and 
 planting it anew with English, — a scheme which had 
 been so often attempted, and had so signally failed, that 
 one marvels how it could again have been brought for- 
 ward. Still there were always adventurers ready to 
 fight for other men's lands, and subjects who might be 
 troublesome at home, whom it was found desirable to 
 occupy in some way abroad. But a grand effort was 
 made now to get rid of as many Irishmen as possible in 
 a peaceable manner. The valor of the Irish soldier was 
 well known abroad ; and agents from the king of Spain, 
 the king of Poland, and the prince de Conde were con- 
 tending for those brave fellows, who were treated like 
 slaves in their native land, and then, if they dared to 
 resist, branded with the foul name of rebels. If a keen 
 had rung out loud and long when O'Donnell left his 
 native land never to return, well might it ring out now 
 yet more wildly. In May, 1652, Don Ricardo White 
 shipped seven thousand men for the king of Spain ; in 
 September, colonel Mayo collected three thousand more, 
 lord Muskerry took five thousand to Poland ; and, in 
 1654, colonel Dwyer went to serve the prince de Conde 
 with three thousand five hundred men. Other officers 
 looked up the men who had served under them, and ex- 
 patriated themselves in smaller parties ; so that, between 
 1651 and 1654, thirty-four thousand Irishmen had left 
 their native land ; and few, indeed, ever returned to its 
 desolate shores. 
 
 But their lot was merciful compared with the fate of 
 those who still remained. In 1653 Ireland was consid- 
 ered sufficiently depopulated by war and emigration to 
 
322 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 admit of a commencement of the grand planting. The 
 country was again portioned out ; again the ruling pow- 
 ers selected the best portion of the land for themselves 
 and their favorites ; again the religion of the country was 
 reformed, and Protestant prelates were condemned as 
 loudly, though they were not hunted as unmercifully as 
 popish priests ; again the wild and lawless adventurer 
 was sent to eject the old proprietor, and the wildest and 
 most merciless scheme that was ever devised for the 
 destruction of a nation was now put into force. If we 
 had not ample documentary evidence, in the shape of 
 acts of Parliament and proclamations, it would be almost 
 impossible to credit the details of the banishment to Con- 
 naught. 
 
 On the 26th of September, 1653, all the property of 
 the Irish people was declared to belong to the English 
 army and adventurers ; " and it was announced that the 
 Parliament had assigned Connaught for the habitation 
 of the Irish nation, whither they must transplant, with 
 their wives, and daughters, and children, before the 1st 
 of May following, under the penalty of death, if found 
 on this side of the Shannon after that day." It must 
 not be supposed that this death penalty was a mere 
 threat ; it was put into execution with inexorable sever- 
 ity. In order that no one might plead ignorance, an offi- 
 cial proclamation was made in the preamble thus : " The 
 Parliament of the Commonwealth of England, having, by 
 an act lately passed (entitled an Act for the Settling of 
 Ireland), declared that it is not their intention to extirpate 
 this whole nation ... it is ordered that the governor 
 and commissioners of revenue ... do cause the said 
 act of Parliament, with this present declaration, to be 
 published and proclaimed in their respective precincts, 
 by beat of drum and sound of trumpet, on some market- 
 day within ten days after the same shall come unto them 
 within their respective precincts. 77 
 
 Any man, woman, or child who had disobeyed this 
 order, no matter from what cause, could be instantly 
 executed in any way, by any of these soldiers or adven- 
 turers, without judge, jury, or trial. It was, in fact, 
 constituting a special commission for the newcomers to 
 murder all the old inhabitants. 
 
 Connaught was selected for two reasons : " first, be- 
 
THE BANISHMENT TO CONNAUGHT. 
 
 323 
 
 cause it was the most wasted province of Ireland ; and 
 secondly, because it could be, and in fact, was, most 
 easily converted into a national prison, by erecting a 
 cordon militaire across the country, from sea to sea. To 
 make the imprisonment more complete, a belt four miles 
 wide, commencing one mile to the west of Sligo, and 
 thence running along the coast and the Shannon, was to 
 be given to the soldiery to plant. Thus, any Irishman 
 who attempted to escape would be sure of instant cap- 
 ture and execution. 
 
 The government, as it has been already remarked, 
 reserved the best part of the land for themselves. They 
 secured the towns, church-lands, and tithes, and abolished 
 the Established Church, with all its officers, which had 
 been so recently declared the religion of the courftry. 
 A " Church of Christ " was now the established religion, 
 and a Mr. Thomas Hicks was approved by the " Church 
 of Christ," meeting at Chichester House, as one fully 
 * qualified to preach and dispense the Gospel as often as 
 the Lord should enable him, and in such places as the 
 Lord should make his ministry most effectual. The Par- 
 liament also reserved for themselves the counties of Dub- 
 lin, Kildare, Carlow, and Cork ; and from these lands and 
 the church property they were to enrich themselves, 
 and, with what they could spare, to reward the leading 
 regicides and rebels. The adventurers were next pro- 
 vided for. They claimed 360,000/. This was divided 
 into three lots, to be paid in lands in Munster, Leinster, 
 and Ulster. All these were to be drawn by lot ; and a 
 lottery was held at Grocer's Hall, London, which com- 
 menced at eight o'clock in the morning, on the 20th of 
 July, 1653, at which time and place, men who professed 
 the advancement of the Christian religion to be the busi- 
 ness of their lives, openly and flagrantly violated the 
 most solemn and explicit commands of that very belief 
 which they declared themselves so zealous in upholding. 
 The soldiers and officers were to obtain whatever was 
 left after the adventurers had been satisfied. 
 
 A book was written by a Franciscan father, called 
 Threnodia Hiberno- Catholica, sive Planctus Universalis 
 totius Cleri et Populi Regni Hibernice, in which the wri- 
 ter states that he heard a great Protestant statesman 
 give three reasons why this transplantation was con- 
 
324 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 fined to the gentry, and why the poor, who had not been 
 either transported or hanged, were allowed to remain : 
 
 1) because the English wanted them to till the ground ; 
 
 2) they hoped they would become Protestants when 
 deprived of their priests; (3) because the settlers re- 
 quired servants, or else they should have worked for 
 themselves. 
 
 But the fatal day at length arrived, and those who had 
 dared to linger, or to hope that so cruel a sentence would 
 not be finally executed, were at once undeceived. The 
 commissioners had been in trouble all the winter : the 
 people who were to be driven out of their farms refused 
 to sow for those who were to succeed them ; and the 
 very plotters of the iniquity began to tremble for the 
 consequences in which they might be themselves in- 
 volved. 
 
 Kemonstrances and complaints were sent to the faction 
 who governed England, but all was in vain. The prin- 
 cipal petitioners were the descendants of the English 
 nobles ; they were now, by a just retribution, suffering 
 themselves the very miseries which they had so ruth- 
 lessly inflicted on the native Irish. The petitioners, says 
 Mr. Prendergast, were the noble and the wealthy, men 
 of ancient English blood, descendants of the invaders — 
 the FitzGeralds, the Butlers, the Plunkets, the Barn- 
 walls, Dillons, Cheevers, Cusacks, names found appended 
 to various schemes for extirpating or transplanting the 
 Irish, after the subduing of lord Thomas FitzGerald's 
 rebellion in 1535 — who were now to transplant as Irish. 
 The native Irish were too poor to pay scriveners and 
 messengers to the Council, and their sorrows were 
 unheard ; though under their rough coats beat hearts 
 that felt as great pangs at being driven from their native 
 homes as the highest in the land. 
 
 One of these English families demands special mention. 
 Edmund Spenser's grandson was now commanded to 
 1 transplant, as though he too had been "mere Irish ; " 
 and the very estate near Fermoy, which had been con- 
 fiscated from the FitzGeralds seventy years before, and 
 which the poet had obtained thus fraudulently, was now 
 confiscated anew, and granted to Cromwell's soldiers. 
 William Spenser protested ; he pleaded his grandfather's 
 name, he pleaded his grandfather's services, especially 
 
PUNISHMENTS FOR NOT TRANSPLANTING. 325 
 
 the odium he had incurred amongst the Irish by the way 
 in which he had written of them, and lastly, William 
 Spenser declares of himself that he had utterly renounced 
 popery since he came to years of discretion. But even 
 Cromwell's interference could not save him ; the soldiers 
 were determined to have his lands, and they had them. 
 
 The manner in which difficulties were met is thus re- 
 corded in a letter which was written for publication in 
 London : — 
 
 " Athy, March 4, 1664-5. 
 " I have only to acquaint you that the time prescribed 
 for the transplantation of the Irish proprietors, and those 
 that have been in arms and abettors of the rebellion, 
 being near at hand, the officers are resolved to fill the 
 gaols and to seize them ; by which this bloody people 
 will know that they (the officers) are not degenerated 
 from English principles ; though I presume we shall be 
 very tender of hanging any except leading men ; yet we 
 shall make no scruple of sending them to the West In- 
 dies, where they will serve for planters, and help to plant 
 the plantation that general Venables, it is hoped, hath 
 reduced." 
 
 So examples were made. Mr. Edward Hetherington 
 was hanged in Dublin, on April 3, 1655, with placards 
 on his breast and back, on which was written, " For not 
 transplanting ; ;; and at the summer assizes of 1658, 
 hundreds were condemned to death for the same cause, 
 but were eventually sent as slaves to Barbadoes. The 
 miseries of those who did transplant was scarcely less 
 than those of the persons who were condemned to slav- 
 ery. Some committed suicide, some went mad, all were 
 reduced to the direst distress. The nobles of the land 
 were as cruelly treated and as much distrusted as the 
 poorest peasant. The very men who had laid down their 
 arms, and signed articles of peace at Kilkenny, were not 
 spared ; and the excuse offered was, that the act of Par- 
 liament overrode the articles. 
 
 Sir William Petty states that six thousand boys and 
 girls were sent as slaves to the West Indies. Even girls 
 of noble birth were subjected to this cruel fate, for we 
 find that when Daniel Conway, a gentleman of property 
 in Clare, was banished the country for harboring a priest 
 
326 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 by colonel Ingolsby, Mr. Conway died of destitution 
 soon after, and three of his daughters, young and beau- 
 tiful girls, were transported to Barbadoes as slaves. 
 
 A court was established for the punishment of " rebels 
 and malignants ; n the former consisting of persons who 
 refused to surrender their houses and lands, and the lat- 
 ter being those who would not act contrary to their con- 
 scientious convictions in religious matters. These courts 
 were called " Cromwell's Slaughter-houses. " Donnellan, 
 who had acted as solicitor to the regicides, at the trial of 
 Charles L, held the first court at Kilkenny, October 4, 
 1652. 
 
 As the majority of the nation had now been disposed 
 of, either by banishment, transportation, or hanging, the 
 government had time to turn their attention to other 
 affairs. The desolation of the country was such, that the 
 smoke of a fire, or the sign of a habitation, was consid- 
 ered a rare phenomenon. In consequence of this depop- 
 ulation, wild beasts had multiplied on the lands, and 
 three " beasts ;; were especially noted for destruction. 
 In the Parliament held at Westminster in 1657, Major 
 Morgan, member for the county Wicklow, enumerated 
 these beasts thus : "We have three beasts to destroy 
 that lay burdens upon us. The first is the wolf, on whom 
 we lay 5Z. a head if a dog, and 10Z. if a bitch. The sec- 
 ond beast is a priest, on whose head we lay 101. ; if he 
 be eminent, more. The third beast is a Tory, on whose 
 head, if he be a public Tory, we lay 20Z. ; and forty 
 shillings on a private Tory." 
 
 Wolves had increased so rapidly, that the officers who 
 left Ireland for Spain, in 1652, were forbidden to take 
 their dogs with them, and were thus deprived of the 
 pleasure and the pride (for Irish dogs were famous) of 
 this consolation in their exile. Public hunts were or- 
 dered, and every effort made to keep down beasts of 
 prey. The number of wolves may be estimated from the 
 fact that some lands for which high rent had always been 
 obtained, were now let for a stipulated number of wolves' 
 heads per annum. The wolves were, however, more 
 easily got rid of than the priests. There were parts of 
 the country where it was incomparably more difficult to 
 hunt out a priest than a wolf ; so the government gave 
 notice, on January 6, 1653, that all priests and friars 
 
CONFISCATION OF ESTATES. 
 
 327 
 
 who were willing to transport themselves, should have 
 liberty to do so for twenty days. But the priests and 
 friars had no idea of leaving the country. Many came 
 to it from the continental colleges, where they had been 
 educated — for home education was impossible — full of 
 a burning zeal for martyrdom, and having fully counted 
 the cost of the mission which they had undertaken. 
 The people also were invariably true to them. Long lists 
 of the priests who were captured and executed remain, 
 but there is not a single Irish name in the catalogue of 
 the men by whom they were betrayed. 
 
 The number of secular priests who were victims to this 
 persecution cannot be correctly estimated. The relig- 
 ious orders, who were in the habit of keeping an ac- 
 curate chronicle of the entrance and decease of each 
 member, furnish fuller details. An official record, drawn 
 up in 1656, gives the name of thirty Franciscans who 
 suffered for the faith ; and this was before the more had 
 severe search had commenced. The martyrdom of a 
 similar number of Dominicans is recorded almost under 
 the same date ; and Dr. Burgat states that more than 
 three hundred of the clergy were put to death by the 
 sword or on the scaffold, while more than one thousand 
 were sent into exile. 
 
 The third " beast " was the Tory. The Tories were, 
 in fact, the sons of men of good families, who had been 
 banished to Connaught. They could scarcely be expected 
 to have much respect for law when they had such prac- 
 tical proof of the way in which it was administered in 
 Ireland. They were, in fact, driven to desperation. 
 Strangers had taken forcible possession of their lands 
 and their property, and they could scarcely be expected 
 to consider it an act of theft if they recovered any por- 
 tion of them by stealth, or murder if they assassinated 
 the new proprietors. Young men, whose fathers had 
 landed estates of 2 ; 000Z. a year, which were quietly 
 divided amongst CromwelPslife-guards, while the propri- 
 etor was sent out to beg, and his daughters compelled to 
 take in washing or do needlework, could scarcely be 
 expected to take such a change in their circumstances 
 very calmly. A man who had been transplanted from 
 an estate worth 2,500Z. a year near Dublin, which his 
 family had owned for four hundred years, and whose 
 
328 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 daughters were given the munificent gratuity of 10/. 
 apiece by the Council Board, and forbidden for the future 
 to ask for any further assistance, might certainly plead 
 extenuating circumstances 1 if he took to highway rob- 
 bery. Such circumstances as these were common at this 
 period ; and it should be borne in mind that the man 
 whose holding was worth but 40Z. a year felt the injus- 
 tice, and resented the inhumanity of his expulsion, quite 
 as much as the nobleman with 4,O0OZ. So the Tories 
 plundered their own property; and if they could be cap- 
 tured paid the penalty with their lives ; but, when they 
 were not caught, the whole district suffered, and some 
 one was made a scapegoat for their crime, though it did 
 not seem much to matter whether the victim could be 
 charged with complicity or not. After some years, when 
 even the sons of the proprietors had become old inhab- 
 itants, and the dispossessed generation had passed away, 
 their children were still called Tories. They wandered 
 from village to village, or rather from hovel to hovel, and 
 received hospitality and respect from the descendants 
 of those who had been tenants on the estates of their 
 forefathers, and who still called them gentlemen, and 
 treated them as such, though they possessed nothing but 
 the native dignity, which could not be thrown off, and 
 the old title-deeds, which were utterly worthless, yet 
 not the less carefully treasured. 
 
 Charles II. commenced his reign de facto in 1660. 
 Some little justice was shown towards those who had 
 suffered for the royal cause in England. Those who had 
 been expelled from their estates by the Cromwellian fac- 
 tion, were driven out by the old proprietors ; but in Ire- 
 land the case was very different. Even the faithful loy- 
 alists, who had sacrificed everything for the king, and 
 had so freely assisted his necessities out of their pov- 
 erty, were now treated with contempt, and their claims 
 silenced by proclamation ; while the men who had been 
 most opposed to the royal interests, and most cruel in 
 
 1 Lord Roche and his daughters were compelled to go on foot to 
 Connaught, and his property was divided amongst the English sol- 
 diers. His wife, the viscountess Roche, was hanged without a shadow 
 of evidence that she had committed the crime of which she was 
 accused. Alderman Roche's daughters had nothing to live on but 
 their own earnings by washing and needlework; and Mr. Luttrell, 
 the last case mentioned above, was allowed as a favor to occupy his 
 own stables while preparing to transplant. 
 
THE BILL OF SETTLEMENT. 
 
 329 
 
 their oppression of the natives, were rewarded and ad- 
 mitted into favor. Coote and Broghill were of this class. 
 Each tried to lessen the other in the opinion of their 
 royal master as they ran the race for favor, and each 
 boasted of services never accomplished, and of loyalty 
 which never existed. The two enemies of each other 
 and of the nation were now appointed lords justices of 
 Ireland ; and a Parliament was assembled on May 8, 
 1661, the first meeting of the kind which had been held 
 for twenty years. 
 
 The Catholic, or national interest, was certainly not 
 represented ; for there were present seventy-two Prot- 
 estant peers, and only twenty-one Catholics ; while the 
 house of commons comprised two hundred and sixty 
 members, all of whom were burgesses except sixty -four, 
 and the towns had been so entirely peopled by Crom- 
 well's Puritan followers, that there could be no doubt 
 what course they would pursue. An attempt was now 
 made to expel the few Catholics who were present, by 
 requiring them to take the oath of supremacy. The obse- 
 quious Parliament voted 30,000Z. to the duke of Ormonde, 
 whose career of duplicity was crowned with success. 
 
 The Bill of Settlement was opposed by the Irish Catho- 
 lics through their counsel, but their claims were rejected 
 and treated with contempt. Charles had told his Par- 
 liament, on his restoration, that he expected they would 
 have a care of his honor, and of the promise he had made. 
 This promise had been explicitly renewed by Ormonde 
 for the king, before he left for Breda ; but the most sol- 
 emn engagements were so regularly violated, when Irish 
 affairs were concerned, that nothing else could have been 
 expected. A court of claims was at length established, 
 to try the cases of ejectment which had occurred during 
 the Commonwealth ; but this exoited so much indigna- 
 tion and alarm amongst the Protestants, that all hope of 
 justice was quickly at an end, and the time-serving Or- 
 monde closed the court. The grand occupation of each 
 new reign, for the last few centuries, appears to have 
 been to undo what had been done in the preceding 
 reigns. An Act of explanation was now passed, and a 
 Protestant militia raised, to satisfy that party. It was 
 provided by the new act, that the Protestants were, in 
 the first place, and especially, to be settled : that any 
 
330 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 doubt which arose should be decided in their favor ; and 
 that no papist who, by the qualifications of the former 
 act, had not been adjudged innocent, should at any 
 future time be reputed innocent, or entitled to claim any 
 lands or settlements. It will be remembered that Or- 
 monde had cut short the sittings of the court to satisfy 
 Protestant clamor ; in consequence of this, more than 
 three thousand Catholic claimants were condemned to 
 forfeit their estates, without even the shadow of an in- 
 quiry, but with the pretence of having justice done to 
 them, or, as Leland has expressed it, " without the jus- 
 tice granted to the vilest criminal — that of a fair and 
 equal trial. " 
 
 So many complaints were made of Ormonde's admin- 
 istration, that he was now removed for a time. He was 
 succeeded by lord Berkeley, in May, 1670, a nobleman 
 whose honest and impartial government earned him the 
 respect of all who were not interested in upholding a 
 contrary line of conduct. The Catholics offered him an 
 address, which was signed by two prelates, who held a 
 prominent position, not only in their Church, but also in 
 the history of the period ; these were Dr. Plunkett, arch- 
 bishop of Armagh, and Dr. Talbot, archbishop of Dublin. 
 Dr. Plunkett had been archbishop of Armagh since the 
 death of Dr. O'Reilly in 1669. He belonged to the noble 
 family of Fingall, but he was more respected for his vir- 
 tues and his office than for his rank. He was accused 
 of being in correspondence with the French, and was 
 seized on December 6, 1679. Even Ormonde wished to 
 have spared him, so inoffensive and peaceful had been 
 his life. He was arraigned at the Dundalk assizes ; but 
 although every man on the grand jury was a Protestant, 
 from whom, at least, less partiality might be expected 
 towards him than from members of his own church, the 
 perjured witnesses refused to come forward. Indeed, 
 the prelate himself had such confidence in his innocence, 
 andin'the honorable dealingof his Protestant fellow-coun- 
 trymen, when their better judgment was not bewildered • 
 by fanaticism, that he declared in London he would put 
 himself on trial in Ireland before any Protestant jury who 
 knew him, and who knew the men who swore against 
 him, without the slightest doubt of the result. 
 
 Jones, the Protestant bishop of Meath, was, unfortu- 
 
TRIAL OF DR. PLUNKETT. 
 
 331 
 
 nately for himself, influenced by fanaticism. He had 
 served in Cromwell's army, and had all that rancorous 
 hatred of the Catholic Church so characteristic of the 
 low class from whom the Puritan soldiery were drawn. 
 He was determined that the archbishop should be con- 
 demned ; and as men could not be found to condemn 
 him in Ireland, he induced lord Shaftesbury to have him 
 taken to London. The archbishop was removed to New- 
 gate, about the close of October, 1680, and so closely 
 confined, that none of his friends could have access to 
 him. He spent his time in prayer, and his gaolers were 
 amazed at his cheerfulness and resignation. His trial 
 took place on June 8, 1G81 ; but he was not allowed time 
 to procure the necessary witnesses, and the court would 
 not allow certain records to be put in, which would have 
 proved the character of his accusers. Six of the most 
 eminent English lawyers were arrayed against him. 
 The legal arrangements of the times deprived him of the 
 assistance of counsel, but they did not require the judges 
 to help out the men who swore against him : this, how- 
 ever, they did. He was of course condemned, and suf- 
 fered with such patience and joy that even his enemies 
 were obliged eventually to do justice to his memory. 
 
 Colonel Talbot was raised to the peerage as earl of Tyr- 
 connel, and appointed commander to the forces with an 
 authority independent of the, lord lieutenant. James 
 commenced his reign by proclaiming his desire for re- 
 ligious liberty. But the age was not yet sufficiently 
 advanced for man to grant his fellow-man the right 
 which he himself exercised of liberty of conscience. 
 
 Individually, James may not have been much behind 
 the age in opinion on this subject, but liberty of con- 
 science was necessary for himself. He was a Catholic, 
 and he made no secret of his religion ; he was, therefore, 
 obliged from this motive, if from no other, to accord the 
 same boon to his subjects. The Quakers were set free 
 in England, and the Catholics were set free in Ireland. 
 But the Puritan faction, who had commenced by fight- 
 ing for liberty of conscience for themselves, and who 
 ended by fighting to deny liberty of conscience to others, 
 were quite determined that neither Quakers nor Catho- 
 lics should worship God as they believed themselves 
 bound to do. Such intolerance, unhappily, was not 
 
332 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 altogether confined to the illiterate. Coke, in a previ- 
 ous generation, had declared that it was felony even to 
 counsel the king to tolerate Catholics ; and Usher, that 
 it was a deadly sin. The king had neither the good 
 sense nor the delicacy of feeling to guide him through 
 these perils. His difficulties, and the complications 
 which ensued, belong to the province of the English his- 
 torian, but they were not the less felt in Ireland. 
 
 The Protestants professed to be afraid of being mas- 
 sacred by the Catholics ; the Catholics apprehended a 
 massacre from the Protestants. Catholics were now 
 admitted to the army, to the bar, and to the senate. 
 Protestants declared this an infringement of their rights, 
 and forgot how recently they had expelled their Catho- 
 lic fellow-subjects, not merely from honors and emolu- 
 ments, but even from their altars and their homes. 
 
 An event now occurred which brought affairs to a 
 crisis. The king's second wife, Mary of Modena, gave 
 him an heir, and the heir appeared likely to live (a. d. 
 1688). William of Orange, who had long flattered him- 
 self that he should one day wear the crown of England, 
 saw that no time should be lost if he intended to secure 
 the prize, and commenced his preparations with all the 
 ability and with all the duplicity for which his career has 
 been admired by one party and denounced by the other, 
 according as political and religious opinions viewed the 
 deceit under the strong light of the ability, or the ability 
 under the glare of the deceit. The Protestant party 
 could not but see all that was to be apprehended if a 
 Catholic heir should succeed to the throne, and they 
 sacrificed their loyalty to their interests, if not to their 
 principles. 
 
 William arrived in England on the 5th of November, 
 1688. He professed to have come for the purpose of 
 investigating the rumors which had been so industriously 
 circulated respecting the birth of the heir, who had 
 barred his pretensions, and to induce the king to join 
 the league which had been just formed against France ; 
 but he took care to come provided with an armament, 
 which gave the lie to his diplomatic pretensions ; and 
 as soon as he had been joined by English troops, of whose 
 disaffection he was well aware, his real motive was no 
 longer concealed. James fled to France, whither he had 
 
FLIGHT OP KING JAMES TO FRANCE. 
 
 333 
 
 already sent his queen and heir. Still there was a large 
 party in England who had not yet declared openly for 
 the usurper ; and had not James entirely alienated the 
 affection of his subjects by his tyrannical treatment of 
 the Protestant bishops, his conduct towards the univer- 
 sity of Oxford, and the permission, if not the sanction, 
 which he gave to Jeffreys in his bloody career, there can 
 be little doubt that William would have had to fight for 
 the crown on English ground as he did on Irish. 
 
334 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 RELIGION— LAWS— CUSTOMS— CIVILIZATION AND SO- 
 CIAL STATE OF IRELAND IN THE FIFTEENTH, SIX- 
 TEENTH, AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES. 
 
 The apostasy of the English nation during the reign 
 of Henry VIII. had but little effect upon the Irish nation 
 theologically ; practically, it served not a little to in- 
 crease the ill feeling between the two countries, since it 
 opened up a new ground for dispute, and hence a new 
 source of bitterness. Religious rancor was now added 
 to party feeling, and cruel persecutions still further 
 widened the breach already but too extensive. The ieon- 
 oclasm of the Reformers and the barbarity of the soldiers 
 led to the destruction of most of the churches in Ireland, 
 some of which were of rare architectural beauty, and had 
 been erected by the Anglo-Norman lords. Under such 
 circumstances learning could not be expected to flourish. 
 The Irish priests were obliged to go to the Continent for 
 education, and were taught little more than what was 
 necessary for their ministrations. On their return to 
 Ireland they were compelled to remain in strict conceal- 
 ment, and often to live for years in the woods ; hence 
 they could not in any way promote literature, however 
 much they might wish to do so. There were, however, 
 some few priests who were obliged to remain on the 
 Continent, and they have written sufficient to prove that 
 there, at least, the Irish ecclesiastic was not indifferent 
 to literary culture. 
 
 The Four Masters, whose " Annals " are the standard 
 repository of Irish history, were Franciscan monks, who 
 wrote a. d. 1632-1636. Their work obtained the name 
 of the " Annals of the Four Masters " because four friars 
 were principally employed in its compilation. The chief 
 of these writers, Michael O'Clery, was of noble family, 
 
RELIGION. 
 
 335 
 
 but entered the order of St. Francis, while still young", 
 as a lay brother. In the year 1627 he travelled through 
 Ireland, collecting materials for father Hugh Ward, also 
 a Franciscan friar, and guardian of the convent of St. 
 Antony, at Louvain, who was preparing a series of lives 
 of Irish saints ; and it was probably then that the idea 
 occurred to him of writing the Annals of Ireland. He 
 spent ten years visiting the libraries on the Continent, 
 whither Irish manuscripts had been dispersed, and col- 
 lecting all that could be found at home. His magnificent 
 work has been published within the last few years, with 
 a translation and most valuable notes, by the late Dr. 
 O'Donovan. The work as published consists of eight 
 large quarto volumes, each volume containing four or 
 five hundred pages. Unfortunately, the age was not 
 critical, and the Four Masters have omitted all but the 
 most general reference to their authorities. There is no 
 doubt, however, that they had access to valuable author- 
 ities which have since disappeared. 
 
 A history of Ireland, compiled also from ancient sources, 
 but on a very much smaller scale, was written by a priest 
 named Keating, while he lay concealed in the Galtee 
 mountains. 
 
 John Lynch, the bishop of Killala, and the indefatiga- 
 ble and successful impugner of Cambrensis, was another 
 literary luminary of the age. His career is a fair sam- 
 ple of the extraordinary difficulties experienced by the 
 Irish in their attempts to cultivate intellectual pursuits, 
 and of their undaunted courage in attaining their end. 
 Usher has himself recorded his visit to Galway, where 
 he found Lynch, then a mere youth, teaching a school 
 of humanity (a. d. 1622). " We had proofe," he says, 
 " during our continuance in that citie, how his scholars 
 proffited under him, by the verses and orations which 
 they brought us." Usher then relates how he seriously 
 advised the young schoolmaster to conform to the pop- 
 ular religion ; but, as Lynch declined to comply with his 
 wishes, he was bound over under sureties of 400L ster- 
 ling to " forbear teaching." The tree of knowledge was, 
 in truth, forbidden fruit, and guarded sedulously by the 
 fiery sword of the law. Florence Conry, archbishop of 
 Tuam, the founder of the Irish college of Louvain, was 
 one of the first to suggest and to carry out the idea of 
 
336 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 supplying Irish youth with the means of education on 
 the Continent, which they were denied at home. It is 
 a fact, almost unexampled in the history of nations, that 
 a whole race should have been thus denied the means of 
 acquiring even the elements of learning, and equally 
 unexampled is the zeal with which the nation sought to 
 procure abroad the advantages from which they were so 
 cruelly debarred at home. At Louvain some of the most 
 distinguished Irish scholars were educated. An Irish 
 press was established within its halls, which was kept 
 constantly employed, and from it proceeded some of the 
 most valuable works of the age, as well as a scarcely less 
 important literature for the people, in the form of short 
 treatises on religion or history. Colleges were also 
 established at Douay, Lisle, Antwerp, Tournay, and St. 
 Omers, principally through the exertions of Christopher 
 Cusack, a learned priest of the diocese of Meath. Car- 
 dinal Ximenes founded an Irish college at Lisbon, and 
 cardinal Henriquez founded a similar establishment at 
 Evora. 
 
