^IRELAND,?! 'Ww^^r^- ]^'n E;,arrH< THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY From the collection of James Collins, Drumcondra, Ireland. Purchased, 1918. 94-1.5 ^i Ll!:^tBmkjL^.. "y^-^/ ^ ^. »^^ ^Ci^ ^^^^r^(^ / f THE um^^i Voa K <,Hi A CATECHISM OF THE HISTORY or IRELAND, ANCIENT AND MODERN. .5^ BY WILLIAM J/0'NEILL DAUNT, ESQ. Author of " Saiuts and Sinners." DUBLIN : PUBLISHED BY JAMES DUFFY, 23, ANGLESEA-STREET. 1844. DUBLIN: PRINTED BY J. M. O'TOOLE, 34, ABBKY-STREET. 1 ^41'^ J^2C.c^ PREFACE. I intend this little Catechism for a school- book. I hope it may help to train up Irish children '*in the way in which they should go." I have often been thoroughly disgusted at the deceptive character of those quasi-historical abstracts which are put into the hands of our youth, and which are calculated to create in their minds a contempt for their own brave and gallant Celtic forefathers, a political idolatry of England, and a total misconception of the real, substantial interests of their native land. It was necessarily impossible in a compilation so limited in extent as the present, to enter into full details of historical incidents. The outlines of our national annals are all that could be given ; accompanied, sometimes, by a brief word of comment, meant to guide the youthful student with respect to the moral oi his country's history. School-books abfiuy[E^l|«|Aiiv»iie too often been IV PREFACE. designed to train their readers to look through English spectacles at Irish transactions. I have looked at those transactions through an Irish medium ; I have sought to extend to the rising generation, that teaching which has been dis- seminated with such potent efficacy among their seniors, Ijy my able friends who conduct the Nation Newspaper; being deeply convinced that the welfare of the country and the cause of political truth, can alone be promoted and secured by infusing into the hearts of its in- habitants the sacred principle of nationality. Of religious differences, except so far as they have affected politics, I have said nothing what- ever. Some of the best and warmest Irish patriots are, and have been, Protestants. There is nothing in any Christian creed to prevent its professors from working honestly and efficiently for their country. I have not screened the faults and follies of our ancestors. Their great and noble qualities were too often neutralized by their sin of mutual dissention. It is true that in this respect they were not worse than the contemporary inhabit- ants of other lands ; but the evils arising from internal differences, have, from peculiar circum- stances, been more grievous and enduring in PREFACE. V Ireland than almost in any other country. It is time ihdiX party should be merged in nationality. There exists not on the surface of the earth a nation richer than our own in all the moral and physical resources of greatness, prosperity, and happiness ; or more fertile in all the materials of self-government. Every page of our history impresses the conviction, that, if intestine divi- sions were abandoned ; if men would use the energies and powers God has given them for the common benefit, instead of for the purposes of faction ; if, instead of a miserable strife to exalt Whig over Tory, or Tory over Whig all, parties would unite to exalt Ireland, by restoring to her legislative freedom ; then we should see those great qualities which now lie nearly dormant, called forth into active exercise, and productive of unnumbered blessings to our fatherland. W. J. O'NEILL DAUNT Kilcascan, County Cork, 23rrf September, 1844. CATECHISM OF THE HISTOKY OP IRELAND. CHAPTER I. Of the Original Inhabitants of Ireland. Question. Whence was Ireland first peopled ? Answer. There are many accounts of the origin of her earliest inhabitants; the most probable belief is, that Ireland was peopled by a colony of Phoenicians. Q. Who were the Phoenicians ? A. They were a branch of the great nation of the Scythians. Q. How did the early inhabitants divide Ireland ? A. Into five kingdoms. Q. Name them r A. Ulster, Leinster, Connaught, Munster, and Meath. Q. How were these five kingdoms governed ? A. Each by its own prince ; and tne king of Meath was also paramount sovereign of all Ireland. Q. Did these kingdoms descend from father to son by hereditary right ? A. No ; the succession was regulated by the law of Tanistry. Q. What was Tanistry ? A. Tanistry was a law which restricted the right of succession to the family of the prince, or chief; but any member of the family might be elected successor, as well as the eldest son. B 2 CATECHISM OF THE Q. What does Tanist mean ? A. Tanist was the title borne by the elected successor, during the life of the reigning prince, or chief. Q. "What qualities was it necessary that the Tanist should possess ? A. He should be a knight, fully twenty-five years old, his figure should be tall, noble, and free from blemish; and he should prove his pedigree from the Milesians. Q. Was Tanistry a good custom ? A. No ; for the struggles of the different candidates to be elected, caused great warfare and bloodshed. Q. Where did the king-paramount of all Ireland reside? A. At the palace of Tara, in Meath. Q. What was the ancient law of Ireland called? A. The Brehon Law * Q. What was most remarkable in the Brehon Law? A. The nearly total absence of capital pun- ishment. Q. How was murder punished ? A. By a money-fine called an eric. Q. Had the lenity of the Brehon law in that respect a good effect ? A. Not always; for the friends of the mur- dered person often deemed the penalty inflicted by the law too slight : and in avenging their own wrongs, bloody feuds and clan-battles often occurred. • Brehiv is the modern Irish for ajudge. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 3 Q. How were men appointed to the office of Brehon ? A. The office of Brehon was hereditary in certain families. Q. Were the other great offices in Ireland, in like manner, restricted to certain families ? A. Yes ; in those days all great offices w^ere thus restricted. Q. Can you state any ancient custom of those early times which still exists in Ireland ? A. Yes; the custom oi fostering. The chil- dren of the chiefs and nobles were always suckled by the wives of the tenants. Q. Was the link thus formed considered a strong one ^ A. As strong as the tie of actual relationship. Nay, foster-brothers and foster-sisters often loved each other better than if they had been the children of the same parents. Q. Can you mention any other ancient cus- tom .P A. Yes; that oi gossippred. The chiefs and nobles frequently became god-fathers to the children of their vassals and dependents. Q. Had these old customs any good effect .^ A. They had; they helped in some degree to connect different classes in the bonds of affection with each other. Q. Are there any remarkable remains of early Irish buildings .P A. Yes; there are fifty-two round tow^ers in Ireland, of a very high antiquity. Q. What w^as the origin and purpose of those buildings ? A. Both their origin and purpose are unknown ; there is, however, a rather probable opinion 4 CATECHISM OF THE that they were intended for the fire-worship of the pagans, before the Christian religion was brought into Ireland. Q. Are there similar round towers in any other part of the British islands ? A. No ; excepting two which still remain in Scotland. CHAPTER II. The Irish Christian Church, Question. Who was the first Christian Bishop with local jurisdiction in Ireland .^ Answer. Saint Palladius. Q. By whom was he appointed ? A. By Pope Celestine, in the year 430.* Q. Whence did the whole Irish nation receive its Christianity ? A. From Rome. Q. Who states these facts ? A. They are stated by many ancient histo- rians of the highest credit; namely, by Saint Prosper of Acquitain, in the year 434; by Saint Columbanus, an Irish prelate, A. D. 610 ; by the Abbot Cummian, another Irishman, in the year 650 ; by the Venerable Bede, an English monk and historian, A. D. 701 ; by Probus, an Irish writer of the ninth century ; by the Annals of the four Masters ; by Marianus Scotus, • The earliest chroniclerofthis fact, is Saint Prosper of Aquitain, Chron. ad annum, 434, torn. 1 — Rer. Gal. Fol. Paris 1738 ; p. 630. His words are, " Ad Scoi«s in Christum credenies ordinatur a Papa Celestino PalladiuSy ct primus Episcopus mittitur." *'Scoti," was then, and for a long time after, the exclusive designation of the Irish people. HISTORY OF lEELAND. 6 an Irish writer in the year 1059, and by Saint Sigebert, the monk of Gemblours, who wrote in or about the year 1101. Q. What are the words of Saint Prosper of Acquitain ? A. He says, " by Pope Celestine is Palladius ordained and s(»nt the first bishop to the Irish, believing in Christ." Q. What are the words of Saint Columbanus ? A. Saint Columbanus wrote a letter to Pope Boniface the Fourth, in which he thus speaks to that pontiff: "As your friend, your scholar, your servant, not as a stranger, will I speak ; therefore, as to our masters, to the steersmen, to the mystic pilots of the spiritual ship, will I freely speak, saying, watch ! for the sea is stormy ; watch, for the water has already got- ten into the ship of the church, and the ship is in danger." * Q. What do you notice in those words ? A. I notice that this Irish prelate acknow- ledges the Roman Pontiffs to have been the spiritual teachers of the Irish Christian church ; and also that he begs of the Pope to defend that church from the dangers that beset it. Q. Who was Cummian ? A. He was an Irish abbot, in the seventh century. Q. Did Cummian acknowledge that the Irish received their faith from Rome ? A. Yes. Q. What are his words ? A, He says, " We sent those persons whom • S. CoLUMBANi Epist. ad Bonifacium IV. Bidlioih Vet. Pat. t. xii. p. 532, Ed. Gallandio. ' b2 6 CATECHISM OF THE we knew to be wise and humble men, to Rome, as it were children to their mother." * Q. What does the venerable Bede sav ? A. He says, " In the eighth year of tne reign of Theodosius the younger, Palladius was sent by Celestine, Pontiff of the Roman church, to the Irish, believing -in Christ, as their first Bishop." t Q. What are the words of Probus, the Irish writer of the 9th century ? A. He says, " The Archdeacon Palladius, was ordained and sent to this island [Ireland] by Celestine, the forty-fifth Pope who occupied the Apostolic chair in succession from Saint Peter."$ Q. What does Probus call Rome ? A. " The head of all churches.''^ Q. Do the ancient annals of Innisfallen attest the connexion of the early Irish church with that of Rome ? A. They do. Q. In what manner ? A. They tell us that in 402, two Irishmen, Kiaran and Declan, having sojourned in Rome, came thence to preach Christianity in Ireland ; that, in 412, St. Ailbe, of Emly, came from Rome to announce the faith in Ireland ; and, that in 420, Ibar Invarensis, (another Irishman who had studied in Rome,) came thence to Ireland.§ • CUMIANUSHlBERNUS.A.D.650, a;>Wfi?UsSRRIUM, Vet. Epis. Hlbern. Sylloge^ p. 13. + Ven. BEDiE, Hist. Eccles. gentis Anglorunif I. 1, c. 13. X Probus de Vita S. Patricii apud Bedam. p. 316, t. in.— Basils 1573. . ■ § O'Connor, Rer. Hibern, Script, t. ii. in AnHdl,. lonisfall. pp. 12, 13. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 7 Q. Have we got traces of any earlier con- nexion than this, between the Irish and the Roman christians ? A. Yes, so far back as the year 360, a certain christian priest had been sent from R.ome to Ireland to teach the Christian faith there ; and it was from that priest that Saint Ailbe of Emly received baptism.* Q. Who was Marianus Scotus, and when did he flourish ? A. He was an Irish scholar and writer, and he flourished about the year 1059. Q. What are his words ? A. He says, that " in the year of Christ, 432, to the Irish believing in Christ, Palladius, ordained by Pope Celestine, was sent the first Bishop : after him Saint Patrick, who was a Gaul by birth, and consecrated by Pope Celes- tine, is sent to the Irish Archiepiscopacy."t Q. There were Christians in Ireland, then, before the arrival of Palladius and Patrick P A. Yes ; a very small and scattered number. Q. By whom had that small number of Irish christians been first taught the faith ? A. Probably by the Roman Priest, who visited Ireland in 360, and who baptised Saint Ailbe of Emly. Q. Whp was the great Apostle of the faith to the Irish nation ? A. Saint Patrick. Q,. Where was he born ? •UssERii. Britan.Eccles. Antu/. Index ChrenologicuSy p. 612, et ex vita S. Albei^ ib. p. 409. t Marianus Scotus, Chron. ad annum, ed. Basile. 1569. 8 CATECHISM OF THE A. At Boulogne, in Armoric Gaul. Q. Who was his father ? A. Calphurnius. Q. Was Calphurnius in holy orders ? A. Not at the time of his son's birth. He was then a layman; but at a later period he sepa- rated from his wife and took holy orders in the church. Q. On what authority do you state these facts ? A. On the authority of the ancient writer of Saint Patrick's life, Joceline.* Q. Had Saint Patrick great success in his mission ? A. His success was perfect. He converted the entire of Ireland to the Christian religion ; thus, gloriously finishing the work of Saint Palladius. Q. Did Saint Patrick teach spiritual obedience to the Pope ? A. He did. Among the canons or rules made in the Synods which he called together, and over which he presided, we find it ordained, " TAat if any qtiestions arise in this Island, they are to be referred to the Apostolic See."f Q. Did other Prelates of the early Irish church practice the obedience to the Pope which Saint Patrick taught ? • ''' Postquam vero aliquantum processerant in diebua suis (Parentis S. Patricii) fselici geneiatione completa, comrauni consensu, castitati studu'-runt, et sancto fine in Domino quieverunt. Calphurnius autem prius in Diacon- atu diutius Domino servavit, postremo in Presbyteratu vitara finivit." — Jocclintts Vit. S. Patric. C. i. t *' Si quae questiones in hac insula oriantur, ad sedem Apostolicam referantur." — Canones S. Patrick, apud Wilkins ; Concil. Mag. Brit. t. i. p. 6. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 9 A. They did. Q. How does the Irish Saint Columbanus, in the 6th century, address Pope Gregory the Great ? A. He calls him the " Holy Lord and Roman Father in Christ." " Th^e chosen Watchman y possessed of the divine Theory of the Treasurer- ship ;" — he speaks of him as " lawfully sitting in the chair of Saint Peter the Apostle ;" and he begs the Pope to decide for him how he ought to act in certain cases. * Q. How does Saint Columbanus address St. Gregory's successor, Pope Boniface the Fourth ? A. He calls him ** the Holy Lord, and in Christ the Apostolic Father." f Q. Does St. Columbanus elsewhere recognize the Pope's supremacy ? A. Yes. In another letter to Pope Boniface, IV., he calls him " the head of all the churches of the whole of Europe ;" he also terms the Pope, " the Pastor of Pastors." % In the same letter, Columbanus says, '^ We are, as I said before^ bound to the chair of Saint Peter. For though Pome is great and renowned, it is through this chair only that she is great and bright amongst us." ^ Q. Did not a dispute arise in the Irish church about the time when Easter ought to be kept ? • S. CoLUMBANi Epist.'i. ad Gregoriion Pa/ww, inter Opera S. Columbani, apud Gallandii, Bib. Vet, Pat. t. xii. p. 345. t Ibid. p. 349. Jlbid. pp. 349-364. § Venerable Bede. Hist. Eccles. Gentis. Anglor. lib.u. c. xix. p. 148, ed. Stevenson. Lon. 1838 ; also, Epist. S. Greg. I. ii. c. 4. 10 CATECHISM OF THE A. Yes ; towards the end of the sixth, and be- ginning of the seventh, century. Q. What did the Irish abbot, Cummian, say, with regard to that dispute ? A. Cummian quoted St. Jerome's words, " I cry out, whosoever is joined to the chair of Saint Peter that man is mine ! — What more ? I turn me to the words of the Bishop of the city of Rome, Pope Gregory, received by us in common."* Q, Did the Irish Christians fall into a wrong mode of computing Easter ? A. They did. Q. Who reclaimed the Irish from that error ? A. Pope Honorius ; about the year 628. t Q,. Did the Irish resist the Pope's settlement of this question among them ? A. So far from that, they yielded to it a ready and cheerful obedience. Q. Had Pope Honorius a legate in Ireland about this time ? (628.) A. Yes. He appointed St. Lasrean, an Irish prelate, his legate in Ireland. Q. Do we find other proofs in history of the close connexion between the early Irish Chris- tians and the Apostolic chair ? A. Yes. The missionaries from Ireland used to go to Rome to do homage to the Pope, and beg his leave and his blessing, before they went to preach to pagan nations. Q. Do you know the names of any who did so ? • Cummiani Hiberni ad Segienum Huensem Abbatem, flfe Controversiae Paschali Epistcla^ apud Usserium, Vet. Epist. Hibern Sylloge. t This is stated by Archbishop USSHER, in his work ** De Brittanicarum Ecclesiarum Prtmordiis ; p. 938. HISTORY OF IRELA^^D. 11 A. Yes. St. DiCHUL, or Deicolus, did so. About the year 686, Saint Killian and his com- panion missionaries did so. Saint Willibrord (a Saint of English birth, who had long lived in Ireland) did so. Q. Did Irish bishops take part in Roman councils ? A. Yes. Q. State an instance ? A. Among the bishops who attended the council held at Rome by Pope Gregory II., in the year 721, were Sedulius, an Irishman, bishop in Britain ; and Fergustus the Pict, bishop in Ireland. Q. What means were taken to get Waterford made a Bishop's See ? A. King Murtogh, his brother Dermod, and the tour Bishops Domnald, Idunan (of Meath), Samuel (of Dublin), and Ferdomnach (of Leinster,), petitioned Anselm, the Arch- bishop of Canterbury, to erect Waterford into a Bishoprick. Q. Why did they apply to the Archbishop of Canterbury ? A. Because he had, at that time, primatial authority over the Irish Christian church, as well as over the English. Q. What was the language of the appli- cants ? ^ A. They begged Anselm would appoint a bishop, " in virtue of the po\rer of primacy which he held over them, and of the authority of the Apostolic function which he exercised !'* • Primatus quern super eos gerebitt potestate^ ct qua FUNGEBATUR ViCIS AP0STGLIC(E AUTHOBITATE." Eadmert, Ilistoriae Novorum, lib. ii p. 36, ed. Seldeno. London, 1623. 12 CATECHISM OF THE Q. Did Ansel m indicate the Pope's Primacy, in his communications to the Irish prelates ? A. Of course he did. In writing to the Bishop of Dublin (the aforesaid Samuel) he says to him, " I have heard that thou hast a cross borne before thee on the highways. If this be true, I order thee to do so no more, because this belongeth only to an Archbishop confirmed by the Pall from the Roman Pontiff."* Q. What was the language of Gilbert, bishop of Limerick, in the year 1090 ? A. He says, '* All the church's members are to be brought under one Bishop, namely, Christ, and his vicar, blessed Peter the Apostle, and the Pope presiding in his chair, to be governed by them." Q. Does this ancient Irish bishop add any- thing more on this subject ? A. Yes ; his words are, " To Peter only was it said, * Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church ;' therefore it is the Pope only who stands high above the whole church ; and he puts in order and judges all."t Q. What remarkable occurrence took place in the twelfth century P A. Malachi, the primate of all Ireland, visited Rome, and was appointed by Pope Innocent the Second, his legate in Irelana. • Anselmus Archiepiscopus Cantuari/E, ve- neralili fratro Samueli Dublina civiiatis Episcopo. Apud UssERiUM, Vet. Epist. Hibern. Sylloge, p. 69. t Be Usu Ecclesiastico—Gih'LEBKiiTi Lunicensis (Limerick) Episcopi, Epistola ad Episcopos Hiberniaey apud UssERiuM, Vet. Epist. Hibern, SyllogCy p. 54, et passim. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 13 Q. What was the particular purpose of his visit to Rome ? A. To obtain from the Pope the honour of the Pall, or pallium, for the Irish archbishops, Q. What was the pallium ? A. An ensign of legatine authority. Q. What was the Pope's answer ? A. He told Malachi that he would grant his request, but that it should first be made by the general body of the Irish prelates assembled in Synod. * Q. Was this promise fulfilled ^ A. Not immediately ; for, on Malachi's next journey to Rome, to obtain the performance of the promise, he fell sick and died at Clairvaux, in France, in 1148. Q. Were the Palls granted ? A. Yes. Pope Eugenius the Third granted that privilege, through his nuncio. Cardinal Paparo, who visited Ireland in the year 1151. Q. What happened the following year ? A. A council was held at Kells, at which there were 24 Irish prelates, and Cardinal Paparo presided ; and Ireland was there divided into four archbishopricks. Q. Name them ? A. Armagh, Dublin, Cashel, and Tuam. Q. When was the council of Cashel held .P A. In the year 1172. Q. Did any other event of importance happen in that year ? A. Yes — Henry II. King of England, landed in this country, and received the allegiance of * Yita S. MALACHiiE a S. Beraardo aprid Surium, torn. vi. p. 100. C 14 CATECHISM OF THE several Irish prelates and princes, as king of Ireland. Q. Was that allegiance tendered to Henry by the council of Cashel ? A. No ; the council of Cashel had nothing to do with it ; the allegiance of the prelates had been tendered to Henry at Waterford. Q. What were the decrees of the council of Cashel ? A. They were aimed against certain evils of the time, such as marriages performed within the forbidden degrees of r^elationship ; infor- mality and carelessness in baptism ; extortion committed by powerful laymen on the church- lands ; neglect of due solemnity at burials, &c. Q. Was there any other important decree of the council of Cashel ? A. Yes ; it enforced the payment of tithes to the clergy. Q. Had tithes existed in Ireland previously ? A. Yes ; they had been introduced twenty years before, at the council of Kells, held under Cardinal Paparo. CHAPTER III. Invasion of Ireland by the Danes. Q. When did the Danes invade Ireland ? A. In the ninth century. Q. By what name were they known ? A. They wejre called Eastmen, or Ostmen. Q. Did they succeed in subduing the country ? A. Their success was at first only partial. They soon, however, seized upon towns and villages along the coast, and built castles to strengthen their position. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 15 Q. Did they soon become more powerful ? A. Yes ; before long they overran the whole island. Q. Who was the Danish King of Ireland ? A. Turgesius. Q. How was he enabled to conquer the whole kingdom ? A. By the disputes and divisions of the Irish chiefs themselves. The native princes were too busy quarrelling with each other, to oppose a united and effectual resistance to the conquer- ing Danes. Q. What useful lesson do we learn from this fact ? A. That Ireland never can be great, pros- perous, or happy, so long as her people are divided amongst themselves. Q. Did Turgesius reign long ? A. No. He was soon cut off by the contri- vance of an Irish prince to whom he had made himself obnoxious. Q. What followed .P A. The Irish revolted against the Danes ; and •as they combined together tolerably well, they drove the invaders out of the centre of the country to the coasts ; where, however, they still kept possession of the seaports. Q. Did the Danes ever recover their former ' power in Ireland ? A. No. In the eleventh century the Irish resolved to make a ^and effort for their final expulsion from the island ; and a battle was fought on the plains of Clontarf, near Dublin, on Good Friday, 1014, in which the Danes were driven to their ships with great slaughter. Q. Who wa% the leader of the Irish army upon that occasion ? 1 6 CATECHISM OF THE A. Brian Boroimhe, king paramount of Ire- land, the greatest and best king that Ireland ever saw. Q. Did he live to enjoy the fruits of his victory ? A. No ; he was slaughtered while at prayer in his tent, by a straggling party of the enemy. Q. What was the result of Brien Boroimhe's death upon the general interests of the kingdom r A. In the last degree disastrous. On the death of the monarch, whose skill and wisdom had for many years governed the land in pros- perity and peace, the absurd and criminal squabbles of the petty princes were revived, and the country w^as ravaged with intestine warfare. Q. Is there any use in recording and dwelling on these disgraceful contentions ? A. Yes ; they teach us a useful, though a bitter, lesson. The crimes of our forefathers show us what we should avoid. We see, in their miserable domestic quarrels, the true cause why foreign power was able to introduce and to es- tablish its supremacy in Ireland. Q. Did the unsettled condition of the country afford strong encouragement to the English king, Henry the Second ? A. Of course it did. Several of the Irish princes and all the Irish prelates, wearied with perpetual civil discord, were not unwilling that the kingdom should be place^ under a strong sovereign ruler ; and this circumstance gained a welcome for Henry from the heads of the church, and a large number of the temporal rulers of the island. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 17 Q,. What circumstance first drew the British invaders to Ireland ? A. Dermot, king of Leinster, having been driven out of his kingdom by O'Rorke, prince of BrefFny, and O'Connor, king of Connaueht, sought the assistance of Henry the Secona of England against his native rivals. Q. In what year did Dermot thus seek help from Henry? A. In 1168. Q. How did Henry receive Dermot's appli- cation ? A. He re(juired the Irish king to do homage to him for his possessions, and being then un- able to go to Ireland himself, he gave Dermot letters-patent, authorising any English subjects who might be so inclined, to assist Dermot against O'Connor and O'Rorke. Q. Whose assistance did Dermot procure ? A. That of Richard, Earl of Strigul and Pembroke, usually called Strongbow from his skill in archery. Q. What reward did Dermot promise Strong- bow for his help ? A. He promised to give him his daughter Eva in marriage, and also to bequeath to him the inheritance of his kingdom. Q. Did Dermot obtain any other help than Strongbow's ? A. Yes; he got the aid of Robert Fitz-Stepheu, Maurice Fitz-Gerald, Meyler Fitz-Henry, Mau- rice de Prendergast, Hervey Montmarisco, and several other knights. Q. When did the Anglo-Norman invaders first land in Ireland .P A. They landed on the coast of Wexford in the month of May, 1170. c2 ] 8 CATECHISM OF THE Q. "Was Strongbow among their number? A. No ; he had waited to obtain the express permission of King Henry for his Irish expe- dition. Q. Did Henry grant permission to Strongbow to go to Ireland? A. No; he was jealous of Strongbow, and doubted his allegiance. Q. What did Strongbow then do ? A. He sailed for Ireland without Henry's permission, carrying with him a considerable force, with whose aid he seized Waterford. Q. What followed? A. Strongbow married Eva, the daughter of Dermot Mac Murrough, king of Leinster ; and on Dermot's death he succeeded to his Father- in-law's territory. Q. In what year did Henry visit Ireland ? A. In 1171. He pardoned Strongbow, and confirmed to him the possession of his territories under the English crown. Q. Did the Pope sanction Henry the Second in his invasion of Ireland ? A. Yes ; Pope Adrian the Fourth had, many years before, (about A.D. 1155,) been solicited by Henry to sanction the conquest of Ireland ; and beinff himself an Englishman, he readily consented to a scheme that promised to extend the power of his native country. Q. Did all the Irish submit to King Henry the Second? A. No; the larger portion of them resisted his authority. Q. Were the English laws extended to the whole of Ireland ? A. No; they were at first granted only to the HISTORY OF IRELAND. 19 Norman colonists, to some of the seaport towns, and to a few native septs or clans who obtained the benefit of them as a matter of favour. Q. How many clans obtained the benefit of the English laws ? A. Five. Q,. Name them ? A. The O'Neills of Ulster, the O'Connors of Connaught, the O'Briens of Thomond, the O'Lachlans of Meath, and the Kavanaghs (otherwise Mac Murroughs) of Leinster. Q. How long did this exclusion of the great body of the natives, from the benefit of the English law, continue ? A. For several centuries ; so late, in fact, as the reign of Elizabeth. Q. "What was the practical effect of this exclusion ? A. To deprive the whole Irish nation, (ex- cepting the five tribes already mentioned, the descendants of the colonists, and the inhabitants of the seaports,) of all remedy in law for any injury done to them, and even of all power of suing for redress in any court of justice. Q. "Was not an effort made by the natives to expel the Anglo-Norman invaders ? A. Yes ; and their hopes were excited by a victory they had gained over Strongbow, the English commander, who was defeated in an engagement near Thurles. Q. "Who was at the head of the new con- federacy against the invaders ? A. Roderick O'Connor, king-paramount of Ireland. Q. Did Roderick succeed .^ A. No; his efforts were marred by the old 20 CATECHISM OF THE curse of Ireland : the want of unity and com- bination amongst her inhabitants. Q. Had the Anglo-Normans any other advantage over the natives, except that which they derived from the dissentions of the latter? A. Yes ; they understood the art of war much better than the Irish. They were clad in complete suits of steel armour, and were perfect in the management of their chargers. Whereas, the Irish had but slight defences, and had merely the rude weapons of their forefathers to oppose to the array and discipline of their powerful invaders. Q. What was thenceforth the condition of Ireland ? A. Most wretched. There was constant warfare between the natives and the settlers ; in which the victory was sometimes with the Irish. They were brave and ardent, and often made their enemies (although cased in armour) feel the weight of their rude and simple weapons. Q. What were the weapons of the Irish warriors ? A. They had a short lance, or javelin, and a steel hatchet, named a *' Sparthe." They ac- quired so much skill in the use of this Sparthe, tnat in close combat they often clove through the steel armour of their adversaries with it. Q. What were the houses of the Irish built of at that period ? A. Of timber and wicker work, and con- structed with such skill as to excite the admi- ration of foreigners. Q. What was the state of religion in Ireland in the twelfth century ? A. Religion of course suffered severely by HISTORY OF IRELAND. 21 the license and havoc resulting from domestic warfare, and its precepts were too often forgotten and neglected by the turbulent factions who divided the country. Q. What was at that time the character of the clergy of Ireland ? A. The ancient historian, Giraldus Cambren- sis, although extremely prejudiced against the Irish nation, yet describes the clergy as being most virtuous. Q. What good qualities does he ascribe to the Irish priesthood ? A. He says they were pre-eminently chaste,* temperate in their food, and attentive to their religious duties. He, however, censures the bishops as slothful; an accusation not easily reconciled with the admitted virtues of the priesthood from whose ranks they had risen to the episcopacy. Q. Who was Laurence O'Toole ? A. One of the best and greatest prelates who have adorned the Irish church. He was Arch- bishop of Dublin, and afterwards of Armagh. Q. What was his conduct in reference to the English invasion ? A. He exerted himself to rouse the Irish chiefs and princes to a grand combined effort to resist the English invaders, and even bore arms him- self to encourage his countrymen. Q. When and where did this good Prelate die.P A. He died in 1178, at the Monastery of Eu, in Normandy. • " Inter varias quibus pollet virtutes, castitatis prero- gativa prae-eminet atque prcecellet." c. 27. 22 CATECHISM OF THE CHAPTER IV. The reign of Henry the Second concluded. Q. What are the earliest traces we have of parliaments in Ireland? A. About the year 1169 we find Roderick O'Connor, king-paramount of Ireland, con- voking a general council of the princes and nobles of the land at Tara. But this council did not possess the representative character which attaches to the modern house of commons. Q. Did Henry the Second call a parliament in Ireland ? A. He did; and that parliament passed a law arranging the executive government of Ireland.* Q. Was Ireland peaceful during Henry's reign ? A. It was, at the commencement of it, so long as Henry remained in Ireland to overawe resistance by his presence. Q. How long did he remain in Ireland ? A. Six months. Q. After he quitted it what occurred ? • "The Statute, 2. Richard III. c. 8, recites as follows ; 'Que le Statute de Henry Fitz Emprice' [Henry the Second] 'ordeine pour la eleccion del gouvernor,' &c.. had made several regulations for supplying occasional vacancies in that office; it then proceeds to amend the same. Here, therefore, we have an evidence of a purely legislative enactment of primary importance, made in Ireland, arranging the executive government itself, and coeval with the supposed conquest of the kingdom". — Mr. Monck Mason^s Essay on the Constitution and antiquity of Parliaments in Ireland, p. 3. Dublin, 1820. HISTORY OF IRELAND, 23 A. Civil war succeeded the short peace which had prevailed during his stay. Q. How did it arise ? A. From the discontent excited by the grasping rapacity of Henry and his followers. Q. Give an example of this ? A. He granted away the entire kingdom of Meath, the royal patrimony of the house of Melachlin, to Hugh De Lacy, an Anglo-Norman knight. Q. What was the extent of land thus trans- ferred to De Lacy ? A. About eight hundred thousand acres. Q. In whose occupation had this territory been, prior to Henry's seizure of it ? A. In that of O'Ruarc, to whom it had been temporarily given by Roderick O'Connor. Q. Did O'Ruarc endeavour to obtain amends ? A. Yes; he asked redress from Hugh de Lacy, who appointed Tara Hill for a conference. They met, with a stipulated number of followers upon each side. The two chiefs, unarmed and at a distance from all the rest, conferred together with the help of an interpreter. Q. Did their conference end peaceably ? A. No ; a strife arose, and O'Ruarc was slain by a relation of De Lacy's, named Griffith. His corpse was beheaded, and buried with the heels upwards, in token of contempt. His head was exposed on a stake over one of the gates of Dublin, and finally sent to England, to the King. Q. Where did the celebrated Strongbow at this time reside ? A. At Ferns, in Leinster, the residence of his father-in-law King Dermot Mac Murrough. 24 CATECHISM OF THE Q. "Was he engaged in civil war with any of the native chiefs? A. Yes; with O'Dempsey O'Faley. Q. What was the cause of quarrel ? A. O'Faley had refused to attend the court of Strongbow; whereupon the latter invaded his territory. Q. With what success ? A. Strongbow, at first, being unresisted, spread destruction in his progress. But on his return he was attacked by O'Faley, at the head of a party, who slew a number of the Strong- bownian Knights, including Strongbow's son- in-law, De Quincy, and captured the Standard of Leinster. Q. In what year did that skirmish occur ? A. iftura. Q. Did any commotions take place in the following year? A. Yes. In 1174 Strongbow sent his relation, Hervey de Mount-Maurice, to attack Donald O'Brian, king of Limerick. A large reinforce- ment of Strongbow's array, however, were surprised atOssory, and almost totally destroyed by a party whom Donald O'Brian commanded. Q, What was Strongbow's revenge for this defeat ? A. He sent Kaymond, one of his best military commanders, with a large force, to besiege Limerick. The assailants succeeded in taking the town notwithstanding a gallant defence. Q. How long did the English keep Limerick? A. Until May, 1176. Kaymond was then obliged to repair to Dublin, Strongbow having died; and being unable to leave a sufficient HISTORY OF IRELAND. 25 force to occupy Limerick, he surrendered it back to Donald O'Brian; pretending to rely on G'Brian's future loyalty to the King of England. Q. How did Donald O'Brian act, on obtaining possession of the town ? A. Ere Ravmond's forces were out of sight, Donald set nre to the town, saying 'Hhat it should never again be made a nest of fo- reigners." Q. Where was Strongbow buried .^ A. In the cathedral of Christ Church, Dublin. Q. Did Meath continue peaceful all this time ? A. By no means. De Lacy had given the castle of Slane, in Meath, to one of his followers, named Fleming. The Irish Chief who had been dispossessed, surprised the English garrison and inhabitants of Slane, put tbem all to the sword, and recovered possession of his castle. Q, What further results followed ? A. The English, in Meath, were so terrified, that the garrisons of three other castles, built by Fleming in that territory, evacuated them on the following day. Q. Did King Henry enter into a treaty with Roderick O'Connor, king-paramount of Ireland ? A. He did, in 1175. Q. What were the terms of this treaty ? A. Henry was bound to protect Roderick in possession of his territories, provided that Roderick consented to hold them as Henry's tributary. Roderick, on the other hand, was bound to compel the Irish princes to pay tribute, which was to pass through his hands to Henry. In case of any rebellion against Henry, Roderick D 26 CATECHISM OF THE was empowered, by the terms of the treaty, to judge and punish the insurgents. Q. What was the amount of tribute stipulated? A. One hide for every ten head of cattle slaughtered within the Kingdom. Q. Was this treaty observed ? A. No; in the turmoil and confusion of the times its observance was impossible. Q. Did the Irish and their invaders blend into one nation ? A. Not at that period. The greatest hatred, in general, animated the two races against each other. Q. What, then, prevented the Irish from combining to drive the invaders out of the land ? A. They were too busy quarrelling with each other for any such great national eflFort. Their bravery, their enterprise, their mental abilities were all rendered unavailing by their unhappy internal divisions. It often happened that they joined the English forces and fought in their ranks against some hostile native chieftain. Q. Did not the English also often contend against each other ? A. Yes ; English troops were sometimes to be found on opposite sides fighting in the ranks of contending Irish chiefs. And the English leaders themselves were occasionally influenced, by their mutual jealousies, to assume an attitude of armed hostility against each other. Q. Did not some of the new settlers inter- marry with the native Irish families ? A. Yes. We have seen that Strongbow married Eva, the daughter of Dermot Mac Murrough. And Hugh De Lacy, to whom HISTORY OF IRELAND. 27 Meath had been granted, married the daughter of King Roderick O'Connor. There were also several other such alliances. Q. To whom did King Henry grant Ireland.^ A. To his son John. Q. What was John's character ? A. He was cruel, profligate, extravagant, and vain; destitute alike of moral principle and political wisdom. Q. In what year did John arrive in Ireland .^ A. He landed at Waterford in 1185. Q. "What was John's conduct .^ A. He commenced by offering personal insults to the Irish chieftains who came to offer their respects to him as the son of their Sovereign. He, and his courtiers, plucked their beards, ridiculed their dress and manners, mimicked their attitudes, and finally turned them out of the presence. Q. How did the chiefs act ? A. Thej resented the insolence of John by a strong effort to throw off the Anglo-Norman power. Q. How far did they succeed ? A. Their triumphs were partial. The Prince of Limerick destroyed the English garrison of Ardfinnan. At Lismore, Robert De Barry and his entire troop were cut off. In Ossory, Roger De la Poer was slain and his force destroyed. Two gallant knights, named Fitz-Hugh and Canton, were also slain by the Irish. The English garrison of Mogeva in Tyrone, was routed with great slaughter by O'Loughlin, prince of that territory. Q. Was the English power in Cork assailed by the natives P 28 CATECHISM OF THE A. Yes; M'Carthy Prince of Desmond very nearly succeeded in capturing the city. He was, however, foiled by the gallant defence of Fitz- Walter. Q. Was the English power in Meath attacked ? A. It was, by the northern Irish ; who were with great loss and difficulty repulsed by William Petit. Q. When King Henry learned these tidings, what steps did he take ? A. He recalled his foolish and profligaie son, and appointed John De Courcy, Earl of Ulster, Lord Deputy of Ireland. Q. Dia De Courcy put down the insurrection ? A. Yes. Even at this most critical juncture, the old curse of Ireland — the mutual quarrels of her chiefs — rendered them liable to easy defeat. Q. What became of King Roderick O'Connor .P ^* A. He was dethroned by his own sons, and ended his days in the Monastery of Cong. Q. What schools did he found and endow .^ A. The schools of Armagh. Q. When did King Henry die ? A. In the year 1189, at Chinon in Normandy. CHAPTER V. The reigns of Richard J., John, and Henry III. Q. Who succeeded Henry as King of England.^ A. His eldest son, Richard. Q. Did King Richard assume the control of Ireland ? A. No ; he left the management of the country to his brother John, to whom the late King Henry had granted it. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 29 Q. What was John's first measure ? A. He began by removing De Courcy from the office of Lord Deputy, and appointing Hugh De Lacy to the government. Q. What was the result of this step ? A. Open hatred on the part of De Courcy to his successor. Q. Did De Lacy long continue Lord Deputy ? A. No. He was soon removed and replaced by William Petit, who, in turn, was displaced to make room for the late Earl Strongbow's son-in-law, William Earl Marshal. Q. What steps did the Lord Deputy Earl Marshal take ? A. He proceeded to Munster to subdue the insurgents there. Q. With what success ? A. His campaign began unpromisingly. O'Brian, Prince of Thomond, encountered him at Thurles, and ovethrew his forces, putting to the sword a great number of knights. The English were routed from Munster, with the sole exception of Cork, which was still retained by an English garrison. Q. Did the JLrish make any effort to obtain Cork? A. Yes; M'Carthy of Desmond, who had previously been repulsed from Cork by the English garrison under Fitz-W alter, now re- newed his attack on the city ; the army sent to reinforce the defenders had been cut off by the Irish, and the garrison, having exhausted their provisions, surrendered to M'Carthy. Q. Did the Irish chiefs improve this success to establish their own power on a lasting basis ? d2 30 CATECHISM OF THE A. Unhappily not. M'Carthy, Prince of Des- mond, jealous of the power of O'Brian, Prince of Thomond, actually invited the English to assist him against his rival, and even permitted them to build the castle of Breginnis in Desmond, the better to enable them to harass O'Brian ! Q. In what year did this occur ? A. About the year 1190. Q. Why do we record these shameful squab- bles? A. Because they show us the true cause of Ireland's subjection to a foreign power. The Irish had numberless opportunities of establish- ing their own independence, and lost every one of them by their absurd and mischievous contentions. Q. What do modern Irishmen learn from these facts ? A. They learn that in order to regain their native Parliament, it is absolutely necessary to forget all past dissentions, and to work together as one man, cordially, heartily, perseveringly. Q. You have said that some of the invading chiefs also quarreled with each other ; can you name any who did so ? A. Yes; Fitz-Aldelm De Burgo, the Lord Deputy, seized on Raymond Fitz Gerald's castle of Wicklow. Q. Was this the only case of the kind ? A. By no means. Fitz-Aldelm compelled Raymond Le Gros, and Robert Fitz-Stephen, to yield the lands they had originally got, to new^er invaders ; and the dispossessed knights were obliged to content themselves with less profit- able territories, in a more dangerous part of the country. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 31 Q. Have you' any other instances of dissen- tion amongst the English in Ireland ? A. Yes; Meyler Fitz-Henry marched an army against De Burgho in. Connaught ; and De Lacy, at the head of a powerml force, attacked De Courcy in Ulster. De Lacy was also engaged in war against the young Earl of Pembroke, whose estates he had tried to seize. Q. How did their struggle end ? A. Pembroke was destroyed by the treachery of Geoflfry De Maurisco, an English knight, who had promised to support him, but who be- trayed him by suddenly drawing off his forces at the moment of battle. Q. Did the Fitzgerald family partake of this turbulence ? A. Yes; they actually seized on the Lord Deputy, (Richard De Capella,) and threw him into prison for his efforts to resist their usurpa- tions. Civil war among the Anglo-Norman barons became frequent ; thus affording to the native Irish many opportunities of freedom, derived from the violent divisions of their invaders. Q. In what year did King John die ? A. In the year 1216. Q. What quarrels, about that time, distui-bed Connaught .P A. De Burgo usurped certain lands of Feidlim O'Connor's ; the King (Henry III.) interfered, in behalf of O'Connor, and ordered the then Lord Deputy (Maurice Fitzgerald) to protect him from De Burgo' s rapacity. Q. Who built the magnificent Cathedral of Cashel ? A. Donald O'Brian, Prince of Thomond. 32 CATECHISM OF THE Q. In what year did he die ? A. In 1194. Q. Did Henry the Third hold parliaments in Ireland ? A. Yes. He convened Irish parliaments in the years 1253 and 1269. Q. What do you notice with respect to the Irish parliaments ? A. I notice that the king's Irish subjects en- joyed a domestic parliament in Ireland, from as early a period as his English subjects enjoyed a parliament in England. Q. In what year did Henry the Third die ? A. In 1272. CHAPTER VI. The Reigns of Edward T., II. and III. Q. What remarkable offer did the Irish make in the reign of Edward the First ? A. The Irish princes offered the king the sum of 8000 marks, provided that the rights of British subjects, enjoyed by the descendants of. the English settlers, should be extended to the whole Irish nation. Q, How did Edward treat the offer ? A. He was perfectly willing to grant the request. Q. What prevented him from doing so ? A. The Irish lords of English descent opposed the king's wise plans and the wishes of the Irish people; for they believed that to extend the rights of British subjects to the whole nation would greatly abridge their own power to op- press and plunder. Q. Was this oflfer ever repeated by the Irish ? HISTORY OF IRELAND. 33 A. Yes; often at later periods; and as often defeated by the influence of the Anglo-Irish lords. Q. Did Edward the First hold a parliament in Ireland? A. He did ; in the year 1295. Q. When did Edward die.P A. He died, whilst marching against the Scotch, in 1307. Q. What great victory did the Scotch gain over the English, in the reign of Edward the Second P A. Under the command of Robert Bruce they defeated the English at the battle of Bannock- burn. Q. How was this Scottish victory regarded in Ireland ? A. The chiefs of Ulster, regarding themselves as allied in Celtic kindred with the victors, were delighted at their triumph, and resolved to follow, if possible, so glorious an example. Q. Did they make the attempt ? A. Yes. Edward Bruce, the brother of the Scottish King, landed on the eastern coast of Ulster, in May 1315, and was joined by the principal chiefs of Ulster. Q. What followed. P A. They seized on several castles; burned Atherdee, Dundalk, and many other towns, and speedily banished the English out of Ulster. Q. How did the barons act .P A. Many of them were willing to enter int-o terms with Bruce ; and even the powerful house of De Lacy joined his standard. Q. How did the clergy Sbct? A. A large number of them declared in favour of Bruce. 34 CATECHISM OF THE Q. What was Bruce's next step ? A. He got himself solemnly crowned king of Ireland at Dundalk. He then marched south- wards, as provisions could no longer be procured for his army in the north. Q. What Anglo-Norman lords opposed Edward Bruce ? A. Fitz-Thomas, the baron of O'Faley, and Butler the lord deputy. Fitz-Thomas was re- warded by the king of England with the title of Earl of Kildare, and Butler was created Earl of Carriek. Q. Did other lords follow their example ? A. Yes; several did so. Q. What support did Bruce get, besides that of the Ulster chieftains ? A. Feidlim O'Connor, of Connaught, declared in his favour ; but this help was soon cut off by tJie total defeat of Feidlim at the battle of Athenree. Q. Who commanded the royalist army against Feidlim ? A. Sir Richard Bermingham. Q. Was Edward Bruce dismayed by the defeat of his ally, O'Connor, at Athenree ? A. No ; he ravaged the country up to the very walls of Dublm. He marched through Ossory, and advanced into Munster. Q. Was he opposed in that province ? A. Yes; by Sir Roger Mortimer, the new lord deputy, w^ho landed with a large force at Waterford. Bruce, fearing to meet this arma- ment, hastily retreated northwards. Q. What was the condition of Bruce in the north ? A. It was miserable. His army could get no HISTORY OF IRELAND. 35 provisions, as the country had been previously wasted ; and it is said that his soldiers, to allay the pangs of famine, used to eat the dead bodies of their brethren. Q. Did Robert Bruce, the Scottish King, take any steps to relieve his brother Edward ? A. Yes ; Robert prepared to bring an army to assist him. Q. How did Edward Bruce act? A. His impatience was his ruin. Instead of waiting for the arrival of help from Scotland, he led his shattered remnant of an army against Sir Richard Bermingham, who was at the head of 15,000 men. They fought at Dundalk, in 1318, and Bruce's army was utterly routed. Q. What was his own personal fate ? A. He engaged in single combat with an English knight, named Maupas or Malpas ; and so fierce was the encounter that both were slain. Q. Did Robert Bruce arrive in Ireland .P A. Yes. But he immediately returned to Scotland on learning the fate of his unfortunate brother. Q. How was Sir Richard Bermingham re- warded for his victory over Edward Bruce ? A. He was created Earl of Louth and Baron of Atherdee. Q. Did the great lords of English descent settle into a peaceful mode of living .f' A. Far from it. They were as quarrelsome as the original Irish chiefs. In 1327, we find the Butlers and Bermingham s ranged on the side of Maurice of Desmond, in fierce civil war against De la Poer and the De Burghos. Q. What was the cause of quarrel ? 36 CATECHISM OF THE A. De la Poer had called Maurice of Desmond a poet \ whereupon Maurice, in order to mark his indignation at the slander, very prosaically went to war with De la Poer. Q. "What use did the old Irish clans make of this circumstance P A. They took up arms ; and, under the guidance of O'Brian, Prince of Thomond, defeated the English in several engagements in Leinster. Q. What particular grievance induced the Irish clans to take up arms just then ? A. They had renewed their earnest prayer to be admitted to the full privileges of British subjects ; which privileges, by the influence of the lords of English descent, had been refused to them. Q. Did the progress of time in any degree tend to blend the two races of English and Irish into one nation ? A. To some extent it did so. In spite of bitter laws forbidding intermarriages, such unions did take place; and some of the lords even renounced the English name and English language, and adopted Irish names and used the Irish tongue. Q. What was the description given of those who did so.P A. They were called " Hibernicis ipsis Hi" berniores." Q. What does that phrase mean. P A. " More Irish than the Irish themselves." Q. Did the Anglo-Irish lords often rebel against the king of England .^ A. Yes; many of them did so. Q. Who was appointed lord deputy of Ireland in 1361 ? HISTORY OF IRELAND. 37 A. Lionel, Duke of Clarence; the second son of Edward the Third. Q. What remarkable statute was passed during Lionel's viceroyalty .^ A. "The statute of Kilkenny." Q. In what year was it passed? A. In 136r. Q. What were its provisions ? A. It forbade, under pain of high treason, marriage, fosterage, or gossipred between persons of English descent and the old Irish families. It also forbade all persons of English descent to use the Irish language, or to adopt Irish names. Q. What other provisions did this statute contain ? A. It strictly forbade the king's subjects in Ireland to entertain in their houses Irish minstrels, musicians, or story-tellers, ft also forbade them to allow an Irish horse to graze upon their lands! ! ! Q. What was the conseque^ce of this insane act? A. Fresh turmoils, riots, civil wars and insurrections. Q. How did it happen that the conquest of England, by the Normans, did not produce such evils to that country, as those which followed from the invasion of Ireland by the Anglo- Norman settlers ? A. Because the ^orman conquerors of England fixed the royal seat of government in England , and by the mere fact of residence, the govern- ment became, in course of time, identified in national feeling with that country. But in Ireland the government was not national in its sentiments or in its measures; instead of ruling E 38 CATECHISM OF THE Ireland for the good of its own people, it ruled the country for what it deemed the good of England ; and it kept the two races in Ireland from uniting with each other for the common benefit, as the different races in England had done. CHAPTER VII. Reign of Edtvard the Third concluded. Q. Did Edward find Ireland a profitable possesion? A. No. It was a source of heavy expense to him. Q. Did he ask the Irish for supplies of money ? A. He did; but they replied that they had got none to give his majesty. Q. What was Edward's next act? A. He took a strange step. He summoned a sort of' Irish parliament to meet him at West- minster ; consisting of two members from each county, two burgesses from each city and borough, and two priests from each diocese. Q. When this odd sort of parliament had met, how did Edward address them ? A. He complained of the expense of governing Ireland, and demanded money. Q. What did the Irish deputies answer? A. That their constituents had expressly prohibited them from granting his majesty any ; on which the king dismissed ^hem. Q. Was the rest of his reign prosperous ? A. No. The barons by their wars and ex- actions rendered prosperity impossible. Q. Were the contentious Irish chiefs and Anglo-Irish nobles worse than the same class of men in other lands ? HISTORY OF IRELAND. 39 A. No. In the days of the Heptarchy, \Te find that the petty kings of England were engaged in constant warfare. In later times, that country was ravaged by repeated civil wars. And in Scotland, we find that the (juarrels of the Scottish nobles involved the kingdom in perpetual bloodshed for centuries. Q. In what year did Edward the Third die? A. In i3rr. CHAPTER VIII. Reign of Richard the Second. Q. Did King Richard the Second visit Ireland ? A. He did, in the hope of quelling the dis- turbances. Q. How was he received on his arrival? A. The Irish chiefs and the Anglo-Irish lords hastened to pay him their homage and allegiance. Richard made a royal progress through the kingdom, with great parade, and at profuse expense. Q. What treaty did Richard make with Mac Murrough, prince of Leinster ? A. He stipulated that Mac Murrough and all his followers should quit Leinster by a certain day, having surrendered all their territories there to his majesty, his heirs, and successors. Q. What compensation did King Richard give Mac Murrough, for this vast surrender ? A. His Majesty gave full license and en- couragement to Mac Murrough to seize upon all such territories belonging to the Irish septs in any other part of the realm, as he could grasp by 40 CATECHISM OF THE violence. He also undertook to pay Mac Mur- rough an annual pension of eighty marks. Q. Did Richard hold a parliament in Ireland ? A. He did— in 1395. Q. What measures did he take whilst in the kingdom ? A. Wiser and more just ones than his extra- ordinary treaty with MacMurrough could lead us to expect. He provided learned and upright judges for the courts of law; and he tried to conciliate the four chief Irish princes, by confer- ring upon them the order of knighthood, and entertaining them at abanquet at his own table. It appears from a letter which he wrote from Dublin to his English council, that he saw the advantages which might result from a milder mode of dealing with the ancient clans, than had been used by any previous monarch. Q. Whom did Richard appoint as Lord Lieu- tenant ? A. His kinsman, the young Earl of March. Q. Did March find the Irish obedient ? A. No — as soon as Richard quitted Ireland, several clans broke out in revolt. Q. Did Mac Murrough evacuate Leinster ac- cording to his treaty ? A. No; and when required to do so, he took up arms against the Lord Lieutenant, wl^o was slain in an engagement with the O'Byrnes and Kavanaghs. * Q. When this news reached Richard, what steps did he take ? A. He proceeded once more to Ireland, in order to chastise Mac Murrough and the con- federated clans. • Mac Murrough was chief of the Kavanaghs. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 41 Q. Did Richard succeed? A. No ; Mac Murrough was safe in his moun- tain fastnesses, and could not be brought to an open engagement. Richard's forces were unable to dislodge the clans from their rocky glens and dense forests; and as the country bad been greatly wasted, provisions were almost unattain- able; so that numbers of the English army perished from famine. Q. What was Richard's next measure ? A. Finding himself obliged to retreat from his harassing enemy, he proposed to enter on a new treaty with Mac Murrough. Q. How did Mac Murrough receive this pro- posal ? A. With scornful defiance. Q. What then happened Richard ? A. He was obliged to return to England to oppose Henry of Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, who, during the king's absence from that country, had landed there to claim the crown. Richard was betrayed into the power of Lan- caster, and thrown into prison, where he shortly afterwards died. CHAPTER IX. Reigns of Henry IV. V. and VI. Q. What events occurred in Ireland in the reign of Henry the Fourth .^ A. The Irish chiefs very much enlarged their powTr. Q. Did the Irish lords of English descent be- come more national than they had previously been ? A. Yes. They began to feel that they were e2 42 CATECHISM OF THE Irishmen. They, in fact, became Irish chief- tains; and they intermarried frequently with the old Milesian families. Q. Was there not a law forbiding such mar- riages ? A. Yes ; but that law was now no longer observed. Q. On what terms did the barons stand with the chiefs of native lineage ? A. Many of them paid to the chiefs a fixed tribute (equivalent to the Scotch black mail), and received their protection in return. Q. Did the English parliament look upon the Anglo-Irish families with enmity P A. Yes. That parliament classed them to- gether with the rest of the Irish people, in a statute whereby it forbade " all Irish adventur- ers whatsoever" to come into England ; at the same time ordering all who had already come to depart thence without delay. Q. Did this law extended all the Irish, with- out any exception .P A. Yes. It even included the sons of the Irish nobility, who were then studying in the English inns of court and universities. Q. What effect did this act of banishment produce on those who were the objects of it? A. The Irish nobility and gentry, stung with the affront, returned home to their own country and used all the means in their power to annoy the government. Q. Were measures then changed P A. Yes ; the king ( Henry the Sixth) appointed the Earl of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Q. Was that a politic appointment ? A. In some respects it was. He produced HISTORY OF IRELAND. 43 peace at first by his wise measures. But after some time he became embroiled with the Earl of Desmond, who mustered sufficient force to give him battle, and after a tedious campaign, a truce was agreed to by both parties. Q. Did Ormond long continue Lord Lieu- tenant ? A. No. His rivals had interest enough to prevail on the king to remove him; and Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury was appointed in his place. Q. Who succeeded Shrewsbury, in the year 1449 .P A. Richard, Duke of York. Q. Was he a good viceroy ? A. One of the very best who ever ruled Ireland. He observed strict good faith in his treaties with the Irish chiefs; he felt for the wrongs of the peasantry, and tried to improve their condition. Q. What circumstance called the duke of York from Ireland P A. He went to England in order to defend himself against a false charge that had been made; namely, that he had encouraged the rebellion of a man named Jack Cade and his party. Q. What occurred in England ? A. There was a rebellion against Henry the Sixth, who was thrown into prison, and the royal power was transferred to the Duke of York. Q. How long did the duke retain it.P A. Not long. Queen Margaret assembled the friends of her imprisoned husband, and gained a victory over the Yorkists, at Blore Heath. 44 CATECHISM OF THE Q. What was the duke's next step ? A. He fled for safety to Ireland. Q. How was he received there ? A. With the greatest joy. The Irish ^ par- liament passed an act attaching the guilt of high treason to any attempt that should be made to molest or disturb the duke or his followers, under pretext of writs from England ; for the English parliament had previously attainted him. Q. Was the Irish act for his protection violated.f^ A. It was ; by a follower of the Earl of Or- mond. The delinquent was forthwith executed. Q. What was the duke's ultimate fate ? A. He returned to England with a numerous following of his Irish adherents, to strike a blow for the crown ; but was slain, and his army routed by superior numbers at the battle of Wakefield. Q. What declaration did the Irish parliament make in the 38th year of the reign of king Henry the Sixth? A. The Irish parliament in that year declared its own independence on England. Q In what terms ? A. The two houses declared that "Ireland is, and always has been, incorporated within itself by ancient laws and customs ; and is only to be governed by such laws as by the lords and commons of the land in parliament assembled, have been advised, accepted, affirmed ana proclaimed." They also declared, "that by custom, privilege and franchise, there has ever been a royal seal peculiar to Ireland, to which alone the king's subjects are to pay obedience." HISTORY OF IRELAND. 