M'-;; THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE AN ACCOUNT OF THE EARLY SEPTS AND LATER SETTLERS OF THE KING'S COUNTY AND OF LIFE IN THE ENGLISH PALE BY F. R. MONTGOMERY HITCHCOCK, M.A. AUTHOR OF "CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA," "MYSTERY OF THE CROSS," "SUGGESTIONS FOR BIBLE STUDY," "CELTIC TYPES OF LIFE AND ART," ETC DUBLIN: SEALY, BRYERS AND WALKER MIDDLE ABBEY STREET 1908 H^ PRINTED BY SEALY, ERYERS AND WALKER, MIDDLE ABBEY STREET, DUBLIN. UXORI BENIGNAE ET BEATAE. — : o : — Rapta sinu subito niteas per saecula caeli, Pars animi major, rerum carissima, conjux. Mox Deus orbatos iterum conjunget amantes ; Et laeti mecum pueri duo limina mortis, Delicias nostras visum, transibimus una. Tempora te solam nostrae coluere juventae ; Fulgebit facies ridens mihi sancta relicto Vivus amor donee laxabit vincula leti. Interea votum accipias a me mea sponsa libellum. Gratia mollis enim vultus inspirat amantem, Mensque benigna trahit, labentem et dextera tollit. Aegros egregio solata venusta lepore es : Natis mater eras, mulier gratissima sponso. Coelicolum jam adscripta choris fungere labore. In gremio Christi, semper dilecta, quiescens. Christus enim servat, servum revocatque Redemptor. Usque novissima vox mea pectora personat ilia. PREFACE. The favourable reception of '' Celtic Types of Life and Art " has emboldened the writer to attempt another book on Irish life. This second venture deals principally with the history of the original Irish septs and the later English settlers of the King's County, giving contemporaneous glimpses of the unhappy progress of life in the district known as " The Pale." It will be seen that the story of the settlers makes even greater demands upon the sympathy of the historian than that of the Irish septs of O'CarroU and O'Connor ; and that, while almost every English official propounded his scheme for the settlement of the country, the poet Spenser, for a time private secretary of the Deputy, Lord Grey, fell most com- pletely under the spell of the land, not only writing his " View of the Present State of Ireland," but also wedding an Irish maid and composing the immortal *' Faerie Queen " on Irish soil. Subjects of controversy in religion and politics have again been avoided because of the conviction that there is a common platform on which all Irishmen, however opposed in these matters, may meet to con- sider the improvement of their country, the promotion of its industry, and the preservation of the annals of its past. vi. PREFACE Sources and authorities of importance are given in every instance. In the second chapter a suggestion of the late Mr. T. L. Cooke has been worked out. The writer expresses his obligations to the pub- lishers, who have spared no expense to make the book a success ; to the Rev. J. E. H. Murphy, Professor of Irish in Trinity College, the Rev. M. E. O'Malley, and Mr. E. Fournier D'Albe, B.Sc, his brother-in-law, who have given valuable assistance in the spelling of Irish names ; and to his friend, Mr. Thomas Ulick Sadleir, B.L., who has contributed the important Appendix on the King's County families in the eighteenth century. CONTENTS PAGE UxORi Benignae et Beatae .... iii. Preface v. Contents . vii. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. The Early Peoples of Erin . . . . i CHAPTER H. The Race of the Horseman and an Ancient Relic 17 CHAPTER HI. The King's County and the Slieve Bloom . . 34 CHAPTER IV. The O'Connors and the Pale . . . .53 CHAPTER V. The Rise of the O'Connors and Richard IPs. Expedition 73 CHAPTER VI. Ireland under the Lancastrian Kings . .90 CHAPTER VII. Acts of Significance 105 CHAPTER VIII. The Geraldines and Butlers . . . .120 Vlll, CONTENTS. Pags. CHAPTER IX. Silken Thomas and the O'Connors . . .128 CHAPTER X. The Plantation of Offaly and Leix . . . 142 CHAPTER XL Thn Rise of the O'Carrolls and O'Mulloys . 163 CHAPTER Xn. The Fall of the O'Carrolls . . . .177 CHAPTER XHI. The Defence of the Pale 190 CHAPTER XIV. Misrule and Oppression 209 CHAPTER XV. Legal and other Reforms 226 CHAPTER XVI. Clonmacnoise and Delvin 239 CHAPTER XVII. More Recent Events in the County. . . 250 CHAPTER XVIII. Irish Customs and Curiosities .... 268 Appendix 293 Index 306 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. The Early Peoples of Erin. Keating, in the preface of his History of Ireland, complains of the manner in which the ancient Irish have been misrepresented by foreign historians. Strabo, for instance, declared that the Irish were cannibals. Solinus asserted that there were no bees in Ireland — a falsehood rebutted by another foreigner, Camden, who stated that the multitude of bees is so great that they are to be found not only in hives, but also in the hollow places of the trees and ground. Pomponius Mela represented the Irish as " ignorant of every virtue." " That ignorant and malicious writer," Giraldus Cambrensis, stated that the kingdom paid tribute to King x-^rthur in A.D. 519, and added insult to injury by describing the Irish as an inhos- pitable race (gens inhospita), whereas Stanihurst testifies to their hospitality in the sentence : " The Irish are truly the most hospitable men, and you cannot please them better than by visiting them frequently and without invitation." Stanihurst him- self receives the vials of Keating's wrath for his state- ment that " the meanest scullion that lives in the English province would not give his daughter in marriage to the most noble'prince of the Irish " : and 2 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE (or his uaconiplimenttry remarks to the Irish language, which he" regretted was' not expelled with the Irish natives from Fingall, Stanihurst was altogether ignorant of the mellifluous language, and, therefore, was unqualified, in Keating's opinion, to express his views on the subject. Stanihurst went still further, and although, as Keating remarks, he had no notion of music, harmony, or distinction of sound, had the audacity to pronounce the Irish "an unmusical nation." Keating wonders that this second Midas, on whose head Apollo, the God of song, would un- doubtedly have fixed the ears of an ass, had not consulted Giraldus Cambrensis, that ''inexhaustible fund of falsehood," as he elsewhere describes him, who states in his History : " I find the diligence of that nation praiseworthy in the use of musical instruments, with which they are better provided than any other nation." This testimony to the musical talent of the Ireland of the twelfth century is corroborated by the resemblance that has been discovered between the Irish melodies and the Norse, which must have been familiar to Ireland for some centuries at the time of Giraldus, and by the fame of the ancient Irish harpers. The present writer has heard people say that the Irish peasantry of the present age have no ear for music, and that part singing, which comes naturally to their Welsh brethren, is only learnt with great difficulty by the Celt on this side of the Channel. Be that as it may, there are few nations as susceptible to the charm of sweet sounds, or as subject to the sway of melody; while the Welsh Giraldus praised the Irish melodies of his age for their sweetness, swift- ness, and " Concordia discors." Then Spenser provokes THE EARLY PEOPLES OF ERIN 3 Keating's wrath by his audacious attempt to trace the pedigrees of the Irish gentry, and to assert that the MacMahons, who were Hneally descended from Colla da Chrioch, son of Eochaidh Doimlen, son of Cairbre Lifeachair, Monarch of Ireland, were of EngHsh extraction, and descended from the house of Fitz Urse. Many, too, are the deficiencies of Meredith Hanmer, Doctor of Divinity, and the defects of his Chronicle, which commences with laudable precision ''three hundred yeeres after the flood." For had he not the hardihood to challenge S. Patrick's right to be called the Apostle of Ireland, and to mention his predecessors Colman, Declan, Ailbe, Ibar, and Ciaran, and to ascribe the discovery of S. Patrick's Purgatory to another Patrick, an abbot who lived in A.D. 850. But, worst of all, he ventured to deny the Irish origin of our island Hercules, Fionn MacCumhail, and to give him a Danish (Keating wrongly says " British "> pedigree. In a word, all these writers and others, Barclay and Moryson among them, were, according to Keating, utterly devoid of the qualifications required by an historian, and whether " from malice or ignorance " were unfit to essay the task. They seemed to follow the example of the beetle which selects the nastiest thing, rather than that of the bee which chooses the sweetest places to alight upon. They wilfully pass over all that was commendable and noble in Irish life and customs, and " dwell upon the manners of the lower and baser sort of people." Those of us who have read the histories of which Keating complains can not but feel that he had just cause of complaint ; and that the worst types of Celtic life were described, 4 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE while the best were overlooked, simpl}- because the writers were " beetles " not " bees." But here it to be observed that if the history of Ireland has been drowned by the cold water of its foes, it has been no less buried under the dry dust of its friends, for there can be nothing less stimulating to the eager student than the Irish annals, say those of the Four Masters. Here a veritable mine of informa- tion lies buried beneath a pile of ancient dust, which, like the gravel dust of Europe, contain many treasures for those who can afford the time and means to dig and delve through la}'ers of waste and worthless heaps before they strike the vein of ore. On the other hand, no one could describe Keating as dull. There are many entertaining pages in his work, and even if one takes exception to the length and doubtfulness of the pedigrees and legends he re- cords, one cannot but admire his ingenuity. Is it not refreshing to a tired imagination to be informed that hundreds of years before the Deluge, Ireland was visited by three daughters of Cain, with Seth, the son of Adam or MacAdam, the ancestor, doubtless, of the MacAdams, \\'ho gave their name to Cadamstown ? For, as the ancient poet sang : The three fair daughters of the cursed Cain, With Seth, the son of Adam, first beheld The Isle of Banba. These distinguished dames, one of whom, Banba, gave her name to the island, were followed in remote ages by three strangers, Caffo, Laighne, and Luasat, precisely " twelve months before the Flood." But these unhappy " men of strength and fit for war," who were driven here by a storm, were unfortunately THE EARLY PEOPLES OF ERIN 5 drowned in the Deluge at a place called Tuath Inbhir. But, according to "some records of the kingdom," which Keating mentions "out of respect," the first really historic personage who visited the island was Ceasar, the daughter of Bith, a niece of Noah, but whom the patriarch refused to receive into the Ark. She and some of her companions, whose names have been preserved in the Psalter of Cashel, with due con- sideration for future historians, landed in Connacht. There Bith, Ceasar's husband, died on Sliabh Beatha, now Slieve Beagh, on the borders of Tyrone, where his cairn is shown at Carnm6r, near Clones, and Ceasar herself died of grief at Carn Ceasra in Connacht "six days before the rising of the Flood." Camden had, therefore, some ground for his assertion that " the island was not without reason called the ancient Ogygia by Plutarch, for they begin their histories from the most remote memory of antiquity, so that the antiquities of other nations are modern compared with theirs." Noah's descendants in the order Japhet, Ham, and Shem seem to have been represented by the ancient inhabitants of Eire. Parthaldn, a Scythian, with his comrades were of the posterity of Japhet, according to Dr. Meredith Hanmer and Keating. Parthalon, how- ever, who happened to be a parricide, " a boy who killed his father," was followed by the furies from Greece, and he, with all his followers, died of a plague, within the space of a week, at Benn-Eadair, or the Hill of Howth, having possessed the plain of Sean-mhagh- Ealta Edair (Shan-va-alta-edar), or the old plain of the flocks of Edar, which was also called Maghnealta, or Moynalty, the plain of flocks, which lay between 6 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Howth and the Dublin Mountains, or may be the old name of Clontarf, as Professor Murphy suggests, the flocks being the sea-birds. On the Dublin hills near Tallaght there may be to-day sepulchral remains of Partholanus and his band ; for Tallaght was known to the Four Masters as Taimhleacht-mhuintire-Phartha- 16in, or the plague-grave of Parthalon's people. In the time of Partholanus, according to Hanmer, " many of the cursed seed of Cham (Ham) arrived on this island with their captain Oceanus, the sonne of Cham, called of some Mena, of Moses Mitzraim." These were of great stature and strength, and after a time engaged in battle with the sons of Japhet, who anni- hilated them, but, neglecting the burial of the dead, died themselves of the plague which left its name to Tallaght. This was the end of Partholanus, and the country was desolate once more, '* ex- cepting a few silly soules scattered in remote places." Then Nemedius, of Japhet's line, came with his three sons, and partitioned Ireland between them, and in his time, descendants of Shem appeared in the shape of "vagabond Africans." These were quite celebrated people in their way. They rejoiced in the name of Fomhoraigh, which Keating explains as sea- robbers, but which is anglicised into Fomorians. Piracy was their occupation, as it was of the Vikings of a later and more prosaic age. These sea-robbers seemed to have been great builders. Keating tells us that they built two royal seats, one called Cinneich at loubhniallain, and the other, Rath Ciombhaoith in Seimhne, for the Nemedians, who rewarded their architects by slaying them, and with Irish irony THE EARLY PEOPLES OF ERIN 7 giving them a burial in Urra firma at Doire Lighe, or the stone by the oak tree. It would be of great advantage to us if we could locate these places. There are, however, many localities of the name Cinneich, the head or the hill of the horse, which may appear in Kinnetty as well as in Kineagh, in the south as well as in the north of Ireland. loubhniallain may stand for Uibh-Niallain (uibh, abl. case of Ua, grandson, generally written O), and would correspond, therefore, with Hy Niallain, an ancient tribe, who occupied the baronies of O'Neil- land in Armagh. The other place, Raith Ciombhaoith, may well be called after Cimbaoth, one of the famous trio of kings, who agreed to reign for seven years in alternate succession, and who had the good or bad fortune to marry Macha of the golden hair, daughter of Aedh-ruadh, the first of the three Kings, and foundress of Ard-macha or Armagh, and to escape, as far as we can tell, from the servitude to which that determined dame consigned the sons of Dithorba, the third monarch, of whom Tigernach writes. But this may be too venturesome an anticipation. It is, how- ever, quite possible that Ptolemy, the geographer of the second century, refers to the place. For he mentions Isamnion Akron, or the Point of Seimhne (now Island Magee ?), in which district the Rath of Cimbaoth was built. Nor is it improbable that one of these " royal seats " was further south. For we are informed by Keating that the first battle which Nemedius fought with the Fomorians after their coming was at Sliabh Bladhma, or the Slieve Bloom Mountains, in which district was the ancient Kinnetty, mentioned in the Felire of Aengus, which resembles S THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Kinneich, as well as O'NeiU's town and O'Neill's well. Accordingly, it is highly probable that Nemedius, if he ever existed, established himself in two royal seats, from one of which he could control the north, and from the other, the south, ^^■est, and east of the country. The necessity of this is apparent when we notice how ubiquitous the Fomorians were, the first battle they fought being in the midlands at Sliabh Bladhma, the next in Connacht, the third in Dalriada in x-\ntrim, and the fourth in Leinster. But at last these terrible sea-rovers, who had originally established themselves in an island off the Donegal coast, known as Tory Isle, not, however, from its political aspect, but from its torach, or tower-like, appearance, overwhelmed Nemedius and his people, and gave their name to the Giant's Causeway, which is called in Irish Clochan-na- bhFomharach (Clohan a vowragh) or the stepping- stones of the Fomorians. After the Fomorians came other invaders, the Firbolgs and Tuatha-de-Danann. One division of the former people landed at Inver Domnainn, the river mouth of the Domnann or Firdomnainn, men of the deep pits, now called Muldowney, which means the whirlpool of the Domnann. and is probably the treacherous channel formed by the sea at ]\Ialahide. It is also interesting to note that one of these Firbolg princesses, Eadar, the wife of Gann, one of their five commanders, gave her name to the promontory now called Howth Head (Howth = Head in Danish, cf German Haiipt), but which was then styled Benn Eadair, the point of Edar. Ptolemy, the geographer of the second century, mentions a place, Edrou Heremos, or desert of Eder, opposite Eblana, ancient Dublin, THE EARLY PEOPLES OF ERIN 9 which preserves the name of this lady. It is also said to be taken from a Tuatha-De-Danann chief, Eadar, son of Edgaeth. The Firbolgs, accord- ing to Keating, were the exiled Nemedians, who had sailed to Greece to escape the tyranny of the Fomorians, and there grew and multiplied until the Grecians rose to oppress them. They then set sail, and safely landed on the Irish shore. The Firbolgs were divided into three tribes. Their first king was Slainge, and their last was Eochaidh, and for fifty-six years they reigned. Eochaidh, the sixth and last of these, was a good and wise monarch, who sought to restrain the violence of his subjects by making good laws. In his days " peace and plenty cheered the labouring swain." For we read that, '' in his time the weather was temperate and healthy, the produce of the earth was not damaged by any immoderate rains, and plenty and prosperity prevailed throughout the whole island." How pleasant must have been the climate of Eire in those days, and how sadly it has altered for the worse ! This king is said to have wedded Taillte, daughter of Magm6r, the king of Spain, in whose honour the assembly of Tailltean was insti- tuted by Lewy of the long hand, one of the Tuatha-de- Danann kings. Taillte is said to be buried at Tailte (gen. Tailltenn), now Teltown, in Meath. As for Eochaidh himself, he perished in battle v/ith the three sons of Neimhidh, son of Badhraoi, at Magh Tuiridh, the plain of the tower, to be identified doubtless with Moytura, not far from the interesting village of Cong, which, with the ruins of its noble abbey, stands on the cumhga or isthmus connecting Loughs Corrib and Mask in Galway. Badhraoi is a strange name, and 10 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE may be connected with the old Irish Badh-ruadh, or God of Wind, who corresponded with the Gallic deity Vintios, and if so would be an instance of the manner in which pagan pantheons were filled with deified mortals. A short while previous to his death Eochaidh had been routed by the Tuatha-de-Danann under their king, Nuadha of the silver hand (Airgiod lamh). These people are said to have possessed wonderful skill in magical arts, by which they im- pressed the natives whom they subjugated, and by whom they were practically deified after they in their turn were vanquished by the fierce Milesians. A poem in the Book of Invasions describes by " what charms, what conjuration, what mighty magic " they won the land. One of their powers was to " raise a slaughter'd army from the earth, and make them breathe and fight again." Our chief interest in these cryptic people is centred in the four curious articles which they are said to have brought with them from Denmark, namely the Lia Fail, or stone of destiny, because a very ancient prophecy foretold that, at what- ever place the stone should be preserved a person of the Scythian or Scottic race would have the sovereignty ; the sword of Lug (Luighaidh) the Long-handed, the spear of the same warrior, and the cauldron or girdle (coi|\e) of their deity Daghda. These settlers occupied the land for "a hundred and ninety-seven years," as an ancient poem, preserved in the Psalter of Cashel, states with remarkable precision. Their divinities were many and various, male and female. Keating mentions Badhbha, Macha, and Moriogan, and states that the three Danann princes, Macuill, Maceacht, and Mac Greine, who divided the THE EARLY PEOPLES OF. ERIN u land between them, were so called from the objects of their worship, Macuill adoring a log of hazel wood (cuill), Maceacht a ploughshare (ceacht), and MacGreine the sun (grian). It is more than likely, however, that these patronymics were given for other reasons. In a manuscript of the Seabright Collection, used by General Vallancey, if we can depend upon him, a list of the inferior Tuatha-de-Danann deities is given. One of these is Eochaid il-dathach. i.e., Dagh-da. Il-dat- hach signifies '' many-coloured." Daghda was one of the Danann kings. The point to which attention is here directed is the name Eochaid, which means horseman, and to which we shall return. Suffice it to sa}^ here that Eochaidh, or horseman, was the name borne by the last of the Firbolg kings, by princes of the Tuatha-de- Danann, and also by the kings of the Milesians. The Milesians came to Ireland, according to the " faithful Cormac MacCuillenan in his Psalter of Cashel" (so Keating), about 1,300 years before the birth of Christ; but, according to that "idle writer" and " inexhaustible fund of falsehood," Giraldus Cambrensis, during the reign of Gorgundus, who lived not much more than 350 years before Christ. This is a difference of nearly 1,000 years, a com- paratively short term considering the obscure ages of which we are treating. The Milesians, or Goidels or Celts, came ostensibly to avenge the death of a distant relation, one Ith, commander of the Gadelians, " who was inhumanly slain in defiance of the established laws of nature and of nations " by the three reigning princes of the Tuatha-de-Danann. Ith is said to have discovered the island with an ancient telescope from the pharos of 12 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Brigantia, or more probably to have become acquainted with it in his piratical raids, or through the political relations between the ancient Spaniards and Irish, which had been cemented on more than one occasion by marriage. At all events, Ith, " the son of Breogan, son of Bratna," " son of Magog, son of Japhet, son of Noah, son of Lamech" (Psalter of Cashel), and uncle of ]\Iilesius, encountered the three sons of Cearmad, son of Daghdha, kings of the Tuatha-de-Danann, who were quarrelling over some family jewels at a place called Oileach Neid, on the borders of Ulster, and in a charitable, we had almost said Christian, but that would have been a slight anachronism, spirit preached to them an eloquent sermon of peace and goodwill, and induced them to shake hands and be friends. Well had it been for Ith if he had not undertaken the role of peacemaker, for the three brothers united their forces against him, and slew him, for all his courage and eloquence, as he was returning to his ship, with a conscience void of offence and a sm^all escort, in Magh Itha. Then Lughaidh, the son of Ith, carried back the dead body of Ith to Spain. The Book of Conquests states that Tor Breogain, the tower of Brigantia, was the place. After having exposed the slain hero's body on the sea shore, in the sym- pathetic presence of the family of Milesius and the sons of Breogan, the son related the story of his father's •'' taking-off." The Milesian warriors, stand- ing round the speaker in a grim circle, moved by the sight of their sweet comrade's wounds, "poor, poor dumb mouths," and by the son's " power of speech," felt " the dint of pity." Tears trickled down their iron cheeks ; and they expressed their feelings after the THE EARLY PEOPLES OF ERIN 13 manner of their forefather, and vowed to sacrifice the blood of the sons of Cearmad '' to the manes of their great-uncle/' just as the Gauls of Caesar's time '' sacrificed human beings as victims." Their Celtic blood was up, the mischief was afoot. One s}''mpathises, however, with the interesting Tuatha-de-Danann princes wrangling over heirlooms, and losing their kingdom and their beautiful and virtuous princesses, Fodhla and Banba, and Eire, who fell in battle v/ith the Goidil. The Milesians were a wandering race, who even- tually found a resting place in our little island. They are said to have been of Scythian blood and Japhet's noble line. They had, it is said, some intercourse with Moses, but no Irish chronicler gives them a Semitic origin, which fact tells somewhat against the British-Israel theory. From Magog, the son of Japhet, was descended the Scythian ruler, Feinius or Fursa, whose son, Niul, is said to have married Pharoah's daughter, the beautiful Scota. Their son, Gadelus, is the reputed ancestor of the Goidels or Gaels. According to the royal records of Tara, he was attacked and bitten, when a babe, by a serpent, but w^as healed by the wand of Moses, who is said to have foretold that the countries where Gadelus, or any of his race should live, would not be invested with any reptile or venomous beast. This is said to be the reason why the serpent was a favourite device of the Milesians, appearing on their banners and in their scroll work. The learning of Feinius, or Fursa and Niul, his son, was marvellous for their age. Niul, we are told in all seriousness, " erected schools and seminaries, and taught the sciences and the uni- versal languages to the youth of Egypt." Unfortunately 14 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE for his people, Niul sympathised so greatly with the down-trodden Hebrews, that he drew upon his own race the vengeance of another Pharoah. They, under the guidance of Sru, and not Gadelas, as Hector Boetius and " such pretenders to history " relate, sailed away in four ships to the Isle of Crete, to escape the might of Eg}'pt. From Crete they removed to Scythia, thence to Gothland, thence to Spain, back again to Egypt, back again to Gothland, back again to Spain, and, finally, these unsettled, but unconquerable colonists, after wanderings to which those of '' much-enduring " Ulysses and " pious " ^neas were child's play, came to Ireland, where they pitched their tents for aye. This is the record in the chronicles of Ireland, and, as Keating says — although all may not assent — unless we depend upon their authority, it is impossible to arrive at any certainty regarding the antiquities and the religious and political state of the kingdom. It has been the custom to regard the Celts as a branch of the great Aryan race, which had its original home in the northern hills of India. But some philologists, Prof. Anwyl among them, arguing from the resemblance of Celtic forms of speech to the Latin, hold that there must have been some common centre of Aryan- Celtic speech in Europe, from which the Indo-European languages could have radiated eastwards and westwards, towards India, Persia, Armenia, on the one side, and Greece, Gaul, and Britain, Italy and Ireland on the other. This centre is supposed to have been the Danube valley of the modern Carinthia. But while the Aryan race im- pressed its language, social customs, and military ideas upon the peoples it conquered, right, left, and centre, THE EARLY PEOPLES OF ERIN 15 it was not always successful in making the conquered races accept their religious views — whatever they may have been — or in preventing their retention of myths, legends, and national folk-lore. This is, probably, the reason why so man}^ incongruous ideas are found in the Celtic religions. The Milesians derive their name from Milesius, or Gallamh grandson of Breogan (Bryan ?), from whom the Brigantes of Spain, according to Keating, were descended. Milesius was like Moses in this, that he never set foot upon the promised land, dying before the expedition set forth to avenge the death of his uncle, Ith. However, his widow, Scota, an Egyptian princess, and his eight sons, Donn, Ir, Aireach Feabhruadh, Arranan, Colpa, Heber, Heremon, and Amergin took part in the invasion which the uncles of Milesius organised. That expedition was disastrous to many of these ; for Scota perished, with five of her sons, before the country was eventually divided between Heber and Heremon. The grave of the heroic Scota, who fell at Slieve Mis, in Kerry, is said to be seen between Slieve Mis and the sea, and is by the Finglas stream in Glenscoheen, or Scota's grave. Bladh, a son of Breogan, was slain on the hills which are now called the Slieve Bloom (Sliabh Bladhma), an interesting connection with the modern King's County. Other Milesian warriors, Fuad and Cuailgne, gave their names respectively to the mountains of Slieve Fuad, the highest of the Fews Range in Armagh and the Cooley Mountains (Sliabh Cuailgne) near Dundalk. The brave Tuatha-de- Danann princes, whose magic proved ineffectual against the Gael, were slain, and their forces scattered 1 6 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE at the decisive battle of Tailltenn. Then Heremon and Heber, sons of Milesius, the former in the north, and the latter in the south, reigned peacefully over their provinces, until the wife of Heber, coveting the three vales of Erin, sowed strife between the brothers, who, nnall}^ settled their dispute on the plains of Geisiol — the modern Geashill — in Leinster, where valiant Heber fell. Heremon then succeeded to the throne, and he was followed by his three sons, after whom the sons of Heber Fionn seized the throne, which became a bone of contention between the descendants of Heremon and those of Heber Fionn, and passed now into the hands of one party, and anon into the hands of the other. Geisioll, or Geashill, in the King's County, is in the ancient territory of Offaly. We read in Keating (p. 154) that Eithrial, King of Ireland, grandson of Heremon, in 2766 A.M., cut down a great wood, called Magh Geisile, at lobh Failge, which is the same plain of Geashill in Offaly ; and another at Magh Rath at lobh Eachach. Is it possible to identify this latter place with the locality now known as Thomas- town, but formerly as Rath, some three miles from Kinnetty ? lobh Eachach may stand for the O'Eachach, the descendants of the Eochaidh, who gave his name to the latter place. CHAPTER II. The Race of the Horseman and an Ancient Relic. The Introductory Chapter dealt lightly with the general history of the early peoples of Eire. In this we shall deal more particularly with the midlands of Ireland, the country around Kinnetty, and shall select the kings of the name Eochaidh, who were connected with the district. Prof Connellan gives an interesting note on the name Eochaidh in his translation of the Four Masters (p. 41): "Eochaidh, pronounced Eochy or Eohy, anglicised Achy, and latinized Eachadius, Accadius, and Achaius, a name of many kings and chiefs, is derived from Each or Eoch, a steed, and therefore signifies a horseman or knight." O'Flaherty in his Ogygia gives the name as Echod or Etac. Donovan in the Book of Rights interprets Eochaidh as eques or horseman. O'Reilly in his Irish Dictionary gives eocxM-D, Eochaidh, a man's name, with genitive GxiCAC. In Colgan's Life of S. Nennius the same genitive is given. This being aspirated would be pronounced Eathach, and is probably the latter portion of the name Kinnetty. We shall now see that quite a number of kings of the name Eochaid were connected in some way with the districts around Kinnetty. The first of these was Eochaidh Eadgothach (2866 A.M.), or as O'Halloran explains it, Eochaidh " of many colours." If that be correct it would be this Eochaidh and not his predecessor Tighernmhas B 1 8 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE who established the law of colours by which the colour of one's coat or dress was regulated, a slave being allowed but one colour, a soldier two, an officer three, a gentleman who could entertain, four, a nobleman five, the bards, historians and royal family six. Another derivation of the name would connect it with singeing. This would recall the fact that it was an Eochaidh who is alleged to have introduced the custom of driving horses and cattle between the fires of Beal or the sun, on the day of Beltaine (u be^l-cme), which, accord- ing to Cormac's Glossary, means the two fires which used to be made by the lawgivers or Druids with long incantations, when they drove the cattle between them to guard against the diseases of each year. This day is said to have been the first day of summer, the first of May. O'Donovan's Almanac (Celtic Society) for May, 1848, gives " May- Day, i, Monday, La Beall- taine, SS. Philip and James, S. Mochoemius, Abbot of Terryglass. There is a Bell hill in Clareen, near Kinnetty, where S. Kiaran is said to have rung his bell, but which is more likely to be connected with the ancient fires of Beal-taine kindled originally in honour of the Sun-god, but kept burning to the glory of the true God by S. Kiaran, who, according to Colgan, " arranged that the paschal fire kindled in his monastery should not be extinguished." Mr. Cooke, a writer of 1850, stated that " this fire still continues to be ignited with sparks from flint on every Easter Saturday." The next Eochaidh was Eochaidh Faobharghlas, because of his green flashing brand. He is said to have been an early ancestor of the O'Carrolls, princes of Ely, in the present King's County, being descended from Heber Fionn. He was a great destroyer of woods, having THE RACE OF THE HORSEMAN 19 cut down seven forests, one known as Magh Smear- thuin — with which compare the Irish word Smearoit, a burning coal — which Keating locates in I've Failge (Offaly) also in the King's County. The next Eochaidh, called Mumho, was grandson of the last named, and, according to Keating, began to reign A.M. 2954 (B.C. 1050). He is said to have wrested the throne from Fiachadh Labhruine, whom he defeated at Beal- gadain, a place which may be identified with the present Ballygaddy, often known as the " Three Sisters," where three roads meet between Birr and Leap Castle. He is also said to have fought a battle at Claire, Clara or Moyclare, near Ferbane in the same county. The Four Masters tell us that this Eochaidh was " of Munster." It is probably after him that Munster or Mumhan-ster is called. In those days the district of Ormonde which embraces the southern por- tion of King's County belonged to Munster, being as its name implies East Mumha or Munster. There are two places near Kinnetty which may be connected with this king, Munnu or Money near Frankford, in the district of Fearcall, and Lismoney, a hill near Knock-na-man, which is derived from Lios or lis, a fortified residence, and may mean the fort of Mumha or Mumho. This is as probable as the other ex- planation, the fort of the brake (Muine), which, suggested the name of Moneyguyneen — the rabbit's brake — now the residence of Mr. Assheton Biddulph, the Master of the King's County Hunt. It is said that a prince of the name Eochaidh lived at a place called Raheenevil (or the fort of the burning coal, e^tD^U) near Frankford, Birr. The next Eochaidh was celebrated as Ollamh Fodhla. or learned doctor. 20 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE The Four Masters and the Book of Clonmacnoise give Eochaidh as the name of this Ollamh Fodhla, the Irish Confucius. This Eochaidh wore a girdle and is said to have loosed it when about to speak at the assemblies. He made good laws, such as (i) Let no man slay his fellow ; (2) Let not man take of the belongings of another man's property ; (3) Let not the lips utter what the mind knoweth to be false ; (4) Man be merciful ; (5) Let man do ever as he would be done by. When his son Fionn was going to Munster our Irish lawgiver said to him : " When mirth and joy prevail, gravity and wisdom are out of time. In Muma all is sport and dance and song and music and the chase and drink. Whilst thou abidest be as Muma in all but the last." Even in these early days Munster was famous for the hard drinking and fearless riding of its sons. The son of this learned monarch was Eochaidh, king of Uladh (Ulidia = Ulster) and also Ard-ri or High King. He was specially skilful in the management and breeding of horses. The next Eochaidh was called Uairceas, from the small skiffs which he caused to be made, uairceas being the Irish for boat. This boat was doubtless similar to the corach or coracle used in the western portions of the country. This monarch was twentieth in descent from Eochaidh Faobharghlas, the ancestor of the O'CarroUs of Ely, and was slain by Eochaidh, called Fiadhmhuine the hunter, '' because he took great pleasure in the chasing of deer and other wild beasts, which he frequently hunted in the woody and wild parts of the country ; " Fiad means deer and viuine signifies brake. This hunter of the line of Heremon was slain by Luighaidh Lamhdhearg or Lewy of the THE RACE OF THE HORSEMAN 21 Red Hand, of the line of Heber Fionn and son of Eochaidh Uaircheas, the boat-builder. He was suc- ceeded by other Eochaidhs, the most important of whom was Eochaidh Foltleahan or the Broad Locks, who began his reign 254 B.C., and seems to have met his end in the district of Ely O'CarroU, of which princely line he was also ancestor. For he was slain by Fergus Fortamhaill (vigorous), a valiant and strong-bodied prince, who may have left his name to the Fortal cross roads between Kilcolman and Kin- netty. The next Eochaidh was Feidhlioch, who commenced to reign about B.C., 64, and who was the father of the celebrated Queen Maev (Meidhbh) or Mab of Connacht. The king and his counsellors determined that a royal seat should be made in Connacht, and Tinne, one of the princes of Connacht, having offered a site for the palace was rewarded with the hand of the princess. The ditch and rath were made, and a poet describes how the Rath Eochaidh became known as the Rath Cruachan, after Cruachan Crodhearg, the mother of the illustrious Mab. Rath Crochan is doubly interesting to us because of S. Patrick's visit to its fountain, where he had the interview with the daughters of the Ard-ri of Ireland, Ethne the Fair and Fedelm the Red. In the sepulchre of the kings close by this fortress Dathi, the brave Irish prince, who is said on good authority to have assisted the Romans in the Gallic campaign of 428 A.D., is buried according to the Irish poem of Torna-Eices Under thee is the King of the men of Fail (Ireland), Dathi son of Fiachra, the Good. Croghan, you have hidden him from the Galls, from the Goidels. Under thee is Dungalach the swift, who led the king (Dathi) beyond the seas. 22 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE This Eochaidh was a great prince, he restored the laws and encouraged the sciences. The next Eochaidh (a.m. 3952. Keating ; Ogy^ia A.M. 3934, B.C. 70) was called Aireanih (grave) from having introduced the custom of burying the dead in graves, considering it neither decent nor secure to raise cairns of stones over their bodies. He was slain by Siodhmall (a fairy of the hill). The next Eochaidh was called Ainchean, a depraved person who caused the unhappy death of two fair princesses, the daughters of King Tuathal, and in consequence brought the terrible tax called Boroimhe Laighean, or tribute of Leinster upon his kingdom. The story is fully given in Keating's history. Suffice it to say : — Two princesses, the daughters of Tuathal, The fair Dairine and the lovely Fithir Fell by the deed of Eochaidh Ainchean, S. Moling in after years obtained a remission of the taxes from Fianachta, by a verbal quibble, requesting a respite until a certain Monday but employing an idiom which meant Doomsday. We now come to three celebrated kings, Cathaoir Mor, Conaire and Oilioll Olum. From Cathaoir Mor, the father of twenty sons, are descended the O'Connors of Offaly, the O'Dempseys of Clanmalire, and O'Dunnes through his eldest son, Ros of the Rings (Failge), all of whom are leading King's County clans. Conary had three sons by Sarah, daughter of Conn of the Hundred Battles, called the three Cairbres, Cairbre Rioghfhada, Cairbre Baschaoin and Cairbre Muisg. From the eldest of these, Carbery Riada, THE RACE OF THE HORSEMAN 23 called Reuda by Bede (Ecc. Hist, i, i.), sprang the Dalriada colony of Scotland : — The noble tribe of the Dalriads Descended from the illustrious Conaire. There were two districts of his name, one in Argyle, the other in Antrim, to be distinguished from the Dalaradia or the Pictish colony in the same territory. From that ancient Jrish colony \\\ Airer-Gaedhil, Arrer gale or Argyle, the "land of the stranger" came the Stuart line of kings, from which our king is descended. Sadhbh, the other daughter of Conn, was wedded to Oilioll Olum, from whose second son, Cormac Cas the valiant Dalgcais (more generally known as the Dalcassian tribe), the O'Bryans, the MacMahons and MacNamaras claim descent; and from whose blind son Cian, the O'Carrolls of Ely sprang. Their brother Eochaidh with seven other brothers was slain in the battle of Magh Muchruime. Conn of the hundred battles had a famous brother Eochaidh Fionn who helped to reinstate Cuchorb, King of Leinster, in his kingdom, and routed the Munster- men in Leix and Ossory. The Mumonians or Munster- men seems to have held possession of Ossory and Leix at the time, but Eochaidh beat them at all points. One of the battles was fought at Athtrodain, now known as Athy, on the river Barrow. The Leinster- men followed up their advantage, and almost anni- hilated their foe. In gratitude for his services Cuchorb made Eochaidh lord of the seven Fothortuaths, while his general, Laoigseach (Leeshagh) was rewarded with the district of the Queen's County, known as Laeighis (Leesh) and anglicised into Leix, the ancient territory of the O'Moores. About a.d. 250 we find an Eochaidh 2 4 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Kinmarc King of Munster. tn^\t\c^\n in Irish means a little horse ; tn^^fvcAit means horseman, while kin may represent cean, head, or kinel, tribe. The chief horse- man or the tribe of the horseman would be a suitable name for an equestrian hero. Another Eochaidh worthy of note was king of Ireland from A.D. 358 to 365. He was known as Eochaidh Muigmedon or Moyvane, or the midland plain, and was the father of the celebrated Niall of the Nine Hostages, and ancestor of the Southern Hy Nialls, the princes of Meath and the O'Molloys of Fearcall, an ancient portion of King's County, coterminous with the parish of Eglish, and also of the Sliocht Geoilen, or tribe of CuUen, which gave its name to Drumcullen, one of the most ancient ecclesiastical localities in Ireland, just outside the village of Kinnetty. Eochaidh, son of Eana Cinsalach, king of Leinster, slew the great Niall, who raided Scotland, and is also said to have harried the Loire district of France, There was an Eochaidh in the sixth century styled Muinreamhair, or fat neck, also called Andoid, or the swift. The annals of Tigernach for the year 553 A.D. give the note : — " The death of Eochaidh, the son of king Conla, of Ulster, from whom the O'Eachi of Ulster sprang." Keating mentions an Eochaidh of Ulster, first king of the Dalnaruidhe. Under A.D. 550 Keating gives us Eochaidh, son of Daniel, as king of Ireland, whose cousin, Fiachadh, engaged in the bloody battle of Folia and Forthola against the inhabitants of the districts of Ely and Ossory, and obtained a complete victory, slaying num- bers of the enemy. Forthola may be identified with Fortal in the neighbourhood of Kinnetty and in the district of Ely O'Carroll. Another Eochaidh, son of THE RACE OF THE HORSEMAN 25 the Aongus, baptized by S. Patrick, reigned peaceably at Cashel. In O'Dugan's poem on ''the kings of the race of Eibhear," there is this mention of him : — Noble Aongus his son Eochaidh rightly called, He thirty years succeeded ; Who patient being and prudently stoute, His life near Cashel ended. In the translation of the Book of Rights (p. 226, Celtic Society's Edition), there is an account of S. Patrick raising a Danish chieftain of Dublin, one Eochaidh Balldhearg, or the Red. The record of this curious revival begins — The day at which Athcliath arrived Patrick of Macha of great revenues, On the same day cruel death had taken off The only son of valorous Ailpin, They brought to the descendant of the deacon The only son of the king of the Galls, the fierce Eochaidh, To the Apostle it was a reproach — *' If thou shouldst bring a soul unto him, 0 cleric pure and powerful, 1 will submit to thee at Coill Cheanainn And the Galls of the green lands shall submit to thee. They went round him thrice right-hand-wise So that he rose up into life The comely hero, the noble Eochaidh. We have thus seen that Eochaidh was a favourite name of the pagan Irish princes, many of whom such as Eochaid Faobharghlas, the ancestor of the O'Carrolls ; Eochaidh Broadlocks, who was slain at Fortal ; Eochaid Munho, who may have given his name to Lismoney and defeated his predecessor at Ballygaddy near Kinnetty ; Eochaidh Muigmedon or Moyvane, who was the ancestor of the O'Molloys ; Eochaid Fat Neck, from whom the O'Eachi sprang, and Eochaidh, the son of Aongus, who resided at Cashel, had various connexions with the midland 26 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE districts of Ireland, especially the vicinity of Kinnetty. This would point us to a solution of the name Kinnetty. Dr. O'Donovan, in a note to a passage on the Four Masters, says : — " Kinnitty (ce^n eicij) i.e., the head of Etech, so called according to a note in the Felire of Aengus at the 7th April, from Etech, an ancient Irish heroine, whose head was interred there." There appears to be some confusion here. Etech was asso- ciated with the neighbouring parish of Ettagh, and may have some connexion with Kinnetty. But the tradition may point to the burial of some ancient relic in the place. It has been said that Eathach is the geni- tive of Eochaidh, horseman, and taking into account the number of Eochaidhs connected with Kinnetty, we may infer that they have given the locality its name. This inference is strengthened by a find of a small equestrian statue which was unearthed from an ancient rath on the Castle Bernard estate known as " the Moate." This discovery was made in 1850, and is described by Mr. T. L. Cooke, of Birr. Some of the labourers informed him that they were engaged in some work on this rath when they came across several large stones weatherbeaten as if they had been exposed to the air before their interment. These were two or three feet below the surface, and when all the stones were laid bare, they presented the form of a cross, which was not unknown to the pagan world. Where the arms of the cross intersected the shaft this statue of a male horse, without legs, measuring seventeen inches from head to tail, was found. The bridle of the horse serves also as a bit, like those described by Gerald of Wales. The saddle has a high cantle and pommel, THE RACE OF THE HORSEMAN 27 the saddle cloths are well padded, and have invected edges. There is a stirrup for the right foot to give the rider support