 Trinity College, Dublin, was founded during the reign 
 of queen Elizabeth. Sir John Perrot had proposed to 
 convert St. Patrick's cathedral into an university ; but 
 Loftus, the Protestant archbishop, would not allow it, 
 because, according to Leland, " he was particularly 
 interested in the livings of this church, by leases and 
 estates, which he had procured for himself and his kins- 
 men. " When the deputy, whom he cordially hated, 
 had been withdrawn, he proposed a plan which gave him 
 the credit of the undertaking without any expenditure 
 on his part. The site he selected was in what was then 
 called Hogges-green, now College-green ; and the place 
 was the " scite, ambit, and presinct ,; of the Augustinian 
 monastery of All Saints, which had been founded by 
 Dermod MacMurrough, king of Leinster, a. d. 1166. Dr. 
 Loftus, after obtaining this grant, and such rents as still 
 belonged to the old Catholic monastery, endeavored to 
 raise a subscription to supply the further funds still nec- 
 essary to complete the work. In this he signally failed ; 
 for those to whom he applied excused themselves on the 
 plea of poverty. Other funds were therefore sought for, 
 and easily obtained ; and the revenues of some sup- 
 pressed Catholic houses in Kerry, Mayo, and Ulster, 
 
FOUNDATION OF TRINITY COLLEGE. 
 
 337 
 
 were taken to endow and erect the Protestant univer- 
 sity. 
 
 Usher and Ware were, undoubtedly, the most learned 
 men of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ; and, 
 considering the state of political and religious excite- 
 ment in which they lived and wrote, it is much to their 
 credit that they did not dip their pens still deeper into 
 the gall of controversy and prejudice. Usher was one 
 of the Hibernis ipsis Iftberniores, for his family came 
 to Ireland with king John ; but he admired and wrote 
 Celtic history with the enthusiasm of a Celt, and he gath- 
 ered materials for other men's work with patient indus- 
 try, however he may have allowed party spirit to influ- 
 ence and warp his own judgment in their use. Usher 
 was Ware's most ardent patron. Habits of indefati- 
 gable research did for him, in some degree, what natural 
 genius had done for others. Nor was he slow to recog- 
 nize or avail himself of native talent ; and there can be 
 no doubt, that if he had lived a few years longer after 
 his acquaintance with MacFirbis, Irish literature would 
 have benefited considerably by the united efforts of the 
 man of power, who was devoted to learning, and the 
 man of gifts, who had the abilities which neither posi- 
 tion nor wealth can purchase. 
 
 Usher was at heart a Puritan ; and, however learned 
 himself, he seems to have been indifferent to the neces- 
 sity of superior education, as well as regular ordination, 
 for his clergy. In 1623 Dr. Blair was invited to Ireland 
 by lord Clannaboy, to take the living of Bangor, vacated 
 by the death of the Rev. John Gibson, M sence Reforma- 
 cione from popery the first deane of Down.' 7 Dr. Blair 
 objected both to episcopal government and to use the Eng- 
 lish liturgy ; yet he " procured a free and safe entry to the 
 holy ministry," which, according to his own account, was 
 accomplished thus. His patron, lord Clannaboy, informed 
 " the bishop Echlin how opposite I was to episcopacy 
 and their liturgy, and had the influence to procure my 
 admission on easy and honorable terms." At his inter- 
 view with the bishop it was arranged that Dr. Blair was 
 to receive ordination from Mr. Cunningham and the 
 neighboring clergy, and the bishop was "to come in 
 among them in no other relation than a presbyter." 
 
338 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 These are the bishop's own words ; and his reason for 
 ordaining at all was: "I must ordain you, else neither 
 I nor you can answer the law, nor brook the land." In 
 1627 Blair had an interview with archbishop Usher, and 
 he says " they were not so far from agreeing as he 
 feared. " " He admitted that all those things (episcopacy 
 and a form of prayer) ought to have been removed, but 
 the constitution and laws of the place and time would 
 not permit that to be done." A few years later, Mr. 
 John Livingstone thus relates his experience on similar 
 subjects. He had been appointed also by lord Clanna- 
 boy to the parish of Killinchy : and, because it was need- 
 ful that he should be ordained to the ministry, and the 
 bishop of Down, in whose diocese Killinchy was, being 
 a corrupt and timorous man, and would require some 
 engagement, therefore my lord Clannaboy sent some with 
 me, and wrote to Mr. Andrew Knox, bishop of Raphoe, 
 who told me he knew my errand, and that I came to him 
 because I had scruples against episcopacy and ceremo- 
 nies according as Mr. Josiah Welsh and some others had 
 done before ; and that he thought his old age was pro- 
 longed for little other purpose than- to perform such cer- 
 emonies." It was then arranged that he should be 
 ordained as Dr. Blair and others had been. The bishop 
 gave him the book of ordination, and said, "though he 
 durst not answer it to the state," that he might draw a 
 line over anything he did not approve of, and that it 
 should not be read. " But/ 7 concludes Mr. Livingstone, 
 " I found that it had been so marked by some others be- 
 fore that I needed not mark anything ; so the Lord was 
 pleased to carry that business far beyond anything that 
 I have thought or almost ever desired." 
 
 The whole subject of law is so intimately connected 
 with Irish history after the English invasion, that it can 
 scarcely be treated as a distinct subject. Mention has 
 been already made of the principal acts of Parliament, 
 and their effects. Sir Philip Sidney made great efforts 
 to abolish the exactions of coigne and livery, which were, 
 in fact, a tax in kind on the tenant class for the support 
 of the standing army. This tax, not being defined (for 
 such a tax could not be defined), was necessarily a source 
 of great oppression. It was, however, extremely diffi- 
 cult to substitute a money tax, or to get rent paid in 
 
LAWS AND ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 339 
 
 money, but even the attempt to do so at once raised the 
 price of land. 
 
 Efforts were also constantly made to abrogate the rise 
 of the Brehon Laws, and in 1577 Sir William Drury hung 
 aBrehon of 'Mores. This, however, was not the best 
 method of teaching the people to discard their ancient 
 customs. It is doubtful whether any Parliament was 
 called in Ireland during the reign of Edward IV. ; but 
 there is certainly a letter extant from that prince, dated 
 from Windsor, August 5, a.d. 1550, empowering the lord 
 deputy to summon a house. Parliaments were held dur- 
 ing the reign of queen Elizabeth. 
 
 The earliest known testaments bear date 1388 and 
 1440. The Prerogative Court does not possess any will 
 earlier than 1536. 
 
 Ecclesiastical architecture could not be expected to 
 flourish in the unsettled state of the country. Military 
 architecture was confined to the erection of castles and 
 fortresses, in which strength was the one great feature. 
 Dublin castle was repaired and beautified by Sir Henry 
 Sidney about the year 1567 ; before that time it had fal- 
 len into great decay. In the year 1620 the cross of the 
 council-chamber and part of the wall fell down. The 
 estimate for repairing and rebuilding amounted to 1,349Z. 
 85. 
 
 The old eustom-house stood on the site of houses now 
 comprised in that part of Dublin known as Wellington 
 Quay. Here a locality was selected, in the reign of 
 James I., for the purpose of " erecting cranes and mak- 
 ing wharves. " This street, now so busy and populous, 
 was then in the suburbs, and is described in the lease, 
 a. d. 1620, as " a certain parcel of ground, lying in or 
 near Dame street, in the suburbs of the city of Dublin." 
 A new custom-house was erected about the period of 
 the Restoration, with the addition of a council-chamber, 
 where the privy council and committees of the house of 
 commons were accustomed to assemble. By an order 
 of the privy council, September 19, 1662, the custom- 
 house quay was appointed the sole place for landing and 
 lading the exports and imports of the city of Dublin. 
 In 1683 the public exchange of Dublin was transferred 
 from Cork House to theTholsel, a building erected early 
 in the reigu of Edward II., and described by Camden as 
 
340 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 built of hewn stone. Here the mayor was elected on 
 Michaelmas day, and the citizens held their public meet- 
 ings. A clock was set up in 1560, no doubt very much 
 to the admiration of the citizens. A new Tholsel or city 
 hall was erected in 1683, on the same site, and there 
 was a " change/ 7 where merchants met every day, as in 
 the Royal Exchange in London. Public dinners were 
 given here also with great magnificence ; but, from the 
 marshy nature of the ground on which the building had 
 been set up, it fell to decay in 1797, and a new sessions- 
 house was erected in Green Street. 
 
 In the sixteenth century the Irish sent raw and tanned 
 hides, furs, and woollens to Antwerp, taking in exchange 
 sugar, spices, and mercery. The trade with France and 
 Spain for wines was very considerable; fish was the 
 commodity exchanged for this luxury ; and even in 1553 
 Philip II. of Spain paid l,O0OZ. yearly — a large sum for 
 that period — to obtain liberty for his subjects to fish upon 
 the north coast of Ireland. Stafford, in speaking of the 
 capture of Dunboy castle, says, that O'Sullivan made 
 500Z. a year by the duties which were paid to him by 
 foreign fishermen, " although the duties they paid was 
 very little. ?; 
 
 Stanihurst has described a fair in Dublin, and another 
 in Waterford, where he says the wares were " dog- 
 cheape." These fairs continued for six days, and mer- 
 chants came to them from Flanders and France, as well 
 as from England. 
 
 After the plantation of Ulster, Irish commerce was 
 allowed to flourish for a while ; the revenue of the crown 
 doubled ; and statesmen should have been convinced 
 that an unselfish policy was the best for both countries. 
 But there will always be persons whose private interests 
 clash with the public good, and who have influence 
 enough to secure their own advantage at the expense of 
 the multitude. Curiously enough, the temporary pros- 
 perity of Ireland was made a reason for forbidding the 
 exports which had produced it. A declaration was is- 
 sued by the English government in 163*7, which expressly 
 states this, and places every possible bar to its contin- 
 uance. The Cromwellian settlement, however, acted 
 more effectually than any amount of prohibitions or acts 
 of Parliament, and trade was entirely ruined by it for a 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 341 
 
 time. When it again revived, and live cattle began to 
 be exported in quantities to England, the exportation 
 was strictly forbidden. The duke of Ormonde, who pos- 
 sessed immense tracts of land in Ireland, presented a 
 petition, with his own hands, against the obnoxious 
 measure, and cleverly concluded it with the very words 
 used by Charles himself, in the declaration for the settle- 
 ment of Ireland at the Restoration, trusting that his 
 majesty " would not suffer his good subjects to weep in 
 one kingdom when they rejoiced in another. " 
 
 Rearing and tending cattle was the principal employ- 
 ment of the people, as, indeed, it always has been. 
 There were one hundred and fifty thousand employed in 
 this way, and one hundred thousand in agriculture. 
 "Tailors and their wives " are the next highest figure — 
 forty-five thousand. Smiths and apprentices, shoemak- 
 ers and apprentices, are given at the same figure — twen- 
 ty-two thousand five hundred. Millers and their wives 
 only numbered one thousand, and the fishery trade the 
 same. The wool-workers and their wives, thirty thou- 
 sand ; but the number of alehouse-keepers is almost in- 
 credible. In Dublin, where there were only four thousand 
 families, there were, at one time, one thousand one hun- 
 dred and eighty alehouses, and ninety-one public brew- 
 houses. The proportion was equally great throughout 
 the country. The linen trade had been encouraged, and, 
 indeed, mainly established in Ireland, by the duke of 
 Ormonde. An English writer says that two hundred 
 thousand pounds of yarn were sent annually to Manches- 
 ter, a supply which seemed immense in that age; and 
 yet in the present day, would hardly keep the hands em- 
 ployed for forty-eight hours. A political economist gives 
 the " unsettledness of the country " as the first of a se- 
 ries of reasons why trade did not flourish in Ireland, and, 
 amongst other remedies, suggests sumptuary laws and 
 a tax upon celibacy, the latter to weigh quite equally on 
 each sex. It would appear from this, that early mar- 
 riages were not as frequent then as now. 
 
 The first post-office was established in 1656 in High 
 Street. For this the nation appears to have been indi- 
 rectly indebted to Shane O'Neill, of whose proceedings 
 her majesty queen Elizabeth was anxious to be cognizant 
 with as little delay as possible. In 1656, it having been 
 
342 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 found that the horses of the military, to whom postal 
 communications had been confided previously, were 
 " much wearied, and his highness' affayres much preju- 
 diced for want of a post-office to carry publi(jue letters," 
 Evan Vaughan was employed to arrange postal communi- 
 cations, and was made deputy postmaster. Major Swift 
 was the postmaster at Holyhead, and he was allowed 
 100Z. a year for the maintenance of four boatmen, added 
 to the packet-boats, at the rate of 8 d. per diem, and 18s. 
 per month for wages. Post-houses were established in 
 the principal towns in Ireland about the year 1670, by 
 means of which, for 8d. or 12c?., letters could be con- 
 veyed, twice a week, to the " remotest parts of Ireland/ 7 
 and which afforded " the conveniency of keeping good 
 correspondence." 
 
 In rnediseval cities the castle was the centre round 
 which the town extended itself. Dublin was no excep- 
 tion to this rule, and in this century we find High Street 
 and Castle Street the fashionable resorts. The nobility 
 came thither for society, the tradesmen for protection. 
 Castle Street appears to have been the favorite haunt of 
 the bookselling fraternity, and Eliphud Dobson (his name 
 speaks for his religious views) was the most wealthy 
 bookseller and publisher of his day. His house was called 
 the Stationers' Arms, which flourished in the reign of 
 James II. The Commonwealth was arbitrary in its re- 
 quirements, and commanded that the printer (there was 
 then only one) should submit any works he printed to 
 the Clerk of the Council, to receive his imprimatur be- 
 fore publishing the same. The Williamites were equally 
 tyrannical, for Malone was dismissed by them from the 
 office of State Printer, and tried in the Queen's Bench, 
 with John Bowling, in 1707, for publishing " A Manuall 
 of Devout Prayers," for the use of Roman Catholics. 
 
 The inventory of the household effects of lord Grey, 
 taken in 1540, affords us ample information on the sub- 
 ject of dress and household effects. The list commences 
 with " eight tun and a pype of Gaskoyne wine," and the 
 "long board in the hall." A great advance had been 
 made since we described the social life of the eleventh 
 century ; and the refinements practised at meals were 
 not among the least of many improvements. A bord- 
 clothe was spread on the table, though forks were not 
 
SOCIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 343 
 
 used until the reign of James I. They came from Italy, 
 to which country we owe many of the new fashions 
 introduced in the seventeenth century. In The Boke of 
 Gurtosye there are directions given not to "foule the 
 bord-clothe w} 7 th the knyfe ; " and Ben Jonson, in his 
 comedy of " The Devil is an Ass," alludes to the intro- 
 duction of forks, and the consequent disuse of napkins. 
 There were also cups of M assaye," from which the cup- 
 bearer was obliged to drink before his master, to prove 
 that there was no poison in the liquor which he used. 
 The cupboard was covered with a carpet, of which lord 
 Grey had two. These carpets, or tablecovers, were 
 more or less costly, according to the rank and state of 
 the owner. His lordship had also "two chares, two 
 fiformes, and two stooles." Chairs were decidedly a lux- 
 ury at that day. Although the name is of Anglo-Nor- 
 man origin, they did not come into general use until a 
 late period ; and it was considered a mark of disrespect 
 to superiors, for young persons to sit in their presence 
 on anything but hard benches or stools. The Anglo- 
 Saxons called their seats sett and stol, a name which we 
 still preserve in the modern stool. The hall was orna- 
 mented with rich hangings, and there was generally a 
 traves, which could be used as a curtain or screen to 
 form a temporary partition. The floor was strewn with 
 rushes, which were not removed quite so frequently as 
 would have been desirable, considering that they were 
 made the repository of the refuse of the table. Perfumes 
 were consequently much used, and we are not surprised 
 to find " a casting bottel, dooble gilte, for rosewater," 
 in the effects of a viceroy of the sixteenth century. Such 
 things were more matters of necessity than of luxury at 
 even a later period. 
 
 The courtiers of Charles II. compensated themselves 
 for the stern restraints of puritanism, by giving way to 
 the wildest excesses in dress and manners. Enormous 
 periwigs were; introduced, and it became the fashion for 
 a man of ton to be seen combing them on the Mall or at 
 the theatre. The hat was worn with a broad brim orna- 
 mented with feathers; a falling band of the richest lace 
 adorned the neck ; the short cloak was edged deeply 
 with gold lace ; the doublet was ornamented in a simi- 
 lar manner — it was long and swelled out from the waist ; 
 
344 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 but the " petticoat breeches" were the glory of the outer 
 man, and sums of money were spent on ribbon and lace 
 to add to their attractions. 
 
 The ladies' costume was more simple, at least at this 
 period ; they compensated themselves, however, for any 
 plainness in dress, by additional extravagances in their 
 head-dresses, and wore " heart-breakers," or artificial 
 curls, which were set out on wires at the sides of the 
 face. Patching and painting soon became common, and 
 many a nonconformist divine lifted up his voice in vain 
 against these vanities. 
 
 From an account in the Hamilton manuscripts, pub- 
 lished in the Ulster Archaeological Journal, it would 
 appear that it was usual, or, at least, not uncommon, for 
 young men of rank to go abroad for some time, attended 
 by a tutor, to perfect themselves in continental lan- 
 guages. It need scarcely be said that travelling was 
 equally tedious and expensive. A journey from Dublin 
 to Cork occupied several days ; postchaises are a com- 
 paratively modern invention ; and Sir William Petty as- 
 tonished the good people of Dublin, in the seventeenth 
 century, by inventing some kind of carriage which could 
 be drawn by horses. 
 
 He thus describes the diet of the lower orders : u The 
 diet of these people is milk, sweet and sour, thick and 
 thin ; but tobacco, taken in short pipes seldom burned, 
 seems the pleasure of their lives. Their food is bread 
 in cakes, whereof a penny serves a week for each ; po- 
 tatoes from August till May ; muscles, cockles, and oys- 
 ters, near the sea ; eggs and butter, made very rancid 
 by keeping in bogs. As for flesh, they seldom eat it. 
 Their fuel is turf in most places." The potatoe, which 
 has brought so many national calamities on the country, 
 had been then some years in the country, but its use 
 was not yet as general as it has become since, as we find 
 from the mention of " bread in cakes" being an edible 
 during a considerable part of the year. , 
 
 Petty estimates the population of Ireland at one mil- 
 lion one hundred thousand, or twohundred thousand fam- 
 ilies. Of the latter he states that one hundred and sixty 
 thousand have no fixed hearths ; these, of course, were 
 the very poorest class, who lived then, as now, in those 
 mud hovels, which are the astonishment and reprobation 
 
POPULATION. 
 
 345 
 
 of foreign tourists. There were twenty-four thousand 
 families who had " one chimney," and sixteen thousand 
 who had more than one. The average number appears 
 to be four. Dublin castle had one hundred and twenty- 
 five, and the earl of Meath's house had twenty -seven. 
 There were, however, one hundred and sixty-four houses 
 in Dublin, which had more than ten. 
 
346 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 A.D. 1689 TO A.D. 1757. 
 
 WILLIAM OF ORANGE IN IRELAND. 
 
 Contemporary Events :— Massacre of Glencoe— The Bank of England 
 established— Charles XII. King of Sweden— Battle of Blenheim- 
 Union between England and Scotland— Catherine Empress of 
 Russia— Death of Louis XIV.— The South Sea Scheme— Battle of 
 Fontenoy— Earthquake at Lisbon— Battle of Prague. 
 
 James was induced either by cowardice or policy to 
 attempt the recovery of his throne in Ireland. The 
 Irish had always taken the side of loyalty, and, as in the 
 case of Charles I., had sacrificed their own interest to their 
 devotion. James was doubtless well aware of this feel- 
 ing, and probably considered that, even should he be 
 foiled, his liberty, if not his head, would be safer in Ire- 
 land than in England. 
 
 Ulster was principally peopled by Protestant Presby- 
 terians, from the north of Scotland. They were not 
 likely to be very loyal even to a Stuart, for the Irish had 
 been called over to Scotland before now to defend royal 
 rights ; they had not very defined religious opinions, 
 apart from their hatred of Popery and Prelacy. It can- 
 not be a matter of surprise, therefore, that these men 
 hailed the prospect of a new sovereign, whose opinions, 
 both religious and political, coincided with their own. 
 If he, too, had very general views as to the rights of 
 kings, and no very particular view as to the rights of 
 conscience being granted to any who did not agree with 
 him, he was none the less acceptable. 
 
 Tyrconnel had neither men, money, nor arms, to 
 meet the emergency. He had to withdraw the garrison 
 from Derry to make up the contingent of three thousand 
 men, which he sent to assist the king in England ; but 
 they were immediately disarmed, and the young men of 
 
JAMES LANDS AT KINSALE. 
 
 347 
 
 Deny closed their gates, and thus were the first to revolt 
 openly against king James. The native Irish had been 
 loyal when loyalty cost them their lives, without obtain- 
 ing for them any increased liberty to exercise their re- 
 ligion ; they were, therefore, not less likely to be loyal 
 now, when both civil and religious liberty might depend 
 upon their fealty to the crown. The Enniskilleners re- 
 volted ; and the whole of Ulster, except Charlemont and 
 Carrickfergus, declared for William of Orange. 
 
 James landed at Kinsale, on March 12, 1689, attended 
 by some Irish troops and French officers. He met Tyr- 
 connel in Cork, created him a duke, and then proceeded 
 to Bandon, where he received the submission of the peo- 
 ple who had joined the rebellion. On his arrival in Dub- 
 lin, he summoned a Parliament and issued proclamations, 
 after which he proceeded to Derry, according to the 
 advice of Tyrconnel. Useless negotiations followed ; 
 and James returned to Dublin, after having confided 
 the conduct of the siege to General Hamilton. If that 
 officer had not been incomparably more humane than 
 the men with whom he had to deal, it is probable that 
 the 'Prentice Boys of Derry would not have been able to 
 join in their yearly commemoration of victory. The. town 
 was strongly fortified, and well supplied with artillery 
 and ammunition ; the besiegers were badly clad, badly 
 provisioned, and destitute of almosteverything necessary 
 to storm a town. Their only resource was to starve out 
 the garrison ; but of this resource they were partly de- 
 privedbythe humanity of General Hamilton, who allowed 
 a considerable number of men, women, and children to 
 leave Derry, and thus enabled its defenders to hold out 
 longer. Lundy, who urged them to capitulate to king 
 James, was obliged to escape in disguise ; and Major 
 Baker, assisted by the Rev. George Walker, a Protestant 
 clergyman, then took the command. According to the 
 statements of the latter, the garrison amounted to seven 
 thousand five hundred men, and they had twenty-two 
 cannon, which alone gave them an immense advantage 
 over the royal army. So much, has been already said, 
 and written, and sung of the bravery of the Derry men, 
 that nothing more remains to be said. That they were 
 brave, and that they defended bravely the cause which 
 they adopted, there is no doubt j but if polemics had not 
 
348 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 mingled with politics in the encounter, it is quite possi- 
 ble that we should have heard no more of their exploits 
 than of those of other men, equally gallant and equally 
 brave. The Enniskilleners, who have obtained an un- 
 enviable notoriety for their merciless cruelty in war, 
 occupied the king's troops so as to prevent them from 
 assisting the besiegers. Several encounters took place 
 between the Derry men and the royalists, but with no 
 other result than a loss of lives on each side. On June 
 13, a fleet of thirty ships arrived from England with men 
 and provisions ; but the Irish had obtained the command 
 of the river Foyle, and the possession of Culmore fort at 
 the entrance, so that they were unable to enter. De 
 Eosen was now sent by James to assist Hamilton. He 
 proposed and carried out the barbarous expedient of 
 gathering together and driving under the walls all the 
 Protestants whom he could find, and threatening to let 
 them starve to death there unless the garrrison surren- 
 dered. His plan was strongly disapproved by the king, 
 it disgusted the Irish, and exasperated the besieged, 
 who on the next day erected a gallows on the ramparts, 
 and threatened to hang their prisoners then and there if 
 the unfortunate people were not removed. It is to the 
 credit of the Derry men that they shared their provisions 
 to the last with their prisoners, even while they were 
 dying themselves of starvation. Perhaps the example 
 of humanity set to them by General Hamilton was not 
 without its effect, for kindness and cruelty seem equally 
 contagious in time of war. Kirke's squadrons at last 
 passed the forts, broke the boom, and relieved the gar- 
 rison, who could not have held out forty-eight hours 
 longer. It was suspected that English gold had pro- 
 cured their admittance, and that the officers who com- 
 manded the forts were bribed to let them pass unscathed. 
 The siege was at once raised ; the royal army withdrew 
 on August 5 ; and thus terminated the world-famous 
 siege of Derry. 
 
 James now held his Parliament in Dublin, repealed the 
 Act of Settlement, passed the Act of Attainder, and 
 issued an immense quantity of base coin. 
 
 The day on which the siege of Derry was raised, the 
 royalists met with a severe reverse at Newtownbutler. 
 They were under the command of lord Mountcashel when 
 
SURRENDER OF CARRICKFERG US. 
 
 349 
 
 attacked by the Enniskilleners. The dragoons had al- 
 ready been dispirited by a reverse at Lisnaskea ; and 
 a word of command 1 which was given incorrectly threw 
 the old corps into confusion, from which their brave 
 leader in vain endeavored to rally them. Colonel Wol- 
 seley, an English officer, commanded the Enniskilleners ; 
 and the cruelties with which they hunted down the un- 
 fortunate fugitives has made the name almost a byword 
 of reproach. Five hundred men plunged into Lough 
 Erne to escape their fury, but of these only one was 
 saved. Lord Mountcashel was taken prisoner, but he 
 escaped eventually and fled to France. Sarsfield, who 
 commanded at Sligo, was obliged to retire to Athlone ; 
 and the victorious Williamites remained masters of that 
 part of the country. 
 
 Schomberg arrived at Bangor, in Down, on August 
 13, 1689, with a large army, composed of Dutch, French 
 Huguenots, and new levies from England. On the 17th 
 he marched to Belfast, where he met with no resistance ; 
 and on the 27th Carrickfergus surrendered to him on 
 honorable terms, after a siege of eight days, but not until 
 its governor, colonel Charles MacCarthy More, was re- 
 duced to his last barrel of powder. Schomberg pitched 
 on Dundalk for his winter quarters, and entrenched him- 
 self there strongly ; but disease soon broke out in his 
 camp, and it has been estimated that ten thousand men 
 fully one-half of the force, perished of want and dysen- 
 tery. James challenged him to battle several times, but 
 Schomberg was too prudent to risk an encounter in the 
 state of his troops ; and the king had not the moral cour- 
 age to make the first attack. Complaints soon reached 
 England of the condition to which the revolutionary army 
 was reduced. Dr. Walker, whose military experience at 
 Derry appears to have given him a taste for campaign- 
 ing, was one of the complainants. William sent over a' 
 commission to inquire into the matter, but, as usual in 
 such cases, it arrived too late to do any good. The men 
 wanted food, the horses wanted provender, the surgeons 
 and apothecaries wanted medicines for the sick. It was 
 said that several of the officers drank themselves to death, 
 
 1 Mountcashel gave the word " right face ; " it was repeated " right 
 about face." Colonel Hamilton and captain Lavallin were tried in 
 Dublin by court-martial for tlie mistake, and the latter was shot. 
 
350 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 and some who were in power were charged with partici- 
 pation in the profits of the contractor, John Shales, who, 
 whether guilty or not, was made the scapegoat on the 
 occasion, and was accused, moreover, of having caused 
 all this evil from partiality to king James, in whose ser- 
 vice he had been previously. J ohn Shales was therefore 
 taken prisoner, and sent under a strong guard to Belfast, 
 and from thence to London. As nothing more is heard 
 of him, it is probable the matter was hushed up, as he 
 had powerful accomplices in his frauds. 
 
 Abundant supplies arrived from England, which, if 
 they could not restore the dead, served at least to reno- 
 vate the living ; and Schomberg was ready to take the 
 field early in the year 1690, notwithstanding the loss of 
 about ten thousand men. James, with the constitutional 
 fatuity of the Stuarts, had lost his opportunity. If he 
 had attacked the motley army of the revolutionary party, 
 while the men were suffering from want and disease, and 
 while his own troops were fresh and courageous, he might 
 have conquered ; the most sanguine now- could scarcely 
 see any other prospect for him than defeat. He was in 
 want of everything; and he had no Englishmen who 
 hoped for plunder, no French refugees who looked for a 
 new home, no brave Dutchmen who loved fighting for 
 its own sake, to fall back upon in the hour of calamity. 
 His French counsellors only agreed to disagree with him. 
 There was the ordinary amount of jealousy amongst the 
 Irish officers — the inevitable result of the want of a com- 
 petent leader in whom all could confide. The king was 
 urged by one party (the French) to retire to Connaught, 
 and entrench himself there until he should receive suc- 
 cor from France ; he was urged by another party (the 
 Irish) to attack Schomberg without delay. Louvois, the 
 French minister of war, divided his hatred with toler- 
 able impartiality between James and William : therefore, 
 though quite prepared to oppose the latter, he was by 
 no means so willing to assist the former ; and when he 
 did send men to Ireland, under the command of the count 
 de Lauzan, he took care that their clothing and arms 
 should be of the worst description. He received in 
 exchange a reinforcement of the best-equipped and best- 
 trained soldiers of the Irish army. Avaux and De Rosen 
 were both sent back to France by James ; and thus, with 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE. 
 
 351 
 
 but few officers, badly-equipped troops, and his own 
 miserable and vacillating council, he commenced the war 
 which ended so gloriously or so disastrously, according 
 to the different opinions of the actors in the fatal drama. 
 In July, 1690, some of James's party were defeated by 
 the Williamites at Cavan, and several of his best officers 
 were killed or made prisoners. Another engagement 
 took place at Charlemont ; the governor, Teigue O'Regan, 
 only yielded to starvation. He surrendered on honora- 
 ble terms ; and Schomberg, with equal humanity and 
 courtesy, desired that each of his men should receive a 
 loaf of bread at Armagh. 
 