45 Q. What was the final result of the civil war in England? A. I^otwithstanding the exertions of Queen Margaret, her husband's power was utterly destroyed; and the throne was usurped by Edward of York, fourth king of that name, in the year 1461. CHAPTER X. Reigns of Edward IV. and V. and Richard III. Q. What was the condition of Ireland in the reif:;n of Edward the Fourth ? A. At that time the Irish people — thereby meaning not only the Milesian clans, but also the descendants of the Norman invaders who had become thoroughly Irish in their language, names, manners, and sentiments — were so strong as compared with the small English colony of occupation, that they could with the utmost ease have acquired for themselves the supreme government of the kingdom. Q. And what prevented them from doing so ? A. Their old sin of mutual discord, mutual enmity, mutual distrust. They would not com- bine with each other for a common and general purpose. Q. Had many of the Anglo-Norman families then adopted the Irish name and nation ? A. Yes'; very many. And to them, as also to the Irish chiefs inhabiting the borders of the English pale, or district, did the English inhabitants continue in this reign to pay the blackmail, or tribute, for protection from the lawless violence of freebooters. 46 CATECHISM OF THE Q. How did the English government at this time use such influence as it possessed ? A. Its influence was used, as was generally the case, to insult and oppress the Irish people ; which it could not have done if it were not for the weakness arising from the divisions of the people themselves. Q. What oppressive measures were enacted P A. In the year 1463, a parliament held at Trim by Fitz- Eustace Lord Portlester, made a law, ** That any body may kill thieves or robbers, or any person going to rob or steal, having no faithful men of good name and in the English dress in their company." Q. What were the results of this law ? A. It gave a great facility to the English inhabitants to murder their Irish neighbours ; since it was sufficient justification ♦for the crime to allege **that the deceased had been going to rob or steal." Q. What other enactment was made by that parliament ? A, It enacted, on pain of forfeiture of goods, that all the Irish who inhabited the English district should take English names, wear the English dress, and swear allegiance. Q. What other act was passed against the people in this reign ? A. In a parliament over which the English bishop of Meath, William Sherwood, presided, it was enacted that anv Englishman, injured by any Irishman beyond the pale, might avenge himself on the entire clan to which the aggressor belonged. Q. What circumstances prevented all the inhabitants of Ireland from making common ^gft^^^^^^^m HISTORY OF IRELAND. 47 cause with each other, and blending together in one great national mass ? A. We have seen already that the unhappy disposition of the people to quarrel among themselves, fatally weakened them. But there was another cause. Q. What was that P A. The nature of the government, which was almost always opposed to the people and regarded them not as friends and subjects, but as enemies. This adverse power w^as sustained, not only by the mutual jealousies which it fomented amongst the people, but also by fresh streams of English adventurers who continually poured into the country, bringing with them a perpetual supply of bitter hatred to the natives. Q. What lesson do we learn from this ? A. That we — the Irish people — must cast aside all jealousies of every sort whatsoever, of race, of creed, and Q)i party ; and stand firmly (but peaceably) together ; otherwise we can never obtain for our country the first of all political blessings — self-government. Q. Does not the conquest* of Ireland by the Anglo-Normans destroy the right of the Irish people to a resident Irish parliament ^ A. No more than the conquest of England bv the Normans destroyed the right of the English people to a resident English parliament. Our right is as ancient as theirs, and we never, by any act of ours, surrendered it. * I do not use the word " conquest" in its military meaning, in which sense it certainly cannot be applied to the proceedings of Strongbow and Henry II. in Ireland; I merely use the phrase as expressive of the fact that the anti-national party got the upper hand in Ireland. 48 CATECHISM OF THE Q. What was the fate, in this reign, of the Earl of Ormond ? A. King Edward beheaded him for having favoured the late monarch, Henry the Sixth. Q. Did the old clan-feud between the Butlers and Geraldines still continue ? A. Yes ; and the former were freshly exasper- ated by the attainder and execution of the earl, their chieftain. Q. What were, at this time, the war-cries of the several clans ? A. "Croom-aboo!" was the war shout of the Geraldines; literally meaning "Hurrah for Croom!" from the castle of that name in the county Limerick belonging to the Earl of Kil- dare. In like manner, " Butler-aboo !" was the war-cry of the followers of Ormond ; " Shannat- aboo !" was that of the Geraldines of Desmond, from the castle of Shannat, where their chief, the great earl, held a rude court. Q. What was the war-cry of the O'Brians of Thomond ? A. " Lamh-laider-aboo !" — or "Hurrah for the strong hand !" Q. That of the O'Neills .P A. " Lamh-dhearg-aboo !" — or "Hurrah for the red (or bloody) hand!" — The Fitzpatricks of Os- sory adopted as their war-cry, " Gear-laider' aboo!" — or, "Hurrah for the sharp and strong!" And the gathering-shouts of all the clans con- tained similar allusions, either to the castles of their residence, or to some quality on which they j^ided themselves. Q. Of what description were the native Irish soldiery of that period ? A. The cavalry of the chiefs and barons were mounted on small, but very strong and active HISTORY OF IRELAND. 49 horses. These horses were called "hobbies," and their riders " hobellers." From all ancient accounts it appears that the Irish were eminently skiful as horsemen ; and active and dexterous in the use of their weapons on horseback. Q. What were their weapons P A. Short spears and sabres; also battle-axes. They had scarcely any armour. Q. Describe the foot-soldiers, or infantry ? A. Of these there were two sorts; a heavily armed infantry, called "Galloglasses;" accou- tred with iron head-pieces, efficient coats of armour, and bearing a broad axe and sword. Q. How were the light-infantry accoutred .^ A. They wore little or no armour save the iron head- piece ; they bore a long spear or jave- lin, and a long knife called a skian. Q. Did the quarrel of the Butlers and Geral- dines disturb this entire reign ^ A. Yes ; their unhappy contentions were pro- tracted, with varying fortune ; the Butlers some- times gaining the advantage, and the Geraldines again recovering the mastery. In reward of Desmond's service in defeating the Butlers of A\^exford, Edward made Desmond Lord Deputy of Ireland. Q. What '.vas his first act as Lord Deputy ? A. He made war upon the Irish Septs in Meath. Q. Did he defeat them .P A. No; they took him prisoner; he was, however, soon set free by his friend O'Connor ofO'Falley. Q. What was his next act .P A. He made war on O'Brian of Thomond. Q. With what success ? F 60 CATECHISM OF THE A. O'Brien gained a rapid advantage over the Lord Deputy, who bought him off b^ en- gaging that he should be paid a regular tribute. Q. Was Desmond removed from the govern- ment for these failures ? A. No ; the king continued him in the vice- royalty ; until at last the queen became his enemy. Q. How did he offend the queen ? * A. By speaking incautiously of the me«iness of her birth. Q. What steps were then taken to destroy him? A. He was removed from his office; sup- planted by Lord Deputy Tiptoft ; attainted by parliament on several charges, and executed without a trial. Q. Meanwhile, how did the Butlers conduct themselves ^ A. John of Ormond, the late earl's eldest living brother, contrived to obtain the favour of the king. Q. What benefit did the Butler family derive from the royal favour ? A. An act of parliament was obtained, repeal- ing the former act of Attainder and Forfeiture, and restoring the old honours and estates to the heir of Ormond. Q. How long did the Butlers continue upper- most ? A. Not very long ; we find the Earl of Kildare made Lord Deputy in 1478. Q. Did not the king desire to remove Kildare and appoint Lord Grey to that office P A. He did; but Kildare held the office in • Elizabeth Grey. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 61 defiance of the king; and so strongly was he supported that the Viceroy appointed by the king was obliged to quit Ireland. Q. What Milesian alliance did the Earl of Kildare make ? Q. He gave his daughter in marriage to the son of the chief of the O'Neills. Q. What use did Kildare make of the influ- ence he gained by this connexion ? A. He used his influence to preserve Ireland in peace during the short, feeble reign of Edward the Fifth, ana the short reign of Eichard the Third. Q. In what year did Richard the Third die P A. He was slain at the battle of Bosworth, in 1485. CHAPTER XI. The Reign of Henry VJL ' Q. When Henry the Seventh ascended the throne, whom did he appoint Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ? A. He continued the Earl of Kildare in that office. Q What remarkable event occurred in Ire- land in 1486 ? A. A low impostor, named Simnel, arrived in Dublin, accompanied by one Richard Simons, an Oxford priest, who had trained him to per- sonate the Earl of Warwick. Q. Who was the Earl of Warwick P A. Son of the late Duke of Clarence, and grand-son of the Duke of York who had been Viceroy of Ireland. 53 CATECHISM OF THE Q. Where was the Earl of Warwick at that time P A. In the prison of the Tower of London. Q. Why did the king detain him there ? A. From his jealous fears lest Warwick, who was heir to the house of York, should lay claim to the throne. Q. How was the impostor, Simnel, received in Ireland ? A. His tale was believed ; he was received by Kildare and many other leading Irishmen as their lawful king; and, as such, he was crowned in Dublin, under the title of Edward the Sixth. Q. What then became of him ? A. He went to England to give battle to Henry the Seventh ; was defeated, made pri- soner, and employed by the king as a scullion in the royal kitchen. Q. How did the Irish lords and chiefs employ themselves ? A. In petty wars. Q. Mention some of them. A. The Geraldines of Desmond defeated the McCarthys and O'Carrolls, and obtained large tracts of their lands. The Lord Lieutenant's brother-in-law, O'Neill, went to war with the Chief of Tyrconnell. Q. What was their quarrel about ? A. Tribute. O'Neill had written to Tyrcon- nell, " Send me tribute ; or else " To this. Tyrconnell answered, " I owe you none ; and if " Q. What was the result of the war that followed ? A. The clan of the O'Neills were defeated. Q. Who was Perkin Warbeck ? HISTORY OF IHELAAD. 53 A. He was an impostor, calling himself Duke of York, the second son of Edward the Fourth. Q. When did he land in Ireland ? A. He landed at Cork in 1492. Q. Did he raise any faction in Ireland ? A. Nowhere except among the citizens of Cork. Q. How long did he remain in Ireland ? A. Only for a few weeks, at the end of which he departed to France. Q. Who was Lord Lieutenant in 1494 ? A. Sir Edward Poynings. Q. What was enacted by the remarkable law called '^ Poyninff's Act ? " A. It enacted, that prior to the holding of any parliament in Ireland, the Lord Lieutenant and Privy Council should first certify to the king the causes of assembling such parliament; specifying also such acts as they deemed it requisite to pass. Q. Was this law an infraction of the rights (rf the king's Irish subjects P A. Yes ; a very grievous one. Q. But did the Irish thereby, in a^ny degree, forfeit their ftdl inherent right to self-legislation ? A. By no means ; any more than the English nation would forfeit their right to self-govern- ment by any servile surrender of power on the part of their parliament. Q. What is the duty of the people in regard to all such unjust laws P A. To obey them so long as they are laws ; but to struggle in every legal, peacefvd mode to get them repealed. Q. Did Perkin Warbeck land again in Ire- land ? F 2 54 CATECHISM OF THE A. He did, but being defeated at Waterford he fled to Scotland. Q. Did the Butlers, at this time, try to ruin the Earl of Kildare ? A. Yes ; they had got him attainted by Poy- nings Parliament, and he now was obliged to meet his accuser in the king's presence. Q. In what year was that P A. In the year 1496. Q. When the parties were met, what did the king say to Kildare ? A. He advised him to procure for himself the help of able counsel. Q. What was Kildare's answer P A. '*I choose the best counsel in the realm," said he, seizing the king's hand ; " I take your majesty to be my counsel against these false knaves." Q. Did the king resent this freedom P A. No ; he looked on it as a proof that Kil- dare w^as honest. Q. What was alleged against Kildare P A. High treason was alleged against him, but he easily cleared himself. Q. Was any other charge made P A. Yes; he was acccused of burning the church of Cashel. Q. What was his defence P A. "It is true," said he, "that I burned the church ; but I did so because I thought the archbishop was in it." Q. What effect did this defence produce P A. The oddity of it convulsed the king and all present with laughter. Q. What did Kildare's accusers then say ? HISTORY OF IRELAND. 55 A. " All Ireland," said they, " cannot govern this earl." Q,. What was the king's answer ? A. " Then this earl shall govern all Ireland;" whereupon he immediately made Kildare Lord Lieutenant of the kingdom. Q. How did Kildare discharge the duties of that office ? A. As soon as he was taken into the king's confidence, he went to war against his own fellow-countrymen. Q. Where — and on what account ? A. He brought the king's troops against his son-in-law, Ulick De Burgo, in Connaught, to punish that chief for maltreating his wife, who was Kildare's daughter. Q. What clans assisted De Burgo ? A. The O'Brians, and other tribes from Munster. Q. Who were Kildare's confederates ? A. All the Geraldines, many lords of the pale, and his ally and relative O'Neill, with a numerous following. Q. Where was the quarrel decided ? A. At the battle of Knocktow, near Gal way. Q. Who gained the victory ? A. Kildare. Q. What remarkable proof of the ancient English hatred of Irishmen did Lord Gormans- town then give ? A. After the battle, he said to Kildare, " We have beaten our enemies ; but in order to finish the good work, we ought now to cut the throats of the Irish who have helped us to do so." Q. Was this advice acted on ? 56 CATECHISM OF THE A. No ; it would have been inconvenient, for it would have weakened the conquering party very much. Q. Was there any other reason for not acting on it? A. Yes ; the bad feeling expressed by Lord Gormanstown was not then very general ; it had been softened away by many intermarriages between the ancient Irish clans and the Anglo- Irish families. Q. Are there any Lord Gormanstowns in Ire- land at the present day ? A. UnlucKily there are ; there are many un- natural Irishmen who hate their native land, and are ever ready to help the English Govern- ment to oppress and spoliate their own fellow- countrymen. Q. What is the reason of this ? A. Because the power that rules Ireland is an English, not an Irish power ; and so long as the ruling power is unfriendly, so long will every base, bad spirit in the land adopt that unfriend- liness, in order to pay its court to the ruling influence. Q. In what year did Henry the Seventh die P A. In 1609. CHAPTER XII. The Reign of Henry VITI. Q. Did King Henry the Eighth continue Kil- dare as Lord Deputy ? A. Yes; until Kildare happened to incur the jealousy of Cardinal Wolsey, on which that prelate procured his removal. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 57 Q. Who was appointed in his place ? A. The earl of Surrey. Q. What events took place in this reign ? A. Ormond had invaded the territory of Os- sory, and plundered Mac Gilla Patrick, or Fitz- Patrick, the prince of it. Q. What steps did Fitz-Patrick take ? A. He sent an envoy to the king to state his complaints. Q. Did the king interfere in the case ? A. No. Ormond was allowed to ravage Os- sory with impunity. Q. What at last checked him ? A. The power of Kildare, who contrived to make his peace with the king, and was reap- pointed Lord Deputy, Q. Meanwhile, how was the earl of Desmond acting ? A. He assumed the dignity and privileges of a sovereign prince. Q. In what manner ? A. He claimed a right to absent himself from parliament ; and also of being never obliged to enter a fortified town. Q. What use was made of these claims to sovereignty ? A. Francis, King of France, learning Des- mond's pretensions, endeavoured to raise a domestic commotion in Ireland through his agency, for the purpose of embarassing England. Q. How did Desmond receive the French King's proposals? A. His vanity was flattered at being treated as a sovereign prince by so powerful a monarch, and he entered into an alliance with Francis. Q,. What were the results ? 68 CATECHISM OF THE A. Before the treaty could be acted upon, Francis was taken prisoner at the battle of Pavia. Q,. And what became of Desmond ? A. The King determined to punish him, and sent orders to Kildare to that effect. Q. Did Kildare execute the orders ? A. No ; he did not like to be made the agent of his kinsman's punishment; and taking ad- vantage of some riots in Ulster, he marched into that province under pretext of suppressing them. Q. Did the King resent Kildare's disobedi- ence ? A. Yes. He required him to proceed to Lon- don to account for his conduct. Q. What arrangements did Kildare make P A. He supplied all his own castles with arms and ammunition from the King's stores: he committed the government to his son, Lord Thomas Fitz-Gerald, who was only twenty years of age ; and he then proceeded to London. Q. How was he treated on arriving in London ? A. He was imprisoned in the Tower. Q. How did his son. Lord Thomas, act in Ireland ? A. Having been excited by a false report of his father's execution, Lord Thomas rushed into the privy-council chamber in Dublin, followed by one hundred and forty armed retainers, and there renounced his allegiance to King Henry. Q. What was Lord Thomas' next step ? A. He quitted the astonished council, and proceeded to wage war on the garrison of Dublin. Q. With what success P A. He was at first easily defeated, from the fewness of his supporters, but retiring from HISTORY OF IRELAND. 59 Dublin and joining the O'Connors and O'Neills, he speedily increased his power. Q. What steps were taken against him ? A. The new Lord Lieutenant, Sir William Skeffington, besieged the castle of Maynooth, the best stronghold of the Fitz-Geralds. Q. Did the castle make a gallant defence ? A. Yes ; it held out for fourteen days ; and Skeffington was about to retire from before it, when it was placed in his power by the treachery (as is alleged) of the foster brother of Lord Thomas. Q. How did Skeffington reward the traitor ? A. He paid him the stipulated price of his treachery, and then had him hanged. Q. What effect did the taking of Maynooth produce on Lord Thomas' fortunes ? A. Many of his followers, dispirited at the news, dispersed; but with those who still re- mained, he made himself so formidable in an irregular warfare among the defiles and woods, that Lord Grey, the English commander, so- lemnly promised him protection if he should surrender himself. Q. Did Lord Thomas confide in the English- man's promise ? A. He did, and gave himself up. Q. How did Lord Grey then treat him ? A. He sent him prisoner to England. Q. How else did he treat the Fitz-Geralds ? A. He invited five uncles of Lord Thomas' to a feast ; in the midst of which he treacherously- seized them and sent them in custody to England. Q. What was Henry's conduct to these five unoffending men ? A. He had them all hanged at Tyburn, toge- ther with the unfortunate Lord Thomas. 60 CATECHISM OF THE Q. What great event took place in this reign ? A. The King rejected the Pope's supremacy over the church, and set up his own supremacy in place of it. Q. Did many of the Irish people abandon the Catholic, and embrace the Protestant, religion ? A. Scarcely any. The great bulk ot the people adhered to the old Catholic faith ; some few persons in connexion with the government alarquis of Worcester. 