when striking, but none on the mount- ing side. The Irish used both saddle and bridle in ancient times, although this custom with other good customs dropped after the decline and fall of Ireland in mediaeval times. For we read in the Book of Rights (a.d. 800, p. 208) — A hundred cows to the brave Ui-Censealaigh, A hundred steeds by which power is added to the territory, Ten ships, ten bridles, ten saddles. The rider is an interesting figure, thick-set, bull- necked, clean-shaven, with large and truculent features, clad in a large overcoat, of which there is no opening in front, and the folds of which are gathered in by a large girdle. A long, heavy sword, unlike the short Irish weapon, is visible underneath. A light-fitting cap covers his head. It was the custom of the Irish kings to wear a mantle over their sword when riding. In O'Connor's description of the meeting of Oilioll of Uladh and Oilioll the Ard-ri (B.C. 594) we are told that the Ard-ri dismounted, opened the clasp of his mantle, and laid it on the ground. He also loosed the belt of the sword and placed it on the mantle, saying — " These are of peace, let them be hung up in the tent of the king." The other king when he saw the Ard-ri stand- ing on the ground also came down from his horse, loosed the clasps of his mantle ; threw it from him, and the sheath of his sword he flung away. A remarkable thing about this horseman is the small cavity beneath his hands, which was clearly intended for some object now missing, which might possibly have been a model of the Lia Fail, to judge from the 2 8 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE depth, clear cut and conical form of the cell. In Cormac's Glossary there are two lines ascribed to Guaire, king of Connaught, on the subject of Marcan, a horseman — In precious stones are hidden great wonders as in The stone of Marcan, son of Hugh, son of IMarcene. One of the Eochaidhs was also called Kenmarc, or Chief of the Horse. Another Eochaidh surnamed Gunnat, as an Irish manuscript cited by Dr. Petrie informs us, removed the Stone of the Hostages from Temur and carried it to Cruachan. He also describes the Lia Fail as an idol stone. Was this little horseman an idol or a statue? It is strange enough that this horseman has representations of the three magic things the Tuatha-de-Danann brought to Ireland, the sword of Lug, the girdle (coire = girdle as well as cauld- ron) of Daghda, ''which would not fly away from him like a hidden stag," and the receptacle for the Lia Fail, It is no less strange that the whole vicinity of the Slieve Bloom is associated with the horse. Mr. Seward, in his Topographia Hibernka, described a large pyramid on these mountains known as Copall-ban, or white horse. The present writer has not been able to verify this statement ; but he has been informed on good authority that there is the shape of a horse visible on the hills between Mountrath and Clonaslee, not, however, as prominent a land mark as the White Horse of Berkshire and its stumpy thorn bush around which the armies of Alfred and the Danes met with a shock. There is a well in Drumcullen known as the Horse Well (cobx^t^-eAC). The Irish set great store on their horses. In the Leabhar-na-h-Uidhri we find THE RACE OF THE HORSEMAN 29 one Midir of Brigleigh, which may be the same as Brig- Eile or Ely-0'Carroll challenging an Eochaidh to a game of chess, saying : " I shall have for thee fifty dark grey steeds if thou win the game." There were clans in the north and south called after Eochaidh, even the Hy-Eachach of the townland of Armagh in Down, the Hy-Eachaid of Kinelmeaky, Cork. There were also Kienachta in Londonderry, and Kienachta in Cork. The tribe of the Horseman would be a suit- able name for an Irish tuathor district. This in Irish would be Kin-Eathach (cme-eAtAc). The image of the horseman also suggests as a possible derivation c-Aon-e-At^c, image of horseman, pronounced Kin- etta. Either of these derivations would agree with the pronunciation of the natives, Kinnetty. Could this horseman have been an idol ? We find many idols and idolatrous customs connected with horses in the ancient world. Herodotus (iv. 7 1 ) relates a curious custom of the Scythians, who honoured a dead king's memory by impaling fifty of his servants on fifty slaughtered steeds on the mountain side. The Roman Castor and his brother were mounted on white steeds. The Northern Woden was represented as riding on a white horse. This is possibly the reason why the white horse was placed on the arms of Hanover. The horse was worshipped by the ancient Arabs. The god Irru of Ceylon, corresponding with the sun, is mounted on a white horse, which was also one of the sacred emblems of ancient Gaul, In the Museum at Mayence is a bas relief of Epona, the goddess of horses, on horseback ; and a bronze image of a horse was found at Neuvy-en-Sullias, and is now in the Orleans Museum. The Celts of Ireland 30 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE may have had a god Eochaidh corresponding with Epona of the Galli, who had many animal totems such as the boar (moch), the bear (artos), the bull (tarvos) and the ass (mullo). It is quite possible that idolatry or the worship of images — although none have actually been found — was practised by the early inhabitants of Ireland. Crom Cruadh was one of the most celebrated of these images. He was set up in the plain of Magh Slecht in Breffny, was worshipped by Tigernmhas, but was smitten by the crozier of S. Patrick, according to the Vzta Tertia. Keating informs us of the three De Danann princes, Macuill, Maceacht, and Mac Greine, who worshipped respectively a log of wood (cuill), a ploughshare (ceacht), and the sun (grian), and also relates that Cormac Mac Art refused to worship " a log of wood fashioned by the workman's hand." Some peculiar things have been found and in strange places, which may be representations of the Celtic Goddess Ana or Earth Mother, who, "with her progeny of spirits, springs, rivers, mountains, forests, trees, and corn, appears to have supplied most of the grouped and individualised gods of the Celtic pantheon." (Prof. Anwyl, Celtic Religion, p. 28), Cormac's Glossary describes her as the mother of the Hibernian gods, because "she fed the gods well." There are two hills in Kerry which may be called after Ana, Da-chich-Danainne ; also a hill called Chich- awn in the Slieve Bloom. Grotesque representations of the female have been found in the walls of the old church of Seirkieran, and also in the castle of Ball}'- finboy near Finnoe. The late Mr. Cooke stated that he had in his possession an image called by the peasantry " the witch," which originally stood in THE RACE OF THE HORSEMAN 31 Cloghan in the King's County, the old name of which was Cloghan-na-gcaora, the stone of the sheep, which represented an Hermaphrodite, one of the breasts being Hke the sun and the other a crescent Hke the moon. This image may have given its name to the neighbouring town of Ferbane, which may be composed of fear (man) and bean (woman). It is said that the Druids worshipped the Sun-god Apollo under the form of an Hermaphrodite. He was worshipped by the Celts under various forms, one of his names being Borvo, "the boiler," the god of hot springs, whence the name Bourbon. Another title was the Grannos, or Sun, as in Aquae Granni, the old name of Aix-la-Chapelle. Grian means sun in Irish. Now the customary offering to the sun was a horse among the ancient Persians. Xenophon gave a horse to the priest to be sacrificed to the sun, and Pausanias states that the Lacedsemonians sacrificed a horse on Mount Taygetus to the sun. It is said that the Irish, too, burnt a horse's head in the bonfires of the first of May, and that the peasantry about Croghan Hill in the King's County, distinctly visible from the Kinnetty mountains, were in the habit of sliding down the hill seated on a horse. We have also some indications that the sun was worshipped in the district around Kinnetty. Knock-na-man,the hill that was above the village, means the hill of the women. Mann also means God. Some kind of worship was doubtless offered within the remark- able circle on its summit. Clonbela, in the neighbouring parish of Drumcullen, means the meadow of Belus or the sun (clt1Aln-t)ex^l). We have Bell-hill in Seirkieran, where the fires of Beltaine, on the first of May, were kindled. We have, in Glendissaun, a glen betu-een 32 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Forelacka Hill and Glen Regan, which, probably means the Glen of the shrubs, but in which there may be a reminiscence of the fires of Samhain (Sowan) of the first of November. And Coola- crease, near Cadamstown, may mean the retired place of the sun (crios). While it has been plausibly suggested that Lacaroe, the red hill side near Cadamstown, was the ancient Tlachtga which the Abbe Macgeoghegan stated was in the neighbouring parish, Clonlisk, and which was the site of the in- auguration of the fires of Beal tinne. Lacaroe lies also on the ancient borders of Munster, which embraced Ormonde, and Meath which almost touches it. And we read (Keating, p. 233) that Tuathal erected the royal seat of Tlachtga " in the tract he divided from Munster and added to Meath." However, this is only conjecture ; for Tlachtga is believed by others to be the Hill of Ward near Athboy, but the fact remains that there is some connexion between the Celtic pantheon and these ancient hills. Lacaroe is in the parish of Letter luna, which may be con- nected with luan the moon, letter meaning hill-side. There are certain stone piles on the top of the dif- ferent hills, such as those on Ard-na-h-Eireann and Botheraphuca, the road of the Sprite. The latter of these is called in Irish " Fear-brogac " (Far breague), which means a coarse man and is known as the Hardy man. This may be identified with Mercury, who was worshipped in Gaul under the form of Jovantucaros or lover of youth. It is possible that this equestrian image may have been originally an idol, although such idols have rarely if ever been found, representing some local Celtic or pre-Celtic divinity (for we find THE RACE OF THE HORSEMAN 33 that the Milesians often assimilated cults they cared not to or could not obliterate), attached to the gens of the Kin-Eatach or tribe of the Horseman, just as the Gallic Essus was the patronymic God of the Essui. The early Christian settlers may have buried this image and its temple, and ascribed the origin of the name to the interment of the head of Etech, a Chris- tian saint. Be this as it may, the visitor who makes his way through the Slieve Bloom must be awe-struck at times by the great sense of solitude and by the vastness and silence in which he moves, and which suggest the Presence of the Invisible at every step. For ought that can be proved to the contrary, this district is the cradle of the Irish people, the ancient home of the mysterious Tuatha-De-Danann, be they people or be they fairies. The latter indeed would have had many a suitable Sidhe or abode in the ancient mounds and knolls and magic circles of these rolling hills, in which the race of Eochaidh the Horseman once held dominion. Note. — In the Fmr Masters Ivinnetty is spelt in different ways. e.g. 850, Cind Eitig (gen.) ; 884, Cinn Ettic (gen. case) ; 903 ; Cindeittig (gen.) ; 121 3, Cinneitig (gen.) ; 1397, Chinn Eitig (gen. not our Kinnetty). Cf. Ciiid Fine, or children of the family. The form given for year 884, Cinn Ettic, is most in harmony with the spelling and derivation suggested in these pages. Also as regards the hardening of the aspirated consonants in Leinster place-names, cf. " Stoneybatter " and " Booterstown " (formerly •' Butterstown ") near Dublin. "Batter" or "butter" is the Irish bouAji, pronounced boher, as in Boheraphuca. A prosthetic n is some- times found, e.g., the old name of Lough Neagh is spelt in the Book of Leinster both Loch-nEthach and Loch-Echach, the lake of Eochaidh or Eochy. The former supports the suggested explanation of Kinnetty. CHAPTER III. The King's County and the Slieve Bloom. The best way, perhaps, to realize what life in an Irish sept was like, would be to glance at the annals of some of the more prominent and pugnacious of the clans. Of these the O'Connors and the O'Carrolls may be selected as being the King's County clans. They are connected with some of the most stirring events in the history of the conquest of Ireland, and proved a con- stant source of annoyance to the English Government and of anxiety to the English settlers of the Pale. The King's County occupies the midland districts of Ireland. Sir W. Petty, in his Survey Map (1657) marked the site of the old church of Birr as " umbilicus Hiberniae," the central point of Ireland. Archbishop Ussher mentions that in his life-time a peculiar mass of limestone in Birr was considered the centre of Ireland.^ This rock stood near the present railway station at Seffin or Seefin, the seat of Fin (suidhe Finn) outside the town. Athlone is now regarded as the centre of Ireland. Giraldus Cambrensis in his "Topography of Ireland" (iii. 41), which he read with so much pleasure to himself if not to others, before admiring crowds in classic Oxford, also described the town of Birr as the middle point of Ireland, being situated in the very heart and centre of the country, and makes some interesting remarks on the colossal stones which are found in the country, which he described as chorea ^ Elrington's Edition, v. 51 8. KING'S COUNTY AND SLIEVE BLOOM 35 gigantum, or the dancing places of the giants. It is matter of regret that this great stone of Seffin, which was supposed to mark the centre of Ireland, was removed from its ancient site by Mr. Thomas Steele, who had it conveyed to Clare in 1833. The present King's County contained the larger portion of the ancient kingdom of Hy Failghe or Offaly, which also comprised certain districts in Kildare and the territory of the O'Dempseys and O'Dunnes in Queen's County. From olden times this district has been associated with the O'Connor sept In 1 1 70, soon after their landing in Ireland, the Normans penetrated into these parts. Hugh de Lacy, perhaps the greatest of the territorial barons, was slain in 11 86 at Durrow in the northern barony of Ballycowan. At the time he was engaged in superin- tending the laying of the foundations of a frontier castle, for which he had seized portion of the lands of the ancient abbey, founded by S. Columba in 546. These lands belonged to an Irish chieftain called Fox, who sent his foster brother O'Meyey to watch for an opening against the ruthless invader and desecrator of Celtic sanctities. One morning the baron was engaged at the opera- tions, and to encourage the Irish men ''who had prayed to be set on work for hyre," as Campion tells us, seized a pickaxe to show them how to work in the trench, but as he bent forward with the stroke O'Meyey, whose tool he had taken, seized his opportunity and struck down the unsuspecting baron with a blow of his light axe, and made good his escape to the wood of Kill clare or Coill-an-chlair, the Wood of the Plain, which is near Tullamore, and is interesting to 36 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE philologists from the fact that /-// here,like Kyle in Kyle- more, means wood not church. It is also probable that Fearcall means the man of the wood rather than the man of the churches, although the ecclesiastical name Eglish (ecclesia = church) suggests the latter. It was a strange coincidence that a Lord Norbury was attacked and decapitated by a woodman in the same place centuries after. The whole district of Offaly was charged in the early days of the Norman settlement with twelve knights' fees as being part of Kildare, but when the English power declined in the following century the Irish clans who possessed it not only asserted their independence of the Anglo-Irish Government but imposed a heavy tax upon the English settlers of Meath and Kildare. O'Connor of Offaly at one time received annual pay- ments of £60 from Meath and £20 from Kildare. The colonists were thus compelled to buy off the hostility of the Irish as their forebears in Britain had been reduced to purchase peace from the Danes. But it w^as not from cowardice but from want of means and men that the English in Ireland were reduced to such measures. The terrible invasion of Bruce in 1 3 14 and the wars of the Roses in which the Anglo- Irish took opposite sides, the Ormondes supporting the red rose of Lancaster and the Geraldines main- taining the white rose of York, had completely drained their resources and left them absolutely at the mercy of the " wild Irish our enemies " and the '' Irish rebels," as Richard II. described them in his famous letter. In 1480 the whole force at the disposal of " the Castle " consisted of eighty mounted archers and forty lancers or mounted '' spears," while the revenues reached the KING'S COUNTY AND SLIEVE BLOOM 37 large sum of £600. Owing to the weakness of the Government the English settlers were compelled to form a league for their own protection under the name of " The Brotherhood of Saint George." This brother- hood, consisting of thirteen gentlemen, maintained a body of some 200 mounted archers, who were under the command of a captain annually elected, and who patrolled the borders of the four counties of the English Pale. This fraternity of arms was formed in 1473. The Irish enemies and rebels were not, however, to be denied, and often broke bounds in order to harry their hereditary foes. Accordingly, Sir Edward Poynings, who was sent over to Ireland by Henry VII. in 1494 with the twofold object of crushing the followers of Warbeck and of thrusting back " the wild Irish," was compelled to adopt other means of defence. In the Parliament of Drogheda (1494) chiefly noted for its provision that no parliament should in future be summoned in Ireland without the king's licence for its being held and the consent of the king and Privy Council to any bills it sought to introduce, an Act was passed enacting that the English settlers in the marches should build and keep in repair '' a double ditch of six feet high above the ground." This ditch, according to the wording of the Act, ran : '' From the water of An liffy to the mountain in Kildare, from the water of An Liffy to Trim and so forth to Meath and Uriel," as Louth was then called. Special care was taken to save the wall from trespass of man or beast. For any animal found injuring it in any way was to be confiscated and sold to repair the ditch, which was for '' the great succour, comfort and defence of the county Dublin." This was at once a summary 38 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE and satisfactory plan for keeping one's fences in order, unless indeed the sheriffs sales of those days realized as little as those of ours when boycott reduces business to a farce. These incidents have been mentioned in order that the reader may form an idea of the straits to which the English settlement was reduced by the Irish clans who were no longer scattered remnants compelled to live in bog, mountain and forest, but formidable battalions elated with victory, and invincible but for their own lack of combination and esprit de nation or patriotism in the higher sense. In the course of these pages other facts will be mentioned which throw light on the unenviable plight of the settlers of the Pale, who were being slowly but surely crushed out of existence between the upper millstone in the shape of the English Parliament and officialism, and the nether millstone in the form of the Irish septs. Here it is sufficient to remark that much misery would have been saved both to the English Pale and the Irish enemies had the former been either suitably supported by the home government, or permitted to conciliate the surrounding septs as they desired. King's County, on the septs of which we are to fix our attention, is an interesting district. In many places it is rendered decidedly picturesque in spite of its general flatness by the vast extent of bog and moorland, whose rich and brilliant colouring and ever varying tints of green and brown and gold, especially in the setting sun, form a picture not easily transferred to canvas. The writer will never forget the wonderful landscape and atmospheric effects as he rode along the bog road from Tullamore to KInnetty one evening in KINGS COUNTY AND SLIEVE BLOOM 39 October. The moon was young and high in the west while the western sky was crimson with the rays of the setting sun, which suffused the very atmosphere with a soft iridescent glow which was Turneresque in the extreme. Each small sand hillock, which the Irish call mullach, and of which there are a few, on both sides of the tochar or causeway, seemed a verit- able monaincha or islet in the bog, floating upon the white watery mist into which the bicycle kept plunging as into successive waves of the sea, but gradually these islets vanished into vapour and gloom as the sun sank beneath the horizon, leaving the darkness a thing to be realized and felt almost as a living presence, visible, palpable and most uncanny. As we leave the torach we notice that these mullachs are but detached portions of the great line of eskers or sand hills which is an outstanding feature of the midlands, and is known as the Esker Riada or " the Ridge." This Esker extends from Dublin to Gal way and recalls the time when Ireland was either submerged or was in the grip of the abiding glacier. It also reminds us of two worthies of the olden times, Mogh Nuadhat or Owen More, King of Munster, and Conn of the Hundred Battles, King of Ireland, the former of whom defeated the latter and divided the island with him, taking as his share the south, or Leath Mogha, and leaving the north, or Leath Chuinn, to Conn. The most prominent of these mullachs is the long green ridge, verdant with trees and shrubs, that rises like the back of a great whale above the parish of Killeigh, or the church in the field, with its ancient Celtic shrine, stone roofed and nobly arched, from the summit of which a pleasant vision of the country can be obtained, its ancient raths 40 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE and cemeteries of the dead. The scenery of the country is varied by the beautiful range of the Slieve Bloom hills, which forms a striking barrier for over twenty miles between the King's and the Queen's Counties. From Ard-na-h-Eireann, the Height of Erin, 1,733 feet, the greatest elevation of these hills, which in many places rise to the dignity of mountains, one may see eleven counties stretching away to the distant horizon, and catch fleeting glimpses of the sea beyond the hills of Clare. As one looks to the west, tier after tier of mountains rise to the view. A remarkable feature of the nearest range is the so-called Devil's Bit, the ancient Bearnan Eile or the little gap of Eile — Bearnan being Irish for a little gap — the O'Carrolls boundary line. Then as an extension of this range rise the Silvermines, with the melancholy traces of an abortive enterprise on their barren slopes. Beyond these are hills of Newport, denoted by the noble Keeper, or Slieve Kimalta, and between Castle- town Arra and Killaloe, which is surrounded by great dark round hills, the Arra hills rise to a respectable elevation, Towntinna among them gazing threateningly over the Leinster plains with the graves of the Leinstermen on its summit, commemorating the place where they took their last look at their native woods and died. Behind all these, with the broad Shannon and the waters of Lough Derg, tower the mountains of Clare, Killaloe and Scariff, where Bryan Boroimhe and the scattered remnants of his followers lived in the high hills like the wild goats and in the rocks like the conies until they found themselves strong enough to strike a decisive blow at Sulchoit for their homeland against the pagan invader. '' For it was KING'S COUNTY AND SLIEVE BLOOM 41 better and more righteous," they said, " to do battle for their inheritance than for land usurped by conquest and the sword" (Wars of the G. G., p. 69). And behind and above them all the mountains of Kerry, great rocky blocks, throw their gaunt shadows over the scene. These mountain ranges rise one behind the other like dark masses of deepening shade drawn above the sky-line, while the great billowy plain that rolls away beneath our feet presents a varied landscape of bog and wood, plantation and pasture, glen and vale, through which streams gleam like silver ribands, as they glide along their winding course to pay their tribute to the river. Here are quiet hamlets ; there solitary homesteads set in brake and scrub, where foxes make their coverts. Gently rising hillocks capped with green thickets, Golden Grove being especially conspfcuous for its striking cluster of fir, and Knockshegowna or the Fairies' Hill, a solitary eminence beyond Birr, with the silver Shannon, the noble boundary of the county, shimmering beyond all, form an enchanting view even when haze and mist blur the picture. Here the sportsman may beguile many a tedious hour, whipping the streams, or shooting the moors, or walking the hills, or riding to hounds. Here, too, the lover of nature may find many an object to interest his mind and many scenes to delight his soul and quicken his imagination. It is, indeed, strange that so few English artists visit the midlands of Eire, where the colouring is so rich and varied, the air so still and luminous, and the distance forms so effective a background. One might go far before one could find more charming scenery or breathe sweeter air than the Slieve Bloom has in store for the visitor 42 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE to its winding glens, purple hills and tumbling streams. On their wind-swept but easily reached and rounded summits that rise above the woods and parks of the Castletown (Castle Bernard) demesne, one understands why the Roman poets Lucretius and Virgil described living as feeding on the breezes, for to breathe the balmy air is literally to live and emphatically to enjoy life. Here, too, we stand on ground prolific with Irish memories, for Bladh, who gave his name to these hills and whose flagstone is preserved in Lickbla, in West- meath, was one of the uncles of Milesius ; and this range of hills is immortalized by Spenser as the mother of the " Gentle Suir," the " Stubborn Nore," and the " Goodly Barrow " — These three fair sons which being thenceforth pour'd. In three great rivers ran and many countries scour'd. Slieve Bloom or Sliabh Bladhma, the hill of Bladh reaches by no means the highest point in Eire, being at its greatest elevation but 1,740 feet above the sea level. O'Dugan, the poet, who sang — Sliabh Bladhma the Fair is over the head Of Ossory, above the heights of Eire, was, therefore, a little out of his reckoning. But standing on the summit of Ard-na-h-Eireann with one foot in the King's and the other in the Queen's County, one looks down upon a hundred realms of ancient Eire, the rich pasture lands of Ely O'Carroll, Leix, Offaly, Fearcall, Ossory and other principalities. To the plains of Ossory at our feet there is an approach through a narrow gorge between two steep hills, known as the Gap of Glendine (glen of the race) or Gleann-doimhin,deep glen, which might easily be held KING'S COUNTY AND SLIEVE BLOOM 43 by a handful of determined men against a host. As we gaze down upon these storied plains we cannot but recall the attack that was made by its chieftain Donough Mac Giolla Patrick or Gillpatrick upon the splendid regi- ment of the Dal-gCais tribe as they were returning to their headquarters at Kincora, Killaloe, from the battlefield of Clontarf, where they had displayed a courage and devotion equal to that of the Spartan band of Leonidas at the pass of Thermophylae when the Persian hosts were pouring into Greece, whose epitaph ran with Spartan brevity — Go tell the Spartans, thou who passest by, That here obedient to their laws we lie. The story is told by the Irish chroniclers and his- torians and is undoubtedly true. The King of Ossory had a grudge against Brian Boroimhe, who for all his splendid qualities, was regarded as a usurper by many of the Irish chieftains, and formed the design of attacking the bodyguard of that monarch as they were returning from the sands of Clontarf through his country, without their veteran king, and hampered by sick and wounded — a pitiful but plucky remnant. Accordingly he sent a messenger to Donough, their captain, as they lay encamped for the night at Athy, demanding hostages for the good conduct of his troops while passing through his lands or else threatening to oppose the march. Amazed at this treachery, Donough replied with true Dalcassian spirit that he was prepared to meet Mac Giolla Patrick — a man for whom he had a profound contempt — any day in a pitched battle. And as the messenger kindly but injudiciously advised him to submit Donough ordered him out of his pre- sence, saying that he would meet his master and his 44 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE master's men if he had but one man to stand by him. The Dal-gCais at once set themselves in battle array. The regiment was divided into three companies. To one Donough consigned the care of the sick and wounded, and with the other two he was marching forth, when the wounded soldiers started up and be- sought their general not to leave them, but to allow them to take their usual place in the ranks. As many of them were unable to stand, stakes were cut from the trees and driven into the ground, and the wounded soldiers were tied fast to these stakes, and each stationed between two unwounded men for mutual protection and encouragement, while their wounds were temporarily stopped with moss. O'Halloran writes : '' Between seven and eight hundred wounded men, pale, emaciated, and supported in this manner, appeared mixed with the foremost of the troops ; never was such another sight exhibited." The men of Ossory, more noble or more prudent than their prince, refused to fall upon men who were determined to conquer or die, as Moore, the Irish poet, wrote — Forget not our wounded companions who stood In the day of distress by our side ; While the moss of the valley grew red with their blood They stirred not but conquered and died. It is unpleasant to add that Gillpatrick, though unable to meet the warrior tribe ^in a fair fight, succeeded in cutting off a number of stragglers in spite of Donough's unremitting and ubiquitous vigi- lance. Another Gillpatrick showed more patriotic zeal and courage — even he who sent the bold message by a monk to King Henry VIII. — '* Stand, my Lord King. My Lord Gillpatrick sent me to you and ordered me to say that if you will not punish Red KING'S COUNTY AND SLIEVE BLOOM 45 Peter he will make war against you." " Red Peter " was the Earl of Ormonde, the Deputy, who was molesting this Gillpatrick. Through these mountains, Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, marched in 1600 after passing through Fearcall, which submitted to him. The Four Masters state that he also despatched three plundering parties into the lands of Ely O'Carroll, which are commanded by the Slieve Bloom. The O'Neill repeated his ravages the following year, when he and his allies, as the same authorities relate, " were expeditiously conveyed across the Shannon at Shannon Harbour ; from thence they proceeded to Delvin Mac Coghlan to Fearcall, to the borders of Slieve Bloom and into Ikerrin." This time the O'Neill and his army were making their way to Kinsale to help the Spaniards under Don Juan del Aquila against the English forces, commanded by Mountjoy and Carew. That expedition ended in disaster. For the Irish under O'Donnell and Tyrone were routed, and the Spaniards, who had marched out to meet the English troops thinking them to be their allies, were compelled to surrender, and O'Neill marched northwards to surrender to Mountjoy in the beautiful church of Mellifont Abbey in 1603 — two days after the death of the Queen. The O'Neill's Well on the road to Mount- rath has possibly older associations, as it did not lie on the line of O'Neill's march, and both it and O'Neill's town may be a souvenir of the Southern O'Neills who had settled centuries before in these parts. On these hills there are several cairns, one of which stands on Ard-na-h-Eireann, another on a hill near Clonaslee, and the third is the Hardy Man of Bohera- phuca. And there is said to be another pyramid called 46 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE the Capall ban, or white horse, said to be associated with the celebrations of La Belltaine, the first of May, when fires were Hghted in every territory of the king- dom in honour of the pagan god. It is possible that these pillar stones and piles had the same origin as the Maypole. But be that as it may these piles and circles are memorials of the religious ideas of a mind that was haunted by stone. There are also some specimens of the Irish mote, which is not a deep trench but a high rath, one at Castle Bernard and another at Drumcullen and others elsewhere, which were probably the sites of the dwelling-places of the Irish chiefs and nobles or members of the " flaith " class, while a chain of forts are found on the Ossory side of the Slieve Bloom, and another chain com- mands the many tochars or causeways through the bog. On the picturesque road to Mountrath hills roll away to the right and left, leaving between them beautiful glens and river valleys planted thick with fir crowned by grassy slopes and here and there by dark hills of peat. On the right of the road from Kinnetty Knocknaman rises with its fir trees standing like a frill on its nearer slope, gapped here and there by the storm of four years ago, and with its ancient ring on its rounded brow. The bare hill of Forelacka then looms past, followed by the long, gently rising mountain of Glendissaun, with its great druim or ridge of un- reclaimable bogland. As we glance back we catch exquisite glimpses of the Shannon and the hills beyond, and the plain shimmering in the light of sun and sunlit clouds. On the right are the Boro' hill, Glinsk, and Letter, all grass-covered slopes reclaimed within the past fifty years, and on which an occasional deer KING'S COUNTY AND S LI EVE BLOOM 47 may be sighted. The road gradually winds up over the hills, which seem so close in places that a stone could almost be thrown from one summit to another. Deep below lies a valley, through which a winding stream purls its gentle way over a sandy bed. Here the heron may be seen poised not ungracefully on one leg fishing, and at the sound of approaching man the imperturbable bird calmly spreads its broad wings, and in a few seconds has soared out of range. As the writer passed through these wind-swept solitudes, the afternoon sun lit up the hills in front, while the hills behind looked veritable masses of shadow, save where the sun, dazzling one's view, lit up the lone summit of Forelacka with a circle of bewildering brightness. The man who thinks he knows Irish scenery has something still in store for him if he has not yet seen the Irish sun gleaming on these great mountains of green and brown, amid the tears of Eire weeping, as one who would never weary of lamenting the departed glories of her ancient woods and hills, and sorrowing, as one who would not be comforted, because the present age with its sordid prose has brushed aside as a myth the weird and interesting people who worshipped Belus and Ana, the host of heaven and the powers of nature, in the mists and sunshine of their sympathetic glens and hills. Standing on the summit of Knocknaman we are within a magic circle of mountains, which recall the Welsh hills of Penmahnmawr, whose varying shades of brown and green and black on their scarred summits, steep sides or gentle slopes form a bewilder- ing and dreamy vision as they rise above us or recede from us into the distance. 48 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE In the vastness and solitude of these hills " airy nothings," mist-like forms " white presences " might easily assume a " local habitation " ; and in the midst of these deep-bosomed hills the soul of man can commune with its Maker in a prayerful silence broken ever and anon by the sighs of the wind or the soft cadences of the distant streams, or the call of the passing bird. And nothing reminds of man save the ring forts which are everywhere in points of vantage on the hills or in the vales. One of the largest of these is on the top of the Comber mountain ; it is surrounded by a double ditch and fosse, and is some 162 yards in diameter. The average diameter of the forts which the writer has paced himself is about 53 yards. Some interesting stones of conglomerate formation are to be found in these mountains behind Cadamstown. Beyond the marshy slopes of Seskin we cross the Kilnaparson river, the boundary between the counties, and there on the side of the hill, all one great moor save the haggard of the herd and the field where we stand, are five conglomerate stones, which are simply masses of small pebble cemented and solidified doubtless by the action of a glacier — laid flat over deep holes where interments were evidently made centuries back, for the locality is known as the Giant's Grave. One of the stones resembles a coffin in shape. Another large stone is to be seen in a hollow in Ballykelly, Lacaroe, some 200 yards from the road, and has the quaint marks of the hoof of a great beast, and a huge hand, thumb and fingers, which may be a trace of an ancient moraine, and which created the impression among the people that it was cast there by a giant's hand, which grasped it KING'S COUNTY AND SLIEVE BLOOM 49 so tightly as to leave its impression on its side. Similar stones known as the Bracket Stone are found on Borlacan, or the top (Baur) of the hill side (laca.) Standing on Borlacan we have an excellent view of the surrounding country, the steeples of the Churches of Tullamore, and the smoke of the steamers on the Shannon being distinctly visible. Thence we see an ancient fort on Magherabane or the white plain, facing another fort on Letter or the side of the hill. The finest of these forts, however, are in the vicinity of Leap Castle, one of the O'Carroll Castles, of which more will be said anon. There is a ruined castle at Cadamstown which belonged to the Malone family. Two of the most striking glens on the road to Mountrath and well known to sportsmen are the Black Stairs, where Glenregan joins Gorteen, and where the mountain stream tumbles down zig-zag as down a stairs from the dark and gloomy recesses of the hills ; and the Black Curragh, where Gorteen joins Letter. There is much slate and coal in the heart of these ancient hills, as there is excellent limestone on the road between Cadamstown and Clonaslee, which is bordered by a glen almost as beautiful as the Dargle ; but there is no capital, no railway, and no enterprise, and therefore it were idle to speculate on possibilities which may never be realized ; and yet a true patriot cannot but dream of Ireland becoming another Wales, and giving out of her deep-bosomed hills the mineral wealth which untold aeons have generated and innumerable centuries have stored within ; and attract- ing to her romantic mountains and fairy glens lovers of nature and disciples of sport from every clime. There are other eminences that rise here and there D 50 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE above the wide sweep of level moor bogland and pastures. The Hill of Cloghan, a little distance from Shannon Harbour, relieves the monotony of the flat plain between the Brosna river and the Slieve Bloom, while Croghan Hill, with its quaint top knot, a few miles to the north of Philipstown, forms a conspicuous landmark for miles. Near it is the famous Tochar Cruachan of Bri Eile, which is now known as Tyrrell's Pass, and was the scene of many a victory and defeat of the O'Connor of Offaly. The county abounds in ruins of ancient churches and monasteries. Those at Clonmacnoise, Durrow, Killeigh, and Seirkieran, are the most remarkable. But there are also ecclesiastical ruins of high antiquity at Killyon (Killiadhuin) a religious establishment on the road half-way between Kinnetty and Birr, founded by S. Kieran for his mother Liadana ; Drumcullen, Kilcolman and Lynally. The latter place is near Tullamore, and preserves the word /ann, church or sacred land, which occurs so frequently in Welsh names. It means the Church of Elo, so called from Colman, a nephew of S. Columba, who settled here in the wood of Ela (Fidh-Elo) saying : '' My resurrection shall be there, and I shall be called from that place," i.e. Colman-Elo. With regard to Dervorgilla's Church at Clonmacnoise, with its classic pillars and its deli- cately carved arches, completed in 1180, the late Miss Margaret Stokes writes that " no work of purely Celtic art, whether in the illumination of her sacred writings, or in gold, or in bronze, or in stone, was wrought by Irish hands after that century." There is a noble grace about this church which was built by an Irish queen whose story so closely resembles that of KING'S COUNTY AND SLIEVE BLOOM 51 Arthur's Guinevere, both in its pathos and its peni- tence, and in the ruin it brought upon her native land. The chancel of Rahan Church near Clara, the most enterprising locality in the South of Ireland, is of rugged masonry, and it possesses in its rose window an architectural feature, of which Dr. Petrie said, *' it is not only the most curious of its kind in the British Isles, but also the most ancient." These churches — all that is left of them — are a testimony to the fact that Celtic art and architecture were developing gradually and gracefully on their own lines when they were suddenly and cruelly arrested in their course. The county is skirted on three sides for many miles by the Shannon, Barrow and Boyne ; but its own rivers, the Brosna, Silver River, and Camcor are small. The lakes are not extensive but picturesque. Of these Lough Pallas and Lough Anna are the largest. Lough Coura, which was once a considerable lake, has been drained within the last twenty years by Mr. Thomas Drought, of Whigsboro'. That lake is chiefly remark- able for its islets and island forts, on one of which are the ruins of an ancient castle and circular tower of great extent and strength called Le Porte Castle, near which an Irish canoe, old weapons, and several curious bronzes have been found. In the vicinity is Dowris, celebrated for the find of bronzes made there in 1825. And not far off is the plain of Moylena, where the sanguinary battle, Cath Muighelena, was fought in 192 A.D. between Conn of the Hundred Battles and Owen More of Munster, and another in 907 between Cormac, King and Archbishop of Cashel, and Flann Sionna, the Ard-ri, when the latter was defeated. The county contains twelve baronies. Of these 52 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Ballyboy, Ballybrit, Clonlisk, Eglish and Garrycastle form the Birr Parliamentary division ; while the remaining seven, Geashill, Kilcoursey, Lower and Upper Philipstown, Warrenstown and Coolestown constitute the Tullamore division. Of these baronies the O'Connors of Offaly possessed Warrenstown and Coolestown with portion of Geashill and Philipstown. They were also lords of the baronies of East and West Offally in Kildare, and of Portnehinch and Tinnehinch in Queen's County. The district of Ely O'Carroll comprised Clonlisk and Ballybrit, with the baronies of Ikerrin and Elyogarty of County Tipperary. The O'Mulloys, princes of Fearcall, were rulers of Ballyboy, Eglish and part of Ballycommon, the other portion being held by the O'Dempseys, lords of Clan- malire. The MacCoglans, the chiefs of Delvin, divided with the O'Maddens of Siol Ammchada (Silancia) Garrycastle, the largest of the baronies and the most interesting, inasmuch as it can boast of the historic fair of Banagher and the famous abbey and churches of Clonmacnoise. The hills and plains and vales of the county are thinly populated. The soil is light and the pasture moderate. There is little more than fragrant breezes on bog and mountain for the people to enjoy. While, generally speaking, they lack the arts as well as the means of living. The industrious may exist upon their small farms happily if frugally, while the idler must pass forth to pastures new. The population, w^hich was 144,225 in 1831, has since fallen to 60,187, but mules and asses, for which the county has always been famous, are on the increase, according to the returns of the Agricultural Department. CHAPTER IV. The O'Connors and the Pale. According to the early historians of Ireland a great battle was fought on the Slieve Bloom hills between the Fomorians and Nemedians a thousand years before Christ, and at Geashill, Heremon and Heber Fionn, sons of Melesius, fought for the supremacy, and Heber fell, to leave his son, Conmaol, an avenger of his father's cause. For the scene of Heber's defeat witnessed the discomfiture of Heremon's army and the death of Palpa, his son. The conflict between the brothers arose, as the ancient poets inform us, through a quarrel between their wives. For " they reigned in peace until the ambition of a woman's heart, the wife of Heber, urged them on to war." She desired to possess three vales which were said to be the most fruitful in the land, but one of these Heremon possessed and would not surrender. Whereupon Heber's wife, as the poet describes her, " raged passionately, and swore she would never sleep on Irish ground till she was mistress of the three vales." Then followed the battle of Geisioll, or Geashill, where Heber fell a sacrifice to the ambition of his wife, and Heremon reigned as king. As the poet says : — Three of the fruitful valleys of the isle, Druim Finginn, Druim Clasach and Druim Beathach, Occasioned the fierce battle of Geisiol, Where vailant Heber fell. 54 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE To descend from these lofty clouds of fancy to the lowly plains of fact, it is fairly certain that there was a personage called Cathaoir More (Cahirmore) monarch of Ireland, about A.D. 120. He was descended from the posterity of Heremon, and had thirty sons, accord- ing to the Irish poet, who were *' most renowned in arms, most comely personages, and heroes all." But ten alone survived him. The eldest of these was Ros-Failge or Ros-of-the-Rings. From this Ros are descended the O'Connors of Offaly. History tells us little of Ros, save that his father addressed him as " my fierce Ros, my vehement Ros." These qualities of fierceness and vehemence have been duly transmitted and remarkably displayed by members of his sept. " They have exerted themselves as a posterity worthy of such ancestors," wrote Keating. " For they have shown themselves a valiant and generous tribe, free and hospitable, and true patriots when the cause of their country required their arms. They were so free of their blood in its defence that the family in process of time, were reduced to a small number, for the bravery of this illustrious house exposed them to the greatest dangers and difficulties and they would never fly or retreat, though oppressed by superior strength, but rather chose to sell their lives dearly upon the spot." That ancient document, the " Will of Cahirmore," translated in the Book of Rights, ' contains the information that Cahirmore bequeathed to his son, Ros-of-the-Rings, Leinster, ten swords, ten shields, ornamented with gold and silver and ten golden goblets. The family of this Ros Faly were called Hy