 William had intended for some time to conduct the 
 Irish campaign in person. He embarked near Chester 
 on the 11th of June, and landed at Carrickfergus on the 
 14th, attended by prince George of Denmark, the duke of 
 Wurtemburg, the prince of Hesse Darmstadt, the duke 
 of Ormonde, and the earls of Oxford, Portland, Scarbor- 
 ough, and Manchester, with other persons of distinction. 
 Schomberg mef him half-way between Carrickfergus and 
 Belfast. William, who had ridden so far, now entered 
 the general's carriage, and drove to Belfast, where he 
 was received with acclamations, and loud shouts of 
 " God bless the Protestant king ! " There were bonfires 
 and discharges of cannon at the various camps of the 
 Williamites. The officers of several regiments paid their 
 respects to him in state. On the 22nd the whole army 
 encamped at Loughbrickland, near Newry . In the after- 
 noon, William came up and reviewed the troops, pitching 
 his tent on a neighboring eminence. The army com- 
 prised a strange medley of nationalities. More than half 
 were foreigners ; and on these William placed his prin- 
 cipal reliance, for at any moment a reaction might take 
 place in favor of king James. The Williamite army was 
 well supplied, well trained, admirably commanded, ac- 
 customed to war, and amounted to between forty and 
 fifty thousand. The Jacobite force consisted only of 
 twenty thousand, and of these a large proportion were 
 raw recruits. The officers, however, were brave and 
 skilful ; but they had only twelve field-pieces, which had 
 been recently received from France. On the 22nd news 
 came that James had encamped near Dundalk ; on the 
 23rd he marched towards Drogheda. On the same day 
 
352 
 
 COMPENDIUM OP IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 William went to Newry ; he was thoroughly aware of 
 the movements of his hapless father-in-law, for deserters 
 came into his camp from time to time. James obtained 
 his information from an English officer, captain Farlow, 
 and some soldiers whom he made prisoners at a trifling 
 engagement which took place between Newry and Dun- 
 dalk. 
 
 James now determined on a retreat to the Boyne, 
 through Ardee. His design was to protract the cam- 
 paign as much as possible, — an arrangement which 
 suited his irresolute habits ; but where a kingdom was 
 to be lost or won, it only served to discourage the troops 
 and to defer the decisive moment. 
 
 The hostile forces confronted each other for the first- 
 time on the banks of the Boyne, June 30, 1689. The 
 Jacobite army was posted on the declivity of the hill of 
 Dunore — its right wing towards Drogheda, its left ex- 
 tending up the river. The centre was at the small ham- 
 let of Oldbridge. Entrenchments were hastily thrown 
 up to defend the fords, and James took up his position 
 at a ruined church on the top of the hill of Dunore. The 
 Williamite army approached from the north, their brave 
 leader directing every movement, and inspiring his men 
 with courage and confidence. He obtained a favorable 
 position, and was completely screened from view until 
 he appeared on the brow of the hill, where his forces 
 debouched slowly and steadily into the ravines below. 
 After planting his batteries on the heights, he kept up 
 an incessant fire on the Irish lines during the afternoon 
 of the 30th. But James's officers were on the alert, 
 even if their king was indifferent. William was recog- 
 nized as he approached near their lines to reconnoitre. 
 Guns were brought up to bear on him quietly and stealth- 
 ily ; " six shots were fired at him, one whereof fell and 
 struck off the top of the duke Wurtemburg's pistol and 
 the whiskers of his horse, and another tore the king's 
 coat on his shoulder." 
 
 William, who was a brave man and wise general, took 
 care that the news of his accident should not dispirit his 
 men. He rode through the camp, showed that he had 
 not received any serious injury, and made a momentary 
 disadvantage a permanent benefit. In the meantime, 
 James did all that was possible \o secure a defeat. At 
 
COMMENCEMENT OF THE BATTLE. 
 
 353 
 
 one moment he decided to retreat, at the next he would 
 risk a battle ; then he sent off his baggage and six of 
 his field-pieces to Dublin, for his own special protection ; 
 and while thus so remarkably careful of himself, he could 
 not be persuaded to allow the most necessary precaution 
 to be taken for the safety of his army. No one can be 
 surprised, under such circumstances, that the Irish were 
 defeated ; the only wonder is, that they had courage to 
 fight for a single hour under so wretched a leader, and 
 well may they have wished, as it is said they did after 
 the battle, to change generals and fight it all over 
 again. 
 
 The first attack of William's men was made at Slane. 
 This was precisely what the Jacobite officers had antici- 
 pated, and what James had obstinately refused to see. 
 When it was too late he allowed Lauzan to defend the 
 ford, but even Sir Nial O'Neill's gallantry was unavail- 
 ing. The enemy had the advance, and Portland's artil- 
 lery and infantry crossed at Slane. William now felt 
 certain of victory, if, indeed, he had ever doubted it. 
 It was low water at ten o'clock ; the fords at Oldbridge 
 were passable ; a tremendous battery was opened on 
 the Irish lines ; they had not a single gun to reply, and 
 yet they waited steadily for the attack. The Dutch Blue 
 Guards dashed into the stream ten abreast, commanded 
 by the count de Solmes ; the Londonderry and Ennis- 
 killen dragoons followed, supported by the French 
 Huguenots. The English infantry came next, under the 
 command of Sir John Hanmer and the count Nassau. 
 William crossed at the fifth ford, where the water was 
 deepest, with the cavalry of his left wing. It was a 
 grand and terrible sight. The men in the water fought 
 for William and Protestantism ; the men on land fought 
 for their king and their faith. The men were equally 
 gallant. Of the leaders we shall say nothing, lest we 
 should be tempted to say too much. James had fol- 
 lowed Lauzan's forces towards Slane. Tyrconnel's valor 
 could not save the day for Ireland against fearful odds. 
 Sarsfield's horse had accompanied the king. The Hu- 
 guenots were so warmly received by the Irish at the 
 fords that they recoiled, and their commander, Caille- 
 mont, was mortally wounded. Schomberg forgot his 
 age, and an affront he had received from William in the 
 
354 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 morning ; and the man of eighty-two dashed into the 
 river with the impetuosity of eighteen. He was killed 
 immediately, and so was Dr. Walker, who headed the Ul- 
 ster Protestants. William may have regretted the brave 
 old general, but he certainly did not regret the Prot- 
 estant divine. He had no fancy for churchmen med- 
 dling in secular affairs, and a rough " What brought him 
 there ? " was all the reply vouchsafed to the news of his 
 demise. The tide now began to flow, and the battle 
 raged with increased fury. The valor displayed by the 
 Irish was a marvel even to their enemies. Hamilton 
 was wounded, and taken prisoner. William headed the 
 Enniskilleners, who were put to flight soon after by the 
 Irish horse, at Platten, and were only rallied again by 
 himself. When the enemy had crossed the ford at Old- 
 bridge, James ordered Lauzan to march in a parallel 
 direction with Douglas and 3 7 oung Schomberg to Duleek. 
 Tyrconnel followed. The French infantry covered the 
 retreat in admirable order, with the Irish cavalry. When 
 the defile of Duleek had been passed, the royalist forces 
 again presented a front to the enemy. William's horse 
 halted. The retreat was again resumed ; and at the 
 deep defile of Naul the last stand was made. The shades 
 of a summer evening closed over the belligerent camps. 
 The Williamites returned to Duleek ; and eternal shad- 
 ows clouded over the destinies of the unfortunate Stu- 
 arts — a race admired more from sympathy with their 
 miseries, than from admiration of their virtues. 
 
 Thus ended the famous battle of the Boyne. England 
 obtained thereby a new governor and a national debt ; 
 Ireland, fresh oppression and an intensification of relig- 
 ious and political animosity unparalleled iu the history 
 of nations. 
 
 James contrived to be first in the retreat which he had 
 anticipated, and for which he had so carefully prepared. 
 He arrived in Dublin in the evening, and insulted lady 
 Tyrconnel by a rude remark about the fleetness of her 
 husband's countrymen in running away from the battle ; 
 to which she retorted, with equal wit and truth, that his 
 majesty had set them the example. He left Dublin the 
 next morning, having first insulted the civil and military 
 authorities by throwing the blame of the defeat on the 
 brave men who had risked everything in his cause. 
 
THE SIEGE OP LIMERICK. 
 
 355 
 
 Having carefully provided for his own safety by leaving 
 two troops of horse at Bray to defend the bridge, should 
 the enemy come up, he hastened towards Duncannon, 
 where he arrived at sunrise. Here he embarked in a 
 small French vessel for Kinsale, and from thence he 
 sailed to France, and was himself the bearer of the news 
 of his defeat. The command in Ireland was intrusted 
 to Tyrconnel, who gave orders that the Irish soldiery 
 should march at once to Limerick, each under the com- 
 mand of his own officer. William entered Dublin on 
 Sunday, July 7th. He was received with acclamations 
 by the Protestants, who were now relieved from all fear 
 lest the Catholics should inflict on them the sufferings they 
 had so remorselessly inflicted on the Catholics. Drog- 
 heda, Kilkenny, Duncannon, and Waterford capitulated 
 to the victorious army, the garrisons marching to Lim- 
 erick, towards which place William now directed his 
 course. Douglas was sent to besiege Athlone ; but the 
 governor, colonel Grace, made such brave resistance 
 there that he was obliged to withdraw and join William 
 near Limerick. 
 
 The French officers, who had long since seen the hope- 
 lessness of the conflict, determined to leave the country. 
 Lauzan, after having surveyed Limerick, and declared 
 that it might be taken with "roasted apples, " ordered 
 all the French troops to Galway, where they could await 
 an opportunity to embark for France. But the brave 
 defenders of the devoted city were not deterred. The 
 governor consulted with Sarsfield, Tyrconnel, and the- 
 other officers ; and the result was a message to William, 
 in reply to his demand for a surrender, to the effect, that 
 they hoped to merit his good opinion better by a vigor- 
 ous defence of the fortress, which had been committed to 
 them by their master, than by a shameful capitulation. 
 By a skilfully executed and rapid march, Sarsfield con- 
 trived to intercept William's artillery on the Keeper 
 Mountains, and after killing the escort, bursting the guns, 
 and blowing up the ammunition, he returned in triumph 
 to Limerick. His success animated the besieged, and 
 infuriated the besiegers. But the walls of Limerick were 
 not as stout as the brave hearts of its defenders. Wil- 
 liam sent for more artillery to Waterford ; and it was 
 
356 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 found that two of the guns which Sarsfield had attempted 
 to destroy were still available. 
 
 The trenches were opened on the 17th of August. On 
 the 20th, the garrison made a vigorous sortie, and 
 retarded the enemy's progress ; but on the 24th the bat- 
 teries were completed, and a murderous fire of red-hot 
 shot and shells was poured into the devoted city. The 
 trenches were carried within a few feet of the palisades 
 on the 27th ; and a breach having been made in the wall 
 near St. John's Gate, William ordered the assault to 
 commence. The storming party were supported by ten 
 thousand men. For three hours a deadly struggle was 
 maintained. The result seemed doubtful, so determined 
 was the bravery evinced on each side. Boisseleau, the 
 governor, had not been unprepared, although he was 
 taken by surprise, and had opened a murderous cross- 
 fire on the assailants when first they attempted the 
 storm. The Brandenburg regiment had gained the 
 Black Battery, when the Irish sprung a mine, and men, 
 faggots, and stones were blown up in a moment. A 
 council of war was held ; William, whose temper was 
 not the most amiable at any time, was unusually morose. 
 He had lost two thousand men between the killed and 
 the wounded, and he had not taken the city, which a 
 French general had pronounced attainable with " roasted 
 apples." On Sunday, August 31, the siege was raised. 
 William returned to England, where his presence was 
 imperatively demanded. The military command was 
 confided to the Count de Solmes, who was afterwards 
 succeeded by De Ginkell ; the civil government was 
 intrusted to lord Sidney, Sir Charles Porter, and Mr. 
 Coningsby. 
 
 Tyrconnel returned to Ireland, in January, with a 
 small supply of money and some provisions, notwith- 
 standing the plots laid for him by Luttrell and Purcell. 
 He brought a patent from James creating Sarsfield earl 
 of Lucan. A French fleet arrived in May, with a small 
 supply of provisions, clothing, and ammunition. It had 
 neither men nor money ; but it brought what was sup- 
 posed to be a fair equivalent, in the person of St. Ruth, 
 a distinguished French officer, who was sent to take the 
 command of the Irish army. In the meantime, Ginkell 
 
THE SIEGE OF ATHLONE. 
 
 357 
 
 was organizing the most effective force ever seen in Ire- 
 land ; neither men nor money were spared by the English 
 Parliament. And this was the army which the impov- 
 erished and ill-provisioned troops of the royalists were 
 doomed to encounter. 
 
 Hostilities commenced on June 7, with the siege of 
 Baliymore castle in Westmeath. The governor surren- 
 dered, and Athlone was next attacked. The town is 
 situated on the river Shannon. Its position must be 
 thoroughly understood, to comprehend the heroic brav- 
 ery with which it was defended. It will be remembered 
 that Athlone was one of the towns which the English of 
 the Pale had fortified at the very commencement of their 
 invasion of Ireland. That portion of the city which lay 
 on the Leinster or Pale side of the river had never been 
 strongly fortified, and a breach was made at once in the 
 wall, Ginkell assaulted it with four thousand men, and 
 the defenders at once withdrew to the other side ; but 
 they held the bridge with heroic bravery, until they had 
 broken down two of the arches, and placed the broad 
 and rapid Shannon between themselves and their ene- 
 mies. St. Ruth had arrived in the meantime, and posted 
 his army, amounting to about fifteen thousand horse 
 and foot, at the Irish side of the river. The English had 
 now raised the works so high on their side, that they 
 were able to keep up an incessant fire upon the town. 
 According to their own historian, Story, they threw in 
 twelve thousand cannon balls and six hundred bombs, 
 and the siege cost them "nigh fifty tons of powder. " 
 The walls opposite to the batteries were soon broken 
 down, and the town itself reduced to ruins. The be- 
 siegers next attempted to cross in a bridge of boats, 
 but the defenders turned their few field-pieces on them. 
 They then tried to mend the broken bridge ; huge beams 
 were flung across, and they had every hope of success. 
 But they knew not yet what Irish valor could dare. 
 Eight or ten devoted men dashed into the water, and tore 
 down the planks, under a galling fire ; and, as they fell 
 dead or dying into the river, others rushed to take the 
 places of their fallen comrades, and to complete the 
 work. 
 
 St. Ruth now ordered preparations to be made for an 
 assault, and desired the ramparts on the Connaughtside 
 
358 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 of the town to be levelled, that a whole battalion might 
 enter abreast to relieve the garrison when it was as- 
 sailed. But the governor, D'Usson, opposed the plan, 
 and neglected the order. All was now confusion in the 
 camp. There -never had been any real head to the roy- 
 alist party in Ireland ; and to ensure victory in battle, 
 or success in any important enterprise where multitudes 
 are concerned, it is absolutely essential that all should 
 act with union of purpose. Such union, where there 
 are many men, and, consequently, many minds, can be 
 attained only by the most absolute submission to one 
 leader ; and this leader, to obtain submission, should be 
 either a lawfully constituted authority, or, in cases of 
 emergency, one of those master-spirits to whom men 
 bow with unquestioning submission, because of the maj- 
 esty of intellect within them. There were brave men 
 and true men in that camp of Athlone, but there was not 
 one who possessed these essential requisites. 
 
 According to the Williamite historian, Ginkell was 
 informed by traitors of what was passing, and that the 
 defences on the river side were guarded by two of the 
 "most indifferent Irish regiments." He immediately 
 chose two thousand men for the assault, distributed a 
 gratuity of guineas amongst them, and, at a signal from 
 the church bell, at six in the evening, on June 30, the 
 assault was made, and carried with such rapidity, that 
 St. Ruth, who was with the cavalry at a distance, was 
 not aware of what had happened until all was over. St. 
 Ruth at once removed his army to Ballinasloe, twelve 
 miles from his former post, and subsequently to Augh- 
 rim. The outcry against Tyrconnel became so general 
 that he was obliged to leave the camp. 
 
 St. Ruth's ground was well chosen. He had placed 
 his men upon an eminence, and each wing was protected 
 by a morass or bog. The Williamites came up on Sun- 
 day, July 11th, while the Irish were hearing Mass. In 
 this instance, as in so many others, it is impossible to 
 ascertain correctly the numerical force of each army. 
 The historians on either side were naturally anxious to 
 magnify the number of their opponents, and to lessen 
 their own. It is at least certain, that on this, as on 
 other occasions, the Irish were miserably deficient in all 
 the appliances of the art of war, while the English were 
 
THE BATTLE OF AUGHRIM. 
 
 359 
 
 admirably supplied. The most probable estimate of the 
 Irish force appears to be fifteen thousand horse and foot ; 
 and of the English, twenty thousand. Ginkell opened 
 fire on the enemy as soon as his guns were planted. 
 Some trifling skirmishes followed. A council of war was 
 held, and the deliberation lasted until half-past four in 
 the afternoon, at which time a general engagement was 
 decided on. A cannonade had been kept up on both 
 sides, in which the English had immensely the advan- 
 tage, St. Ruth's excellently chosen position being almost 
 useless for want of sufficient artillery. At half-past six 
 Ginkell ordered an advance on the Irish right centre, 
 having previously ascertained that the bog was passable. 
 The defenders, after discharging their fire, gradually 
 drew the Williamites after them by an almost impercept- 
 ible retreat, until they had them face to face with their 
 main line. Then the Irish cavalry charged with irresist- 
 ible valor, and the English were thrown into total disor- 
 der. St. Ruth, proud of the success of his strategies 
 and the valor of his men, exclaimed, " Le jour est a nous, 
 mes enfans I " But St. Ruth's weak point was his left 
 wing, and this was at once perceived and taken advan- 
 tage of by the Dutch general. Some of his infantry 
 made good their passage across the morass, which St. 
 Ruth had supposed impassable ; and the men, who com- 
 manded this position from a ruined castle, found that the 
 balls with which they had been served did not suit their 
 fire-arms, so that they were unable to defend the passage. 
 St. Ruth at once perceived his error. He hastened to 
 support them with a brigade of horse ; but even as he 
 exclaimed, "They are beaten; let us beat them to the 
 purpose/' a cannon-ball carried off his head, and all was 
 lost. Another death, which oqcurred almost immediately 
 after, completed the misfortunes of the Irish. The in- 
 fantry had been attended and encouraged by Dr. Aloy- 
 sius Stafford, chaplain to the forces ; but when " death 
 interrupted his glorious career," they were panic-struck ; 
 and three hours after the death of the general and the 
 priest, there was not a man of the Irish army left upon 
 the field. But the real cause of the failure was the fatal 
 misunderstanding which existed between the leaders. 
 Sarsfield, who was thoroughly able to have taken St. 
 Ruth's position, and to have retrieved the fortunes of the 
 
360 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 day, had been placed in the rear by the jealousy of the 
 latter, and kept in entire ignorance of the plan of battle. 
 He was now obliged to withdraw without striking a sin- 
 gle blow. The cavalry retreated along the high road to 
 Loughrea ; the infantry fled to a bog, where numbers 
 were massacred, unarmed and in cold blood. 
 
 The loss on both sides was immense, and can never 
 be exactly estimated. Harris says that "had not St. 
 Ruth been taken off, it would have been hard to say what 
 the consequences of this day would have been." Many 
 of the dead remained unburied, and their bones were left 
 to bleach in the storms of winter and the sun of summer. 
 There was one exception to the general neglect. An Irish 
 officer, who had been slain, was followed by his faithful 
 dog. The poor animal lay beside his master's body day 
 and night ; and though he fed upon other corpses with 
 the rest of the dogs, he would not permit them to touch 
 the treasured remains. He continued his watch until 
 January, when he flew at a soldier, who he feared was 
 about to remove the bones, which were all that remained 
 to him of the being by whom he had been caressed and 
 fed. The soldier in his fright unslung his piece and fired, 
 and the faithful wolf-dog laid himself down and died by 
 his charge. 
 
 Ginkeli laid siege to Galway a week after the battle 
 of Aughrim. The inhabitants relied principally upon the 
 arrival of Balldearg O'Donnellfor their defence; but, as 
 he did not appear in time, they capitulated on favorable 
 terms, and the Dutch general marched to Limerick. 
 
 Tyrconnel died at Limerick of apoplexy, while he was 
 preparing to put the city in a state of defence. He was 
 a faithful and zealous supporter of the royal cause, and 
 devoted to the Irish nation. His loyalty has induced one 
 party to blacken his character ; his haughty and uncon- 
 ^Iliatory manner prevented his good qualities from being 
 fully appreciated by the other. 
 
 The real command now devolved on M. D'Usson, the 
 governor of Limerick. Active preparations for the siege 
 were made on both sides. Ginkeli contrived to commu- 
 nicate with Henry Luttrell, whose perfidy was discov- 
 ered, and who was tried by court-martial and imprisoned. 
 Sixty cannon and nineteen mortars were planted against 
 the devoted city, and on the 30th the bombardment 
 
THE SIEGE OF LIMERICK. 
 
 861 
 
 commenced. The Irish horse had been quartered on the 
 Clare side of the Shannon ; but through "the treachery or 
 indifference of brigadier Clifford, who had been posted, 
 with a strong bod}' of dragoons to prevent such an at- 
 tempt, Ginkeil was enabled to throw across a pontoon- 
 bridge, and on the morning of the 16th, sent over a large 
 detachment of horse and foot, which effectually cut off 
 communication between the citizens and their camp. 
 On the 22nd he made a feint of raising the siege, but his 
 real object was to lull suspicion, while he attacked the 
 works at the Clare end of Thomond-bridge. The posi- 
 tion was bravely defended by colonel Lacy, but he was 
 obliged to yield to overpowering numbers ; and the town- 
 major, fearing that the enemy would enter in the melie 
 with the Irish, drew up the bridge. The English gave 
 no quarter, and, according to their own account, six 
 hundred men were slaughtered on the spot. This was 
 the last engagement. Sarsfleld recommended a surren- 
 der. Resistance was equally hopeless and useless ; it 
 could only end in a fearful sacrifice of life on both sides. 
 A parley took place on the 23rd, and on the 24th a three 
 days' truce was arranged. Hostages were exchanged, 
 and a friendly intercourse was established. On Octo- 
 ber 3, 1691, the treaty was signed. The large stone is 
 still shown which was used as a table on the occasion. 
 What that treaty contained, and how it was violated, are 
 matters which demand a careful and impartial consider- 
 ation. 
 
 St. John's Gate and the Irish outworks were surren- 
 dered to the English ; the English town was left for the 
 Irish troops to occupy until their departure for France. 
 The men were to have their choice whether they would 
 serve under William III., or under the French. A few 
 days after, they were mustered on the Clare side of the 
 Shannon, to declare which alternative they preferred. 
 An Ulster battalion, and a few men in each regiment, in 
 all about one thousand, entered the service of govern- 
 ment ; two thousand received passes to return home ; 
 eleven thousand, with all the cavalry, volunteered for 
 France, and embarked for that country in different de- 
 tachments, under their respective officers. They were 
 warmly received in the land of their adoption ; and all 
 Irish catholics going to France were granted the privi- 
 16 
 
362 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 leges of French citizens, without the formality of natu- 
 ralization. And thus was formed the famous *' Irish 
 Brigade," which obtained an European reputation. As 
 Macaulay has well observed, " there were Irish Roman 
 Catholics of great ability, energy, and ambition; but 
 they were to be found everywhere except in Ireland, at 
 Versailles, and at St. Ildefonso, in the armies of Fred- 
 eric, and in the armies of Maria Theresa. One exile 
 became a marshal of France ; another became prime min- 
 ister of Spain. If he had staid in his native land he 
 would have been regarded as an inferior by all the worth- 
 less squireens who had signed the declaration against 
 transubstantiation. In his palace at Madrid he had the 
 pleasure of being assiduously courted by the ambassa- 
 dor of George the Second, and of bidding defiance, in 
 high terms, to the ambassador of George the Third. 
 Scattered over all Europe were to be found brave Irish 
 generals, dexterous Irish diplomatists, Irish counts, 
 Irish barons, Irish knights of St. Louis and St. Leopold, 
 of the White Eagle, and the Golden Fleece, who, if they 
 had remained in the house of bondage, could not have 
 been ensigns of marching regiments, or freemen of petty 
 corporations." 
 
 This treaty was signed on October 3, 1691. It was 
 signed with every ceremony and circumstance which 
 could be supposed necessary to give it force and perma- 
 nence. It was the issue of a war for supremacy oT opin- 
 ion, religious rather than political, yet, to a certain de- 
 gree, political. There were two circumstances connected 
 with the treaty which, if possible, enhanced the sacred- 
 ness with which it should have been observed. First, 
 in making a clean copy from the original draught, two 
 lines were omitted by negligence, and the error was not 
 discovered until a few days after the contract was signed, 
 and theirs/ garrison given up ; but when the error was 
 discovered, the Irish army refused to give up the other 
 garrisons, until the omitted lines were inserted. Two 
 days after, a French fleet appeared at the mouth of the 
 Shannon with ample supplies of men and ammunition. 
 Some of the Irish officers suggested an immediate breach 
 of the treaty, but Sarsfield indignantly refused to com- 
 ply with such dishonorable suggestions. 
 
 The preamble of the treaty ran thus : — " Articles of 
 
THE TREATY OF LIMERICK. 
 
 363 
 
 the Treaty, signed under seal by Sir Charles Porter and 
 Thomas Coningsby, Esq., lords justices of Ireland, and 
 his excellency baron de Ginkell, lieutenant- general 
 and commander-in-chief of the English army. On the 
 other part by the right honorable Patrick Sarsfield, earl 
 of Lucan, Piercy viscount Gal way, colonel Nicholas Pur- 
 cell, colonel Nicholas Cusack, Sir Toby Butler, colonel 
 Garret Dillon, and colonel John Brown. 
 
 " Article I. The Roman Catholics of the kingdom of 
 Ireland shall enjoy the free exercise of their religion, and 
 all the privileges granted by the laws of Ireland, such as 
 they had enjoyed in the reigns of Charles II. ; and their 
 majesties, as soon as affairs will permit, shall convene 
 the parliament of that kingdom, when they shall en- 
 deavor to procure for the Roman Catholics the greatest 
 security for, and in, the exercise of their religion." 
 
 This was the whole of the first and most important 
 article. It was in fact the one object for which the Irish 
 lords and officers had fought, and they could not have 
 supposed that articles so plainly made and ratified would 
 be so ruthlessly broken and disregarded. 
 
 Article II. guaranteed pardon and protection to all 
 who had served king James, on taking the oath of alle- 
 giance, as prescribed in Article IX., as follows : — " I, 
 A. B., do solemnly promise and swear that I will be 
 faithful, and bear true allegiance to their majesties king 
 William and queen Mary ; so help me God." 
 
 Articles III., IV., V., and VI. extended the provisions 
 of Articles I. and II. to merchants and other classes of 
 men. Article VII. permits every nobleman and gentle- 
 man comprised in the said articles to carry sidearms, 
 and to keep a gun in his house. Article VIII. gives the 
 right of removing goods and chattels without search. 
 Article IX. is as follows : " The oath to be administered 
 to such Roman Catholics as submit to their majesties' 
 government shall be the oath aforesaid, and no other." 
 
 Article X. guarantees that " no person or persons who 
 shall at any time hereafter break these articles, or any 
 of them, shall thereby cause any other person or persons 
 to forfeit or lose the benefit of them." Articles XI. and 
 XII. relate to the ratifications of the articles within 
 " eight months or sooner." Article XIII. refers to the 
 debts of colonel John Brown, commissary of the Irish 
 
364 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 army, to several Protestants, and arranges for their sat- 
 isfaction. 
 
 The military articles provide for the honorable exile of 
 those who wished to leave the country, for the reception 
 into the king's army of those who wished to remain, and 
 for the cessation of hostilities. The peroration of the 
 civil articles is worded thus : " And as the said city of 
 Limerick has been in consequence of the above-named 
 articles surrendered to us, we make known to all that 
 we confirm and ratify/' &c, &c. 
 
 On the 24th of February following, royal letters patent 
 confirmatory of the treaty were issued from Westmin- 
 ster in the name of the king and queen, whereby they 
 declared that ''* we do, for us, our heirs, and successors, 
 as far as in us lies, ratify and confirm the same, and 
 every clause, matter, and thing therein contained; and 
 as to such parts thereof for which an act of Parliament 
 shall be found to be necessary, we shall recommend the 
 same to be made good by Parliament, and shall give our 
 royal assent to any bill or bills that shall be passed by 
 our two houses of Parliament for that purpose. And 
 whereas it appears unto us that it was agreed between 
 the parties to the said articles that after the words 
 ' Limerick, Clare, Kerry, Cork, Mayo, or any of them/ 
 in the second of the said articles, the words following, 
 viz. ' And all such as are under their protection in the 
 said counties/ should be inserted and be part of the 
 said articles, which words having been casually omitted 
 by the writer, the omission was not discovered until 
 after the articles were signed, but was taken notice of 
 before the second town was surrendered, and that our 
 said justices and generals, or one of them, did promise 
 that the said clause should be made good, it being within 
 the intention of the capitulation, and inserted in the 
 foul draft thereof : Our further will and pleasure is, and 
 we do hereby ratify and confirm the said omitted words, 
 viz. ' And all such as are under their protection in the 
 said counties/ hereby, for us, our heirs and successors, 
 ordaining and declaring that all and every person and 
 persons therein concerned shall and may have, receive 
 and enjoy the benefit thereof, in such and the same man- 
 ner as if the said words had been inserted in their proper 
 place in the said second article, any omission, defect, or 
 
VIOLATIONS OP THE TREATY. 
 