94 CATECHISM OF THE Q. Did Ormond at last sign the treaty with the confederates ? A. He did ; on the 28th of May, 1646. Q. What at last induced him to do so ? A. The pressing necessity of the king's affairs, which were every day becoming more desperate in consequence of the delay. Q. What was the first battle fought in Ireland after that treaty ? A. The battle of Benburb ; in which Owen Roe O'Neill, commanding the Catholic forces on the part of the king, defeated the more numerous army of the parliametarians, commanded by Monroe. Q Meanwhile what were the king's fortunes in England ? A. Most disastrous. He met with a succes- sion of defeats, and at last surrendered himself into the hands of the Scotch Puritans, who sold him to the English parliament for the sum of ^^400,000. Q. What was then Ormond's policy ? A. As soon as he saw the king's affairs were hopeless, he began to make terms with the parliamentarians ; and he even pretended that Charles had instructed him to prefer the alliance of that party to the friendship of the Irish. Q. When Ormond deserted the confederates to negociate with the parliamentarians, what conditions did he make for himself with the latter ? A. He bargained for ^3000 a year for his wife ; .#14,00() to make good his own personal losses in the war ; and liberty to reside in Eng- HISTORY OF IRELAND. 95 land on condition of not disturbing the new order of things. Q. Was this last stipulation carried into effect ? A. No. On arriving in England he was apprised that the parliament had issued orders to arrest him ; and he accordingly escaped to France. Q. What were the fortunes of the confederate Catholics ? A. Uuprosperous. They were divided by the opposite counsels of Rinuncini, the Pope's nuncio, and his party on the one hand, and the more moderate party on the other. Q. Did Ormond return to Ireland from France ? A. He did, in September, 1648. Q. Where was the king at that time ? A. A close prisoner at Carisbrook Castle in the Isle of Wight, in the hands of the parlia- mentarians. Q. How had Ormond employed his time whilst in France ? A. In endeavouring to obtain from the French court supplies to carry on the war for the king in Ireland. Q. Did he succeed ? A. So badly, that the slender sum that court advanced him, little more than defrayed the expenses of his voyage. On arriving at Cork, he had no more than thirty French louis d'or for his military chest. Q. Did he renew his treaty with the con- federates ? A. Yes; on the 16th of January, 1649, he 96 CATECHISM OF THE ratified that treaty, granting every concession demanded by the Catholics. Q. Had he the king's authority for this ratification ? A. Yes ; so long before as the 10th of October, in the previous year, Charles had written Ormond a letter from his prison, in which he says, " Be not startled at my great concessions con- cerning Ireland, yor they will come to nothing." Q. On what day was the king beheaded by the parliamentarians ? A. On the 30th of January, 1649. CHAPTER XVIII. The Commonwealth. Q. Where was Ormond when the news of the king's death reached him ? A. At Youghall in the county Cork. Q. What was his first act on learning the event ? A. To proclaim the Prince of Wales king by the title of Charles the Second. Q. Where was the young king at that time ? A. At the Hague, in Holland. Q. Did he begin by confirming the peace which Ormond had signed with the confederate Catholics ? A. Yes. He wrote from the Hague *' that he had received, and was extremely well satisfied with the articles of peace with the Irish confederates, and would confirm wholly and entirely all that was contained in them."* • Cart Orig. Let. Vol. II. pp. 363, 367. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 97 Q. Did he keep that promise to the Irish ? A. No. For in order to secure the crown of Scotland for himself, he found it was neces- sary to break faith with the Catholics, whom the Scottish Puritans detested. Q. What, then, was Charles' next declara- tion ? A. Having landed in Scotland in June, 1650, he publicly declared "that he did detest and abhor popery, superstition, and idolatry, to- gether with prelacy ; resolving not to tolerate, much less to allow those in any part of his dominions, and to endeavour the extirpation thereof to the utmost of his power." Q. What did the king further say with regard to the peace with the Irish confederates, which he had so recently promised to observe invio- late ? A. " That it was null and void.". ..." That he was convinced in his conscience of the sinfulness and unlawfulness of it, and of his allowing them (the confederates) the liberty of the Popish religion; for which he did from his heart desire to be deeply humbled before the Lord : and for having sought unto such unlawful help for the restoring of him to his throne.' Q. What effect had this base perfidy of Charles on the Irish people ? A. It necessarily withdrew many of them from their allegiance ; since it showed them how utterly unworthy of trust the king was ; and with what readiness he could sacrifice them to their bitterest enemies in order to attain his own ends. K 98 CATECHISM OF THE Q. Had the Catholic confederates been inva- riably faithful to the late unhappj^ king ? A. So faithful, that Ormond himself had told his majesty that several of the soldiers had starved by their arms, and that he could per- suade one half of his army to starve outright. Q. Were the Protestants equally faithful to that unfortunate monarch? A. So far from it, that their leaders Sir Charles Coote, and Lord Broghill, with the entire force under their command, and the whole army in the North, had deserted from the late king to the Puritan rebels. Q. Did the young king's base ingratitude to the Irish Catholics, and his pledge to extirpate Popery, avail to secure him in his throne ? A. No. The English parliamentarians re- fused to trust him, despite his professions ; and he was obliged to fly from England to save his life. Q. Who was Oliver Cromwell ? A. One of the parliamentarian generals. Q. In what year did he come to Ireland ^ A. In 1649; the year of the late king's murder. Q. How did Cromwell begin operations in Ireland ? A. He stormed Drogheda with a force of 10,000 men and a well appointed battering artillery. Q. How did the garrison defend the town ? A. With great bravery; they twice repulsed their assailants ; but, on the third assault, Colonel Wall being killed, the garrison became dismayed, and offered to surrender the town on promise of quarter. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 99 Q. Did Cromwell, on taking possession of the town, observe this promise of quarter ? A. No ; he massacred the inhabitants in cold blood. For three da^ys the slaughter continued ; and Cromwell, in his despatch to the English Parliament, thanked God ^^for that great mer- cy^' as he called it. Q. Did Cromwell also besiege Wexford ^ A. He did, and he massacred three hundred women who had assembled at the cross. Q. In which of the three kingdoms did the friends of the royal cause hold out the longest against Cromwell .P A. In Ireland. The Catholic Irish were the last to lay down their arms, and to relinquish their exertions in the king's behalf, as Lord Orrery testifies. Q. How did the Catholic Bishops act ? A. They excommunicated all persons who should go over to the rebels. And Lord Clan- ricarde, acting on the advice of the Catholic assembly convened at Loughrea, issued a pro- clamation denouncing the pains of high treason against all persons serving in Cromwell's army, or in treaty with him ; unless within twenty- one days they quitted that service and aban- doned all communication with the rebels. Q. What were the chief measures of Crom- well's Irish government ? A. Severe laws against the Catholic religion and priesthood. The ancient possessions of the men who had fought for the king, were given away to the hordes of Cromwellian adventurers ; and all the loyal Irish who survived the late war, and who could be collected, were driven 100 CATECHISM OF THE into the province of Connaught, and forbidden to re-cross the Shannon under pain of death. Q. In what year did Cromwell die ? A. In 1659. CHAPTER XIX. The reign of Charles th^^econd. Q. In what year was Charles the Second restored to his throne ? A. In 1660. Q. How did he treat the Cromwellian party who had fought against his father and himself in Ireland ? A. He confirmed them in the possession of the estates they had seized from his loyal, suf- fering, Irish Catholic subjects. And two of the chief Cromwellian leaders — Lord Broghill and Sir Charles Coote — he favoured, by creating the former, Earl of Orrery ; and the latter, Earl of Mountrath. Q. When did the new Irish Parliament meet ? A. In 1661. Q. Of what materials was the House of Commons composed ? A. Chiefly of the adventurers who had acquired estates under Cromwell. Q. What was their character ? A. They were upstarts from the very lowest classes ; they were extremely ignorant ; inflated with spiritual pride; outrageously impudent and self-sufficient. Q. What were the subjects that engaged the attention of this parliament ? HISTORY OF IRELAND. 101 A. The restoration of the Episcopal Protes- tant Church, and the settlement of the confis- cated estates in possession of the Cromwellian proprietors. Q. Were there any Catholic members in that parliament P A. Yes, a few ; there were one or two Catholic members for boroughs, and a small number of Catholic representatives of counties. Q. How did the Puritan majority treat these P A. They tried to get rid of them ; first, by imposing an oath of qualification which no Catholic could take. Q. Did that scheme succeed ? A. No, for the bill they prepared for imposing the oath was quashed by the English Privy Council. Q. What did they next try ? A. They tried to expel the Catholic members by a vote of the house ; but the Lords Justices condemned that project as being an infraction on the royal prerogative. Q. How were the Puritanic members of this parliament induced to vote for the restoration of the Episcopal Church P A. By the dexterous management of Ormond, who postponed the question of settling the estates until after the question of the church should have been disposed of. The Puritan members thus found it their interest to conciliate Ormond by voting for the establishment of the Episcopal Church. Q. Did the old proprietors make a struggle for their estates P A. Yes ; their claims were brought before the k2 102 CATECHISM OF THE English Privy Council, and they selected Rich- ard Talbot, the Earl of Tyrconnell, as the patron of their case. Q. What was the basis of their claims ? A. Right and justice. They also relied much on the merits of their own loyalty to Charles and his father, when contrasted with the rebel- lious conduct of the Cromwellian party, who had caused the late king's murder. Q. Did these claims and merits weigh with Charles ? A. Not in the least; he looked upon the ruined Irish loyalists, who had lost their all in his service, as being too weak to give him any annoyance in return for his desertion of their interests ; whereas, the Cromwellians were strong enough to render it worth the king's while to conciliate them. Q,. Did any other motives actuate Charles ? A. Yes ; he wanted to preserve what was called "the English interest in Ireland;" and as he conceived that the new Cromwellian pro- prietors, from their bitter hatred of the Irish people, were the fittest tools to effectuate that object, he readily gave them the assistance of his influence. Q. How did Ormond act ? A. He at first affected a desire to serve the Irish claimants ; but, as the Cromwellian par- liament had bribed him with a grant of ^30,000, the Catholics suspected his sincerity and refused his aid. Q. What was the final result ? A. The confirmation of the immense majority of the Cromwellian soldiers and adventurers in the forfeited estates ; and the exclusion of nearly HISTORY OF IRELAND. 103 all the Irish claimants from any redress what- soever. Q. Had Ormond profited by his share in the public events since the year 1641 ? A. Yes ; his estates, prior to that period, had been worth about ^7000 a-year ; but after the Act of Settlement^ his property amounted to the annual value of it 80,000- Q. Have the Catholic gentry of the present day an interest in subverting the Cromwellian settlement of property ? A. No, for a large proportion of the confis- cated lands have passed, by purchase, into the hands of Catholic proprietors. CHAPTER XX. The Reign of Charles II. cotitinued. Q. What Act affecting Ireland was next passed by the English Parliament ? A. An Act to prevent the importation of Irish cattle into England. Q. Was this Act observed ? A. Yes, until the great fire of London, when the Irish, having nothing else to send the suf- ferers, sent them a present of cattle for their relief. Q. How did the English receive this gift ? A. They represented it as an attempt to evade the Cattle Act. Q. Did Ormond try to serve any Irish interests ? A. Yes ; he promoted the linen and woollen manufactures, and invited over the ablest foreign artizans to instruct the natives. 104 CATECHISM OF THE Q. Meanwhile, how were the hot Protestant party in England occupied ? A. In devising and circulating rumours of popish plots, conspiracies, and intended mas- sacres. Q. What measures did they recommend Ormond to take ? A. They advised him to expel the Catholic inhabitants from every walled town in Ireland, and to arrest every peer and gentleman of Irish lineage. Q. What was their object in giving this advice ? A. To goad the Irish into a rebellion, in order to afford an opportunity for fresh confiscations. Q. Did Ormond act on their advice ? A. He did not, and thus Ireland was pre- served in quiet, and the hopes of those persons who desired new forfeitures were disappointed. Q. Who was Oliver Plunket ? A* The Catholic Archbishop of Armagh ? Q. What was his character as a politician ? A. He had ever been thoroughly loyal to the Stuart dynasty. Q. What was his fate ? A. The English zealots dragged him to London to answer for his alleged participation in a rebellious conspiracy. He offered to bring witnesses from Ireland to establish his inno- cence, but was refused the time necessary for that purpose. He was of course found guilty and hanged, although not a tittle of credible evidence was produced against him. ^ Q. In what year did Charles die ? A. In 1684; not without the suspicion of being poisoned. < HISTORY OF IRELAND. 105 CHAPTER XXI. The Reign of James the Secottd. Q. Did James the Second remove Ormond from the government of Ireland ? A. Yes ; and replaced him by his kinsman the Earl of Clarendon. Q. What was Clarendon's policy with regard to the Catholics ? A. He admitted them into the Privy Council and advanced them to the bench. Q. What was James' policy with reference to the religious differences of his subjects ? A. He published a declaration, giving equal civil privileges to all classes of religionists. Q. What was the great principle of the Eng- lish revolution of 1688 ? A. Representative government, as opposed to the arbitrary power of despotic monarchy. Q. What step did James take when he heard that William of Orange had landed in England to contest the throne with him ? A. He fled to France. - Q. Who was at that time Lord Lieutenant of Ireland P A. The Earl of Tyrconnel. Q. What was Tyrconnel's conduct? A. He pretended to the Protestants that he was desirous to negotiate with William ; whilst he augmented and strengthened by all the means in his power the Catholic army. Q. How did the enemies of the Irish Catholics act at this juncture ? A. They repeated the old trick, so frequently used, of accusing the Catholics of a purpose to 106 CATECHISM OF THE massacre the Protestants; and anonymous letters, professing to give the most accurate details of the plot, were extensively circulated amongst the Protestant party by designing persons. Q, What terms did William of Orange offer to the Irish Catholics ? A. He offered them the possession of a third part of the churches in the kingdom ; equality of civil and religious privileges with all other religious persuasions; and as full security of person and property as any other class of the sulyects of the crown enjoyed. Q. Did the Irish Catholics accept these offers ? A. They did not. They believed themselves bound in conscience to preserve their loyalty to James, and they looked upon William as a usurper. Q. What were King James' movements ? A. He resolved to strike a blow for his crown in Ireland ; and accordingly sailed from France to Kinsale, where he landed on the 12th of March, 1689. Q. What reception did he meet ? A. A most loyal one from the corporations, gentry, and clergy. Even the clergy of the Protestant Church vied with the Catholic priest- hood in their ardent professions of allegiance. Q. When did the Irish parliament meet ? A. In May, 1689. The king opened the session in person. Q. Was that parliament a fair representation of the Irish people ? A. Yes. It included Catholics and Protes- tants ; the former predominated in the House of HISTORY OF IRELAND. 107 Commons ; there were Protestant Bishops in the House of Lords, but no Catholic Prelates. Q. What were the topics of the king's speech P A. His majesty denounced all violations of the rights of conscience as abhorrent to his prin- ciples ; he promised security of property ; he upheld the perfect equality of Protestants and Catholics ; he called the attention of parliament to the trading and manufacturing interests of the nation ; and recommended to their care those persons whom the act of settlement had unjustly deprived of their property. Q. What acts did this parliament pass ? A. An act for the full establishment of liberty of conscience. This act had the warm assent of every Catholic member of this parliament, in which the great majority of members were Catholics. Q. Was it accordant with the spirit of the Irish Catholics at large ? A. Preeminently so. Neither then, nor at any other time, did the Irish Catholics desire the exclusion of any class of their countrymen, from any political privilege which they themselves enjoyed. Q. What oiher measures did the parliament of 1689 enact .P A. It enacted that tithes should be paid by each person to the pastor of his own communion. The two houses, also, passed a bill repealing Poyning's law,* and establishing the legislative and judicial independence of Ireland ; but it was negatived by the miserable James, to whom it • See p. 53, ante. 108 CATECHISM OF THE appeared inconsistent with his favourite notion of " an English interest" in Ireland. Q. Was the Act of Settlement repealed this session ? A. Yes ; and the forfeited estates which the Cromweliian adventurers had obtained, were thereby restored to the former owners who had lost them through their loyalty to the house of Stuart. Q. What grant did the Irish Parliament make James ? A. Twentv thousand pounds per month. Q. What nuancial scheme had James recourse to.P A. He issued a proclamation, doubling the value of money. Q. How did the traders and merchants evade this proclamation ? A. By instantly doubling the prices of their goods. Q. Did James besiege the city of Derry ? A. Yes. The assault was commanded by general Hamilton ; the defence was conducted by a dissenting clergyman named Walker ; and when we consider the want of previous disci- pline, the want of provisions in the garrison during a ^reat portion of the siege, and the dis- piriting tendency of the treacherous conduct of Lundy, the governor of the town, — it is impos- sible to estimate too highly the spirit, valour, and gallantry of the protestant people of Derry. Q. What was the issue of the conflict ? A. The Derry-men kept their town for Wil- liam ; and the assailants retreated on the arrival of vessels in the harbour bearing provi- mSTOBT OF lEELAND. 