Faily or descendants of -Faly to distinguish them from THE O'CONNORS AND THE PALE 55 other families of O'Connor or O'Conchobar, and gave the name of Offaly to the districts occupied by their clan which contain extensive remains of previous civilizations in the shape of cairns, cromlechs, sepulchral mounds and fortified raths. In the four- teenth century we find the O'Connors ruling from the green hill of Cruachan, near Croghan and at Dangan, their chief fortress, now Philipstown, which they retained until the time of Mary and Philip. After the conversion of the Irish territory into shire land by Queen Mary — a deed performed with great cruelty — the O'Diomosaigh or O'Dempsey, Lord of Clan- malire, became the representative of the sept, holding strong castles at Geashill, Ballybrittas and Portnehinch until the Revolution of 1685. But almost from the time of the English Invasion in 1169, the Norman Welsh Fitzgeralds of Kildare, afterwards Dukes of Leinster, encroached upon the lands of the tribe and obtained the districts of the sept, that lay within the English Pale. These lands, known as " English Offaly " gave the title of Baron to the Fitzgeralds ; while the Irish chieftains, the O'Connors Faily, were kings of the '' Irish Offaly " in King's and Queen's County. The O'Connor is celebrated by the bard O'Heerin in the verses : — Let us westward proceed to Offaley,^ To which brave heroes make submission, Of their laws I make mention, Of their convention I make remembrance. The Lord of Offaley, a land of mirth, Not unknown to the poets, Is O'Conor, the mainstay of the fair plain, Who rules at the green mound of Cruachan. There is the record of a battle fought about 121 2 at 56 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Killeigh, the church in the field, near Tullamore, between the EngHsh of Munster and Murtagh O'Connor. Quantities of bones are still turned up when new foundations are laid in that neighbourhood. We read in Henry Marleburrough's Chronicle that " the Lord Theobald Verdon lost his men and horses going towards Ophali " in 1285; that in the year 1290 ''was the chase and discomfiture of Ophaly and divers Englishmen were slaine; " that " Mac Coghlan slew O'Molaghlin," and that " William Bourgh was discomfited at Delvin (in the King's County) by Mac Coghlan." The same authority also states that in the year 1294, ''the Castle of Kildare was taken, and by the English and Irish the whole countrie was wasted"; that Calvagh (Calvach O'Connor) "burnt all the rolles andtallyesof that countrie," and Richard Bourgh, Earl of Ulster, " was delivered out of the Castle of Leye (Leix) for his sons," i.e., as hostages. And in 1305 he writes : "Jordan Comin slew Conther (Connor) de Ophaly " ; and " Calvagh his brother was slaine in the court of Piers de Bermingham at Carricke and Balimor was burnt." Hanmeralso gives us an occasional glimpse of this fighting clan. Writing of Richard Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, afterwards betrayed and murdered by his own countrymen, he describes him " in the year 12 13, and the moneth of April, in a battell nigh Kildare, upon the great heath called the Curragh, fighting against the O'Connors." This is taken from Friar Clynn's Annals. Hanmer also relates, on the same authority, that Maurice FitzMaurice was not long after 1272 "betrayed by his own followers in Ophali, taken and imprisoned in the THE O'CONNORS AND THE PALE 57 court of Piers de Bermingham, at Carricke, and Balimor was burnt." Generally speaking, we do not hear much of the O'Connors of Offaly before the fourteenth century. Their great namesakes, the O'Connors of Connaught, were so great that their prestige eclipsed the smaller sept of Offaly. But we find them appearing on the scene when troubles began to gather round the Anglo- Norman settlers. The close of the thirteenth century marked the zenith of the Norman power in Ireland,, From that time it began to wane. Many causes con- tributed to this decline. The dissensions among the Normans themselves, which had led to the shameful betrayal and murder of Richard Marshall, Earl of Pembroke in 1234; the weak and worthless character of Henry III. of England, of which the Celtic chief- tains and Norman nobles alike took advantage, Hugh de Lacy going so far as to invite the King of Norway in 1224 to come to his assistance, as we learn from a letter of Queen Joanna of Scotland ; and the want of some central authority in the land capable of managing its affairs and controlling its turbulent spirits. In consequence of this state of anarchy and disorder the Norman settlers did that which seemed good in their own eyes. Many of them made friends with the natives, adopted Irish customs and Irish dress ; employed the Irish as domestic servants and soldiers ; and sided with the native chieftains in their quarrel with the Norman Government. They became, as the saying is, " more Irish than the Irish themselves." They grew their hair long, cultivated moustachios, rode bareback, spoke the Irish language and lived according to the Brehon law. 58 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE All this was most offensive to their English brethren, and feelings of bitterness estranged the Anglo-Irish from the English-born. The latter were nick-named " English hobbies " and the others " Irish dogs." As these conflicts and differences were a constant source of weakness to the English community several laws were passed making the use of the English language, English law, saddle and bow, compulsory in the English districts. The saddle was made compulsory in order to prevent the English knights and cavalry forgetting the orthodox use of the lance. For their adoption of the Irish custom of riding made them unfit to appear in a tournament where their play would be as ridiculous as that of Shakespeare's ''puny tilter that spurs his horse but on one side " and "breaks his staff like a noble goose." For the Irish either grasped their lances in the middle or hurled them like javelins, which was regarded as an un- knightly proceeding by those who were accustomed to ride full tilt with lances at rest straight at their foes. In 1295 a statute w^as passed condemning the use of the native garb, the moustache, and the " culan " by the English residents, and by the Statute of Kilkenny (1367) Irish games were forbidden. The wording of the Act was to the effect that " the commons of the said land of Ireland, who are in the different marches at war, do not henceforth use the plays which men call hurlings, with great sticks upon the ground, from which evils and maims have arisen, to the weakening of the defence of the said land and other plays which men call quoiting ; but that they do apply and accustom themselves to use and draw bows and throw lances and other gentlemanlike games'' The real THE O'CONNORS AND THE PALE 59 reason, however, was not consideration for the limbs of the athletes, but anxiety to prevent the deteriora- tion of the settler. These prohibitive enactments reveal the weakness of the Norman garrison in Ireland. They had failed to maintain their authority over their own people, who in isolated places had been compelled by motives of policy to throw in their lot with the majority, and had donned the " saffron," married Irish girls, given out their children to nurse and educate with the families of their retainers, dis- missed the expensive English guards and filled their castles with cheap Irish kerne and gallowglasses or quartered them for pay, food and fodder (coyne and livery) according to the Irish custom upon their tenants, who were humbled by their insolence and ruined by their demands. Another weak spot in the armour of the Pale was the- practice of absenteeism, which has been for many centuries one of the drawbacks to our national pros- perity. Many of the Norman heiresses in Ireland had married English nobles, who preferred a life of peace at home to a life of broils and battles on the borders of the Pale, and accordingly left the estates their wives brought them to take care of themselves, and abandoned the tenants of these lands to the tender mercies of the surrounding septs who harried their homesteads and lifted their cattle with impunity. A statute was accordingly passed (1295) in the reign of that great law-maker, Edward I., and in the first English Parliament to which the three estates — clergy, barons, and commons — were only summoned to con- strain the lord marchers who had left their tenants on the frontiers exposed to the raids of the Irish septs 6o THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE to return to protect them, and to compel the absentee landlords in England to assign a portion of their Irish revenues to the upkeep of a permanent armed force for the protection of the colonists. In certain places the barons undoubtedly held their own, and protected by their castles and supported by their retainers kept the neighbouring tribes in fear and trembling ; but their numbers and resources were being constantly drained by the demands of the English kings who never forgot the English settle- ment in Ireland when meditating a campaign in France, or Wales, or Scotland. For instance, a writ was issued in 1254 with regard to the army of Christians and Saracens who were hastening to the invasion " of the king's dominions in Gascoine, and who would thereby obtain an entry into England and Ireland; for this reason he is desired to come with all his friends to the king in Gascoigne, so that they be at Waterford against Easter, ready to embark with horses, arms and soldiers." And in 1295, when Edward I. was simultaneously menaced by the King of France, by Balliol's revolt in the north, and the Welsh rebellion in the west, he demanded a number of horsemen and 10,000 foot to be fully accoutred and sent for service to England. So when Edward Bruce landed at Carrickfergus in 1315 with 6,000 men and the bravest knights of Scotland, including Randolph of Moray, Menteith. and Lord Allan Steward, he had little difficulty in defeating the remaining colonists of Ulster, under the Red Earl (De Burgho) on the banks of the Bann, the forces of the Deputy De Boutiller at Ardscull, in Kildare, and the army of De Mortimer at Kells. It is to be noted that Edward Bruce came THE O'CONNORS AND THE PALE 6i on the invitation of certain native princes, the O'Neills among them, who had befriended his brother, King Robert, during his exile in the isles off the north of Ireland and Scotland, and that these princes sent a letter to Pope John XXII., in which they set forth the Irish grievances at large, traced them all to Pope Adrian's gift of Ireland to Henry II., and besought the Pope to approve of their choice of Edward Bruce as their champion. But the Pope preferred the friendship of England to the devotion of Ireland and replied with a sentence of excommunication against all who should help the Bruce. And had the Bruce restrained his soldiers from their merciless devastation of the country and their wholesale destruction of towns, castles, and even churches, from Carrickfergus to Castle Connell he would have retained the allegiance of his Irish friends and have won the crown of Ireland. The accounts of his raid are sad reading. Spenser in his Viezu of the State of Ireland, informs us that Bruce destroyed Belfast, Greencastle, Kells, Belturbet, Castle- town, Newtown, and many other towns, and that ** he rooted out the noble families of the Audlies, Talbots, Tuchets, Chamberlaines, Maundevils, and the Savages out of Ardes." Friar Clyn and Campion give equally pathetic descriptions of the havoc wrought in Ireland, and the mischief done to the English Pale by " Edward Bruise " who spoiled Cashel and ''where- soever he lighted upon the Butler's lands, those hee burned and destroyed unmercifully.^' The latter historian describes the soldiers of Bruce as '' surfeited with flesh and aquavitoe all the Lent long." They " prolled and pilled insatiably without neede and without regard of poore people, whose only provision 62 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE they devoured." " While," he says, " the people of Ulster, now living in slavery under Le Bruise, starved for hunger, when they had first experienced many lamentable shifts, as in snatching the dead bodyes out of their graves, in whose skulls they boyled the same flesh and fed thereof." And to add to the un- happiness of the people Sir Roger Mortimer, the Lord Justice, went away " indebted to the citizens of Divelin for his viands a thousand poundes, whereof he payde not one smulkin," But the end came to the hopes and life of the Bruce in 1318, when he was defeated and slain with all his officers at Faughard, near Dundalk, by Sir John Bermingham. Campion gives the names of Bermingham's officers : " Tute, Verdon, Tripton, Sutton, Cusacke, and Maupas," and notes some interesting incidents in the battle. The Primate of Armagh accompanied the soldiers in person and blessed their enterprise, '' assoyling them all ere ever they began to encounter." Verily the English had learned a lesson from the conduct of the Scots the night before their great victory of Bannockburn, which the Scots themselves on this occasion seem to have forgotten. And Maupas, who had pressed into the throng to meet Bruce was " found in the search, dead, covering the dead body of Bruise." Bermingham thus dissolved the Scottish kingdom in Ireland, and sending the head of Bruce to the king received the earldom of Louth and the Barony of Ardee and Athenry as his reward for this important service to the State. In connection with this same invasion it is to be noted that Edward Bruce's success was largely due to the fact that the Anglo-Normans and the native Celts had just before met each other in two THE O'CONNORS AND THE PALE 63 terrible battles at Athenry and Dysart O'Dea, and like the Kilkenny Cats left nothing of each other behind but the proverbial " tails," which were altogether powerless to withstand the onset of Scotland's chivalry. Richard de Bermingham had almost annihilated the O'Connors of Connaught at the Battle of Athenry (13 1 5) of which Campion gives an interesting account. He tells us the already familiar story of the Hussy of Galtrim, whose family for centuries had disputed with the O'Carrolls the lordship of Birr. According to Campion, Sir Richard Bermingham had a young squire called John Hussy who was sent by his master to scan the dead, of whom eleven thousand lay around the walls of the city, in order to see if O' Kelly, his mortal enemy, was among the slain. While Hussy and his attendant were engaged in turning over the bodies he was observed by O'Kelly, who, " well acquainted with the valiantness and truth of Hussee, sore longed to traine him from his Captaine." Accor- dingly, the O'Kelly suddenly confronted Hussy, and said, " Hussee thou seest I am at all points armed and have my esquire, a manly man, beside me ; thou art thin and thy page, a youngling, so that if I loved thee not for thine owne sake, I might betray thee for my master's. But come and serve me at my request and I promise thee by S. Patricke's Staffe to make thee a lord in Connaught, of more ground than thy master hath in Ireland." This munificent offer had no effect upon Hussy, and then his own man, " a stout lubber," rebuked him for not listening to O'Kelly, and sided against him. " Then," writes the historian, "had Hussy three enemies; and first he turned to his own knave, and him he slew. Next he raught to 64 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE O'Kellye's squire a great rappe under the pit of his eare, which overthrew him. Thirdly, he bestirred himself so nimbly that ere any helpe could be hoped for, he had also slain O' Kelly, and perceiving breath in the Squire, he drawed him up againe and forced him upon a truncheon to beare his lord's head into the high towne, which he presented to Bermingham, and the circumstances declared, he dubbed Hussee knight and then advanced to many preferments, whose family became afterwards Barons of Galtrime." This was an incident in one of the two suicidal battles that laid Ireland at the feet of the new invader. The other fights that weakened the Irish and Anglo- Normans took place in the South of Leinster, where the O'Carroll of Ely defeated the Norman settlers, and in the North of Munster, where the O'Briens gave an overwhelming defeat to Richard de Clare at Dysart O'Dea. But that Scottish raid spelt ruin to the English tenants on the baronial estates, as well as to the Irish tribesmen. And if the Irish Annals of Clonmacnoise break forth into song over the death of Edward Bruce who was slain, " to the great joy and comfort of the whole kingdom in general, for there was not a better deed that redounded more to the good of the kingdom since the creation of the world, and since the banish- ment of the Fine Fomores out of this land, done in Ireland than the killing of Edward Bruce," what must have been the feelings of the English yeoman over whose ploughed fields, haggards, and farms, that desolating stream of lava had poured for three and a- half years, leaving him a ruined man by the roadside, to return a pauper to the shores of England, or to THE O'CONNORS AND THE PALE 65 sink to the condition of the tribal Irish, and to live as the kerne, plundering others as others had plundered him. The latter was, indeed, the fate of many a gallant yeoman and of many a noble knight After the Scottish invasion the English settlers abandoned and betrayed by their own countrymen on the other side of the water sank into a disorganised, hopeless community ; while the spirits of the Irish who had perhaps suffered considerably less from the invasion and the famine that ensued rose in a corresponding degree. The dispossessed tribes recovered the lands devastated by Bruce and deserted by the settlers. The septs of Desmond rose to a man. No check was offered to their advance by English Government, deputy, or settler. Out of the mountain fastnesses of the Slieve Bloom the O'Connors and O'Moores swooped like birds of prey upon the plains of Leix and Offaly. Friar Clyn gives an interesting account of one of these raiders, Leysert O' Moore. He writes : — *' In the year I342 died Leysert O'Moore, a man influential, rich and wealthy, and respected in his tribe. By force he ejected almost all the English from his lands and inheritance, for in one night he burned eight English castles and destroyed the noble castle of Dunamase, the property of Lord Roger de Mortimer, and obtained for himself the lordship over his country." Had the English settlers but waited and presented a firm front they would easily have held their own. But while some were desirous of maintaining law and order, others proved week-kneed and lukewarm. In 1323 the lords of the Parliament assembled in Dublin E 66 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE undertook to arrest or cause to be arrested all felons and robbers of their family or surname. In 1327 the Viceroy was directed to take possession of the castles of the absentees and maintain them out of the revenues of the estates, while the Irish enemies and English rebels were ravaging the royal lands. In 1329 his own English tenantry in the County of Louth murdered John de Bermingham, the conqueror of Edward Bruce, with two hundred men of his family and household. And when summoned to answer for the crime before the king's court they treated the writ with contempt and remained unpunished. The events of that year (1329) are summed up in Cox's Hibernia Anglicana who ascribes the disasters of the English colony to their own dissensions. " When the Earl of Louth," he writes, '* and many other of the Berminghams, Talbot of Malahide and an hundred and sixty Englishmen were murdered by their own countrymen, — the Savages, Gernons, etc., at Balibragan (Bal- briggan) in Urgile (Uriel = Louth) ; and when the Barrys and Roches in Munster did as much for James Fitz-Robert Keatinge, the Lord Philip Hodnet and Hugh Condon, with an hundred and forty of their followers, what wonder is it if Macoghegan defeated the Lord Thomas Butler and others near Molingar to their loss of an hundred and forty of their men? Or if Sir Simon Genevil lost seventy-six of his soldiers in Carbery, in the County of Kil- dare ; or if Brian O'Bryan ravaged over all the country and burnt the towns of Athassel and Tip- perary ? " The comment the historian makes upon this state of affairs is both acute and prophetic. " And yet," THE O'CONNORS AND THE PALE 67 he says, " this common calamity could not unite the English, although their own experience taught them (and frequent instances have convinced the succeeding ages since) that the English never suffered any great loss or calamity in Ireland, but by civil dissensions and disagreement among themselves." While the Irish septs of Connaught were seizing the royal castles of Athlone, Roscommon and Randoun, the O'Byrnes, O'Tooles, and MacMurroughs were raiding the lands of the settlers and driving off the cattle in Wicklow and Kildare ; the O'Connors and O'Moores were harrying Offaly and Leix; the MacGeoghegan's and O'Melaghlins were devastating Meath, and the great sept of the O'Neills, the Clan Aedha Buidhe (Clan-na-boy) or tribe of Hugh the Red were sweeping over the eastern counties of Ulster which had been just reduced to a desert by Edward Bruce, and were establishing a principality of their own in the north, an event occurred which seemed to be the death-blow of the English settle- ment. This was the assassination of William de Burgh, the " Brown Earl," the successor of the Red Earl, in 1333, by Richard de Manneville at Carrick- fergus. By English law the vast estates of the dead earl in Ulster and Connaught, which were the back- bone of the English settlement, passed to his infant daughter, who was brought by her mother to England, where she afterwards became the wife of Lionel, Duke of Clarence. But William and Edmund Burke, junior members of the great house of De Burgh, sons of Sir William, the Viceroy in 1308, felt the absurdity of doing homage for their possessions to a young girl, 68 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE at a time when every feudal baron held his lands and governed his vassals as much by force of arms as by right in law ; and well aware of the inability of the heiress of the Brown Earl to support or defend them, as she on her part was duly bound to do, took the bold step of repudiating her authority. This step, however, was a breach of the feudal system, and the English sovereign was bound to take cognizance of it. Accordingly, the two Burkes found themselves compelled to renounce their allegiance to the English Crown. And feeling themselves more powerful when united with the Irish septs, stripped themselves of their Norman coats of mail and arrayed themselves in the saffron robes of the Irish chieftain on the banks of the Shannon, in full view of the garrison of Athlone. They, thereupon, assumed the names of McWilliam Uachtar (the '' Nether ") and McWilliam lochtar (the " Further) ; and, dividing the country between them, one took Galway, and became the ancestor of the Clanrickarde house, and the other took Mayo, and from him the Mayo family is descended. They also adopted the Irish language, laws and customs. Their example was followed hy many other nobles. Bermingham, of Athenry, styled himself McYorris ; Nangle became McCostelo ; Fitzurse, McMahon ; D'Exester, Mcjordan ; the Baron of Dunboyne, McPheris ; and the White Knight, McGibbon. But Edward III. cared for none of these things. He was engaged at the time in putting forward an absurd claim to the throne of France, and his only desire was to obtain the wherewithal to make good that claim. With this object in view he began a THE O'CONNORS AND THE PALE 69 systematic oppression of the much tried English colony, which appears through all the chequered annals of the history of English rule in the character of the much-enduring Ulysses. In 1341 the king issued a writ to the justiciary of Ireland to resume all royal grants of lands until he was " made certain of the merits of the grantees, the causes and conditions of the grants." The purpose of the writ to force the grantees to compound by payment of fines was clear to all concerned. And this flagrant act of dishonesty roused the whole colony who were already provoked by the king's gratuitous exclusion of Irish-born sub- jects from '* the sweets of office," so that, as Campion observes, ''the realm was ever upon point to give over and rebel." Other acts of injustice committed by his own English-born officials. Sir Anthony Lucy and Sir Ralph Ufford who had seized Desmond's estates, and was justly unpopular for his general character and conduct, brought matters to a head. The great Earls of Desmond and Kildare refused to attend the Parlia- ment in Dublin (1341) and convened a meeting in Kildare, from which a memorial was despatched to the king, setting forth the grievances of the English settlement in Ireland, the state of destitution to which they had been reduced by the raids of the Irish enemy on the one side and on the other by the '' em- bezzlement and extortions practised by English-born officials, who defrauded the constables of the royal oastles ; entrusted their custody to incompetent warders, or to those who employed deputies, merely to extort fees ; charged the Crown for goods and valuables taken for its use, but for which they never paid ; entered into their accounts salaries to governors 70 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE of castles which were either demolished, in the hands of their enemy, or had never existed, and exacted money from the king's subjects on various pretences."^ The Earl of Desmond, who had been allowed to escape from his imprisonment in Dublin, where he had been arrested by order of the rapacious Ufford, whose lady is described as " a miserable sott who led him -to extortion and bribery ;" also put down on the paper the pertinent question — '' How an officer of the king that entred very poore might in one yeare grow to more excessive wealth than men of great patrimony in many yeares ? " Edward was forced to give way to such a memorial especially when supported by an appeal to Magna Charta and a resolute nobility who had been pro- voked beyond endurance by Ufford's insolence and tyranny. For in 1 346 we find him conferring knight- hood on the Earl ofKildare, another victim of Ufford's jealousy and greed, for his services at the siege of Calais, and making the Earl of Desmond, some of whose estates Ufford had seized. Lord Justice. It is surprising that Edward, with all his cruelty, was able to obtain a splendid Irish contingent for his foreign wars which eventually brought greater loss than lustre to England. It seemed, moreover, a sort of poetic justice to find the victims of Ufford's impositions thus honoured shortly after the death of their tormentor had been publicly solemnized with bonfires and other expressions of rejoicing in the land. But Edward's hold on Ireland was growing weaker ^Ridley, Short History , p. 225. THE O'CONNORS AND THE PALE 71 yearly. The Irish had grown excessively turbulent since the invasion of Bruce had shown them the weakness of the Anglo-Norman power. During 1330 there had been a great rising in Leinster, and " so outragious were the Leinster Irish that in one church they burned eighty innocent soules, asking no more but the life of their priest then at Masse, whom they, notwithstanding, sticked with their javelins, spurned the Blessed Sacrament, and wasted all with fire." ^ His justiciary was compelled to bribe some of the Irish septs, the O'Tooles and others to defend the frontiers of the Pale, and to offer reward for the cap- ture and assassination of the more refractory chieftains. The Irish insurgents, however, had not matters all their own way in every part of the country, for we read of men like Sir Robert Savage in Ulster fortifying his manor house, and his son. Sir Henry, who led his men against the Irish and defeated them. This Sir Henry seems to have had a touch of humour, for, having prepared a supper of wine, aqua vitae, and venison, beef and fowl for his men on their return, he was advised by his officers to poison the food, lest the enemy should defeat them and secure the supper. " Tush," he answered, "ye are too full of envy. If it please God to set other good fellows in our stead, what hurt shall it be for us to leave them some meate for their suppers ; let them hardly win it and wear it." The gallant knight returned with his men to enjoy his own supper. Nor is it to be inferred from the charges that were made against the English Lords Justices that they ^Campion, History of Ireland, p. 129. 72 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE were all bad and dishonest. For Sir Thomas Rokeby, who held office in 1353 was the impersonation of rugged honesty and sterling worth. When rebuked for allowing himself to be served with wooden cups, he answered : " These homely cuppes and dishes pay truly for what they containe. I had rather drinke out of wood and pay gold and silver than drinke out of gold and make wooden payment." This was of course an allusion to the almost proverbial dishonesty of the Lord Deputies. CHAPTER V. The Rise of The O'Connors and Richard II.'s Expedition. In the foregoing chapter an account was given of the condition of the English Colony called the Pale, which may help the readers of this little work to form a general idea of the state of Ireland in the fourteenth century, when the O'Connors Faly rose into pro- minence. Of the great possessions in the hands of the English settlers and territorial barons at the beginning of that century but little remained at the end. Some of the causes, internal and external, that brought about this condition of things have already been set forth. But one has not yet received the attention it deserves. The tribes are beginning to act more unitedly, and to trust one another, and though still far from that Home Reunion, which is as vital to the existence of states as of churches, were taught by the ''degenerate" English, who had cast in their lot among them, that they should, at least for the time being, bury the hatchet between themselves until they had swept the Colony into the sea. A tremendous effort, or rather series of efforts, was accordingly made at various points of the Colony's possessions, and the English subjects and officials, unable to resist the overwhelming tide, were driven back upon their lines. Ulster was regained ; Connaught was in revolt; parts of Leinster and 74 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Meath alone remained faithful to England, and were compelled to purchase peace at a great price. It was at this time that Richard II. made his great expedi- tion to Ireland, which commenced auspiciously for the Colony, but ended most disastrously (1394). We shall now see what the Irish septs have been doing in the meanwhile. That they lacked neither wit nor courage, the following record shows. T/ie Four Masters relate that one Donogh O'Gillpatrick was killed by the English in 1249. "This Donogh," they write, " was one of the three Irishmen who com- mitted the greatest number of depredations on the English; and these three were Conor O'Melaghlin, Conor MacCoghlan of the Castles, and the before- mentioned Donogh, who was in the habit of re- connoitring the market towns (of the English) by visiting them in the different characters of a beggar, a carpenter, a turner, an artist, or a pedlar, as recorded in the following verse : — He is now a carpenter, or a turner, Now a man of books or learned poet, In good wines and hides, a dealer sometimes ; Everything by turns as suits his purpose. These O'Melaghlins and MacCoghlans had wrested half the County of Meath from the settlers at the end of the century, but were just as often engaged in fighting each other as in raiding the English lands. For the same authority tells us that in 1290, forty-one years after the death of this celebrated Irish comedian, Donogh O'Gillpatrick, whose histrionic performances proved a little more expensive to the English than those of his countryman, the late John Lawrence Toole, prince of good fellows, 'f Carbry O'Melaghlin, THE O'CONNORS AND RICHARD II. 75 King of Meath, the most valiant young warrior in Ireland in his time, was slain by MacCoglan." The year 1305 was, according to all accounts, a disastrous one for the clan of the O'Connors. We have already mentioned the fact that their neighbours, the O'Dempseys, afterwards became their representa- tives. The sept of the O'Dempseys, or O'Diomsaigh, dominated the district known as Clanmalire, which embraced portions of the baronies of Geashill, Philips- town, and Ballycowan in the King's County, and portions of the neighbouring counties of Kildare and Queen's County. Of this tribe the poet O'Heerin wrote — Clanmaliere is above all tribes, Noble is the source of their pedigree, The smooth plains of the land they have defended, The country is the inheritance of the O'Dempsey. The present town of Tullamore is in the district of this ancient tribe, which fought with conspicuous success against the forces of Strongbow in 1173. Morice Regan, the faithful scribe and follower of Dermot McMurrough, relates in his Norman-French poem, in which he gave an interesting, if somewhat embellished, narrative of the English invasion, that the O'Dempseys made an attack upon the English, in which Robert de Quincy, the Standard Bearer of Leinster, and son-in-law of Strongbow, was slain. The principal fortress of this tribe was at Geashill, near where Lord Digby's handsome residence now stands. And as far back as 1305 we hear of the sept of O'Dempsey defeating the sept of the O'Connors, with great slaughter, near this castle. But the O'Connors returned to the charge the following year 76 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE and destroyed the Castle of Geashill, and swept on to Lea, in which parish Portarlington is now, and where the remains of a massive round tower and other fortifications on the banks of the Barrow, and several Irish raths in the vicinfty, testify to the military prestige of the place, and, perhaps, to the operations of the O'Connor sept in 1305. The ancient castle of Carbury in County Kildare is also connected with the fortunes and misfortunes of this fighting clan. Those bleak skeletons of wall and battlement, through which the winds murmur in weird cadences, standing in lonely grandeur on an isolated hill, form a conspicuous landmark, which reminds us of the new age of the prowess and perfidy of the Norman knights. To this massive keep Sir Pierce Bermingham invited the O'Connor Faly, with a number of his chiefs, to a banquet one ill-starred day in the year of grace 1305. Thirty chieftains attended the feast, and at night, when men had well drunken and suspicions were allayed, armed men arose and fell upon the Celts, and the night winds moaned in sympathy with their shrieks as they were done to death. Among those who fell that night were the O'Connor, his brother Maelmordha, and his heir, the Calvach O'Connor. Sixteen years have passed, and the O'Connors have somewhat recovered their strength ; but they have not forgotten the Berminghams, their Norman neighbours, and burning to wipe out that deed of shame and barbarity, muster their forces and hurry to attack the Berminghams who were in great force at Monas- teroris in 1321. This place, on the borders of the King's County, formerly Castropetre, was afterwards THE OXONNORS AND RICHARD 11. 77 known as Monasteroris, from the monastery founded here for Conventual Franciscans in 1325 by Sir John de Berminghan, Earl of Louth, who rejoiced in the Irish name of Mac Feoris. But Monasteroris was a place of bad omen for the O'Connors on this occasion, as they were defeated by Andrew Bermingham and the English of Meath. A generation passes away and in 1 348, as these unhappy memories were fading from theminds of the O'Connors, a representativeof their foe- man's house was expelled from Connaught by Edmond Burke, and forced to throw himself upon the mercy of the O'Connor Faly. He found what seems never to have been refused to friend or foe — refuge and hospi- tality. The politics of the Berminghams and of many of the Norman barons had, however, changed in the meantime. Several causes led to this. In 1329, Jean de Bermingham, who had defeated Edward Bruce, was murdered with all his kindred, some two hundred souls, by the English settlers in Louth. Then in 1 331, Sir William Bermingham and his son, summoned to a parliament at Kilkenny, did not consider it safe to appear ; but shortly afterwards was arrested by Sir Anthony Lacy, Lord Justice, while sick in bed at Clonmel, and accused of aiding the Irish rebels. The father was hanged in Dublin on the nth of July, to the grief of many who esteemed him a noble and valiant knight ; but his son Walter was released the following year by John Darcy, a Lord Justice. The Earl of Desmond was also arrested at Limerick, and sent over to the king ; Walter Burgh and two of his brothers were seized in Connaught and Henry Mandevil was sent as a prisoner to Dublin, so that many of the most loyal subjects of the Crown were turned into deadly 78 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE foes by repeated acts of oppression and injustice on the part of the deputies and lords justices. It would seem that the fighting clan had now begun to give trouble to the English settlers in Meath by harrying and plundering their lands and cattle. One day, in the year 1385, Murrogh O'Connor, the Lord of Offaly, had led his kerne and gallowglasses across the borders of his territory and after spoiling the English, were returning with much booty. But the men of Meath w^ere not long in assembling, and under the leadership of Nugent and others followed hard after their wild and stalwart foemen, who were able, as Froissart says, to overtake and pull a horseman off his horse, but who were now retiring leisurely with their plunder. In the level but boggy country around the hill of Croghan they were overtaken and compelled to give battle to their pursuers. Though superior in strength and agility, the badly armed kerne were no match at close quarters for the mailed and helmeted Normans, and many of them fell. Still retreating, and fighting as they retreated, they hoped to put the bog between them and their foes. But there was naught but disaster for the fighting clan that day. Behind them were the English cavalry, around them an impassable bog, and before them a narrow causeway or tochar, across which the road to safety lay. And in their efforts to cross, numbers of them were slain by the enemy or smothered in the bog. This was the battle of Tochar Cruachan Bri Eile, in which many of the English nobility, Nugent, Chambers and others, and their com- mon soldiers entered *' the vasty hall of Death " in company with the slain warriors of the Kinel Fiacha and O'Connor Sept. THE O'CONNORS AND RICHARD 11. 79 The year 1 394 is the beginning of a new era in the story of Ireland under English rule. For in that year Richard II. landed at Water ford, with 30,000 foot and 4,000 horse, and, proceeding by slow marches along the coast, eventually reached Dublin Castle, where he summoned the Irish chieftains to meet him. The chiefs, awed by the overwhelming display of force, and induced by the hope of favourable terms, attended to the number of seventy-five. Among these were the O'Neills of the North, the McMurroughs, and the O'Connors. It is clear that Richard had seen the necessity of reforming the English mode of governing Ireland, and especially of removing the grievances and injustices under which the Anglo-Irish groaned. Their lot had not been improved by the Statute of Kilkenny, although some of its sections were *' more honoured in the breach than in the observance." Constant licences and exemptions were granted by the Crown to the Irish to the detriment of the settler. It may be observed in this connexion that the English Government has always been represented as treating the Celtic population with the direst cruelty. It is true that if the letter of the law were strictly observed the native Irish would be severely handicapped. But there were many modes of evasion of which the Irish were not slow to avail themselves. For example, the Irish where out of the King's peace were excluded from the protection of the King's Court. But an ex- ception was made in the case of the " Five Bloods," the royal races of O'Neill of Ulster, O'Melaghlin of Meath, O'Connor of Connaught, O'Brien of Munster, and McMurrough of Leinster, who were styled " men of the King." This exception practically covered the 8o THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE whole island, as under it almost any Irishmen could claim the protection of the court. For instance, in 1355 one Simon Neal brought an action of trespass against William Nevvlagh for breaking his close at Clondalkin. The defence was that Neal was not one of the ''' Five Bloods." But the plaintiff argued that he was of the blood of the O'Neills of Ulster. One might well ask who could prove, or who could disprove, or who could decide that point. We also find cases where English- men charged with murder put forward in defence the plea that the murdered man was "a mere Irishman," i.e., not one of the " Five Bloods," and where such a plea was not allowed. And we may be sure that the English officials of these days would not be capable of resisting a douceur from an Irish " enemy," for pro- fessional swindlers are loyal to no person or party, and Mr. Gilbert, in his History of the Viceroys of Ireland, gives us this description of those officials : " Many of the judges and chief legal officers of the Colony were illiterate and ignorant of law, obtained their appointments by purchase, and leased them to deputies, who promoted and encouraged litigation, with the object of accumulating fees. Ecclesiastics, lords, and gentlemen were not unfrequently cast into gaol by officers of the Crown on unfounded charges, without indictment or process, and detained in durance till compelled by rigorous treatment to pur- chase their liberation.'^ It was not, therefore, more difficult for the Irish to evade the law then than now. In fact, they enjoyed a happy immunity and indepen- dence of a sort. For, though legally without the pale of the law, they were not disregarded politically ; and, according to the humour or purpose of the King and THE O'CONNORS AND RICHARD II. 8t his Council, were bribed and petted, or whipped and scolded, much in the same way as naughty children are treated by nervous parents. Richard II., however, came over with the very best intentions of training and restraining his turbulent sons. His policy was to conciliate the Anglo-Irish, and to compel the Irish enemies to acknowledge his authority. But the ready submission of the hostile chiefs both flattered and deceived him. He enter- tained them with a refined magnificence, for Richard II, loved art as much as grandeur, and left nothing un- done to attract and impress. The Irish chiefs had, indeed, been accustomed to the royal receptions of the English monarchs, which Henry II. had inaugu- rated on a grand scale, as Hanmer describes in his chronicle : — '' Christmas drew on, which the King kept in Dublin, where he feasted all the provincial princes, and gave them rich and beautiful gifts. They repaired thither out of all parts of the land, — and wonderful it was to the simple people to behold the majesty of so puissant a prince ; the pastime, the sport, and the mirth and the continual music ; the masking, mumming and strange shows ; the gold, the silver and the plate ; the precious ornaments ; the dainty dishes furnished with all sorts of fish and flesh, the wines, the spices, the delicate and sumptuous banquets ; the orderly ser- vice, the comely march and seemly array of all the officers ; the gentlemen, the esquires, the knights, and Ibrds in their rich attire ; the running at tilt in complete harness, with barbed horses, where the staves shivered and flew in splinters ; the plain, honest people admired and no marvel." The same round of entertainments again took place, which were again attended by the F 82 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Irish princes and chieftains, and again they tendered their homage, which the king graciously accepted. But Sir John Davis shrewdly remarked that " the Irish lords knowing this to be a sure policy to dissolve the forces which they were not able to resist," followed the same " trick and imposture " which their ancestors had put upon Henry II. and John. He thus describes this well-acted homage : — " The men of Leinster, namely, Mac IMurrough, O'Byrne, O'Moore, O'Murrough, O'Nolan and the chief the Kinshelages, in an humble and solemn manner, did their homages and made their oaths of fidelity to the Earl Marshall, laying aside their girdles, their skeins, and their caps, and falling down at his feet upon their knees, which, when they performed, the Earl gave each of them oscuhion pads (the kiss of peace)." They then bound themselves and their swordsmen to be loyal dependents, and the Wicklow chiefs, in return for pensions — Arthur MacMurrough, chief of the Kavanaghs, receiving eighty marks per annum — agree to evacuate their lands, upon which the King intended to plant a new colony. When all the in- dentures had been signed, and all the submissions had been tendered, the king departed, '• with much honour, but small profit," to his own country, appoint- ing Roger Mortimer, the heir apparent of England, as his lieutenant. The old chroniclers relate some inter- esting incidents connected with the expedition of Richard. When in Dublin he offered to confer knight- hood on the four principal chieftains, O'Neill, O'Connor, O'Brien, and MacMurrough ; but these princes declined the dignity, stating that every Irish prince was knighted at seven years of age, after having broken a THE O'CONNORS AND RICHARD 11. 83 number of slender lances against a fixed shield. But when the honour was explained to the noblemen they accepted it, and it was conferred upon them in the Cathedral, doubtless of S. Patrick. The king then put them in the charge of one Henry Castide, who, as Froissart relates, had no little trouble in schooling the four noblemen, and teaching them to live and dress, eat and drink and behave like Englishmen. They laid aside their great mantles, and donned silken robes ; they used stirrups and saddles on horseback, and at table they adopted English manners, but reluctantly. Castide's experiences were varied by an adventure in which he was taken prisoner by an Irish gentleman '' Brian Costeret, a very handsome man," who leaped on the back of his runaway horse and took him as prisoner to his house " which was strong and in a town (civitas or lis) surrounded with wood, palisade and stagnant water." But " Caesar's thrasonical brag — I came, saw, and overcame," did not apply to this magnificently con- ceived expedition. The Irish chieftains by well affected humility, by bending and bowing had weakened the storm and broken the army that had been gathered to break them. But no sooner had the king and his army withdrawn from the shores of the green isle and his Deputy had proceeded to carry out the plantation of Wicklow, than Art MacMurrough, who had been • suspected and imprisoned and then released, and em- bittered, attacked the forces of the Pale. Carlow was captured and the royal troops were defeated atKells,and Roger Mortimer, the Earl of March, and heir-apparent of the English throne fell in the engagement (1395). 