 865 
 
 mistake in the said second article in any wise notwith- 
 standing. Provided always, and our will and pleasure 
 is, that these our letters patent shall be enrolled in our 
 court of chancery, in our said kingdom of Ireland, with- 
 in the space of one year next ensuing/ 7 
 
 How soon a violation of the treaty was suggested is 
 evident from the fact that, the Sunday following the 
 return of the lords justices from Limerick, Dopping, 
 bishop of Meath, preached before them at Christ's church, 
 on the crime of keeping faith with Papists. The grand 
 jury of Cork, urged on by Cox, the recorder of Kinsale, 
 one of the historians of those times, returned in their 
 inquest that the restoration of the earl of Clancarty's 
 estates " would be dangerous to the Protestant inter- 
 est." 
 
 Two months had scarcely elapsed after the departure 
 of the Irish troops, when Harris, an English historian, 
 was obliged to write thus of the open violation of the 
 articles : " The justices of the peace, sheriffs, and other 
 magistrates, presuming on their power in the country, 
 dispossessed several of their majesties' Catholic subjects, 
 not only of their goods and chattels, but also of their 
 lands and tenements, to the great reproach of their maj- 
 esties' government." These complaints were so gen- 
 eral, that the lords justices were at last obliged to issue 
 a proclamation on the subject (November 19, 1691), in 
 which they state that they had "received complaints 
 from all parts of Ireland of the ill-treatment of the Irish 
 who had submitted ; and that they (the Irish) were so 
 extremely terrified with apprehensions of the continuance 
 of that usage, that some of those who had quitted the 
 Irish army and went home, with the resolution not to go 
 to France, were then come back again and pressed ear- 
 nestly to go thither, rather than stay in Ireland, where, 
 contrary to the public faith, as well as law and justice, 
 they were robbed in their persons and abused in their 
 substance." This was an official document, and it eman- 
 ated from the last persons who were likely to listen to 
 such complaints, or relieve them if they could possibly 
 have been denied. 
 
 The men who had hoped for confiscations that they 
 might share the plunder, now began to clamor loudly. 
 It was necessary to get up a popular cry against Pa- 
 
366 
 
 COMPENDIUM OP IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 pists, as the surest means of attaining their end. Indi- 
 viduals who had as little personal hatred to the pope as 
 they had to the Grand Turk, and as little real knowledge 
 of the Catholic Faith as of Mahometanism, uttered wild 
 cries of " No Popery ! " and " No Surrender ! " and Wil- 
 liam was obliged to yield to the faction who had set 
 him on the throne. 
 
 The next and grossest violation of the treaty occurred 
 in the Parliament convened in 1692. A few Catholic 
 peers and a very few Catholic commoners took their 
 seats. One of the first acts of the victorious majority 
 was to frame an oath in direct contravention to the oath 
 prescribed by the ninth civil article of the treaty, to be 
 taken by members of both houses. This oath solemnly 
 and explicitly denied " that in the sacrament of the 
 Lord's supper there is any transubstantiation of the ele- 
 ments ; " and as solemnly affirmed " that the invocation 
 or adoration of the Virgin Mary, or any other saint, and 
 the sacrifice of the Mass, as they are now used in the 
 church of Rome, are damnable and idolatrous." The 
 Catholic peers and commoners could not take any such 
 oath, and retired from the house. Thus the Irish Parlia- 
 ment consisted of members exclusively Protestant until 
 its extinction in 1800. This was an open and flagrant 
 violation of the treaty, but more violations were in prep- 
 aration. 
 
 On October 28, 1692, the Parliament in Dublin rejected 
 a bill which had been sent from England, containing 
 restrictions on certain duties, solely to proclaim their 
 independence. A few days after, they were taught a 
 lesson of obedience. Lord Sidney came down to the 
 house unexpectedly, and prorogued Parliament, with a 
 severe rebuke, ordering the clerk to enter his protest 
 against the proceedings of the commons on the journals 
 of the house of lords. The hopes of the English were 
 raised, and the Parliament brought forward the subject 
 of the Limerick articles, with torrents of complaints 
 against the Irish in general, and the Irish Catholics in 
 particular. William received their remonstrance coolly, 
 and the matter was allowed to rest for a time. In 1695 
 lord Capel was appointed viceroy. He at once sum- 
 moned a Parliament, which sat for several sessions, and 
 in which some of the penal laws against Catholics were 
 
THE PENAL LAWS. 
 
 36T 
 
 enacted. As the generality even of educated persons, 
 both in England and Ireland, are entirely ignorant of 
 what these laws really were, we shall give a brief ac- 
 count of their enactments, premising first, that seven lay 
 peers and seven Protestant bishops had the honorable 
 humanity to sign a protest against them. 
 
 (1) The Catholic peers were deprived of their right 
 to sit in Parliament. (2) Catholic gentlemen were for- 
 bidden to be elected as members of Parliament. (3) It 
 denied all Catholics the liberty of voting, and it excluded 
 them from all offices of trust, and indeed from all remuner- 
 ative employment, however insignificant. 1 (4) They were 
 fined 60Z. a month for absence from the Protestant form of 
 worship. (5) They were forbidden to travel five miles 
 from their houses, to keep arms, to maintain suits at law, 
 or to be guardians or executors. (6) Any four justices 
 of the peace could, without further trial, banish any man 
 for life if he refused to attend the Protestant service. ( 7 ) 
 Any two justices of the peace could call any man over 
 sixteen before them, and if he refused to abjure the Catho- 
 lic religion, they could bestow his property upon the next 
 of kin. (8) No Catholic could employ a Catholic school- 
 master to educate his children ; and if he sent his child 
 abroad for education, he was subject to a fine of 100Z., 
 and the child could not inherit any property either in 
 England or Ireland. (9) Any Catholic priest who came 
 to the country should be hanged. (10) Any Protestant 
 suspecting any other Protestant of holding property 2 in 
 trust for any Catholic, might file a bill against the sus- 
 pected trustee, and take the estate or property from him. 
 (11) Any Protestant seeing a Catholic tenant-at-will on 
 a farm, which, in his opinion, yielded one-third more than 
 the yearly rent, might enter on that farm, and, by sim- 
 ply Wearing to the fact, take possession. (12) Any 
 
 1 A petition was sent in to Parliament by the Protestant porters of 
 Dublin, complaining of Darby Ryan for employing Catholic porters. 
 The petition was respectfully received , and referred to a " commit- 
 tee of grievances."— Com. Jour. vol. ii. f. 699. Such an instance, and 
 it is only one of many, is the best indication of the motive for enact- 
 ing the penal laws, and the cruelty of them. 
 
 2 It should be remembered that at this time Catholics were in a 
 majority of at least five to one over Protestants. Hence intermar- 
 riages took place, and circumstances occurred, in which Protes- 
 tants found it their interest to hold property for Catholics, to prevent 
 it from being seized by others. A gentleman, of considerable prop- 
 erty in the county Kerry, informed me that his property was held in 
 this way for several generations. 
 
368 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Protestant might take away the horse of a Catholic, no 
 matter how valuable, by simply paying him 51. (13) 
 Horses and wagons belonging to Catholics, were in all 
 cases to be seized for the use of the militia. (14) Any 
 Catholic gentleman's child who became a Protestant, 
 could at once take possession of his father's property. 
 
 One of the articles of the violated treaty provided that 
 the poor Catholics should be allowed to exercise their 
 trade. An act to prevent the further growth of popery 
 was passed afterwards, which made it forfeiture of goods 
 and imprisonment for any Catholic to exercise a trade in 
 Limerick and Galway, except seamen, fishermen, and day 
 laborers, and even of those only twenty were allowed 
 in each town, and they were obliged to have a special 
 license. Thus a twofold hatred of English rule — political 
 and religious — was kept in active existence, and the 
 people, not allowed to exercise a trade, naturally drifted 
 into habits of indolence and indifference, having ceased 
 to hope for any amelioration of their condition. 
 
 Having recorded all these evil deeds of the past, we 
 may remember with satisfaction, not only that they are 
 past, but that they have been condemned, if not by 
 the immediate actors, at least by their descendants. A 
 man is no longer prohibited from exercising an honest 
 calling because his religious views differ from those of 
 his master ; parents are no longer denied the privilege 
 of educating their children in their own creed, and such 
 a violation of honor and principle as that which occurred 
 in connection with the treaty of Limerick, can never 
 again occur to mar the harmony of the nation. 
 
 The Parliament which sat in Dublin was quite willing 
 to put down Popery and to take the property of Cath- 
 olics, although it was not so willing to submit to Eng- 
 lish rule in other matters. In 1698 Mr. Molyneux, one 
 of the members for the university of Dublin, published a 
 a work, entitled, The Case of Ireland's being bound 
 by Acts of Parliament in England stated." But Mr. 
 Molyneux's book was condemned by the English Parlia- 
 ment; and after a faint show of resistance, the Irish 
 members succumbed. The next act of the English Par- 
 liament was to suppress the woollen trade in Ireland. 
 In 1698 they passed a law for the prevention of tho 
 exportation of wool and of woollen manufactures from 
 
REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 
 
 369 
 
 Ireland, "under the forfeiture of goods and ship, and a 
 penalty of 500Z. for every such offence. " The penal 
 laws had made it " an offence " for a man to practise his 
 religion, or to educate his children either in Ireland or 
 abroad ; the trade laws made it " an offence 99 for a man 
 to earn his bread in an honest calling. The lower class 
 of Protestants were the principal sufferers by the destruc- 
 tion of the woollen trade ; it had been carried on by them 
 almost exclusively ; and it is said that forty thousand 
 persons were reduced to utter destitution by this one 
 enactment. In addition to this, navigation laws were 
 passed, which prohibited Irish merchants from trading 
 beyond seas in any ships except those which were built 
 in England. The embargo laws followed, of which twen- 
 ty-two were passed at different periods during forty 
 years. They forbade Irish merchants, whether Protes- 
 tant or Catholic, to trade with any foreign nation, or 
 with any British colony, direct — to export or import 
 any article, except to or from British merchants resident 
 in England. Ireland, however, was allowed one con- 
 solation, and this was the permission to import rum, 
 duty free. Probably none of the honorable members 
 who voted such laws had the deliberate intention of 
 making the Irish a nation of beggars and drunkards; 
 but if the Irish did not become such, it certainly was not 
 the fault of those who legislated for their own benefit, 
 and, as far as they had the power to do so, for her ruin, 
 politically and socially. 
 
 William had exercised his royal prerogative by dispos- 
 ing, according to his own inclination, of the estates for- 
 feited by those who had fought for king James's cause. 
 His favorite, Mrs. Yilliers, obtained property worth 
 25,O0OZ. per annum. In 1699 the English Parliament 
 began to inquire into this mattter, and the Commons 
 voted that " the advising and passing of the said grants 
 was highly reflecting upon the king's honor." 
 
 Anne succeeded to the English throne in 1702, and 
 the following year the Duke of Ormonde was sent to Ire- 
 land as lord lieutenant. The house of commons waited 
 on him with a bill " to prevent the further growth of 
 Popery." A few members who had protested against 
 this act resigned their seats ; but others whose opinions 
 coincided with those of the majority, were easily found 
 
370 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 to take their places. The queen's Tory advisers objected 
 to these strong measures, and attempted to nullify them, 
 by introducing the clause known as the "Sacramental 
 Test/' which excludes from public offices all who refused 
 to receive the sacrament according to the forms of the 
 Established Church. As dissenters from that Church 
 had great influence in the Irish Parliament, and as it 
 was well known that their abhorrence of the Church 
 which had been established by law was little short of 
 their hatred of the Church which had been suppressed 
 by law, it was hoped that they would reject the bill. 
 But they were assured that they would not be required 
 to take the test, and with this assurance they passed 
 the act. It seems to those who look back on such 
 proceedings, almost a marvel, how men, whose con- 
 science forbade them to receive the sacrament according 
 to certain rites, and who, in many cases, certainly would 
 have resigned property, if not life, sooner than act con- 
 trary to their religious convictions, should have been so 
 blindly infatuated as to compel other men, as far as they 
 had power to do so, to violate their conscientious con- 
 victions. The whole history of religious persecutions, 
 wherever and however carried out, is certainly one of 
 the most curious phases of human perversity which the 
 philosopher can find to study. 
 
 Two of the gentlemen, Sir Toby Butler and colonel 
 Cusack, who had signed the treaty of Limerick, peti- 
 tioned to be heard by counsel against the bill. But 
 appeals to honor and to justice were alike in vain, when 
 addressed to men who were destitute of both. The peti- 
 tioners were dismissed with the insulting remark, that if 
 they suffered from the act it was their own fault, since, 
 if they complied with its requirements, honors and wealth 
 were at their command. But these were men who 
 would not violate the dictates of conscience for all that 
 the world could bestow upon them, and of this one would 
 think they had already given sufficient proof. The bill 
 was passed without a dissentient voice ; and men who 
 would themselves have rebelled openly and violently if 
 the sacramental test had been imposed On them, and who 
 would have talked loudly of liberty of conscience, and 
 the blasphemy of interfering with anyone's religious con- 
 victions, now, without a shadow of hesitation, imposed 
 
JONATHAN* SWIFT. 
 
 Stl 
 
 grievous restrictions on others, forgetting that they 
 might be themselves in turn oppressed by those who 
 were in power. 
 
 A new phase in Jrish history was brought about by 
 the versatile talents, and strong will in their exercise, 
 which characterized the famous Jonathan Swift. The 
 quarrels between Whigs and Tories were at their height. 
 Swift is said to have been a Whig in politics and a Tory 
 in religion. lie now began to write as a patriot ; and in 
 his famous " Drapier's Letters" told the government of 
 the day some truths which were more plain than pal- 
 atable. An Englishman named Wood had obtained a 
 patent under the broad seal, in 1723, for the coinage of 
 copper halfpence. Even the servile Parliament were in- 
 dignant, and protested against a scheme which promised 
 to flood Ireland with bad coin, and thus to add still more 
 to its already impoverished condition. There was rea- 
 son for anxiety. The South Sea bubble had lately ruined 
 thousands in England, and France was still suffering 
 from the Mississippi scheme. Speculations of all kinds 
 were afloat, and a temporary mania seemed to have de- 
 prived the soberest people of their ordinary judgment. 
 Dr. Hugh Boulter, an Englishman, was made archbishop 
 of Armagh, and sent over mainly to attend to the Eng- 
 lish interest in Ireland. But he was unable to control 
 popular feeling ; and Swift's letters accomplished what 
 the Irish Parliament was powerless to effect. Although 
 it was well known that he was the author of these let- 
 ters, and though a reward of 300Z. was offered for the 
 discovery of the secret, he escaped unpunished. In 1725 
 the patent was withdrawn, and Wood received 3,0001. 
 a year for twelve years as an indemnification — an evi- 
 dence that he must have given a very large bribe for the 
 original permission, and that he expected to make more 
 by it than could have been made honestly. One of the 
 subjects on which Swift wrote most pointedly and ef- 
 fectively was that of absentees. He employed both facts 
 and ridicule; but each were equally in vain. He de- 
 scribed the wretched state of the country ; but his elo- 
 quence was unheeded. He gave ludicrous illustrations 
 of the extreme ignorance of those who governed in 
 regard to those whom they governed, but he failed to 
 attain his object. 
 
372 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 George I. died at Osnaburg, in Germany, on June 10, 
 1727. On the accession of his successor, the Catholics 
 offered an address expressing their loyalty, but the lords 
 justices took care that it should never reach England. 
 The next events of importance were the zealous efforts 
 made by Dr. Boulter, the Protestant primate, to estab- 
 lish charter schools, where Catholic children might be 
 educated, and to prevent Catholics, who had conformed 
 exteriorly to the State religion, from being admitted to 
 practise at the Bar. 
 
 The country was suffering at this period from the most 
 fearful distress. There were many causes for this state 
 of destitution, which were quite obvious to all but those 
 who were interested in maintaining it. The poorer 
 classes, being almost exclusively Catholics, had been 
 deprived of every means of support. Trade was crushed, 
 so that they could not become traders ; agriculture was 
 not permitted, so that they could not become agricul- 
 turists. There was, in fact, no resource for the majority 
 but to emigrate, to steal, or to starve. To a people 
 whose religion always had a preponderating influence 
 on their moral conduct, the last alternative only was 
 available, as there were not the same facilities for emi- 
 gration then as now. The cultivation of the potatoe had 
 already become general ; it was, indeed, the only way 
 of obtaining food left to these unfortunates. They were 
 easily planted, easily reared ; and to men liable at any 
 moment to be driven from their miserable holdings, if 
 they attempted to effect improvements, or to plant such 
 crops as might attract the rapacity of their landlords, 
 they were an invaluable resource. The man might live 
 who ate nothing but potatoes all the year round, but he 
 could scarcely be envied or ejected for his wealth. In 
 1739 a severe frost destroyed the entire crop, and a 
 frightful famine ensued, in which it was estimated that 
 four hundred thousand persons perished of starvation. 
 
 In 1747 George Stone succeeded Dr. Hoadley as pri- 
 mate of Ireland. His appointment was made evidently 
 more in view of temporals than spirituals, and he acted 
 accordingly. Another undignified squabble took place 
 in 1751 and 1753, between the English and Irish Parlia- 
 ments, on the question of privilege. For a time the 
 " patriot 99 or Irish party prevailed ; but eventually they 
 
THE IRISH BRIGADE. 
 
 373 
 
 yielded to the temptation of bribery and place. Henry 
 Boyle, the Speaker, was silenced by being made earl of 
 Shannon ; Anthony Malone was made chancellor of the 
 exchequer ; and the opposition party was quietly broken 
 up. 
 
 It will be remembered that the flower of the Irish 
 army entered the service of France after the siege of 
 Limerick. That gallant body of men, nineteen thousand 
 strong, soon rendered themselves famous in continental 
 history. They signalized themselves by their bravery, 
 till the Irish Brigade became a word of terror to its ene- 
 mies. The French government highly valued the ser- 
 vices of their gallant allies, and resolved to keep up the 
 strength and efficiency of the force by systematic recruit- 
 ing. A regular traffic was accordingly commenced and 
 carried on from most of the seaports in the south of Ire- 
 land — contractors for recruits undertaking to supply a 
 certain number of men, and providing vessels for their 
 transport. Those who voluntarily embarked as recruits 
 were known by the name of " Wild Geese;" but the 
 rewards held out by the contractors were so tempting, 
 that it is to be feared kidnapping was employed in many 
 places, and young men were seized and sent off by force 
 in order to complete the number that the contractors 
 had engaged to provide. Proclamations against this 
 system of recruiting for foreign service were often issued 
 by the government, but invariably without effect : the 
 exportations of recruits went on just as before. 
 
 It was not, however, until after the famous battle of 
 Fontenoy, in which the British army were completely 
 defeated, chiefly .by the efforts of the Irish Brigade, that 
 the attention of the English government was drawn to 
 the impolicy of allowing France to avail herself of the 
 military resources of Ireland. 
 
 The honorable method would have been to hold out to 
 the Irish the offer of civil privileges, and the enjoyment 
 of their religion at home, together with a fair prospect of 
 advancement in the service of Britain, such as they enjoy 
 in foreign countries. But this did not suit the purposes 
 of the Irish ascendency, or of the English government. 
 They, accordingly, adopted the mean and vindictive 
 method of driving them, if possible, from the French 
 armies ; and now passed an act disabling all Irish officers 
 
374 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 and soldiers that had been in the service of France or 
 Spain since the 18th of October, 1745, from holding any 
 real or personal property in Ireland, and that any real or 
 personal property in possession, reversion, or expect- 
 ancy, should belong to the first Protestant discoverer. 
 The Irish officers and soldiers, however, despised this 
 impotent malice of the government, and shortly after- 
 wards they mainly contributed to the overthrow of the 
 British army at Lafelt, which decided the fate of the 
 war, and compelled Great Britain to accede to an inglo- 
 rious peace. 1 
 
 The Abbe M'Geoghegan supplies the following sketch 
 of the heroic men, who so bravely won a charter for 
 their country in the face of death : — 
 
 " The troops which had lately arrived in France, after 
 the treaty of Limerick, were new-modelled in 1695, and 
 reduced to twelve regiments, the command of which was 
 given to those who had most influence at the court of 
 St. Germain. These regiments, called 1 the troops of 
 king James/ were, — 
 
 " The king's regiment of cavalry — Lord Galmoy, col- 
 onel ; Edmund Prendergast, lieutenant-colonel; Edmund 
 Butler, major. 
 
 "The queen's regiment of cavalry — Lord Galmoy, 
 colonel ; Ken^ de Carn^ (a Frenchman), lieutenant-colo- 
 nel ; James Tobin, major. 
 
 " The king's regiment of dragoons — Lord Viscount 
 Kilmallock (Sarsfield), colonel ; Turenne O'Carroll, lieu- 
 tenant-colonel ; De Salles (a Frenchman), major. 
 
 "The queen's regiment of dragoons — Charles Vis- 
 count Clare, colonel; Alexander Barnwal, lieutenant- 
 colonel ; Charles Maxwell, major. 
 
 "The king's infantry regiment of guards — William 
 
 1 The writer of the present work finds amongst the long^rSle of her 
 ancestors who were devoted to the service of Ireland, the names of 
 several of the most distinguished members of the Irish Brigade. Mr. 
 O'Calhighan, in his History of the Irish Brigades in the Service of France, 
 which has just been issued from the press, writes thus :— " In this year 
 also(1770) died a distinguished officer of the Irish Brigade, the Marechal 
 de Camp and Chevalier Richard Edmund de Cusack. He was the son 
 of Richard Cusack, who retired to Spain after the battle of Worces- 
 ter, where he fought on the royalist side. The Chevalier Cusack 
 served with such distinction at Fbntenoy that he was made Brigadier 
 of the armies of the king. His brother, Charles Cusack, died gover- 
 nor of Melazzo, in Sicily, and another brother, Gerald, was Chevalier 
 of St. Louis, and colonel of the Irish regiment of Roth. 
 
 Colonel Cusack, who signed the treaty of Limerick on the national 
 side, has already been mentioned, as well as Lord Chancellor Cusack, 
 Who was accused of poisoning Shane O'-Neil, 
 
THE IRISH TROOPS WHO FOUGHT FOR FRANCE. 315 
 
 Dorington, colonel; Oliver O'Gara, lieutenant-colonel; 
 John Rothe, major. 
 
 " The queen's regiment of infantry — Simon Luttrel, 
 colonel; Francis Wachop, lieutenant-colonel; James 
 O'Brien, major. 
 
 " An infantry regiment of marines — The Lord Grand- 
 prior, colonel ; Nicholas FitzGerald, lieutenant-colonel ; 
 Richard Nugent, second lieutenant-colonel; Edmund 
 O'Madden, major. 
 
 " The Limerick regiment of infantry — Sir John Fitz- 
 Gerald, colonel; Jeremiah O'Mahony, lieutenant-colo- 
 nel ; William Thessy, major. 
 
 "The Charlemont regiment of infantry — Gordon 
 O'Neil, colonel; Hugh McMahon, lieutenant-colonel; 
 Edmund Murphy, major. 
 
 " Dublin regiment of infantry — John Power, colonel ; 
 John Power, lieutenant-colonel ; Theobald Burke, major. 
 
 M The Athlone regiment of infantry — Walter Burke, 
 colonel ; Owen McCarthy, lieutenant-colonel ; Edmund 
 Cantwell, major. 
 
 " Clancarty regiment of infantry — Roger McElligot, 
 colonel; Edward Scott, lieutenant-colonel; Cornelius 
 Murphy, major. 
 
 " Out of the regiments which the Irish nobility had 
 raised in 1689 for the service of James II., several were 
 disbanded in Ireland. Most of those who went to 
 France were embodied with those we have just been enu- 
 merating; the colonels descending to the rank of cap- 
 tains, and the captains to that of lieutenants. The 
 regiments of O'Neill, O'Donnel, MacDonnel, Maguire, 
 McMahon, Magennis, were formed into one ; Edmund 
 (Bouy) O'Reilly's shared the same fate. 
 
 '! The regiments of Burke and Dillon were engaged at 
 the battle of Cremona, February, 1702, in which they 
 particularly distinguished themselves, and contributed 
 mainly to the defeat of the enemy. As a mark of his 
 satisfaction, the king increased the pay of the foot-cap- 
 tains, not only of these regiments, but of three others 
 which were on a footing with the French, to twenty-five 
 pence a day, and the lieutenants to twelve pence. The 
 soldiers also received one penny a day additional. Dil- 
 lon's regiment received their reward in hand, as they 
 already had high pay. 
 
376 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 " Sheldon's regiment of cavalry, to which a squadron 
 was added, consisted of three squadrons in the war of 
 1700. They distinguished themselves at the battle of 
 Spire on the 24th of November, 1703 ; the half-pay cap- 
 tains and lieutenants who served with it received an in- 
 crease of pay. 
 
 " In 1708 the king of Spain began to raise two regi- 
 ments of dragoons, and three Irish battalions, consisting 
 of the prisoners taken from the English army in the 
 battle of Almanza. These corps were officered by the 
 half-pay officers who had served with the Irish regiments 
 in France. 
 
 u Peace having been concluded at Radstadt, on the 
 6th of March, 1714, between France and the emperor, 
 the regiments of Lee, Clare, Dillon, Rothe, and Berwick, 
 were increased from twelve to fifteen companies, con- 
 sisting each of forty men. In order to make up the 
 three new companies, the regiments of O'Donnel, which 
 had previously belonged to Fitzgerald and Galmoy, and 
 a second battalion, which was added to Berwick's, were 
 disbanded. O'Donnel's was divided between the reg- 
 iments of Lee and Clare ; Galmoy's and Berwick's second 
 battalion were joined to those of Dillon, Rothe, and Ber- 
 wick. 
 
 "From calculations and researches that have been 
 made at the war office, it has been ascertained that from 
 the arrival of the Irish troops in France in 1691 to 1745, 
 the year of the battle of Fontenoy, more than four hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand Irishmen died in the service of 
 France (independent of which, nearly an equal number 
 entered the service of Germany, Spain and Hungary). 
 
 u Bourke applied for, and obtained, permission for his 
 regiment, which had often served in Spain (in order to 
 avoid shifting), to offer its services to the king of Spain. 
 This being granted, he proceeded to that country, and 
 subsequently served with distinction in Sicily, Africa, 
 and Italy, during the war of 1733, under the king of the 
 two Sicilies, to whom his father, the king of Spain, had 
 sent him in the year 1758. Burke's regiment remained 
 in Naples, it was called the king's corps, and received 
 an addition of two battalions. 
 
 " Through the changes which took place among the 
 Irish troops in France, the king of Spain was enabled to 
 
THE IRISH TROOPS IN FOREIGN SERVICE. 
 
 877 
 
 increase his three Irish regiments of foot by a battalion 
 each, so that he had six made tip of the supernumerary 
 men who remained employed in France. They served 
 at Oran, in Sicily, and in Italy in 1733 and 1734, with 
 the highest distinction. Four of these battalions, with 
 the Walloon guards, were successful, in 1713, in repuls- 
 ing the enemy at Veletry, and in saving Don Philip, who 
 was in danger of being taken prisoner." 
 
378 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 A.D. 1757 TO A. D. 1798. 
 
 Contemporary Events :— Battle of Minden— Death of General Wolfe, 
 and Conquest of Canada— England declares War with Spain- 
 Joseph II. Emperor of Germany— Gustavus III. Emperor of Swe- 
 den—Clement XIV. Pope— Dismemberment of Poland— American 
 War— Bombardment of Gibraltar— Death of Frederic the Great of 
 Prussia — Capture of the Bastile— Louis XVI. and Marie Antoin- 
 ette guillotined— Battle of the Nile. 
 
 The Catholics now, for the first time, made an attempt 
 to form a society which, by exerting a uniform and con- 
 stitutional pressure on the government, might help to 
 obtain the justice so long denied them. Dr. Curry, a 
 physician practising in Dublin, and the author of the 
 well-known "Historical and Critical Review of the Civil 
 Wars of Ireland/ 7 Charles O'Connor, of Belanagar, the 
 Irish antiquary, and Mr. Wyse, of Waterford, were the 
 projectors and promoters of this scheme. The clergy 
 stood aloof from it, fearing to lose any liberty they still 
 possessed if they demanded more ; the aristocracy held 
 back, fearing to forfeit what little property yet remained 
 to them, if they gave the least excuse for fresh " settle- 
 ments " or plunderings. A few Catholic merchants, how- 
 ever, joined the three friends ; and in conjunction they 
 prepared an address to the duke of Bedford, who was 
 appointed lord lieutenant in 1757. The address was 
 favorably received, and an answer returned after some 
 time. The government already had apprehensions of a 
 French invasion, and it was deemed politic to give the 
 Catholics some encouragement, however faint. It is at 
 least certain, that the reply declared " the zeal and 
 attachment which they (the Catholics) professed, would 
 never be more seasonably manifested than at the pres- 
 ent juncture. " No immediate advantages followed, but 
 Catholics were henceforth allowed the right of meeting 
 
THE IRISH BRIGADE. 
 
 379 
 
 and petitioning, which was an important step towards 
 the attainment of the concessions subsequently granted. 
 
 In 1759 a rumor broke out in Dublin that a legislative 
 union was in contemplation by the primate and his fac- 
 tion. On the 3rd of December the citizens rose en masse, 
 and surrounded the houses of Parliament. They stopped 
 the carriages cf members, and obliged them to swear 
 opposition to such a measure. Some of the Protestant 
 bishops and the lord chancellor were roughly handled ; 
 a privy councillor was thrown into the river ; the attor- 
 ney-general was wounded and obliged to take refuge in 
 the college ; lord Inchiquin was abused till he said his 
 name was O'Brien, when the rage of the people " was 
 turned into acclamations/ 7 The Speaker, Mr. Ponsonby, 
 and the chief secretary, Mr. Rigby, had to appear in 
 the porch of the house of commons, solemnly to assure 
 the citizens that no union was dreamed of, and, if it was 
 proposed, that they would be the first to resist it. Pub- 
 lic spirit had evidently grown bold and confident, and 
 we can well believe secretary Rigby when he writes to 
 the elder Pitt, that "the mob " declared, "since they 
 have no chance of numbers in the house, they must have 
 recourse to numbers out of doors." 
 