109 sions for the gallant inhabitants ; whose defence forms one of the most brilliant achievements in the annals of modem warfiEire. i CHAPTER XXII. ^ Struggle between James and William. Q. "What measures did William of Orange take a^inst James in Ireland P A. He sent his Dutch general, Count Schom- berg, with an army of ten thousand men into this country. t Q. When and where did they land ? A. They landed on the 13th of August, 1689, at Bangor Bay, near Carrickfergus. Q. "What was the character of the Williamite army? A. The Rev. Dr. Gorge, who was chaplain |o Schomberg, describes them as wallowing in profligacy too odious and loathsome for de- scription. They were, however, brave and weU trained soldiers. Q. What was Schomberg's first attempt ? A. The siege of Carriclaergus. Q. Who was the Jacobite governor of the town? A. McCarthy More. ^ v Q. Did he make a gallant defence P A. He did not surrender until his last grain of powder was exhausted ; and he then obtained honourable terms from Schomberg. Q. Did Schomberg's army observe the terms of capitulation P A. No ; they scandalously violated their engagements, and rioted in every excess of flagitious license. Female virtue was outraged, L 110 CATECHISM OF THE and private property was plundered and devas- tated. Q. Did the native Irish, in the various civil wars of the kingdom, ever offer injury or insult to the females of the opposite party ? A. Never ; and this fact is a proud and honourable boast for our nation ; especially when contrasted with the beastly licentiousness that marked the conduct of the English soldiery in Ireland in every civil strife. Q. Did Schomberg countenance the ruffianism of his men at Carrickfergus P A. No ; he endeavoured to check them ; and thereby obtained their hatred. Q. Whither did he advance from Carrick- fergus ? A. Along the coast to Dundalk. Q. In what condition did he find the country ? A. Reduced to a mere desert by the previous civil warfare. Q. What was the state of Schomberg's men P A. They suffered severely from the want of provisions, and the fatigue of marching through a boggy and mountainous country. Q. What were the counsels of James' gene- rals P A. They were disposed to retreat before Schomberg, until the Earl of Tyrconnell reas- sured them by promising a large reinforcement. Q. What was Schomberg's conduct ? A. He paused near Dundalk, and fortified his camp with entrenchments. Q. Did James's army engage that of Schom- berg ? A. No. The timid and vaccillating spirit of the king appears to have influenced his gene- HISTORY OF IRELAND. HI rals. Tho men were dissatisfied at not being led against the enemy. Q. What were Marshal Rosen's words to James P A. ^*If your majesty had ten kingdoms you would lose them." Q. "Why did not Schomberg engage James's army P A. Because his men wore exhausted by disease and hunger, and must have inevitably been defeated if they quitted their position. Q. What losses did the Williamites sustain just then P A. They lost Sligo and Jamestown, which were stormed and taken by the gallant Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan ; a man of whom Irishmen may well be proud. Q. How did Schomberg's campaign termi- nate ? A. In the destruction by disease and famine of the greater portion of his army ; while no advantage of any importance had been gained by his efforts against James, excepting the cap- ture of the fort of Charlemont. Q. On what course did William then re- solve ? A. On proceeding to Ireland himself. Q. Where and when did he land ? A. At Carrickfergus on the 14th of June, 1690. Q. By whom was he attended P A. By Prince George of Denmark, the Duke of Ormond, and a large train of followers of rank. Q. What was the number of William's army P 112 CATECHISM OF THE A. Thirty-six thousand picked men. Q. "What were James's movements ? A. As soon as he learned that William had landed, he proceeded to join his army, which were now encamped on the southern banks of the Boyne, near Drogheda. Q. When did William's army arrive at the Boyne ? A. At an early hour in the morning of the 30th of June. Q. How were James's army then posted ? A. They had Drogheda to their right ; a deep bog to their left; the Boyne in their front, and some hedges between their lines and the river, which could be used as breast-works for infantry. Q. What peril did William escape ? A. While reconnoitering James's position from the opposite bank of the river, he was struck on the right shoulder by a ball from James's lines ; whilst another shot killed a man and two hor^fes in his immediate vicinity. He, however, escaped with a slight wound, and rode through his army to counteract the dis- piriting effects of a report of his death that had been spread. Q. How was James affected by the approach of battle ? A. He had blustered a great deal upon the previous day about his anxiety to risk an engage- ment ; but he now was eagerly anxious to avoid encountering his opponent. Q. Was this from sheer poltroonery P A. Partly, it was so, no doubt ; but William's army was so vastly superior to his own in artil- lery, as well as in numbers, that the French HISTORY OF IRELAND. 113 generals of James would have willingly escaped an engagement. The Irish, however, expressed their perfect readiness to fight. CHAPTER XXIII. The Battle of the Boyne, and the Sieges of Athlone aud Limerick. Q. On what day was the Battle of the Boyne fought ? A. On the First of July, 1690. Q. Did James take an active part in the battle ? A. No ; he looked on at the contest from the hill of Donore ; and when a portion of William's army gave way before the charge of the Irish Dragoons, he exclaimed, " Spare, O sparti my English subjects ! " Q. What was the progress and event of the battle ? A. Great valour was displayed on both sides ; but the great superiority, in point of numbers and equipments on the part of William's army, decided the victory in their favour. Exclusively of the numerical advantage, the Williamites w^ere encouraged by the presence of a monarch who led them with bravery and skill ; whilst the Jacobites were dispirited by the cowardice and incapacity of the miserable James. Q. What did the Irish soldiers say when James fled to Dublin ? A. Their cry was, " Change kings, and we'll fight the battle over again." Q. What was the conduct of William's soldiers after the battle ? L 2 114 CATECHISM OF THE A. The Enniskilleners, and some other des- peradoes, murdered in cold blood many of the peasantry whom curiosity had drawn to the spot. Q. Who received James at Dublin Castle ? A. Lady Tyrconnell received him on the staircase ; and when his majesty, with base ingratitude and falsehood, ascribed the event of the battle to the cowardice of the Irish, " who," he said, " had run away," Lady Tyrconnell replied with spirit : " Your majesty, I see, has won the race." In truth, James had not waited for the end of the engagement, but had preci- pitately fled to Dublin, leaving the day yet undecided. Q. What commission did William issue ? A. A commission to confiscate the estates of all the Jacobite leaders who had taken up arms. Q. What was William's next military enter- prise ? A. The siege of Athlone. This service was entrusted to general Douglas, who was placed at the head of ten regiments of foot, and five of horse. Q. Who was the Jacobite governor of Ath- lone ? A. Colonel Grace. Q. When summoned by Douglas to surrender, what w^as Grace's answer ? A. He fired a pistol at the messenger, desiring him to take that as his reply. Q. What was Douglas' next proceeding ? A. He constructed a battery in front of the town, and opened a fire on the castle. Q. How did the garrison meet the attack ? HISTORY OF IRELAND. 115 A. By returning Douglas' fire from the cas- tle with tremendous effect. His best gimner was killed, and his battery was destroyed. He was accordindy obliged to raise the siege. Q. When did William besiege Limerick ? A. On the 9th of August, 1690. Q. What was the conduct of his army prior to the siege ? A. They renewed the brutalities they had practised at Athlone. They plundered and burned the country, and committed acts of the grossest licentiousness. Q. What defence did the Irish garrison of Limerick make ? A. A most gallant one ; even the women mingled amongst the soldiers, and fought as valiantly as the men. They declared that they would rather be torn in pieces than submit to the power of wretches who were guilty of such foul abominations as the Williamite army had committed. Q. How long did the conflict last ? A. For three hours ; when William retrea;ted from Limerick, seeing that success was perfectly hopeless. Q. How many men did William lose ? A. Two thousand. Q. How did the advances of his army affect the condition of the Protestants who inhabited the country .P A. Most disastrously ; for the Protestants in the neighbourhood of Limerick, and also of Athlone, had previously lived in security under the protections they had taken out from the Jacobite garrisons of those places ; but on the approach of William's army, they had surren- 116 CATECHISM OF THE dered their protections and gone over to the invading army ; by whom they were treated with the utmost indignity, and even brutality. Q. What walled city was next attacked P A. Cork ; which was taken after a brave '=4efence; the inhabitants having stipulated for -protection for their persons and property. Q. Were these terms observed P A. No ; a Williamite mob abused the persons and plundered the property of the Catholic and Jacobite inhabitants ; in which acts of license they were joined by the triumphant soldiery. Q. 'What was the amount of the confiscations under William P A. One million and sixty thousand acres. Q. What town of importance did William besiege the ensuing year ? A. Athlone. Q. Who conducted the assault P A. General Ginckle. Q. When did he appear before the town P A. On the 18th of June, 1691. Q. What resistance did the garrison make P A. A most valiant one. The assailing force was now far superior to that which General Douglas had brought against the town on the occasion of the previous siege. Q. How many cannon did Ginckle mount on his battery P A. Ten ; with which he opened a tremendous fire on the town and castle. The bridge had been broken by Grace in the former siege, and the English now repaired the breach with wood- work, under cover of the smoke of burning buildings. Q. How did the Irish meet this attempt P HISTORY OF IRELAND. 117 A. A Serjeant and ten men, cased in armour, rushed forth from the town to destroy the wooden passage the English had made. Q. What was the fate of this brave little party ? A. They were destroyed by a shot from the English battery. Q- Was their attempt renewed by others ? A. Yes ; a second party from the town filled their places, and succeeded in destroying the wood-work on the bridge. Only two of this party survived their desperate exploit. Q. What was the result on the invading force P A. Ginckle was unable for nine days to repeat his assault. Q. When he did renew his attack, how did the Irish act ? A. They threw grenades into all the wooden works on which he had been occupied during the interval; and all his pontoons, galleries, and breast-works were consumed to ashes. Q. What was the conduct of King James's French General, St. Ruth ? A. He most absurdly removed the brave men who so ably garrisoned Athlone, and supplied their places with inferior regiments. Q. Meanwhile, how was Ginckle occupied ? A. He seriously debated with his officers whether he should abandon the siege or renew the assault. His own opinion was in favour of retreating; his officers, however, prevailed on him to renew his attempt by fording the river next morning. Q. How did Ginckle try to throw the garrison off their guard ? 118 CATECHISM OF THE A. He began to remove his guns from the ^batteries, as if he were preparing to depart. Q. Did this trick deceive the Irish ollicers ? A. No ; and they implored St. Ruth to pre- pare for another assault on the town. Q. What was St. Ruth's reply P A. " The English/' said he, " will not dare to try it." Q. What did the Irish general, Sarsfield, answer ? A. *' No enterprise," said Sarsfield, " is too great for English valour." Q. Did St. Ruth comply with the advice of his Irish officers ? A. No ; He was obstinate and self-sufficient, and refused to believe that Ginckle would really hazard another attack. He accordingly neglected to make any preparations of defence ; and on the next morning the English had forded the river and entered the town ere St. Ruth had wakened from his slumbers. Q. Where did St. Ruth retreat to with his army, after he had lost Athlone ? A. To the hill of Kilcommodon, near the castle of Aughrim, in the county of Roscommon. Q. On what day was the battle of Aughrim fought ? A. On the I2th of July, 1691. Q. What w^ere the fortunes of the day P A. Victory seemed for a long time to favour the Irish, who succeeded in several charges, and were quite triumphant on the right and in the centre ; when St. Ruth was killed by a shot from the enemy's cannon. Confusion overspread the Irish army on the loss of their commander and was speedily followed by defeat. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 119 Q. What was the character of St. Ruth P A. He was undoubtedly a brave and able general ; but his merits were counterbalanced by his excessive presumption, self-confidence, vanity and obstinacy. Q, Did William renew his attempt against Limerick P A. Yes; on the 25th. August, 1691. Q. To whom did he commit the conduct of the second siege P A. To Ginckle. Q. Was the siege protracted ? A. Yes, for several weeks ; and after an obstinate struggle, in which the greatest heroism was displayed on both sides, the city surrendered upon the terms embodied in the celebrated " Treaty of Limerick." CHAPTER XXIV. The Treaty of Limerick. Q. What were the advantages promised to the Irish Catholics in the treaty of Limerick P A. All the Catholics were to enjoy the exercise of their religion in as full and free a manner as they had done in the reign of Charles the Second. It was stipulated also, that as soon as parliament met, their majesties should try to obtain for the Catholics additional legislative security for the freedom of their worship. Q. What was the next provision in the treaty P A. That all the inhabitants of the counties of Limerick, Cork, Clare, Kerry, and Mayo, who had taken up arms for king James, should 120 CATECHISM OF THE possess their estates and pursue their callings and professions unmolested. Q. What, other right was secured to the Catholic gentry ? A. They were allowed to keep arms. Q. And what oaths were required to be taken by them ? A. None, except the oath of allegiance to "William and Mary. Q. What provision was made by the treaty for all officers and soldiers who might refuse to remain in Ireland on the above conditions ? A. They were to be sent to France at the expense of the government. Q. What was then the number of the Irish army at Limerick ? A. They were fifteen thousand strong. Q. How many of them resolved to depart from Ireland and enter the service of France ? A. About twelve thousand five hundred. They formed the commencement of the celebra- ted Irish Brigade, which, during the last century contributed so greatly to the honour of French arms. CHAPTER XXV. The Reign of William and Mary concluded. Q. Was the Treaty of Limerick faithfully observed by the government ? A. No. It was shamefully violated. Q. What did Dr. Dopping, the protestailt bishop of Meath, say of it v A. He preached a sermon before the Lords Justices at Christ's Church, Dublin, in which he HISTORY OF IRELAND. 121 affirmed that Protestants were not bound to keep faith with papists ; at the same time de- nouncing the articles of the treaty. Q. Was the bishop replied to ? A. He was, by another Protestant prelate ; Doctor Moreton, bishop of Kildare ; who alleged that the treaty was binding on men of good faith, and that Protestants could not be exon- erated from keeping their promises to papists. Q. Did the English Parliament violate the treaty ? A. Yes. By an audacious usurpation of power over the Irish legislature, the English Parlia- ment enacted " that all the members of the Irish legislature should take the oath of supremacy ;" although the Treaty of Limerick had expressly provided in its ninth article, that no oath what- soever should be imposed upon the Irish Catholics except the oath of allegiance. In subsequent reigns, the treaty was yet more flagrantly violated. Q. Did the Irish Parliament, at this period of national depression and weakness, protect in any way the interests of their country ? A. Yes. The Irish House of Commons rejected a money bill which had been forwarded from England for their fiat ; asserting their own ex- clusive right to originate all money bills. Q. Of what materials was the Irish House of Commons at this time composed ? A. Chiefly of the sons of Cromwellian adven- turers, and other supporters of what was called " The Protestant interest." There were a very small number of Catholics yet in the house. Q. How did that parliament violate the treaty of Limerick? M 122 CATECHISM OF THE A. By an act disabling the Catholics from educating their children, or being guardians of their own or other people's children ; also by an act disarming the Catholics; and by another act to expel all Catholic prelates and priests from the Kingdom. They also passed laws to prevent the intermarriages of Protestants with Catholics ; and to prevent Catholics from being attorneys or game keepers. Q. What address did the English parliament present to William in 1698 on the subject of Ireland ? A. An address praying him to discourage the woollen manufacture of Ireland. Q. What was William's answer ^ A. " 1 shall do all that in me lies to discourage the woollen manufacture of Ireland, and to en- courage the linen manufacture therein." Q. Did William keep his promise to discou- rage our woollen trade .^ •A. He did. Q. Did he keep his promise to encourage our linen trade ? A. He did not. Q. In what year did William die ? A. In 170] . — He was succeeded by his cousin and sister-in-law, Anne Stuart. CHAPTER XXVI. The Reign of Queen Anne. Q. What enactments were passed against the Catholics in the reign of Anne ? A. The code generally known as the Penal Laws. Q. What were the penalties inflicted by that code? A. The Catholics were thereby rendered in- HISTORY OF IRELAND. 123 capable of acquiring landed property in fee, or by lease for any term longer than thirty-one years ; and even for that limited term the^ were not permitted to possess an interest in their land greater than one-third the amount of the rent, on pain of forfeiting the entire to the first Pro- testant who should discover the extent of such interest. Q. State some other enactments of the code ? A. If the child of a papist possessing an estate should conform to Protestantism, the parent was debarred from disposing of his property by sale, mortgage, or will ; and the Court of Chancery was empowered to order an annuity out of the estate for the use of such conforming child. Q. What other penal laws were passed ? A. Catholics were declared incapable of inhe- riting the estates of their Protestant relations. The estate of a Catholic who had not a Protes- tant heir, was to be divided in gavel among all his children. All men were to be qualified for office, or as voters at elections, by taking the oath of abjuration, and hy receiving the sacra- ment of the Lords Supper as administered in the Established Protestant Church I ! ! A Ca- tholic possessing a horse, no matter of what value, was compelled to surrender the horse to any Protestant on payment of five pounds. Q. Was there a more specific violation of the Treaty of Limerick, than the scandalous enact- ments you have mentioned ? A. Yes. The parliament enacted a law which expressly, and by name, deprived the Catholics of Galway and Limerick of the protection gua- ranteed to them by that treaty. Q. Was a bribe held out to Catholic priests to become Protestants ? 124 CATECHISM OF THE A. Yes. A grant of forty pounds per annum was made to every "popish" priest who should embrace the established religion. Q. What was the object of the Irish Protes- tant Parliament in their shameless infraction of the Treaty of Limerick, and their "violent and ferocious enactments against their Catholic fellow-countrymen ? A. They were haunted by incessant fears that the Catholics would try to recover the estates which had been wrested from them by every variety of flagitious crime ; and they therefore laboured to depress and weaken the objects of their terror to the utmost. Q. "Were there any instances of Protestant good faith in that dark and dreary period ? A. Yes ; many instances in private life. Es- tated Catholics who dreaded " Protestant disco- verers," often made over their properties in trust to friendly Protestants, even in the humblest ranks, in order to evade the operation of the demon-law ; and in no one case did the Protes- tants who were thus confided in, abuse the trust which the Catholic proprietors reposed in them. It is said that one poor Protestant barber had half the Catholic estates of a southern county in trust. Q. "Was there, in this reign, a rumour of an attempt by the son of James the Second to reco- ver the crown of these kingdoms ? A. Yes ; in 1708. Q. What effect had that rumour on the affairs of the Irish Catholics ? A. It served as a pretext to the Protestant authorities to arrest forty-one of the principal Catholic nobility and gentry. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 125 Q. How did the Irish Catholics at that time feel disposed towards James the Second's family ? A. They regarded them with aversion and disgust ; for they had a bitter experience of their tyrannical disposition, treachery, false- hood, and base ingratitude to those who had fought and bled in their cause, and lost their all in their service. Q. Did the Irish Parliament in the reign of Anne, show a single spark of national feeling ? A. Yes ; in 1709 a money-bill was thrown out, because the English Privy Council had presumed to alter it. Q. What do we learn from this fact.P A. That since the pressure of their own inte- rests could sometimes impel even a parliament so anti-national as was that assembly, to the performance of a patriotic act, — the residence of an Irish legislature, harmonizing with the Irish people, and truly representing their wishes and interests, would be the best possible safe- guard and promoter of the nation's prosperity. Q. When did Queen Anne die ? A. In August, 1714. CHAPTER XXVII. The Reign of George the First. Q. Whilst the Irish parliament was employed in the enactment of restrictive laws against the Catholics, what advantage was taken by the English legislature of the national weak- ness thus created P A. In the sixth year of George the First the M 2 126 CATECHISM OF THE English parliament enacted a law, declaring itself possessed of full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the people of the kingdom of Ireland. The English parliament also deprived the Irish House of Lords of its final jurisdic- tion in cases of appeal. Q. Was not this a gross usurpation of power ? A. Of course it was ; but Ireland, from the divisions between her inhabitants, was just then too weak to resist it. Q. Was the Irish Parliament, during this reign, engaged in imposing new penalties on the Catholics .P A. Yes; such was the infatuation of its bigotry. A bill was actually passed by both houses, which decreed a personal penalty on every Catholic ecclesiastic, of so revoltingly indecent a nature that it cannot be explicitly mentioned. Q. Did that bill pass into a law ? A. No. Sir Robert Walpole, the English prime minister, exerted his influence for very shame's sake, to procure its defeat in the English Privy Council. Q. Who was Dean Swift ? A. An Irish Protestant divine of distin- guished abilities. He combined both Protes- tants and Catholics in powerful opposition to a government scheme for empowering a man named Wood to coin copper money in Ireland. His " Drapier's Letters" w^hich were written on this subject, obtained deserved celebrity at the time ; and the spirit of resistance which he aroused succeeded in defeating the object of the government. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 127 Q. When did George the First die ? A. In 1727. CHAPTER XXVIII. The Reign of George the Second. Q. "What steps did the Catholics take on the accession of George the Second ? A. The nobility and gentry determined to present a loyal address to him. Q. Was their address presented ? A. No. It was suppressed by the influence of Boulter, the Protestant Primate, because he deemed it inconsistent with law that there should be any recognition of the existence of the Irish Catholics as a body in the state. Q. Did the Irish House of Commons pro- tect the nation's purse in this reign ? A. Yes. In 1731 the government tried to get a grant of the supplies for twenty-one years ; but the iniquitous effort was foiled by the Commons. Q. What was the Agistment Act P A. An act passed in 1735, by which all pasture lands were exempted from tithe, or modus for tithe ; and the Protestant clergy were only permitted to claim the tithe of til- lage and meadow. Q. Who was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1745 .P A. The celebrated Earl of Chesterfield. Q. Was he a judicious Viceroy ? A. Yes. He discouraged informers against ''papists;" and conciliated the people of Ireland by mitigating the severities of the existing laws, 128 CATECHISM OF THE SO far as a mild administration could mitigate them. Q. Were there not, however, two new penal laws passed during his Viceroyalty ? A. Yes. One of these laws dissolved all marriages between Protestants and Papists ; the other inflicted the penalty of death on every Catholic priest who should marry two Protes- tants, or a Protestant and Papist. Q. In what year did Chesterfield leave Ire- land ? A. In 1747. Q. Who then acquired a leading power in the Irish government ? A. The Protestant primate, Dr. Stone ; who, like his predecessor, Boulter, was an English- man. Q. What was Stone's policy ? A. He converted his house into a brothel to win the support of the younger members of parliament to his measures, by pandering to their vices. Q. What event occured in 1759 ? A. Carrickfergus was seized by a small French force under the command of Thurot; who, however, soon retired when he found that he was not sustained by the Catholic inha- bitants. Q. What important legislative measure was contemplated in that year ? A. Ministers projected a legislative Union between Ireland and England. Q. Did the scheme succeed ? A. No. It was abandoned for the time. The people of Dublin were indignant at the design. They rushed into the House of Lords, and com- HISTORY OF IRELAND. 129 pelled such members of both houses as they met, to take an oath that they never would consent to the destruction of the Irish parlia- ment. Q. In what year did George the Second die ? A. In 1760. CHAPTER XXIX. The Reign of George the Third. Q. What change occurred in the constitution of the Irish parliament in the earlier part of the reign of George the Third ? A. The members of the House of Commons had previously sat for life ; but in 1768, they shortened the duration of each parliament to eight years. Q. Who was at that time Lord Lieutenant ? A. Lord Townshend. Q. What dispute arose between the court and the House of Commons ? A. A money bill had been prepared in Eng- land, and was submitted to the House of Com- mons by the Irish minister ; but the Commons threw out the bill, because it had not originated with themselves. Q. Did Lord Townshend protest against the rejection of the bill by the Commons r A. He did ; but the house refused to enter his protest on their journals. Q. In what year did the American colonies revolt from England ? A. In 1776. Q. What effect had the assertion of American independence on the Irish people ? 130 CATECHISM OF THE A. It stimulated them, by example, to assert the freedom of their trade and the independence of their parliament. Q. Did it furnish them with any facilities for this purpose ? A. Yes ; by embarrassing England, which was then engaged in a war against the American States, and could not spare troops to over-awe the Irish. For the period of England's diffi- culty and distress has ever been the period the most favourable to Irish freedom. — England's extremity has always been Ireland's oppor- tunity. Q. Who were the Irish Volunteers ? A. They were an army of citizen-soldiers who rose up to defend their country, which, in 1778, was threatened with a French invasion. Q. Where did the enrolment of this citizen- army originate ? A. In Belfast. The people of that town had requested the government to send them a garrison. Q. What was the answer of the government ? A. That they could not spare them more than half a troop of dismounted cavalry, and half a company of invalids. Q. W hen the Belfast Volunteers formed them- selves into a corps for the national defence, was their example speedily followed by the other towns throughout the kingdom P A. Yes; so speedily, that within a few months the volunteer army of Ireland amounted to 42,000 strong. Q. What w^ere the proceedings of the Irish parliament ? A. When the houses of parliament found HISTORY OF IRELAND. 131 themselves sustained by so powerful an army, they unanimously voted an address to the Viceroy, declaring that the nation could only be preserved from ruin by a free trade ; they also voted resolutions of thanks to the different volunteer companies for their spirited patriotism. Q. In what year was free trade carried by the Irish Legislature ? A. In 1779. Q. What was the celebrated resolution of the Dublin Volunteers, presided over by the Duke of Leinster, in 1780 ? A. *' Resolved — That the King, Lords and Commons of Ireland only, were competent to make laws binding the subjects of this realm ; and that they would not obey, nor give opera- tion to any laws save only those enacted by the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, whose rights and privileges, jointly and severally, they were determined to support with their lives and fortunes." Q. Who were the principal leaders of the movement in favour of free trade, and a free parliament for Ireland ? A. Henry Grattan, the Duke of Leinster, the Earl of Charlemont, Henry Flood, and several others. Grattan moved, and carried through the House of Commons in 1782, a Declaration of Rights, exactly identical in matter, and nearly so in words, with the resolution of the Dublin Volunteers already quoted. Q. Where did the Volunteer Convention meet? A. At Dungannon, in February, 1782 ; and the bold and determined tone adopted by that 132 CATECHISM OF THE body, encouraged the patriots in parliament, and overawed the court party into acquiescence. Q. How did the parliament testify its grati- tude to Grattan, for his triumphant exertions to obtain legislative independence for Ireland ? A. The House of Commons voted him a grant of ^50,000. Q. What was the next money vote of the Irish Commons ? A. They voted one hundred thousand pounds to raise seamen for the service of England; thus giving a proof of the readiness of Ireland to assist the sister country, when exempt from the operation of British injustice. Q. Of what religion were the leaders of the glorious movement of 1779 — 82 ? A. They were Protestants; some of them were descendants of the Cromwellian settlers : and their conduct demonstrates that the Protestant heart can warm to the cause of Irish freedom and prosperity, when uninfluenced by the visi- onary fears conjured up by designing bigots. Q. What was the result of the commercial and constitutional victory obtained by the patriots ? A. Increase of trade, manufacture, and gen- eral prosperity ; to an extent unparallelled in the annals of any other nation within so short a period. Q. Did the Catholics obtain any relaxation of their grievances ? A. Yes. In 1782 the penal laws regarding property were all repealed, and the Catholics were placed on a level with Protestants as far as regarded the acquisition of land in freehold, or in absolute fee. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 133 Q. What great fault existed in the constitu- tion of the Irish Parliament ? A. The great number of small boroughs, which were under the absolute influence of pri- vate individuals, and entirely beyond the control of the people. The members nominated by these boroughs at the dictation of their several pa- trons, composed fully two-thirds of the house, and were necessarily more liable to be corrupted by the court, than genuine representatives of the people could have been. Q. Were any efforts made to procure a reform of the parliament ? A. Yes ; in 1783 Mr. Flood introduced a bill for that purpose into the Commons. But it was rejected, through a copious application of court influence. Q. What instance of English perfidy was exhibited in 1785 ? A. The Irish Commons had granted the minister new taxes to the amount ^^140,000, on the faith of his conceding to Ireland certain commercial advantages known as " the eleven propositions." The ftiinister took the taxes, but instead of conceding "the eleven propositions," he introduced a code of " twenty propositions" injurious to Irish commerce, which had been suggested by the leading English merchants. Q. What was the fate of the twenty English propositions ? A. They encountered a powerfid resistance in the Irish House of Commons. The government were only able to muster a majority of nineteen in a very crowded house ; and as there appeared every likelihood that this small support would be discontinued, the court withdrew the obnoxi- N 134 CATEClfiSM OF THE ous measure, and the people exhibited their delight by extraordinary rejoicings and illumi- nations. Q. What remarkable event occurred in 1789 ? A. The king became insane ; and the British and Irish Parliaments concurred in appointing the Prince of Wales Regent during his majesty's incapacity. The British Parliament fettered the Regent in the exercise of the royal authority, but the Irish legislature invested him with unlimited powers. The king, however, unexpectedly re- covered, and resumed the exercise of the execu- tive functions. Q. How did successive administrations in Ireland thenceforward employ themselves ? A. In augmented efforts to corrupt the' mem- bers of the Irish legislature. Q. To what cause do you attribute the amount of success that attended those efforts of corrup- tion P A. To the fact that the Irish Parliament was unreformed ; that it was not sufficiently under the wholesome control of the people. Q. In what year was the elective franchise conceded to the Catholics ? A. In 1793. CHAPTER XXX. Reign of George the Third continued. Q. What was the greatest crime the English government ever committed against Ireland P A. The destruction of the Irish Parliament, by the measure called the Legislative Union. Q. How did the government achieve that measure ? HISTORY OF IRELAND. 135 A. By goading a large portion of the people of Ireland into a premature rebellion, at the expense of a vast effusion of blood ; and then by taking advantage of the national weakness, confusion, and terror thus created, to overawe the people with 137,000 soldiers, and to bribe a majority of the members of parliament to vote for the Union, Q. What steps were taken to goad the people to take up arms P A. In 1795 their hopes were excited by the arrival of a popular and liberal nobleman, Earl Fitzwilliam, who came here as Viceroy, with full powers, as was currently believed, to carry emancipation. After a few months, however, he was suddenly recalled, and a totally opposite policy was pursued under the auspices of his successor. Earl Camden. Q. State some of the cruelties practised on the Catholics at that period ? A. *^ A persecution, accompanied with all the " circumstances of ferocious cruelty, then raged '* in the country. Neither age nor sex, nor even " acknowledged innocence, could excite mercy. " The only crime with which the wretched ob- " jects were charged, was the profession of the " Roman Catholic faith. A lawless banditti '* constituted themselves judges of this new ^' delinquency, and the sentence they pronounced " was equally concise and terrible. It was " nothing less than confiscation of property, and " immediate banishment." Q. Whose words have you now repeated ? A. The words of Lord Gosford, a Protestant nobleman, in his address to the magistracy of 136 CATECHISM OF THE Armagh, printed in the Dublin Journal, 5th January, 1796. Q. Does Lord Gosford say that any of the armed Orange perpetrators of that persecution were punished for their crimes ? A. No. On the contrary he expressly says, in the same address, " These horrors are now acting with impunity." Q. What other particulars of cruelty against the Catholic people are stated by Lord Moira? A. Lord Moira, in his speech in the British House of Lords, on the 22nd of November, 1797, uses these words : " I have known a man, '*in order to extort confession of a supposed ** crime, or of that of some neighbour, picketed " till he actually fainted ; picketed a second " time till he fainted again ; and when he came ** to himself picketed a third time till he once more fainted, and all this upon mere suspi- ii " cion." Q. Does Lord Moira state any other parti- culars P A, Yes. He says that " men had been taken " and hung up till they were half dead, and "^ afterwards threatened with a repetition of this " treatment, unless they made a confession of " their imputed guilt." Q. What important fact does Lord Moira add.P A. He expressly says that "these were not "particular acts of cruelty, but formed part of " the new system." Q. What was the outrage at Carnew ^ A. Twenty-eight men were brought out and deliberately murdered hy the Orange yeomen and a party of the Antrim militia, on the 25th of May, 1798. HISTORY OF IBELAND. 137 Q. How many men were shot without trial at Dunlavin P A. Thirty-four. Q. What tortures were familiarly practised by the yeomanry and soldiery against the people P A. Whipping, half-hanging, picketting ; the hair of some of the victims was cut in the form of a cross on the crowns of their heads, and the hollow thus formed strown with gunpowder, which was set fire to, and the process repeated till the sufferers fainted ; there was also the torture of the pitch-cap, which consisted in applying a cap smeared with hot pitch to the shorn head of " a croppy," and dragging it for- cibly off when the pitch hardened. The flesh was thus torn from the victim's head, and blind- ing was added to his other sufferings, as the melted pitch streamed down his forehead into his eyes. The cabins of the peasantry were burned, their sons tortured or murdered, and their daughters, in many instances, brutally violated by the armed demons whom the Eng- lish government poured into the country. Q. When did the people of Ireland, thus goaded to rise against the government, take the field against their oppressors ? A. The Kildare and Carlow peasantry com- menced the insurrection on the 23rd of May, 1798. Q. How were they armed ? A. Wretchedly. Bad guns and pikes were their only weapons, and they had Uttle or no discipline. Engagements took place with the royalists at Naas, KilcuUen, Carlow, (at all which towns the insurgents were defeated) Ou- N 2 138 CATECHISM OF THE lart Hill, (where the insurgents were victorious) Enniscorthy, and Wexford, both which towns were taken by the insurgents ; Newtownbarry, and New Ross. Q. Did the insurgents sully their cause with cruelties ? A. Unhappily some of them committed out- rages in the heat and turmoil of warfare, which we cannot regard without horror; such, for instance, as the burning of a number of royalist Catholics and Protestants in the barn of Sculla- bogue, in the county Wexford. Q. What excuse was pleaded by the perpe- trators of that crime ? A. The massacres committed by the yeomanry at Carnew and Dunlavin. Horrible as was the conduct of the insurgents in the instance alluded to, it must however be owned, that a crime committed during the exasperation of a provoked rebellion, falls far short, in point of demoniac atrocity, of the systematic outrages on property, liberty, and life, which the government had deli- berately sanctioned and encouraged by impunity for years ; and which, in fact, had at last stung the maddened people to resist their tyrants. Q. At what other places were there engage- ments between the insurgents and the royalists ? A. At Arklow, where the royalists, under Colonel Skerrett, gained a victory ; at Ballyna- hinch, where the rebels gained advantages by their valour, which they lost by their total want of discipline ; and at Vinegar Hill, where they were totally routed by the superior numbers, arms, and discipline of the royal forces. Q. Could the government have prevented the hideous and sanguinary outrages, and the awful HISTORY OF IRELAND. 139 waste of human life, which marked the civil war of 1798 — did they possess sufficient infor- mation of the rebel plans to enable them to avert the explosion of the rebellion ? A. Yes ; they had in their pay a spy in the camp of the insurgents, named M'Guane, who was one of the colonels of the United Irish- men. This man gave the government constant and minute information of every plan and every movement contemplated by (he United Irishmen, for fully ten months before the insur- rection exploded ; so that at any moment during those ten months, the government could have crushed the rebellion with the utmost ease, by the simple act of arresting the leaders. Q. Who were the leaders .P A. Lord Edward Fitzgerald, son of the Duke ofLeinster; Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey, a Protestant gentleman of ancient family and good estate; Arthur O'Connor of Connorville, county Cork; Neilson; M'Nevin, and a long list of others, being about 45 in all, of whom nearly the en- tire .were Protestants. Q. Why did not the government quietly crush the rebellion in its infancy, or rather prevent its explosion, and thus avert the horrible des- truction of human life ? A. Because its object was to carry the Legis- lative Union ; and t/tal could not be done unless the country were first thoroughly exhausted by the paralyzing influences of terror and mutual distrust among its inhabitants, and thereby rendered incapable of resisting the destruction of its parliament. Q. Did the gentry and people make any efforts to preserve their parliament ? 