84 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Emboldened by this success, in which the O'Connors of Offaly, the O'Moores and O'Dempseys had taken part, the O'Connor Faly returned to his own country and made preparations to avenge the defeat he had suffered at the pass of the bog. Receiving information that a strong force of the EngHsh were marching to plunder his country and the seat of his ancestors, he took a wide detour, and by forced marches was able to attack them in the rear, and clinging closely to their flanks eventually made their forces converge towards the very causeway that had been so fatal to his own clan some years before. In the battle that ensued, the invaders were defeated with the loss of many men and horses, and the Tochar Cruachan (Croghan) again devoured more people than the sword destroyed. Three years afterwards (1398), the Calvach, or eldest son of the O'Connor, succeeded in inflicting a smart defeat on the Earl of Kildare, the hereditary foe of his people, but with the fall of whose house in the days of Silken Thomas (1535) the O'Connors were involved. The Earl, the ancestor of the famous Lord Deputy of Henry VIII., of whom we shall hear more anon, was taken prisoner, and handed up to Murrough O'Connor. In 1406 Murrough O'Connor, " Lord of Off"aly," who seems to have been a skilful general, defeated the English at Geashill, both parties having marched " to the upper part of Geashill." ** It was on this expedition," wrote the Four Masters, "that the chief holy relic of Connaught, called Buacach Phatraig, the mitre of S. Patrick, which was kept at Elphin, was taken from the English." In the same year Meiler Bermingham slew Cathal O'Connor. In 141 1 the same historians inform us that "the THE O'CONNORS AND RICHARD II. 85 Sheriff of Meath was taken prisoner by O'Conor Faily, and he exacted a great sum for his Hberation." We read frequently in the annals of our country of doings in which sheriffs figure, sometimes gloriously, some- times ingloriously. It seems to be part of the un- written code of honour, part of the noblesse oblige of the Celt, to resist a sheriff. It is not suggested for one moment that the Irishman is not as anxious as the native of any other country to meet his creditors and to pay his debts, but the prospect of a brush with the law, to which they know they must yield in the end, has an exhilarating influence upon their nerves, which only an Irishman can understand. Much of the banter and bluster that accompany sheriff's sales is not to be taken ate grand serieux. Presence of mind and ready wit, or the saving grace of humour, is often more effectual than artillery on such occasions. It does not appear, however, that this particular sheriff had instituted any legal pro- ceedings against, or had any process to serve upon, the said " O'Conor Faily," as Meath was his jurisdiction. But, like many another good fellow, Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest among them, O'Connor could not resist the temptation of bagging a sheriff — a temptation which had the additional relish in his case from the fact that the said sheriff was an English official, and one who could, in all fairness, be made to disgorge some of the exorbitant fees and fines he had squeezed out of the downtrodden English of the Pale. The capture of the sheriff seems to have given a sort of fillip to the rising spirits of the O'Connor. For three years afterwards (14 14), with the help of 86 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE MacGeosfhes^an, he succeeded in inflictin"" a severe defeat on the English, as one may infer from the fact that one great baron, he of Skrein, was killed, and another, the Baron of Slane, was taken prisoner. This conflict took place at Killucan, near Mullingar. But in 142 1 the end came to Murrough O'Connor, who had taken the sheriff, and who, as the Four Masters- h.3.ve it, "had defeated the English and Irish who opposed them in many battles." The great chief died " after having gained the victory over the world and the devil," and was gathered to his fathers, and they buried him in the Monastery of Killachaid, or Killoughy, the church of the field, which had been founded, by a predecessor of the O'Connor sept, for friars. Its full name v/as Kill-achaidh-dromfada, or church of the field of the long ridge. This is in the barony of Ballyboy, while another church, Killeigh, with the same derivation, is in the barony of Geashill, founded by S. Sincheall (548), who is said to have lived to the age of 130, and is invoked in the Litany of St. Aengus, along with '• 1,500 monks, twelve pilgrims, and twelve bishops, and S. Sinchellus the younger, a presbyter, who rest in Killachaidh-dromfoda in the region of Offaly." There are the ruins of a fine Franciscan abbey at Killeigh, where it is probable that Murtagh O'Connor, after his victory over MacGilpatrickand the English of Leix, retired when he found himself attacked by an incurable disease, and " died in a month after he became a friar, and after a well-spent life," as the Four Masters say, having ap- pointed Dermot O'Connor as his successor. And as we stand among the ruins of that pile we cannot but THE O'CONNORS AND RICHARD IT. 87 feel that we are in the presence of valiant dead, who might have been great. Here of old fought Erin's warriors, Here they laid their sacred dead, Waiting till the trump shall wake them, From the ridge that crowns their bed. The spot is peaceful, though not neglected, and offered a quiet resting-place to one who was weary of '' broils and battles." It may surprise many to learn that the badly-armed Irish kerne were able to make such headway against the mail-clad forces with which they contended. But the heavily-armed English cavalry and war-horses which fell like a thunderbolt upon the splendid chivalry of France at Crecy and Poitiers were useless in the bogs and woods and mountain fastnesses of Ireland, just as the heavy Norman brigades of William II. failed to operate with success in the mountain fastnesses and ravines of Wales. In such a country heavy armour was an impediment, and English horses, which were heavier and slower than the Irish, an encumbrance. Here no level plains gave the much-desired opportunity for the cavalry charge ; and the dense woods and scrub made the close formation of infantry impossible, and obstructed the aim and volley- firing of the archers, and thus put out of action the most effective arm of the service in those days. The lightly-clad and more lightly- armed Irish soldier, fighting in his own native bog, or heath, or wood, and knowing every pass and turn of the country, accustomed to act and scout independently, and possessing the sagacity and courage of a Red Indian, and generally mounted on a swift horse, was often more than a match for his heavily-armed 88 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE opponent who had been trained to fight in serried masses, and had no previous experience in guerilla war- fare, which requires speed and cunning more than strength and courage. But the English were slow to profit by the lessons their frequent defeats might have taught them. The knights trusted in their armour and their lances, and would not alter their style of fighting for an enemy they could have mown down if they had met them in the plains of France or England, but who, unfortunately for them, happened to be located in the midst of a rough and rugged country, reeking with inaccessible swamps and bristling with impenetrable woods. Hence the discomfiture and practical defeat of the magnificent army corps which Richard II. brought with him in 1 399 ' o avenge the death of the Earl of March. Having landed at Waterford and marched to Kilkenny, the foolish monarch led his forces into the almost un- approachable country of the MacMurroughs. There the archers were useless in the woods, the cavalry were impeded by the bogs, and the infantry were discouraged by having to cut thedr way through the dense thickets. In the meantime the MacMurrough, too wary to risk an engagement, was constantly retreating and drawing his foes deeper into the woods of Carlow. Then supplies began to fail. And when hunger, the greatest enemy the soldier has to face, began to enfeeble their spirits and bodies, roving kerne and gallowglasses appeared in unexpected quarters, and having wrought havoc among the stragglers, speedily decamped. And as the horsemen rode past, the kerne would dash out from their ambush, and cut the reins with their pikes, hamstring the horses, and stab the riders with their THE O'CONNORS AND RICHARD II. 89 sharp skeans. There was nothing for it but retreat. Pursued and harassed by the now triumphant enemy, the disheartened chivalry of England at last won the shore, and were gladdened by the sight of their trans- port ships in the offing. So this gallantly-equipped army, which might have made history on the fields of Europe, had all but gone down before the wild wood- men and hillsmen of Wexford, Carlow, and Kilkenny. Richard, however, had the sense to alter his tactics, and was engaged in despatching flying columns through the country, the only practical mode of cam- paign, when the fatal news arrived of the landing of Bolingbroke at Ravenspur. And he hastened back to England and to death, leaving the Irish septs to work out their own salvation. CHAPTER VI. Ireland under the Lancastrian Kings. During the reign of Henry IV. his gallant son, Lord Thomas of Lancaster, was Lieutenant of Ireland, but only stayed here some seven months, during which time he was wounded in an encounter with the O'Byrnes of the Dublin hills, a mile from Dublin. In the reign of Henry V., whose whole attention was given to France, Lord Furnival, the Lieutenant, went round the Pale receiving submission from the Byrnes? Tooles and Kavanaghs in the South, and passing on to the Moores, O'Connors, and O'Farrels in the West, and concluding with the O'Reillys, MacMahons, O'Neills, and O'Hanlons in the North. A record of his services was sent as a memorial to Henry V., then in France, by the grateful lords and gentlemen of the Pale, which Sir John Davis says he saw recorded in the White Book of the Exchequer at Dublin. But he was able to effect little permanent work owing to the small pay and worse discipline of his troops. From this date the O'Connors became formidable foes of the English and such of their own countrymen who ventured to oppose their designs. Their forays became bolder and more extensive. Up to the very walls of Dublin they came, and Cahir O'Connor succeeded in improving upon the exploit of Murrough O'Connor, who took captive the Sheriff of Meath, by carrying off no less a personage than the Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1439. The account in the Four Masters IRELAND UNDER LANCASTRIAN KINGS 91 is that " the King of England's Viceroy arrived in Ireland, and was taken prisoner by Cahir, the son of O'Conor Faily, and after he had remained some time in confinement, he was ransomed by the English in Dublin, who delivered the son of Plunket in his stead to Cahir." Sir Christopher Plunket was a former Deputy (1432). But it is not certain who the notable prisoner of Cahir O'Connor was. He can not have been the Lord Wells who was appointed Lord Lieutenant in 1438, for he never came over. But it was probably Richard Talbot who v/as then in Ireland. The distinguished prisoner was detained in the castle at Killucan on the borders of the county. The capture of the King's chief officer in Ireland shows to what a low ebb the fortunes of the English Colony which was now reduced to the county of Dublin with parts of Meath, Louth, and Kildare, had fallen. The towns of ths sea coast were completely isolated, and owing to the disturbed nature of the country it was impossible for the great lords to attend the Parliament while the remaining colonists were compelled to pay tribute and " black rent " to the surrounding Irish chieftains. The fact was that the English nobles who tried to govern England and Ireland in the reign of the pious but weak-minded Henry VI. were unable to cope with the difficulties of the French campaign and the Irish rebels owing to their own divisions which eventually culminated in the great schism between the houses of York and Lancaster. This civil war was hailed with delight by the native Irish as well as by the English colonists ; and the two houses had no keener adherents than their Irish allies. The Butlers of Ormonde fought for 92 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE the Red ; the Geraldines of Desmond and Kildare contended for the White Rose. But the Irish chiefs who fought for Richard of York must not be forgotten. Their presence at Wakefield Green serves to illustrate the weakness of the Celtic system. At the time when the English colonists of the Pale were at their last gasp, and a sudden and well-combined movement of the Irish septs would have swept them into the sea, the opportunity of liberating their country was allowed to pass while the Irish chieftains carried on their petty feuds with one another, or allowed their sympathies to get the better of their reason. The Irish statutes of the reigns of Henry VI. and Edward IV. fully reveal the feebleness of the Execu- tive and the persecution to which the colonists of the Pale were subjected. For instance, in the 25th, Henry VI., Cap. 24 (1447) we read that as there was " no diversity in array between the English marchers and the Irish enemies," and that the latter under colour of being English marchers, or troops for the defence of the frontiers, entered into the Pale, robbing and murdering the common people by night, it was ordered that an Englishman shall have '' no beard above his mouth, that is to say, that he shall have no hairs upon his upper lip." For the moustache was a favourite appendage of the Irishman. Although some such regulation was necessary in order that the Irish highwayman masquerading as a loyal trooper might be more easily detected, it was hard on the English settlers to be ordered to remove these hirsute embel- lishments, if they chose to wear them, under pain of being seized, as Irish rebels and held to ransom as Irish enemies. Were the Privy Council of 1908 to IRELAND UNDER LANCASTRIAN KINGS 93 issue such an order it might create as much stir in the coiintry as the Old Age Pensions Act. From the same statute wc learn that the lieutenants and justices of the land received divers Irish as liege- men and retainers doubtless because they were more easily hired and kept than English soldiers, and that these people, instead of acting loyally, " do rob, burn, and destroy the King's liegemen." For this the poor colonists had little or no redress. They were afraid even of defending themselves and their property against the Irish — who are not to be blamed — " for fear, as the statute says, " to be impeached," that means, to be brought to trial before the judges. What greater proof of the unjust conduct of the English officials of those days could be desired ? A statute of 1450 tells us how the marchers of the different countries maintained their horsemen and footmen, Irish as well as English. " They do coyne them upon the poor husbalids (husbandmen) and tenants of the land of Ireland and oppress and destroy them." The expression " coyne and livery " is frequently met in the Statute Book, and will be referred to in another place. Suffice it to say here that coyne and livery meant the food for themselves and their horses which the soldiers billeted upon the unfortunate farmer seized. It is certain that coyne has nothing to do with the English coin, but means man's meat, while livery means horse-meat and stabling, the accommodation that was delivered to a traveller. This, however, was a case of " stand and deliver." Spenser informs us that '' a servant's livery is so called from his being required to deliver it up when dismissed from his master's service." An expression 94 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE in vogue in his day " the livery is served up all right," meaning that the carousal was kept up all night may throw light on some of the customs connected with the exaction of " coyne and livery." For the gallant officers in charge of the English frontiers, and entrusted with the defence of the English Pale, were not content with merely billeting their Irish kerne and gallowglasses as well as their own troops upon the English " husbands " and tenants. The same statute, 28 Henry VI., describes other doings which were even more intolerable. For '* the captains of the said marchours " brought all their people, their wives and their pages, and " the King's Irish enemies, both men and women, and English rebels, with their horse- men and footmen," down upon their poor '' husbands " in time of war and peace. And the *' husband" was compelled often to entertain one hundred of these gentry, horse and foot, at night suppers called "cuddies." Hard times were those for the English farmer in Ireland. Hard, indeed, was it at harvest time when the hay and the corn were being carted home to be ricked and stacked in the haggard to find a troop of the king's horse or of an Irish sept in possession of the farmyard. But harder still was it to have the doors of his house — the Englishman's castle — burst open in the witching hours of night by order of the king's officer in charge of the district, to see his victuals dragged forth from the larder and his wife and children insulted and molested by a number of strange men, rebels against the King and native tribesmen, whose conduct, even if it did not exceed wild hilarity, would be sufficient to cause any self- respecting man to feel indignation. IRELAND UNDER LANCASTRIAN KINGS gS Spenser, who must often have witnessed such scenes in which the soldiers dealt roughly with the poor men who were compelled to supply them with lodging and food, describes them with indignation, saying of the soldiers, ''for they will not onely not content them- selves with such victuals as their hostes, nor yet as the place perhaps affords, but they will have other meate provided for them, and aqua vitae sent for, yea and money besides laid at their trenchers, which if they want, then about the house they walk with the wretched poore man and his silly wife, who are glad to purchase their peace with anything." But hardest of all was it to know that the men to whose keeping their lands and lives had been entrusted by the king and his deputy were in league with their enemies against them, and that " what tenant or husband will not be at their truce they do rob, spoil and kill." The English Government in 1450, the year of Jack Cade's insurrection, actually went so far as to allow every loyal subject of the king to take or kill without impeachment any notorious thief caught in the act of '' robbing and spoiling or breaking houses by night or by day." And in 1466, inconsequence of the many highway robberies and murders that had been committed in the county of Meath upon ^' the faithful liege-people of the king" permission was granted to any person finding any thieves robbing or going or coming to rob or steal, to take and kill them and cut off their heads, which were to be brought to the " portreffe of the town of Trim," and to be put upon a spear upon the castle, and a reward was to be given to the slayer of the thief. By this statute the 96 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE English Government did not exhibit its cruelty but confessed its inability to protect the lives and property of the colonists, who were completely at the mercy of the roving bands of Irish kerne, and who had little chance of putting down the " Sheppards " and " Turpins" of those days unaided, much less of cop- ing with the native chieftains on their native heath. It was in the same grim humour that a Chief Secretary of Ireland stated in the House that the victims of the recent cattle-scattering raids ought to protect their own property. Five years before the statute con- cerning the highwaymen of Meath, the O'Connor had marched with a thousand horsemen *' all helmeted, fearless and undismayed," into the said county of Meath, burning and laying waste until at last " he received great presents from the English for granting them peace, as was always customary with those who held his place." A very small harvest of heads would the Portreffe of Trim have to show after such a thorough reaping by the Irish harvesters. But such campaigns as these revealed at once the strength and the weakness of the Irish septs. The tribesmen of the various clans were devoted to their own tribe and chief. But they had not yet learned that the tribe was but a portion of a greater unit — the nation. Their patriotism was limited to the tribe and their loyalty to its chief. They carried on war more implacably with their own neighbours, their hereditary foes, than with the stranger, Dane, Norman, Saxon, or whatever he might be. There was no central authority which could coerce or combine the Irish chieftains, who ruled their own district by the sword. The country was divided among a number of petty IRELAND UNDER LANCASTRIAN KINGS 97 kings and princes, whose dimensions rarely extended beyond the size of a modern barony, and who would have been invincible if united, but because they were simply a congeries of disorganized units were easily taken and dealt with in detail, but on the whole were difficult to conquer. Nor were the English slow to take advantage of the quarrelsome and excitable nature of the Irish, of whom Sydney wrote — " They fight for their dinner, and many of them lose their heads before they be served with their supper." They often fostered dis- cords and sowed dissension among the Irish tribes. The State Papers of Henry VIII. make this clear. The Archbishop of Dublin was sent to Waterford in 1520 to make peace between the Earl of Desmond and Sir Piers Butler, but while publicly exhorted to do this was privately directed to enfeeble and diminish the strength of the Irish enemy '' as well as by getting captains from them as by putting division among them, so that they join not together." The story is also told of a Cromwellian officer who desired to reduce the Irish population in his district. Accordingly he gave a banquet and dispensed wine freely, and when the men had well drunk they found daggers placed near them with which they concluded their arguments. The story, no doubt, is apocryphal, but it may illustrate the point. The English estimate of the Irish character and affection was not high. The Government in 1537 advised the keeping of a supply of ready money in Dub- lin as a remedy against rebellion, " because the nature of Irishmen is such that for money one shall have the war against the father and the father against the G 98 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE child." 1 Some colour is given to this statement by the Irish annals, which read in some places like a series of Newgate Calendars rather than the history of a civilized nation, and in others like the high-flown and fulsome panegyrics of the orators of declining Greece. There is little doubt that the annalists gloried in the barbaric and bloody deeds of their heroes, rather than in their services to the social and religious well-being of their tribe. Professor A. C. Richey gives an analysis of the Annals of the Four Masters, who were principally concerned with the doings of the Ulster and Connaught clans, from the year 1500 to 1534, which illustrates this point. It runs : — " Battles, plundering, etc., exclusive of those in which the English Government was engaged, 116; Irish gentle- men of family killed in battle, 102 ; murdered, 168 — many of them with circumstances of great atrocity ; and during this period, on the other hand, there is no allusion to the enactment of any law, the founding of any town, monastery or church, and all this is recorded by the annalist without the slightest expression of regret or astonishment and as if such were the ordinary course of life in a Christian nation." The Book 0/ Leinster, a collection of similar records of the deeds of the Leinstermen, makes one wonder how Dermot Mac Murrough, who was taught by its compiler in his youth, could have been other than he was — cruel, revengeful and evil. This " Book " eulogizes the violent deeds of the Leinster men against the Connaught men, and at the end of every violent tragedy, adds with exultation — '' 'Twas the Leinster- men killed them," while the Four Masters describe 1 A short History of the Irish People (Kane's Edition, p. 247.) IRELAND UNDER LANCASTRIAN KINGS 99 Mortogh O'Loghlin of the Northern O'Neills, who was King of Ireland and the ally of Dermot Mac Murrough in the latter's war with O'Rourke and Torlogh O'Connor of Connaught, as '* the Monarch of all Ireland, the chief lamp of the valour, chivalry, hospitality, and prowess of the West of the world ; a man who had never been defeated in battle till that time, and who had gained many battles." And yet this " Chief Lamp of the West " had broken an oath of peace sworn upon the staff of S. Patrick, the Bachall ha, to certain chieftains, and when he had got them into his power blinded one, who is said to have been '' the pillar of the prowess and hospitality of the Irish." And they eulogise Torlogh O'Connor, who broke the most solemn oaths without the slightest compunction, and in whose hands no man's life or lands were safe, and who had put out the eyes of his own son, Hugh, in 11 36 as "the flood of the glory and splendour of Ireland, the Augustus of the West of Europe, a man full of charity and mercy, hospitality and chivalry." There must have been, indeed, something rotten in the state of Ireland when such lives were regarded as standards of honour and rectitude, and such men were regarded as the " Chief Lamps of the West " and ''the floods of the glory and splendour of Ireland." It is little wonder that under such conditions of life the native tribes were not improving, and although they had obtained many advantages in their border warfare with the downtrodden English colony, who were reduced to the condition of the scapegoats of the Home Government and the tributaries of the enemy, were unable to come to any permanent or loo THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE satisfactory settlement with the invaders. When the chiefs of neighbouring clans could not arrange a modus Vivendi with each other, they could hardly be expected to come to any amicable arrangement with the strangers, who only wished to live peaceably with all men and to be allowed to trade and prosper in the land. Here we touch the solution of the problem, the lack of thrift and commercial spirit among the Irish. They scorned the one and they despised the other. It was foreign merchants, Norsemen, who came to the country after the removal of Turgesius, who founded Waterford, Limerick, and Dublin. And it was the Bristol merchants who made Dublin the leading city it was in the thirteenth and the fourteenth century. A few words on the doings of our metropolis and the general state of Ireland in the period under consi- deration may not be an unsuitable conclusion to this chapter. The citizens of Dublin showed remarkable activity both by land and sea in the reign of Henry IV. In 1400 we read in Marleburrough's Chronicle that " the Constable of Dublin and divers others at Stranford (Strangford) in Ulster, fought at sea with the Scots, where many Englishmen were slaine and drowned." The year before, the trained bands of Dublin had invaded the O'Brien's country and '' slue three-and-twenty of the Irish, and tooke fourscore men, women and children." And in 1402, on the fifth of the Ides of June, after the dedication of the Church of the Fryers Preachers in Dublin, and per- haps to signalise that occasion by a worthy feat, John Drake, the Mayor of Dublin, issued forth with the citizens and townsmen near to Bre, now known as Bray and meaning hill, and punished some of the wild IRELAND UNDER LANCASTRIAN ^ICINGS loi Wicklow tribes who had on Black Moncla}^^: in tht year of grace 1209, massacred the Dubhn citizens, their wives and children, as they were picnicing in "the wood of the Cualanni, now known as CuUenswood, near Rathmines. John Drake and his valiant men *' slue of the Irish four hundred, ninety-three, being all men of warre." In 1405 we read in Marleburrough's Chronicle of a naval exploit of the Dublin sailors. This year which witnessed the capture of Prince James of Scotland on the high seas as he was on his way to France to learn '* that tongue and eke courtesy," and who was brought to England to learn to love an English maiden, Lady Joan Beaufort, and to sing her praise in " The King's Ouair," also beheld the Dublin ships putting into St. Ninian^. where their crews " valiantly behaved themselves, and afterwards they entred Wales and there did much hurt to the Welch men and brought away the Shrine of St, Cubius, and placed it in the Church of the Holy Trinitie in Dublin." In the same year 1405 there were serious risings in Leix, the country of the Moores and the O'Dempsey, w^ho had been encouraged by the temporary successes of Art MacMurrough. But James, Earl of Ormonde, called the Chaste, quelled these disturbances. First of all, " in the red moore of Athye (the sun almost lodged in the west and miraculously standing still in his epicycle the space of three hours till the feat was accomplished, and no pit in that bogge annoying either horse or man on his part) he vanquished O'More and his terrible army." And soon afterwards ' Probably Whitorn in Wigtownshire, where S. Ninian preached Ifoe Gospel to the Picts in the fifth century. 102 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE he, dispersed the Vormidable forces of Art. But James of Ormonde seems to have been a mild governor as well as a heaven-blest warrior. The O'Dempsey took advantage of his gentle rule and intruded into the castle of Leix, the property of the Earl of Kildare, from which he was expelled by the Deputy, who also "tamed the O'Briens, Burkes, MacBanons, Ogaghn- raghte, MacMahons, all the captains of Thomond in three months." All this time the Lord Justice was materially assisted by the clergy of Dublin, who processed through the street twice every week with prayers for his success against "those disordered persons which now in every quarter, had degenerated to their old trade of life." Very solemn must those litanies have been. They remind us of the solemn Miserere of Bishop Mamertus of Vienne in Gaul (460) when the clergy walked in solemn procession through the streets chanting their litanies for deliver- ance from the plague. Verily the clergy of Dublin were as strong in prayer as they were stout in arms. But our best governor died the same year, and was succeeded by Gerald, Earl of Kildare, 1405. Greatly encouraged, however, by their recent successes, the citizens of Dublin on Corpus Christi day, 1406, with the help of the country people, " manfully vanquished the Irish enemies and slue divers of them, and took two Ensignes, bringing with them to Dublin the heades of those whom they had slaine." There seems to have been an unhappy mania for collecting dead men's skulls in those days. Instead of decently interring the remains of the ill-starred warriors they simply cut off their heads and carried them off triumphantly in almost the same way as a IRELAND UNDER LANCASTRIAN KINGS 103 Red Indian would scalp a fallen enemy, dead or alive, or a wolfhunter of those days would gather the heads of the wolves of which he had rid the land, and for which he claimed reward. In the same year we read that the Prior of Conall with but 20 Englishmen vanquished two hundred Irish that were well armed, "slaying some of them and chasing others," in the Curragh of Kildare, But all this time the Irish were giving great trouble to the settlers. Most pathetic is the application for assistance that was sent from the inhabitants of Cork, Youghal, and Kinsale, who were harassed by the Irish outlaws, who had become stronger than the Norman nobles of Munster owing to the dissensions of the latter, and of whom Lord Roche, Lord Courcy and Lord Barry alone remained. Nor was the Pale free for a day from the incursions of the raiders, who harried their borders, especially during the sessions of Parliament, " when," we read, " the Irish burned all that stood in their way." A strange instance of poetic justice is mentioned in Marleburrough's Chronicle. In 1408 he tells us that Hugh MacGilmore was slain at Cragfergus (Carrickfergus) within the Church of the Friars Minors, " which Church he had before destroyed and broken down the glasse- windows to have the iron barres through which his enemies the savages entered upon him." P'or one would opine that although the poet says : — Stone walls do not a prison make. Nor iron bars a cage, that they would form a stouter protection than brittle glass against an armed host — unless half-naked and I04 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE fearful of cutting their hands and feet. But the result was evidently regarded not as due to an error of judg- ment but as the consequence of a sacrilege, very much as the stout De Courcy of Ulster was thought to have brought a curse upon himself for having altered the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity in Down into " an Abbey of Black Monks from Chester, and dedi- cated the same to the honour of S. Patrick." The same eternal feuds continued in spite of all the English could do, for the Celtic blood is irrepres- sible, so that the colonists once more turned their faces towards home, but were checked in 1438 by the statutes against absentees. In 1449, a firm hand was laid upon the neck of the unmanageable Celt, and by kindness and firmness his spirit was tamed. But the same ruler — Richard Duke of York, in his letter to his brother the Earl of Shrewsbury — complained of Magoghigan (MacGeog- hegan) and his turbulence. " With him," he wrote, "three or four Irish Captaines associate with a great fellowship of English rebells. . . They have burnt down a great towne of thine inheritance, Ramore, and other villages thereabouts, and murdered and brent both men, women, and children without mercy. The which enemies be yet assembled in woods and forts wayting to doe the hurt or grievance to the King's subject's that they can thinke or imagine." This is a fair picture of the difficulties with which a Lord Lieutenant of those days had to cope ; and when badly paid and worse supported by the King and his Council we cannot be surprised if few reached the high standard of our best English Viceroy — Richard Duke of York. CHAPTER VII. Acts of Significance. We have followed the O'Connor clan from comparative obscurity to considerable importance. We shall see how they gradually fell from the pinnacle of their pride. Their fall is to be ascribed to their connexions, hostile and friendly, with the Geraldines, and to their own unhappy dissensions. Some time after the capture of the King's Deputy the Fitzgeralds of Kildare and Desmond began to cast longing glances upon the rich pastures of Offaly, and to make themselves strong, with a view not only to repel their " rash intruding " neighbour, but also to seize his lands. The Earl of Desmond followed hard on the heels of the O'Connor as he was returning from one of the forays in Leix (1440). Twelve years afterwards (1452) James, Earl of Ormond, Lord Justice of Ireland, was compelled to put down the Midland septs with a firm hand. He overran Leix, burnt Airem, the property of O'Demp- sey, and marched into Offaly, where the O'Connor submitted to him. Seven years pass and Con O'Connor was defeated by Thomas, Earl of Kildare, and taken prisoner. The next year (1460) the rest- less Con defeated the English, when Hussey or Hose Baron of Galtrim was killed. These Husseys claimed Birr under the grant of the town and the neighbouring lands of Ely O' Carroll made by King John to Theobald Fitzwalter, and by him transferred in part, i.e., Villam de Birre, to Hugh de Hose or Hussey, for military tenure. The Husseys of Galtrim were great io6 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE warriors. Their war cry, Cor-deragh-aboe, or the cause of the great cast, was won by the courage of the Hussey, who slew O' Kelly and his squire at the battle of Athenry, already described. And two years afterwards the O'Connor made his memorable incursion at the head of a thousand horse- men into Meath, when he laid the whole country waste and departed laden with spoils and gifts. The English, accordingly, began in self-defence to plan a complete removal of this thorn in their side. John Fitzgerald, who was said to be '' the best and mosti renowned general of the English," mar- shalled his forces in Kildare and the Deputy, Thomas, Earl of Desmond, arranged to meet him at a certain place with the Dublin contingent. But Con was on the alert and completely frustrated his enemy's plans by attacking the men of Kildare before they were joined by the Deputy, and defeating them with much loss. The next day he followed up his advantage by giving battle to the army that was on the march from Dublin and fighting on his own terms succeeded in putting it to a complete rout and taking prisoner the Deputy, Thomas, Earl of Desmond. The latter was taken to Carbury Castle, but was soon afterwards rescued by his own party. However, in 1468, the brave Con ventured too far into the mouth of the Norman lion and was taken prisoner himself, and Teige O'Connor, " the conqueror of both English and Irish," died of the plague. Furthermore, as we frequently find in Irish history, tribal feuds and family troubles were effectual where foreign combination was unavailing. In the first place, a quarrel between the MacGeoghegans of Moycashel, ACTS OF SIGNIFICANCE 107 Westmeath, and the O'Connors of Offaly led to a series of disasters for the latter, and then MacGeoghegan, who had hitherto assisted the O'Connors against the English, and had themselves in 1329 defeated an English force under Lord Thomas le Botiller, now allied themselves to the English of the Pale ; and although the O'Connors were able to hold their own against the lords of Moycastle and Kilbeggan, they suffered a severe defeat in 1493, when Cahir O'Connor Paly and many of his kinsmen were taken prisoners by the MacGeoghegans. About this same time it appears that the O'Connor had two of his own relations, Torlogh O'Connor and Cathal O'Connor hanged. It is from this point that we may date the downfall of the clan, which was so powerful when united, but when divided by internal disputes lay completely at the mercy of its foes. For Cahir himself was murdered in 1 5 1 1 by his own kins- men, doubtless in revenge for friends Cahir had caused to be murdered. From that murder, the feud which eventually split up the O'Connors in Queen Elizabeth's reign into the Queen's O'Connors and the Irish O'Connors, began in real earnest. This Cahir O'Con- nor, who is described as " a general entertainer of learned men and a distinguished military leader among the English and Irish," was attacked near the Monastery of Monasteroris, called after the Irish name MacFeoris, adopted, as we have already seen, by Sir John Bermingham, just as the names McWilliam lochtar and McWilliam Uachtar were taken by the Connaught Burkes, v/ho became more Irish than the Irish themselves, and affected Irish dress, customs and language. Within sight of the consecrated walls and io8 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE hallowed ground of the abbey, which the hereditary foe of the O'Connors had built nearly two centuries before, the head of the clan was slain by his own relations, the sons of Teige. This was in the year 1511. The seed of dissension thus sown bore a bitter fruit in the family of the reigning Prince of Offaly. Brian and Cahir were brothers. Of these Brian seems to have been the elder, but not necessarily the heir. They do not appear to have been very loyal or affec- tionate to one another. However, Brian, undisturbed by this family disagreement, which was nothing out of the beaten track of an O'Connor's life, arranged with the O'Moores and O'Carrolls to invade the Eng- lish Pale (1521). The Lord Lieutenant, at the time, was Surrey, a most capable and enterprising officer, who had already written a very strong letter to Henry VHI. in which he insisted that Ireland should be conquered by arms, and that to attempt to kill rebellion by pacific measures was impracticable. The King had advised his officer to win the Irish chieftains " by circumspect and politic ways," to obey the English laws, and " following justice, to forbear to detain rebelliously such lands and dominions as to us in right apper- taineth." And his deputy is urged to appeal to the reason of these chieftains and their sense of fair play, and ''to show unto them that of necessity it is requisite that every reasonable creature be governed by a law." By this means the King thought an entry could be made into the inaccessible parts of the country, and that '' our lands detained by usurpation might be reduced to our possession." But he directs ACTS OF SIGNIFICANCE 109 his Deputy to proceed ''politically, patiently, and secretly^ that the Irish lords conceive no jealousy or suspicion that they shall be constrained precisely to live under our laws or put from all the lands by them now detained." But Surrey wrote on the i6th December, 1520, beseeching the King that " if the King's pleasure be not to go through with the conquest of this land, which would be a marvellous charge, no longer to suffer me to waste his Grace's treasure here." In this clause Surrey had struck home. For Henry VIII., though prodigal in his pleasures, was a miser in matters of State. He grudged the spending of the ;^ 1 7,000 a year that was required for the upkeep of a respectable army in Ireland for the defence of the four shores of the Pale. We shall see how his avarice led him afterwards (1532) to appoint the Earl of Kildare as Lord Deputy. And in an answer to another letter from Henry, in which the expenses of the standing army in Ireland were impressed upon the Deputy's mind, Surrey wrote back on the 30th June, 1521, saying — ''After my poor opinion, the land shall never be brought to good order and subjection but only by conquest, which is, at your Grace's pleasure, to be brought to pass in two ways. One way is, if your Grace will one year set on hand to win one country, and another year another country, and so continue, till at length all be won." In Surrey's opinion, a force of 6,000 men were required : whereas the king was only willing to give 800, and the country could not be subdued in less than ten years, for, as he said, " the countries here be as strong or stronger as Wales, and the inhabitants of the same can, and do live, more no THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE hardly than any other people, after mine opinion, in Christendom or Turkey, and " may have three or four thousand Irish Skottes whensoever and as often as they will call for them." It is not, therefore, to be imagined that such a commander, alert and alive to all the difficulties of his task, could be found napping even by the astute O'Connor. Indeed, he managed to surprise O'Connor, and with the assistance of the Mayors of Drogheda and Dublin and the loyal nobles defeated the confederates, who retreated in different directions. O'Connor retired to his castle at Monas- terois, a place of great natural strength, and leaving a strong garrison to defend it, made a dash for West- meath, in order to draw off his enemy's forces from his own lands and tov/ns. But while he was engaged in devastating the farmsteads of the English settlers, the Deputy had followed up his advantage by besieg- ing the Irish garrison in Monasteroris with such vigour and skill that though it was " the strongest hold within the Irishry," they were fain to escape under cover of the night, and to leave the castle in the possession of the royal forces. Surrey then employed his forces in ravaging the lands of the absent chieftain. He " destroyed much goodly corn and burnt many towns and houses." This had the desired effect of drawing the O'Connor away from the English settlements, and making him return to defend his own, but finding that Monasteroris was in the hands of the English, he withdrew to the recesses of his own bogs and woods, whence he made sudden and unexpected sallies upon the English, in one of which Edward Plunket, Lord Dunsany, fell. After this initial exchange of courtesies, Surrey ACTS OF SIGNIFICANCE iii withdrew his forces to the capital to collect a larger army, while O'Connor and his allies were left at peace for a time to prepare for another campaign, one of the saddest, but yet one of the most interesting, in the annals of Irish history. In the meantime we may take a glance at the affairs of the English Pale, where life was now more intolerable than ever. We have seen how the English colonists had been deprived of their moustachios by a statute of Henry VI., lest they should be mistaken for Celts. A similar order was made in Edward I Vs. reign, 1467, with regard to the upper lips of the Irish- men who had made their home in the counties of Dublin, Meath, Uriel (Louth) and Kildare, and had not been allocated to the various Irish towns in the country. The fact that there were a " multitude " of such people to be sworn as the King's liegemen within the borders of the Pale shows that the statute of Kil- kenny was more honoured in the breach than in the observance. A feeble attempt was now made to assimilate these Irish people to their English neigh- bours in appearance and in name. They were ordered to remove "the beard above their mouth," to go " like an Englishman in apparel," and to " take to him an English surname of a town — as 'Sutton, Ches- ter, Trym, Skryne, Cork, Kinsale, or colour, as white, black, brown ; or art or science, as smith or carpenter ; or office, as cook, butler ; and he and his issue shall use this name under pain of forfeiting of his goods yearly." From this assortment of worthy if not musical English names the Kinsellaghs, MacNamaras, O'Molloys, O'Shaughnessys and O'Morchoes had to take their choice under pain of losing their goods. 112 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE That was the humour of the statute. Upon this compulsory exchange of the Irishman's surname, and the threatened forfeiture of his property, a Celt of a later age might have moralised somewhat in the words of lago in Shakspeare's Othello — Who steals my purse steals trash ! 