 George II. died suddenly at Kensington, and was suc- 
 ceeded by George III., in October, 1760. The predilec- 
 tions of the late king for his German connections had 
 led him into war both with France and Spain ; the 
 imprudence of ministers, if not the unwise and unjust 
 policy of colonial government, involved the country 
 soon after in a conflict with the American dependencies. 
 In each of these cases, expatriated Irishmen turned the 
 scale against the country from which they had been so 
 rashly and cruelly ejected. In France, the battle of 
 Fontenoy was won mainly by the Irish Brigade, who 
 were commanded by colonel Dillon ; and the defeat of 
 England by the Irish drew from George II. the well- 
 known exclamation : c< Cursed be the laws that deprive 
 me of such subjects ! 19 In Spain, where the Irish offi- 
 cers and soldiers had emigrated by thousands, there was 
 scarcely an engagement in which they did not take a 
 prominent and decisive part. In Canada the agitation 
 against British exactions was commenced by Charles 
 Thompson, an Irish emigrant, and subsequently the sec- 
 
380 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 retary of Congress. Montgomery, another Irishman, 
 captured Montreal and Quebec. O'Brien and Barry, 
 whose names sufficiently indicate their nationality, were 
 the first to command in the naval engagements ; and 
 startled England began to recover slowly and sadly from 
 her long infatuation, to discover what had, indeed, been 
 discovered by the sharp -sighted Schomberg and his 
 master long before, that Irishmen, from their habits of 
 endurance and undaunted courage, were the best sol- 
 diers she could find, and that, Celts and Papists as they 
 were, her very existence as a nation might depend upon 
 their co-operation. 
 
 The agrarian outrages, the perpetrators of which were 
 known at first by the name of Levellers, and eventually 
 by the appellation of Whiteboys, commenced immedi- 
 ately after the accession of George III. An English 
 traveller, Arthur Young, who carefully studied the sub- 
 ject, and who certainly could have been in no way 
 interested in misrepresentation, has thus described the 
 cause and the motive of the atrocities they practised. 
 The first cause was the rapacity of the landlords, who, 
 having let their lands far above their value, on condition 
 of allowing the tenants the use of certain commons, now 
 inclosed the commons, but did not lessen the rent. 
 The bricks were to be made, but the straw was not pro- 
 vided ; and the people were told that they were idle. 
 The second cause was the exactions of the tithe-mongers, 
 who are described by this English writer as " harpies 
 who squeezed out the very vitals of the people, and by 
 process, citation, and sequestration, dragged from them 
 the little which the landlord had left them." It was hard 
 for those who had been once owners of the soil to be 
 obliged to support the intruders into their property in 
 affluence ; while they, with even the most strenuous 
 efforts, could barely obtain what would keep them from 
 starvation. It was still harder that men, who had sac- 
 rificed their position in society and their worldly pros- 
 pects, for the sake of their religion, should be obliged to 
 support clergj'men and their families, some of whom 
 never resided in the parishes from which they obtained 
 tithes, and many of whom could not count above half- 
 a-dozen persons as regular members of their congrega- 
 tion. 
 
COMMENCEMENT OF AGRARIAN OUTRAGES. 381 
 
 Arthur Young thus suggests a remedy for these crimes, 
 which he says were punished with a " severity which 
 seemed calculated for the meridian of Barbary, while 
 others remain yet the law of the land, which would, if 
 executed, tend more to raise than to quell an insurrec- 
 tion. From all which it is manifest that the gentlemen 
 of Ireland never thought of a radical cure, from over- 
 looking the real cause of disease, which, in fact, lay in 
 themselves, and not in the wretches they doomed to the 
 gallows. Let them change their own conduct entirely, 
 and the poor will not long riot. Treat them like men, 
 who ought to be as free as yourselves ; put an end to 
 that system of religious persecution, which, for seventy 
 3^ears, has divided the kingdom against itself — in these 
 two circumstances lies the cure of insurrection ; perform 
 them completely, and you will effect a cure. ;; 
 
 How purely these outrages were the deeds of des- 
 perate men, who had been made desperate by cruel op- 
 pression, and insensible to cruelty by cruel wrongs, is 
 evident from the dying declaration of five Whiteboys, 
 who were executed in 1762, at Waterford, and who 
 publicly declared, and took God to witness, "that in all 
 these tumults it never did enter into their thoughts to do 
 anything against the king or government. " 
 
 It was at this period, and from these causes, that 
 secret societies first commenced in Ireland. It cannot 
 now be ascertained who first began these unhappy con- 
 spiracies. Until this period, whatever resistance had 
 been made to lawful rule was made openly, and the 
 mass of the people who joined in such resistance were 
 led by gentlemen of position. At this period, however, 
 Catholics of the upper classes were obtaining greater 
 freedom of conscience, and had hopes of further amelio- 
 ration of their unfortunate condition. The clergy als<* 
 were, if not tolerated, at least not persecuted openly. 
 Each were sufficiently alive to these advantages, and 
 to the probability that they would be irreparably lost 
 if more were demanded by force of arms, or combinations 
 for violent resistance. But it was not so with the peo- 
 ple : their condition was worse than it ever had been, 
 and as they could not find leaders of position to help 
 them in their efforts to obtain redress, they had recourse 
 
382 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 to secret oaths, midnight meetings, and acts of stealthy 
 revenge. 
 
 These men do not appear to have given themselves 
 any distinctive appellation ; but they were called White- 
 boys by the people, because they wore white sheets 
 over their clothes, either as a badge of union, or to make 
 it more difficult to recognize individuals : and Levellers, 
 because their first object was to level the fences by 
 which the cattle lands were now enclosed from the 
 people. 
 
 A letter from a gentleman in Toughal to his son in 
 London, printed in the " Gentleman's Magazine " for 
 April, 1762, says that the Whiteboys "all along pretend 
 that their assembling was to do justice to the poor, 
 by restoring the ancient commons, and redressing other 
 grievances. A letter from Mr. O'Connor to Dr. Curry, 
 dated June 4, 1762, gives a similar account of the ob- 
 ject of these disturbances : 
 
 " In relation to the disorders of the poor in Munster, 
 1 assured Dr. Warner that they proceeded from the 
 throwing of that province, like Connaught and Leinster, 
 into pasture enclosures, which excluded these poor, and 
 reduced them into a state of desperation, and into that 
 rage which despair on such occasions will dictate. I 
 told him, that the whole proceeded from laws which 
 gave the better sort of the people no occupation in the 
 inland counties but pasturage alone ; agriculture being 
 virtually forbid on account of the shortness of their 
 tenures. That, in such a state, Papists worry Papists, 
 the rich excluding the poorer sort to make room for 
 flocks and herds, which are easily converted into ready 
 money, and find a ready market." 
 
 There was a special reason why cattle were excep- 
 tionally valuable at this period. There had been in Eng- 
 land for several years a murrain amongst horned cattle, 
 which had originated in Germany and Holland. Hence 
 there was a great foreign demand for butter and beef, 
 and the value of these exports was proportionably great. 
 As ground appropriated to grazing became more and 
 more valuable, cottiers, being tenants at will, were every- 
 where ejected from their little holdings, which were let 
 by the landlords to contractors who took large tracts of 
 
FATHER SFJEEHY. 
 
 383 
 
 and, and paid high prices for them. Thus even whole 
 baronies were turned into pastures. Some of those who 
 were ejected fled to large cities, but even here the Penal 
 Laws met them, and they were unable to obtain employ- 
 ment. A few had recourse to emigration, but emigra- 
 tion then was not as feasible as it is now. Those who 
 remained in the country rented a small spot of land, at 
 most an acre, at an exorbitant price, which enabled them 
 to keep their families from actual starvation, but could 
 not supply the necessaries of life. The wages of the 
 laborer still remained the same, so that the poorest were 
 in all cases the greatest sufferers. 
 
 Thus was set up that unhappy system which, from 
 time to time, has ever since appeared in Ireland under 
 various names, but with the same object, and using 
 the same means — intimidation, threatening notices, and 
 punishment for disobedience to orders by destruction 
 of property, personal violence, or murder. An official 
 declaration was inserted in the Dublin and London 
 "Gazettes," after a commission of lawyers had investi- 
 gated some cases, which said that " the authors of these 
 disturbances have consisted indiscriminately of persons 
 of different persuasions, and that no marks of disaffec- 
 tion to his majesty's person or government have been 
 discovered upon this occasion in any class of people." 
 The fact was, that people only wanted the means of liv- 
 ing, and they attributed their difficulties to the nearest 
 landlord, rather than to the government which permitted 
 the landlord to exercise what they considered grave in- 
 justice. Those who were interested in denying the real 
 cause of these outrages declared, first, that it was a 
 Popish plot, and then that it was a plot encouraged by 
 the French. But the Catholic priesthood had, all through, 
 steadily opposed the conspiracy, even at the risk of their 
 lives, and no proof whatever could be found that the 
 French nation were in any way whatever connected with 
 it. One priest, however, fell a victim to public opinion. 
 
 A large military force, under the marquis of Drogheda, 
 was accordingly despatched to the south. The marquis 
 fixed his headquarters at Clogheen, in Tipperary, the 
 parish priest of which was Nicholas Sheehy. The mag- 
 ' istracy of the county, especially Sir Thomas Maude, 
 William Bagnell, John Bagwell, Daniel Toler, and Par- 
 
384 
 
 COMPENDIUM OP IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 son Hewitson, were among the chief maintainers of the 
 existence of a Popish plot, to bring in the F rench and 
 the Pretender. Father Sheehy had interfered with more 
 zeal than prudence, in the vain hope of protecting his 
 unfortunate parishioners from injustice ; and, in return, 
 he was himself made the victim of injustice. He was 
 accused of encouraging a French invasion — a fear which 
 was always present to the minds of the rulers, as they 
 could not but know that the Irish had every reason to 
 seek for foreign aid to free them from domestic wrongs. 
 He was accused of encouraging the Whiteboys, because, 
 while he denounced their crimes, he accused those who 
 had diiven them to these crimes as the real culprits. 
 He was accused of treason, and a reward of 300Z. was 
 offered for his apprehension. Conscious of his inno- 
 cence, he gave himself up at once to justice, though he 
 might easily have fled the country. He was tried in 
 Dublin, and acquitted. But his persecutors were not 
 satisfied. A charge of murder was got up against him ; 
 and although the body of the man could never be found, 
 although it was sworn that he had left the country, 
 although an alibi was proved for the priest, he was con- 
 demned and executed. A gentleman of property and 
 position, named Keeting, came forward at the trial to 
 prove that father Sheehy had slept in his house the very 
 night on which he was accused of having committed the 
 murder ; but the moment he appeared in court, a cler- 
 gyman who sat on the bench had him taken into custody, 
 on pretence of having killed a corporal and a sergeant 
 in a riot. The pretence answered the purpose. After 
 father Sheehy's execution, Keeting was tried ; and, as 
 there was not even a shadow of proof, he was acquitted. 
 But it was too late to save the victim. 
 
 At the place of execution, father Sheehy most sol- 
 emnly declared, on the word of a dying man, that he was 
 not guilty either of murder or of treason ; that he never 
 had any intercourse, either directly or indirectly, with 
 the French ; and that he had never known of any such 
 intercourse being practised by others. 
 
 The three witnesses on whose evidence he was con- 
 demned were persons whose evidence had been already 
 disbelieved by a Dublin jury of Protestants. One of > 
 these witnesses was a prostitute, another was a boy of 
 
SECRET SOCIETIES. 
 
 385 
 
 bad character, and the third was a thief. All three were 
 in jail, at the time of father Sheehy's trial, and were 
 taken out of jail to give evidence against him. 
 
 " Such," says Dr. Carey, " during the space of three 
 years, was the fearful and pitiable state of the Roman 
 Catholics of Munster ; and so general did the panic at 
 length become, so many of the lower sort were already 
 hanged, in jail, or on the informers 7 lists, that the greater 
 part of the rest fled through fear : so that the land lay 
 untilled, for want of hands to cultivate it, and a famine 
 was, with reason, apprehended. As for the better sort, 
 who had something to lose (and who for that reason 
 were the persons chiefly aimed at by the managers of 
 the prosecution), they were at the utmost loss how to 
 dispose of themselves. If they left the country their 
 absence was construed into a proof of their guilt, and if 
 they remained in it they were in imminent danger of hav- 
 ing their lives sworn away by informers and approvers; 
 for the suborning and corrupting of witnesses on that 
 occasion was frequent and barefaced, to a degree beyond 
 all belief." 
 
 From the first, the Catholic bishops and the clergy 
 strenuously opposed these secret societies.' The bishop 
 of Cloyne issued a pastoral condemning them ; the cel- 
 ebrated father Arthur O'Leary wrote against them ; the 
 bishop of Ossory excommunicated them. In the dio- 
 ceses of Kildare and Kilkenny, and throughout Munster, 
 the very clergy were themselves in fear of their ven- 
 geance, and were frequently removed by their bishops 
 from one neighborhood to another. 
 
 In the north, the " Hearts of Steel " were formed into 
 a society amongst lord Downshire's tenants, and the 
 " Peep o'Day Boys " were the precursors of the Orange 
 association. The disturbances of the Whiteboys ceased 
 in Munster before 1770, but reappeared in the county 
 Kildare in 1175, and in Kilkenny and the Queen's Coun- 
 ty in 1775 and the following years. The Munster and 
 Kilkenny insurgents of 1785 and the following years 
 assumed the name of Rightboys, but their grievances 
 and their proceedings were the same as those of the 
 Whiteboys, with the exception of the manifestation of 
 an additional animus against the clergy on the subject 
 of tithes. 
 
386 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 To so great an extent were the Protestant clergy of 
 Munster the object of attack at this period, that many 
 of them fled from their parishes, and took refuge in the 
 large towns. In 1786 a bill was introduced to " protect 
 the persons, houses, and properties of rectors, vicars, 
 and curates," actually resident within their parishes. 
 The reason of the continuance of these insurrections was 
 the extreme difficulty of convicting offenders. When an 
 informer could be found, he was generally a man of the 
 worst character, who would recklessly swear any life 
 away. As a general rule, however, those who could 
 have given honest and true evidence would not do so. 
 The truth was, that they sympathized with the men who 
 committed these outrages, not because they had any 
 love for crime, but because they believed them justified 
 in their rash efforts to obtain redress, and hence could 
 not look on them as common murderers or assassins. 
 
 In 1771 a grace was granted to the Catholics, by which 
 they were allowed to take a lease of fifty acres of bog, 
 and half an acre of arable land for a house ; but this 
 holding was not to be within a mile of any town. In 
 1773 an attempt was made to tax absentees ; but as they 
 were the principal land-owners, they easily defeated 
 the measure. A work was published in 1769, contain- 
 ing a list of the absentees, which is in itself sufficient to 
 account for any amount of misery and disaffection in 
 Ireland. There can be no doubt of the correctness of 
 the statement, because the names of the individuals and 
 the amount of their property is given in full. Property 
 to the amount of 73,375Z. belonged to persons who never 
 visited Ireland. Pensions to the amount of 371,9002. 
 were paid to persons who lived out of Ireland. Prop- 
 erty to the amount of 117,800Z. was possessed by per- 
 sons who visited Ireland occasionally, but lived abroad. 
 Incomes to the amount of T2,200Z. were possessed by 
 officials and bishops, who generally lived out of Ireland. 
 The state of trade is also treated in the same work, in 
 which the injustice the country had suffered is fully and 
 clearly explained. 
 
 The American war commenced in 1175, and the Eng- 
 lish Parliament at once resolved to relieve Ireland of 
 some of her commercial disabilities. Some trifling con- 
 cessions were granted, just enough to make the Irish 
 
THE VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 387 
 
 believe that they need not expect justice except under 
 the compulsion of fear, and not enough to benefit the 
 country. Irish soldiers were now asked for and granted ; 
 but exportation of Irish commodities to America was 
 forbidden, and in consequence the country was reduced 
 to a state of fearful distress. The Irish debt rose to 
 994,890/., but the pension list was still continued and 
 paid to absentees. When the independence of the Amer- 
 ican States was acknowledged by France, a bill for the 
 partial relief of the Catholics passed unanimously through 
 the English Parliament. Catholics were now allowed a 
 few of the rights of citizens. They were permitted to 
 take and dispose of leases, and priests and schoolmasters 
 were no longer liable to prosecution. 
 
 Grattan had entered Parliament in the year 1775. In 
 1779 he addressed the house on the subject of a free 
 trade for Ireland ; and on April 19, 1780, he made his 
 famous demand for Irish independence. His address, 
 his subject, and his eloquence were irresistible. " I 
 wish for nothing/' he exclaimed, "but to breathe in this 
 our land, in common with my fellow-subjects, the air of 
 liberty. I have no ambition, unless it be the ambition 
 to break your chain, and to contemplate your glory. I 
 never will be satisfied, as long as the meanest cottager 
 in Ireland has a link of the British chain clinging to his 
 rags ; he may be naked, but he shall not be in irons. 
 And I do see the time is at hand, the spirit is gone forth, 
 the declaration is planted ; and though great men should 
 apostatize, yet the cause will live ; and though the pub- 
 lic speaker should die, yet the immortal fire shall outlast 
 the organ which conveyed it ; and the breath of liberty, 
 like the word of the holy man, will not die with the 
 prophet, but survive him." 
 
 The volunteer corps, which had been formed in Bel- 
 fast in 1779, when the coast was threatened by priva- 
 teers, had now risen to be a body of national importance. 
 They were reviewed in public, and complimented by 
 Parliament. But they were patriots in the truest sense 
 of the word, and of necessity were formidable and dan- 
 gerous to those who were unwilling to comply with their 
 demands, which if, they were not speedily decided, they 
 might yet have power to enforce. On December 28, 
 1781, a few of the leading members of the Ulster regi- 
 
388 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 ments met at Charlemont, and convened a meeting of 
 delegates from all the volunteer associations, at Dun- 
 gannon, on February 15, 1782. The delegates assem- 
 bled on the appointed day, and government dared not 
 prevent or interrupt their proceedings. Colonel Wil- 
 liam Irvine presided, and .twenty -one resolutions were 
 adopted, demanding civil rights and the removal of 
 commercial restraints. One resolution expresses their 
 pleasure, as Irishmen, as Christians, and as Protestants, 
 at the relaxation of the penal laws. This resolution 
 was suggested by Mr. Grattan to Mr. Dobbs, as he was 
 leaving Dublin to join the assembly. It was passed 
 with only two dissentient votes. 
 
 The effect of this combined, powerful, yet determined 
 agitation, was decisive. On the 22nd of February, Mr. 
 Grattan brought forward his celebrated motion for Irish 
 independence, and it was carried on the 16th of April, 
 just two years after he had first begun to agitate on the 
 subject. When the bill had passed he rose once more 
 in the house, and exclaimed : u Ireland is now a nation ! 
 In that new character I hail her, and bowing to her 
 august presence, I say, Esto Perpetua." A period of 
 unexampled prosperity followed. The very effects of a 
 reaction from conditions under which commerce was 
 purposely restricted and trade paralyzed by law, to one 
 of comparative freedom, could not fail to produce such 
 an effect. If the Parliament had been reformed when it 
 was freed, it is probable that Ireland at this moment 
 would be the most prosperous of nations. But the Par- 
 liament was not reformed. The prosperity which fol- 
 lowed was rather the effect of reaction than of any real 
 settlement of the Irish question. The land laws were 
 left untouched, an alien church was allowed to continue 
 its unjust exactions ; and though Ireland was delivered, 
 her chains were not all broken ; and those which were, 
 still hung loosely round her, ready for the hand of 
 traitor or foe. Though nominally freed from English 
 control, the Irish Parliament was not less enslaved by 
 corrupt influence. Perhaps there had never been a 
 period in the history of England when bribery was more 
 freely used, when corruption was more predominant. 
 A considerable number of the peers in the Irish house 
 were English by interest and by education. A majority 
 
IRISH REVENUE FOR 1783. 
 
 389 
 
 ot members of the lower house were their creatures. A 
 man who desired a place in Parliament would conform 
 to the opinions of his patron : the patron was willing to 
 receive a " compensation " for making his opinions, if 
 he had any, coincide with those of the government. 
 Many of the members were anxious for preferment for 
 themselves or their friends ; the price of preferment was a 
 vote for ministers. The solemn fact of individual respon- 
 sibility for each individual act had yet to be understood. 
 
 One of the first acts of the Irish independent Parlia- 
 ment was to order the appointment of a committee to 
 inquire into the state of the manufactures of the king- 
 dom, and to ascertain what might be necessary for their 
 improvement. The hearts of the poor, always praying 
 for employment, which had been so long and so cruelly 
 withheld from them, bounded with joy. Petitions poured 
 in on every side. David Bosquet had erected mills in 
 Dublin for the manufacture of metals ; he prayed for 
 help. John and Henry Allen had woollen manufactories 
 in the county Dublin ; they prayed for help. Thomas 
 Reilly, iron merchant, of the town of Wicklow, wished 
 to introduce improvements in iron works. J ames Smith, 
 an Englishman, had cotton manufactories at Balbriggan ; 
 he wished to extend them. Anthony Dawson, of Dun- 
 drum, near Dublin, had water mills for making tools for 
 all kinds of artisans ; this, above all, should be encour- 
 aged, now that there was some chance of men having 
 some use for tools. Then there were requests for aid 
 to establish carpet manufactories, linen manufactories, 
 glass manufactories, &c; and Robert Burke, Esq., of the 
 county Kiidare, prayed for the loan of 40,000/. for seven 
 years, that he might establish manufactories at Prosper- 
 ous. These few samples of petitions, taken at random 
 from many others, will enable the reader to form some 
 idea of the state of depression in which Ireland was kept 
 by the English government — of the eagerness of the 
 Irish to work, if they were only permitted to do so. 
 
 The Irish revenue for the year 1783 was, in round 
 numbers 90O,00OZ., which amounted to a tax of about 
 6s. per annum on each person. It was distributed thus : 
 
 For the interest of the national debt £120,000 
 
 Army and ordnance, civil government and other funds. . . 450,000 
 Pensions, grants, bounties, and aids to manufacturers. . .. 250,000 
 Surplus unappropriated 80,000 
 
 Total £900,000 
 
390 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 More than 200, 000Z. was spent during that year in 
 erecting forts, batteries, and other public buildings, 
 which gave employment to the people in certain dis- 
 tricts. Large sums were granted to the poor of Cork 
 and Dublin for coals ; and large grants were made to 
 encourage manufactures. We have observed, however, 
 in carefully examining these grants, which are by far too 
 numerous for insertion, that they were principally, and, 
 indeed, we might say exclusively, made to persons in 
 Dublin and its neighborhood, in the north of Ireland, 
 and in the cities of Cork and Limerick. Hence, the pros- 
 perity of Ireland was only partial, and was confined ex- 
 clusively, though, probably not intentionally, to certain 
 districts. This will explain why the misery and starva- 
 tion of the poor, in the less favored parts of the country, 
 were a principal cause of the fearful insurrection which 
 occurred within a few short years. 
 
 Lord Clare proclaimed, in the house of Parliament, 
 that " no nation on the habitable globe had advanced in 
 cultivation, commerce, and manufacture, with the same 
 rapidity as Ireland, from 1782 to 1800. " The population 
 increased fr om three millions to Jive. There were five 
 thousand carpenters fully employed in Dublin ; there 
 were fifteen thousand silk-weavers. Nor should we be 
 surprised at this ; for Dublin possesses at the present 
 day substantial remains of her former prosperity, which 
 are even now the admiration of Europe. All her great 
 public buildings were erected at this period. The cus- 
 tom-house was commenced and completed in ten years, 
 at a cost of a quarter of a million sterling. The rotundo 
 was commenced in 1784. The law courts, the most 
 elegant and extensive in the British empire, were begun 
 in 1786. In 1788 there were fourteen thousand three 
 hundred and twenty-seven dwelling-houses in Dublin, 
 and one hundred and ten thousand inhabitants. Two 
 hundred and twenty peers and three hundred commoners 
 had separate residences. Dublin was fashionable, and 
 Dublin prospered. 
 
 But corruption soon did its fatal work. It sanctioned, 
 nay, it compelled, the persecution of the majority of the 
 nation for their religious creed ; and with this persecu- 
 tion the last flame of national prosperity expired, and 
 the persecutors and the persecuted shared alike in the 
 common ruin. In 1792 lord Edward Fitzgerald de- 
 
AGITATION FOR PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. 391 
 
 nounced the conduct of the house in these ever-memo- 
 rable words : "I do think, sir, that the lord-lieutenant 
 and the majority of this house are the worst subjects 
 the king has ; " and when a storm arose, the more vio- 
 lent from consciousness that his words were but too true ; 
 for all retractation he would only say : "I am accused 
 of having said that I think the lord lieutenant and the 
 majority of this house are the worst subjects the king 
 has. I said so ; 'tis true ; and I am sorry for it." 
 
 On May 27, 1782, when the Irish houses met, after an 
 adjournment of three weeks, the duke of Portland an- 
 nounced the unconditional concessions which had been 
 made to Ireland by the English Parliament. Mr. Grat- 
 tan interpreted the concessions in the fullest sense, and 
 moved an address, " breathing the generous sentiments 
 of his noble and confiding nature." Mr. Flood and a 
 few other members took a different and more cautious 
 view of the case. They wished for something more than 
 a simple repeal of the act of 6 George L, and they de- 
 manded an express declaration that England would not 
 interfere with Irish affairs. But Mr. Grattan's address 
 was carried by .a division of two hundred and eleven to 
 two ; and the house to show its gratitude, voted that 
 twenty thousand Irish seamen should be raised for the 
 British navy, at a cost of 100,0007., and that 50,0007. 
 should be given to purchase an estate and build a house 
 for Mr. Grattan, whose eloquence had contributed so 
 powerfully to obtain what they hoped would prove jus- 
 tice to Ireland. 
 
 Parliament was dissolved on July 15, 1783, and sum- 
 moned to meet in October. The volunteers now began 
 to agitate on the important question of parliamentary 
 reform, which, indeed, was necessary ; for there were few 
 members who really represented the nation. The close 
 boroughs were bought and sold openly and shamelessly, 
 and many members who were returned for counties were 
 not proof against place or bribes. But the volunteers 
 had committed the fatal mistake of not obtaining the 
 exercise of the elective franchise for their Catholic fel- 
 low-subjects : hence the Irish Parliament obtained only 
 a nominal freedom, as its acts were entirely in the hands 
 of the government through the venality of the members. 
 On the 10th of November, one hundred and sixtv dele- 
 
392 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 gates assembled at the Royal Exchange, Dublin. They 
 were headed by lord Charlemont, and marched in pro- 
 cession to the rotundo. The earl of Bristol, an eccen- 
 tric, but kind and warm-hearted man, who was also the 
 Protestant bishop of Derry, took a leading part in the 
 deliberations. Sir Boyle Roche, an equally eccentric 
 .gentleman, took a message from lord Kenmare to the 
 meeting, assuring them that the Catholics were satisfied 
 with what had been granted to them. lie had acted under 
 a misapprehension ; and the bishop of Derry, who was, in 
 fact, the only liberal member of the corps, informed the 
 delegates that the Catholics had held a meeting, with Sir 
 Patrick Bellew in the chair, in which they repudiated this 
 assertion. Several plans of reform were now proposed ; 
 and a bill was introduced into the house by Mr. Flood, on 
 the 19th of November, and warmly opposed by Mr. Yel- 
 verton, who was now attorney -general, and had formerly 
 been a volunteer. A stormy scene ensued, but bribery 
 and corruption prevailed. The fate of the volunteers 
 was sealed. Through motives of prudence or of policy, 
 lord Charlemont adjourned the convention sine die ; and 
 the flame, which had shot up with sudden brilliancy, 
 died out even more rapidly than it had been kindled. 
 The volunteers were now deserted by their leaders, and 
 assumed the infinitely dangerous form of a democratic 
 movement. Such a movement can rarely succeed, an^ 
 seldom ends without inflicting worse injuries on the 
 nation than those which it has sought to avert. 
 
 The delegates were again convened in Dublin by 
 Flood and Napper Tandy. They met in October, 1784, 
 and their discussions were carried on in secret. Every- 
 where the men began to arm themselves, and to train 
 others to military exercises. But the government had 
 gained a victory over them in the withdrawal of their 
 leaders, and the attorney -general attempted to intimi- 
 date them still further by a prosecution. In 1185 a bill 
 was introduced for removing some of the commercial 
 restraints of the Irish nation ; it passed the Irish house, 
 but, to. satisfy popular clamors in England, it was re- 
 turned with such additions as effectually marred its use- 
 fulness. Grattan now saw how grievously he had been 
 mistaken in his estimate of the results of all that was 
 promised in 1782, and he denounced the measure with 
 
ORIGIN OF THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 
 
 393 
 
 more than ordinary eloquence. It was rejected, by a 
 small majority, after a debate which lasted till eight 
 o'clock in the morning; and the nationality of the small 
 majority purchased the undying hatred of the English 
 minister, William Pitt. The people were still suffering 
 from the cruel exactions of landlords and tithe-proctors. 
 Their poverty and misery were treated with contempt 
 and indifference, and they were driven to open acts of 
 violence, which could not be repressed, either by the 
 fear of the consequences, or the earnest exhortations of 
 the Catholic bishops and clergy. 
 