140 CATECHISM OF THE i A. They did ; their efforts were astonishing, when we reflect that the country was under martial law, and was occupied by an adverse army 187,000 strong. They signed petitions against the Union, to the number of 707,000 signatures ; whilst all the signatures the govern- ment could obtain in favour of the measure amounted to no more than about 3000; — though schools were canvassed for the names of their pupils, and jails raked for the names of crimi- nals. Q. When was the question of Union first brought before the Irish Parliament? A. In 1799. It was rejected that year by a majority of the Irish House of Commons. Q. What was the conduct of Pitt, and his Irish colleague Castlereagh, on this defeat? A. They redoubled their efforts to bribe the Irish members during the recess ; peerages, bishopricks, seats on the bench, commands in the army and navy, were familiarly given in exchange for votes for the Union ; one million and a-half sterling was distributed in money- bribes ; there was in the lower house a vast preponderance of borough members, who were peculiarly accessible to the tempter ; of these there were no less than 116 placemen and pen- sioners in immediate dependance on the govern- ment. Several members who could not bring themselves to vote for the destruction of their native legislature, yet vacated their seats for the admission of Englishmen and Scotchmen, who readily voted away a parliament, in the continuance of which they had no sort of interest. Q. When did that act of national degradation HISTORY OF IRELAND, 141 and disaster, the Legislative Union, receive the sanction of the bribed parliament ? A. In 1800; and it came into operation on the 1st of Januay, 1801. Q. What members particularly distinguished themselves in opposition to it ? A. Grattan, Plunket, Bushe, Saurin, Foster, ( the speaker) Ponsonby and Jebb. Q. What was the motive which stimulated the English government to commit so enormous a crime against Ireland, as the destruction, by such means, of the Irish Parliament P A. In the words of Charles Kendal Bushe, the motive of the government was " an intole- rance of Irish prosperity." They hated Ireland with intense fierceness, from ancient national prejudice. Pitt also had his own peculiar quar- rel with the Irish Parliament from its opposition to his views on the Regency question, in 1789 ; and the growth of Ireland in happiness, in great- ness, in prosperity, in domestic harmony and consequent strength, was altogether insupport- able to our jealous English foes ; who, accord- ingly, were reckless in the means they used to deprive this country of the power, which self- legislation alone can afford, of fully promoting its own iilterests and unfolding its own resources. Q. What have been the consequences of the Union ? A. The destruction of numerous branches of Irish trade and manufactures ; an enormous increase of the drain of absentee rents, which now exceed four millions a year ; the drain of surplus taxes to the amount of between one and two millions annually ; the alienation from Ire- land of the affections of the gentry, whom in- 142 CATECHISM OF THE tercourse with dominant England infects with a contempt for their native land ; the scornful refusal of Irish rights ; all which evils are the natural consequences of our being governed by a foreign parliament, whose members regard with apathy at best, and too often with con- temptuous hostility, the country thus surrendered to their control. Q. What is the duty of all Irishmen with regard to the Union ? A. To get rid of it as fast as they can — by all legal, peaceful, and constitutional means. Q. What were the principal measures affect- ing Ireland passed by the Imperial Parliament during the rest of the reign of George the Third P A. Chiefly Insurrection Acts and suspensions of the Habeas Corpus, to put down the distur- bances to which oppression incited the people. Q. Was there any fiscal measure passed ? A. Yes ; the Irish Exchequer was consolidated with that of England in 1816. Q. What was the result of this consolidation P A. To give the English Minister more com- plete control over the taxation of Ireland ; and in general over all her fiscal resources. Q. What part did the Irish soldiery bear in the wars of the allied sovereigns against Bona- parte ? A. They fought with national bravery for their old oppressor, England, in all her cam- paignes; and materially contributed to the victory of Waterloo, in 1814. Q. In what year did George the Third dieP A. In 1820. HISTORY OF IRELAND. 143 CHAPTER XXXI. The Reigns of George the Fourth and William the Fourth. Q. "What notable event occurred in 1821 ? A. George the Fourth came to Ireland, where he spent three weeks in idle pageantry. Q. What was the political object of his visit? A. To delude the Catholics with empty civili- ties in place of substantial concessions. Q. were the Catholics thus deluded? A. No. Daniel O'Connell, a Catholic barrister of hiffh eminence, assumed the leadership of his fellow-religionists. He founded the Catholic Association, which originally consisted of only seven members ; but soon embraced within its circle all the friends of civil and religious liberty in the empire. Q. Was the Catholic Association successful ? A. Yes. It combined and organised the people so extensively and so powerfully, that their efforts became irresistible; and O'Con- nell's experiment of working out a great political change by appeals to public opinion alone, had a signal triumph. Q. When was wnancipation conceded ? A. In April, 1829. Q. Who were the leaders of the measure in the English parliament ? A. Sir Robert Peel in the commons, and the Duke of Wellington in the lords. Q. What declarations did those statesmen make? A. That their old opinions (which w^ere adverse to the measure) were unchanged ; but that they deemed it expedient to grant it rather than risk a civil war. 144 CATECHISM OF THE Q. "What offices and places did emancipation throw open to the Catholics ? A. All offices in the state excepting only the throne, the Yiceroyalty of Ireland, and the office of Lord Chancellor in both countries. Q. In what year did George the Fourth die ? A. In 1830, aged 68. Q. What events took place in Ireland in the reign of William the Fourth ? A. In 1832 there was a resistance, almost universal, to the tithe system. Cattle, corn, or goods distrained for tithe, could find no purchasers ; and the clergy of the Established Church were involved in litigation with their parishioners all over the kingdom. Q. Were other weapons than those of the law made use of to enforce the payment of tithe ? A. Yes ; the clergy obtained the assistance of the military to distrain the property of the people and to over-awe them into obedience. Scenes, ludicrous as well as deplorable occured. A regiment of hussars were employed in driv- ing a flock of twelve geese in the county of Kukenny. At Newtownbairy, Castlepollard, Carrickshock, Inniscarra, and some other places there were sanguinary . affrays between the soldiers and the people. Q. What occured at Gurtroe, near Rath- cormac, in the county of Cork ? A, Archdeacon Ryder brought a party of the military to recover the tithe of a farm held by a family named Ryan. The Ryans, who were Catholics, resisted the payment of tithe to a Protestant pastor, from whom they, HISTORY OF IRELAND. 145 of course, derived no spiritual benefit. The order to fire on the people was given to the military ; and thirteen persons were wounded, and eight killed, in the presence of the Rev. Mr. Ryder. He was then paid his tithe by Mrs. Ryan, whose son was shot before her eyes. Q. What changes did parliament make in the tithe system ? A. It struck off one-fourth of the tithes, and made the landlords, instead of the occupying tenants, liable to the established clergy for the remaining three-fourths. Q. Was this a relief to the tenantry ? A. To the extent of one-fourth of the tithes, it was, doubtless, a relief. With respect to the other three-fourths, as the landlords are liable to pay them to the clergy, they, of course, take care to exact them under the name of rent from their tenantry. Q. Was a reform of the House of Commons carried in this reign ? A. Yes. Q. How far did that reform effect Ireland? A. Ireland got five additional members ; she had previously sent 100 representatives to the Imperial Parliament. Q. Did the Irish, in 1832, make any efforts to obtain a Repeal of the Union .P A. Yes; and about forty members were returned at the general election in that year, pledged to support the Repeal. Only that the elective franchise was unjustly withheld from the people, nearly all the constituencies would have returned Repealers. L 146 CATECHISM OF THE Q. What measure did the first reformed par- iament enact against Ireland, in 1833 ? A. A Coercion Act was passed, laying restric- tions on the right of the Irish people to meet and petition the legislature. The ebject of this Att was to crush the movement for Repeal; which national measure was denounced in a foolish and ferocious speech delivered by the king on opening the session. Q. How did Mr. O'Connell, in his place in parliament, designate the king's speech ? A. He called it " a brutal and a bloody speech." Q. Was Repeal brought before the British Hous'e of Commons ? A. Yes; by O'Connell, in 1834. He was opposed by Spring Rice, who attempted to show that Ireland had been improved by the destruc- tion of her parliament ; and as Mr. Rice's paradox was congenial to the prejudices of his audience, O'Connell 's motion was defeated, for the time, by an immense majority. Q. Did that defeat discourage the Irish people ? A. Not in the least; they knew their cause was just and righteous, and they determined to wait, and work, and watch their opportunity. Q. What was O'Connell's parliamentary policy ? A. To act as if he placed faith in the con- joint promise made by the king, lords and commons, in rejecting his motion for Repeal. They had solemnly promised to remove all the grievances of Ireland ; and accordingly O'Con- HISTORY OF IRELAND. 14T nell, for the next six years, occupied himself in the experiment of extorting a fulfilment of that solemn pledge from the British Legislature. Q. In what year did William the Fourth die ? A. In 1837. CHAPTER XXXII. The Reign of Queen Victoria. Q. "What was the policy of the national party in Ireland for the first three years of this reign .^ A. They continued to pursue the experiment of trying what amount of justice was to be ob- tained from the Imperial Parliament. Q. What was the result of their experiment ? A. Increased evidence of the hostility of that parliament to Ireland ; and of the paramount necessity of obtaining a free, popular Irish Legislature. Q. What important event occurred in 1840 ? A. The Loyal National Repeal Association was founded by O'Connell in that year, for the purpose of obtaining a repeal of the Union. Q. Did the agitation for repeal extend itself quickly over the kingdom ? A. Yes ; as soon as O'Connell's perseverance had finally convinced the people that he was thoroughly resolved to fight out the peaceful battle to the last, and not to use the Repeal-cry as a mere instrument to obtain other measures. Q. What efforts did the government make to preserve the Union ? A. Efforts quite in character with those which Pitt's government had made use of to carry it in 1800. They deemed that as it had been ori- 148 CATECHISM OF THE ginally achieved by bribery and terror, it could best be preserved by the same means. Accord- ingly Lord Fortescue, the Whig Lord Lieutenant in 1841, announced that anti-Repealers only should be admitted to any place or office in the gift of the Government. And in 1843, troops were poured into the country and state prosecu- tions instituted against nine of the leaders, in the hope that the display of military power, conjoined with the harrassing persecution of the legal proceedings, might terrify the people from seeking their national rights. Q. What military struggle occurred in the English colonies in 1841-2 ? A. England was engaged in the attempt to extend and consolidate her Indian empire ; and Irish soldiers, as is usual in such cases, fought and bled in the contest. The 44th regiment, consisting entirely of Irish, was totally destroyed. Q. Of what use were England's Indian con- quests to Ireland .P A. Of no use whatever. Ireland had no inter- est whatsoever in the event of the struggle. Q. Did the English ministry enlist Queen Victoria's influence against the Repealers oif Ireland ? / / A. They did ; and a speech, denouncing Re- / / peal, was composed for the queen, which her / majesty read from the throne at the close of the / session of 1843. The ministry hoped that the / well-known loyalty of the Irish people would / induce them to abandon a measure distasteful to / their beloved monarch. Q. What effoct had this ministerial manoeuvre on the national policy of the Irish ? // HISTORY OF IRELAND. 149 A. It deeply grieved the people to see the amiable young lady on tlii^' throne made the tool and mouthpiece of a faction opposed to their liberties ; but the queen's mis^ke on the subject of Repeal could, of course, have no effect on the national resolve of millions suffering the bitter evils of the Union. Their sentiment was precisely the same as that which was expressed by the Dungannon Volunteers in 1779 : " We know our duty to our Sovereign and are loyal ; but we also know our duty to ourselves, and are determined to be free." Q. What violent measures did the Government take to suppress the agitation for Repeal ? A. The Lord Lieutenant (Earl De Grey) issued a proclamation to prevent a public meet- ing to petition parliament for Repeal, which was advertised to be held at Clontarf on the 8th of October, 1843 ; and at which a large number from great distances, and even from England, had prepared to attend. The viceregal procla- mation was issued at so late an hour on the 7th, that it was perfectly impossible to convey the knowledge of its contents to tens of thousands who were actually at the moment on their jour- ney to the meeting. Q. What additional measures did the Govern- ment take ? A. A large military force was stationed in the neighbourhood, so disposed as to command from several points the place intended for the meeting. Q, Did the people obey the proclamation ? A. Yes; owing to the prompt energy of the Repeal Committee, who felt it their bounden 150 CATECHISM OF THE duty to prevent a hostile collision; and who- accordingly sent messengers in all directions tO' enjoin the people to return to their homes. Q. When wer^ the leaders of the Repeal movement prosecuted ? A. The prosecution was commenced in the November term, 1843. Q. Name the traversers ? A. Daniel O'Connell, John O'Connell, Thomaa Steele, Charles Gavan Duffy, (Editor of the Nation) John Gray, (Editor of the Freeman's Journal ) Richard Barret, (Editor of the Pilot) Rev. Mr. Tyrrell, P. P. of Lusk, Rev. Mr. Tierney, P.P. of Clontibret, andThomas Matthew Ray, the Secretary of the Repeal Association. The Rev. Mr. Tyrrel died before the close of the prosecution, and the verdict against the Rev. Mr. Tierney was overruled by the Bench. Q. How did the Government secure a con- viction ? A. By excluding from the jury box every man who did not entertain political hostility to the defendants. The management of the jury list was pronounced by the Tory Chancellor of England (Baron Lyndhurst) to have been *^ fraudulent." Q. Were the seven traversers imprisoned on the verdict of the jury ? A. Yes, on the 30th. of May, 1844. Q. Did their fate deter the Irish people from further exertions for repeal ? A. Of course it did not ! On the contrary, the people, indignant at the outrage committed on their leaders under the forms of law, immedi- ately begafi to work with augmented energy ; CATECHISM OF THE 151 there was an immense increase of the Repeal Rent, and a large number of new adhesions to the Repeal Association. Q. What length of impirisonment was ad- judged to the traversers ? A. One year to Daniel O'Connell ; and nine months to the others. Q. Did they suffer the fall term of their sen- tence ? A. No. They appealed by writ of error to the House of Lords ; and that tribunal reversed the judgment of the court below. The prisoners were forthwith discharged, having been im- prisoned for over three months. Q. How many members of the House of Lords formed the tribunal that decided the appeal in this case ? A. The five law lords — Lyndhurst, Brougham, Cottenham, Campbell, Denman. The first two were for confirming the sentence ; the last three for reversing it. Q. What were Lord Denman's words in giving judgment ? A. ''If such practices as have taken PLACE IN the present INSTANCE IN IRELAND SHALL CONTINUE, THE TRIAL BY JURY WILL BECOME A MOCKERY, A DELUSION, AND A SNARE." Q. On what day were the prisoners liberated ? A. On the 6th of September, 1844. Q. What qualities characterized the Irish people during the entire crisis — the trial — the imprisonment — the liberation ? A. The utmost steadiness and determination of purpose, combined with a careful abstinence 152 CATECHIS^ OF THE from all violent and exasperating language. There never was a nation that more fully deve- loped its own capacity for self-government, than the Irish did at that very trying crisis. The people and their leaders are pledged to persevere. The issue of their struggle is in the hands of God ; but if the thorough justice of a cause, and the perfect morality of the means employed in its promotion, may command suc- cess, the final triumph of Repeal can neither be distant nor doubtful. FINIS. Just Published in 2 vols, post 8vo. price 10s. SAINTS AND SINNERS; A TALE OF MODERN TIMES. BY WILLIAM J. O'NEILL, DAUNT, ESQ., " The work which has issued from the press under the above title is calculated to throw more light on Irish character, Irish grievances, and the lights and shadows of Irish life, than, perhaps, any other single publication extant. The title is most appropriate. All those who arrogate so impiously the title of Christ's Saints — the sectarian bigot, the persecuting and proselytizing fanatic, the exterminating landlord — the bad and anti-national Irishman of every class, are displayed in juxta-position with the kind-hearted, liberal and enlightened, both Protestant and Catholic, both monk and parson, both gentleman and peasant, who are yet ranked by the for- mer class among the sinful and benighted. We are led without constraint or affectation through the varying scenes of life in which such characters daily play their contrasted parts ; we are introduced to the persecuting and the persecuted in their homes, and in the theatres of their action ; we witness the scenes that pass among the rabid fanatics at the Bible meeting ; at the attrocious tithe foray in the mountain glen; in the fisherman's desolated cabin ; in the cleft of the wild rock where the wife of the evicted tenant lies on her cold death bed ; in the midnight ambush, where despair drives the unhappy peasant to the 'wild justice of revenge;' in the sacred precincts of the monastery chapel, where the corpses of tithe martyrs are strewn over the damp floor : we see, in fine, all the sad varieties of Irish life, and such a life, alas ! as man has not been doomed to lead in any other portion of this beauteous world ! All passes naturally and vividly before us. Each chapter is in itself a kind of tableau^ which, although forming a part of the narrative, is one of those distinct incidents which we understand without the aid of all that goes before, or follows after — which, in fact, have become so familiar to us, that they are themselves sufficient to suggest the history of their causes and their results. His intimate acquaintance with the facts and char- acters which he describes eminently qualified Mr. O'Neill Daunt for the task of writing such a work ; and he has certainly left but few features in the subject unexplored. To his extraordinary powers of dialogue he has given ample play. He tell^ ns in his prefatory address, that his object was ' not so much to defend particular senti- ments, as to express them ; not so much to confute the adverse principles, as simply to display their practical operation on Irish society. He however appears to go much farther, on some occasions, than he would here have us believe ; for some of his chapters would, for instance, form a capital polemical manual, in which the arguments pro and con are put with great force and great fairness. We would wish, like Mr. St. Leger, to see less of the odium theologicunij which polemical controversy stirs up, prevail; but the fair play which Mr. O'Neill Daunt shows to both parties wherever conscientious conviction and fair play are clearly their objects, is calculated to allay, rather than excite uncharitable feelings. It does much credit to Mr. Dufiy, the enterprising publisher, who continues so well to merit the support of his countrymen, by his outlay of capital, and expenditure of labour, in bringing out works of national interest and utility." — Freeman's Journal.