'tis something, nothing^ But he that filches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor, indeed. At a recent meeting in Dublin a certain worthy citizen with an English name objected to having it "turned upside down in Irish." But what must have been the feelings of a Diarmaid O'Halloran when addressed as Jeremiah Black, or a Timothy McCarthy when styled Tim Brown, or a Cathal O' Carroll when called Charles White, or a Torlogh O'Donoghoe to have to assume the brief appellation of Terence Gray ! It was bad enough to lose one's moustache, the growth of which had been so anxiously watched and tended ; it w^as worse to be compelled to lay aside the picturesque and highly coloured garment in which the Irish, who rejoiced in colours, arrayed their muscular forms, and don the sober livery of an Englishman ; but it " was the most unkindest cut of all " to be shorn of their musical and high sounding names which they had carried v\ath more or less distinction since the Milesian conquest, and which reminded them, not merely of their own family, but also of the sept with whose varying fortunes their deepest sympathies and highest sentiments were associated. In the meantime, the Irish Parliament, which might have become a constitutional and representative ACTS OF SIGNIFICANCE 113 assembly, had by reason of the lawlessness of the country, which made it dangerous for the country members of the Houses to attend at Dublin, Kilkenny, Drogheda or Trim (1416), at which places the parlia- ments were then summoned, and owing to the control exercised by the officials of the Crown, had been reduced to a condition of utter helplessness and use- lessness. Before the ruin of the English Pale it had met regularly and transacted its business in an inde- pendent spirit. But it was now but a pliable instrument in the hands of the king and his advisers, and seems to have been only summoned when subsidies were required by the English Government for its foreign wars. The lords of the Upper House, peers, prelates and priors, were conspicuous for their absence. Nobles, like Desmond and Ormonde claimed exemption ; while the bishops and abbots sent proctors to represent them. Hence the custom arose of summoning two proctors from each diocese, who sat with the knights, citizens and burgesses in the lower house, and claimed to be representatives of the clergy and entitled to vote. The knights of the shires, who had been summoned in Ireland since 1264 were not a strong body, as there were only four shires in the Pale, while the burgesses, who had been summoned since 1295, could only attend from a few towns. Many of these had not even gone through the formality of an election, having received the writ directly from the king. It would, indeed, be hard to find an assembly less deserving of the name of Parliament. It was simply a Dublin Council in the hands of the king's officer. But its history proves the truth of the saying, that " even a worm will turn." For this generally supine and invertebrate assembly H 114 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE dared on one occasion at least to act with a spirit worthy of Stephen Langton, Simon de Montfort and other makers of England and founders of its freedom. It was when the Duke of York crossed the Irish Sea in 1459, having been deserted by his own forces, who were seized with a panic when Henry VI. marched against him at Ludlow, and threw himself upon the loyalty and devotion of the English Pale. He had been sent by Henry VI., who wanted to be rid of him, to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant in 1449, and had won golden opinions from Norman, Saxon and Celt by his noble character and high ideals. He had left Ireland in 1454 to assume the protectorate in England, but now returned to the land where " he had exceedingly tyed unto him the hearts of the noblemen and gentle- men," and was received in a different manner from that in which any other English protector was greeted. Although under the attainder of the English Govern- ment, in which the Lancastrian party had for the time gained the upper hand, the Irish house acknowledged Richard of York as its Viceroy, and supported by him asserted its independence and its right to be bound only by its own laws, and to coin money, and declared that no Irish subject was bound to answer any writs save those issued under the great seal of Ireland. These were no mere words, as was proved by the terrible earnestness with which the Irish nobles, especially of the houses of Kildare and Desmond, some twenty years afterwards threw themselves into the cause of Lambert Simnel, who personated the Earl of Warwick, and was crowned in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, with great pomp by the Bishop of ACTS OF SIGNIFICANCE 115 Meath in May, i486, a coronation which was attended by the Earl of Kildare, the Lord Deputy with " the lords of the Council and other great men of quality." The crown won by the future scullion and falconer of Henry VII. consisted of a diadem taken from an image of the Virgin in the nunnery of St. Mary. And the sham monarch was carried, according to an old Irish usage, upon the shoulders of an Irish giant " called Great Darcy of Flatten " to Dublin Castle, and escorted by 2,000 German troops under Martin Schwartz, sent by the Duchess of Burgundy, who supported the claims of the pretender who was intro- duced to the Earl of Kildare by a priest. Sir Richard Symonds, as the son of the Duke of Clarence. In Smith's " History of Waterford," we read how John Butler, Mayor of Waterford, refused to receive the pretender, and how the Butlers collected their forces and prepared to resist the claims of Kildare's proteg6. But numbers of the Earl of Kildare's faction, including Thomas Fitzgerald, his own brother, followed Simnel to Lancashire, and shared in his defeat at Stoke and the leniency with which the king treated him. And when the fraud was discovered the Irish still believed in him. He was followed by Perkin Warbeck, who landed in Cork in 1490, and personated Richard Plantagenet and found many adherents in Ireland, who suffered for their hotheadedness in Cornwall and on the block. Even though the utterances of this parliament of 1459 were dignified and noble, they brought sorrow- to Ireland, for they alienated the feelings of the Lancastrian party from Ireland and its parliament. And in 1492 Henry VII., who could not forget that ii6 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE the house of York was the popular party with the English of the Pale, or forgive the Geraldines' adher- ence to the Duke of York's family, superseded the Earl of Kildare and appointed Walter Fitz-Simon, Archbishop of Dublin, as Deputy in his room, and Sir James Butler as High Treasurer in the stead of Fitz-Eustace, the earl's father-in-law. And shortly afterwards (1494) sent over Sir Edward Poynings, who drove back the native Irish and summoned the historic parliament of Drogheda which, after passing a number of useful laws for the benefit of the natives and the protection of the dwellers in the Pale from the extor- tions of the great lords, took away all initiative from the Irish Parliament and reduced it to the dependent condition it occupied for centuries, when it was alternately the mouthpiece of the Geraldines and the Butlers, but in which men had once acted with spirit. Among the new regulations was one declaring it to be unlawful to incite the natives to war, to engage in private hostilities, and to practise coyne and livery. Owners of march lands were required to reside on their lands and under heavy penalties were ordered to see that no Irish rebel or enemy crossed the border. Citizens were not to become the retainers of the lords, and judges were only to hold office during the king's pleasure. The Statutes of Kilkenny (1367) were also renewed, with the exception of those relating to the use of the Irish language and the non-use of saddles — a custom which had become too general to be put down by edict. The Statutes of Kilkenny may sound very terrible in our ears ; but it was a voice in the wilderness during the century and more, that elapsed between the date ACTS OF SIGNIFICANCE 117 of its enactment and this Act of Sir Edward Poynings (1494). Its object had been Hke the Mosaic legislation, to raise a barrier between the English of the Pale and the Irish inhabitants, and to check every kind of communication between the two races. Hardiman described it as " no more than a peevish and revenge- ful expression Duke Lionel felt from the opposition he had met with and the loss of the lands he had come over to claim." The purpose of the Act which condemned marriage alliances, gossiped and fosterage with the Irish, the use of the Irish language, and the Brehon law, styled by the Drogheda Parliament as *'the wicked and damnable law called Brehon Law," and the adoption of Irish customs and dress was to prevent the English becoming more Irish than the Irish themselves, and like the lotus eaters forgetting their own country. But the statute was in many respects a dead letter ; for it was not founded on public opinion, was not granted in response to the demands of any portion of the English community, was resented by the English as well as by the Irish, and could not be enforced without a police or military force. Such a statute was a sign of weakness and savoured rather of hysterics than politics. Poynings' Act of 1494, which is rather extrava- gantly styled by Ritchie as ''the most disgraceful Act ever passed by an independent legislature," meant nothing more than the removal of the rag of power and the simulacrum of rule, which had been absurdly paraded by the Irish Parliament for some centuries, and the exorcism of the ghost of the spirit of freedom which had haunted for many years their Council Chamber, a strange visitant which on the occasion that ii8 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE it appeared, bewildered the members themselves and alarmed their opponents. Henry VII. was determined to remove whatever sting the Irish Parliament might still possess. And he may have had the idea of still further crippling the broken power of the English soldiers in the presence of the Celtic population, and of provoking the latter to repeat their incursions, so as to prevent the colonists from ever becoming a menace to the Welsh house of Tudor. The clause of the Act which evoked so much criticism was to the effect that — " no parliament be holden hereafter in the said land (of Ireland) but at such season as the King's Lieutenant and Council there first do certify the king, under the great seals of that land, the causes and considerations, and acts affirmed by the king and his council, to be good afid expedient for that land, and his licence thereupon, as well in affirmation of the said causes and acts, as to summon the said parliament under his great seal of England had and obtained ; that done, a parliament to be had and holden after this form and effect before rehearsed : and if any parliament be holden in that land hereafter, contrary to the form and provision aforesaid, it be deemed void and of none effect in law." Consequently no parliament could be summoned in Ireland without the permission of the king and his council, and no bills could be introduced into any parliament so summoned without the king's consent. The Irish Houses of Parliament were in this manner reduced to an office for the registration of English law in Ireland. The result was not altogether so bad as represented ; for by this means the Anglo-Norman factions, the Butlers and Geraldines, whose councils ACTS OF SIGNIFICANCE 119 and opinions were voiced from time to time in Dublin, as now one and now the other gained the predomin- ance, were held in check. A sketch of these rival factions is required to explain the political situation which ended with so much disaster to the O'Connors, and will be given in the following chapter. It will be sujfficient to add here that this was not the first or the last attempt to muzzle the Irish Houses of Parliament. In 1376 Edward III., desiring to obtain a grant of subsidies for his wars, had summoned the bishops, peers, and representatives of Ireland to a parliament in London. They attended, but under protest. The protest of the Archbishop of Armagh may be read in Leland's History of Ireland (l. 363-397): "We do not grant," it ran, " to the representatives we have elected any power of assenting to burthens or taxes to be imposed on us or our clergy." In 1460 another declaration of independence was made ; Cromwell held the next union parliament at Westminster ; and in 1 801 the parliaments were united. CHAPTER VIII. The Geraldines and Butlers. We have said that one good result of Poynings' Act was the restraint upon the perpetual feuds of these rival houses of Kildare and Ormonde. This was a boon to the law-abiding gentry and citizens of Dublin, Kilkenny, Waterford, and other towns, whose peace was disturbed by the tumults caused by these nobles and the brawls of their retainers and followers in the streets, and who, utterly indifferent for the most part to the casus belli, might well exclaim with Mercutio — *' A plague o' both your houses ! " For just as Verona was kept in perpetual ferment by the Montagues and Capulets, the towns and villages of the Pale were disturbed by these rival factions, whose battle cries Cromabo and ^«//^r^^^ resounded at every hour of the night, but were made penal offences by the new Act. A brief review of these distinguished families may not be out of place. The Butlers of Ormonde, which eventually became all powerful in Ireland, and still retains much of its former prestige, are descended from Theobald Walter, a nephew of Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was made hereditary Chief Butler to King Henry II. Theobald obtained grants of land in Kilkenny and Tipperary. One of his descendants, Edmund le Botiller, was created Earl of Carrick in 131 5, and his son, James Butler, who married a kins- woman of Edward III., was created Earl of Ormonde THE GBRALDINES AND BUTLERS 121 (Oir [Mumhan or East Munster) in 1328, and was made Lord Lieutenant the following year. In 1391 the Earl of Ormonde purchased Kilkenny Castle from the descendants of Strongbow's granddaughter Isabel, and the influence of the family was gradually extended by successful marriages in England. In Ireland, this house by degrees became omnipotent in Kilkenny and North Tipperary, where the English colonists had established many castles, towns and monasteries. But in the city of Dublin the house of Kildare, living in greater proximity to the metropolis, was naturally the stronger. The greatest representative of this family was the gallant marquis who held Ireland for King Charles II. against Cromwell, but whose army was defeated by Colonel Jones in the battle of Rathmines, then some distance outside the city walls. The peaceful citizens of that prosperous and populous township little dream of that fateful night in March 1649 when a gallant little force of 1,500 of Ormonde's troops under Captain Purcell set out in darkness to assault the city, which was in the hands of Jones, the Parliamentary general, but their plans miscarried, and, like the Highland Brigade that marched upon death at Magersfontein, were cut to pieces, and then the main body in the camp being suddenly attacked by the Dublin garrison, who had followed up their success with lightning speed, were completely routed. The Butlers were always at variance with the Geraldines ; and doubtless from a spirit of rivalry which dictated the smallest details as well as the main lines of their policy, selected opposite sides in every civM war. Around the Lancastrian standard were to 122 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE be found the Butlers, while the Geraldines were Yorkist to the backbone. And afterwards the Butlers became the staunchest supporters of the English Crown ; while the Geraldines frequently followed an opposite course, and produced some worthy rebels. The Geraldines, the rival house of Kildare, are said to have been of Florentine origin, and this connection is mentioned in the Earl of Surrey's sonnet on one of the earl's sisters, afterwards Lady Clinton, whom he greatly admired during his term of office — 1520-1522. From Tuscane came my Ladye's worthy race, Fair Florence was sometime her ancient seate, The Western Isle whose pleasant shore doth face, Wild Cambre's clififes did give her lively heate. One record that Campion saw mentioned a Geraldine, the first Earl of Kildare, in the year 1289, and another " saith there dyed a Geraldine, the fourth Earle of Kildare, in anno 1 3 16." The eldest son of the earl was called Baron of Ophalye. The same authority states that he read of a Geraldine '' Lord of Ophalye" in the year 1270. An interesting story is told of the manner in which the Leinster Fitzgeralds took for their crest an ape with a broken chain. Woodstock Castle, near Athy, went on fire, and all the inmates were saved but the infant heir, who was left behind in the flames. Suddenly to the delight of the terrified people a scream was heard on the battlements and a great ape was seen making its way along the parapet and down the sides of the wall into safety with the babe tenderly held in its mouth. This family became in the following century all powerful, reached the zenith of its glory in THE GERALDINES AND BUTLERS 123 Henry VI IPs. reign, and delighted to measure its strength with the Ormondes. Neither family could like or trust the other. A remarkable casein point was the conference between Sir James Ormonde and the great Earl of Kildare in S. Patrick's Cathedral. This Earl of Kildare had been appointed Lord Deputy by Henry VH. in 1496. He had been attainted by Poynings' Parliament and sent a prisoner to the Tower, which he left to take up the position of Governor of Ireland. It is said that he owed his promotion from his precarious position, which might have led to the block, to his own presence of mind and adroitness in the royal presence. For when accused before the king by the Archbishop of Cashel and the Bishop of Meath of having burnt down the Cathedral of Cashel, the earl admitted it. "Spare your proofs," quoth he, '' I own I did burn the church, but I thought the Archbishop was in it." When advised by the king to provide himself with good counsel, he answered : '' If I may choose I shall have the best counsel in England." And when the king enquired who that might be, he replied, " Marry, the king himself." The bishop then made many charges concluding with the words — " All Ireland, sire, cannot govern this earl." "Then," said the king: "the earl shall rule all Ireland." This story may be apocryphal, but the fact remains that the king, a wise monarch with a shrewd know- ledge of human nature, had seen the failure of the policy of governing Ireland through exclusively Eng- lish officials, and had decided to entrust the Govern- ment to the most turbulent and powerful nobleman, who might possibly be converted by the complimen 124 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE into a trusty supporter. So it fell out. For the Earl of Kildare never wavered in his allegiance to Henry VII. Another consideration which weighed with the king was that of expense. Of a saving disposition, he saw in the generous and open-handed Irishman one who would be likely to undertake the duties of Government without the emoluments of office. Returning to Ireland as governor for the king, the earl strove to carry out his compact loyally. He attacked the Irish insurgents, and defeated them in several places. He made himself strong in the land and his name feared. He became reconciled with the Archbishop of Armagh, but his conference with Sir James Ormonde was not equally successful. Invited to a personal interview to explain his conduct. Sir James marched with a large bodyguard to Dublin, where the citizens and followers of Kildare armed themselves in self-defence. S. Patrick's Cathedral, the place appointed for the interview, became rapidly filled with armed men. These soon grew impatient at the length of the conference, and the retainers of both noblemen discharged their arrows in every direc- tion, damaging the church and its ornaments, for which profanation the Mayor of Dublin was con- demned, it is said, to walk barefoot every year on Corpus Christi Day. Of this unpleasant duty the Reformation has relieved the Lord Mayors of that city. In alarm Sir James Ormonde took refuge in the Chapter House, bolting the heavy door after him. Having pacified his followers, and quelled the tumult with a few stern words, Kildare hastened after Ormonde, and entreated him to come forth. But he refused. Whereupon a piece was cut out of the door THE GERALDINES AND BUTLERS 125 by order of Kildare, so that they might clasp hands through the door. But Ormonde hesitated, and then Kildare passed his hand through, and the other clasped it. The door was then opened, and the two noble- men embraced in view of their followers. This door, which witnessed this dramatically-conceived, but hollow, compact is among the well-preserved treasures of the cathedral. Although the interview ended with a show of friendship there was little love lost between the rivals. This was demonstrated by the fact that shortly after- wards Kildare gave his daughter, Margaret, in marriage to Pierce Butler, Earl of Ormond, a rival of Sir James, who is described by Stanihurst as "a plain, simple gentleman, saving in feats of arms." But Margaret, his countess, who espoused the quarrel of the Butlers against the Geraldines, then under Earl Gerald, who had succeeded his father in 15 13 as Lord Deputy of Ireland, seems to have inherited the masterful and resourceful character of her father. Here is Stanihurst's vignette of her : " a lady of such port that all estates of the realm crouched unto her, and such a politician that nothing was thought substantially debated with- out her advice. She was tall of stature, and masculine ; very bountiful, a fast friend, a bitter enemy, seldom disliking whom once she liked, not easily liking whom once she disliked." It may have been through her influence that Pierce, Earl of Ormonde, was made Lord Deputy on the recommendation of the noble and gallant Earl of Surrey, who departed from these shores, amid universal regret, in 1521. This Pierce was called Pierce the Red, and it was with regard to his oppression that the very unceremonious message was 126 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE sent to Henry VIII. from Gillpatrick of Ossory : " Stand my lord king, my lord Gillpatrick has sent me unto thee to say that if thou dost not chastise Peter the Red he will make war upon thee." The Earl of Kildare, the father of Margaret Butler • — Henry VII's nominee — proved an excellent ally of England. During his term of office, 1496-1513, the Crown regained the authority it had lost, and the Pale was secured against the encroachments of the tribes. But Kildare was not content with merely re- building the fenced cities and border castles of the colony, he carried his arms into Connaught in order to check the turbulence of Ulick Bourke, Lord Clanrickarde, who also rejoiced in the name of McVVilliam. Supported by his northern allies, O'Neill and O'Donnell, and the trained bands of Dublin and the Pale, Kildare met the forces of Connaught and the clans of Munster, including the O'Carrolls of Ely, at Knocktuadh (Knocktow), near Galway city, and dis- persed them with great slaughter, entering the city on the following day. In the battle of Knocktuadh, fought in the same picturesque district of Connemara, to which the descendants of Conmac, son of the famous Queen Maev, have given their name, and which had witnessed the half mythical battle of Moytura, between the Firbolgs and the Tuatha De Danann, Nugent, lord of Delvin, behaved with gallantry. Kildare's forces were inferior in numbers, and many of his officers advised a retreat. Upon this Nugent spurred his horse forward against the Irish, and hurled a spear with such dexterity that it struck one of the Burkes, and then rode back to his own troop, which immedia- tely charged the enemy. It is urged by Sir John THE GERALDINES AND BUTLERS 127 Davis against Kildare that " his journey was not made by warrant of the king, or upon his charge, but only on a private quarrel of the Earl of Kildare/' Private animosity lay at the bottom of the whole matter. The Lord Deputy's sister, Lady Eleanora Fitzgerald, had married Henry O'Neill, and their son, Turlough, had a quarrel with another O'Neill. The Lord Deputy invaded Ulster to support his nephew^ while Ulick Burke, Lord Clanrickarde, who had a private grudge against the Deputy, took the opportu- nity of gathering the western clans against him. The result, however, was good for the English power^ for it showed the Irish '' rebels " and " enemies " that the days of English decadence were ended, and that the King's Deputy was not only prepared to take the offensive, but likely to prove dangerous ; and it crushed for a time the power of the O'Briens of Thomond, who had been a veritable thorn in the side of the English, from the days (1369) when Murragh- en-Ranagh, or Morris of the Fern, collected his law- less bands in the wilds of Clare, so called from the c/ar or wooden bridge across the Fergus river, and sweeping over the hills, destroyed Killaloe, Buttevant, Inchiquin and other towns, and demonstrated the truth of the Welsh historian's words — " When the Irish are bad, you can no where meet with worse ; but if they be good, you can scarcely find better." By Poynings' Act of 1494 an attempt was made to silence for ever the voice of Anglo-Irish independence ; by the battle of Knocktow in 1497 the Irish septs received a salutary lesson. CHAPTER IX. Silken Thomas and The O'Connors. We are now drawing near to one of the most in- teresting, but, from the Irish standpoint, one of the most disastrous campaigns in the history of the Dukes of Leinster and of the O'Connor clan, which culminated in the foolish and fatal rebellion of Silken Thomas, In 15 1 3 Henry II's Deputy, the Earl of Kildare, during a campaign against the O'Carrolls of Ely, which will be noticed in the chapter on that clan, and was succeeded by his son, Gerald, one of the most brilliant and most unfortunate of the Geraldines. At the very beginning of his office he was attacked by Wolsey, who had been made Chancellor in 15 15, and hated the Geraldines. In consequence of Wolsey's representations, the earl was summoned to London in 1 5 19 to answer the charge of assuming sovereign power in the land. But his wit, presence, and courage carried him out of his difficulties. He replied to Wolsey's accusations before Henry VIII. in the same manner as his father had defended himself in the presence of Henry VII. "Would, my lord," he said, " that you and I had changed kingdoms but for one month. I could .gather more crumbs in that little space than twice the revenues of my poor earldom. Upbraid me not with such an odious storm. I slumber in a hard cabin ; you sleep softly on a bed of down. I serve under the cope of heaven, you are served under a gorgeous canopy. I drink water out of a SILKEN THOMAS AND THE O'CONNORS 129 skull ; you drink wine out of a golden cup. My courser i ; trained to the field, your jennet is taught to amble. You are begraced, belorded, crouched and knelt to, but I find small grace with our Irish borderers except I cut them by the knee.'' The case looked black against the earl. He had, indeed, made common cause with the '' Irish enemies " in many a conflict, and was more popular with the Irish chieftains than his rival, the Earl of Ormonde. But his personal popularity had won him many friends at the English Court, where he married the Lady Elizabeth Grey, a daughter of the house of Dorset and he was finally acquitted, and attended Henry at "the Field of the Cloth of Gold," (1520), where his splendour and extravagance were conspicuous. The Earl of Surrey, who had been Lord Deputy, resigned in 1522, and in 1523 Kildare returned to Ireland to find a strong party against him, and many of his castles destroyed by the Earl of Ormonde, who was now ordered to resign office in favour of his rival. But Kildare did not enjoy his ascendency long. He was ordered to arrest one of his friends, Desmond, who was carrying on an intrigue with Francis I. of France, the enemy of Henry VIII. ever since that un- fortunate wrestling bout at the Field of the Cloth of Gold ; but he did not do so. Summoned to London to explain, he was cast into the Tower from which the good offices of his friends at last set him free. He returned to Ireland with Sir William Skeffington (1530) and succeeded him as Lord Deputy in 1532. But his fortunes were materially affected by two alliances which he had previously made. He gave his daughters in marriage to two I I30 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Irish chieftains, Fearganainm(the man without a name) O'Connor of Offaly and Bryan O'Carroll of Ely, in order to strengthen his position against the powerful house of Ormonde and to win popularity among the Irish "enemies." But the consequences of these alliances proved fatal to the earl. For owing to his enforced absence in England the O'Connor had risen in revolt and treacherously seized the person of Richard Nugent, Lord Devlin, who was Lord Deputy at the time (i 526-1 528), and thrown him into prison. Con- cerning this outrage Sir Piers Butler, who had by order of Henry VIII. resigned his title, Earl of Ormonde, in favour of Sir Thomas Boleyn, and taken that of Earl of Ossory, wrote a virtuous letter saying — " After the taking of the Baron of Delvin treacherously by the Earl of Kildare's son-in-law O'Connor, all the Irish determined to have joined in aid with the said O'Connor for the destruction of your English Pale through the practice of the said Earl of Kildare." He also adds — '' Kildare's object at this time is to compel the Irish to combine and confederate with him, having no regard to the King's Deputy. He would make all the land believe that the Deputy is sent only to be his instrument " — words which w^ere calculated to rouse the ire of a monarch whose policy might be summed up in the w^ords of another potentate, Letat cest vioi. In 1 525, Kildare had written an equally self-righteous letter concerning the misdemeanours of the Earl of Ormonde, which is preserved in the Carew manuscripts. In it he stated that " all the churches for the most part, within the counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary, are in such extreme decay by provision, that no divine service is kept there, and it shall be w^ell proved that SILKEN THOMAS AND THE O'CONNORS 131 few or none laboureth to the apostle of any benefice there without the consent of the said earl or my lady his wife, by whom he is only ruled, which are the maintainers of all such provisions, in so much as they lately maintained certain provisos against the said earl's son, being the Archbishop of Cashel, contrary to the king's letters directed in the favour of the said archbishop. If the king do not provide a remedy there will be no more Christianitie than in the middle of Turkey." Sir Piers had thus his revenge upon his brother-in- law for the criticism passed upon himself and his countess, whom Campion described as " a rare woman, and able for wisdome to govern a whole realme had not her stomacke (pride) overruled herself" He also made capital for himself out of his rival's connexions with the O'Connors and O'Carrolls — connexions which show the importance and prestige of those septs. His wife, to whom Kildare referred, was a singularly able person, and assisted her husband during his term of office as Lord Justice, to which he had been elected by the King's Council in S. Mary's Abbey in Diuelin (Dublin), who were overawed by his army of Irishmen, " having captaine over them O'Connor, O'More, and O'Carroll" (1528). Stanihurst, whose vignette of her has been elsewhere cited, states that she was '• the only meane at those dayes whereby her husband's country was reclaimed from the sluttish and unclean Irish custom to the English habite, bedding and house- keeping." Another event which hastened the ruin of Kildare was, strange to say, the fall of Wolsey, his enemy, whose proceedings as Lord Chancellor against Kildare 132 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE for conniving at the evil deeds of his cousin of Desmond are recorded in Campion's History (pp. 164- 171). The fall of his great foe in 1529 not only freed the chief of the Geraldines from uneasy apprehensions but also from a wholesome restraint. Kildare seems to have let himself ''go," as the phrase is, after Wolsey's disgrace ; for, when sent over to quell the rising of the O'Connors, who had, in the meantime, seized the Deputy, the Baron of Delvin, he seized the opportunity of revenging himself on the Earl of Ossory and the Butlers for all the evil they had wrought him. Of a turbulent and ungovernable temper, which was the common characteristic of the men of his age, Kildare had many qualities which endeared him to the Irish. For he was, like his father, " not forgetful of benefits, and not unmindful of injuries." A story, which is given by Ware in his Aimals, reveals the quality of his temper. The earl had been wounded by a shot from the castle of Birr, which he was besieging, and as he lay groaning in his pam, a common soldier standing near him said : " My lord, why do you sigh so ? I myself was thrice shot with bullets, and yet am whole," to which the earl re- plied : " I wish you had received the fourth in my stead." It was, probably, the same Earl of Kildare who drew a skean, or Irish dagger, upon the Bishop of Kildare, in the presence of more than 3(X) persons, in the hall of the house of Connall. (Carew MS. 1. 151.) Having the reins of government in his hands, he simply exercised his power to advance his own family and friends, and to overthrow his enemies. He raided and harried the lands of Ormonde in a merciless SILKEN THOMAS AND THE O'CONNORS 133 manner. Followed by an armed rabble — which cir- cumstance gave some foundation for the Earl of Sussex's statement to Queen Elizabeth in 1560 — " On the faction of the Geraldines depend all the evil- disposed men in the realm" — he wreaked his ven- geance here and there, and conducted himself in a manner which would seem outrageous to anyone pos- sessed of statecraft. But Kildare was no statesman. And his recklessness spelt ruin for himself and his house. For he gave his foes the very handle they wanted against him. The result was that charges of treason and misgovernment were made against the earl by the council which gave a sad picture of the Pale and its sufferings in a document it presented to the Master of the Rolls in 1533 — a very damning docu- ment against the Earl of Kildare, the Lord Deputy. Among the things complained of by the council were — (i) that neither English "order, tongue, or habit" was used, nor the king's laws obeyed above twenty miles in compass ; (2) the taking of coyne and livery and other extortions; (3) that owing to default of English inhabitants Irish tenants were being ad- mitted ; (4) that the English lords and gentlemen, instead of keeping English yeomen, employ horse- men and knaves who live upon the king's subjects, and that they keep no hospitality, but lire upon the poor ; (5) the liberties of the temporal lords ; (6) the black rents and tributes levied by the Irish upon the king's subjects ; (7) that " when the Deputies go upon the Irishmen by the aid of the king's subjects for re- dress of their nightly and daily robberies, they keep all they get to their own use, and restore nothing to the poor people " ; (8) the frequent change of 134 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Deputies ; (9) the negligent keeping of king's records, and appointment of unlearned and incompetent clerks to the offices of the Four Courts ; and (10) the loss of the king's revenues, customs, and manors. This State Paper, signed by two archbishops, the Bishop of Meath, the Prior of Kilmainham, the Abbots of St, Thomas's, St. Mary's, and Louth, and three judges, reveals an unfortunate state of affairs in the Pale, for which Kildare was at once taken to task. He was summoned for the fourth time to England to answer these charges, but was reluctant to go. But before he went he committed two more grievous faults, which hastened his own downfall. He removed out of Dublin Castle all the king's arms, artillery, and muni- tions of war for the fortification and furnishing of his own castles, in case his enemies should attack them in his absence ; and he appointed his son, Lord Thomas, a vain youth, called Silken Thomas, to act as his vice-deputy. On his arrival in London the earl was cast into prison, and, with the express design of forcing the hands of the Geraldines, the cruel report was spread by a letter, which reached the hands of Silken Thomas, that Kildare had been executed, and that a similar fate was in store for his uncles. Driven to desperation by this cunningly-devised document, Silken Thomas resolved to cast off his allegiance, and to join the O'Connors and O'Neills, who were in revolt. But instead of seizing the castle and the city, when his foes were unprepared, he de- vised a theatrical exodus from his office, which gave them the necessary time. Galloping into the city, at the head of a large troop, he rode to S. Mary's Abbey, where the Council was sitting, and, bursting into the SILKEN THOMAS AND THE O'CONNORS 135 chamber with his followers, he advanced to the foot of the dais, and proceeded to renounce his allegiance to the king. Archbishop Cromer, his father's friend made a strong but futile remonstrance and appeal in the English language, which the Geraldine's followers did not understand. But while Lord Thomas stood irresolute, his Irish bard broke into a song of praise of the silken lord in the Irish language, which completely turned his foolish head, and, in his excitement, the boy seized the sword of state and hurled it to the ground, and strode out of the Council Chamber amid the martial strains of his bard's song and shouts of '' Cromaboo." The rubicon was crossed in accord- ance with the Latin saying, " Quem Deus vult perdere dementat" (1534). Among the staunchest of the Geraldine's allies at this time were the O'Connors of Offaly with whom he was related. They also suffered in his subsequent disasters. As this is not a history of the House of Leinster, we may hurrry over these ill-advised and wanton deeds of the young lord, described by the F'our Masters in glowing language, and his plunder of Fin- gal, on which the city of Dublin, then ravaged by a pestilence, depended for corn ; his seizure of the children who had been removed to the country for safety by their anxious parents ; his futile assaults on the city which were repulsed with loss by the trained bands and valiant citizens, who took courage when they perceived that the arrows of the enemy were headless, and seized his cannon and dispersed his Irish gallowglasses ; and his barbarous arrest and murder of Allen, the Archbishop of Dublin, who was escaping to England in a vessel which unfortunately was stranded 136 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE near Howth, and the unhappy prelate kneeling before the young lord and pleading for mercy was '' brained like an ox." For the execrable deed he and his accomplices, John Telynge and Nicholas Wafer, who took the archbishop prisoner and brought him to Artayne, and John Fitzgerald, Oliver Fitzgerald, James Delahide, Edward Rorke and " divers others evil- disposed persons who most shamefully, tyrannously and cruelly murdered and put to death the said arch- bishop, were duly excommunicated, accursed and anathematized." *' The place," writes Campion, '' is ever since hedged in, overgrown and unfrequented in detestation of the deed." Forces at last arrived from England under the com- mand of Sir William Skeffington, whom the Irish called '-'the Gunner," and Sir William Brereton. And Lord Thomas having in vain sought the assistance of Piers Butler, the Earl of Ossory, with whom he offered to divide the dominion of Ireland, but who stiffly replied — " If my country were laid waste, my castles won and prostrated, and myself an exile, yet still would I persevere in my duty to my king " — placed a strong garrison in his castle at Maynooth, which he deemed impregnable, and betook himself with the majority of his followers to the bogs and woods of Offaly. Then he moved from place to place, gather- ing followers and placing garrisons in his castles at Rathangan, Leix, Carlow and Athy, while Skeffington. the Deputy, lay ill in Dublin. But in March the following year, 1535, Sir William Brereton assumed the command, and marched with a well-equipped army and a siege train of artillery to attack the castle of Maynooth. After a siege of some twelve days a SILKEN THOMAS AND THE O'CONNORS 137 breach was made in the walls, and the governor, Christopher Paris, who is said to have earned the re- ward of Judas, ended the matter by betraying the castle into the hands of the English, who carried it by assault with but slight resistance. The news of the fall of the fortress and the noise of the English cannon caused Kildare's half-armed kerne and gallowglasses to disperse in all directions in a general saiwe qui ;peut. Silken Thomas, who found a refuge with the O'Connors of Offaly, the O'Moores and O'Briens, having failed in his attempt to procure aid from France, Spain, or the Pope, was finally induced by Sir Leonard Grey to surrender himself under promise of the king's pardon, and was sent to the Tower, where his father had died a few years before of grief and shame for the madness of his son. Here he was soon afterwards joined by his five uncles who had been invited to a banquet by the Lord Deputy, and were arrested by his orders and conveyed to the Tower. For the king's wish was to destroy the obnoxious race root and branch, and his promise of forgiveness was but a pretence. For within twelve months the uncles and their ill-advised nephew paid the penalty for belonging to a house which had grown so dangerous in the eyes of the English monarchs, being executed at Tyburn. The king's hope of annihilation was, however, dis- appointed. For two sons of Gerald, Earl of Kildare, by his second wife, the Lady Elizabeth Grey, escaped his vengeance. The elder of these, Gerald, was brought by Thomas Leverous, afterwards Bishop of Kildare, to Lady Mary O'Connor, who protected him for a time in the wilds of Offaly from the dangers that 138 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE threatened him. He was then sent to the French Court by his aunt, who discovered that her husband, O'Donnell of Tyrconnell, was about to betray him to the EngHsh Govermnment, and finally found a refuge with his relation, Cardinal Pole, at Rome. In his period of exile his life was on one occasion provi- dentially preserved for the restoration of his family. Hunting in Italy, his horse fell into a chasm and was killed. The boy's fall was broken by some branches on the side of the precipice, to which he had clung for some hours, until he was rescued from his perilous position by some travellers, who had been attracted to the place by the barking of the young earl's dog. After Henry VIII.'s death he returned to England, and was kindly received by Edward VI., who gave him some of his family honours. Eventually he re- turned to Ireland in Mary's reign, and was put into possession of his father's estates, but he was re- garded by Elizabeth as the most dangerous person in Ireland. During the period of his exile the Butlers had taken an ample revenge. The lands of Kildare were plundered and harried. The peasantry suffered greatly, and their loyalty to their ancient lords, the Geraldines, was intensified by the cruelty of the Butlers. Cowley, writing to Cromwell in 1538, said: " I assure your lordship that this English Pale, except the towns and some few of the possessioners, be so affectionate to the Geraldines, that for kindred, marriage, fostering, and adhering as followers, they covet more to see a Geraldine to reign and triumph than to see God come among them ; and if they might see this young Girol's banner displayed — if they SILKEN THOMAS AND THE O'CONNORS 139 should lose half their substance, they would rejoice more at the same, than otherwise to gain great good. The siege of the great castle of Maynooth, which ended in so much disaster to the Geraldines, is fully described in the Deputy's report of the 26th March, 1535, to be found in the Carew MSS., vol. I., p. 65. As Maynooth was the first feudal castle in Ireland which was besieged in regular form, and battered by cannon, the report of the siege and capture may prove interesting : — " On 14th March I, your Deputy, with your army^ besieged the castle of Maynooth, which Thomas Fitzgerald so strongly fortified with men and ordnance, ' as the like hath not been seen in Ireland since any of your most noble progenitors had first dominion in the land.' Within the same were about 100 able men, of whom more than sixty were gunners. On the i6th ' your ordnance was sent to the north-west side of the dungeon^ of the same castle, which did batter the top thereof on that wise, as their ordnance within that part was dampned.' Then your ordnance was bent upon the north side of the base court of the castle, ' at the north-east end whereof there was now made a very strong and fast bulwark, well garnished with men and ordnance; which the i8th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd days of the said month did beat the same by night and day on that wise, that a great battery and a large entrance was made there.' On the 23rd being Tuesday next before Easter Day, a galiard assault was given, and the base court entered. About sixty of the ward of the castle were slain, and of your Donjon or keep. 140 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE army only John Griffin, yeoman of your guard, and six others. We next assaulted the great castle, which yielded, wherein was the Dean of Kildare, Christopher Paris, captain of the garrison ; Donagh O'Dogan, master of the ordnance; Sir Simon Walshe, priest ; and Nicholas Wafer which took the Archbishop of Dublin, with divers other gunners and archers to the number of 37." Christopher Paris was the governor who betrayed the castle ; and it is remarkable that he with the other thirty-six prisoners whose lives were preserved by appointment until they should be presented to the Deputy and then to be dealt with according as the Deputy and council thought fit were, as the Deputy grimly writes, " put to execution as an example to others." The Deputy showed the spirit of English "fair play all round," by not excepting the traitor from the doom he had planned for the betrayed. Henceforth the English guns were masters of the situa- tion. The Gallowglasses (Galloglach), or foreign mer- cenaries, principally Scotch, steel-capped, mail-coated, and armed with heavy axe and two-handed sword, and the fighting clansmen or kerne, half-naked and equipped with javelins, light axes and skians, who often proved more than a match for the trained troops of the Pale, could now be mowed down with the same ease, if not rapidity, as the Arab hordes and Zulu impis of modern times by British fire. Under the old system of warfare the great feudal piles might bid defiance to any assaulting party ; but now the ammu- nition— almost an English monopoly — had changed the aspect of affairs, and supplied the English settlers with a substitute for the bow, with which SILKEN THOMAS AND THE O'CONNORS 141 they had, in spite of many statutes, ceased to practise. Although the Irish were not able to obtain artillery, they altered their mode of fighting in order to cope with the English on more equal terms. An interest- ing picture-plan of the battle of Bel-an-Atha-buidhe, preserved in the library of Trinity College, represents the infantry of O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, as harque- busiers supported by masses of pikemen. Thegallow- glasses have disappeared, and the cavalry are armed precisely as the English. The latter, however, were supported by artillery of which the Irish had none. Occasionally the Irish were able to take the ord- nance of the English. There is a ford in the King's County, called Bel-atha-nabh-Fabcun, the ford mouth of the Fabcun, from a battle fought there between the sons of Moalroona O'Carroll, and the sons of John O'Carroll, who were supported by the Earl of Ormond (1532), in which the sons of Maolroona were victorious and took from their opponents a piece of ordnance called Fabcun. CHAPTER X. The Plantation of Offaly and Leix. The capture of Maynooth caused consternation among the O'Connors and other Irish adherents of the Geraldines. But with their ready wit they speedily found a way out of their difficulty. It was time that they needed ; time for them to recover themselves ; time for the English Deputy, Lord Leonard Grey, to lose the advantage gained by Skeffington. Accord- ingly, they made temporary submissions. On January 20, 1536, O'Connor, the most important of the midland chiefs, tendered his submission, engaging on his part to allow the Deputy and his army to pass through his dominion without hindrance from him or his clansmen, and even to make proper roads for their passage.