 Pitt was again thwarted by the Irish Parliament on 
 the regency question, when the insanity of George III. 
 required the appointment of his heir as governor of Eng- 
 land. The marquis of Buckingham, who was then lord 
 lieutenant, refused to forward their address ; but the 
 members sent a deputation of their own. This nobleman 
 was open and shameless in his acts of bribery, and added 
 13,000Z. a year to the pension list, already so fatally 
 oppressive to the country. In 1190 he was succeeded 
 by the earl of Westmoreland, and various clubs were 
 formed ; but the Catholics were still excluded from them 
 all. Still the Catholics were an immense majority nation- 
 ally; the French revolution had manifested what the 
 people could do ; and the rulers of the land, with such 
 terrible examples before their eyes, could not for their 
 own sakes afford to ignore Catholic interests altogether. 
 But the very cause which gave hope, was itself the 
 means of taking hope away. The action of the Irish 
 Catholics was paralyzed through fear of the demonlike 
 cruelties which even a successful revolution might in- 
 duce ; and the general fear which the aristocratic party 
 had of giving freedom to the uneducated classes, influ- 
 enced them to a fatal silence. Again the middle classes 
 were left without leaders, who might have tempered a 
 praiseworthy nationality with a not less praiseworthy 
 prudence, and which might have saved both the nation 
 and some of its best and bravest sons from fearful suf- 
 fering. 
 
 A Catholic meeting was held in Dublin, on February 
 11, 1791, and a resolution was passed to apply to Par- 
 liament for relief from their disabilities. This was in 
 truth the origin of the United Irishmen. For the first 
 
394 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 time Catholics and Protestants agreed cordially, and 
 worked together harmoniously. The leading men on 
 the Catholic committee were Keogh, M'Cormic, Sweet- 
 man, Byrne, and Branghall ; the Protestant leaders were 
 Theobald Wolfe Tone, and the Hon. Simon Butler. Tone 
 visited Belfast in October, 1791, and formed the first 
 club of the Society of United Irishmen. He was joined 
 there by Neilson, Simms, Russell, and many others. A 
 club was then formed in Dublin, of which Napper Tandy 
 became a leading member. The fundamental resolutions 
 of the society were admirable. They stated : " 1. That 
 the weight of English influence in the government of 
 this country is so great as to require a cordial union 
 among all the people of Ireland, to maintain that balance 
 which is essential to the preservation of our liberties and 
 the extension of our commerce. 2. That the sole con- 
 stitutional mode by which this influence can be opposed, 
 is by a complete and radical reform of the representation 
 of the people in Parliament. 3. That no reform is just 
 which does not include every Irishman of every religious 
 persuasion. " 
 
 Tone had already obtained considerable influence by 
 his political pamphlets, which had obtained an immense 
 circulation. There can be no doubt that he was tinctured 
 with republican sentiments ; but it was impossible for 
 an Irish Protestant, who had any real sympathy with his 
 country, to feel otherwise ; it had endured nothing but 
 misery from the monarchical form of government. The 
 Catholics, probably, were only prevented from adopting 
 similar opinions by their inherent belief in the divine 
 right of kings. In 1791 the fears of those who thought 
 the movement had a democratic tendency, were con- 
 firmed by the celebration of the anniversary of the 
 French revolution in Belfast, July, 1791 ; and in conse- 
 quence of this, sixty-four Catholics of the upper classes 
 presented a loyal address to the throne. The Catholic 
 delegates met in Dublin in December, 1792, and prepared 
 a petition to the king, representing their grievances. It 
 was signed by Dr. Troy, the Catholic archbishop of Dub- 
 lin, and Dr. Moylan, on behalf of the clergy. Amongst 
 the laity present were lords Kenmare, Fingall, Trimbles- 
 ton, Gormanstown, and French. Five delegates were 
 appointed to present the petition, and they were pro- 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 
 
 395 
 
 vided with a very large sum of money, which induced 
 those in power to obtain them an audience. They were 
 introduced to George III. by Edmund Burke. His maj- 
 esty sent a message to the Irish Parliament, requesting 
 them to remove some of the disabilities ; but the Par- 
 liament treated the message with contempt, and lord 
 chancellor FitzGibbon brought in a bill to prevent any 
 bodies from meeting by delegation for the future. 
 
 In 1793 a relief bill was passed, in consequence of the 
 war with France ; a militia bill, and the gunpowder and 
 convention bills, were also passed, the latter being an 
 attempt to suppress the volunteers and the United Irish- 
 men. A meeting of the latter was held in February, 
 1193, and the chairman and secretary were brought be- 
 fore the house of lords, and sentenced to six months' 
 imprisonment, and a fine of bOOl. each. The following 
 year, January, 1794, Mr. Eowan was prosecuted for an 
 address to the volunteers, made two years before. Even 
 Currants eloquence, and the fact that the principal wit- 
 ness was perjured, failed to obtain his acquittal. He 
 was sentenced to two years 7 imprisonment, and a fine of 
 500Z. His conviction served only to increase the pop- 
 ular excitement, as he was considered a martyr to his 
 patriotism. An address was presented to him in New- 
 gate by the United Irishmen, but he escaped on May 1, 
 and got safely to America, though l,OO0Z. was offered for 
 his apprehension. 
 
 The English minister now appears to have tried to 
 drive the people into a rebellion, which could be crushed 
 at once by the sword, and would spare the necessity of 
 making concessions ; or to entangle the leaders in some 
 act of overt treason, and quash the movement by depriv- 
 ing it of its heads. An opportunity for the latter ma- 
 noeuvre now presented itself. William Jackson, a Prot- 
 estant clergyman, who had lived many years in France, 
 came to the country for the purpose of opening commu- 
 nications between the French government and the United 
 Irishmen. Jackson confided his secret to his solicitor, 
 a man named Cockayne. The solicitor informed Mr. 
 Pitt, and by his desire continued to watch his victim, 
 and trade on his open-hearted candor, until he had led 
 him to his doom. The end of the unfortunate clergy- 
 man was very miserable. He took poison when brought 
 
396 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 up for judgment, and died in the dock. His object in 
 committing this crime was to save his property for his 
 wife and children, as it would have been confiscated had 
 his sentence been pronounced. 
 
 The viceroyalty of earl Fitz William once more gave 
 the Irish nation some hope that England would grant 
 them justice. But he was soon recalled; Lord Camden 
 was sent in his stead ; and the country was given up to 
 the Bereslord faction, who were quite willing to coop- 
 erate in Mr. Pitt'g plan of setting Protestants and Cath- 
 olics against each other, of exciting open rebellion, and 
 of profiting by the miseries of the nation to forge new 
 chains for it, by its parliamentary union with England. 
 Everything was done now that could be done to excite 
 the Catholics to rebellion. The Orangemen, if their own 
 statement on oath 1 is to be trusted, were actually bribed 
 to persecute the Catholics. Sermons* were preached by 
 Protestant ministers to excite their feelings ; and when 
 the Catholics resisted, or offered reprisals, they were pun- 
 ished with the utmost severity, while their persecutors 
 always escaped. Lord Carhampton, a grandson of the 
 worthless Henry Luttrell, who had betrayed the Irish 
 at the siege of Limerick, commanded the army, and his 
 cruelty is beyond description. An insurrection act was 
 passed in 1796 ; magistrates were allowed to proclaim 
 counties; suspected persons were to be banished the 
 country or pressed into the fleet, without the shadow 
 of trial ; and acts of indemnity were passed, to shield 
 the magistrates and the military from the consequences 
 of any unlawful cruelties which fanaticism or barbarity 
 might induce them to commit. 
 
 Grattan appealed boldly and loudly against these 
 
 1 We give authority for these details. In the spring of 1796 three 
 Orangemen swore before a magistrate of Down and Armagh that 
 the Orangemen frequently met in committees, amongst whom were 
 some members of Parliament, who gave them money, and promised 
 that they should not suffer for any act they might commit, and pledged 
 themselves that they should be provided for by government. The 
 magistrate informed the secretary of state, and asked how he should 
 act; but he never received any answer. For further details on this 
 head, see Plowden ; s History of the Insurrection. 
 
 2 On July 1, 1795, the Rev. Mr. Monsell, a Protestant clergyman of 
 Portadown, invited his flock to celebrate the anniversarv of the bat- 
 tle of the Boyne by attending church, and preached such a sermon 
 against the Papists that his congregation fell on every Catholic they 
 met going home, beat them cruelly, and finished the day by murder 
 ing two farmer's sons, who were quietly at work in a bog.— Mooney's 
 History of Ireland, 
 
ORGANIZATION" OF THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 391 
 
 atrocities. " These insurgents," he said, "call them- 
 selves Protestant Boys — that is, a banditti of murder- 
 ers, committing massacre in the name of God, and exer- 
 cising despotic power in the name of liberty." The 
 published declaration of lord Gosford and of thirty mag- 
 istrates, who attempted to obtain some justice for the 
 unfortunate subjects of these wrongs, is scarcely less 
 emphatic. It is dated December 28, 1795: "It is no 
 secret that a persecution, accompanied with all the cir- 
 cumstances of ferocious cruelty which have in all ages 
 distinguished this calamity, is now raging in this coun- 
 try ; neither age nor sex, nor even acknowledged inno- 
 cence, is sufficient to excite mercy or afford protection. 
 The only crime which the unfortunate objects of this 
 persecution are charged with, is a crime of easy proof 
 indeed ; it is simply a profession of the Roman Catholic 
 faith. A lawless banditti have constituted themselves 
 judges of this species of delinquency, and the sentence 
 they pronounce is equally concise and terrible ; it is 
 nothing less than a confiscation of all property and 
 immediate banishment — a prescription that has been 
 carried into effect, and exceeds, in the number of those it 
 consigns to ruin and misery, every example that ancient 
 or modern history can supply. These horrors are now 
 acting with impunity. The spirit of justice has disap- 
 peared from the country ; and the supineness of the 
 magistracy of Armagh has become a common topic of 
 conversation in every corner of the kingdom." 
 
 One would have supposed that an official declaration 
 from such an authority, signed by the governor of Ar- 
 magh and thirty magistrates, would have produced some 
 effect on the government of the day ; but the sequel 
 proved that such honorable exposure was as ineffective 
 as the rejected petition of millions of Catholics. The 
 formation of the yeomanry corps filled up the cup of bit- 
 terness. The United Irishmen, seeing no hope of con- 
 stitutional redress, formed themselves into a military 
 organization. But, though the utmost precautions were 
 used to conceal the names of members and the plans of 
 the association, their movements were well known to 
 government from an early period. Tone, in the mean- 
 time, came to France from America, and induced Carnot 
 to send an expedition to Ireland, under the command of 
 
398 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 general Hoche. It ended disastrously. A few vessels 
 cruised for a week in the harbor of Bantry Bay ; but, as 
 the remainder of the fleet, which was separated by a fog", 
 didnotarrive, Grouchy, the second in command, returned 
 to France. 
 
 Meanwhile, the society of United Irishmen spread 
 rapidly, and especially in those places where the Orange- 
 men exercised their cruelties. Lord Edward FitzGer- 
 ald now joined the movement ; and even those who 
 cannot commend the cause, are obliged to admire the 
 perfection of his devoted self-sacrifice to what he be- 
 lieved to be the interests of his country. His leader- 
 ship seemed all that was needed to secure success. His 
 gay and frank manner made him popular ; his military 
 bearing demanded respect ; his superior attainments 
 gave him power to command ; his generous disinterest- 
 edness was patent to all. But already a paid system of 
 espionage had been established by government. A set 
 of miscreants were found who could lure their victims 
 to their doom — who could eat and drink, and talk and 
 live with them as their bosom friends, and then sign 
 their death-warrant with the kiss of Judas. There was 
 a regular gang of informers of a low class, like the infa- 
 mous Jemmy O'Brien, who were under the control of 
 the town -majors, Sirr and Swan. But there were gen- 
 tlemen informers also, who, in many cases, were never 
 so. much as suspected by their dupes. MacNally, the 
 advocate of the United Irishmen, and Mr. Graham, their 
 solicitor, were both of that class. Thomas Reynolds, 
 of Killeen castle, entered their body on purpose to betray 
 them. Captain Armstrong did the same. John Hughes, 
 a Belfast bookseller, had himself arrested several times 
 to allay their suspicions. John Edward Nevill was 
 equally base and treacherous. However necessary it 
 may be for the ends of government to employ spies and 
 informers, there is no necessity for men to commit crimes 
 of the basest treachery. Such men and such crimes will 
 ever be handed down to posterity with the reprobation 
 they deserve. 
 
 Attempts were now made to get assistance from 
 France. Mr. O'Connor and lord Edward FitzGerald pro- 
 ceeded thither for that purpose ; but their mission was 
 not productive of any great result. The people were 
 
TRIAI OF MR. ORR. 
 
 399 
 
 goaded to madness by the cruelties which were commit- 
 ted on them every day ; and it was in vain that persons 
 above all suspicion of countenancing either rebels or 
 Papists protested against these enormities in the name 
 of common humanity. In 1797 a part of Ulster was 
 proclaimed by general Lalor, and Lord Moira described 
 thus, in the English house of lords, the sufferings of the 
 unhappy people : " When a man was taken up on sus- 
 picion, he was put to the torture ; nay, if he were merely 
 accused of concealing the guilt of another, the punish- 
 ment of picketing, which had for some years been abol- 
 ished as too inhuman even in the dragoon service, was 
 practised. I have known a man, in order to extort 
 confession of a supposed crime, or of that of some of his' 
 neighbors, picketed until he actually fainted ; picketed 
 a second time, until he fainted again ; picketed a third 
 time, until he once more fainted ; and all upon mere 
 suspicion. Nor was this the only species of torture ; 
 many had been taken and hung up until they were half 
 dead, and then threatened with a repetition of this cruel 
 treatment unless they made confession of the imputed 
 guilt. These," continued his lordship, "were not par- 
 ticular acts of cruelty, exercised by men abusing the 
 power committed to them, but they formed part of a sys- 
 tem. They were notorious ; and no person could say 
 who would be the next victim of this oppression and 
 cruelty." As redress was hopeless, and Parliament 
 equally indifferent to cruelties and to remonstrances, 
 Mr. Grattan and his colleagues left the Irish house to 
 its inhumanity and its fate. 
 
 In the autumn of this year, 1197, Mr. Orr, of Antrim, 
 was tried and executed, on a charge of administering 
 the oath of the United Irishmen to a soldier. This 
 gentleman was a person of high character and respecta- 
 bility. He solemnly protested his innocence ; the sol- 
 dier, stung with remorse, swore before a magistrate that 
 the testimony he gave at the trial was false. Petitions 
 were at once sent in, praying for the release of tbe pris- 
 oner, butin vain ; he was executed on October 14, though 
 no one doubted his innocence ; and " Orr's fate ;; became 
 a watchword of and an incitement to rebellion. Several 
 of the jury made a solemn oath after the trial, that, 
 when locked up for the night to "consider " their ver- 
 
400 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 diet, they were supplied abundantly with intoxicating 
 drinks, and informed, one and all, that, if they did not 
 give the required verdict of guilty, they should them- 
 selves be prosecuted as United Irishmen. Mr. Orr was 
 offered his life and liberty again and again, if he would 
 admit his guilt. His wife and four young children added 
 their tears and entreaties to the persuasions of his 
 friends ; but he preferred truth and honor to life and 
 freedom. His end was worthy of his resolution. On the 
 scaffold he turned to his faithful attendant, and asked 
 him to remove his watch, as he should need it no more. 
 Mr. Orr was a sincere Protestant; his servant was a 
 Catholic. His last words are happily still on record. 
 He showed the world how a Protestant patriot could 
 die ; and that the more sincere and deep his piety, the 
 less likely he would be to indulge in fanatical hatred of 
 those who differed from him. " You, my friend," he said 
 to his weeping and devoted servant, — "you, my friend 
 and I must now part. Our stations here on earth have 
 been a little different, and our mode of worshipping the 
 Almighty Being that we both adore. Before his presence 
 we shall stand equal. Farewell ! Remember Orr ! " 
 
 Sir Ralph Abercrombie was appointed to command 
 the army in Ireland, in 17-97 ; but he threw up his charge, 
 disgusted with atrocities which he could not control, 
 and which he was too humane even to appear tc* sanc- 
 tion. He declared the army to be in a state of licentious- 
 ness, which made it formidable to everyone but the 
 enemy. General Lake, a fitting instrument for any cru- 
 elty, was appointed to take his place ; and lord Castle- 
 reagh states that "measures were taken by government 
 to cause a premature explosion." It would have been 
 more Christian in the first place, and more politic in the 
 second place, if government had taken measures to pre- 
 vent any explosion at all. 
 
 On March 12, 1798, the Leinster delegates, who had 
 been long since betrayed, were seized by major Swan, 
 in Dublin. Fifteen persons were present, the greater 
 number of whom were Protestants. Emmet, MacNevin, 
 Jackson, and Sweetman, were seized the same day. 
 Arthur O'Connor had already been arrested on his way 
 to France, with Father Coigley. The latter was con- 
 victed on May 22, at Maidstone, and hanged on evidence 
 
CAPTURE OF LORD EDWARD FITZGERALD. 401 
 
 so inconclusive, that lord-chancellor Thurlow said : " If 
 ever a poor man was murdered, it was Coigley ! " The 
 arrest of lord Edward Fitzgerald occurred soon after. 
 A severe wound, which he received in the struggle with 
 his captors, combined with the effects of excitement and 
 imprisonment, caused his death. 
 
 The 23rd of May had been fixed for the rising ; but in- 
 formations were in the hands of the government. Captain 
 Armstrong had betrayed the Sheares, two brothers who 
 had devoted themselves to the cause of their country 
 with more affection than prudence. The base traitor 
 had wound himself into their confidence, had dined with 
 them, and was on the most intimate social relations with 
 their family. On July 12 he swore their lives away ; 
 and two days later they were executed, holding each 
 other's hands as they passed into eternity. 
 
 The rising did take place, but it was only partial. The 
 leaders were gone, dead, or imprisoned ; and nothing 
 but wild desperation could have induced the people to 
 rise at all. 
 
 On May 23 Dublin was placed under martial law ; the 
 citizens were armed, the guard was trebled, the barris- 
 ters pleaded with regimentals and swords, and several 
 of the lamplighters were hung from their own lamp-posts 
 for neglecting to light the lamps. The country people 
 were prepared to march on the city, but lord Roden and 
 his fox-hunters soon put down their attempt. The next 
 morning the dead were exhibited in the castle-yard, and 
 the prisoners were hanged at Carlisle bridge. Sir Wat- 
 kin Wynn and his Ancient Britons distinguished them- 
 selves by their cruelties. The Homsperg Dragoons and 
 the Orange Yeomanry equalled them in deeds of blood. 
 The fighting commenced in Kildare, on the 24th, by an 
 attack on Naas, which was repelled by lord Gosport. 
 Two of his officers and thirty men were killed, and the 
 people were shot down and hanged indiscriminately. 
 "Such was the brutal ferocity of some of the king's 
 troops/ 7 says Plowden, " that they half-roasted and eat 
 the flesh of one man, named Walsh, who had not been 
 in arms." At Prosperous the insurgents attacked and 
 burned the barracks, and piked any of the soldiers who 
 attempted to escape from the flames. This regiment, 
 the North Cork militia, had been specially cruel in their 
 
402 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 treatment of the people, who were only too willing to 
 retaliate. A troop of dragoons, confmanded by captain 
 Erskine, was almost annihilated at Old Kilcullen. But 
 reverses soon followed. At Carlow the insurgents met 
 with a severe defeat ; and the defenceless and innocent 
 inhabitants, who fled into their houses for shelter from 
 the fire, were cruelly and ruthlessly burned to death in 
 their own habitations by the military. 
 
 A body of two thousand men, under a leader named 
 Perkins, encamped on the Hill of Allan, and agreed 
 with general Douglas to lay down their arms. The gen- 
 eral was honorable and humane, but his subordinates 
 were not so. Major-general Duff, to whom the arms 
 were to have been delivered up, ordered his troops to 
 fire on the people when they had assembled for that 
 purpose. Lord Eoden's cavalry cut them down, and 
 an immense number were slaughtered in cold blood. 
 Another attack took place at Tara, where the Irish were 
 again defeated. The insurrection now broke out in 
 Wexford. The people in this part of the country had 
 not joined the movement in any way, until the arrival 
 of the North Cork militia, commanded by lord Kingsbor- 
 ough. The men paraded in orange ribbons, fired at the 
 peaceful country people, and employed pitch caps and 
 torture, until their victims were driven to desperation. 
 The county was proclaimed on April 27, by the magis- 
 trates ; and before any riot had taken place, Mr. Hun- 
 ter Gowan paraded through Gorey at the head of his 
 yeomanry, with a human finger on the point of his sword, 
 which was subsequently used to stir their punch in the 
 evening. 
 
 On Whit-Sunday, May 27, the yeoman burned the 
 Catholic chapel of Bolavogue. Father John Murphy^ 
 the parish priest, who had hitherto tried to suppress the 
 insurrection, placed himself at the head of the insur- 
 gents. The men now rose in numbers, and marched to 
 Enniscorthy, which they took after some fighting. Vine- 
 gar Hill, a lofty eminence overlooking the town, was 
 chosen for their camp. Some of the leading Protestant 
 gentlemen of the county had either favored or joined the 
 movement ; and several of them had been arrested on 
 suspicion, and were imprisoned at Wexford. The gar- 
 rison of this place, however, fled in a panic, caused by 
 
ENCAMPMENT ON VINEGAR HILL. 
 
 403 
 
 some successes of the Irish troops, and probably from 
 fear of the retaliation they might expect for their cruel- 
 ties. Mr. Harvey, one of the prisoners mentioned above, 
 was now released, and headed the insurgents ; but a 
 powerful body of troops, under general Loftus, was 
 sent into the district, and eventually obtained possession 
 of New Ross, which the Irish had taken with great 
 bravery, but which they had not been able to hold for 
 want of proper military discipline and command. They 
 owed their defeat to insubordination and drunkenness. 
 A number of prisoners had been left at Scullabogue 
 House, near Carrickburne Hill. Some fugitives from the 
 Irish camp came up in the afternoon, and pretended that 
 Mr. Harvey had given orders for their execution, al- 
 leging, as a reason, what, indeed, was true, that the roy- 
 alists massacred indiscriminately. The guard resisted, 
 but were overpowered by the mob, who were impatient 
 to revenge without justice the cruelties which had been 
 inflicted on them without justice. A hundred were 
 burned in a barn, and thirty -seven were shot or piked. 
 This massacre has been held up as a horrible example of 
 Irish treachery and cruelty. It was horrible, no doubt, 
 and cannot be defended or palliated ; but, amid these con- 
 tending horrors of cruel war, the question still recurs : 
 Upon whom is the original guilt of causing them, to be 
 charged ? 
 
 Father Murphy was killed in an attack on Carlow, 
 and death threw the balance strongly in favor of the 
 government troops, who eventually proved victorious. 
 After the battle of Ross, the Wexford men chose the 
 Rev. Philip Roche as their leader, in place of Bagenal 
 Harvey, who had resigned the command. The insur- 
 gents were now guilty of following the example of their 
 persecutors, if not with equal cruelty, at least with a 
 barbarity which their leaders in vain reprobated. The 
 prisoners whom they had taken, were confined in the 
 jail, and every effort was made to save them from the 
 infuriated people. But one savage named Dixon would 
 not be content without their blood ; and while the army 
 and their leaders were encamped on Vinegar Hill, he and 
 some other villains as wicked as himself found their way 
 into the jail, and marched the prisoners to the bridge, 
 held a mock trial, and then piked thirty -five of their vie- 
 
404 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 tims, and flung them into the water. At this moment 
 a priest, who had heard of the bloody deed, hastened to 
 the spot ; and after in vain commanding them to desist, 
 succeeded at last in making them kneel down, when he 
 dictated a prayer that God might show them the same 
 mercy which they would show to the surviving prison- 
 ers. This had its effect ; and the men, who waited in 
 terror to receive the doom they had so often and so 
 mercilessly inflicted on others, were marched back to 
 prison. 
 
 The camp on Vinegar Hill was now beset on all sides 
 by the royal troops. An attack was planned by gen- 
 eral Lake, with twenty thousand men and a large train 
 of artillery. General Needham did not arrive in time to 
 occupy the position appointed for him; and after an 
 hour and a-half of hard fighting, the Irish gave way, 
 principally from want of gunpowder. The soldiers now 
 indulged in the most wanton deeds of cruelty. The hos- 
 pital at Enniscorthy was set on fire, and the wounded 
 men shot in their beds. At Wexford general Moore 
 prevented his troops from committing such outrages ; 
 but when the rest of the army arrived, they acted as 
 they had done at Enniscorthy. Courts-martial were 
 held, in which the officers were not even sworn, and vic- 
 tims were consigned to execution with reckless atrocity. 
 The bridge of Wexford, where a Catholic priest had 
 saved so many Protestant lives, was now chosen for the 
 scene of slaughter ; and all this in spite of a promise of 
 amnesty. Father Roche and Mr. Keogh were the first vic- 
 tims of the higher classes ; Messrs. Grogan, Harvey, and 
 Colclough were hanged the following day. A mixed 
 commission was now formed of the magistrates, who were 
 principally Orangemen, and the military, whose viru- 
 lence was equally great. Mr. Gordon, a Protestant 
 clergyman, whose History of the Rebellion we have 
 principally followed as he was an eye-witness of its 
 miseries, declares that " whoever could be proved to 
 have saved an Orangeman or royalist from assassination, 
 his house from burning, or his property from plunder, 
 was considered as having influence amongst the revolt- 
 ers, and consequently as a rebel commander. " The 
 reward for their charity now was instant execution. 
 John Redmond, the Catholic priest of Newtonbarry, had 
 
EXECUTION OF REDMOND. 
 
 405 
 
 saved lord Mountmorris and other gentlemen from the 
 fury of the exasperated people, and had preserved his 
 house and property from plunder. He was now sent for 
 by this nobleman ; and, conscious of his innocence, and 
 the benefits he had rendered him, he at once obeyed the 
 summons. On his arrival, he was seized, brought be- 
 fore the court, and executed on the pretence of having 
 been a commander in the rebel army. He had, indeed, 
 commanded, but the only commands he ever uttered 
 were commands of mercy. Well might Mr. Gordon 
 sorrowfully declare, that he had "heard of hundreds of 
 United Irishmen, during the insurrection, who have, at 
 the risk of their lives, saved Orangemen ; but I have not 
 heard of a single Orangeman who encountered any dan- 
 ger to save the life of a United Irishman. 11 With equal 
 sorrow he remarks the difference in the treatment of 
 females by each party. The Irish were never once ac- 
 cused of having offered the slightest insult to a woman; 
 the military, besides shooting them indiscriminately with 
 the men, treated them in a way which cannot be de- 
 scribed, and under circumstances which added a more 
 than savage inhumanity to their crime. 
 
 The next act of the fatal drama was the execution of 
 the state prisoners. The rising in Ulster had been ren- 
 dered ineffective, happily for the people, by the with- 
 drawal of some of the leaders at the last moment. The 
 command in Antrim was taken by Henrry M'Cracken, 
 who was at last captured by the royalists, and executed 
 at Belfast, on June IT. At Saintfield, in Down, they 
 were commanded by Henry Monroe, who had been a 
 Volunteer, and had some knowledge of military tactics. 
 In an engagement at Ballinahinch, he showed consid- 
 erable ability in the disposal of his forces, but they were 
 eventually defeated, and he also paid the forfeit of his 
 life. A remnant of the Wexford insurrection was all that 
 remained to be crushed. On June 21, lord Oornwallis 
 was sent to Ireland, with the command both of the mil- 
 itary forces and the civil power. On July IT an amnesty 
 was proclaimed ; and the majority of the state prisoners 
 were permitted eventually to leave the country, having 
 purchased their pardon by an account of the plans of the 
 United Irishmen, which were so entirely broken up that 
 
406 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 their honor was in no way compromised by the disclo- 
 sure. 
 
 The French allies of Irish insurgents appear to have a 
 fatality for arriving precisely when their services are 
 worse than useless. On August 22, If 98, Humbert 
 landed at Killala with a small French force, which, after 
 a number of engagements, was eventually obliged to 
 surrender at discretion. Thus ended the memorable 
 rebellion of 1798. If its details were not a matter of 
 history, and if it were not absolutely necessary that the 
 student should on this account be made acquainted with 
 them, we might have omitted a record as painful to write 
 as it is to read. But history continually repeats itself, 
 and the narrative may well claim our attention as teach- 
 ing a lesson which we cannot afford to disregard. 
 
THE ACT OF UNION PASSED. 
 
 407 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 A. D. 1798 TO A. D. 1800. 
 
 THE LEGISLATIVE UNION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN 
 AND IRELAND. 
 
 There can be little doubt that Mr. Pitt had the Union 
 of Great Britain and Ireland in view some time before its 
 accomplishment. It has been said, and the statement 
 has been recently repeated with some show of authority, 
 that "the people of Ireland were goaded into an insur- 
 rection, in order that a pretext might be obtained for 
 bringing about the union between the two countries." 
 However this may be, it is at least certain that the union 
 was proposed on January 22, 1799. The principal 
 agents in effecting this change, were, in England, Mr. 
 Pitt, prime minister, and his colleagues, the duke of 
 Portland, lord Grenville, and Mr. Dundas. The king also 
 was strongly in favor of the Union, and he had already 
 opposed lord Fitzwilliam's emancipation policy, which 
 he characterized as adopted " in implicit obedience to the 
 brutal imagination of Mr. Burke." He had instructed 
 lord Camden "to support the old English interest as 
 well as the Protestant religion," not having a suffi- 
 ciently enlarged mind to perceive, that to support one 
 interest or one religion in preference to another, must 
 inevitably create division in the state, and by creating 
 division weaken the power of the whole body politic. 
 He desired lord Cornwallis to grant no further indul- 
 gence to Catholics, oblivious of the fact, that all the 
 indulgence which they asked, was the right of any man 
 to worship God as his conscience dictated, 
 
 There can be no doubt that lord Cornwallis accepted 
 the office of lord lieutenant from an ambitious desire to 
 connect his name with the great national event which he 
 proposed to effect. He was a man of superior intellect, 
 
408 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 of good business habits, tolerant for his age, and pos- 
 sessed of sufficient tact to gain his end, and sufficient 
 firmness to pursue it steadily. 
 
 In Ireland the principal agents were lord Clare and 
 lord Castlereagh. One sought to carry the measure by 
 violence, and the other by bribery. Their characters 
 were as opposite as the means they employed ; and 
 hence, as both worked together for the one end, they 
 could hardly fail in accomplishing their object. 
 
 The Irish Parliament, which had been adjourned dur- 
 ing the greater part of the time of civil war, was assem- 
 bled a week after the arrival of lord Cornwallis. Both 
 houses voted loyal addresses to the king and lord-lieu- 
 tenant, and 100,000Z. to indemnify those who had suffered 
 from the rebellion. The benefit of this grant, however, 
 was entirely bestowed upon Protestants, though the 
 Catholics had been the principal sufferers. 
 
 In July, five consecutive acts — a complete code of 
 penalties and proscription — were introduced, and after 
 various debates and delays, received the royal sanction 
 on October 6, the last day of the session of 1798. These 
 acts were : 1. The Amnesty Act, the exceptions to which 
 were so numerous, "that few of those who took any 
 active part in the rebellion " were, according to the 
 Cornwallis' correspondence, " benefited by it." 2. An 
 Act of Indemnity, by which all magistrates who had 
 " exercised a vigor beyond the law 79 against the rebels, 
 were protected from the legal consequences of such acts. 
 
 3. An Act for attainting lord Edward Fitzgerald, Mr. 
 Harvey, and Mr. Grogan, against which Curran, taking 
 " his instructions from the grave," pleaded at the bar 
 of the house of lords, but pleaded in vain. (This Act 
 was finally repealed by the Imperial Parliament in 1819.) 
 
 4. An Act forbidding communication between persons 
 in Ireland and those enumerated in the Banishment Act, 
 and making the return to Ireland after sentence of ban- 
 ishment by a court-martial a transportable felony. 5. 
 An act to compel fifty-one persons therein named to 
 surrender before December 1, 1798. under pain of high 
 treason. Among the fifty-one were the principal refugees 
 at Paris and Hamburgh: Tone, Lewines, Swift, Tandy, 
 Deane, Major Plunkett, Anthony McCann, Harvey, Mor- 
 ris, &c. On the same day in which the session termi- 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE UNION. 
 
 4.09 
 
 nated and the royal sanction was given to these Acts, 
 the name of Henry Grattan was (a significant coinci- 
 dence) formally struck from the roll of the Irish Privy 
 Council, by the king's command. 
 
 Thus the Irish Parliament was made to act against 
 all the feelings and interests of the nation, and hence 
 the nation was all the more willing to forego the services 
 of the Parliament. The next step was to influence the 
 members of the Irish houses. Tithes, pensions, and 
 offices were freely promised, and a large sum of money 
 was remitted from Whitehall, and expended in bribes, 
 which was afterwards added as a charge to the public 
 debt of Ireland. 
 
 The project was first decidedly announced by a pam- 
 phlet written by Mr. Edward Cooke, the Under-secretary, 
 entitled " Arguments for and against a Union consid- 
 ered." More than a hundred pamphlets, either in reply 
 or approval, were published in a few weeks. The ex- 
 citement became intense, as it well might, when such 
 a great national question was mooted. The only obsta- 
 cle was the bar, which lord Clare, the most absolute 
 subject of modern times, at once attempted to bribe into 
 compliance. He doubled the number of bankrupt com- 
 missioners, he revived some offices, and created others, 
 and in two months established thirty -two new offices, 
 the value of each being from six to eight hundred pounds 
 per annum. 
 
 The Catholics were won over by promises of emanci- 
 pation, which there was certainly no intention to fulfil, 
 and by personal compliments to leading bishops. The 
 Orangemen were secured by the bribery of a majority 
 of their leaders, and the hope that henceforth they 
 would be in the ascendant. The Protestant clergy were 
 assured that the maintenance of the established church 
 would be a fundamental article of the Union, a matter 
 of considerable importance to them, as they had never 
 secured any real ground amongst the population of Ire- 
 land. 
 
 At the close of the year 1798, lord Cornwallis was able 
 to report to his government that the prospect of carrying 
 the measure was more promising than he had expected, 
 and he was presently authorized to bring it forward in 
 his speech at the opening of the next session. 
 
410 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Oa January 22, 1799, the viceroy went down to the 
 houses of Parliament, followed by thousands, and at- 
 tended by a strong guard. He congratulated both 
 houses on the suppression of the rebellion, on the defeat 
 of Bonaparte's squadron, and on lord Nelson's victory, 
 and concluded thus : "The unremitting industry with 
 which our enemies persevere in their avowed design of 
 endeavoring to effect a separation of this kingdom from 
 Great Britain, must have engaged your attention, and 
 his majesty commands me to express his anxious hope 
 that this consideration, joined to the sentiment of mutual 
 affection, and common interest, may dispose the Parlia- 
 ments in both kingdoms to provide the most effectual 
 means of maintaining and improving a connection essen- 
 tial to their common security, and of consolidating, as 
 far as possible, into one firm and lasting fabric, the 
 strength, the power, and the resources of the British 
 empire." On the paragraph of the address, re-echoing 
 this sentiment, which was carried by a large majority in 
 the lords, a debate ensued in the commons which lasted 
 till one o'clock of the following day, above twenty con- 
 secutive hours. Ponsonby, Parsons, Fitzgerald, Bar- 
 rington, Plunkett, Lee, O'Donnell, and Bushe spoke 
 against the Union; lord Castlereagh, the knight of 
 Kerry, Corry, Fox, Osborne, Duigenan, and some other 
 members of little note, spoke in favor of it. The gal- 
 leries and lobbies were crowded all night by the leading 
 people of the city, of both sexes, and when the division 
 was being taken, the most intense anxiety was mani- 
 fested, within doors and without. At length the tellers 
 made their report to the speaker, himself an ardent anti- 
 Unionist, and it was announced that the numbers were — 
 " for the address, one hundred and five ; for the amend- 
 ment, one hundred and six ; " so the paragraph in favor 
 of "consolidating the empire" was lost by one vote. 
 The remainder of the address, with the expunged para- 
 graph, was barely carried by one hundred and seven to 
 one hundred and five. Mr. Ponsonby had attempted 
 to follow his victory by a solemn pledge binding the 
 majority never again to entertain the question ; but to 
 this several members objected, and the motion was 
 withdrawn. 
 
 In the English Parliament, which met on the same day 
 
RESOLUTIONS FOR THE UNION. 
 
 411 
 
 as the Irish, a paragraph was introduced in the king's 
 speech on the subject of the Union, identical with that 
 moved by lord Cornwallis. An amendment was proposed 
 by Sheridan, and resisted by Canning. Several English 
 members also sided with the opposition, but without 
 effect. 
 
 The resolutions intended to serve as " the basis of 
 union," were introduced by Mr. Pitt, on January 21, and 
 after another powerful speech in opposition from Mr. 
 Gray, who was ably sustained by Mr. Sheridan, Dr. 
 Lawrence, and some twenty others, were put and car- 
 ried. The following are the resolutions : — 
 
 1st. w In order to promote and secure the essential in- 
 terests of Great Britain and Ireland, and to consolidate 
 the strength, power, and resources of the British empire, 
 it will be advisable to concur in such measures as may 
 tend to unite the two kingdoms of Great Britain and 
 Ireland into one kingdom, in such manner and on such 
 terms and conditions as may be established by acts of 
 the respective Parliaments of his majesty's said king- 
 doms. 
 
 2nd. " It would be fit to propose as the first article, to 
 serve as a basis of the said union, that the said king- 
 doms of Great Britain and Ireland shall, on a day to be 
 agreed upon, be united into one kingdom, by the name 
 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 3rd. " For the same purpose it would be fit to propose, 
 that the succession to the monarchy and the imperial 
 crown of the said United kingdom snail continue limited 
 and settled, in the same manner as the imperial crown 
 of the said Great Britain and Ireland now stands limited 
 and settled, according to the existing law, and to the 
 terms of the union between England and Scotland. 
 
 4th. " For the same purpose it would be fit to propose, 
 that the said United Kingdom be represented in one and 
 the same Parliament, to be styled the Parliament of the 
 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ; and that 
 such a number of lords, spiritual and temporal, and such 
 a number of members of the house of commons, as shall 
 be hereafter agreed upon by the acts of the respective 
 Parliaments as aforesaid, shall sit and vote in the said 
 Parliament on the part of Ireland, and shall be summoned, 
 
412 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 chosen, and returned, in such manner as shall be fixed 
 by an act of the Parliament of Ireland previous to the 
 said union ; and that every member hereafter to sit and 
 vote in the said Parliament of the United Kingdom shall, 
 until the said Parliament shall otherwise provide, take, 
 and subscribe the said oaths, and make the same declar- 
 ations as are required by law to be taken, subscribed, 
 and made by the members of the Parliaments of Great 
 Britain and Ireland. 
 
 5th. " For the same purpose it would be fit to propose, 
 that the churches of England and Ireland, and the doc- 
 trine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, shall 
 be preserved as now by law established. 
 
 6th. " For the same purpose it would be fit to propose, 
 that his majesty's subjects in Ireland shall at all times 
 be entitled to the same privileges, and be on the same 
 footing in respect of trade and navigation in all ports 
 and places belonging to Great Britain, and in all cases 
 with respect to which treaties shall be made by his maj- 
 esty, his heirs, or successors, with any foreign power, 
 as his majesty's subjects in Great Britain ; that no duty 
 shall be imposed on the import or export between Great 
 Britain and Ireland of any articles now duty free, and 
 that on other articles there shall be established, for a 
 time to be limited, such a moderate rate of equal duties 
 as shall, previous to the union, be agreed upon and 
 approved by the respective Parliaments, subject, after 
 the expiration of such limited time, to be diminished 
 equally with respect to both kingdoms, but in no case 
 to be increased ; that all articles, which may at any time 
 hereafter be imported into Great Britain from foreign 
 parts shall be importable through either kingdom into 
 the other, subject to the like duties and regulations, as 
 if the same were imported directly from foreign parts : 
 that where any articles, the growth, produce, or manu- 
 facture of either kingdom, are subject to an internal duty 
 in one kingdom, such counter-vailing duties (over and 
 above any duties on import to be fixed as aforesaid,) 
 shall be imposed as shall be necessary to prevent any 
 inequality in that respect; and that all matters of trade 
 and commerce, other than the foregoing, and than such 
 others as may before the union be specially agreed upon 
 
RESOLUTIONS FOR THE UNION. 
 
 413 
 
 for the due encouragement of the agriculture and manu- 
 factures of the respective kingdoms, shall remain to be 
 regulated from time to time by the united Parliament. 
 
 7th. " For the like purpose it would be fit to propose, 
 that the charge arising from the payment of the interests 
 or sinking fund for the reduction of the principal of the 
 debt incurred in either kingdom before the union, shall 
 continue to be separately defrayed by Great Britain and 
 Ireland respectively ; that, for a number of years to be 
 limited, the future ordinary expenses of the United King- 
 dom, in peace or war, shall be defrayed by Great Britain 
 and Ireland jointly, according to such proportions as 
 shall be established by the respective Parliaments pre- 
 vious to the union ; and that, after the expiration of the 
 time to be so limited, the proportion shall not be liable 
 to be varied, except according to such rates and princi- 
 ples as shall be in like manner agreed upon previous to 
 the union. 
 
 8th. " For the like purpose, that all laws in force at 
 the time of the union, and all the courts of civil or eccle- 
 siastical jurisdiction within the respective kingdoms, 
 shall remain as now by law established within the same, 
 subject only to such alterations or regulations from time 
 to time as circumstances may appear to the Parliament 
 of the United Kingdom to require." 
 
 Mr. Pitt, on the passage of these resolutions, proposed 
 an address, stating that the commons had proceeded 
 with the utmost attention to the consideration of the 
 important objects recommended in the royal message, 
 that they entertained a firm persuasion of the probable 
 benefits of a complete and entire union between Great 
 Britain and Ireland, founded on equal and liberal prin- 
 ciples ; that they were therefore induced to lay before 
 his majesty such propositions as appeared to them to be 
 best calculated to form the basis of such a settlement, 
 leaving it to his wisdom in due time and in proper man- 
 ner to communicate them to the lords and commons of 
 Ireland, with whom they would be at all times ready to 
 concur in all such measures as might be found most 
 conducive to the accomplishment of that great and sal- 
 utary work. 
 
 On March 19, lord Grenville introduced the same res- 
 olutions in the lords, where they were passed after a 
 
414 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 spirited opposition speech from lord Holland, and the 
 basis, so far as the king, lords, and commons were con- 
 cerned, was laid. In proroguing the Irish houses on 
 June 1, lord Cornwallis alluded to these resolutions, and 
 the anxiety of the king, as the common father of the 
 people, to see both kingdoms united in the enjoyment 
 of the blessings of a free constitution. 
 
 In the meantime, Parliament was prorogued until 
 August, when the prorogation was further extended 
 until January, 1800. During the interval the adherents 
 of each party propagated their several views with ardor, 
 and often with acrimony. Although bribery was largely 
 used, there is no doubt that many who were weary 
 of civil war and theological acrimony hoped to find in 
 this union freedom from both, and prosperity for their 
 native land ; but the great majority were men who could 
 not resist the attractions of place and pension. 
 
 The Irish Parliament met for the last time on January 
 13, 1800. Twenty -seven new peers had been added to 
 the house of lords. In the commons there were fifty 
 new borough members, all pledged to vote with the 
 government. The bankers and the lawyers had both 
 opposed the measure ; the Catholic bishops remained 
 neutral. Seven hundred thousand of the Irish people 
 petitioned against the union, and only seven thousand 
 in favor of it, although every exertion was made to 
 obtain signatures. 
 
 In the house of lords lord Clare had seventy -five votes, 
 including proxies, for his union address, against twenty- 
 six. Lord Castlereagh stated his plan of union in the 
 commons, and held out the hopes, already offered pri- 
 vately, to the various parties. The proprietors of bor- 
 oughs were also given to understand that they would 
 receive a large sum to compensate them for their loss 
 of patronage. Sir Jonah Barrington, an eye-witness 
 and actor in the scene, has thus described it: ' 'Every 
 mind," he says, "was at its stretch, every talent was 
 in its vigor : it was a momentous trial ; and never was 
 so general and so deep a sensation felt in any country. 
 Numerous British noblemen and commoners were present 
 at that and the succeeding debate, and they expressed 
 opinions of Irish eloquence which they had never before 
 conceived, nor ever after had an opportunity of appreci- 
 
PROTEST OF GRATTAN. 
 
 415 
 
 ating. Everyman on that night seemed to be inspired by 
 the subject. Speeches more replete with talent and en- 
 ergy on both sides, never were heard in the Irish senate ; 
 it was a vital subject. The sublime, the eloquent, the 
 figurative orator, the plain, the connected, the metaphys- 
 ical reasoner, the classical, the learned, and the solemn 
 declaimer, in a succession of speeches so full of energy 
 and enthusiasm, so interesting in their nature, so import- 
 ant in their consequence, created a variety of sensations 
 even in the bosom of a stranger, and could scarcely fail 
 of exciting some sympathy with a nation which was 
 doomed to close for ever that school of eloquence which 
 had so long given character and celebrity to Irish tal- 
 ent." 
 
 At daybreak, Grattan was aroused from his sick bed 
 by a special messenger from Wicklow, who brought the 
 intelligence of his election for that borough. Weak and 
 feeble as he was, he determined to go down to the house, 
 and arrived there at seven o'clock on the morning of the 
 16th. He appeared supported by two of his friends, 
 Arthur Moore and William Ponsonby. He bowed to the 
 speaker, took the oaths, and then asked permission to 
 address the house sitting ; but his eloquence, great as 
 it was, could not move men already determined on a 
 certain line of action. There was a union majority of 
 forty -two, after a debate of eighteen hours. It was now 
 a mere question of time. On February 5 the lord lieu- 
 tenant sent a formal message, proposing the basis of 
 union, which was discussed for twenty consecutive 
 hours. At twelve o'clock on February 6, government 
 had a majority of forty-three. 
 
 The house went into committee on February IT, when 
 the ministry again commanded a majority. It was on 
 this occasion that Mr. Corry, chancellor of the exchequer, 
 and member for Newry, made, for the third or fourth 
 time that session, an attack on Grattan, which brought 
 lout on the instant, that famous "philippic against Corry," 
 unequalled in our language, for its well-suppressed 
 passion, and finely condensed denunciation. A duel fol- 
 lowed, as soon as there was sufficient light; the chan- 
 cellor was wounded, after which the Castlereagh tactics 
 of "fighting down the opposition," received an imme- 
 diate and lasting check. 
 
416 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Throughout the months of February and March, with 
 an occasional adjournment, the constitutional battle was 
 fought, on every point permitted by the forms of the 
 house. On March 25, the committee, after another pow- 
 erful speech from the speaker, finally reported the reso- 
 lutions, which were passed by one hundred and fifty -four 
 to one hundred and seven — a majority of forty- seven. 
 The houses then adjourned for six weeks to allow time 
 for corresponding action to be taken in England. There 
 was little difficulty in carrying the measure. In the 
 upper house, lords Derby, Holland, and King only op- 
 posed it ; in the lower, Sheridan, Tierney, Grey and 
 Lawrence mustered, on a division, thirty votes against 
 Pitt's two hundred and six. On May 21, in the Irish 
 commons, lord Castlereagh obtained leave to bring in 
 the Union Bill by one hundred and sixty to one hun- 
 dred : on June 7, the final passage of the measure was 
 effected. 
 
 Barrington has thus graphically described the last 
 night of the Irish Parliament: "The situation of the 
 speaker on that night was of the most distressing nature. 
 A sincere and ardent enemy of the measure, he headed 
 its opponents ; he resisted with all the power of his 
 mind, the resources of his experience, his influence, and 
 his eloquence. It was, however, through his voice that 
 it was to be proclaimed and consummated. His only 
 alternative (resignation) would have been unavailing, 
 and could have added nothing to his character. His 
 expressive countenance bespoke the inquietude of his 
 feeling ; solicitude was perceptible in every glance, and 
 his embarrassment was obvious in every word he ut- 
 tered. 
 
 " The galleries were full, but the change was lam- 
 entable ; they were no longer crowded with those who 
 had been accustomed to witness the eloquence and to 
 animate the debates of that devoted assembly. A mo- 
 notonous and melancholy murmur ran through benches, 
 scarcely a word was exchanged amongst the members, 
 nobody seemed at ease, no cheerfulness was apparent, 
 and the ordinary business, for a short time, proceeded 
 in the usual manner. 
 
 " At length the expected moment arrived. The order 
 of the day for the third reading of the bill for a 1 Leg- 
 
THE LAST NIGHT OF THE IRISH PARLIAMENT. 417 
 
 islative Union between Great Britain and Ireland/ 
 was moved by lord Castlereagh. Unvaried, tame, cold- 
 blooded the words seemed frozen as they issued from 
 his lips ; and, as a simple citizen of the world, he seemed 
 to have no sensation on the subject. 
 
 " At that moment he had no country, no God but his 
 ambition : he made his motion, and resumed his seat 
 with the utmost composure and indifference. 
 
 " Confused murmurs ran through the house; it was 
 visibly affected. Every character seemed in a moment 
 involuntarily rushing to its index — some pale, some 
 flushed, some agitated ; there were few countenances to 
 which the heart did not despatch some messenger. Sev- 
 eral members withdrew before the question could be 
 repeated, and an awful, momentary silence succeeded 
 their departure. The speaker rose slowly from that 
 chair which had been the proud source of his honors 
 and of his high character ; for a moment he resumed his 
 seat, but the strength of his mind sustained him in his 
 duty, though his struggle was apparent. With that dig- 
 nity which never failed to signalize his official actions, he 
 held up the bill for a moment in silence ; he looked stead- 
 ily around him on the last agony of the expiring Parlia- 
 ment. He at length repeated, in an emphatic tone, ' As 
 many as are of opinion that this bill do pass, say aye.' 
 The affirmative was languid but indisputable ; another 
 momentary pause ensued ; again his lips seemed to 
 decline their office ; at length, with an eye averted from 
 the object which he hated, he proclaimed, with a sub- 
 dued voice, ' The ayes have it.' The fatal sentence 
 was now pronounced. For an instant he stood statue- 
 like ; then indignantly and with disgust flung the bill 
 upon the table and sunk into his chair with an exhausted 
 spirit/' 
 
 All the stages were passed in the English Parliament 
 during the month of July, and the royal assent was 
 given on August 2. By the provisions of the act, the 
 sovereignty of the United Kingdom was to follow the 
 order of the Act of succession ; the Irish peerage was 
 to be reduced, by the filling of one vacancy for every 
 three deaths, to the number of one hundred ; from 
 among these, twenty-eight representative peers were to 
 be elected for life, and four spiritual lords to sit in sue- 
 
418 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 cession. The number of Irish representatives in the 
 Imperial Parliament, was fixed at one hundred (increased 
 to one hundred and five) the churches of England and 
 Ireland were united like the kingdoms, and declared to 
 be one in doctrine and discipline. The debt of Ireand 
 which was less than 4,000, 0002. in 1797, increased to 
 14,000,0002. in '99, and had risen to nearly 17,000,0002. 
 in 1801, was to be alone chargeable to Ireland, whose 
 proportionate share of general taxation was then esti- 
 mated at 2- 17th of that of the United Kingdom. The 
 courts of law, the privy Council, and the viceroyalty, 
 were to remain at Dublin. 
 
 On Jauuary 1, 1801, in accordance with this great 
 constitutional change, a new imperial standard was run 
 up on London Tower, Edinburgh castle, and Dublin 
 castle. It was formed of the three crosses of St. Patrick, 
 St. Andrew, and St. George, and is that popularly known 
 to us as " the union jack." The fleur de lis and the 
 word "France," were struck from the royal title, which 
 was settled by proclamation to consist henceforth of the 
 words Dei Gratia, Britanniarum Bex, Fidei Defensor. 
 
SIXTH, OR UNION PERIOD. 
 
 FROM A. D. 1800 TO A.D. 1830. 
 
 PRINCIPAL EVENTS. 
 
 DEPRESSION OF TRADE IN CONSEQUENCE OP THE UNION — EVILS 
 CAUSED BY PROTESTANT ASCENDENCY — EMMET'S ATTEMPT 
 AND FAILURE — OUTRAGES OP THE ORANGEMEN — ATTEMPTS 
 TO INTRODUCE THE VETO — O'CONNELL TAKES THE LEAD — 
 HIS ELECTION FOR CLARE — CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 
 
 (419) 
 
IRELAND SINCE THE UNION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 A.D. 1800 TO A. D. 1870. 
 IRELAND SINCE THE UNION. 
 
 Seventy years have now elapsed since the Parlia- 
 mentary Union between Great Britain and Ireland. The 
 history of this period is one of considerable interest and 
 importance, and indications are not wanted that a future 
 histographer will have some startling events to record. 
 The year after the union was one of general disasters, 
 caused partly by the failure of crops, and partly by 
 heavily increased taxation, and a great falling off in 
 trade. The Catholics, too, were much disappointed as 
 the promises of political equality which had been made 
 to them, in order to induce them to approve the Union, 
 were not kept ; and the evil spirit of party feeling was 
 strengthened seriously by a commemoration of the battle 
 of Aughrim, on the 12th of July, 1802, when the statue 
 of king William, in College Green, was decked with or- 
 ange emblems. 
 
 Meanwhile, the two Emmets, O'Connor, and other 
 political exiles, were planning deliverance for Ireland on A 
 the continent, and Bobert Emmet had interviews both with 
 Napoleon and Talleyrand. The leading patriots on the 
 continent hoped for war between France and England, 
 and looked on it as the best opportunity for accomplish- 
 ing their designs. But one of the most remarkable men 
 of that, or any age, was then in Ireland, had recently 
 been called to the bar, and was preparing to assist his 
 country in another, and, as the event proved, a wiser 
 manner. Daniel O'Connell was born on the 6th of 
 August, 1775, the very year, as he himself writes in a 
 letter addressed to the editor of the' Evening Post, "the 
 very year in which the stupid obstinacy of British 
 
422 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 oppression forced the reluctant people of America to 
 seek security in arms, and to commence that bloody 
 struggle for national independence, that has been in its 
 results beneficial to England, whilst it has shed glory 
 and conferred liberty, pure and sublime, upon America. ,? 
 
 The English government was quite aware of the state 
 of Irish feeling. The French captured an East Indiaman 
 in which letters were found addressed by lord Charles 
 Bentinck to his brother, Sir William Bentinck, governor 
 of Madras. In one of these, the following sentence 
 occurs : — "If Ireland be not attended to, it will be lost ; 
 these rascals (a polite appellation for the Irish) are as 
 ripe as ever for rebellion." Certainly the government 
 of Ireland since the union, and the base manner in which 
 Catholics had been betrayed, could not have tended much 
 to increase affection for English rule. 
 
 Emmet arrived in Dublin during the month of October, 
 1802, and at once put himself in communication with 
 those who hoped to obtain redress by force of arms. 
 There were still many of the old United Irishmen of '98 
 who wanted to make another effort for freedom, and, 
 unhappily for themselves, were not deterred by former 
 failures. Emmet's plan was certainly formed with con- 
 siderable prudence and ability. While the country peo- 
 ple were being organized to revolt, preparations were 
 being made in Dublin to seize the castle by a sudden 
 attack, and to render this movement the general signal 
 for rising. But the conspirators appear to have over- 
 looked the absolute certainty that thousands of English 
 troops would be poured into the country even if they 
 succeeded, and that Ireland never could stand alone 
 against such an organization. Even had the plans suc- 
 ceeded for the moment, a few days' triumph would have 
 been a poor compensation for months of civil war, in 
 which the stronger power could not fail to come off 
 victoriously. 
 
 The 23rd of July, 1803, was fixed for the outbreak, 
 and though a warrant for Emmet's apprehension had 
 been in the hands of Sirr, the town major, since 1800, 
 his arrival in Ireland appears not to have been suspected, 
 and the government discredited, or appeared to dis- 
 credit, the reports of preparations for another insur- 
 rection. Some alarm was given by an explosion of 
 
emmet's insurrection. 
 
 423 
 
 combustibles which took place about ten days previous 
 to the intended rising ; but, as everything was removed 
 before the police had time to make a domiciliary visit, 
 it was supposed to have been connected with a chemical 
 manufactory, and suspicion was still further averted. 
 After the explosion in Patrick street, Emmec removed to 
 the depot in Marshalsea Lane ; but confusion, the result 
 of treachery, prevailed amongst his associates — still, it 
 never occurred to him that he was betrayed. 
 
 All his plans were frustrated by some apparent acci- 
 dent, and even the mass of the people who more than 
 suspected his design, held aloof from it and from him ; 
 their recollection of the sufferings which followed the far 
 more important rebellion of ; 98, gave them grave and 
 well founded apprehensions of the probable consequences 
 of a similar attempt. The proposed arrangement was 
 to secure the Castle, Pigeon House, Island Bridge, and 
 Koyal Barracks, — an arrangement very easily planned 
 on paper, but very difficult to execute, even if the insur- 
 gents had been masters of efficient force to effect it with 
 any probability of success. 
 
 Before the fatal day, however, it was apparent, even 
 to the most sanguine, that the attempt was hopeless, 
 and the various conspirators met on the evening of the 
 23rd to consult on their future movements. It seems 
 litte short of a fatuity that they did not at once agree to 
 postpone the attempt, if not to relinquish it altogether. 
 Treachery was at work on every side. Great help had 
 been expected from a man named Dwyer, who had been 
 actively and prominently engaged in the rebellion of 
 ? 98. He had concealed himself in the Wicklow moun- 
 tains, and had escaped* detection and capture through 
 his personal bravery and admirable intelligence. He was 
 expected to join the rising now ; but tne person who 
 was sent to him by Emmet proved a traitor, and never 
 delivered the message. The Kildare men came in, but 
 were sent back by a traitor also. The Wexford contin- 
 gent arrived, but either through neglect or treachery 
 they remained inactive. Other bodies of men were also 
 prepared to act, but did not receive the preconcerted 
 signal. 
 
 The result was, that Emmet had not a hundred men 
 under his command when the moment for action arrived, 
 
424 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 and a considerable number of them were intoxicated. 
 A more unfortunate attempt could scarcely have been 
 made, and it ended, as might have been expected, in 
 the flight of Emmet and the dispersion of the band. 
 Unhappily, however, before this took place, lord Kil- 
 warden was murdered. He was a man of humane dispo- 
 sition, and respected by all parties ; but, unfortunately, 
 he was mistaken for another person, if, indeed his mur- 
 derers were sufficiently sober to make distinctions. 
 
 In an hour the whole affair was over, as far as resist- 
 ance was concerned, but it was followed by a number 
 of arrests, and the discovery of quantities of firearms, 
 pikes, and uniforms. Emmet fled to Wicklow. He 
 might have escaped even then, but his anxiety to see 
 Miss Sarah Curran, to whom he was engaged to be mar- 
 ried, proved fatal to his safety. He was arrested on the 
 25th of August, and on the 31st of August, 1803, he was 
 tried by a special commission, and was, of course, found 
 guilty. He did not, indeed, attempt any defence, and 
 the attacks made upon him by the king's council, Mr. 
 Plunkett, were both unmanly and unnecessary. Emmet 
 was executed September 1, and, for the time, all attempts 
 at resistance were entirely crushed down. Twenty per- 
 sons were tried with Emmet at the special commission, 
 and of these eighteen were hung. The Habeas Corpus 
 was suspended, and martial law proclaimed in several 
 districts, while a considerable number of persons were 
 thrown into jail on suspicion. Still, with what seemed 
 little short of madness, since success was certainly hope- 
 less, attempts were continued, on the continent at least, 
 to prepare for another rising. An Irish Legion was 
 formed out of the vast numbers of Irish exiles in France, 
 and Napoleon gave some real or pretended encourage- 
 ment to the projects. Myles Byrne was amongst the 
 number of the officers, and we find also the still more 
 noticeable name of MacMahon. The Legion first assem- 
 bled at Morlaix, a seaport town in Bretagne, but was 
 subsequently removed several times. But before any- 
 thing more than preparations could be effected, other 
 work was found for the French arms. 
 