^ O' Byrne of Wicklow followed suit. And thus the Deputy was enabled to move at once against the Desmonds of Munster. But while he was engaged in taking the castle of Loughgyr, " a stronghold in no less reputation in those parts than Maynooth in the North parts," and taming the pride of the O'Briens by capturing the castle of Carrick-OGunnel and des- troying the splendid bridge ^ across the Shannon called O'Brien's bridge, with a castle of hewn marble at each end, the O'Connors were busily engaged in repairing their losses and collecting their forces. They vv'ere encouraged by the mutiny which arose among the Deputy's troops on account of bad pay. 1 Carew MSS. Vol. L, p. 86. 2 An interesting account of the capture of this bridge is given in the Carew MSS., I., 88. PLANTATION OF OFFALY AND LEIX 143 But Lord Leonard Grey, one of the most vigorous of the English Deputies, was undaunted by troubles without and fears within. And as Chancellor Alen wrote to Cromwell in his letter of the 12th July^ 1537 — " My lord deputy proceeded on his journey into O'Chonour's country the Tuesday after Trinity Sunday^ entering into the same on the west side, betwixt O'Mulmoy, McGoghegan's andO'Molaglyn's countries, neighbours and aiders of the said O'Connors, on which side of his country any host hath not passed with carts heretofore, by reason of the dangerous way, being all woods and marshes." His objective was the castles of the O'Connor, who was not only abandoned by his neighbours, the O'Mulloys, McGeoghegans, O'Melaghlins and O'Moores, but was also betrayed by his own brother, Cathal Roe. The Four Master's sum up the disastrous results of the campaign in the words — " O'Conor Faily, that is Bryan the son of Cahir, was expelled from his territory, and after many of his people had been slain, all his castles were taken and demolished by the Saxon Lord Justice, that is Lord Leonard, and it was through the conspiracy and at the instigation of O'Connor s own bivther^ Cathal Roe, these acts were perpetrated^ This Irish chieftain, like another Judas, led the English forces against the castle ofBragnot, "wherein there was left a good ward, well victualled, well ord- nanced, and well manned, environed strongly with wood and moor." But the ill-fated garrison could make but feeble resistance, as Cathal had a confederate behind the walls whose treachery placed the defenders at the mercy of the assailants. The fortress was seized 144 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE and the garrison secured, all but Cathal's man being led out for immediate execution. Alen, who seems to know nothing of their betrayal, states — '* his lordship achieved the same, heading all the ward, all save three, which were preserved to show his lordship the ways of another castle of the said O'Connors, that in the Irish tongue he named the castle of Dengin, that is, in English, the castle of most assurance." The writer proceeds to give an account of the natural defences of this " castle of most assurance," which had become a " doubting castle " for its gallant defenders. The approach to it was by a broken-down causeway, laid down over an impassible moor. To this fortress of " Daingean " — a name cognate with the English donjon — the traitor led the forces of the Deputy. The erection of this old castle is recorded by the Four Masters as having taken place in 1 546. But they were evidently alluding to a later fortress, built by Sir William Brabazon some years after the events to which we are referring, when the head- quarters of the O'Connors consisted of a huge circular mound in the midst of a marsh and almost surrounded by the bog of Allen ; and to make approach more difficult, artificial obstructions had been carefully placed in the only accessible places. But Cahir's knowledge again proved of untold advantage to the English, and the military were led over the quaking bog and sinking morass up to the very vallum of Dangan. Alen informed Cromwell that the Deputy had fag- gots made for the repair of the causeway, which had been broken down, and for the filling up of the great double ditches, " so strong and so large as have not been seen in this land heretofore." The English PLANTATION OF OFFALY AND LEIX 145 troops engaged in this work were protected by two companies, one under Martin Pellis and the other under Mr. Seintlowe's captain. But the garrison made a successful assault and killed several of their foes, wounding Seintlowe's captain ; but the other captains succeeded in entering their fortress on their very heels. Brian fled, but his brother was rewarded for his noble services by being made Lord of Offaly by the English Governor. The present town of Philipstown was built on the site of Dangan, which changed its name in the reign of Mary, and the trembling of the houses, when a heavy vehicle rumbles through the streets, reminds one that the town is built on a bog, which recalls the doings of Cathal Roe and Martin Pellis. In connection with the taking of Dangan, it is interesting to read that the English lost their only one piece of ordnance, and at once sent a message to the Governor beseeching him " to be a mean to the King's highness that there may be another sent thither with speed, or his Grace's Deputy can't prevail against Irish- men which have garrisons." This speaks rather well for the valour of the Irish. The brave Brian was not, however, discomfited by the loss of his title and possessions, and he had the apparent audacity to venture into the Pale and demand the restoration of his rights. But his cool request was not granted, while his brother Cahir was created Baron of Offaly and made tenant of the Crown. Exasperated by his bad luck, Brian once more had recourse to arms, and getting assistance from his friends in Connaught he marched into his own lands and de- feated his brother, who was taken unprepared and K 146 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE drove him out of the country. The English court were greatly vexed at this upset to their plans. A very strongly-worded letter was written by Lord Chancellor Cromwell, Wolsey's friend, to Lord Grey urging him " eftsoons to handle the matter of O'Connor's with such dexterity as he may be hanged as a terrible example to all Irish traitors." The writer went on to say — " The expulsion of him was taken very well, but the permission of him to have such a scope to work mischief at his pleasure, no doubt he must needs be remaining in despair of restitution, was neither wisdom nor good precedent. Redub it, my lord, in the just punishment of his traitorous carcass. And let his treason be a warning to you and to all who have to do for the King's Majesty there never to trust a traitor after, but to use them without treaty after their demerits." This was sound advice, and it would have been well for the English governor had he acted upon it. But the O'Connors were as cunning as they were warlike. After successfully harassing the invaders' flanks, they returned without the guidance of Cahir through the wild tracks and dense forests of country which was utterly unknown to them, but every inch of which was known to him. The wily Bryan took advantage of the heavy rains, when the Deputy was practically powerless, to put in a plea for immunity, and was granted a safe conduct to Dublin. Of this permission Bryan took advantage in order to obtain an interview with his brother Cahir, and became duly reconciled to him, and together with him laid deep plots for the recovery of their dominions. But their funds were well-nigh exhausted, and they had little means of carrying on the war with any hope of success, and PLANTATION OF OFFALY AND LEIX 147 were at last reduced to make overtures to the much- exasperated but too confiding Deputy Lord Grey. The meeting took place at the ford of Kinnegad, the English forces drawn up on the north side of the stream, and the clansmen, full of fight and courage, lining the southern bank, the boundary of the dominion of Offaly, for which they were ready to die at a moment's notice. The result of the interview was eminently satisfac- tory, according to Lord Grey's version, the said Bryan greeting him '' with humble reverence, submitting to the King's highness, confessing his offences, and did utterly refuse (resign) all his title in Offaly, and in all black rents and fees that can be had of the King's subjects." In a word, Bryan promised to be a good and quiet boy again, and with all due reverence to farm the land as a tenant of the Crown, promising to give pay out of every ploughed land " three shillings and four pence, Irish, by the year," and was pardoned and reinstated. Cahir, who had received the land from the king as his tenant, naturally, even though a traitor himself, resented this worse than " punic faith," and withdrawing his forces retired to a strongly-fortified house. But Bryan now proved the traitor. With evident satisfaction, he led the English on the trail of his brother, and at last ran him to earth in one of his strongholds. It is said that the place was so closely besieged that the refractory Cahir with dif^culty escaped, and only in his shirt. But the fugitive, see- ing the folly of further fighting, gave in with a good grace, and was received with favour again by Lord Grey, who thus missed the oppor- tunity of making the O'Connors -'terrible examples 148 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE to all Irish traitors," as the king's highness desired. The Deput}^, however, had his hands full. The power of the O'Neill was threatening in the north, but was crushed by him at Belahoe (1539), and Ireland was quiet for a year. But no sooner had Lord Grey left the country than the O'Connors broke out afresh (1540), and captured and destroyed Castle Jordan, in Meath, on the borders of the Pale. A hosting is made against them, and there is a nominal peace for some years, during which the conciliatory St. Leger, the Deputy, sought to come to terms with the native Irish. A remarkable sight was witnessed when all the Anglo- Irish nobles and the Irish chiefs, including the O'Dempseys, O'Dunnes, O'Moores, O'Molloys, with the O'Byrnes, O'Carroll's and O'Connors made their submission to the Deputy (1540). This was the fourth general submission of the Irish. The others had been made to Henry II., John, and Richard II., respectively. In their indentures of submission, the Irish lords, O'Neill, O'Donnell, Rory O'Moore and others, agreed to recognise the king as the supreme head of the Church of England and Ireland, and as their liege lord and king, at the same time renouncing the authority of the Roman pontiff. And in St. Leger's parliament at Dublin the English lords and Irish chiefs sat side by side, accepted and confirmed the Act of Supremacy, and passed a bill conferring on Henry the title of King of Ireland (1541). It was a gala day for Dublin. The city was en fete, bonfires were lit, and salutes fired. Wine flowed freely, and prisoners were set at liberty. In their temporary exhilaration, the Irish chieftains threw down their caps, skeins and PLANTATION OF OFFALY AND LEIX 149 girdles in acknowledgment of King Henry. O'Neill, O'Brien and McWilliam went to England to the king who advanced them to the degree of earls and granted them several counties by Letters Patent. But the Brehon Laws prevailed over nearly all the land. Connaught, Ulster and Munster had not been yet re- duced to shireland, and though Munster was divided into counties, no justice of assize dare execute his commission in them. The Irish chieftains seem, however, to show a sur- prising docility and loyalty. In 1546 the Earls of Tyrone, Desmond and Thomond, with the O'Carroll, O'Connor, O'MuUoy and Fitzpatrick, sent a Latin letter to the king congratulating him on the peaceful state of the country ; stating that no man in Ireland, were he as old as Nestor, has seen the country in a more peaceable condition, and promising to strive to " answer to right and law as exactly as the others who from their cradles and earliest infancy have been well educated in the same." ^ But we find the O'Connors disturbing that peace, which seems to have been like that which precedes the storm, by raiding Kildare, Clane and Carbury with the O' Kelly s, whose lands, then called Caellen, are now included in the county of Kildare. In retaliation the English invaded Offaly. Thereupon Bryan, with the O' Moore's of Leix, burnt down the town and monastery of Athy (Ath-brodain — the bloody ford), which was then one of the keys of the marches of Kildare. The Lord Justice then proclaimed the O'Connors traitors, and sent letters to their allies to leave them and be pardoned. This they did, and ^ State Papers, Ireland. Vol II,, 3, 562. I50 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE O'Connor, left alone, fled to Connaught, where he was attacked and deprived of a great quantity of his sup- plies by some of the Irish who were friendly to the English. In the meantime, Sir William Brabazon had overrun all Offaly, and erected a castle at Dangan, the name of which was afterwards changed to Philips- town, in honour of Queen Mary's consort. While the English Lord Justice was securing his country, Bryan O'Connor was trying to levy forces to attack him. And feeling himself sufficiently strong to do this, the next year he crossed the Shannon with his clans, but on his march to Leinster they melted away, evidently alarmed by the fact that none of their ancient allies had rallied to the banner of the O'Connors. Bryan was, therefore forced to submit. And this time he had no mild Lord Grey to deal with, but a resolute and determined man who brought him to England " at the mercy of the king." It was Sir Edward Bellingham who accom- plished this feat, with 600 horse and 400 foot, and who, according to Sir John Davis, was " the first Deputy who, from the time of Edward III. to Edward VI. extended the borders of the English Pale by beating and breaking the O'Moores and O'Connors and by building the forts of Offaly and Leix." The Book of Howth gives him the following good character : — " After him Sir Edward Bellinghame, a good man, a very good payer of all men, and never took anything but that he paid for ; and in his time Afale (Offaly) and Lexe was won and a strong fort was built in every of them ; and after being sent for into England there died. This man had cesses worse than Selingere; but for his own horses wholly was kept in his own stables, and paid for all he took and was a true-dealing PLANTATION OF OFFALY AND LEIX 151 man. He could not have bide the cry of the poor. He never in his time took anything of any man, but that he truly paid for ; he wore ever his harness, and so did all those who he liked for." Of his military capacity, his enemy, Alen, writes — " My Lord Deputy is the best man of war that ever I saw n Ireland, having since his coming hither, done more service to the king than was done — after the repressing of the Geraldines — in all the king's father's lifetime, notwith- standing all his charges." It was no disgrace to the O'Connor to be subdued by this honest and brusque officer, who is reported to have said to the man he committed to prison — " Content thyself, for I will do no worse to thee than I will do to the best of the Council, if he displease me." It would have been well for Ireland if his officers and the Irish Council had carried out the plan of winning the Irish '' by sober ways, politic drifts, and amiable persuasions of law and reason," but feeling their impotence, while without a police force, to grasp with the situation, they were compelled to have recourse to sterner measures of plantation. Accordingly English settlers were planted in Leix and Offaly, from which the tribes were driven, and two forts, one called ''The Governor" in Faly, ond the other "the Protector " in Leix, were built to defend the settlers, among whom were the Barringtons, Cosbies, Breretons, Pigotts, Browns, Hovendens. In the instructions given to Sir A. St. Leger, Lord Deputy 1550, and to Sir James Croft, Lord Justice 1557, the following passage occurs which throws light upon the situation : " As the Counties of Offalye and Leix, lately called O'Connor's Country and O'Moore's Country, are now 152 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE in good towardness to be wholly in our hands and possession, and yet not in perfection, the Deputy and Council are to take order for the full and ample pos- session of the same countries and also for the surveying thereof, and to let this to farm or otherwise for terms of 21 years, allowing the farmers one or two years rent free." To this there is an allusion in the words of the historian regarding the Bellinghams, to wit, that they built '' two large courts " at Maryboro' and Philipstown, and " began to let these lands for rent as if they were their rightful inheritance." But during the whole of Edward's reign the fighting continued, the Irish shooting down the settlers, and the settlers shooting down the Irish. But in Mary's reign the O'Connor and his ally the O' Moore, who had in the meantime failed to secure favourable terms from the English Court, were set free. The former firebrand was released at the entreaty of his daughter, Margaret. This young lady, whose natural charms were enhanced by all the accomplishments of the age in which she lived, courageously faced the perils of a voyage across the Channel and a journey through England to the Court of Queen Mary, who, in con- sideration of her connection with the great English family of Kildare and her religion, admitted her to an interview. The heroic daughter pleaded her father's cause with such eloquence that Mary, very unwisely — from the English point of view — allowed Bryan to return to his native land (i553)- The inevitable consequence of O'Connor's return was that the country was in a blaze again, and on this occasion the O'Maddens, the O'Moores, the O'Molloys, and the O'Carrolls assisted the O'Connors PLANTATION OF OFFALY AND LEIX 153 in carrying fire and sword through Offaly and the neighbouring districts. All the hostile septs rose like one man, and directed their operations principally against the Irish who were loyal to England, and the English settlers in Offaly, which was now to be made shireland. Instead of granting the O'Connors better terms than her predecessors, Queen Mary pursued their policy. In fact while Lord L. Grey and St. Leger had felt that the O'Connors had been treated with great harshness, doubtless owing to their connection with the Geraldines, and had sought to give them better terms, the Government of Mary was responsible for the complete extermination and plantation of the King's and Queen's Counties, and the districts of Offaly, Fercall, Ely and Leix, which were created shireland by the Act of the third and fourth Philip and Mary. In the first Act — the cruellest Act of Confiscation ever placed on the Statute Book — the Lord Deputy was authorized to grant to all their Majesties' subjects, English or Irish^ estates in fee- simple " in the countries of Leix, Slewmarge, Offallie, Irrie and Glenmalire, which belong of right to the King and Queen's most excellent Majesties, of late wholly possessed by the Moores, the Connors, the Dempseys and other rebels, and now by the in- dustrious travaile of the Earl of Sussex, brought again into the possession of their Majesties." By the second Act these countries were created shires being entitled Queen's County and King's County, with Philipstown and Maryborough as their chief towns. Sheriffs and other officers were appointed to complete the work. And in 1556 a system of colonization was 154 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE introduced into the district of Leix, which was divided between the new EngHsh settlers, i6o in number, and the Irish natives. All the country beyond the bog was allocated to the Moores. The head of each sept was made responsible for the conduct of his followers, who were to obey the laws of the realm, while the English settlers were ordered to keep open the fords and destroy their fastnesses, and to cause their children to learn English, to abandon Irish customs and fos- terage, and to build a church in every town within three years. In the days of King John there had been an attempt to make twelve shires in Ireland. Henry VIII. had divided Meath into Meath and Westmeath, but this was practically the first creation of shireland outside the Pale. In the making thereof Thomas, Earl of Sussex earned his laurels for *' having broken com- pletely the two most rebellious and powerful Irish septs in Leinster, the Moores and O'Connors," but the planting thereof with the new settlers sowed the seed of an internecine struggle between the settlers and the tribes, while the Government looked impas- sively on at the cruel deeds wrought and endured on either side. One of the most terrible of the atrocities that were perpetrated in connection with the settlement of the midland counties took place at MuUaghmast. This remarkable eminence, which rises to the south of Athy, had been long associated with the fortunes and traditions of South Leinster. Here Conn of the Hundred Battles, marching to enforce the Leinster tribute, was defeated by Eochy of Leinster. Here Lewy Leeshagh of Ulster defeated the Munstermen PLANTATION OF OFFALY AND LEIX 155 in two successive battles at the fords in the vici- nity and drove them out of Leinster. Upon its brow is found an ancient rath, circular, and made of earth and of considerable extent and height. This rath was an ancient fortress and residence of the kings. Here was held in olden times the Naasteighan or the assembly of the states, the beginning of this word Nds is still preserved in the name Naas. Upon the summit of the rath were sixteen conical mounds, in which the elders sat, while all around them lay the pillar-stones and other emblems of Sun-worship. One of these called Gobhlan is about seven feet high. With re- gard to this ancient Hill of Carmen, the tradition was that it should be one day the scene of a terrible conflict between the English and the Irish, and that the mill-race hard by would run red with the blood of the slain for twenty-four hours. To a con- ference on this historic hill the Irish chiefs and principal men of the inhabitants of the new counties were summoned. Suspecting nothing, the O'Connors, O'Carrolls, O'Moores, O'Molloys, O'Dempseys and O'Dunnes came in large numbers on New Year's Day, 1577. • It is said that but one returned. Foreseeing the troubles that might arise in con- nection with the plantation of Leix and Offaly an Act was passed by the Government of Philip and Mary authorising the Land Commissioners of those days to declare the land of any turbulent chief shireland, which meant that it would be governed according to English law, and that the chief had no longer any authority, but was himself intimidated by the erection of a gaol in his ancient "town " or district, and that 156 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE kis Irish dress and customs might lead him to a closer acquaintance with the inside thereof. The O'Connors found it hard to raise their heads after this cruel and cold-blooded massacre. But again the hostile chieftains owed the restoration of their lives and lands to the good offices of a woman, the ladies of the fighting clans showing as much superiority in the arts of peace and piety as their husbands did in the art of war. For Lady Mary O'Connor pro- tected the young earl, last scion of the Kildare family, in the forest wilds of Offaly, and Elizabeth was ulti- mately induced to restore the titles and lands of this ancient family to him. Some years afterwards (1583) occurred a strange event in the annals of the O'Connor sept, which is related by Cox in his Hibernia Atiglicana, and which recalls the scenes of single combat which was so fre- quent in the highland clans of Scotland. It was a dispute between two of the O'Connors. Conor MacCormack O'Connor stated that Teige MacGill- patrick O'Connor had treacherously and foully mur- dered some of his followers. Teige, it would appear, belonged to the O'Connors who were ranged on the side of England in the stormy times of the sixteenth century, and had been only too glad to wreak vengeance on the Irish O'Connors for their exter- mination of his relations. And when accused by Conor before the English Court he challenged his opponent to decide the dispute b}^ mortal combat. The challenge was accepted, and the next day was appointed for the contest. When the hour for the fray was come, the two combatants were accom- modated with seats at the opposite ends of the inner PLANTATION OF OFFALY AND LEIX 157 caurt of Dublin Castle. Sir Henry Wallop and Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin (Lords Justices) were the judges, and there was a large sprinkling of the military element present, attracted by the remarkable character of the proceedings. The pleadings were then made and the oath administered to the litigants, each of whom maintained the justice of his quarrel. Fenton, the Secretary, and some attendants then approached the combatants and searched them to see if they carried the skian or dagger. They were then armed with sword and target — the weapons chosen by Teige. At the sound of the trumpet the combatants dashed into the lists and began the fray which was to prove fatal to one or both. Teige soon showed his superiority. He was a greater master of his weapon and was stronger and quicker, while his opponent recklessly exposed himself. Three times Teige's sword penetrated his body, and at last, exasperated by his wounds, Connor threw aside his weapons and rushed like a tiger at Teige, and closing with him sought to strangle him. But he was weakened by loss of blood and could not retain his grip, and then Teige struck him to the ground, and having cut off his head, laid the ghastly offering before Sir Henry Wallop and Archbishop Adam Loftus, the Lords Justices, who must have witnessed with horror this terrible combat, to which the Irish often resorted in settlement of disputed claims. In 1597 we find the O'Connors again in the field. There is a pass in Westmeath, a dangerous defile through a wood, now called Tyrrellspass, from a vic- tory Tyrrell and the O'Connor won over the English there. This Tyrrell was a dashing captain of cavalry 158 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE in O'Neill's army, then fighting Elizabeth in the North. He had been sent by his general with a small body of men to create a diversion and to prevent the Anglo- Irish of the midlands from joining the army that was marching north against him. In this Tyrrell was successful, for a strong force mustered in Mullingar under Baron Trimleston with a view to join Lord Burgh, the Deputy, turned their attention to Tyrrell's little force. The latter was now joined by O'Connor Faily, a warrior of great bravery and skill, and a plan of campaign was formed which was eventually crowned with complete success. Tyrrell posted half his forces under O'Connor in the hollow of the road to the rear, and with the rest prepared to receive the attack, which was not long delayed. He then retreated slowly, and the English forces following impetuously rushed into the ambuscade. The O'Connor and his men leaping out of their hiding places attacked the enemy, who were then surrounded and almost annihilated. One man, it is said, escaped to Mullingar. The O'Connor himself displayed prodigies of valour, and his hand, it is said, was so swollen from the use of his sword that the weapon had to be filed through before it could be released. Tyrrell then entered the English part of Offaly and made " great preys, slaughter, taking of towns and of people, of plunder and of booty." He then marched south to meet Mountjoy at Kinsale, and to be defeated with his master. In 1599 the ill-fated Essex entered Ireland with a great army. He marched through Leinster into Munster, the O'Connors hanging on his flanks. And on his return he was again assailed by this indomitable PLANTATION OF OFFALY AND LEIX 159 sept and others ; and completely out of patience despatched force after force against him. And with that unthinking obstinacy which persists in adopting the same hard and fast methods of warfare that have ever proved unavailing in a struggle of this nature he sent detachment after detachment of heavy cavalry into bogs and glens and mountain passes, where they were at the mercy of the foe. And thus the flower of the English host found a grave in the bogs and woods of Offaly. Sir Henry Harrington with 3,000 men, were defeated so frequently by the O'Connors, O'Moores and O'Tooles that the earl decimated his brave but badly led soldiers for their cowardice, but really for his own folly, pour encoiirager les aiitres. Such an action, unsoldierlike and brutal, was in keeping with much of his strange conduct. The last we see of this famous sept is in a hot encounter with the English of Meath and the Con- naught men under Owen O'Connor. The latter were suddenly attacked, as they were plundering a small town, Giolla Bindhe, in Cluain-ni-Murrois, near Geas- hill, and not expecting opposition were taken unawares. It was, indeed, a case of a hundred flying at the rebuke of one, for it would appear that the Calvach, the heir of Offaly, had only a few men at his heels when he came upon the spoilers. An incident is said to have occurred at this juncture which shows that the Irish grasp of a humourous situation was then, as now racy of the soil. As the Calvach rode into the town where the kerne of Connaught were busy with their plunder, an hotel proprietor, who had borrowed a cauldron from him, ran up and pointing to one of the spoilers who was carrying off a bronze cauldron on his back. i6o THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE said, " There is your cauldron, you can have it now, kerne and all." *- I accept it," said the Calvach, and taking aim with a large stone he hurled it at the man, and the stone struck the bronze with such a crash that the Connaughtmen thought they were surrounded and fled in confusion. But the Calvach was at their heels and smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter between Giolla Bindhe and Cluain-Aine in Crioch-na-gedoch in Westmeath. The night came to the rescue of the vanquished, and the victors returned with the chief religious emblem of Connaught, the Buacach Phatraig or mitre of Patrick, which had always been kept at Elphin until that ill-fated expe- dition of Owen O'Connor. The last warlike action recorded of the clan is the invasion of the English Offaly and the burning down of many of the castles of the English, in revenge for which the Lord Justice went down to Offaly in August of 1600, as the Four Masters say, " with many harrows, great iron rakes and a great deal of scythes and sickles, and cut down and destroyed the crops of the country, ripe and unripe." After this cruel action the fighting clan disappears as a clan from history, although many distinguished men^ including the late Judge O'Connor Morris of Gortnamona, in recent times, represent them worthily. And individuals now and then emerge from the obscurity that has lowered upon their house, evincing the military genius and ability of the warrior clan, which have not been diminished by untoward circumstances or unkind fortune. Not the least among them was Arthur O'Connor, the friend of Grattan and Lord Edward Fitzgerald. It has been observed that the Irish annalists devoted PLANTATION OF OFFALY AND LEIX i6i themselves almost completely to " feats of broil and battle," and bestowed but little attention upon the social and literary progress of their nation. This was due to the unhappy divisions of Ireland. The annalist confined himself to the glories and triumphs of his own tribe, reserving his spleen and wrath for their enemies, Irish and English. The Book of Leinster, for instance, depreciates the men of Connaught and Munster, while it magnifies the deeds of the Leinster- men. One grows wearied of these blood-stained annals which give as distorted a view of Irish humanity as the Records of Newgate would give of English morality. It is, therefore, a pleasant change to read of the gentler pursuit of learning and law, which were en- couraged by those very chieftains who are paraded as very monsters by the admiring historians of their tribe. In the Annals of Duald MacFirbis, cited by Dr. O'Donovan, there is an account of two entertain- ments given by Margaret, the wife of O'Conor Faily in 145 1 to the learned men of Ireland. At Killeigh " there gathered the number of 2,700 persons, as it was recorded in a roll for that purpose, and that account was made thus : — The chief kindred of each family of the learned Irish was written in the roll by O'Connor's chief judge, and his adherents and kins- men, so that the aforesaid number of 2,700 was listed in that Roll with the arts of poetry, music and anti- quity. Every one as he was paid was written in that Roll for fear of mistake, and was set down to eat afterwards. The hostess, Margaret, was in the gallery of the great church of Da Sinchall (the two Sinchalls, Sean-Sinchell and Sinchell-og), clad in cloth of gold, L i62 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE her dearest friends about her, her clergy and judges too. Her husband, Calvach O'Connor, himself on horseback, by the church's outward side, to the end that all things might be done orderly and each one served successively. And first of all she gave two chalices of gold as offerings that day on the altar to God Almighty, and she also caused to nurse or foster two young orphans. A second feast given on the festival of the Assumption is described as being " nothing inferior to the first day." Nor is the fighting clan without its religious associations. Killeigh Abbey, the church of the field, founded in the sixth century by S. Sincheall, was and is the favourite resting-place of all who boast the O'Connor name. The ruins of the original building are still to be seen. The roof is of rough hewn stones. Here the most warlike of the O'Connors, O'Connor Faily, established a monastery for Franciscan Friars. Here Murrough O'Connor, the bravest of the race, who had taken the Sheriff of Meath prisoner, was interred after gaining " the victory over the world and the devil." Here Margaret, " the best woman of her time in Ireland, for it was she who gave two general entertainments of hospitality in the one year to the poor " {Four Masters) was buried. Here Fionngula, daughter of Calvach O'Connor, the most beautiful of the O'Connors, took the veil and lived for forty-nine years ''in a chaste, honourable, pious and devout manner." Here in the cemetery of the church of the field that nestles under the long ridge, repose all that is mortal of the princes and princesses of the fighting clan of the O'Connors of Offaly. CHAPTER XI. The Rise of the O'Carrolls and O'Mulloys. The O'Carrolls of Ely are another of the fighting clans who made the subjugation of Ireland an extremely difHcult task to the English Lord Deputies and settlers. Though they never succeeded in bagging a Viceroy and keeping him prisoner until a ransom and hostage were given for him, they displayed a certain amount of natural taste for warfare that was extremely disagreeable to their more peaceably disposed neigh- bours. It is true that we do not find them carrying on long and organised campaigns like their friends in Offaly, but sallying from their strong castles — their " small piles of little importance, the chiefest whereof is Limwaddon," as Dimmock describes them in his Treatise on Ireland (1600), they were able to inflict many a crushing blow on their adversaries. Ely O' Carroll, to call the clan by its proper name, derived its descent and domain from Eile or Ely, seventh in line from Cian or Kian, a son of the famous Oliol OUum, King of Mumha, now known as Munster, for Moonster (Mumhan-stadr), the place of Mumha. According to O'h-Uidhrin Ely O'Carroll was divided into eight tuatha or districts, over which O'Cearbhaill or O'Carroll was the ruling chief. The territory of Ely is almost coterminous with that part of the King's County which belongs to the diocese of Killaloe, and includes the baronies of Clonlisk and Ballybritt. Ikerrin and Elyogarty, in Tipperary, were detatched 1 64 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE from it at an early date and given to " Ormond." Birr, the ancient Biorra, or plain of water, the Umbilicus Hiberniae, or centre of Ireland, according to Giraldus Cambrensis, seems to have been the head- quarters of the tribe when they first emerge into history. According to the poets, they were a hospitable, fierce, and yellow-haired race, to whom the neighbouring tribes were compelled to pay tribute. Speaking of Ossory, the poet O'Dugan writes : — There are three tribes who possess it, The Clan Carroll who are free from opposition, They are as fierce as leopards under their leaders. The war-cry of the clan was Showeth-aboe, which must have been at one time heard far and wide. For we find in the Book of Rights that the king of Caiseal (Cashel) paid tribute to the king of Eile :— Eight steeds to the King of Eile of the gold, Eight shields, eight swords are due, Eight drinking horns, to be used at the feast, Eight coats of mail in the day of bravery. And again : — The stipend of the King of Eile, of the gold, From the King of Caiseal, of the banquets, Six shields and six bright swords. Six bondsmen, six bondswomen. Up to the slopes of Sliabh Bladhma (Slieve Bloom) the O'CarroUs of Ely held sway, and were found to furnish fewer forces than the other kings to the Ard-ri. There was gold in the country in these days, the gold from which crosses and chalices, torques and chains, bracelets and bodkins, were fashioned, and with which the warrior's sword was inlaid and the lady's mantle inwoven. And in gold Ely was rich, for the RISE OF O'CARROLLS AND CrMULLOYS 165 O'Carroll was " King of Eileof the Gold." The chief was also rich in cattle and herds, that found pasture on the green slopes of the hills and in the well-watered plains of Ely. A bard, O'PIeerin, who died in 1420, thus alludes to this princely race : — Lords to whom great men submit Are the O'Carrolls, of the plains of Birr, Princes of Eile, as far as tall Slieve Bloom, The most hospitable land in Erin. Eight districts and eight chiefs are ruled By the Prince of Ely, of the land of herds ; Valiant in enforcing the tributes Are the troops of the yellow-ringletted hair. It appears that Ely came into notice at a very early period. The story is given inKeating'sandComerford's histories of Ireland. In 212, Fergus of the black teeth reigned in Ireland, when the king of Ulster gave a great feast at Magh Breagh — the Plain of the Wolf — to which Cormac MacArt was invited. But the guest falling under the displeasure of the king, the cruel but curious order was given that Cormac's fair beard — of which the possessor was proud — should be burnt. Cormac immediately applied to Thady, who was then Chief of Ely, for assistance, and overthrew the king of Ulster in a great battle, and wiped out the disgrace of his burnt beard in the blood of his foes. To Birr, the seat of the pagan worship of Fen, which is preserved in the name Seffin, and the chief strong- hold of Ely O'Carroll, came the good S. Brendan, S. Columkill's friend (See Adamnan's Li/e of Coluinkill)^ whose prophetic gift, long life, and pro- found piety formed the theme of many a legend, to spread the light of Christianity and to found a monas- tery, about 550 A.D. S. Brendan, according to the 1 66 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Four Masters, died in 571 (Nov. 29), in the same year that a battle was fought at Tola, a plain between Saigher and Clonfert Molua, where the men of Ossory and Ely were defeated by Fiachna. To his founda- tion Colgan refers in the words — " Birra monasterium in Elia in Mumonia." Some of these abbots of Birr were men of renown. S. Killian, a successor of S, Brendan, died in 690, Seanchan, Abbot of Birr and Killoughy, died in 791, and MacRiagail, who died in 820, wrote a copy of the Gospels known as the Codex Rusworthianus, and was kept at Stowe. The work concludes with the words — " Ouicunque legerit et intelligerit istam narrationem, oret pro MacReguil scriptore." The Rei'mn Hibei'nicarujn Scriptores Veteres gives an account of this document. Ely O'CarroU had also its native saint, Albaeus, the second patron of Munster after Patrick, who was born here and said to have been exposed in his youth, as the legend reporteth, in a place afterwards called Rath. The same authority states that in 1284 '' Geoffrey St. Leger, the second founder of the cathedral church of St. Canice, recovered by combat — the combatants I do not find recorded — the manor of Seirkeiran in Ely, now in O'Carroll's country," while Kiaran, or Pyran, born in Ossory, was the first bishop of Ossory and lived at Seir Kieran. Hanmer writes of Albanus, another of these primitive saints — '' He founded Cluain Findglaise and Cluan Conbruno, and went into Ely where he baptised and converted unto the faith, thousands." Birr was not only the meeting place of the waters, as some explain the name, from the meet- ing of the Brosna and the Camcor, '' the river called the Abhan Chara," w^hich flows from the Slieve Bloom RISE OF OXARROLLS AND O'MULLOYS 167 and forms the boundary of Meath — it was also the meeting place of the kings of Ireland and Munster and Cashel. The Four Masters mention that a meet- ing took place here in 825 between Conchobhar, son of Donchadh, king of Ireland, and Feidhlimidh, son of Crimhthann, king of Munster, and the Annals of Ulster give 826 as date for '* a kingly parlee at Byre between Felim and Connor." Hither the '' foreigners of the Boyne," as the Four Masters describe the Danes, penetrated in 841, plun- dering both Birr and Saighar. Of this inroad of des- truction, Ely O' Carroll has a perpetual record in the name Oxmantown, or the town of the Ostmen. Through here, in 852, Felim of Cashel, the archbishop king of the south, passed in his terrible expedition to Tara, plundering and slaying all the Irish that came in his way, instead of forming a coalition against the invaders. Here the tribe of the O'Connors, the Ui Failge, were defeated and many of them slain, with Cinaeth Cruach, in 949. From here a strong detach- ment of the O'Carrolls marched to join the standard of Bryan Boroihme, and helped to hurl the ruthless invaders — the Vikings of the North — into the sea on the strands of Clontarf In 1121 the town lay under the fear and distress of a terrible siege. For Torlogh, the son of Roderick O'Connor, king of Ireland, had collected a great army and '' encamped near Birr for some months," and then, to the infinite relief of the O'Carrolls, he was forced by the heavy snows and bitter cold of winter to withdraw to Connaught again. The history of the O'Carrolls begins with a sacrilege — the murder of a king, O'Hendersgeol of Cathluighe i n South Munster, who was stabbed as he was leaving i68 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE the church, and fell dead on the threshold (1154). And twenty years afterwards, Rughry O'CarroU, king of Ely, was slain by his own brother on an island (Inis Clothrann) in the Shannon, and in 1170, the Annals of Boyle says the Synod of Birr was held here. It is the story of a red-haired and red-handed race that we are now reading. But when w^e remem- ber the fierce times in which they lived, and the wild and ungovernable passions of a people who had never experienced the blessing of peace, who had but half learnt the lessons of Christianity, and who had imbibed from their parents that inborn love of fighting which has now been happily turned by English influence into more useful but not less vigorous channels, we may not judge them harshly, though w^e may congratulate ourselves on the fact that their day is over, and their dread is past. The English invasion should have had at any rate one good effect in making the isolated tribes and prin- cipalities of Ireland forget their private feuds for a moment and combine to some extent against their common foe. But the clansmen of the different tribes would not amalgamate ; they had been so long accus- tomed to hate and fear, to distrust and dislike their neighbours. And so they presented an easier task to the Anglo-Normans than they had doubtless antici- pated. It was in consequence of their dissension that the English king was able to portion out their dominions to his favourite and trusted knights, and the latter were not afraid to occupy that part of the land that fell to their share. It seems that Henry II., without consulting the wishes of the O'Carrolls, had made over the estates of RISE OF aCARROLLS AND O'MULLOYS 169 Ely O'CarroU to Theobald Fitzwalter, the ancestor of the powerful Butlers of Ormond, and that the treacherous John, with an equal disregard for his father's promises, sold the same lots to Walter de Braosa for a large sum of money, so that Fitzwalter had to purchase Braosa's claim before he could take possession. This he at once proceeded to do, having granted part of Birr to Hugh de Hose or Hussy. The O'Carroll opposed his entrance into his dominions, but suffered defeat, losing his own life in the battle. The English invaders were now greatly aided in their conquest of Ely by the unpatriotic action of Moriertagh MacBryen of the Mountain (an Slieve, i.e. Tuatharra), a Tipperary neighbour, who seized the opportunity while the O'Carrolls had their hands full, to overrun their country (1207). According to the Annals of Clonmacnoise, this highland chief besieged the castle of Byrre, and at last burnt the whole town. He then attacked the Castle of Kinnetty and the castle of Lothra, and broke them down and destroyed them, thus leaving the country of his neighbours completely exposed to the incursions of Fitzwalter and his men. Kinnetty, as we have already seen, was one of the frontier fortresses of the O'Carroll sept. The tower, built on a spur of the mountain range of Slieve Bloom, served to protect the O'Carroll's country from the in- vasions of the foreign Danes and the native Irish. That castle, with others belonging to the sept, now fell into the hands of the English, who profited by O'Bryen's campaign by occupying and restoring the castles of Durrow, Birr and Kinnetty (121 3). The English having already erected a castle at Athlone, the central 170 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE plain of Ireland was now dominated by their spearsmen, archers and cavalry. But the O'Carrolls were not conquered. Far from it, for when defeated in the field they had strongholds to flee into, even those at Clonlisk, Dunkerrin, Emil, and Lemivanane, or Leap. Behind the stout walls and deep trenches of these fortresses they were safe until gunpowder was brought to bear upon them. Then only did they yield. At Clonlisk, the meadow of the fort, two miles from Shinrone, the O'Carrolls "of the redddened spears" were able to inflict a defeat upon a force of English who were marching to surprise them from the south, but who found in Shinrone (the seat of the Seal) a veritable ambush of fierce and nimble warriors. Intes- tine feuds from this time forth helped to decimate the ranks of the O'Carrolls. The men of Ossory, on the one side, and the fierce kerne from Arran on the other, proved relentless and persistent foes. The Lord of Ely was slain in battle on his own lands as he was leading his men against the Ossorians, and James, Earl of Arran, took Teige O'Carroll, his own brother- in-law, prisoner, and kept him confined for eight years. But Teige escaped from his dungeon, to be afterwards slain by Lord Deputy Scrope (1407). But amongst the fiery chieftains of this race some few were found who had more pious aspirations than to live the life of Ishmael, with their hand against every man and every man's hand against them. For, as we found an O'Connor withdrawn from the scenes of blood to the studies of the cloister, so we find Thady O'Carroll desirous of retiring into a more obscure but pious existence. But his clansmen and the lords of RISE OF O'CARROLLS AND O'MULLOYS 171 Eastern Munster prevailed upon him to remain as he was, so he compromised matters by paying a visit to the Pope (1396), and afterwards was received at the Court of King Richard II., who was preparing an expedition to Ireland. But he seems to have been the solitary member of the reigning family that evinced such a desire, for those who went before him and those who came after him were conspicuous for the Berserker rage which has ever distinguished the Celtic race. The O'Mulloys of Fearcall. The O'CarroU had warlike neighbours who never refused to give him the pleasure of a fray. Right up to the town of Birr in Ely ran the ancient territory of the O'Maolmualdhor O'Mulloy, called Fearcall, which may mean either the man of the wood or the man of the churches. The district is very bare and bleak and contains the ancient battlefield of Moylena, according to O' Flaherty's Ogygia, but there are traces of plan- tations known as the " Great Wood of Fearcall," near Broughall Castle at Frankford, one of the principal seats of the O'Mulloys, and at Dowris, near Whigs- borough, or Cloneen, as it used to be called. Eglish, the name of the barony, which corresponds with ecclesia or church, supports the other derivation, which also receives some colour from the number of ancient churches in the district. Among these are Drumcullin, Kilcormack, Killyon, Ralyon, and Eglish. The O'Mulloy, who was variously styled king, prince, and chief, ruled this district, which comprised the baronies of Eglish and Ballyboy, lay in the ancient Kingdom of Meath, and between the O'Connors on one side and the O'Carrolls on the other. He was of 172 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE the race of the Southern Hy Niall. O'Dugan thus describes him : — The Prince of t'earcall of the ancient swords Is O'Molloy of the free-born name ; P'uU power was granted to him, And he held his own country uncontrolled. The O'MuUoys appear early and frequently in the Annals of the Four Masters. In 1175, O'Maolmuaidh (O'MuUoy), lord of " Ferkale," was treacherously slain by Roderick, son of Conor MacCoghlan. In 1382 Fergal Roe, son of MacGeoghegan, chief of Kinel Fiacha was treacherously slain by the people of Fearcall, when Fergal O'Mulloy, and the son of Theobald " were the persons who attacked him, and Myler Maintin was he who struck him." This may have been in revenge for the murder of Cian O' Carroll, the " illustrious heir," by Hugh O'Mulloy, who struck him with a javelin in 1380. In 1410 Torlogh and Teige, the sons of O'Mulloy, were slain by the people of Glenmalire, showing that they had quarrels with their neighbours on every side. In 1454 there was a dispute for the chieftaincy, which caused a schism in the sept for some time, for Theobald O'Mulloy and the grandson of Cosnavach O'Mulloy were appointed chiefs ''in opposition to each other." And seven years afterwards Theobald, " lord of the half of Fearcall, was killed by O'MuUoy of the wood." In 1533 the lord of Fearcall was treacherously slain by his brother Peregrine and his nephew Art in the plain of Lynally, and his brother Cahir " was nominated the O'Mulloy." In 1582 Donald, the son of Theobald O'Mulloy, was slain, and ''his death was the less lamented on account of his having endeavoured to THE O'CARROLLS AND O'MULLOYS 173 supplant and expel his father, in order that he might assume his place." In 1585 Conall O'Mulloy, the lord of Fearcall, attended Queen Elizabeth's Parliament in Dublin, and in this reign the princes of this house were appointed royal standard bearers of Leinster. Cox, in his account of Lord Deputy Russell's progress in Ulster in 1595, states that O'Mulloy carried the English standard on one day and O'Hanlon of Armagh on the next. In virtue of the office they carried as arms a mounted knight with the British standard in his hand and the family arms on his shield. And on his death in 1599 his son Calvach took his place " by the power of the Queen," although there were gentlemen of his lineage who objected to and opposed him " according to the law of the Irish concerning that title." It would seem that certain of his family were wise in their generation, but their politics seemed rather uncertain. However, their lands and people suffered during the Elizabeth wars, although they seem to have but once fought with the O'Connors and other septs against the queen's forces. For the district was invaded by Lord Leonard Grey in 1537, who, according to Mageoghan, took the castles of Eglish, Birr and Modereny and, according to the Annals of Boyle, the castles of Modrymore and Broghill also. In 1580 Lord Grey, with 150 cavalry and six companies of infantry, reinforcements from England, overran the territories of Offaly, Fearcall, Kinelyagh and Ely. Camden and Mageoghan inform us that he pacified the O'Carroll of Ely but caused O'Mulloy, lord of Fearcall, to be put to death " as a seditious person." In 1600 the Four Masters relate that Hugh O'Neill, lord of Tyrone, marched into 174 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Fearcall, where he remained nine days and the people submitted to him ; and that he then " proceeded over the Sliebh Bloom mountains." On this occasion O'Neill sent three bands to plunder and harry the territory of El}^ O'Carroll, and he then marched south to Roscrea. The next year, 1601, he returned, and with several other chiefs who " were expeditiously conveyed across the Shannon at Shannon Harbour ; from thence they proceeded to Delvin MacCoghlan, to Fearcall, to the borders of Slieve Bloom, and into Ikerrin." By these raids Fearcall was greatly cut up, but the O'Mulloys continued to hold their own and to retain their property for a considerable time, one estate, Clonbella, being still in the hands of an O'Mulloy. The chief burial place of the sept was Kilcormack Monastery, which was found for White Friars by Odo O'Mulloy. Mr. Archdall informs us that as well as being the place for the interment of the chief, this monastery was the scene of an inhuman murder, for in 1525 Charles O'Mulloy and his followers drew Hugh and Constantine O'Mulloy out of the church and put them to death " before the gate of the convent." In 1 548 it and Saighir Chiarain, Seir Keiran, were burned down by the English and O'Carroll. The principal fortresses of this sept were Broghill Castle near Frankford, Caislean-na-Hegailse or Eglish Castle, Kiltubrid Castle^ Rathmackilduffe, the Castle of Dowris, Le Porte Castle and Ballindown. Broghill Castle, still a splendidly preserved keep, with high walls in places, ten feet thick, was the chief residence of the O'Mulloy. In 1537 it was, however, surprised by the Lord Deputy. In the great hall lavish hospitality was given to all, the O'Mulloys being said to THE O'CARROLLS AND O'MULLOYS ijs have entertained 900 men at the close of the sixteenth century. The property passed into the hands of the Marquis of Lansdowne through Sir William Petty. It is now owned by Mr. Christopher Banon, D.L., whose ancestor, Frank MacAuley, of the tribe men- tioned by O'Dugan — The Fair MacAuley rules over The entire of the ports of Calrie. gave its name to Frankford. Kiltubrid Castle stood once on an island and was known as Island Castle, but the land has now been completely drained. It is not far from Kinnetty and Drumcullen. Shane O'Mnlloy lived at the Castle of Dowris in 1607, and Le Porte Castle stood on Lough Coura, since drained, near the present Whigsborough. These castles were on the frontiers of Fearcall facing Delvin (Dealbna Eathra), the county of the MacCoghlans, while Ballindown, ''the town of the Dun or Earthen Fort," is nearer to Birr. This glimpse of the O'Carrolls neighbours may prove of interest. To return to this class, we find that the good and pious Thady O' Carroll, who wished to retire to the seclusion of a monastery from the world and lawless life of his time, was succeeded by a warlike O' Carroll, who was speedily involved in a war with the Butlers of Ormonde, who eventually entered Ely and burnt down two of his fortresses (1432). Fifteen years, enlivened by the usual border feuds between the Irish and their English neighbours passed, and another enemy of an even more pernicious nature appeared, sparing neither high nor low, priest nor peasant, Norman nor Celt. Hussey, Baron of Galtrim, and 700 priests are said to have died of the 176 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE plague (1447). The O'Carrolls, however, seem to have come well out of it, for in 1460 we find them in power, and, according to Macgeoghegan, compelling the counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary to pay forty liv'res yearly. Great pressure, however, was brought to bear upon the Lord Deputy, the Earl of Kildare, by the English of the Pale to release them from the tyranny of the O'Carrolls, and he besieged them in the castle of Lemivanane, or Banan's leap, which he failed to take, and on his return for reinforcements fell sick at Athy and died 1514. So the Four Masters say. But his son, Gerald, assumed the reigns of government and marched against this castle, now known as Leap Castle, and took it, although " it was doubtful," say the Four Masters, " if there was in that time a castle better fortified and defended than that, until it was demolished on its guards." This happened in 15 16. This fortress is as formidable as it is forbidding, being of great strength and of equal antiquity. It is stiW in splendid preservation and full of interesting points for the antiquarian, oubliettes, crenelles, machicolations, etc. A capital view of the surrounding country may be had from its grim parapets. Right opposite is a splendid specimen of a rath, with a raised platform of earth for the chieftain's residence, with which the castle, which is said to have been built by the Danes, was connected by a subterranean passage. Mr. and Mrs. Darby — the latter of whom is widely known under her nom de plume of Andrew Merry — take much pride in their fine old baronial residence, which has been for the last three centuries in the possession of the Darby family, which was connected by marriage with the O'Carrolls. CHAPTER XII. The Fall of the O'Carrolls. We now come to an unpleasant episode in the history of the sept, a family dispute, which did more to weaken its power than any foreign oppression could have done. To cut a long story short, when John, son of Maolroona O'Carroll, died in 1485, the chieftainship of the sept was claimed by another O'Carroll, who was elected on account of his splendid qualities. This was the famous Maolroona O'Carroll, who, according to the Four Masters^ was " the most distinguished man of his tribe for valour, prosperity, and excellence, to whom poets, travellers, ecclesiastics, and literary men were most thankful, and who gave, and enter- tained, and bestowed more presents than any other who lived of his lineage." But though devoted to literature, the patronage of all that was excellent, and the dispenser of princely hospitality, this, the best of the O'Carrolls, was, like the British Prince Alfred, equally proficient in the arts of war. For, while he was '' the anvil of knowledge, and the golden pillar of the Elyans," he was also '' the supporting mainstay of all persons, the rightful victorious rudder of his race ; the powerful young warrior in the march of tribes ; the active triumphant champion of Munster." This Maolroona O'Carroll was as popular among the English as he was among his own people. For he wooed and won no less a bride than the Lady Fitzgerald, daughter of the Earl of Kildare. Her sister had been M 178 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE previously wedded to Bryan O'Connor of Offaly. But Maolroona died, unlike most of the O'Connors, how- ever, in his own castle on S. Matthew's Day (1532), after he had heard of the defeat of the Earl of Ormond by his sons, who took many horses, and some ordnance at a ford which was called Bel-atha-na-bh Fabcun, in memory of the achievement. His eldest son, Fer- ganainm, or the '' man without a name," was chosen to succeed him. But the sons of John O'Carroll, the former chief, who had distressed the closing years of Maolroona by conspiring with his foes against him, at once took the field against Ferganainm, and, seizing the Castle of Birr, continued to harass the supporters of Ferganainm, who entreated the Lord Deputy, the Earl of Kildare, his uncle, to come to his aid. This the latter did without delay. And taking on his way the Castle of Killurin, in Geashill, the Castle of Eglish, and the Castle of Ballindooney, or Ballindown, where the sons of John had fortified themselves, he proceeded to storm the Castle of Birr. During the attempt on this fortress, which he assailed from the Monastery of Birr, the Earl was wounded in his side by a bullet, but still persisted in the attack until the place was stormed. The earl was recalled shortly afterwards to England to give an account of his stewardship, and to answer among other things why he, a person of English descent, had, in spite of the statute of Kil- kenny, allowed his daughters to marry the Milesian Irish, and was committed to the Tower by Henry VHI. There he died shortly afterwards (1535). In the meantime he was succeeded by Lord Grey, whose presence was almost immediately required in the country of the O'Connors and O'Carrolls. For THE FALL OF THE O'CARROLLS 179 " Silken Thomas" had commenced his absurd rebellion, and induced the only too willing clans to rally round the standard of revolt. Down to Offaly and Ely came the new Deputy, and took the castles of Eglish, Birr, Modereny, Modrymore, and Broghill, but not before much destruction had been wrought by Ferganainm. However, this proved an instance of the soft answer turning away wrath, for while O'Connor was driven from his land, and was followed by the unrelenting hatred and unremitting severity of Lord Grey, the O' Carroll succeeded in conciliating him and throwing dust in his eyes when he tendered his submission to him in Dublin Castle. It was one of the charges made against this unfortunate nobleman that he had over- looked the outrages that Ferganainm had committed, and was too partial to the Geraldines (1541). It would have been better for these Viceroys had they and their daughters seen less of the fascinating O'Carrolls. However, the King himself, Henry VII L, in 1539 concluded a treaty ^ with Ferganainm on the conditions that the latter was to pay tribute for Ely O' Carroll, to furnish forces to the king, and to give the deputy passage through his dominions whenever it was neces- sary. Poor Ferganainm, however, did not long survive this new settlement of the question, for the unhappy man, now infirm and blind, was treacherously killed in his own castle of Clonlisk (Clonlis) by Teige, his kinsman, the son of Donagh, and the grandson of John O'Carroll, and by one of the O'MuUoys. The Four Masters give a full record of it. It was a 1 A copy of this treaty — concordia facta inter Regem et O'Karroll Capitaneum Patriae Ely O'Karroll — is preserved in Sir W. Betham's Iriih Antiquarian Researches. i8o THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE terrible scene, the assassins seemed to have got a secret entrance into the castle and attacked the blind prince unawares, but he defended himself with such vigour while some of his attendants, most of them unarmed, hurried to his assistance, and pre- sented their defenceless bodies between the miscreants and their king, and thus obtained the glory of dying with their master (1541). Now ensued a decade of fighting with varying fortune, but out of which the O'Carrolls seem to have emerged the best. Trusting more to their natural wit than to the force of their arms, they secured favourable terms from their invaders, who saw that it would be wiser to treat the sept at all events with more apparent consideration than they had done. But it is questionable if there was any sincerity on either side. In 1548 it is said that Thady O'Carroll (Thady being the same as Teige or Tadg), made an arrangement with Brabazon by which he engaged himself to supply the king with forces, and that shortly afterwards he surrendered his dominion of Ely O'Carroll to King Edward VI., who restored it to him with the title of Lord Baron of Ely. But this statement is not well authenticated. It is queried by Ware. It is certain, however, that this Thadeus was able to secure posses- sion of Birr and to inflict a defeat on the English settlers. But Thadeus did not live long to reap the fruits of the victory, which were not, however, fated to be lasting. For he was slain by Cahir O'Carroll, who became Baron of Ely, and who perished as he deserved by the sword of another rival, William O'Carroll. The seed of dissension, sown by John O'Carroll and fostered THE FALL OF THE O'CARROLLS i8i by the English, did indeed produce a harvest of blood in 1554. This William wisely tendered his submission to the English, and was acknowledged by them as the successor to the title of Lord of Ely, and having promised to fight for the King and Queen of England, and to send Queen Mary a number of horse and foot, was made Governor of Ely by Royal Patent (1557). This was all the wily William desired. The moment the Deputy's back was turned he began the old game of plundering the English settlements, in spite of the fact that the Deputy, before he had withdrawn, had taken hostages from William and his confederates for their good behaviour, which did not last long. For we find that after his return, the Earl of Essex was obliged to send an expedition through Fearcall to punish the O'Mulloys, and advancing with great rapidity to Lemyvanane Castle, now called Leap, he took William by surprise, and the latter only escaped by the swiftness of his horse. Teige O'CarroU was then put in the Governorship in his place by the English Deputy, who saw the advantage of promoting division in the ranks of the O'Carrolls, which was not hard to do among so quarrelsome a sept. But William was not done with, for he returned in an unexpected manner to his favourite stronghold, Caislean-an- Leime, the Castle of the Leap, and after slaying the English garrison, was once more master of Lemy- vanane. His triumph, however, was but short-lived, for he was afterwards severely defeated by the soldiers of Essex, and had to draw in his horns. It was at this time that the districts of Lei;x and Offaly were made into the shires of King's County and Queen's County ; 1 82 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Ely, which was omitted at the time, being included in King's County afterwards. Dangan then became known as Philipstown, Maryborough being created the capital of Queen's County. Under the 8th of March, 1576, we have an interest- ing document drawn up by '' Betwyxte Sir Henry Sidney, Knight, Lord Deputy of Ireland, for and on behalf of the Queenes's Most Excellent Majestie, of those parts, and Sir William O'Kerroll, of Lemyvanan, in the countrie called Elye O'Kerroll, and now to be parcell of the King's County." This was a deed of surrender, a full copy of which is given in O' Donovan's translation of the Foiir Masters. Its chief interest nowadays arises from the list of thirty-six landed proprietors who held the land of Ballybritt and Clon- lisk, under the O'Carrolls. The evident object of O'Carroll in delivering his possessions to the " Queene's most honourable Court of Chauncerie of Ireland " was to secure them by letters patent, one of the conditions of the surrender, for his illegitimate sons, of whom he had four — John O'Kerroll, Teige O'Kerroll, Calloghe O'Kerroll, and Donoghe O'Ker- roll. And this he managed to do, and so excluded the legitimate heir, his own brother, Donoghe Keoghe O'Kerroll, from the succession. But the Irish septs of Ely, Leix, Offaly, and Fearcall still continued in a restless and unpacified condition. While giving fair words to the English Deputy they ceased not to prey upon each other, and to plunder the property of the settlers, like the moss- trooping Scots of border fame. One of these ex- peditions (1579) against Birr terminated fatally. For we read that Conal Buighe, the son of Gillpatrick, TtlE FALL OF THE O'CARROLLS 183 the son of Pierce O' Moore, was slain at Birr in the territory of Ely, and the historian's comment is that " it was better that he was killed, for it was to plunder the town that he had come.'' But while the Irish wolves were quarrelling in their dens, the English bloodhounds were on their trail, tracking them to their lairs. Lord Grey, reinforced by cavalry and infantry from England, was upon them, and '' pacified " the O'Carrolls and the O'Mulloys. On his return the Deputy released a hostage, William, the son of Ferganainm, whose tragical death has been described. But the unfortunate man was not fated to enjoy the liberty of his native air, for as he was returning he was attacked by some of his enemies of the O'Connor clan who were displeased at his release, and who '' slew him at once and left his body exposed to the claws of wolves and ravens." But the murdered man's, son, John, was chosen to be the Lord of Ely. He, too, did not enjoy his honours long. For Teige's perfidious example was doomed to be perpetuated. John O'Carroll was stabbed the very next year, 1582, " with abominable and unprofitable treachery " by Mulroona, the son of Teige Caoch, the son of Fer- ganainm. The assassin then became a victim of assassination, falling three months afterwards by the hand of a brother of the man he murdered — Calvagh O' Carroll. This Calvagh O' Carroll was then nominated chief of the clan, which position he managed to hold for fifteen years. He is described by the Four Masters as " a warlike, defending man, and a strong arm against his English and Irish neighbours ; he was a knight by title and honour, by authority of his sovereign." In 1 84 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE the Parliament convened by Sir John Perrott at Dublin (1585), this Calvagh O'Carroll, with his neighbours, the O'MuUoy, O' Madden, and MacCoghlan of Delvin, was a distinguished figure. But there is an Indelible blot of shame on his escutcheon. For It appears that Calvagh had hired some of the MacMahons from Monaghan to help him in the plundering expeditions, but when their time for payment came he had no funds to settle with them. With unspeakable trucu- lence he conceived the Idea of " removing " them. Accordingly in his castle of Lemyvanane, where O'Banan made his immortal leap, he made a great feast in honour of his mercenaries. But at the end of the banquet, when the revellers were overcome with the pleasures of the table, the orders were given to close the doors, and the perfidious host, violating all the traditions of hospitality, which were often of more weight in the eyes of the Celt than the laws of God, caused his armed retainers to fall upon the defenceless men who had fought his battles, and slew them to a man. For this act of unparalleled atrocity, Calvagh paid the penalty. The O'Neills from the north invaded his land, harrying and carrying all before them, and in June of the following year his life was taken " by some inferior gentlemen of the O'CarroUs and O'Meaghers." Such was the melancholy end of a great warrior, whose crimes prevent us from regarding him as a hero. When we compare the callousness and perfidy of such men — the prevalent type of the Celt at the close of the six- teenth century — with the gallantry and chivalry of their English contemporaries, of whom Sir Philip Sydney is an example, we cannot but lament the fact THE FALL OF THE O'CARROLLS 185 that his life of constant rapine and murder tended to foster all that was low and cunning, and banished all that was generous and noble from the heart of the Celtic chief There was nothing to encourage but much to impede the spirit of chivalry in the associations of the Irish chieftain, who knew himself to be safe in his stronghold from the representatives of the law he had so basely broken. It was well for Ireland that a new race was coming to infuse higher ideas and better customs into the wild but warm blood of the Irish clans, who when trained and disciplined have proved on many a field and in many a clime that they are in- ferior to no race in the game of war and the arts of peace. In the last year of the century that had witnessed so many distressing scenes and doughty deeds, we find that the O'Carrolls, who were then posing as dutiful and loyal, though, we need hardly add, little trusted servants of the Crown, were ordered to invade the O'Mulloys of Fearcall, who were at this time living in the heated atmosphere of family feuds and open sedition. This order the O'Carrolls must have been only too willing to obey. Sir Charles O'Carroll appears in command of 100 men in the muster roll of the Lord Deputy Mountjoy, dated 26th March, 1600, and Captain Mulrooney O'Carroll as commanding 100 foot in O'Carroll's Country in the same and the two following years. The seventeenth century saw many changes in this powerful sept. When the so-called " undertakers " were planted in Ely, O'Carroll, to the disgust of the dispossessed, but to the advantage of our poor distress- ful country, those of the O'Carrolls who fell in with iS6 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE the existing order of things fared well, while those who did not for a time defied the English from behind their stout fortresses of Emill, Dunkerrin, or Frankfort, Lemvanane, and Clonlisk. On an inquisition held in the year 1612 Teige O' Carroll was found to possess some ninety acres, but Lord Thurles, on behalf of his father, the Earl of Ormond, declared that the said Teige had surrendered his claim to the earl, and held the property as the latter's tenant. The O' Carroll afterwards disputed this statement when he found that Sir Laurence Parsons had been given possession of Birr, but after petitioning the king three times the decision was given against him. Thus ends the connection of the O'Carrolls with their old town, which now, thanks to the genius, enterprise, and wealth of Sir Laurence and his worthy successors, was transformed from being the headquarters of a lawless predatory chieftain, and the scene of murders and rapine, into the centre of culture, civilization, and religion — as it once was — in the mid- land counties of Ireland. Birr rapidly improved. Its streets were lighted, its poor were employed and pro- tected, glass was manufactured in the Bigo factory, chimneys were erected on the houses, and single women were forbidden, under pain of being exposed for three days in the stocks, to sell liquor. The " Black Castle " of Birr — a forbidding ruin that stood prominently above the river's bank, presents a signi- ficant contrast with the handsome baronial residence which has taken its place, and which has stood as many sieges and seen as much fighting under its valiant defenders — whose history in places reads like a romance — as any other castle in the land. In 1639 THE FALL OF THE O'CARROLLS 187 we read of a search made by Sir William Parsons, of Birr, and Captain William Paisley, Provost-Marshal of Munster, in the castle of Clonlisk, where O' Carroll was suspected of plotting a conspiracy. The bird was flown, but the searchers found a quantity of muskets and pikes and a secret chamber, which had been used in former times for coining money. Another strong- hold of the once powerful sept was Dunkerrm, the fortress of the ash tree, which afterwards passed mto the hands of Thomas Francks, who obtained by grant the lands of Coologe and Castleroan, and became known as Frankfort Castle. But the last memoirs of the O'Carrolls are associated with Emmell, a castle that had long been In their possession, and one that, like the others, except Leap castle, which, strange to say, is now held partly in the O'Carroll name and right, was taken from them. The Irish Rebellion of 1641 hastened the climax. Then the O'Carrolls, Mulloys, Kennedys, and the neigh- bouring septs rose and burnt down the castles of the settlers, and in many cases murdered the inmates. This cruelty was not, however, universal. Many in- stances of gallantry and courtesy extended by the rebels to the English, notably the polite treatment which Lady Anne Parsons received from Colonel Moore, who besieged Parsonstown, relieve that story of some of Its repellent and melancholy features. The tide of fortune turned, and Emmell was granted by Cromwell to Captain Rose, and its owner had to take up his abode in Cullenwaine, where he died in 1681. He was succeeded by his son. Long Anthony Carroll, who made a supreme but ineffectual effort to retrieve the fortunes of his ancient house. However, he was 1 88 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE able to recover Emmell. For Captain Rose, not feel- ing at all safe among such determined and dangerous neighbours, who had been the loyal supporters of the House of Stuart, to which he and his late general officer, the Lord Protector, had proved traitors, was glad to dispose of it by deed of sale to Long Anthony in 1676. Anthony now became regarded as the lord of Ely, and endeavoured, with some success, to unite the scattered fragments of his sept. However, the revolution of 1688 burst upon the land, fanning into flame the now dormant elements of party strife and hatred, and Anthony, like all the Irish chieftains, re- mained loyal to the king. Their loyalty cost them dear. Anthony armed his men, and took part in a great many encounters under the brilliant leadership of Sarsfield. In one of his expeditions he seized Nenagh, which was then in the hands of a party who had ever been opposed to the Stuarts. And although the castle was dismantled and its w^alls had not been rebuilt since Ireton demolished them in 165 1, he thought of making it his headquarters for his operations in Ormond. However, he was forced to abandon it on the approach of General Leveson against him, so he evacuated the town after burning it down to pre- vent it being of use to the Orange party. There is no doubt that his movement was accelerated by the re- port that a strong body of William's men were march- ing against Emmell. Those men never reached their destination. The gallant Anthony was before them. And as the Dutchmen were endeavouring to pick their way through an Irish bog at Barna, the Place of the Gap, the Celts flew upon them like wolves upon their prey, and the scene of the slaughter that ensued bears THE FALL OF THE OXARROLLS 189 the name of " the Bloody Togher," or pass through the bog. But when King James fled, Anthony showed his wisdom by returning to his estates and submitting to the new condition of things, which he could not alter, with a good grace. Finally, the lavish hospitality of Anthony's great grandson, Richard O'Carroll, who was compelled to mortgage his castle and estates, extinguished the flickering glories of this illustrious house. CHAPTER XIJI. The Defence of the Pale. Sir John Davis alleges as reasons why the country was not subdued until his time (1603). (i) "The faint prosecution of the war " and (2) '' the looseness of the civil government." When discussing the superficial nature of Henry H's. conquest he points out that Henry very unwisely gave the Irish lords the style of " kings." The word " Rex " is preserved in Hoveden's record of his agreement with Roderick O'Connor. And from the twelfth year of King John to the thirty-sixth year of Edward HI. no royal army came from England to make an end of the war, but during that period " the chief governors of the realm, at first called Custodes Hiberniae and afterwards Lords Justices," maintained an ill-paid and ill- governed army in the country. The English subjects in Ireland were continually cessed and taxed to main- tain this army because little treasure came out of England to pay the soldiers' wages. Consequently in all the Pipe-Rolls of Henry III., Edward I., Edward II., and Edward III., there is the entry " In Thesauro nihil '' (nothing in the treasury) because the officers of the state and army had exhausted the little there was." We do not imply that the officers or their men were well paid according to modern standards, in those days. Sir John Davis informs us that 6s. 8d. a day was the pay drawn by Lord Lionel as general, but THE DEFENCE OF THE PALE 191 this was doubled when he was created Duke of Clarence. Then he was allowed for eight knights 2s. each, per diem; for sixty-four esquires is. each; for 368 mounted archers from Lancashire, 6d. each ; and for twenty-three archers from Wales, 2d. each, per diem. When Lord Lientenant 1 361-1369, James, Earl of Ormonde, Lord Justice in 1364 was allowed for twenty armed " hobblers," as Irish horsemen who served on " hobbies " were called, 6d. each, and for twenty unarmed ''hobblers" 46. each, per diem. In the time of Sir William Windsor (Lord Lieutenant 1369) the charge of the kingdom amounted only to ;^ 1 1,200, while the revenue, according to Sir John Davis, did not rise to ^10,000 any year during the reign of Edward III. In the year 1442 the revenue only amounted to £4,Syy 2s. 4d. And in the same year — one of perfect peace — the Executive and military establishment in Ireland cost only ;^7,982 6s. 8d. The force itself consisted of 9 officers and 532 men, who were maintained at an annual cost of ;!^7,I75 13s. 4d. — a small force and outlay com- pared with the Dublin police and the cost of their maintenance, and utterly inadequate for the purpose of protecting life and property in the Pale, had they not been supported by the levies of the Pale and the Earl of Ossory. The force was divided in this way : Sir Anthony St. Leger's retinue, 2 officers and 100 horse- men (;^i,36o 1 6s. per an.) ; Mr. R. St. Leger's retinue, 2 officers and 100 horsemen at the same cost ; Mr. Brereton's retinue, 2 officers and 150 archers; the Master of Ordnance, 3 officers and 100 hackbutteers. The Treasurer of this empty treasury had an escort of 40 horsemen ; the Knight Marshal had i officer 192 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE and 32 horsemen ; and the Clerk of the Check, 10 horsemen. Lord Leonard Grey had introduced in 1535 the plan at first effectual, of sending flying columns supported by artillery, through the country, which checked the lawless here and there for a moment, but, of course, led to no permanent settlement of the countr}^ But when we consider the slenderness of the means at his disposal, the paucity of his troops and the smallness of his treasury we wonder at the success of his enterprises and the extent of his opera- tions. In 1536 when he invaded Munster, which was in revolt, he had an army of 1,023 men, 323 of whom were Irish levies ! In 1560 the Irish revenues of Elizabeth were ;^8,35i, £s^^ o^ ^^^s came from the lands of Leix and Offaly, while the outlay was £g,400, a deficit of ii" 1,049. The expenditure was as follows : — ;{^i,500 for the Lord Lieutenant; an escoit of 50 horsemen, £700; 100 horsemen to attend him, ;;^i,400; 200 footmen to do the same, ;^2,6oo ; 100 kerne, ;^6oo ; 100 footmen for the fort of Offaly, ;f 1,300 ; 100 footmen for the fort of Leix, i^ 1,300, a horseman being paid ;^I4 per an. ; and footmen ^^13. Ireland was, financially in those times a dead loss to England. During the first 16 years of Elizabeth's reign the loss in hard cash in those days was £37^>779 — 3- s^^ which would have established a magnificent exhibition in London or Dublin, or founded a noble university. The principal source of the King's income in Ireland was the customs, which were chiefly raised on hides, rents of land and various subsidies. Queen Elizabeth, for instance, had certain " bonaught for gallowglass upon Irishmen living on the border of the THE DEFENCE OF THE PALE 193 Pale" to the value of ^4,000 (Carevv MS. I., p. 300). These sums were rather uncertain, and the difficulty of collecting them was so great that in Henry VI's. reign the Duke of York on his appointment as Lord Lieutenant was to have all the King's revenues there and 4,000 marks yearly for England. When the Brotherhood of St. George was instituted by 14. Edward IV. a subsidy of poundage on all exports and imports — the hides and goods of freemen of Dublin and Drogheda excepted — was granted to pay the standing army of 200 men, of whom 120 were mounted archers, at 6d. per diem ; 40 were horsemen at 5d., and the rest at a lower rate. Sir Edv^ard Bellingham., Lord Justice in Edward VI's. reign, the first Deputy to extend the borders of the Pale by breaking the power of the Moores and O'Connors and building the forts of Leix and Offaly, had but 600 horse and 400 foot, whose pay .mounted to £1,216 per month. In those years, a'^. -vxy rate, the Irish taxes and revenues were spent on Irish concerns — if the upkeep of the army may be considered so — and were miserably deficient for the purpose. The slenderness of the means placed at their disposal is an excuse for the almost proverbial rapacity of the lieu- tenant and their deputies at which the English Government winked. We are strongly reminded of the publicani under the Roman Empire, whose extor- tions were connived at, provided they did not commit the Empire in any way, by the story of the doings of the English officials almost from their first appearance in the land. Of this rapacity, a few instances will now be given Henry Marleburrough informs us in his Chronicle N 194 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE that Lord Thomas of Lancaster, the Lord Lieutenant, landed at CarHngford in 1406, and was received in DubHn by the Earl of Kildare, one of the Lord Justices, whom he had arrested and detained in the Castle of Dublin till " he had paid three hundred markes fine." The unhappy Earl, whose colleague, strange to say, was James, Earl of Ormonde, in the meantime " lost all his goods, being spoiled and rifled by the Lord Lieutenant and his servants." Shortly after this action, which reminds one of the exploits of the modern bushranger, this royal gover- nor was wounded in a skirmish at Kilmainham, and returned to England, leaving as deputy in his place the warlike William de Botiller, Prior of Kilmainham. The same chronicler also states that in 141 9, on the festival of Mary Magdalene, the Lord Lieutenant, John Talbot, went over to England, leaving as his deputy Richard Talbot, the Archbishop of Dublin, and carrying with him the curses of many " because hee being runne much in debt for victuall and divers other things would pay for little or nothing." In the Parliament that met in November, 1420, " were reckoned up the debts of the Lord John Talbot, which amounted to a great summe." Spenser comments on the rapacity of the governor and his official. He requests " that no offices should.be sold by the Lord Deputy for money, nor no protections brought for reward, nor no beeves taken for captaincies of coun- ties, nor no shares of bishoprics, nor no selling of licences for exportation of prohibited goods and specially corn and flesh." A^contemporary of Spenser, Richard Boyle, a young gentleman who first landed at Dublin in 1588 with but twenty-seven pounds and THE DEFENCE OF THE PALE 195 three shillings in his pocket and two changes of raiment, a rapier, dagger and taffety doublet was made Earl of Cork in 1620, and left vast estates behind him. However, he may have been a fortunate speculator, as many of the English immigrants were more lucky and more provident than the old inhabi- tants of the county. It was to him that Sir Walter Raleigh sold his house and estates in Youghal in order to provide himself with ships to attack the Spaniards, and it was he who quarrelled with Laud and Strafford over the removal of a family monument from the east wall of the choir, where the altar used to be, of S. Patrick's Cathedral. To go back some centuries, we find Sir Ralph Ufford, Lord Deputy in 1344, acting in the most unknightly manner towards the Earl of Desmond, of whose castles at Castleisland and Iniskisty in Kerry he got possession by treachery, and hanged the Knights, Sir Eustace De La Poer, Sir William Grant, and Sir John Cottrel. Camden gives a vivid picture of this ruffian, " at whose death the common sort truly and heartily praised the only Son of God." *' Being dead, he was folded fast in a sheet in a coffin of lead to be interred in England and with his treasure not worthy to be bestowed with such holy relics " — the historian sarcastically remarks — " his countess (the widow of the Earl of Ulster) in horrible grief of heart went over to England ; and she, who at her coming had entered the city of Dublin so gloriously with the King's arms and ensigns, attended by a numerous guard of soldiers, and a long train in her procession through the streets ; for a short period living in royal state as Queen of Ireland, was now, at her going forth 196 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE from the same city obliged to pass stealthily through a postern gate of the castle to avoid the clamour of the common people calling upon her to discharge her debts." How that noble but rather dishonest dame must have sadly meditated upon the unstability of human greatness as she departed in disguise from Dublin on the 2nd of May, 1346, taking her money for greater security in her husband's coffin ! Another Lord Deputy, Sir Stephen Scrope, who held office in 1401 and again in 1406, was converted by his wife who was not " a miserable sott " like Lady Ufford, from being a character like Ufford into a gentleman and a popular governor to boot. Campion tells us that his wife, hearing of his miscon- duct and extortion in Ireland, declared she would in no wise assent to live in his company there unless he swore a solemn oath on the Bible that willingly he should wrong no Christian creature in the land, but that duly and truly he should see payment made for all expenses. This oath was faithfully kept by the Deputy who *' recovered a good opinion, schooled his caters, enriched the country, continued a plentifull house, remissions of great fines, pardons of lands and lives he granted so charitably and discreetly that his name was never uttered among them, without many blessings and prayers." Lady Scrope's example illustrates both the influence of a good wife and also the misconduct of which a Lord Deputy could be guilty with impunity in those days of misrule in the English Pale. When speaking of these distinguished Governors of Ireland we may not omit the name of Prince John, THE DEFENCE OF THE PALE 197 Lord of Ireland (1185). Campion gives an interesting account of the loyal and handsome manner in which the boy-governor, who was accompanied on this occasion by the celebrated Giraldus Cambrensis, was received by the Kings of Thomond, Desmond and Connaught who " put themselves in the bravest manner they could to meete him," while they sent on before them to Waterford Irish gentlemen with rich presents. " And these men as they are very kind hearted where they list to show obedience made unto the Childe their Lord the most joy and gladnesse that might be, and though rudely yet lovingly and after the custom of their country, offered to kisse him, with such familiarity, as they used towards their Princes at home." But the result was contrary to their expecta- tions. For, instead of receiving a gracious acknow- ledgment of their homage, they were thrust rudely back by two of the Norman Guard," " pick thankes," who " shooke and tore the clownes by the glibs and beards unmannerly and churlishly thrust them out of the presence." This was a grievous insult which is even more graphically described in Hanmer's account, which is taken from Giraldus Cambrensis, who was present. He says, " one made courtesie, another kneeled, some tooke him by the hand, other some offer to kisse him. The new gallants and Normans set them at nought, laughed at their mantles and trooses (trousers), derided their glibbes and long beards, one takes a sticke and pats the Irishman on the pate, another halls the mantle and pricks him behinde with a pinne, some have their glibbes and long beards pulled and departing have flappes on the lippes, thumps on their neckes, and the doores clapt ifjS THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE on their heeles with divers other abuses and undis- ereet entertainment." Camden's description of the dress affected by the better class of Irishmen at the time may help to explain the indignation of the Irish chieftains at such treatment : " The hair of their head they wear long, and nothing set they greater store by than the glibbes or tresse of their haires ; and to have the same plucked or twitched they take it for a contumelious indignitee. They use linen shirts, and these, verilie, exceeding large, with wide sleeves, and hanging side down to the very knees, which (shirts) they wont to stain with saffron. Little jackets they have of woollen, and those very short ; breeches most plain and tight ; over these they cast their mantles, with a drape fringed purple, and the same daintly set out with sundrie colours, within which they lappe themselves in the night and sweetly sleep on the very ground. Such also do the women cast over the side garment that they wear down to the foot." Greatly incensed by the indignities they had suffered at the hands of this Norman Rehoboam and his satellites whom Giraldus describes as ''great talkers, boasters and swearers, very proud, and despisers of others, very forward to claim position, profit and honour, but very backward to undertake any dangerous service," the Irish envoys went back to the kings " turned them home with great oathes and leagues " from " a Boy peevish and insolent, governed by a sort of flatterers, younglings and prowlers." " The entertainment," however, was not altogether one-sided. For John and the " beardlesse boys " were promptly ordered back into England and THE DEFENCE OF THE PALE 199 censured by Henry II., who appointed John de Courcy " the strong man " of the kingdom to quell the storm their silly behaviour had raised. John did not forget the lesson. For when he returned in 12 10 — the year after the notable massacre of the Dublin holiday party in Cullenswood by the O'Birnes and O'Tooles of Wicklow on Black Monday — he treated the Irish chiefs with greater respect, reformed the coinage and appointed twelve English shires with sheriffs to rule over them, and when he went to war with France in 121 3 was supported by an Irish regiment of 300 men. In the 1 2th year of his reign both the Benches and the Exchequer Court were erected (Sir John Davis), and there are great keeps at Nenagh, Limerick, and Roscrea, said to have been erected in his reign. As a general rule the lieutenants and their deputies did nothing, according to the English Chronicler, but extort money from the English and Irish aristocracy, "make great preyes upon the neighbouring Irish," receive grants from Parliament, run heavily into debt, and carry home with them the curses of the plundered merchants of Dublin. In consequence of these extor- tions the colonists had begun to leave the country in great numbers, but in 1353 they were checked for a time by a royal proclamation forbidding the departure of any ecclesiastic, noble or able-bodied man from the shores of Ireland. In 1356 a royal order was issued that no one born in Ireland should thenceforth hold a command in any of the King's castles or towns. A brilliant scheme was this for the encouragement of the English colonists ! They were compelled by law to remain in Ireland in order to defend the territory of the Ensflish Kin"; from the inroads of the Irish and 200 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE to provide the English-born deputy with a suitable field for his embezzlements ; and at the same time because of their having been born in Ireland they were treated as ** Irish rebels," unfit to hold the smallest office or post in connexion with the Saxon Government. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that many Anglo-Norman houses withdrew from their allegiance to England, adopted Irish ideas, and pro- moted the policy of " Ireland for the Irish." Among those who had been converted to the new policy by the injustice and tyranny of the English officials were the Le Poers, one of whom had been infamously hanged by Sir Ralph Ufford, the Lord Justice (1344), the St. Aubyns, De Roches, and the De Cantillons. In 1 361 Lionel Duke of Clarence came over as Lord Lieutenant to save the situation, but only made matters worse than before. Opening his campaign with a well-equipped English army he made no efforts to conciliate those who were still wavering between their allegiance to the King of England and their love for their native land, but estranged them still more by his proclamation forbidding any English colonist to join his army or approach his camp. But his cam- paign was not crowned with many laurels. And he withdrew to England when he found the subjugation of Ireland a hopeless task. On his return in 1 367 he held the parliament in Kilkenny which passed the celebrated statute by which an undisguised effort was made to drive a permanent wedge between the still loyal English of the Pale, the " degenerate " English throughout the country who had been obliged by circumstances to adopt the native customs and the native Irish themselves. By the provisions of the THE DEFENCE OF THE PALE 201 historic enactment every connexion between the English of the Pale and the Celts, such as gossipred, fosterage, and intermarriage, was made illegal, and sale and barter between the two races in time of war was denounced as felony. The wearing of Irish garments, the use of the Irish language, the submission to Brehon laws, by which every penalty was com- muted to a fine, the giving ofcoyneand livery, or food and fodder to soldiers billeted upon them, the riding without a saddle, the keeping of '' kerns, hoblers or idle men " by the English subjects, were strictly prohibited. Irishmen were also debarred from enter- ing English monasteries and Irish bards from English lands. The framers of this statute not only desired to separate the English subjects from the " rebel " and native Irish by a barrier that no man might cross ; they also w^ished to remove all occasions of hostility between the two nations. To this end they enacted that on the one hand the cattle of Irish people pastured on English lands without consent of the owner should be impounded until compensation should be made, but on the other hand, that cattle so impounded should be kept safely for their owners under heavy penalties; and that the Irish should receive due notice of the new regulation. They also declared that in the case of a debt the creditor, whether English or Irish could not make the family or tribe of the debtor responsible for the debt. For it was a feature of the Brehon law that the whole sept could be made liable for the eric or debt incurred by a single member. They also ordered that " no differ- ence of allegiance shall henceforth be made between 202 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE the English born in Ireland and the English born in England, by calling them English hobbe or Irish dog, but that all be called by one name, the English lieges of our lord the King." Those who persisted in calling these names were to be imprisoned for a year and afterwards fined. Those regulations were strict but not harsh. Fair play was intended for all. But the English and Irish in Ireland were henceforth to be treated not as one nation but as two distinct peoples. And while the English subjects of the Pale were prohibited from all friendly intercourse with the Irish, they were also de- barred from every hostile encroachment, by section 26, which ordained that if any peace or truce made by the justices or sheriff '' between English and Irish shall be broken by any English and thereof be attainted, he shall be taken and put in prison until satisfaction be made by him to those who shall be disturbed or injured by that occasion, and he shall moreover make fine at the King's will." The English Government had apparently abandoned the hope of anglicising the Irish and recovering the degenerate English, and now directed its efforts to check the steadily advancing de-angllcisation of the English settlers, and to shepherd, after the hireling fashion, the few loyal sheep in the wilderness. This measure, a wise one for the time, had there been a sufficient executive to support it, was followed by an order (1368) for the return of absentee landlords under pain of forfeiture of their lands. Had the Govern- ment nursed its own subjects more kindly, or main- tained them more loyally, there would have been no need for any such edict. But owing to the indifference THE DEFENCE OF THE PALE 203 of the people in England, and the injustice of the English governors in Ireland, life in the English Pale had become intolerable. Reduced to pauperism by legal taxation and illegal embezzlement, depleted by constant conscriptions, worn out by perpetual cam- paigns, insulted and harassed by the officials who em- ployed their temporary banishment from the English court like the publicani of evil fame, so that '' an officer of the king who enters very poor could in one year heap up more wealth than men of great estates in many," the English of the Pale were sorely tempted either to return to England, or to join the ranks of their countrymen who were stigmatised as '' Irish rebels." Richard II., who is not conspicuous for aught save magnificent conceptions, struck the nail on the head when he wrote regarding the English who had become de-anglicised by English misrule — " To us and to our council it appears that the Irish rebels have rebelled in consequence of the injustice and grievances prac- tised towards them, for which they have been afforded no redress ; and that if not wisely treated and given hope of grace, they will most likely ally themselves with our enemies." In the meantime the Irish tribes were regaining lost ground and assuming the aggressive. Acting in- dependently of each other, the tribes made the work of their subjugation a matter beyond the range of practical politics. The various English colonists had to cope with the tribes in their vicinity, but the Eng- lish Government had to settle with the tribes in rota- tion. In the course of time they were compelled to buy off their hostility ; but before they were reduced to such straits they made some attempt to keep them 204 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE in their place. This was by no means easy when there was no miHtary executive or poHce to patrol the country ; and when the forts and castles of the previous settlers had been destroyed and the settlers themselves dispersed. Out -of their hiding places in the bogs and hills the O'Connors and O'Carrolls and the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles came with great numbers and courage. And in 1368, the very year after the Statute of Kil- kenny had been passed, the Irish Parliament made a strong but ineffectual appeal to King Edward III. to help them, stating that the Irish with his other enemies and rebels, continued to ride over the country in hos- tile array, slaying those who opposed them, despoiling the monasteries, churches, castles, towns, and fortresses of the English without reverence for God or Holy Church '' to the great shame and disherison of His Majesty." At this juncture (1371), De Cotton, the warlike Dean of S. Patrick's, raised a strong body of men and marched against the O'Byrnes, who had made a descent upon Carrick-imayne, and when Newcastle-MacKinegan, on the Wicklow frontier, was threatened, and none of the English officers would undertake its defence, marched to its assistance, and held the castle for five days with thirty- six men, for whose keep he had pawned his own goods. But the Government would do nothing. They not only left the defence of the king's dominions to indi- viduals like Dean de Cotton, and other warlike ecclesiastics like Thomas Canley, Archbishop of Dub- lin and Lord Justice (14 14), who defeated the O'Moores and O'Dempseys near Kilka. " Praying in procession with clergy and his men ... he slew one hundred of the Irish enemies," and Richard Talbot, Archbishop THE DEFENCE OF THE PALE 205 of Dublin, who, in 1419, ''being Lord Deputy made an assault upon Scotties, and slue thirty of the Irish neere unto Rodiston " — (Marleburrough's Chonicle), but they attempted to violate the constitutional liberties of the colony. In the Parliament assembled at Kilkenny, 1374, the Lord Lieutenant, Sir William de Windsor, announced that the king, in consequence of the expenditure required for foreign affairs, was no longer able to defray the expenses of maintaining soldiers for the defence of his territory in Ireland ; and Sir Nicholas Dagworth, on behalf of the Crown, de- manded a contribution from the prelates, lords and commons, there assembled, for that purpose. As they declined, the viceroy issued writs requiring them to elect representatives to be sent at their own expense to England to confer upon the matter with the king. A strong protest against the violation of their rights and privileges was made by the clergy, nobles and commons of the Pale, the ecclesiastics stating bluntly — " we do not grant by any means to the represen- tatives we have elected any power of assenting to burthens or taxes to be imposed on us or our clergy, to which we cannot yield by reason of our poverty and daily expense in defe7idi7ig the land against the Irish.'' But while they were engaged in wordy warfare in Kilkenny, the Irish ''enemies" and •' rebels " poured like the " Harpies " of Virgilian fame upon their lands. The Wicklow tribes, the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles, attacked Newcastle and dismantled it, and cut off Wick- low from the English lines. Limerick was assailed by the O'Briens ; Youghal by the De Roches ; Art MacMurrough Kavanagh after raiding and slaying all over the counties of Kilkenny, Carlow, and Kildare 2o6 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE was bought off by the sum of eighty marks, while Murrough O'Brien received a hundred to withdraw from Leinster. At this time there was the magnificent sum of nine marks in the Irish treasury. The balance was made up by the following subscriptions and levies — "From the Prior of the Hospitallers, sixteen marks; from William FitzWilliam, a horse price twenty marks ; from Robert Lughteburgh, a horse price twenty marks ; from John More, a bed, price thirty shillings; from Sir Patrick and Robert de la Freyne, seven marks and ten shillings." This list will give a fair idea of the state to which the English colony in Ireland had been reduced. This was the price they had to pay for the honour of being portion of the British dominions ; while her wealth and strength, and the wealth and strength of England, had been squandered by the English monarch, Edward III., in a foreign campaign, which after thirty-five years of wonderful success and brilliant victories ended in shame and grief to his country and the breaking of the noblest heart of the age — a sad frustration of the hopes which men had of the king, of whom the quaint Chro7iicle of Henry of Marleburrough says — " In the beginning of whose reign there was great likelihood of good suc- cesse to follow. For then also the Earth received fruitfulnesse, the Ayr temperature and Sea calmnesse." But the picture of the Pale is not altogether one of unredeemed misery. It had its moments of relief and also of brilliance. On many occasions the intestine feuds of the Irish spelt safety for the English colonists. Under the year 1260, Hanmer states that *' the Carties placed the Divells in Desmond," where they became so strong that for twelve years the Desmonds durst not THE DEFENCE OF THE PALE 207 put plough in their own country. " But at length,'* he says, "through the operation of Satan, a bane of discord was throwen between the Carties and O'DriscoUs, O'Donovaies, MacDonoch, MacMahonna, MacSwines and the inhabitants of Muscrie (Mus- kerry), in so much that by their cruell dissention, they weakened themselves on all sides, that the Desmond in the end overcame and overtopped them all." An historic instance of the policy of allowing the Irish to destroy one another occurred during the civil wars of 1278 between MacDermot de Moylargs and O'Connor of Connaught, when the latter king was slain. The Lord Justice (Sir Robert de Ufford) when called to account for permitting " such shamefuU enormities under his government,'' replied that " in policie he thought it expedient to winke at one knave cutting off another, and that he would save the king's coffers and purchase peace to the land ; whereat the king smiled." (Hanmer, p. 107.) It is also but bare justice to Ireland to point out that on many an occasion forces from Ireland, Norman and native, released English troops from a difficult position. When Henry III. took the reins of authority into his own hand, and began to give the world a specimen of misgovernment, he made an ex- pedition in 1245 against David ap Llewelin, Prince of Wales ; but was completely foiled by him, and his army was surrounded and reduced to great straits, as Powell, a writer cited by Hanmer, informs us. In the meantime some ships from Ireland and Chester brought victuals to the camp. But it was to Ireland that Henry looked for aid. As the authority quoted WTote — "the king all this while expected the arrival of 2o8 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Maurice Fitz Gerald (the Lord Justice) with his Irish forces, mused with himselfe, fretted with himselfe, the wind serving and yet said nothing ; at length the Irish sayles are descryd, a shore they come, and Maurice Fitz Gerald together with Phelim O'Conor in battle array present themselves before the king." The result was that the Welshmen were overthrown, and the English troops, with the assistance of the Irish, were victorious. Another time also in his Welsh wars, being hard pressed, Henry III. sent to Ireland for succour and did not ask in vain. Hanmer's Chronicle (p. 378) relates this incident also. But such moments of brightness were few and far between. The horizon was black with gathering clouds ; and storms continued to break forth upon the unhappy Pale, bound hand and foot on the altar of self-renunciation by the two lines of policy, government by corrupt officials and "no Irish need apply." ^ 1 In the Compositio realis (15 14) between the Archbishop of Dublin and the Dean and Chapter of S. Patrick's we find the same principle laid down — "the ancient custom of this Church is confirmed and ratified that all Irishmen by blood and nation, and all who conform to them in mode of life, are shut out from being members of this cathe- dral." The same policy continued in the Church of Ireland until Archbishop Whateley's time, all the best appointments being reserved for Englishmen. CHAPTER XIV. Misrule and Oppression. Before the Reformation both Church and people were in an evil case. The reports of the visitations, preserved in Theiner's monumental work, of the various Sees in Ireland, as they became vacant from time to time, are not pleasant reading. The famous church of Clonmacnoise, where S. Columkille was received with great honour by the pupils of S. Kiaran more than 900 years before, is described in 15 15 as ''almost ruined, unroofed, with one altar and only covered with straw. . . . Here Mass is seldom celebrated." The town itself is described as consisting of "scarcely twelve cabins built of wicker work and mud, close to which flows a river styled in the language of the in- habitants, Sinin." In the church itself was '' the body of an Irish saint, of whose name the writer is ignorant.' So perished the glory of the Divinity School of the Church of Ireland in the west, and the name of its illustrious founder, S. Kiaran Macantsoir, or MacEntire, the son of the carpenter, generally known as S. Kiaran the younger. The see is said to be worth '' thirty ducats, at which sum it is assessed in the Books of the Camera. The proceeds are derived from barley and oats." This would be about £iS> i^ the ducats were gold. In the Inquisitio, 38, Henry VIII. (1547), the prebend of Wicklow is described as worth " com- munibus annis xlvil, xiiis, ivd." This was quite a large income, as the archdeaconry of Glendalough had been valued at 10 marks {£y) in the Pope's O 2IO THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE valuation of 1306, but at 100 marks (£70) in the king's visitation of 161 5. But the ordinary income was " ni/,'' the usual entries being " nil propt. guerr.," " nil quia vasta." The report of the town (civitas) of Ardagh, to which see Henry VIII., appointed Roger O'Moleyn in 1 5 17 presents a similar picture of decay. The civitas is described as ^' in spiritualities subject to the Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of all Ireland, in temporalities subject to the king of England." It is in the island of Hibernia, ''called by the barbarians Irlandia. The part of it nearer to England is more civilised, but the rest is wild. A large number of the inhabitants even live with the cattle in the fields and in caves. Few wear shoes and almost all subsist on plunder. The land itself produces nothing but oats and horses, both excellent and victorious, being more swift than the English ones, the lighter in colour, having the easier motion." The report of this visitation of Ardagh, which is found in Theiner's Vetera Monnmenta, p. 521, states that the cathedral church had but one altar and that exposed to the air, and that it was served by only one priest who seldom officiated at Mass ; that it was without sacristy, bell-tower and bell, and sustained scarcely the necessary equipment for one Mass. The town contained but four cabins and very few in- habitants on account of their constant feuds with their neighbours, who would not allow a certain Bishop William to exercise any temporal authority over them and destroyed the town. Even St. Patrick's cathedral was no exception. We read that in 1474 that '' the divine service of God is daily withdrawn," and that no espers were said on St. Patrick's eve. MISRULE AND OPPRESSION 211 Indeed, all the documents, public and private, that have come down to us from those days, reveal a con- dition of society deplorable in the extreme. Lawless- ness, rapine, murder and perpetual warfare made our unhappy island a den of furies. The Scotch mer- cenaries who passed over into the north, to settle and to offer their services to the various chiefs who hap- pened to be at war, added fresh fuel to the flames that were extinguishing whatever hopes of peace and pros- perity were fostered in Irish hearts. Of these a detachment was cut to pieces by Shane O'Neill to please Queen Elizabeth — the rashest act he ever per- petrated. For at Clandeboy the Scots under Alexander Oge (or Young) and MacGilly Asspuketook a terrible revenge (1567). Few of the English justices cared for these things. One of them, Lord Justice Arnold, grimly informed Lord Cecil, who was much shocked, that he acted " with the Irish as with bears and ban- dogs, so that he saw them fight earnestly, and hug each other well, he cared not who had the worst." At times even the Government seemed to encourage these feuds, not that any great encouragement was required. For we find the Archbishop of Dublin in- structed in 1520 to establish concord between the Earl of Desmond and Sir Piers Butler, also to enfeeble and weaken the strength of the native Irish "as well by getting their captains from them as by putting division among them, so they join not together." But the unhappiest of all the inhabitants of Erin, if we except the English subjects of the Pale whose condition beggars description, were the tenants on the estates of the great Norman barons, who had become more or less Irish in the course of time. These noblemen, for all their Irish pretensions, treated their 212 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE tenants with the hauteur of the Norman and the cruelty of the Celt. Subject to all the impositions the feudal lords exacted from their tenants, and to the sup- port the Celtic chieftain demanded of his tribesmen, these unhappy people, who were principally Celts, were ground down to the earth, and their wrongs had no redress in a court presided over by their tyrant, who cared neither for British nor Brehon law. And in the King's Courts which sat in Dublin there was even less chance of fair play for these unfortunates. For these courts, presided over by English officials, were notoriously corrupt and practised extortion on all who placed themselves in their power, surpassing in corruption even the infamous Chancery Court of last century, and compelling the tenants to sell their land and freeholds rather than '•' be under the said ex- tortion." ^ And before they could enter these ''cities of refuge," the tenants had to run the gauntlet of their own masters, who had, as Archbishop Allen wrote to Cromwell, made laws among themselves, " that who- soever under any of their rules pursue any action at the king's law shall forfeit five marks." The Royal Commission held in 1537, like other Commissions, did nothing save bringing to light many of these un- just impositions. But the condition of the Pale was the worst of all. The forms of exaction and extortion to which its inhabitants were subjected were legion. These are detailed at length in the document sent from the council in 1533 to the Master of the Rolls, which led to the arrest of the Earl of Kildare in the following year. The document mentions, in addition 1 State Papers, Henry VIII. Vol. II., pt. 3, p. 9. MISRULE AND OPPRESSION 213 to coyne and livery, '' cuddies, gartie, taking of caanes for felonies, murders and all other offences, alterages, biengis, saulties and slaughteaghes." Another document, twenty years earlier, mentions " carting, carriages, journies, and other impositions for hosting and journies and woful war." Moreover black rents and tributes were wrung from the unhappy people for the payment of the Irish enemies. And yet when their property, taken by these enemies, was recovered by the king's forces, maintained on cesses levied on the Pale, the Deputies kept it for their own use, in vulgar parlance, purloined it. Campion tells us that it was James, Earl of Desmond, and his son, Thomas, Deputy in 1463, who put upon the "king's subjects within the counties of Waterford, Corke, Kerry, and Limericke the Irish impositions of coyne and liverie, carting, carriages, loadings, cosherings, bonnaght and such like." He describes these customs as " the very nurse and teat of all Irish enormities," and denounces the everlasting cess wrung from the poor tenants by the Deputy and his gallowglasses, who " eat out the farmers, beggar the country, and foster a sort of idle vagabonds ready to rebell if their lord command them, ever nusseled in stealth and robbery es." This was a precedent, evil but rapidly learnt, and in consequence the king's subjects in the south and in the Pale lived in extreme poverty and debt. Patrick Finglas, Baron of the Exchequer, 15 15, says — " There is not eight of the lords, knights, esquires, and gentle- men of the four shires but be in debt and their land be made waste, and without brief remedy be had, they must sell their lands and go to some other land," while a letter from a Mr. Deythyke, of Dublin, dated 3rd 214 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE Sept. 1533, reveals an equally hopeless state of affairs in the city. In it he speaks of the prolonged fasting from flesh in the city, where he hopes many saints may be found. But this fasting, he slyly remarks, is not a work of supererogation but a case of the fox, " say of hens when he could not reach them," for " all the butchers of Dublin hath no so much meat to sell as would make one mess of brawes ; so as they use white meat in Dublin, except it be in my Lord of Dublin's house, or such as have of their own provision." The next famine in Dublin was owing not to the scarcity of stock in the county, but to the constant robberies of cattle at night, and the restless state of the country which made it dangerous to go even a mile out of the city to buy meat. But the Deputy would not listen to any complaints for " the wind hath blown him so in the eyes that he cannot hear them ! " This is an instance, we presume, of " the Irish bull." The rob- beries this poor gentleman describes must have been of an alarming nature. " There hath been," he states, '' five or six preys taken out of St. Thomas within this ten days, so that one butcher for his part hath lost 220 kine." The result was that "the poor butchers lie remediless and have closed their shops, and have taken to making of prekes (prayers), thinking there is a new Lent." The great ordnance for the Govern- ment of Ireland in 1534 prohibits a great number of these impositions. We learn from this document that different lords and gentlemen within the four shires were wont to compel their tenants and adherents to give them night suppers, which went by the euphonious name of aiddies, and that these self-invited guests brought with them as many others as they could, to MISRULE AND OPPRESSION 215 the great oppression of their own tenants and the dis- turbance of the King's subjects for a great number of miles round in whose stables they put up their horses and grooms, They were also in the habit of taking ''a peck of oats of every plough in seed time, called the great horse's peck " ; and when the King's Deputy or any other lord came to visit them, they added the expenses of entertainment to the rent of their tenants. These great lords and captains also compelled the King's subjects to send their own carts and men to draw stuff to their own buildings, and labour there at their own charges, and by personal threats wrung gifts of money, cattle and horse, called bienges, from the King's sub- jects in the march or frontier. The Lord Deputy's Book of 1537 declares that " there is no march borderer, lord, knight, esquire or gentleman but hath more thieves belonging to him than true men." Such ruffians were allowed to rob and spoil the King's subjects, and were protected from punishment by their masters. The lords marchers, who were paid for the defence of the King's subjects, also permitted the neighbouring Irish septs to plun- der the lands of the smaller gentry and farmers, on the understanding that theirs should not be touched. And if they desired to possess any man's freehold, they suffered, which means encouraged, the Irish to raid that freeholder's property and drive his cattle, until the unhappy man was forced to sell his freehold to them on their own terms. Moreover, these poor free- holders had not only to pay for the lord's protection, which was generally of the nature described ; they had also to defray the expenses of any guests he chose to 2i6 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE entertain, and to keep his gallowglasses, servants and horses, for as his report says : " the greatest captain of the English borders will keep no horse or boy in his own house for the most part." They were also sub- ject to the insolence of the lord's sons and the out- rages of his servant without hope of redress. For, should any of these be accused of stealing, and arrested, they were at once released on payment of a fine, which went, not to the plaintiff, but to their master, so that the latter was interested in encouraging the misconduct of his own people. The tenants of the Pale could not even call their own houses, much less their own souls, their own. They could not sell a pig or a cow without paying a fine to the tyrant, who took from them everything he required at his own price, frequently a " song." A favourite practice was the regrating of provisions. The lord, with his followers, would come to the market and buy up everything, wood and coal and provision, and sell them again at his own price. They erected weirs on the rivers, committed riots, made penal laws, neglected their own children, wore the Irish dress, spoke the Irish language, and frequently took the holdings from an English occupier and gave them to native peasants. In consequence of their lawlessness the greater portion of the land was uncultivated and the pastures were not stocked. For the gentry were crushed as well as the tenantry by the lords, who acted as absolute monarchs of all they surveyed, worried the Deputies, and gave many an anxious hour to the king and his council who, in addition to perpetual unrest, had to endure heavy financial loss yearly in the up- keep of the little army in Ireland. The only policy MISR ULE AND OPPRESSION 2 1 7 that paid then, as now, was that of the Irishman who, when asked his poHtics in the United States, said : " I am ahvays agin the Government." So we find Sir Gerard Shaneson, writing to Sir Thomas Fitzgerald : " What, thou fool ! thou shalt be more esteemed in Ireland to take part against the king ; for what hadst thou been if thy father had not done so ? What was he set by until he crowned a king (Lambert Simnel) here ; took Garthe, the king's captain, prisoner ; hanged his son ; resisted Poyning and all Deputies ; killed them of Dublin upon Oxmantown Green ; would suffer no man to rule here for the king but him- self ? Then the king regarded him, made him De- puty, and married thy mother to him. Or else thou never should have had a foot of land, where now thou mayst despend 400 marks by the year." What offended the English most of all was the adoption of the Brehon law and its system of eric, or compensation for injury fatal and otherwise to property and person. It was with the greatest difficulty that the sheriffs put down the Brehon law in the shire land. The story is told that when Sir William Fitzwilliams informed the Maguire that he was sending a sheriff into Fermanagh, which had been made a county, Maguire replied, '' Your sheriff shall be welcome to me ; but let me know his ericke or the price of his head, aforehand, that if my people cut it off, I may put the ericke upon the country." ^ Under the Geraldines the condition of the king's subjects of the Pale naturally became worse than ever. Coin and livery were exacted for their ever increasing State Papers. Henry VIII. Vol IL, 3, 174. 2i8 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE band of hired assassins — gallowglasses and and kerne — from the unfortunate EngHsh, who were eaten up "as it were bread." The captain of the marches and his kinsmen, called the Welshmen, in addition to '' coin and foys," or horse meat and man's meat, took cer- tain quarterly payments called Byerahe, as Justice Suttrell states, often amounted to 13s. 4d. from the farmers. We find the wives of these great lords as tyrannical as themselves. We read in the letter of Patrick Finglas that '' the deputies' wives go to cuddies and put coyne and livery in all places at their pleasure and do stir up great war." These grand dames levied all manner of impositions upon their unfortunate tenants. Of these, Lady Poer of Waterford bore an unenviable reputation. When the Deputy or any visitor of importance stayed at her castle, she made her tenants give mertyeght or a contribution towards the expense of meat and drink and candles for her guests. In cases of litigation she demanded two shillings in the pound, as her fee from both plaintiff and defendant, after the manner of the Irish Brehon, and perhaps in emulation of the Milesian princess, who is described by Caesar Otway as taking on herself the office of Brehon, and from the Moate Granoge, or Moat of Little Grace, now known simply as Moate in Westmeath, ''adjudicating causes and delivering her oral laws to the people." If a tenant had his cow or horse stolen, he was required to pay a fine of five marks for his negligence. If he refused to obey her sergeant, he was promptly fined, and if one declined to give coin and livery he had to pay an additional fine called kyntroisk. And she not only required MISRULE AND OPPRESSION 219 coin and livery for her own boys and horses, but also for her guests, both English and Irish, chiefly at Easter and Christmas, which became the most miser- able instead of the most blessed periods of the year for the tenant. When her daughters were married a dowry of sheep and of cattle was "lifted" by her ladyship from her farmers and villagers, and she made her journeys to Dublin and England at the expense of her tenants. But it is hardly fair to the Irish gentry to regard the degraded Earl of Desmond as a representative either of Irish gentry or nobility. Hooker describes him much in the same way as General Cronje might have been described by a British officer. " This earl," he writes, " was very rude both in gesture and apparel, having for want of nurture, as much good manners as his kerne and followers could teach him." The Deputy, Sir William Bellingham, brought this uncivilized nobleman to his house and then undertook a task worthy of Hercules to " instruct, advise and inform " his unwilling guest. He is said to have made a new man of him by literally bringing the earl to his knees, for he ordered him " to kneel upon his knees sometimes an hour together before he knew his duty." This degenerate peer had, however, lost English civilization without acquiring Irish. For there was an Irish culture still extant which was not indifferent to art and litera- ture, and often indulged in the sweet luxury of thought and poesy and music. We can hardly believe that the O'Connors, who built their stately castle at Dain- gean in 1537, or the O'Donnells, who lived also in their Elizabethan mansion in Donegal, lived like savages and drank like Bohemians, while the country gentlemen 220 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE of England were studying the lessons of chivalry in the writings of Malory and Spenser. With regard to the condition of the masses the opinion of the Irish Council of 1533 may be cited, which was to the effect that " if there were justice used among them, they would be found as civil, wise and polite, and as active as any other nation." While with regard to the other classes James Stanihurst, the Speaker, as Campion writes, said in the Irish House of Parliament in 1570, before Trinity College was founded, "In mine experience who have not yet seen much more than forty years, I am able to say that our realm is at this day an half deal more civil than it was since noble men and worshipful with others of ability have used to send their sons into England to the law, to universities, or to schools." The Speaker referred also in his speech to the project of a university which had been shelved for the time, and moved '' the erecting of grammar schools within every diocese." An interesting letter from Sir John Harrington, one of the attendants of the Earl of Essex in his unhappy expedition to Ireland (1599), describes the northern Earl O'Neill and his sons, and whom he met at Carlingford. The O'Neill behaved himself remark- ably well, excusing his own hard manner of life and comparing himself to the wolves. The writer says it were needless to describe "The O'Neill's fern table and fern forms spread under the stately canopy of heaven," and remarks, '* that his guards were chiefly beardless boys without shirts ; who, in the frost, wade as familiarly through rivers as water-spaniels. With what charm such a master makes them love him I know not ; but if he bid them come, they come ; if MISRULE AND OPPRESSION 221 he bid them go, they go ; if he says do this, they do it." The sons of this earl seem to have been nice intelligent boys. Sir John Harrington found " the two children of good towardly spirit, their age between thirteen and fifteen, dressed in English clothes, like the sons of a nobleman, with velvet jerkins and gold lace, of a good, cheerful aspect and freckled faces ; not tall of stature but strong and well-set, both of them speaking English." He presented them with a copy of an English translation of Ariosto, with which their father was greatly pleased and " solemnly swore his boys should read all the book over to him." Hugh O'Neill himself is said to have been very accomplished, and as Plowden writes : " spoke four modern languages with the fluency of a native." The humour of the earl was shown in his suggestion that when he went in English dress to the Viceroy's Court he should be attended by a chaplain in saffron robes, so that he might divert the attention of the English crowd from his master. He did not disguise his contempt for the de-anglicised Englishman, as in the case of Barret, whose convictions he regarded as a matter of con- venience, saying of him : '' No matter, I hate the English churl as if he came yesterday.'' But he showed an open disregard for religious plundering and destroying churches and monasteries on his way to Kinsale, so that a Spanish officer exclaimed that '' Christ did not die for the Irish," and Lord Essex said, " Hang thee ! thou talk of a free exercise of religion ! Thou carest as much for religion as my horse." In Camden's Elizabeth we have a sad picture of the fallen chief, who in 1598 defeated the English 222 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE at the Yellow Ford (Beal-an-atha buidhe, Ballyboy), where, as Fynes Moryson says : " The English, from their first arrival in the kingdom, never had received so great an overthrow as this/' and who surrendered to Lord Mountjoy in Mellifont Abbey on the 30th March, 1603, six days after Elizabeth had passed away. The brave nobleman, who had never rallied his forces since their crushing defeat at Kinsale, now reduced to despair, entered the presence of the Deputy, who failed to show the generosity and courtesy that gallant gentlemen always extend to the vanquished. It was indeed " vae victis " here, and yet these were the days of the Sidneys ! The defeated earl, in mean and shabby attire, cast himself down at the threshold of the door and made an abject con- fession of his crimes against her gracious majesty and most solemn promise of atonement. Moryson (ii. 179) gives the terms of submission, which included absolute surrender of all his lands and titles and renunciation of the King of Spain, and a promise to abstain from ''intermeddling with the urriaghs or fostering with them or other neighbour lords and gentlemen outside my country, or exacting black rents of any urriaghs or bordering lords.'' The unhappy man rode into Dublin two days afterwards a prisoner of state to learn that he had surrendered all too soon. But his mistake was a fortunate matter for Ulster, which had been reduced to a desert by his rebellion. An eye- witness, Moryson, says, " No spectacle was more frequent in the ditches of the towns, and especially in wasted countries, than to see multitudes of these poor people dead with their mouths all coloured green by eating nettles, docks, MISRULE AND OPPRESSION 223 and all things they could rend up above ground.'^ The one redeeming feature of the country was the prosperity and growth of the seaport towns. The quaint old town of Galway, with its interesting Claddagh or fishing quarter, and the Moorish gate- ways, and the celebrated house of Lynch, the Irish Brutus, was at the zenith of its fame in the reign of Henry VI I. , during which time its enterprising burghers, as Hardiman relates in his '' History of Galway," "planned the cutting of a passage from Lough Corrib to the sea, as well as repairing their city after a fire, paving their streets, building an hospital, extending their wall and erecting quays." It is hoped that the same strenuous spirits of improvement may again become embodied in the city of the tribes. This and other cities on the seaboard thrived and prospered while the rest of the island was sunk in torpor and decay, simply because they were allowed to work out their own salvation in their own fashion without let or hindrance from feudal lord, Irish chieftain, or those harpies of the Pale — the officials sent from England Limerick is described by William Body in 1536 as a " wondrous proper city and a strong and standeth environed with the river Shenon,^ and it may be called little London for the situation and the plenty." The writer goes on to say that its ancient castle, still a formidable structure, was in " need of reparation." It is indeed as much a sign of its own commercial enter- prise and republican independence as a proof of the deputy's laxity and the Council's feebleness to find ^ SioriAinn (Shin-an) not Shannon, was the proper pronunciation Mr. Body's spelling was more accurate than ours. 224 THE MIDLAND SEPTS AND THE PALE this city of the barren land, Luimneach, carrying on war by sea and land and concluding treaties with the rival city of the great marsh of Munster, CorcacJi-Dior- Mumhan, now abridged to Cork, in 1520. This reminds one of the long and internecine struggles between the rival republics of the sea, Venice and Genoa, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The troubles of the inhabitants of the Pale were, however, mitigated in the course of time. But they had, like many a patient, to be worse before they could be better. It was in Elizabeth's reign that matters began to amend. To the skill and courage of the Dublin bands and soldiers references are made in the histories of the period. They assisted in punitive expeditions organised by Sussex and Sidney against Shane O'Neill ; and it was only with their assistance that Sir Henry Sidney '' to the inestimable benefit of the realm brought under obedience the disordered countries of Leix, Slewmargy Ofalie, Irrye and Glen- malire then late possessed by the O'Connors, O'Mores^ O'Dempseys and other Irish rebels." And '' with a fair company " under John Usher, Sheriff, and Patrick Buckley, they helped Sussex to attack and defeat a roving Scotch pirate, James MacConell, who was after- wards connected with the notorious Shane O'Neill, to the misfortune of both. Their young men were well taught in the foreign universities of Paris and Louvain and also at Oxford and Cambridge, Their houses were furnished "with plate, furniture, and apparel." Their towns were walled and populous, and their home produce and foreign trade was increasing when Sidney (nth Elizabeth) held a parliament in Dublin for the purpose of imposing a tax on wines, which called forth MISRULE AND OPPRESSION 225 so angry a remonstrance from the gentlemen of the Pale that a parliament was not summoned for many years after. Sidney, in his parting oration (given in Campion) to the parliament after the defeat and death of Shane O'Neill (1570), defended his policy of main- taining an armed garrison in Ireland, and contrasted the condition of life in the Pale at the time with that which prevailed in a previous age. " Consider," he said, "the effect of an army wrought in these tew years, for doubt whereof you are nothing so oft nor so lamentably pelled as your ancestors were, which of you durst be stored with coyne, knowing the rebels' mouth watered thereat ? Which of them had leisure to build, to lie soft and warm, to take his ease in his own home ? Which of them were plated or jewelled, or attired themselves, their wives and children sump- tuously, after their calling, as ye do now ? If your bags be full where they dwelled homely ; if you sleep on feather beds, where they slept on couches, if you be sumptuous, where they were scant, you have the more cause to honour that sceptre, that so directeth you and to love her warrant that procureth you this quietness, the mother of all your wealth and prosperity." CHAPTER XV. Legal and Other Reforms. There are many interesting notices of Ireland and its inhabitants in the writings of Spenser, Fynes Moryson, Sir John Davis, Campion, and others. Spenser well describes the pasturing capacity of the country : " For though the whole tract of the country be mountainous and woody, yet there are many goodly valleys amongst them, fit for fair habitations, to which those mountains adjoined will be a great increase of pasturage, for that country is a great soil for cattle, and very fit for breed ; as for corn it is nothing material, save only for barley and oats, and some places, for rye." Fynes Moryson, Secretary of Lord Mountjoy (1600-1603) also remarks upon "the plenty of grass which makes the Irish have infinite multi- tudes of cattle, and in the heat of the last rebellion the very vagabond rebels had great multitudes of cows, which they still, like the nomads, drove with them whithersoever themselves were driven, and fought for them as for their altars and families. He says they carried on '* a frequent, though somewhat poor, traffic for their hedes — the cattle being in general very little, and only the men and the grey- hounds of great stature." For fear of thieves and wolves, which became so numerous and daring as to enter the villages and suburbs, the cattle were driven into the bawns of the castles, where they were allowed to stand all night without so much as a lock of hay. LEGAL AND OTHER REFORMS 227 Very little hay was made, doubtless owing to the dampness of the climate as much as to '' the sluggish- ness " of the people, and that little was kept for the horses. " Their horses," he writes, " called hobbies are much commended for their ambling, grace, and beauty ; but Ireland yields few good horses for service in war, and the said hobbies are much inferior to our geldings in strength to endure long journies, and being bred in the fenny, soft ground of Ireland, soon lamed when they were brought into England." With regard to sheep, Fynes Moryson remarks, "they abound in flocks of sheep, which they shear twice in the year, but their wool is coarse, and merchants may not export it." The reason why they were forbidden was that the poor might be employed in turning it into cloth,