 The Legion was ordered to Walcheren, and there had 
 the satisfaction of fighting against England, though on 
 foreign ground. 
 
THE CATHOLICS PETITION FOR EMANCIPATION. 425 
 
 In the meantime, Ireland was not prospering under 
 the new arrangements. The nobility who had occupied 
 stately mansions in Dublin, and had given, at least, some 
 impetus to trade, now found it pleasanter to live in 
 England or abroad. Thus Ireland was impoverished 
 doubly, since while large rents were drawn out of the 
 country the money once spent therein now flowed into 
 other channels. The exports, it is true, increased, but 
 they increased to the national disadvantage, as they 
 sent from the country its agricultural produce, without 
 receiving any adequate compensation in return. 
 
 The Catholic party now began to hold meetings in 
 Dublin to inquire why Emancipation had not followed 
 the union, according to the professions made to them 
 by Mr. Pitt and Lord Cornwallis. But they had little 
 influence, and were easily silenced. A far more power- 
 ful, though very much less numerous body, had already 
 been dealt with, but in a very different manner. Eng- 
 lish opinion, always Protestant, then, at least, rather 
 applauded than condemned treachery to Catholics ; but 
 the Presbyterians had the immense advantage of Eng- 
 lish sympathy and support. The Ulster Presbyterians 
 had been inclined to join the patriotic party, and some 
 had, indeed, actually done so. This at once showed that 
 the Catholics were not discontented merely because they 
 were Catholics, and every Presbyterian that joined the 
 national party was an immense moral accession of 
 strength. But the Presbyterians were easily made loyal. 
 The Begnum Donum, originally granted to them for much 
 the same purpose by Charles II., was now largely in- 
 creased, and the scheme proved eminently successful. 
 
 The Catholics presented their petition, a deputation 
 having waited on Mr. Pitt personally, but Mr. Pitt 
 declined to have anything to say to the affair, with won- 
 derful expressions of politeness. Mr. Pox and lord 
 Grenville were next solicited, and agreed to present the 
 petition. But all the old No-Popery outcry was raised 
 again, and the same utter ignorance of Catholic princi- 
 ples and feelings displayed as — we had almost said — 
 in the present day. In truth, mutatis mutandis, some 
 of the speeches made on this occasion would have an- 
 swered admirably for recent debates on the disestablish- 
 ment of the Irish Church, and the question of Catholic 
 
426 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Education. The arguments, if arguments they could be 
 called, were these : — the Church and State would be 
 endangered, the king's coronation oath would be vio- 
 lated, the Catholics would demand their long-forfeited 
 estates. 
 
 Last, but not least, lord Redesdale, by a wonderful 
 effort of intuition not unknown in our own day, declared 
 that the Catholic body would be "extremely grateful " 
 if the Catholic hierarchy were abolished : a statement 
 that a Catholic child would have laughed to scorn. In 
 the lower house (Commons) the climax of absurdity, 
 ignorance, and consequent misstatement was made by 
 Doctor Duigenan, who took it upon him to reply to Mr. 
 Fox. This worthy retailed at length each and all the 
 often-refuted calumnies against Catholics. It did not 
 in the least matter to him, or, indeed, to the majority of 
 his auditors, that they had been refuted, and that they 
 were false, since they answered the present purpose. 
 He also was liberal in his statements of what the Cath- 
 olic laity thought, as well as of what the Catholic laity 
 wished, and made the not unusual mistake of fanatics in 
 supposing that he knew a great deal more about the 
 religion which he was pleased to condemn than those 
 who practised it. He also declared that the Catholic 
 laity did not really wish for the emancipation for which 
 they asked, though they signed the petition, and that 
 the clergy did not sign it for precisly the same reason. 
 
 No wonder, then, that Mr. Grattan arose, and, for the 
 first time, electrified the British Parliament by his elo- 
 quence, and, at least, attempted to enlighten it by his 
 wisdom. The exordium of his speech was masterly, the 
 peroration sublime. In rising, he said he wished to 
 defend the Catholics against Doctor Duigenan's attacks, 
 and the Protestants from his defence. He dwelt strongly 
 on the strangely overlooked fact that the Roman Cath- 
 olic faith is the religion of the vast majority of Chris- 
 tians. But, in conclusion, he used the argument most 
 likely to command the attention of his hearers, by show- 
 ing the suicidal folly of denying Irishmen the rights of 
 religion because they were Catholics, and pointed out 
 the inevitable result in case any foreign invasion of Eng- 
 land should be attempted. The speaker took the argu- 
 mentum, ad hominum line also, and compared the oppo- 
 
THE TRIAL OF JUDGE JOHNSON. 
 
 427 
 
 sition to grown up children influenced only by old preju- 
 dices, and preferring to secure foreign allies by subsi- 
 dies, instead of subsidizing fellow-citizens by privileges. 
 He might, indeed, with more correctness have said, by 
 granting fellow-citizens rights ; bat Protestantism was 
 certainly not then sufficiently large-minded to allow it 
 to bear even the idea that a Catholic could have any 
 right, social or political. The bill was, of course, re- 
 jected, but it was, at least, a step in the right direction 
 to have it brought forward at all. 
 
 The trial of Judge Johnson, which took place soon 
 after, showed how necessary it was that some legal pro- 
 tection should be afforded to the unfortunate Catholics. 
 This gentleman, with a humanity which did him the 
 highest credit, and a boldness for which he deserves the 
 highest praise, had actually fined lord Enniskillen for 
 refusing to appear in court, to answer the grave charge 
 of having committed two prisoners to jail without any 
 offence having been alleged against them, and one of 
 these unfortunates was specially condemned to solitary 
 confinement. But the attempt to administer the com- 
 monest justice was severely punished, and the judge 
 was eventually tried by the house of lords for fulfilling 
 the functions of the office to which he had been ap- 
 pointed : a ghastly commentary on the state of English 
 government in Ireland. Lord Abercorn was the leader 
 of the persecution, for it deserves no other name, and he, 
 as might be expected, was the great supporter of the 
 Orange society in Ulster. 
 
 The veto was now suggested. The object of this was 
 to allow the crown a passive voice, if not an active one, 
 in the nomination of Catholic bishops. Happily for the 
 Catholic Church in Ireland, the proposal was steadily 
 rejected, though with a determination which brought 
 even members of the same church into collision. Con- 
 nection with the State might have procured temporal 
 advantages, but they would have, in truth, a poor com- 
 pensation for the loss of that perfect freedom so essen- 
 tial to the spiritual advancement of the Church. 
 
 Pitt died on the 23rd of January, 1806, broken-hearted, 
 by the failure of his continental schemes, and the v suc- 
 cesses of the first Napoleon. The reins of government 
 now passed into the hands of the Grenville-Fox ministry, 
 
428 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 and Mr. Fox repudiated the manner in which the union 
 was effected in emphatic words, which he reiterated when 
 called upon for explanation. He took care, however, 
 to fence himself in very cleverly from future attacks, 
 by stating that no attempt should be made to repeal the 
 union, without the most urgent solicitation from those 
 most interested in the matter. It is more than probable 
 that Mr. Fox had the fear of foreign invasion very 
 strongly before his eyes when he made his statement, 
 and the fear of English conservatives very strongly 
 before his mind when he made his qualifications. He 
 knew even the least hope of repeal would insure him the 
 support of the Irish when their strong arms might be 
 needed to protect English shores, and he knew also that 
 his position in the English government depended upon 
 his not adopting anything like a conciliatory policy in 
 Ireland. 
 
 The Duke of Bedford came to Ireland as viceroy in 
 1806. and was presented with loyal addresses by the 
 Catholics. These he answered evasively, and during his 
 government, though it was supposed to be liberal, the 
 tithe system continued in full force, and the usual exe- 
 cutions and punishments of those who rebelled against it 
 were continued. 
 
 The Duke of Richmond succeeded the Duke of Bed- 
 ford and came to Ireland in 1807, attended by Sir Arthur 
 Wellesley, as chief secretary. The young man, whose 
 fame was yet unattained, showed himself as clear-headed 
 in the cabinet as in the camp. He made some attempts 
 to suppress the party demonstrations which have been 
 the curse of Ireland, and induced the Wexford people 
 to discontinue their annual celebration of the battle of 
 Vinegar Hill. If he had suppressed a few other anni- 
 versaries in the north it would have been a blessing to 
 the United Kingdom. In 1806 Mr. Grattan was returned 
 for Dublin, and generously refused the sum of 4,000Z., 
 which his constituents had collected to pay his expenses. 
 The Catholic question was now constantly coming up, 
 and more than one cabinet was formed and dissolved 
 according, to the views of the different members on 
 that matter. A new element of vitality had been intro- 
 duced by the relaxation of the penal laws. Men were i:o 
 longer afraid to ask for a grace which they wanted, lest 
 
MAYNOOTH COLLEGE. 
 
 429 
 
 they should lose a grace which they had. The people 
 found that they might speak their real opinions without 
 apprehensions of attempts at conversion, in the shape of 
 pitch-caps and half-hangings ; and when the nation was 
 ready for a leader, the leader was ready for the nation ; 
 and Daniel O'Connell took the place in the guidance of 
 the Irish people, which he will never lose in their memory 
 and in their affections. 
 
 The Catholic college of Maynooth had been incorpo- 
 rated by law in June, 1795 ; students were admitted in 
 October, and for the first time the priesthood of Ireland 
 could be educated in their own country without incur- 
 ring the penalty of transportation or death. But the 
 object of government was transparent, and the fluctua- 
 tions of the amount granted year by year, formed an 
 excellent and unerring moral thermometer by which the 
 heat of English indignation against Papacy could be regis- 
 tered, or, rather, of the degree in which it could be safely 
 indulged. The duke of Richmond proposed the curtail- 
 ment of the grant, and was noisily, if not efficiently 
 seconded by the famous Doctor Duigenan, who seems to 
 have served as a prototype for a member of the British | 
 Parliament in our own day. The real and sole object of 
 the English government in subsidizing Maynooth was, 
 of two evils to choose the least. It was. plain that the 
 Irish would not apostatize ; it was equally plain that they 
 would have priests, and that if they were not educated 
 at home they would be educated abroad. Foreign edu- 
 cation could not tend to increase their affection for Eng- 
 lish rule, and hence the few members of Parliament who 
 were not absolutely incapacitated for ordinary reasoning 
 by a No-Papacy idiosyncrasy, preferred making arrange- 
 ments for the education of the priesthood in Ireland, even 
 at the national cost. 
 
 Such a change of opinion, or, perhaps, it would be 
 more correct to say of practice, was, undoubtedly, one 
 of the greatest, if not the very greatest moral triumph 
 ever obtained by any people. The priest, who had for- 
 merly been hunted and hung by the English law, was 
 now housed, and taught the very religion for which he 
 had been persecuted, at the expense of his former per- 
 secutors. A new danger, however, arose, and, perhaps, 
 the greatest danger which Irish faith had to endure. 
 
430 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 The Veto question was revived. The Irish people had 
 always been led politically, as well as religiously, by 
 their priests ; it could not, indeed, be otherwise, since, 
 in Ireland, politics and religion were inseparable. The 
 government found all attempts to influence the people 
 utterly futile : they therefore made a bold effort to ob- 
 tain control, indirectly, over the clergy. But even an 
 honest Protestant like Edmund Burke could foresee the 
 fatal consequences which must ensue if this scheme suc- 
 ceeded, and he wrote thus to Dr. Hussey, the Catholic 
 bishop of Waterford : " If you (the Catholic bishops) 
 have not wisdom enough to make common cause, they 
 will cut you off one by one. I am sure that the con- 
 stant meddling of your bishops and clergy with the castle, 
 and the castle with them, will infallibly set them ill with 
 their own body. All the weight which the clergy have 
 hitherto had, to keep the people quiet, will be wholly lost 
 if this once should happen. At best, you will have a 
 marked schism, and more than one kind; and I am 
 greatly mistaken if this is not intended, and diligently 
 and systematically pursued. " 
 
 The Orangemen still continued to do all in their power 
 to excite rebellion, and cause misery in the north. It has 
 been the custom in Ireland, from time immemorial, to 
 light bonfires on the 23rd of June, the vigil of Saint John 
 the Baptist. There can be no doubt of the pagan origin 
 of this practice, and it probably dates back several thou- 
 sand years. The pagan intention has been long since 
 forgotten, and it has become a harmless, if not a meaning- 
 less pastime. On the evening of the 23rd of June, 1808, 
 a number of people had lighted a bonfire of this kind at 
 Corinshiga, near Newry, in the county Down. While 
 they were amusing themselves innocently, and utterly 
 unprepared for danger, a party of yeoman suddenly 
 appeared, and, by the command of their sergeant, fired 
 into the crowd, several times, without a word of warning. 
 One man was killed, others were grievously wounded ; 
 but when the Protestant magistrates of Newry attempted 
 to make some inquiry into this scandalous injustice, the 
 matter was at once hushed up. Had a similar, or even 
 a far less bloody outrage been perpetrated by Catholics, 
 not only the guilty individuals, but the whole country 
 where they lived, would have been deluged with blood 
 
VICEROYALTY OF THE DUKE OF BICHMOND. 431 
 
 to revenge it. As this is but a sample of the manner in 
 which Ireland was governed for many centuries, even 
 until a comparatively recent date, it can be no matter of 
 surprise that Irishmen of the third and fourth genera- 
 tions still remember this, and still burn with indignation 
 against those who not only permitted but encouraged it. 
 The Orange societies were, however, allowed, and even 
 in 1809 were renewed and strengthened. In 1811 
 O'Connell, who had come forward prominently as the 
 leading man amongst the Catholics, proved publicly the 
 action of the Orange society', its secret oath, and enrol- 
 ment of members. Government took very active meas- 
 ures to prevent, or to prosecute, if formed, every Cath- 
 olic association, however openly carried out ; but justice 
 had never been administered in Ireland, and a gradual 
 approach towards it was all Catholics could hope for. 
 
 Indeed, the Orange society was pre-eminently neces- 
 sary to the government as long as injustice to Catholics 
 was their policy. Hence, when a futile attempt was 
 made by the duke of Richmond to discourage Orange 
 emblems, at least amongst the yeomanry of the north, 
 some five hundred men of that notorious body flung 
 away their arms and accoutrements when requested by 
 their inspecting officer, lord Bandon, to lay aside the 
 orange lilies which they wore conspicuously. After this 
 exhibition, the government took good care not to inter- 
 fere with their necessary supporters. 
 
 Still the duke of Richmond was supposed to be a 
 liberal viceroy, and, at all events, spoke liberally when 
 occasion served. He complimented Catholic bishops in 
 public ; but, at the same time, Catholic soldiers were 
 severely punished if they refused to attend the Protes- 
 tant service. He declined drinking the usual toast of 
 the Protestant Ascendency of Ireland; but Catholic mer- 
 chants in Dublin were sedulously excluded from the 
 position of bank directors on account of their religion. 
 
 The assassination of Mr. Percival, in 1812, involved a 
 change of ministry, but it was as little beneficial to Ire- 
 land as the regency of the prince of Wales, from which 
 so much had been expected. 
 
 In 1813 Mr. G rattan introduced a bill to ameliorate the 
 condition t>f Catholics, which was, of course, withdrawn, 
 although an amendment was proposed striking out the 
 
432 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 clause to enable Catholics to vote, or sit in Parliament. 
 The Veto question was again brought forward, and only 
 silenced at last by the determined opposition of the Irish 
 Catholic bishops. The English Catholics, unfortunately, 
 who were always indifferent and ill-informed on the sub- 
 ject of Irish politics, were strongly in favor of the move- 
 ment. They have to thank the superior wisdom of Irish 
 prelates for saving them from one of the most fatal snares 
 ever planned for their destruction. 
 
 Continental wars for a time absorbed the attention of 
 Europe. Ireland was forgotten, or, at least, her cries 
 could not be heard amidst the roar of cannon, and the 
 shrieks of carnage. The life-blood of thousands of Irish- 
 men and faithful Catholics reddened the plains of Water- 
 loo ; an Irishman commanded the victorious army, but 
 Ireland obtained nothing in return. 
 
 J^Ir. Peel, whose name was soon to become famous, 
 had already provided Ireland with a police force, which 
 still, popularly, at least, bears his name. He had be- 
 stowed another favor upon the country by introducing the 
 ejectment laws, which have since proved the source of 
 an amount of crime and wretchedness which cannot by 
 any possibility be calculated in this world. His first 
 attempt was made in 1815, by enabling the assistant 
 barrister at sessions to issue a decree of ejectment on the 
 owners of holdings, the rent of which was under 20Z. 
 The ejectment was further facilitated, two years after, 
 by allowing the evidence of the landlord or agent to be 
 taken as to the non-payment of the rent. 
 
 Shiel has left it on record that the hopes of the Cath- 
 olics fell with the peace. England no longer required 
 the services of Catholic soldiers, or feared the rising of 
 Irish patriots ; why, then, should she trouble herself to 
 conciliate either. The Catholic Board was at once put 
 , down ; but there was an irrepressible ma nin Ireland who 
 could not be put down, and who, by sheer force of will, 
 superiority of intellect, and straightforwardness of pur- 
 pose, accomplished what no rising, however effective, 
 nor petition, however eloquent, could effect. He had 
 studied the law carefully, and had the clearest possible 
 ideas of what he could and could not do. He took care 
 to go to the verge of what the law called sedition, but 
 he never passed the line; and bewildered governments 
 
IRISH DISTURBANCES. 433 
 
 heard with dismay how this audacious man actually ex- 
 posed the iniquity of the laws of the land, while he spoke 
 under cover of the law, to a jury of his countrymen. His 
 epithets were not choice, but they were unquestionably 
 well chosen for his purpose. His language was not 
 particular, but it was always exactly suited to his ob- 
 ject. He distinguished Mr. D'Israeli as the descendant 
 of the impenitent thief, and the appellation is still remem- 
 bered. He called the Dublin corporation "beggarly," 
 and one of its most needy members, Mr. D'Esterre, took 
 the epithet to himself, called out O'Connell, and had, 
 at least, the satisfaction of immortalizing himself by 
 meeting his death at the hands of the most famous man 
 of the age. 
 
 From the year 1815 to 1817 the conduct of the English 
 Parliament towards Ireland was regulated with the 
 nicest attention to the movements of the General who 
 ruled the continent. In 181 Y an act was passed, which, 
 with admirable policy, excused Catholic officers, naval 
 and military, from forswearing transubstantiation. In 
 J.821 George IV. visited Ireland. It was the first 
 time that an English king had come to Ireland as the 
 acknowledged sovereign of the people. Their hopes 
 were high ; and the deference for royalty, so eminently 
 characteristic of the Celt, had at last found an opportu- 
 nity of expressing itself. All that loyalty could do was 
 done ; all that the warmest heart could say was said. 
 The king appeared impressed by demonstrations so 
 entirely new to him ; he wore a large bunch of sham- 
 rocks constantly during his brief stay ; but, before the 
 shamrocks were faded, Irish wants and Irish loyalty 
 were alike forgotten. 
 
 In the year 1824 the subject of Irish disturbances was 
 carefully inquired into by select committees of both 
 houses of Parliament. Some extracts from their reports 
 will give the best and most correct idea of the state 
 of the country from the Union to the year 1834, when 
 another investigation was made. In 1807 the county 
 Limerick was alarmingly disturbed. In 1812 the coun- 
 ties of Tipperary, Waterford, Kilkenny, Limerick, West- 
 meath, Roscommon, and the King's county, were the 
 theatres of the same sanguinary tumults. Limerick and 
 Tipperary remained under the Insurrection Act until 
 19 
 
434 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 1818. In 1820 there were serious disturbances in Gal- 
 way, and in 1821 in Limerick. 
 
 These disturbances are thus accounted for by Maxwell 
 Blacker, Esq., Barrister, who was appointed to adminis- 
 ter the Insurrection Act, in 1822, in the counties of Cork 
 <] and Tipperary : " The immediate cause of the disturb- 
 ance I consider to be the great increase of the popula- 
 tion, and the fall in the price of produce after the war; 
 the consequence of which was, that it was impossible 
 to pay the rent or the tithes that had been paid when the 
 country was prosperous." Sir Matthew Barrington, 
 Crown Solicitor of the Munster circuit for seventeen 
 years, was asked: "Do you attribute the inflammable 
 state of the population to the state of misery in which 
 they generally are ? " "I do to a great extent; I seldom 
 knew any instance when there was sufficient employment 
 for the people that they were inclined to be disturbed ; 
 if they had plenty of work and employment, they are 
 generally peaceable." John Leslie Foster, Esq., M. P., 
 in his examination, states : " I think the proximate 
 cause (of the disturbances) is the extreme physical mis- 
 ery of the peasantry, coupled with their liability to be 
 called upon for the payment of different charges, which 
 j it is often perfectly impossible for them to meet." Mat- 
 thew Singleton, Esq., Chief Magistrate of Police in the 
 Queen's county, said, on his examination: "I have 
 seen and I know land to be set one-third above its 
 value." 
 
 It would be useless to give more of this evidence, for 
 the details are always the same. The people were 
 almost starving. They could scarcely get a sufficiency 
 of the poorest food, yet they were compelled to pay rent 
 and tithes far above the value of their land. If they 
 were unable, they were thrown out upon the wayside to 
 die like dogs. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the outrages thus perpe- 
 trated were very fearful. Every man's hand was against 
 them, and their hand was against every man. They 
 shot their landlords, and they H carded " the tithe-proc- 
 tors. Gentlemen's houses were barricaded, even in the 
 day-time. Many families of the higher classes lived in 
 a state of siege. The windows were made bullet-proof; 
 the doors were never opened after nightfall. It was a 
 
FORMATION OF THE CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION. 435 
 
 fearful state of society for a Christian country, and the 
 guilt and disgrace of it was surely on those who had 
 caused it. Yet we do not find that the knowledge of 
 these facts produced any effect upon the men who heard 
 them, and who alone had it in their power to apply the 
 remedy. 
 
 In the year 1822, Ireland was desolated by a famine, 
 or, at least, the poverty of the people was so great that 
 they could not purchase even the food absolutely neces- 
 sary to support life. That such a state of things should 
 exist at any time, under any circumstances, is a clear 
 evidence of serious misgovernment, for, assuredly, no 
 government can be called good which does not enable 
 the governed to procure the common necessaries of life. 
 Even when the famine was at its height, one million 
 quarters of grain were exported to England, with thou- 
 sands of heads of cattle, sheep and swine. 
 
 The viceroyalty of the marquis of Wellesley will long 
 be remembered in Ireland, by a nation ever grateful for 
 even the least consideration. But the common courtesy 
 shown to Catholics by this nobleman, and the justice of 
 his administration, was intolerable to the Orange faction. 
 SirHarcourt Lees, a Protestant clergyman, who suffered 
 from a monomania on the subject of Popery, excited this 
 turbulent party still more. On the 14th of December, 
 their rage found expression in an absurd and petty 
 attack on the marquis. They created a riot in the the- 
 atre, and flung a bottle at the viceregal box, which, 
 however, happily fell short of its occupant, at whom it 
 was aimed. The rioters were Orangemen, and so were 
 the grand jury of Dublin, who, as usual under such cir- 
 cumstances, refused to find a bill against the perpetrators. 
 The attorney-general, Mr. Plunkett, sent them up for 
 trial, but the jury refused to convict. 
 
 The Catholic Association was formed in the year 1823, 
 by Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Shiel, a young barrister who 
 had already distinguished himself by his eloquence. The 
 beginning certainly gave little promise of the success 
 subsequently attained. The Catholic nobility were slow 
 to offer any support, having always the fear of losing 
 the little that they had gained ; but after a time, lord Kil- < 
 leen, lord Gormanstown and several others gave in their 
 sanction to the movement. An infinitely more powerful 
 
436 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 auxiliary, however, was found in the person of the cel- 
 ebrated Dr. Doyle, the Catholic bishop of Kildare and 
 Leighlin. This prelate was famous in his own day, and 
 will be handed down as famous to posterity, while his 
 pamphlets and letters remain to show how his heart and 
 soul was devoted to the cause of Irish independence. 
 
 At first, the members of the association paid a guinea 
 a year, the associates a shilling. Weekly meetings were 
 held to report progress and arrange plans. But the fol- 
 lowing year the government was startled to find a new 
 plan in operation, and learned, to their dismay, that the 
 penny subscription to the " Catholic Rent n amounted 
 to 500Z. a week, and the enrolled associates numbered 
 somewhere about half a million. 
 
 When the association was well established, and it was 
 quite evident that it must succeed if the master mind who 
 originated it was spared to guide it, the English Cath- 
 olics gave it their support ; but, at the same time, the 
 northern Presbyterians joined it also, and their adhe- 
 sion was of unquestionable value. The great object was 
 Catholic Emancipation, and Catholic Emancipation was 
 obtained. If we have a Catholic lord chancellor, Cath- 
 olic judges, and Catholic members of Parliament at the 
 present day, let it not be forgotten that we owe it, under 
 the Divine favor, to O'Connell and the pence of the Irish 
 poor. A host of writers, both English and Irish, gave 
 their assistance. Sidney Smith's most brilliant witti- 
 cisms were made on the subject of English bigotry. 
 Moore's most witty verses were founded on the same 
 theme. 
 
 But the English government were very clearly aware 
 of the state of affairs. In 1825 the secretary for Ireland, 
 Mr. Goulburn, brought in a bill for the "Suppression of 
 Unlawful Associations in Ireland." They had yet to 
 learn the resources of the man with whom they to deal. 
 It was the easiest thing possible to put down a rebellion 
 by force of arms ; but to put down a single man, when 
 that man happened to be O'Connell, was quite another 
 affair. He at once dissolved the Association, and then 
 quietly re-established it under another name. As it 
 became now tolerably evident that something must be 
 done for Ireland, a bill was prepared to admit Catholics 
 to Parliament and Corporation, but it was qualified by 
 
THE EMANCIPATION AGITATION. 
 
 437 
 
 taking away the franchise from the forty shilling free- 
 holders, and by subsidizing the Catholic clergy. The 
 ' bill was prepared by Sir Robert Peel, and it was worthy 
 of his statesmanship. It was clear that if the forty 
 shilling freeholders were disfranchised, there would be 
 very few Catholic voters, and consequently very few 
 Catholic members ; it was equally clear that if the 
 clergy accepted the pay of the Protestant government, 
 they could not allow their flocks to pay repeal rent. The 
 bill was most fortunately thrown out by the house of 
 lords. 
 
 Three years passed away in steady and strictly legal 
 agitation, and the event which may be almost said to 
 have decided the question of Catholic Emancipation, 
 was at hand. The Catholics had bound themselves to 
 oppose the return of any person who should not pledge 
 himself to oppose the duke of Wellington's adminis- 
 tration. The member for Clare, Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald, 
 was chosen President of the Board of Trade, and of 
 necessity sent back to his constituency for re-election. 
 He was certainly in favor of Catholic Emancipation, yet 
 he was a member of the obnoxious government. The 
 question was debated. O'Connell was disposed to offer 
 no opposition to his return, but his decision was fortu- 
 nately overruled. Another candidate was proposed, but 
 he declined, and, at last, after a lengthened consultation, 
 at O'Connell's house, in Merrion square, Dublin, O'Con- 
 nell himself came forward. He made it clearly known 
 that he would not take the oath which members of the 
 British Parliament were then obliged to swear ; but he 
 assured the people that the best means of obtaining an 
 alteration in that absurd compilation of bigotry and igno- 
 rance, was to return a Catholic who would refuse to take 
 it. 
 
 O'ConnelPs friends preceded him to the scene of action. 
 O'Gorman, Mahon, and Steele, divided the work between 
 them with admirable impartiality. Mahon undertook to 
 use his eloquence, and Steele freely offered his pistols, 
 whose accuracy of aim was tolerably well known, if any 
 landlord felt disposed to test the matter in that fashion. 
 The well-known controversialist, Father Tom Maguire, 
 followed them from Leitrim, and honest Jack Lawless 
 came down from Belfast, where he edited the patriotic 
 
438 
 
 COMPENDIUM OP IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Irishman. All the world knows that O'Connell won the 
 day, and won it triumphantly. 
 
 The Duke of Wellington was converted by expediency, 
 if not by principle ; and the Irish people, united in peace- 
 ful and legal combination, had the honor of conquering 
 the conqueror. Sir Robert Peel made no opposition. 
 When Parliament met, in February, 1829. The king's 
 speech recommended the suppression of the Catholic As- 
 sociation, and the consideration of Catholic disabilities. 
 
 There was a mighty ferment through the nation. 
 Every possible, and a great many impossible calamities 
 were freely predicted as imminent, if Catholics were 
 allowed the rights of citizens. The cause of truth pre- 
 vailed, and the calamities did not happen. The half- 
 imbecile monarch was the greatest obstacle, but even he 
 was compelled to yield at last. 
 
 The bill passed the commons by a majority of thirty- 
 six, no doubt the result of the reiterated statement of 
 Sir Robert Peel, that it was absolutely necessary to 
 prevent " public calamity." It passed the lords by a 
 majority of one hundred and four, — for, in the upper 
 house, the duke declared freely that it was necessary to 
 prevent " civil war." Thus Catholic Emancipation was 
 obtained. 
 
 The history of O'ConnelFs refusal of the oath, and 
 subsequent introduction into the English Parliament, 
 need not be recorded here. We prefer to close the page 
 with the culminating action of his career, with the 
 undoubted triumph of the Catholic cause, with the vic- 
 tory, for which not only Catholics, but all who deserve 
 the name of men, should honor for ever the illustrious 
 name of Q'Cqnnell. 
 
 THE END, 
 
DATE DUE 
 
 • it it 
 
 
 
 
 Fr.B ~ 
 
 n IQRQ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 — m- 
 
 ?'?- '07(1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 n 
 
 
 SEP 
 
 2 * 2006 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 GAYLORD 
 
 
 
 PRINTED IN U..S. A. 
 
Ill 33 
 
 BOSTON COLLEGE 
 
 3 9031 01213212 2 
 
 Bapst Library 
 
 Boston College 
 
 Chestnut Hill 67, Mass.